Chapter 058
Author: Feast of Masks
Raws: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=3185016
Translated by Gumihou
As dusk approached, the groom’s wedding procession finally arrived.
The Zhao family was fairly well-off and had hired a mule cart for the bride-fetching ceremony. Zhao Jinrui, dressed in a bright red wedding robe, sat in a cart adorned with red silk and decorations. He looked especially festive that day.
A group of Zhao family relatives and friends followed along to assist with the bride-fetching.
Outside the firmly shut courtyard gate, firecrackers crackled deafeningly, announcing the arrival of the bride-fetching party.
Inside the courtyard, smiles bloomed on everyone’s faces.
According to village custom, the groom’s side had to go through several ‘[1] door games’ before they could fetch the bride, with the main gate being only the first hurdle for the day.
Country folks had no interest in poetry or riddle games. So, the courtyard gates were usually forced open with brute force or bribed open with red envelopes filled with money. Still, it was traditional for those guarding the gate to put on a proper show of resistance. After all, one could not let the groom take their bride away too easily.
The people outside the gate started by trying to sweet-talk and pushing red pouches of coins through the gaps of the gate, but the people guarding the gate refused to open the gate, countering with questions like who would wash the groom’s clothes in the future.
Everyone in the courtyard laughed at the question, eager to hear how the groom would answer. Just then, a commotion erupted outside. The people inside exchanged puzzled looks as the shouting grew louder.
Eventually, everyone realised what they were hearing. The groom had lost his temper and had turned on his heel and stormed off.
It was a shocking turn of events—
The ones in charge of blocking the gate, villagers and relatives alike, exchanged awkward looks. A short while later, they realised what was happening and hurriedly opened the gate.
Chaos had broken out beyond the gate. The colourful ball of flowers that had been attached to Zhao Jinrui’s chest had been thrown to the ground, rolling pitifully in the dust.
Zhao Jinrui was by the mule cart, trying to climb aboard while other members of the Zhao family were trying their best to dissuade him.
Back in the courtyard, in his rarely seen formal attire, Old Man Xue emerged from the house. The joyful expression on his weathered face was gone, replaced by fury.
Feeling flustered and guilty, Old Zhao glared at the scene, wishing she could just charge over and beat up Zhao Jinrui herself.
Who would have thought that such a joyous occasion would turn into such a farce!
Outside, the Zhao side still could not calm Zhao Jinrui down. Who knew what was wrong with him, but he refused to turn back around and pick up his bride.
Zhao’er remained inside, peeking through the gate to watch the spectacle. The people who were escorting the Zhao family looked like they were about to cry.
Old Man Xue was practically trembling with rage. Xue Cui’e’s sobs could be heard from inside. Clearly, she had also realised what was happening outside.
Old Zhao, who had been pacing around in a circle, suddenly yelled, “Eldest! Go and drag that brat Jinrui here!”
Xue Qingshan, however, was very reluctant to play the role of a thug. He frowned and said impatiently, “Mother, that’s enough. Whether he wants to marry or not, it’s fine. Let’s just forget about him! Cui’e is not some girl who can’t keep up with me out!”
Privately, he thought: With so many people watching, how shameless is it for the bride’s family to go beg the groom to come marry her? Too shameful, ah!
Old Zhao then turned to give Xue Qingbai the same orders. However, Xue Qingbai was also reluctant, but for very different reasons. He thought: If that Zhao boy is already acting like this on their wedding day, what kind of life will my little sister have once she marries him?
Xue Qingbai’s hesitation only lasted a moment, but before he could say anything, Old Zhao was already screaming, “Old Third, you useless ingrate! Do you even care about your sister? What’s with your spineless attitude!?”
She was about to turn her attention to Xue Qinghuai when Old Man Xue’s furious voice rang out, “Have you not embarrassed us enough already?!”
The firecrackers had finally burned themselves out, leaving an awkward silence after the sudden screaming match.
Zhao’er glanced left, then right. Then, with a sigh, she strode through the gate. Xue Tingxiang tried to stop her but failed.
