Lu Xian’s dreams usually came suddenly, and due to their chaotic timelines, he often couldn’t understand them well. In the past, he would pray to the gods and work hard to interpret them, though he frequently got them wrong. But ever since his younger brother also learned about his dreams, the heavy burden in Lu Xian’s heart had eased somewhat.
One night, he woke from his dream and drank a cup of cold tea, deeply disturbed by the vision of Miss Luo’s miscarriage.
He hadn’t dreamed of what happened after the miscarriage, but given his younger brother’s love for their cousin, it would surely break his heart. His brother had always been lonely, and now that he finally had a wife, losing a child would be devastatingly painful.
The only consolation was that compared to previous dreams of death and injury, even someone as slow as Lu Xian could see that this crisis seemed much smaller.
Lu Xian sat on the cold bamboo couch in the night, drinking cup after cup of cold tea, lost in thought—
Could it be that this crisis was smaller because of his brother’s intervention?
He should tell his brother about this dream.
…
However, Lu Yun was extremely busy these days. First, the peace talks with the Northern Kingdom had reached a critical point. Second, as spring began, he needed to personally oversee agricultural matters as the governor. Third, he was busy discussing with the Luo family elders to select an auspicious wedding date.
The miscarriage matter wasn’t urgent, so Lu Xian decided to wait until his brother was less busy to tell him. Now that he had some idea of what might happen, whenever he saw Luo Lingyu, his eyes would involuntarily drift down to his cousin’s flat belly, happily wondering when she had become pregnant. Counting the days, it must have been shortly after their marriage?
Luo Lingyu felt awkward under his gaze: “…”
Second cousin was still so strange.
On the Spring Festival day, they set up an altar to worship the agricultural gods and pray for a bountiful harvest. The Southern Kingdom officials in Nanyang followed their highest-ranking officer, the provincial governor Lu Yun, to inspect agricultural work and personally farm the land to comfort the farmers. Many good fields had been destroyed in the war, so Lu Yun had specially written a memorial to Jianye, asking the court to pay attention to farming matters.
While the young men went to farm, the young ladies were not to be outdone.
After the war, the city needed to recover, and the noble ladies of Nanyang had grown accustomed to helping the common people in recent months. So when Luo Lingyu invited them to help with farming, the ladies giggled, carrying hoes like it was a novel game, and agreed.
But farming was harder than they’d imagined, not as easy as the ladies had thought. Though enthusiastic at first, by midday many had found excuses to leave.
At dusk, Lu Yun came to the field’s edge looking for Luo Lingyu, and saw her among the green seedlings. Like a willow swaying in the wind, she bent to plant seedlings and pack soil, her forehead covered in sweat, the hem of her matched jacket and skirt stained with mud. Outside the field, the other ladies had set up seats and canopies for a feast, watching from afar, none brave enough to return to toil under the sun.
Lu Yun stood between the neat rows of field ridges, his white jade crown binding his hair, wearing a white wide-sleeved robe on top and a crimson skirt below, with a dark inner garment. His jade belt tablet was inserted upward from below at his waist, following the fashion of the era. The young lord stood there, how magnificent and outstanding he looked.
The noble ladies watching from outside the field gazed at him with burning regret. They thought if they had been busy working like Luo Lingyu, Lu Yun would be standing there watching them too.
Nearby, Luo Lingyu tilted her head and asked Lu Yun: “How did your ceremony finish even faster than ours?”
Lu Yun smiled lightly, stepping on her shadow as he followed behind her, watching her brush past clusters of waist-high greenery. He said softly, “It was just for show. Only my dear sister is so sincere as to actually farm.” The court’s role was to guide and supervise, not to have the nobles actually work in the fields planting rice seedlings with the farmers.
Luo Lingyu raised her beautiful eyes, smiling: “I’m just putting on a show too.”
But when she put on shows, she was always very sincere. Lu Yun had long since learned this.
Lu Yun smiled without saying more, but his downcast gaze watching her was full of tenderness. Luo Lingyu was indeed as she said, doing it for a good reputation. No matter how much she did or how many people she helped, there was always a purpose. Feeling she had already worked hard as an example for the day, Luo Lingyu turned to speak with her maid nearby, handing over the hoe, hat and other farming tools, passing on the agricultural work.
With Lu Yun standing beside her, her heart pounded and her cheeks burned, feeling both uncomfortable and delighted. She remembered the vows from that night. She secretly glanced at Lu Yun with her peripheral vision, only to find him looking down at her. When their eyes met, his gaze deepened with amusement as he softly asked—”Will you marry me? Sister, you still haven’t answered me?”
Luo Lingyu turned her head, looking again at the young men and ladies standing in pairs at the edge of the field.
And the farmers and farmwives moving through the fields.
Luo Lingyu gave him a reproachful look: this man… he had already gone to discuss auspicious dates with Lady Luo and the others, yet still insisted on waiting for her answer.
Lu Yun remained quiet, saying self-mockingly: “Until sister agrees herself, I will never feel at ease.”
