CH 4

Lou Jing looked at the elegant hand moving toward him, and he suddenly had a childish desire to know whether it still felt like a little rabbit bun. As such, he took hold of that hand before it had fully extended.

Xiao Chengjun froze for a second, then closed his fingers around Lou Jing’s hand. Was his Consort actually feeling nervous? 

The hand in Lou Jing’s was warm and dry, very different from the little rabbit bun hand he remembered. The hand was still soft, but it was the spongy softness of a cake rather than the pillowy softness of a rabbit bun. Lou Jing was satisfied nonetheless, and let Xiao Chengjun pull him forward. However, the moment Lou Jing put a foot forward, needle-like pain radiated from his thighs. Lou Jing had to grit his teeth and walk a few steps before the medicine finally took effect.

Actually, there wasn’t really anything special about the Crown Prince’s hands. They were strong and slender, with a clearly defined bone structure, very much like any other scholar’s hand. They were only looked special to Lou Jing because the usual hands he came into contact with were the hands of soldiers, which were obviously very different from the Crown Prince’s scholarly one. As the Crown Prince’s hands usually held ink brushes, and not swords, it looked far more soft and delicate than what Lou Jing was used to seeing.

The road the wedding couple had to walk from the Eastern Palace to Mingde Hall was carpeted in long swaths of red silk so their brocade boots would not come into contact with dust and dirt. As the sun set in the west, the sky slowly darkened. The Imperial family’s honour guard, the Yulin Troops, held torches in their hands and stood at regular intervals on each side of the red silk carpet. In the darkness, the torches looked like a river of bright stars, flowing toward the Heavenly Palace. The sound of drums, harps, flutes and sheng* filled the air; the musicians formed part of the wedding entourage, along with a small detachment of the honour guard. The scene had an elegant, solemn air to it.

*T/N: A Chinese musical instrument. Have a look at its Wikipedia page.

The leader of the wedding entourage wondered why the Crown Prince was walking so slowly. Did he not know that the Emperor, the Empress and a hundred Imperial Court officials were all waiting for them in Mingde Hall? No one dared to say anything, however, and could only follow the Crown Prince’s creeping pace. 

Xiao Chengjun’s slow speed was deliberate. When he first supported Lou Jing as he got off the wedding sedan, he noticed that Lou Jing’s hand had trembled very slightly, almost imperceptibly; Lou Jing was obviously still injured, and couldn’t walk very well. They moved so slowly that the wedding march had to be played twice before they finally reached the jade stairs leading up to Mingde Hall.

The jade stairs were made up of seven sets of seven steps each, a total of forty-nine steps, and they were covered in a red carpet. A carved stone dragon sculpture sat grandly in the middle of the staircase, splitting them into two separate staircases, one on the left, and one on the right. Xiao Chengjun released the hand that was holding Lou Jing, and moved to support his elbow instead.

Lou Jing paused, surprised. The Crown Prince was clearly being considerate toward him – could it be that Xiao Chengjun had realized he was injured? As he thought this, he turned his head reflexively to look at the Crown Prince, but could not see anything as his head was still covered by the red veil. Xiao Chengjun paid no heed and moved forward steadily. 

After ascending the jade stairs, they stepped over the brazier*, crossed the high threshold, and finally entered Mingde Hall.

*T/N: In a traditional Chinese wedding, the bride has to step over a brazier of burning coals.

Mingde Hall was usually used as the Crown Prince’s office. It was where he discussed official matters with his Eastern Palace officials. It had a wide hall, and had red pillars adorned with carved dragons at the sides. The Emperor, the Empress and all the Imperial Court officials were already present, waiting patiently for the wedding couple’s arrival. The Emperor was resplendent in a golden dragon robe with a tianguan* on his head; the male Empress was equally so in a golden phoenix robe and a tianyiguan* in his hair. They both sat ramrod straight on the throne, and watched as the Crown Prince walked in regally with his Consort-to-be. Upon their arrival, the officials all sank to their knees and kowtowed as one.

*T/N: These are the metal hair thingies they wear in their hair on top of their heads.

The royal wedding etiquette was a little complex; whilst the average person only needed to kowtow three times, once to heaven, to earth and to each other, the Crown Prince and his Consort had to kowtow four times. Once to heaven and earth, twice to the Emperor, thrice to the gaotang*, and finally to each other.

*T/N: Gaotang means high hall. It sort of means to pay respects to the position that they occupy, I think. I might be wrong.

Kneeling down and getting up was something most people did without a second thought, but to Lou Jing, it was pure torture. His injuries were concentrated on his thighs and back, and these were exactly the muscles exercised when kowtowing. More importantly, every time he kowtowed, he had to remain kneeling for long periods of time whilst the wedding officiator chanted endless formulaic phrases. The medicine’s effect was fast vanishing as time wore on.