She stormed forward so decisively that no one from the bride-finding party dared to stop her. They all watched as she marched straight up to Zhao Jinrui.
Before Zhao Jinrui could even react, the tall young woman was already in front of him—crack, crack!—two sharp slaps landed square on his cheeks.
“Either you go inside right now, apologise, and fetch your bride properly, or you can get lost! From this moment on, Zhao Village will be blacklisted by Yuqing Village. From now on, no one from your village sets foot on our land!”
Silence fell like a hammer.
Even Zhao Jinrui himself was stunned. No one had ever dared to hit him before—much less threaten him like that.
A few men from Yuqing Village quickly echoed her words:
“That’s right! How dare you mistreat our village girls like this? From now on, we will beat up every last one of you Zhao men we see!”
“Mannerless brutes! Everyone knows door games are part of a wedding—who behaves like this?”
“From now on, no one from Yuqing Village will marry anyone from Zhao Village. Just look at this lot—who’d want to be tied to a family like that?”
More and more villagers gathered around to curse the bride-finding party. Nearly the entire village had come to the Xues’ wedding feast, and after Zhao’er’s declaration, the crowd swelled with angry voices. The faces of the Zhao family turned ashen.
They knew these were not empty threats. When one village publicly cut ties with another, the consequences were severe. Forget the shame of gossip, the real issue had to do with marriage.
If Yuqing village as a whole cut ties with the Zhao family, it could influence other villages to do the same. No one would want to offend an entire community of people just to marry into a disgraced family. What about women who had already married off or married into the Zhao family? The Zhao family were practically synonymous with the Zhao village, meaning that intermarriage had already happened; would they all have to bring their daughters back now?
Even so, no one would blame the Yuqing village. Instead, they would blame Zhao Jinrui for being a fool and not knowing how to behave.
As the saying goes: A daughter is married with her head held high; a bride is received with humility. Weddings in all the nearby villages were lively, chaotic affairs, where villagers had fun bonding time with each other. To think that this fellow actually thought himself too good for these traditional wedding games and actually threw a tantrum before everyone.
If the situation had been reversed, if a groom from another village came to the Zhao Village and caused such a scene, the entire village would have turned against them. After all, who could stand by and watch their village’s daughters humiliated in public? If they allowed this incident to pass, who would protect future daughters that married out?
Thus, in moments like this, regardless of the grudges between them, the entire village stood united against the outsider.
Zheng Lizheng stepped forward, jabbed a finger in his direction and snapped, “How dare you come to our village and not show us face?!”
Patriarch Xue also stepped forward, his face as black as thunder. “So, is this how you intend to disrespect the Xue family?”
A few older men from the bride-fetching party, worried that this would escalate into something worse, hurried to placate the villagers, “Please, elders. Please don’t be offended; the boy’s young and foolish. We’ll talk some sense into him right now.”
They pulled Zhao Jinrui aside and had a harsh, whispered conversation with him. Whatever was said seemed to work; the young man relented.
Not only did he apologise to everyone, but he also behaved himself well for the rest of the ceremony. The only thing out of place was his face, which was stiff with resentment.
The Zhao family were not happy either. Old Man Xue’s smile looked very forced. Later, when Xue Cui’e was led out of the house in her red wedding clothes and veil, the Xue family even forgot to set off the firecrackers.
It was Zhao’er who quietly reminded them, and only then did someone outside strike the flint.
The crackling of firecrackers filled the air again—but this time, the sound carried no joy, only gloom.
Zhao’er sighed softly, but forced a smile and shouted, “Begin the feast!”
Gao Sheng and others who were designated to help serve the dishes immediately came out with their wooden serving trays. Soon, the tables were filled with food and genuine cheer. Old Man Xue and the rest of the family went around to greet the guests, and gradually, the noise and bustle returned to the courtyard.
Zhao’er did not leave the banquet until the villagers had started eating. Then, she stepped back from the festivities and went into the kitchen.
Xue Tingxiang followed her inside.
Zhao’er gave him a complicated look and said quietly, “I just hope the little aunt won’t blame me for it.”
