Gentle as Spring Rain - Chapter 1
My sister rushed over and seized my arm as though I were her salvation.
“Suhe, do you mean it?”
I nodded.
Father still hesitated. “But… the young lord only ended up like this because of Jintang. Passing off the wrong bride… how are we to explain it to the Xies?”
His wife burst into tears. “Jintang is our only daughter! Could you bear to send her off to a life of misery?”
Father gave a long sigh. “Very well. Once we’ve married the girl off, they can hardly send her back.”
Father and his wife had known each other since they were young and were deeply devoted to each other. My own mother was a concubine Grandmother had forced upon him.
I knelt. “I’m willing to marry him, but I have three conditions.”
His wife wiped her tears. “Go on.”
“First, send my mother to live out her days on one of the estates. Never let her come back.
“Second, have my little brother entered in the family register as your son.
“Third, if the young lord should die one day, I ask that you and Father give me some money and let me leave the capital to make a life elsewhere.”
She did not hesitate. “Agreed.”
When my mother heard, she flew into a rage, picked up a needle, and jabbed it into me.
“You wretched girl! Useless money sink!” she kept cursing. “Taking everyone else’s side! I have a son to look after me. Why should I retire to some estate? Your brother came out of my belly! Why should he be put under that bitch’s name?”
I shoved her away.
She stared at me in astonishment. “So you’re rebelling now? You dare fight back?”
She lunged at me again. I snatched the scissors off the table, my eyes burning.
“I’m getting married in three days. If there are marks on me, Father won’t let you off!”
That frightened her. She shot me a vicious glare and went away, still swearing.
My little brother poked his head around the door.
“Sister,” he called softly.
I wiped my tears and gathered his small body into my arms.
“When you go to Father’s wife, be good. Do you understand?”
He nodded. “Don’t worry, Sister.”
The wedding was rushed.
In a wedding dress that did not quite fit, I performed the marriage bows beside a large red rooster standing in for the groom. With the rites complete, I was a bride of the Xie family.
In the bridal chamber, the young lord lay on the bed.
“Jintang,” he said softly, “I’m sorry you have to endure this. I thought… you would despise me. I underestimated you. I promise, if I survive, I’ll treat you well.”
With a trembling hand, he lifted my veil.
He stared.
“You—why is it you?”
“Someone! Get in here!”
Maids and matrons hurried in at his call. Every one of them froze at the sight of my face.
The uproar went on for hours that night. The Xies went to my family to demand an explanation.
Father lied. My sister, he claimed, had suffered such a fright that her fever still would not break. Fearing for her life, they had sent her to recuperate at a temple.
The Xies could only swallow the insult.
The young lord shook with rage. He struggled to sit up, heedless of his injuries, shouting and screaming.
“Get out! Get out of here! Where is Shen Jintang? Tell her to come and see me!”
Everyone present wept in silence, their eyes red.
Everyone except me.