“The couple will now kowtow to each other!” the officiator’s bright voice said, resonating through the hall. Lou Jing kowtowed slowly as instructed. When he came up into an upright kneeling position again, he suddenly felt dizzy, and his body swayed involuntarily. Cold sweat erupted all over his body, and no matter how he tried, he was unable to keep his body straight – his muscles simply refused to do what he told them to do, and it seemed that he would certainly topple toward the ground. At that moment, a warm hand quickly reached out to support his arm and surreptitiously pulled him up.

The hand was soft and warm – the Crown Prince hand. Lou Jing was very grateful, but could not say anything whilst they were in the midst of the ceremony; he could only gently pinch the palm of that hand in thanks.

Xiao Chengjun noticed his newly minted Consort’s gesture of appreciation. Some warmth crept into his solemn, dignified face, and he returned the gesture, gently pinching Lou Jing’s hand back. After this last kowtow, the two stood shoulder-to-shoulder, and all the officials knelt to pay tribute to the newly married royal couple. “The Imperial Court congratulates the Crown Prince on his marriage to his Consort! May this wedding be a blessing to the Yimian clan*…” they intoned as one.

*T/N: This Imperial family apparently hails from the Yimian clan.

Although the kowtowing was done, Lou Jing’s suffering was not at an end; he still had to walk from Mingde Hall to Bafeng Hall, the sleeping quarters of the Crown Prince’s Consort. It was not possible to be carried by sedan for this route, and he had to physically walk there with Xiao Chengjun on his own two feet.

The medicine’s effects had entirely disappeared by this point. Every step Lou Jing took felt like a knife through his body. Cold sweat dripped from his clammy forehead, and bright dots swam in front of his eyes. As the Crown Prince’s Consort was a man, the Quanfuren* only sent them to the wedding bedchamber, and left the newly married couple to drink the ceremonial wine on their own.

*T/N: Some fellow involved in the wedding ceremony. There are too many actors in the Imperial ceremony – I’m lost. Quanfuren loosely translates into Auspicious Person.

The door closed behind the Quanfuren, and Xiao Chengjun raised a hand to unveil his bride. Before he could do so, Lou Jing collapsed straight into him, and he caught Lou Jing in his arms reflexively. The red bridal veil fluttered onto the ground, revealing a strikingly beautiful face that was as presently white as sheet.

Xiao Chengjun was stunned when he saw Lou Jing’s face. He suddenly thought back on the words on the slip of paper he burned. “Lou Jing, courtesy name Zhuoyu*, deemed to have come of age at fifteen, an exquisite beauty…” It was now that he knew what “exquisite beauty” truly meant. Clean and flawless as polished jade in clear spring, effortlessly beautiful as a pine tree rustling in the wind.*

*T/N: Zhuoyu means “washed jade”.

*T/N: This part is a poetic phrase that does not translate to English at all. I’ve just tried to capture the feeling it evokes. The direct translation of the phrase is: “A washed jade in a spring, clear and flawless, rustling like a pine in the wind, eyes are closed, like a jade mountain about to collapse.” The poem uses the words “zhuo” and “yu”, which form Lou Jing’s courtesy name.

He now had a better understanding as to why the Empress had been so insistent that Lou Jing be his Consort. His father, the Emperor, was not fond of men, and favoured only his Guifei, which made it intensely difficult for the Empress to lead the hougong. The consequence of this was that there was a power imbalance in the Chunde Emperor’s the hougong, making it inherently unstable. The Empress had probably chosen Lou Jing his stunning face in the hopes that Xiao Chengjun would develop real feelings for him. Lou Jing’s connection to the powerful Anguo Gong military peerage was merely secondary.

Xiao Chengjun gave a small sigh and returned his attention to the present. He picked Lou Jing up in his arms and carried him to the bed, setting him down gently. After observing him for a moment, he turned and filled the small wine cups on the table with wedding wine. 

When Lou Jing entered the room earlier, he was already at his limit. The moment he heard the door close, all the tense muscles in his body immediately gave out, and everything went black. When he opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was an apricot-orange robe covered in a red silk over-robe. The person wearing these robes was observing him silently with a green jade wine cup in his hand. This man’s face was no longer the tender, childlike face he remembered; the person in front of him reminded him of a calm moon in a dark night, elegant, dignified and handsome. The only thing that remained the same were his ebony black eyes.

“I beg Dianxia’s forgiveness. This subject has acted improperly towards you,” Lou Jing said, sitting up quickly. The motion pulled at all his wounds and he grunted involuntarily in pain.

“No matter,” Xiao Chengjun said. His voice was deep and resonant, and had the ability to immediately make one feel at ease. “You can rest after we’ve exchanged cups of wedding wine as required. I have to go to the wedding banquet now. We can talk later.”