Under the circumstances, when the Xue family was reeling from the sudden slap in the face, Zhao’er’s action managed to save the situation. As a daughter-in-law, she represented the family well without bringing shame to the men.
Privately, Zhao’er believed that, since the bows had not yet been exchanged, it was still not too late to step away from the marriage. However, the Xue family was blocked by one crucial obstacle, Xue Cui’e’s growing belly. Otherwise, the two families would not have rushed through the wedding.
“What is there to blame you for? She brought this on herself-”
He would have said more, but someone was calling for them, so they had to leave the conversation for now.
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The feast was finally over, leaving the courtyard a mess.
Only a few close relatives stayed behind to help clean up. By the time everything was in order, night had fallen.
Everyone was exhausted. After sending off the helpers, each returned to their rooms to wash up and rest. Not long after lying down, they heard Old Zhao crying in the main room, her sobs mingling faintly with Old Man Xue’s sharp scolding.
The night passed without further incident.
The next morning, the Xue family rose later than usual, exhausted from the days leading up to the tension-filled feast.
The atmosphere in the house was heavy. Old Man Xue’s face was dark, while Old Zhao kept breaking into tears—first crying over her poor daughter’s misfortune, the Zhao family’s wickedness, and later fretting over whether Zhao Jinrui would bring Xue Cui’e for the customary maternal home visit two days later. [1]
When the fateful day finally arrived, Old Zhao had already stirred the entire household up.
She didn’t just keep everyone busy, but kept herself on her feet, too. Mid-morning came and went, but Old Zhao was still bustling about. The family waited until nearly noon when Zhao Jinrui finally arrived with Xue Cui’e.
On the surface, the young couple seemed fine. Xue Cui’e even had a smile on her face.
Seeing this, Old Zhao finally relaxed, and everyone else couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
No one mentioned the incident from that day. The Xue family avoided the topic out of concern for Xue Cui’e, who had now married into the Zhao family. As for Zhao Jinrui, he was not foolish enough to bring the topic up by himself.
The couple stayed until the afternoon. Per custom, newlyweds were expected to return to the husband’s family before dusk.
Xue Tingxiang had taken a total of three days off, giving him enough time to complete the three days required for the wedding rituals. He returned to the academy immediately after Xue Cui’e’s Bride Returning visit.
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Upon entering through the academy gates, he immediately sensed a strange energy in the air.
It was nearly time for morning classes, but the academy was unusually quiet. It wasn’t until he returned to the dormitory and questioned his friends that he finally learned that something serious had happened during his absence.
The matter was somewhat complicated.
The general gist of it was that a few A-Class students from Qingyuan Academy had somehow come into contact with some students from Qinghe Academy. The two sides had agreed to a secret literary duel, which had somehow escalated into a quarrel that erupted into a full-blown fight.
Both sides had roughly the same number of people on their side, which resulted in casualties on both sides.
This alone was already quite troublesome, but things took a turn for the worse when, that very night, one of the Qinghe students died from his injuries. Thus, escalating the matter into a major incident. [3] Qinghe Academy headmaster, Gao Youzhi, reported the matter to the authorities almost immediately. However, Qingyuan Academy only learned of the incident when the officials arrived at their doorstep.
The students involved in the incident have not yet been taken to the yamen (the local magistrate’s office) for questioning, thanks to their status as scholars and intervention from the headmaster. For now, they were being confined within the Academy, but everyone knew that the situation could not last.
Meanwhile, several waves of students from Qinghe Academy had already come by demanding justice. Family members of the deceased also came by to make a scene at the academy gates the moment the news reached them. With such commotion happening since early that morning, it was impossible for the school to conduct morning lessons as usual.
“How did they manage to arrange a private duel? [2] It’s not like our two academies are close enough to arrange such things. There must have been a mediator, right?” said Xue Tingxiang.
Li Datian’s answer was a heavy sigh.
Seeing this, Chen Jian proceeded to explain, [5] “It’s not uncommon for students between our academies to hold private duels. Most students knew about them, but there is a tacit agreement to keep it a secret from the teachers and headmasters.”
