Chapter 37

Chapter 37

I had guessed Lord Rat’s identity that day because I had investigated his past. He first gained fame as a king of thieves in Southern Xu. But even the most formidable man becomes a speck of dust when his country collapses. His entire family died in the Northern Qian invasion. Through theft and flight, he managed to escape with his young daughter. When northerners began massacring the city, he had nowhere left to turn and sought an old acquaintance – Hengchuan.

Before the war, Hengchuan had been an ordinary Northern Qian soldier. Too poor to pay for his mother’s treatment, he once knelt outside a physician’s door and wept. Lord Rat still possessed something of the chivalrous outlaw then, robbing the rich to aid the poor. He gave Hengchuan money and, pitying him further, introduced him to southerners with whom he could trade. Hengchuan had sworn, “I will never forget my benefactor’s great kindness as long as I live.”

Never forget, indeed.

When Lord Rat later sought refuge with him, Hengchuan made every arrangement. Then, in the middle of the night, he stabbed him. Lord Rat’s small size kept the blade from striking anything vital, and he escaped using every scrap of martial skill he possessed. But he could not take his daughter. Her body was cast out later. Before she died, that beast had violated her.

That was where my dossier ended. When Lord Rat appeared again, he had become a brutal thief king who slaughtered without mercy. Reading it, I had wondered why Hengchuan – by then commander of the palace guard, with both men and authority – had not hunted Lord Rat relentlessly and ended a feud that could only finish with one of them dead. Now I understood. It was not that Hengchuan had failed to try. Naihe’s faction had already rescued Lord Rat.

Lord Rat squinted at me with a smile. “Do you know how the Heavenly Venerable answered Us?”

Before I could respond, a voice came from the doorway.

“If heaven’s law is blind, then I shall be heaven’s law.”

Qin Liuyuan entered carrying the bridal crown. He had always been a refined, astute middle-aged man. For the first time, I saw in his eyes the same fervor as the ordinary believers.

“Does the princess not believe in heaven’s law? I do. Heaven moves in cycles. When life is trampled and the world lies wounded, heaven sends one chosen by destiny to restore all things to their proper course and ensure good and evil receive their due.” He smiled faintly. “The Heavenly Venerable is the one who will give justice to the people of Southern Xu. He is heaven’s law.”

I had guessed correctly. The Primordial Origin Faith’s teachings about following heaven concealed something even bloodier and more violent.

Revenge.

Revenge for every insignificant commoner.

Revenge for Southern Xu, trampled and wounded.

Lord Rat and the followers of the Primordial Origin Faith were all ordinary people driven beyond hope by suffering. Their pain had stripped away belief in future lives, cause and consequence, or the eventual reward of good and evil. They wanted revenge now. A tooth for a tooth. An eye for an eye.

Qin Liuyuan seemed to realize he had lost composure. Setting down the crown, he changed the subject. “The wedding has been arranged in haste, and a suitable bridal crown was difficult to find. This Lotus-and-Chasing-Clouds Crown is an antique treasured by Lord Rat. Craftsmen restored it. Does the princess find it pleasing?”

Lord Rat wiped away his tears and smiled. “Don’t dislike it. This wasn’t stolen. We prepared it long ago for Our little girl. Isn’t the bride’s family supposed to provide the crown? A pity she has no use for it in this life…”

My nose stung. Had Grandfather once prepared a bridal crown for me too?

I asked no more questions. I merely smiled. “I feared you might object to me. After all, this is my second marriage.”

My second marriage.

The thought remained with me as I walked toward Naihe in phoenix crown and wedding robes.

What I had shared with Chen Dong amounted to an illicit union without matchmaker or vows, and we had long since become enemies. My marriage to Danchi had been little more than combat between political foes. Even my investiture as empress had never been properly conducted because Northern Qian ritual was so crude.

This moment was the first time I had truly become a bride.

Naihe waited in his wedding robes, smiling quietly at me. He was many years younger, but so beautiful. Even the ideal husband in my distant girlish dreams could not have looked better.

His face was a bright moon, his bearing clear and grave, his eyes full of laughter – and full of me.

“First bow to heaven and earth, with all gods as witness, and pledge white hair together.”

If you do not fail me, then I will belong to you for this life.