As if to confirm what the Crown Prince had just said, an eunuch knocked at the door and said, “Dianxia, the wedding banquet has begun.”

Lou Jing half knelt on the bed and accepted the small wine cup. The wedding wine cups used in regular weddings were made of gourds, which symbolized the harmony between husband and wife. These were large and inelegant; the ones used by the royal family were instead made of green jade carved into the shape of small gourds, and were very aesthetically pleasing. They both held the wine cups respectfully with two hands, bowed slightly to each other, then drank the wine in the cup.

*T/N: Honestly I’m not 100% if I translated all of this para correctly, the Chinese was too difficult. But what you need to get out of this is that they use an expensive jade version of the wedding gourd cup thingy, and they have drunk the wedding wine, so they’re husband and wife (husband and husband?) now.

Xiao Chengjun didn’t say anything more. He put down the wine cup and turned to leave. “Guard the residence well. Don’t let anyone come in and disturb my Consort,” he instructed the guards and palace staff stationed outside.

“Understood,” they replied in unison. Having ensured Lou Jing’s privacy, he left to go to the banquet hall, and things at the Crown Prince Consort’s residence were quiet once more.

The banquet had already begun. The lively music filtered into the room from afar, which made Lou Jing’s quarters seem even more quiet and lonely. Lou Jing looked at Xiao Chengjun’s retreating back, somewhat bemused. From the looks of it, the Crown Prince knew that his father had beaten him. If so, how was it that the Emperor was still in the dark about this?

Whilst Lou Jing did not have a high opinion of his father’s methods, there was one thing he and his father were agreed on – that if the Emperor knew that he had been beaten for disagreeing with the marriage to the Crown Prince,  there would be consequences for the whole Lou family. The Empress, who had given up a chance to promote his nephew in favour of selecting Lou Jing as the Crown Prince’s Consort, would certainly also not hold Lou Jing in high regard moving forward. Becoming the Crown Prince’s Consort was technically a matter of high honour. If word were to spread that Lou Jing had been dissatisfied with this marriage, he would certainly be seen as an overly ambitious ingrate. 

We can talk later. Lou Jing suddenly recalled what the Crown Prince had said before leaving the room. What did Xiao Chengjun want to speak to him about?

Lou Jing furrowed his brows, looking at the dragon-phoenix candles* burning brightly in their bronze holders. The wedding date had been set with such urgency that the Eastern Palace should not have had enough time to prepare his quarters. However, looking at the interior of the Bafeng palace, everything was in order. The carved pillars were spotless, the room was beautifully ornamented, and not even a single bead was missing from the beaded curtains. A thought suddenly entered Lou Jing’s head, and he suddenly opened his eyes, feeling as if he had been struck by lightning.

*T/N: Aha, finally something I know! Dragon-phoenix candles are special candles used on the wedding day. They are lit in the wedding bedchamber throughout the night. Modern Chinese still buy these today as part of the bride’s dowry, but I’ve not heard of anyone actually lighting them.

How was it that the Crown Prince could execute perfectly the wedding preparations that the Emperor had muddled? How was it that the Crown Prince knew that he had been beaten, but the Emperor didn’t?

From the moment Lou Jing stepped into the Eastern Palace, Xiao Chengjun had treated him well, but at the same time, it seemed that he was discreetly showing off his abilities to Lou Jing. If Lou Jing was smart enough, he would get it, and be his ally; if he were not, then Xiao Chengjun could easily control him nonetheless, since he knew that Lou Jing had committed the transgressions of deceiving the Emperor and being dissatisfied with this marriage! Lou Jing’s lips, which were pressed together in a thin line, curved upward slowly. He pulled a large scarlet pillow toward him and lay chest down on it in a comfortable position. Conspiring with a tiger for its skin was dangerous, but was certainly better than being dragged down by a stupid pig.*

*T/N: Basically, Lou Jing is pleased that, contrary to the rumours, Xiao Chengjun is actually a clever person, even though it also means that he is dangerous. 

The moon hung high in the sky when Xiao Chengjun re-entered Bafeng Hall in a slightly inebriated state. His eyes swept the room and fell upon his Consort, who was happily nestled between the red silk blankets, sleeping like a log. The Crown Prince couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. Lou Jing seemed completely oblivious in the face of danger.* Was this fellow such a master strategist that even dire situations like this didn’t faze him, or did he just have a screw loose in his head?

*T/N: The actual phrase used by the author is hilarious, and it translates into: If the sky were falling, he would treat the falling sky as a blanket to sleep in. (⁀ᗢ⁀)

Beansprout: Yasss they are finally together! Idk about you, but I am certainly as relieved as Lou Jing that the wedding is over. Translating it was soooo hard!