A Willing Mistake, My Lady – Chapter 33
by Little PandaSubstitute in a Ghost Marriage
The River God’s Bride
Someone must have heard the commotion and was hurrying toward the guest rooms.
Madam Hua trotted over with two servant girls from her courtyard and a nanny.
Shen Hetang went back into the room to fetch a lantern. When she came out, she saw the group huddled around the little girl, sighing in distress.
“Jinxiu, wake up, what’s wrong? Where are you hurt?” Madam Hua tugged nervously at her daughter. Seeing her clutching her foot, she guessed that she had probably injured her foot.
“Hurry up and help the Miss up, what are you all waiting for?” she angrily scolded the two servant girls following behind her.
“Madam, what is going on? Why would Jinxiu-meimei run over here in the middle of the night?” Jiang Chenyu asked in confusion and shock.
Madam Hua hurriedly pushed Hua Jinxiu to the side, blocking Jiang Chenyu’s observing gaze. Her voice was stiff and carried a hint of interrogation as she asked, “Why was Jinxiu injured at your place? What did you do to her?”
Seeing Madam Hua abandon her hypocritical posturing and adopt a pressuring tone instead, Shen Hetang took a step forward and said in a deep voice, “If the Hua family cannot even keep an eye on the Miss in your own courtyard, what are you asking my wife for? Appearing in white clothes in the dead of night, she gave the two of us quite a fright. Could it be that Miss Jinxiu is suffering from some hidden illness?”
“Young Master, do not speak nonsense. Jinxiu just fell ill recently and was delirious from a fever, which is why she ran around blindly.” Shen Hetang’s words seemed to have stepped on Madam Hua’s tail. Her tone became much more agitated, but her daughter was injured and she had to go back as soon as possible.
“Liaoliao, I was just too anxious a moment ago. I didn’t mean to blame you, so don’t overthink it. I will take your sister back first.” After Madam Hua calmed down, her tone relaxed a lot, no longer as forceful as just now.
“Madam should watch over meimei properly. If something were to happen, blaming it on others wouldn’t help matters,” Jiang Chenyu replied airily.
“You two should also rest early. We will head back first.” Madam Hua also had no mind to entangle herself here, and returned to her daughter’s quarters together with the servant girls and nanny.
Shen Hetang looked with deep eyes at the departing figures. There was something amiss with this Miss Hua. Her expression was dull and foolish, somewhat similar to a sleepwalker. However, after standing outside the door for only a moment, she was pulled back into the room by Jiang Chenyu.
“It’s very cold outside. Let’s go back into the room,” Jiang Chenyu said softly while closing the door.
“That was the Hua Manor’s miss? Your half-sister?” Shen Hetang asked in astonishment.
“Going by age, yes. I’m just also very surprised they’ve raised her to be like this!” She still remembered the last time she saw Hua Jinxiu, she was still a little girl of five or six. At the time, she had been very envious of her having a father’s doting love, but how had she ended up like this now?
However, whatever state the Hua Manor was in had nothing to do with her. Not clapping and cheering was already a sign of her good upbringing. She also didn’t understand why she had even bothered making this trip!
“There are quite a few strange things. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. After paying our respects to the Old Madam on New Year’s Day, let’s go back. I don’t think the Old Madam values her outside juniors that much either. It was all just a lie to coax me over, and I don’t know what purpose they harbor!” Jiang Chenyu grew angry just thinking about it, her tone somewhat indignant and displeased.
Shen Hetang found her appearance amusing. Ultimately, she was still a bit young, still holding onto some expectations for blood ties. Her mother had left early, and her stepfather was a beast in human clothing1. The days without anyone to rely on must have been truly difficult!
“Alright, we’ll leave after the New Year!” Shen Hetang replied briskly.
In the pitch-black room, faint candlelight slowly lit up. After coaxing Hua Jinxiu to sleep, Madam Hua asked Nanny Qian from her courtyard, “How did you watch over the Miss? How could you let her run out in the middle of the night?”
“Madam, spare me! The Miss was perfectly fine before bed. Who knew she would wake up during the Hour of the Rat2? It is all because this old slave fell asleep!” The old nanny with greying temples knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
Madam Hua looked at the aged servant and said helplessly, “Nanny Qian, you are an old servant left to me by my mother. I will not judge you too harshly. Quickly, get up. It’s just that Jinxiu’s illness truly makes me anxious!”