[5a] Mao Badou jumped in to say, “That’s right! Our two academies have always been rivals. Every year on the 10th month, a major competition would be held in Huyang County to decide the best academy in the region. Naturally, the one that took first place would receive the following year’s imperial funding for rural schools!”Finally, Xue Tingxiang understood.
For years, Qingyuan Academy had held the top spot. Later, when Qinghe Academy rose into prominence, the tide turned. From then on, Qinghe had been winning year after year—leaving Qingyuan in second place.
As the saying went, ‘There is no first place in literature’, [4] yet, isn’t it only natural for everyone to want to occupy ‘first place’? Young scholars were a prideful lot who would be willing to accept second place? Because of this, secret duels and private contests sprang up between the more talented students from both academies. Partly to test one another and partly to prepare for the upcoming official competition.
Dream Xue Tingxiang had not known about this side of the academy. In the dream he had been just another mediocre student at Qinghe Academy. His learning had been so shallow that he never even got close enough to even get a hint that such a secret circle event existed.
“What did the Headmaster say about it?” he asked.
The three others shook their heads. It was then that Xue Tingxiang realised the gravity of the situation. If this matter was not handled properly, Qingyuan Academy might lose its standing—or worse, be forced to close its doors entirely.
[Gumihou: This is really interesting.]
[1] Door Games or Chinese Wedding Door Games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_wedding_door_games
Some Chinese door games
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=1762c9127f71a72d&sxsrf=AE3TifM7TR9jPyTFlVhMpEoBcRxQJtjZzg:1758489464326&udm=7&fbs=AIIjpHxU7SXXniUZfeShr2fp4giZ1Y6MJ25_tmWITc7uy4KIeiAkWG4OlBE2zyCTMjPbGmMU8EWskMk2JSE__efdUJ3xRFvZ0M2vJLB0hUMk5HOE2OjlycQYRp9vQECfaBtuI77VBixuZT8Ikq7knPIraxtLcXUn-925YP4AZPohtCshEMzz_HYh-s2jy_GenEFZtSggFj5UruF1QvDnKbUPJW54S8V0hw&q=door+games&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwiD8fLe4-qPAxWfkVYBHafmC7MQtKgLegQIFhAB&biw=638&bih=550&dpr=1.5#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:263ac4d0,vid:BiaaSztWrE4,st:0
[2] In Chinese wedding customs, after the main Wedding Day, when the family have the banquet, festivities and door games, there are two important days immediately after the main event.First is the ‘greet the husband’s family’, which you may have seen in a lot of Chinese dramas. It’s also known as the Tea Ceremony, where the young couple kneel or bow before the husband’s family (grandparents, parents, older siblings etc) and serve them tea. In return, the couple would receive some small gifts of money or jewellery, depending on how close or how generous the family members are.
The next day was reserved for ‘maternal family visit’, where the groom would visit the bride’s family. This is also very important since the level of respect given depends on the following: Whether the bride is allowed to visit, whether the groom visits the family with the bride, and the gifts brought by the couple (this is generally more important if the groom’s family is super rich)
The maternal family visit is also known as the ‘First Return of the Bride’ or Huí Mén (回門).
In modern times, this process is usually simplified. For my brother’s wedding, the tea ceremony event was all done the day before the wedding, so that the bride could have more jewellery choices to wear on the special day itself. Very practical indeed!
[3] Typo – Qingyuan Academy reported the matter, and then Qingyuan Academy only knew about it later… Should be Qinghe Academy made the report, lol [4] Adjusted language for clarity双方彼此都不认识，恐怕中间是有人穿针引线的吧？
Original: They don’t even know each other. Someone must have played middleman.
Adjusted: It’s not like our two academies are close enough to arrange such things. There must have been a mediator, right?
The original translation shows the literal translation of the meaning, but the implied meaning behind the seemingly straightforward words was ‘to arrange such things’, hence why it was followed by ‘there must be a mediator’.
[5] Switched passive explanation into active dialogue [5a] Have Mao Badou give this explanation
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