Luo Lingyu thought for a moment, bent down and looked around the field ridges, picking up a wooden stick from the ground. She stood up, slim-waisted and narrow-shouldered, her skirt trailing the ground, the wooden stick just right for writing in the soil. Holding the stick, she spoke softly to Lu Yun: “Brother Xuechen, look at me.”
So Lu Yun looked.
He saw the lady in white jacket and skirt step backward, stick poking into the soil, writing several characters—”My heart is very small, after marrying you, you may not take concubines. Will you agree?”
Lu Yun looked for a long while, then raised an eyebrow and smiled.
The maid Lingyu stood beside her young mistress, watching as the lady lowered her eyes, smiling but tense. After reading what the young mistress had written, the young lord said nothing but also crouched down to pick up a wooden stick. Standing to Luo Lingyu’s right, Lu Yun stepped back and used the stick to write in the ground—”I agree.”
Lu Yun paused, then wrote: “After becoming my wife, you may not flirt with other young men. Will you agree?”
Luo Lingyu smiled slightly, stepped back again, and wrote: “I agree.”
The maid Lingyu’s eyes widened as she stared intently at Lu Yun and her young mistress stepping backward one by one, their wooden sticks scratching the ground, writing question after question, answering one after another—
“If I do something wrong, when others scold me, you must not.”
“Naturally I will comfort sister first, then scold her.”
Luo Lingyu snorted: “…”
The fresh breeze brushed their faces as he stood one step further back than her. She followed his steps, walking backward again, writing again: “I am very jealous. If I become jealous of other ladies, you must take my side, cannot speak for others, cannot dampen my spirits.”
“Of course. My temper is bad, I often lose my cool, but when sister sees me angry, don’t be upset with me. I don’t mean it, it will pass quickly.”
Luo Lingyu: “You must listen to what I say, don’t always think the worst of me.”
Lu Yun: “And you must not always overthink. Many times I’m not looking down on you, yet you feel I am.”
“When you have worries, you must tell me. I want to share in brother’s matters.”
“Sister must also share her secrets with me.”
“Brother Xuechen must respect me.”
“And I ask Sister Yuier to respect me.”
“Don’t scold me. After I marry into Jianye and become a daughter-in-law of the Lu family, I will be one of your family. I have no power behind me, if you send me away, I wouldn’t know where to go.”
“…That will never happen. I also fear that every time we argue, you say you want to leave me. I cannot bear that.”
“Will brother always be good to me, like me?”
“I know why sister is marrying. But if one day I lose my wealth, will you still stay by my side? Will you betray me, abandon me?”
Luo Lingyu was stunned, her eyes growing moist.
Perhaps her love of wealth and disdain for poverty made him insecure, perhaps he didn’t know she was gradually giving up her old demands for him. She said slowly: “I won’t. I admire brother, whether brother is rich or poor, wielding great power or exiled and destitute, I will never leave brother’s side.”
Lu Yun then said: “My heart is the same as yours.”
The fields stretched endlessly, an expanse of emerald green. The young men and ladies standing outside the field, the maid Lingyu following beside her young mistress and the young lord, and the farmers resting on their tools, they all stared dazedly at Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu. Watching that scene of talent and beauty, the two with flowing sleeves like clouds, jade-like profiles, heads lowered as they wrote. Step by step backward, step by step writing.
The wind rippled through the wheat, green filling their vision. In the space between the field ridges were the questions and answers between man and woman. Who knew how many more could be asked, where the end would be. But the fears in their hearts, the ethereal threads of love, as their eyes met occasionally and their hands and sleeves sometimes brushed, all gradually settled like dust—
That marriage was destined by heaven.
Yet even heaven-destined marriages could go wrong. One must always analyze what’s in the heart, must speak what needs to be said. What cannot be said aloud must be written down. Only then can one be at ease, only then can one be certain of destiny’s marriage bonds.
The maid Lingyu at first just stared wide-eyed, completely shocked. Suddenly she came to her senses and ran off, returning to catch up with the man and woman still backing up and writing, their long sleeves floating. Dense characters were etched in the soil, like secret messages laid bare. The maid held a book and brush, quickly recording the questions and answers between the young lord and lady.
Love notes in the field.
To be passed down as a beautiful story.
…
“Hya—” A fine horse galloped over, with several young men jumping down from it. There were officials from both the Southern and Northern Kingdoms. They wanted to ask Lu Yun again about matters concerning the peace talks between North and South. Just as they were about to call out to him, Lu Xian standing outside the field stopped them. Second Young Master Lu gestured for them not to disturb the couple, gazing dazedly at the setting sun, at that talented young man and beautiful lady exchanging glances full of smiles, so intimate.
He didn’t know that the people who came up behind him followed his gaze to Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu, all pausing in astonishment before falling into an odd silence.
Prince Liu Mu of Hengyang looked at Luo Lingyu, his eyes darkening as he thought: If only I could be like this with Lady Luo… how wonderful that would be.
The Northern Kingdom’s Luoyang Governor who followed behind his superior was also lost in thought: If only Xuexue was really my concubine… how wonderful that would be.
