Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As soon as Liu Yi’s wedding concluded, a governess from the palace arrived at the doorstep.

Liu Rong could no longer enjoy a good night’s sleep. Every morning, she rose early to balance a bowl on her head and tie ropes around her legs. Every movement-sitting, standing, walking, or lying down-was governed by strict rules.

Liu Tai was baffled. “Training different women to look exactly the same… Forget the Emperor or the Princes, even I find it incredibly dull.”

Liu Rong collapsed onto Liu Tai’s bed, exhausted. “Who knows? Third Sister, I don’t want to get married at all. They always say Father dotes on me the most, but it turns out this ‘doting’ means choosing the most exhausting marriage possible!”

Liu Tai couldn’t help but ponder. If even the most beloved daughter’s marriage was like this, what about her?

She calculated silently. Since she was bound to be miserable no matter who she married, why couldn’t she choose for herself?

She made up her mind: she would not let Liu Chengshan choose for her.

On the day of Liu Rong’s wedding, the weather was bleak.

Concubine Yang said nothing, but the panic in her eyes was impossible to hide. She was terrified that the gloomy sky was an omen for her daughter’s future.

The royal procession was grand and majestic, yet as Liu Rong’s biological mother, she still lacked the status to see her daughter off.

That night, just as Liu Tai had removed her hairpins and was preparing to rest, Concubine Yang knocked on her door.

She asked meticulously about every detail of the day, from how many times Liu Rong had kowtowed to who had come to receive the bride.

Liu Tai answered everything with patience.

“Good child, your second sister always praised you to me. You truly are a good one. Before she left, she told me to look after you as best I could. Don’t be a stranger; if you’re ever short on food or supplies, just come and tell me.”

The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were long and thin. Though she had a straightforward personality, her smile was exceptionally gentle. “My life… I suppose you could say it’s been good, and you could say it’s been bad. At least I have a son. No matter how crazed Zhou Mengxian gets, she has to show some respect for the boy’s sake and doesn’t dare make things too difficult.”

She wiped a tear from her eye.

“I’ve lived a whole lifetime, and I might look dignified on the outside, but I haven’t lived like a human being.

“Look at me, why am I telling all this to an unmarried girl like you?”

After Concubine Yang left, Liu Tai’s heart remained unsettled for a long time.

She thought that despite her young age, she understood exactly what Concubine Yang meant.

Because she, too, desperately wanted to be a human being.

So, the next day, she climbed onto the top of the wall.

There was a pear tree in the courtyard. It was early autumn, and the tree was heavy with fruit.

Dressed in green, she sat with her legs dangling, picking a pear and wiping it on her clothes before taking a bite.

Outside the wall was an alleyway with few passersby.

Liu Tai waited patiently. If she didn’t find someone in one day, she would wait two. Eventually, she would find someone who was easy on the eyes. She was going to pick her own husband.

As long as he looked good, that was enough.

As for everything else, she didn’t care.

If he were a dragon, they would soar to the heavens together; if he were a mouse, they would dig holes together.

How hard could it be?

Anything was better than whatever her father would choose.

As she mused, the sun rose higher.

A man, also dressed in a green robe, stopped by the wall. He looked up and asked, “Young lady, are you waiting for someone?”

Liu Tai looked down and saw a handsome face with elegant brows and phoenix eyes. He had a noble look about him, yet he wore a roguish grin, as if he found her amusing.

“Yes,” Liu Tai said, tossing down her silk pouch with a smile. “I’m waiting for you.”

Liu Tai had knelt in the Ancestral Hall for three years, and the fire in her heart had burned for just as long. Now, that fire finally erupted from her body, scorching the entire Liu Clan.

Setting this fire brought her immense satisfaction.

The man looked at the pouch in his hand, embroidered with mandarin ducks playing in the water. The implication was self-evident.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll ruin your reputation?”

“I am.”

“Then why throw this to me?”

“You’re easy on the eyes.”

“Fair enough.”

“Come and marry me. Bring this pouch, and my father will agree.”

The man was stunned. “So this isn’t a silk pouch, it’s a hot potato.”

Liu Tai laughed. “Are you afraid, or do you not like me?”

“I was afraid before, but now I’m brave. And I didn’t like you before, but now I do.

“Only, do you know who I am?”

“Does it matter? Whether your name is Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, or Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang, it won’t change your face. My sisters didn’t know what kind of monster they were marrying until they lifted their bridal veil. I’m much better off than them.”

“Then don’t regret it when I come to propose.”

Liu Tai laughed aloud. “I won’t. As long as you come, I’ll crawl out to marry you even if my legs are broken.”

The man gripped the pouch and smiled. “How old are you?”

“Nearly eighteen.”

“So young, yet so bold.”

Liu Tai thought to herself: *I was bold enough to reach for a white silk noose at fourteen.* Perhaps some people were born with a nature that could never be crushed, no matter how hard one tried. The string was held by the Heavens. And the Heavens were greater than her father, greater even than the Emperor.

The man added:

“No, it’s precisely because you’re young that you’re so bold.

“What is your name?”

“Liu Tai. There’s a poem that goes: ‘The moss flower is as small as a grain of rice, yet it learns to bloom like a peony.'”

Liu Tai had come to terms with it later. Regardless of why Madame Zhou had given her this name, since it was hers, she would find her own good meaning in it.

“And you? What is your name?”

“He Yuan.”

He Yuan. Liu Tai pondered. That name sounded familiar.

Oh! He was that famous man in the capital who was fated to kill his wife!

In her sudden panic, one of her shoes fell off.

He Yuan picked up the shoe and looked up at her with a grin. “Is your horoscope strong enough to survive me?”