“Madam, tomorrow this old slave will go invite Daoist Cui to come over and take another look at the Miss!” Nanny Qian said, getting up and raising her head to ask.
“But tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Will that Daoist Cui come?” Madam Hua frowned slightly, speaking uncertainly.
“That Daoist Cui cares about money. If we offer a bit more silver, he will definitely come.” The nanny’s eyes held certainty.
“Nanny is right. Tomorrow, we will quietly bring him into the manor,” Madam Hua said, touching the string of beads on her wrist.
“Leave this matter to this old slave, Madam, please rest assured!” Nanny Qian promised.
A month ago, her daughter had suddenly lost her appetite and didn’t like to eat. At first, she simply thought she was being a picky eater. Later, seeing her listless all day, she finally took it to heart and found a doctor. But even after drinking the doctor’s medicinal decoction, there was no improvement. With no other choice, she listened to her Cousin Yin’s introduction and found a Daoist to see if her daughter had attracted something unclean.
The Daoist was not old, yet he carried himself with an air of profound mastery. He asked for the Miss’s birth chart, engaged in a bout of mystical communing with the heavens, and then said to Madam Hua with a bitter face, “The ancestor of the Hua family was originally the mortal incarnation of the Flower God, and was originally meant to be the River God’s bride. But alas, she fled the marriage and married a mortal. This made the River God lose face, and the River God determined to snatch a bride from the Hua family’s future generations. But unfortunately, no male deity was born to the River God for three generations. It wasn’t until this generation that a new male deity was finally welcomed, taking over the task of taking revenge and wiping out the humiliation. That is why he has set his sights on Miss Jinxiu—who asked her to be the legitimate daughter3 of the Hua family!”
The Daoist spun the tale so vividly that Madam Hua was utterly dumbfounded. She asked blankly, “What does it mean to have my daughter be the River God’s bride?”
The Daoist shook his head and said, “It means the Miss must go to the other side to keep him company, and then be matched in a ghost marriage4 to burn her over to him!”
Upon hearing this, Madam Hua instantly collapsed to the ground, at a loss for what to do!
“Is there really no way to keep my daughter here?” She only had two children. Watching her daughter grow weaker and more vacant day by day, she was so anxious that blisters had broken out in her mouth.
The Daoist fell silent. After a long while, he said with apparent difficulty, “Madam, revealing the secrets of heaven invites disaster, not to mention trying to defy the heavens and change fate.”
“Daoist Master, I trouble you to think of a way. I only have this one daughter. If anything happens to her, I won’t live anymore!” At this moment, Madam Hua had completely lost her usual arrogant swagger, only wanting wholeheartedly to keep her daughter.
“But it is not entirely without a way. It just depends on whether Madam will part with a life or part with wealth?” The Daoist’s eyes narrowed slightly, his goat-beard jutting forward.
“What do you mean?” Seeing a glimmer of hope, Madam Hua hurriedly asked.
“Parting with a life is naturally Miss Hua’s life. Parting with wealth is spending money to eliminate the disaster. I will use money to bewitch the River God, and then swap the Miss’s identity with someone else’s. That way, we can have someone block the Miss’s disaster.” Speaking up to here, the Daoist no longer seemed troubled at all; rather, he seemed to find the task quite effortless.
“I have wealth, but where am I supposed to find the person?” Madam Hua asked in distress.
“Does the Hua family have any collateral branches? A daughter from the extended clan would also do. As long as we have that person’s birth chart, it is fine. If we can invite the person to the manor to block the calamity for Miss Jinxiu, it will also yield twice the result with half the effort.”
“These collateral branches are all distant relatives, and none of them are here, nor do we have anyone’s birth charts!” Madam Hua became anxious. What would they do if there was no one to act as a substitute?
“Think carefully again? Is there not even a single one?” the Daoist asked, unwilling to give up.
“Oh, I remember one. Jinxiu has a biological older sister, right in the prime of her youth. She is the true legitimate daughter of the Hua family, far more suited to be the River God’s bride than Jinxiu.” Thinking of that person, Madam Hua’s eyes were full of relief, completely devoid of any guilt over using someone else as a sacrificial pawn.
“If that is the case, she is the optimal candidate. The ritual will need to be performed about three times. The silver notes required each time are five hundred taels, one thousand taels, and three thousand taels, for a total of four thousand five hundred taels. Can Madam provide this?” the Daoist asked with concern.