When lovers unite and exceptional beauty finds its match, there will always be others who feel heartache and loss over their union. But that is of no consequence.
…
First came the impromptu proposal, then the vows carved under starlight, and finally the field questions and answers. Only after Lu Yun’s three attempts did he receive Luo Lingyu’s “yes.”
Just as in Lu Xian’s dream, with no one opposing, and Lu Yun unable to wait, after Luo Lingyu gave her reserved nod, the auspicious date was set for mid-third month of the next month. On this day, Lu Yun would marry Lady Luo Lingyu of the Nanyang Luo family.
Zhou Yangling was delighted to see these two marry before her departure; Fan Qingchen, the fourth young master of Nanyang’s Fan family, got drunk and dared not attend the ceremony.
Though they said Nanyang’s conditions were worse than Jianye’s, within his abilities, Lu Yun still gave Luo Lingyu a magnificent wedding feast, satisfying her vanity. This marriage, by twist of fate, drew both Southern and Northern Kingdom officials to attend the ceremony. As the peace talks were going well, the Northern officials also came to congratulate Lu Yun on marrying his bride, bringing generous gifts.
Congratulations and gifts from Jianye also came in endless streams.
Both upper-class nobles and common households were invited, with military and officials all receiving favor and coming specially to congratulate. Lu Yun’s reputation in Nanyang soared, and Lady Luo also had quite a good name. This marriage of golden boy and jade girl became a beautiful story passed down among the common people. The wedding was luxurious and grand beyond imagination.
From nightfall to dawn to dusk, music played and fruits and delicacies arrived in endless streams.
At dusk, Lu Yun donned his wedding clothes and went to the Luo family to receive his bride. Luo Lingyu’s elder cousin Luo Yan personally carried the lady out on his back and handed her to Lu Yun. Then they mounted the carriage and toured around Nanyang city. The young lord and lady together received the spectators’ blessings, with the carriage getting stuck several times unable to move forward.
Some women called out: “Young lord, young lord…”
And some men lamented: “How could Lady Luo be married already…”
Stop and go along the way, people followed on the road, receiving scattered gold and silver treats. The Lu family’s great wealth made the common people overcome with joy. After a full hour, Lu Yun finally brought Luo Lingyu from the Luo family to the temporary Lu residence, originally just two alleys away.
With no elders present, Lu Xian guided the newlywed couple. Under the ceremonial officer’s chanting, they first bowed to heaven and earth, then turned to bow to their parents’ empty tablets. With no Lu family elders present, the Nanyang Luo family elders watching from the side had reddened eyes, sighing that both young people had no parents. Finally, Lu Yun and Luo Lingyu solemnly bowed to each other.
When they raised their heads, Lu Yun only saw dazzling splendor, while across from him a fan covered her face, revealing only the lady’s smiling eyes.
Under everyone’s witness, they knelt to perform the ritual of sharing the ceremonial cup. A red silk thread tied their hands together. After the ceremony, Lu Yun led the fan-holding lady to the bridal chamber in the back. The witnesses following the couple still lingered reluctantly, wanting to follow. In the Southern Kingdom at this time, it was customary to tease the newlyweds, and with Luo Lingyu being such a beauty, who wouldn’t want to enter the bridal chamber to see the new bride?
However, the newly married young lord was really stingy. They had just left the main hall when military soldiers stepped out to block people with stern faces, not allowing guests to go tease the new bride in the bridal chamber.
More arguments followed.
Then persuasion.
By the time things settled and the bridal chamber quieted, another hour had passed. In the silent room, Luo Lingyu’s hand ached, and feeling there was no more movement, she lowered her fan only to see Lu Yun sitting beside her watching her, his eyes blazing. In the quiet, strangely, both felt shy.
Luo Lingyu’s heart trembled as she watched Lu Yun look away, pour a cup of wine, and stand to walk over to where she sat on the couch. As he bent to hand her the wine, he saw Luo Lingyu pause slightly, a hint of craftiness appearing in her eyes.
Luo Lingyu took his hand, looked up and smiled at him: “Thank you, husband.”
Her sweet call of “husband” made Lu Yun’s heart burn. But Lu Yun glanced at her, feeling her “thank you” sounded strange. He tilted his head: “What are you thanking me for?”
Luo Lingyu: “That day when I prayed to Buddha and Bodhisattva, I was frantically running around like a headless fly. I made a wish to marry a good husband, but husband scolded me, saying instead of praying to Bodhisattva, I should pray to you. Husband berated me terribly then, saying particularly harsh words.”
Lu Yun’s lips curved in a smile as he lounged elegantly on the couch, like a jade mountain tilting. He smiled and said: “Was I really that mean to you? I don’t remember.”
Luo Lingyu smiled, standing up and draining the wine he had handed her in one gulp before replying cleverly: “You were just that mean… but I still want to thank husband for letting me marry a good man.”
Lu Yun pulled her into his arms, lightly sniffing her neck as he teased in a hoarse voice: “Oh… so who is this good husband? Who is Yingying praising?”
“You… you know very well!”
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