chapter 3
Gu Nianwu had begun as a common soldier under my father. Seeing his extraordinary courage and sound judgment, Father promoted him steadily until he became a commandant.
The year before last, the old emperor died and a new emperor ascended the throne.
When the new emperor announced that he meant to choose a husband for me, Gu Nianwu dropped to his knees before anyone else could speak.
“Old General Yang’s dying wish was that this soldier become his son-in-law. I beg Your Majesty to fulfill the old general’s wish.”
Old General Yang was my hopelessly lovestruck father.
Gu Nianwu even produced a letter in Father’s name, and the handwriting was a convincing imitation.
High upon the dais, the new emperor’s face went pale, then paler still. His lips trembled and trembled before he finally gave his consent.
I received the decree and thanked him for his grace.
In private, I rounded on Gu Nianwu. “That was not my father’s handwriting. Deceiving the sovereign is a capital offense. How dare you!”
“Do you know whom His Majesty meant you to marry?”
I did not.
It could have been anyone: the Marquis of Rui, who was past sixty; the chancellor’s son, Young Master Li, a notorious rake with a taste for men; or the imperial censor’s second son, who was built like a black bear.
His Majesty’s true aim was to strip me of command.
He intended to take back my military authority on the grounds that a married woman ought to concern herself with managing her household.
Once the imperial edict was issued, there would have been no room to alter it.
I felt only a soldier’s affection for Gu Nianwu, but affection it was. He seemed a decent man, and he was easy on the eyes.
Better to marry someone I knew than a stranger of the emperor’s choosing. And so I did not expose him before the court.
I married into the Gu household.
Along with me came the immense fortune my mother had left behind, as well as my father’s advisers and household troops.
On our wedding night, Gu Nianwu bared his heart to the heavens, then said,
“Do not worry. If you are unwilling, I will never force you.”
“From now on, the Gu residence is your home. Within it, you are free.”
He was gentle and considerate, and he observed every propriety.
Everyone said that in marrying me, General Gu had married a mountain of gold, so naturally he would worship his wife accordingly.
But what I had brought him was far more than gold.
In the autumn of the year before last, Gu Nianwu led forty thousand troops straight to the front. Outnumbered, he seized Penggu Pass in what history would call the Great Victory of Penggu Pass.
At twenty-four, he was appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry, ranked among the Three Excellencies, with a title his descendants could inherit.
Everyone praised him as a young genius. No one knew that I, a thousand miles away, had summoned ten thousand ghosts and secretly helped him win that battle.
Now Gu Nianwu commanded a great army. At court he stood at the head of the military officials, and his every word carried weight. The emperor valued him; the common people adored him.
He had everything.
He had even found the love of his life. All he needed to do was drive me away, and henceforth he could live in bliss with his cherished wife beside him.
If Du Yiyi bore him a son, the boy could inherit his title.
So in the end, all my labor had merely embroidered another woman’s wedding gown.
Gu Nianwu glared at me and threatened,
“Xuanyuan Xiang, I have always treated you well. Do not go too far!”