“I can.” Madam Hua gritted her teeth. For her daughter’s illness to get better faster, what was spending a bit of silver?
“Very well, then it is settled. Madam, please invite that Miss over as soon as possible. When the time comes, I will come to the door to resolve Miss Jinxiu’s karmic debt.”
“Good… good…!” Madam Hua listened to the Daoist’s arrangements completely like a puppet on strings.
Right now, tomorrow was New Year’s Eve, and she didn’t know if they could still find that wandering Daoist. It was said that he had only come here for a brief stay, and was only willing to make this trip because he shared a karmic affinity with the Hua Manor. Seeing that they actually needed his help, he had reluctantly stayed for a few extra days.
Madam Hua didn’t have many hobbies in the past, but she had always been fond of believing in these matters of gods and ghosts. Master Hua had reprimanded her many times, telling her not to overly believe in these things, yet she still couldn’t change this habit. Furthermore, since this time it involved using someone else to block a disaster for her own daughter, she was even more afraid to tell the Master. Instead, she borrowed Old Madam Hua’s name and had Hua Rong invite his eldest daughter over.
Before dawn even broke, the sound of firecrackers rang out outside, loud as a rainbow and endlessly echoing in the ears. The absurdities of the previous night were covered up by the festive sound of firecrackers.
At a small table in the main hall, Master Hua invited Shen Hetang to play chess with him. Although he was somewhat callous, after seeing his eldest daughter, his meager fatherly love slowly began to awaken a bit. Even though they hadn’t kept in touch, seeing his daughter have a good home, there was no reason to be unhappy.
Playing chess, Shen Hetang was definitely no match for the old fox, especially since he also carried the purpose of questioning her. Having to reply while playing chess, she naturally wasn’t the old fox’s opponent. Yet, Lord Hua’s tone unexpectedly revealed an intention to promote her—probably for Jiang Chenyu’s sake.
“Many thanks for Lord Hua’s good intentions. However, Chenyu and I live quite freely in Qingyuan County, and we have no plans to move to your esteemed region yet. We will consider it in the future.” Although she definitely wouldn’t come back again, it didn’t hurt to draw a large flatbread5 for the cheap father6.
How could Hua Rong fail to see his daughter and son-in-law’s perfunctory attitude? But faced with their behavior of drawing a clear line, he was also powerless. Back then, Madam Hua’s father directly controlled the lifeblood of his official career. At the time, he inherently felt his original wife was becoming increasingly dull, and he also knew his mother despised her for giving birth to a daughter, tormenting her all day.
He had also spoken up for her a couple of times, but his mother only grew increasingly unwelcoming toward her, despising the daughter along with her. Later, with Madam Hua’s fervent pursuit, since he was inherently someone who liked to weigh pros and cons and was indifferent to feelings, it wasn’t long before he secretly hooked up with Madam Hua. Later, when Madam Hua became pregnant and caused a relentless fuss, he hardened his heart and gave his wife a divorce letter. At that time, Madam Hua disliked his eldest daughter, while the Old Madam coveted the Jiang family’s dowry.
Although the new Madam’s family possessed power and influence, financially compared to the Jiang family, it was still far less. The Old Madam was unwilling to spit out the meat that had already reached her mouth.
Later, when his former father-in-law came to discuss things with him, he agreed to the matter of trading his eldest daughter away for the dowry. He knew he was a true petty man7 and hadn’t fulfilled a father’s responsibilities. In the first few years, he would occasionally think of his eldest daughter, but whenever it came to topics about her, Madam Hua wouldn’t show a good expression. At that time, he was relying on his current father-in-law’s influence and didn’t want to make his wife unhappy, so he lost contact with that side, and later gradually stopped mentioning her.
He also knew his ex-wife had remarried and had a new beginning. At that time, the guilt in his heart lessened by a few degrees, and he stopped paying attention to news from that side.
Looking at his daughter sitting in the chair with her back straight, elegantly poised and strikingly beautiful, he recalled that year when he had coincidentally passed by the Jiang family’s shop. He saw a tiny figure inside, also sitting straight, hitting the abacus until it crackled and clicked. The crisp jade beads collided together, ringing like jade pendants, as if she were striking a musical instrument.
On the rocking chair beside her lay a fifty-year-old man, resting with his eyes closed while humming a little tune.
He had official business on him at that time and didn’t have the extra time to go in and catch up, or perhaps he didn’t have the face to go in and visit. In any case, they didn’t get to meet.