“Second bow to the honored elders, joining two families in a blessed union.”

I had asked Naihe whether any elder besides his master still lived. He always said he would tell me everything after the wedding. For now, we could only bow toward empty space. I hoped my dead family received the rite somewhere beyond the mortal world.
A tremendous crash suddenly sounded, followed by shoving and angry voices. I turned and saw Zheng Long force his way inside. Bare-chested with a thorn switch strapped to his back, he dropped to his knees below the hall and cried, “My lord!”

My lord?

I stared at Naihe in astonishment. He glanced back once, then said quietly to me, “Xihe, only the final bow remains.”

Zheng Long crawled forward on his knees and kowtowed heavily. “My lord, that bastard Chen Dong launched a surprise attack on Linbei. Helan has been captured! This subject failed. Please save him!”

He struck his forehead so hard that blood seeped onto the wedding-hall floor, shockingly bright.

What did any of this mean?

My thoughts in chaos, I seized Naihe’s arm. “Why does he call you his lord? What is your relationship with Linbei?”

The sudden intrusion threw the hall into disorder. Qin Liuyuan said urgently, “Heavenly Venerable, we are not far from Linbei and may be in danger. Should we leave first?”

Naihe alone remained clear-headed amid the turmoil. Looking only at me, he said, “Xihe, let us finish the wedding.”

“How can I marry you when I do not even know who you are?”

“Finish the rite, and I will tell you.”

“It is an empty ceremony! Is it truly so important?”

“More important than anything.”

As we faced each other, Zheng Long shouted again, “What did Helan tell you? Hurry!”

Only then did I notice Youchun had arrived.

She stood holding something, drenched in sweat as though pulled from water. Tears filled her eyes, and she sobbed so violently her whole body convulsed. We had spent ten years together, and I had never seen her like this.

“Youchun.” I regarded her uncertainly. “What have you come to tell me?”

I sensed an enormous, bottomless secret about to be torn open before my eyes. I was almost afraid.

Under everyone’s gaze, Youchun bowed her head as if it weighed a thousand catties. She raised what she carried and said in a trembling voice, “I came to bring the princess her bridal crown. I wish the princess… joy in her marriage.”

The wrapping opened, and the room fell silent.

Evening light struck the exquisite crown. Nine phoenixes flew among peonies, shimmering with brilliance. The rare treasure left everyone speechless.

I was equally stunned. It was Zhiqiu’s bridal crown, made with the full wealth and effort of the Helan family for her marriage to my brother. Its form and beauty had been unrivaled. How could it still exist? And why had Helan sent it now?

I started toward it, but Naihe repeated beside me, “Xihe, only the final bow remains.”

Only then did I see that his eyes had reddened. Like a child who had suffered endless wrongs, he still held up his head and forced himself to smile.

My heart ached. I stopped and said to Youchun, “I already have a bridal crown. If you have anything else to tell me, wait until the wedding is finished.”

“Husband and wife bow to one another, completing the joyous rite. As husband and wife, share joy and sorrow; companions for a hundred years, friends beyond the Yellow Springs.”

Naihe and I faced each other and bowed deeply.

A wedding was also a covenant. Last came two cups of wine mingled with blood. I tipped mine back and drained it. When I lowered the cup, Naihe had not yet finished. A tear slid slowly down his cheek.

The rite was complete.

Everyone crowded around, asking what should happen next. Naihe merely stared at me. Then, without sound, he formed the words:

“Xihe, forgive me.”

No one would have believed that on our wedding day, in a voice only the two of us could hear, he said:

“Xihe, forgive me.”

I was about to approach when an arrow flew toward us.

It was a Northern Qian fletched arrow.

We were near Linbei. If Linbei had been ambushed, this place was unsafe too. Lord Rat immediately moved in front of Naihe. “Heavenly Venerable, this place is dangerous. We must go!”

“We cannot. If we leave, the nearby followers will be massacred.”

Naihe ordered, “Uncle Qin, take Xihe to the Linglong Tower. Every member of the Primordial Origin Faith will defend beneath it.”

“Yes.”

“Zheng Long, come with me.”

Before mounting, Naihe gripped my hand. “Wait for me.”

It was no time for questions. I nodded. “Be careful.”