Chapter 281: Chu Yi Marries the Princess Consort
Time flew by, and it was already the end of February.
Spring arrived early this year, with tree branches sprouting new leaves and winter jasmine blooming and swaying in the spring breeze.
Yun Chu had barely slept all night. She had just dozed off when someone shook her awake.
"Chu'er, don't sleep anymore. Get up quickly."
Seeing Yun Chu roll over and bury herself in the quilt, Lin Shi had no choice but to pull the covers away.
"Today is your wedding day. Don't miss the auspicious hour. Ting Xue, Ting Feng, help your mistress up."
The two maids stepped forward, supporting Yun Chu from both sides to sit her up.
Yun Chu struggled to open her eyes.
Last night, some women from the clan had come to keep her company, sharing advice on marital relationships and chatting until nearly midnight.
Although she had been married once before, that didn't mean she had experience. She still felt nervous and couldn't sleep.
She thought about many, many things—events from her previous life, occurrences in this lifetime—all flashing through her mind like a revolving lantern...
Sitting before the mirror, two blessed wedding attendants styled her hair and applied her makeup, continuously offering celebratory phrases.
By the time the bridal makeup was complete, she was almost fully awake. With the attendants' assistance, she put on the intricate and elaborate wedding dress.
This wedding dress was completely different from the one six years ago.
Back then, she had married beneath her station. To save face for the Xie family, the wedding dress had been embroidered according to the standards of a modest household, lacking grandeur.
But this one... Due to the rushed nature of the wedding, the Ministry of Rites had arranged embroiderers to work alongside the Yun family's seamstresses. A hundred embroiderers had completed this exquisite and magnificent wedding dress in just a month and a half.
The entire dress was covered in gold and silver threads, with patterns of mandarin ducks, hundreds of flowers, double happiness characters, and intertwining branches... all symbolizing a harmonious union and everlasting happiness.
"So beautiful!" the wedding attendant couldn't help but exclaim. "Wearing this, even the title of the capital's number one beauty seems inadequate for you."
By this time, the sky had brightened.
Women from the Yun family came in one after another to present Yun Chu with wedding gifts.
Most offered a bolt of cloth, a hairpin, or a bracelet—just a token of goodwill.
Yun Ran, who had already married, also returned. She had specially prepared gifts for her elder sister, including a set of head ornaments and a red bellyband she had embroidered herself for Yun Chu.
Yun Chu smiled and asked, "How have you been lately?"
Yun Ran leaned close to Yun Chu's ear and whispered shyly, "The physician examined me a few days ago. I'm pregnant, just over a month along. My husband said not to tell anyone before three months, so I've only told Mother and you. Please keep it a secret."
Seeing her younger sister's expression—her smile radiant with joy—Yun Chu could tell that even after more than four months of marriage, she still wore such a happy expression. It was clear the Dai family treated her well.
She had given her younger sister a completely new and happy marriage.
Perhaps she could be happy too.
As everyone was chatting with Yun Chu, firecrackers were heard from the front courtyard.
Yun Chu knew—Chu Yi had arrived.
The Yun residence was already filled with guests, and many more were arriving continuously. Carriages and horses were clogging the streets, but the servants kept clearing the way, ensuring the wedding procession could proceed without hindrance.
The sound of firecrackers echoed repeatedly.
Drums and gongs clamored loudly.
Chu Yi, dressed in red groom's attire, dismounted from his tall horse adorned with a large red flower.
At the entrance of the Yun residence, besides the guests, stood the men of the Yun family. Led by Yun Ze, seven or eight Yun brothers completely blocked the main gate.This was a wedding custom in the capital: when the groom came to fetch the bride, the bride's brothers had to pose challenges to test him before he could take the bride away.
After the matchmaker had spoken a few auspicious words, Chu Yi stepped forward, cupping his hands respectfully. "Lord Yun, I await your instruction."
Yun Ze stood on the steps, hands clasped behind his back. "The Yun family's test is divided into literary and martial arts. Which does Your Highness choose?"
Chu Yi gave a slight nod. "Literary."
Yun Ze was momentarily taken aback.
Six years ago, on the day Chu'er married Xie Jingyu, he had asked the same question, and Xie Jingyu had also chosen the literary test.
The same answer, yet it reflected two completely different personalities.
Xie Jingyu was well-read, so his choice of the literary test was hardly surprising.
Prince Pingxi was a military general, yet he too had chosen the literary test...
"Very well, Your Highness, please listen to the first question. I will give the first line of a couplet, and Your Highness must provide the second line," Yun Run spoke calmly from the side. "Walk, walk, walk, walking and then stopping."
Chu Yi had studied martial arts since childhood. Though he had also studied at the Imperial Academy, he was not particularly skilled in literary pursuits.
He paced back and forth twice before finally speaking. "Gaze, gaze, gaze, gazing at the clouds drifting."
Yun Run's fingers stilled.
The original second line of this couplet was "Sit, sit, sit, sitting without hurry," forming a clever artistic conception with the first line.
Though Chu Yi's second line was slightly inferior, it perfectly reflected his state of mind at that moment—likely wanting to say "gazing at Yun Chu," but finding that too direct, he changed it to "clouds drifting." A line of poetry says, "Gazing at the clouds rolling and drifting at the horizon," and he had cleverly borrowed from this imagery.
"Your Highness's second line is quite ingenious," Yun Run smiled and stepped back, allowing another member of the Yun family to come forward.
Yun Yi stepped up, cupping his hands. "Your Highness, here is a question: Suppose you are traveling and come to a fork in the road, unsure whether to take the left or right path. An old man stands by each path, but one always tells the truth, and the other only tells lies. You can only ask one question to one of them. How would you find the correct path?"
As soon as the question was posed, the guests nearby were baffled.
One tells the truth, the other lies—the key is not knowing which is which, so you wouldn't know whether the answer you get is true or false.
This question was truly tricky.
Yun Yi felt quite pleased with himself. He had found this difficult problem after searching through several ancient texts.
He had expected Chu Yi to ask for a hint.
Instead, Chu Yi's lips curved into a smile as he slowly replied, "I would ask the old man on the right: 'If I were to ask the old man on the left, which path would he say is correct?'"
Upon hearing this, Yun Yi was stunned. How could a military man, trained for battle, be so sharp-minded?
Cheng Xu, standing behind Chu Yi, scratched his chin. "What does that mean? I don't get it..."
Chu Yi, in high spirits on his wedding day, explained, "If the old man on the right tells the truth, he will point to the wrong path. If the old man on the right only tells lies, he will also point to the wrong path."
Cheng Xu was bewildered. Why was such a simple question so hard for him to grasp...
"Your Highness has a sharp mind," Yun Yi said admiringly and stepped aside for the next person.
Among the Yun family's male descendants of this generation, only Yun Ze and Yun Run stood out in literary pursuits. The questions posed by the others were relatively easier. Chu Yi cleared all challenges one after another until he reached the last person—Yun Ze.
Yun Ze's expression was somewhat complicated.The scene of Xie Jingyu's wedding procession six years ago remained vivid in his mind. Despite being the Number One Scholar that year, his answers to similar questions were disappointingly inadequate.
What was worse than his inability to answer was the displeased expression he showed.
To avoid an awkward situation on the wedding day, the matchmaker smoothed things over and ended the test prematurely.
Why hadn't he realized back then that Xie Jingyu was utterly unworthy of being a husband?
Yun Ze looked at Chu Yi, their gazes meeting.
Both were intelligent people, and both understood the deepest emotions in each other's eyes.
After a long moment, Yun Ze stepped aside: "Your Highness, please."
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