His daughter was not like her mother, who was a soft persimmon8. He felt somewhat gratified, but since she was raised by her maternal grandfather, naturally she wouldn’t be lacking.
Now he no longer needed his father-in-law’s support. Thinking that he could arrange a minor official post for his son-in-law, he felt he had to do something to feel at ease.
But looking at this young man’s state, it seemed they didn’t need it yet, so they would discuss it later!
The schedule on New Year’s Eve was still quite busy. Cleaning the courtyards, swapping out the door gods, pasting New Year’s red paper decorations, sacrificing to the ancestors, offering food—both the servants and the masters were very busy.
At this time, Madam Hua quietly returned to the side room to meet with the Daoist.
“Master, it is truly a sin to invite you here on New Year’s Eve, but my little girl has been getting worse over the past two days. What do you think of this matter?” Madam Hua looked anxiously at the Daoist Master.
“Madam, do not be anxious. Are the first two matters I instructed you to do completed?”
“I’ve also sent someone to place the talisman you provided under her bed. What else needs to be done?” The Master had instructed her on two things: one was to invite the person into the home, and the other was to place the talisman drawn with a substitute curse under her bed. Both of these matters were already done, and now only the final step remained, and her daughter would be able to recover.
“Come, Madam, lean your ear closer!” the Daoist said unpredictably.
Madam Hua dared not hesitate and hurriedly stepped forward to await instructions.
The two whispered for a moment, and Madam Hua took out a stack of two-hundred-tael silver notes, a full three thousand taels in total, and handed them to the Daoist. The goat-bearded Daoist accepted them with a solemn expression, looking incomparably pious.
A while later in the main hall, Madam Hua began to blow pillow talk by the Master’s ear. “Master, regarding tonight’s keeping vigil at the ancestral shrine, why not just take the new son-in-law along? Liaoliao is already married, so the son-in-law is also a junior of our manor. If he misses this time, who knows how long it will be before he can come again. Not going to pay his respects to the ancestors simply wouldn’t make sense!” Madam Hua analyzed with a gentle tone and a firm voice.
Master Hua felt there was some sense to it upon hearing it. Although his daughter’s attitude was somewhat resistant and she didn’t acknowledge herself as a member of the Hua family, having her husband go pay his respects to the ancestors could be considered a form of recognition.
“Then I will go talk to them?” Lord Hua looked at the two not far away who were casually playing leaf cards9, looking as if they were quite bored.
“Mhm, you go ahead, Master. I will look after Liaoliao, you can rest assured!” Madam Hua smiled so much that several crow’s feet squeezed out.
Before long, Master Hua really took Shen Hetang away, leaving Jiang Chenyu alone in the brightly lit main hall, looking boredly at the cards in her hand.
At this moment, a servant brought over honey pomelo tea. A sweet, warm mist drifted out, and Madam Hua picked up a teacup and took a sip.
“Liaoliao, you must be thirsty, right? You should also have a taste. This pomelo soaked in honey is sweet and delicious after being boiled in hot water, clearing heat and producing fluid.”
Jiang Chenyu was indeed somewhat thirsty. Seeing Madam Hua pick up the teacup and continue drinking, she also quietly tested it with her ring. Finding no abnormalities, she followed suit and drank two mouthfuls. With Shen Hetang not by her side, this Hua Manor instantly lost its meaning and became increasingly boring!
Madam Hua examined Jiang Chenyu from the corner of her eye, watching to see when she would fall. Sure enough, in less than half a quarter of an hour, this young girl slowly leaned back against the chair back, falling completely unconscious as if fast asleep!
Footnotes
- A strong insult (yīguān qínshòu) for a despicable person posing as respectable.
- Traditional Chinese two-hour time block corresponding to roughly 11 PM to 1 AM.
- The daughter of the primary wife.
- A custom where one or both parties in a wedding ceremony are deceased, often involving sacrificing a living person to wed a spirit.
- A modern internet slang term (huà dàbǐng) meaning to make empty promises or paint an unrealistic, rosy picture. Used anachronistically by Shen Hetang.
- A derogatory slang term (piányi diē) for an estranged, biological, or unearned father figure.
- A classical insult (zhēn xiǎorén) for someone openly selfish and lacking moral principles.
- A common colloquialism (ruǎn shìzi) used to describe someone who is easily pushed around.
- A traditional Chinese card game played with narrow, leaf-like cards.
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