Chapter 2 (1/2)
[Seventh-seventh festival is the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day]
CHAPTER TWO
Festive Lanterns
Qi perished, the city defences were re-established, with Marquis of Chang Ye – An Zi Wu as monarch, the new reigning era named Chang Ge (meaning – long song).
Time flows by, in a blink of an eye, it is yet another year of the seventh-seventh festival. I quietly stand by the sh.o.r.e, looking out to the big s.h.i.+p in the middle of the river, currently holding a banquet, I stand there silently, wordlessly.
That’s right, I died. Died on the night the imperial palace of the Qi nation was seized, but I have not yet left for the netherworld. It is not that I don’t want to go down, but because no wardens of the netherworld had come to guide my spirit away, so I can only take on the form of a wandering soul amongst the human realm. The so called ––
Ghost.
To qualify being a ghost, one must be subjected to the existence of an intensely strong attachment. I have reflected over this for a long time, but I indeed cannot find any thing or place that I am still reluctant to part from in this world. I don’t know where I should go, fortunately, I have been following my husband all along.
I watched him ascend the throne, become the emperor, clean up the bloodshed covering the imperial city inside out, then grandly bury me, exceeding the proper ritual an empress should have, a funeral that was practically a national mourning.
I know, perhaps in his heart he can only compensate me in such way. And I am really grateful I was able to see this.
I watch over him, every day in court, during meals, when sleeping. To the point of feeling that this period of time, compared to when I was still alive, I have spent much more time with him than ever before. There is no one able to see me, which means I can freely shuttle to wherever his presence lies.
But today I don’t wish to be by his side. Because on an occasion like today, countless singing orioles and dancing swallows are bound to be by his side, with countless fragrant elegance and veiled screens. No matter how open minded I can be, I will still feel absolutely unpleasant. So it is better to hide a little further away, what the eyes does not see, is regarded as clean.
The lantern lighting dims a little on that luxurious pleasure s.h.i.+p, painted in joyfulness. The banquet seems to have ended. Thinking of the atmosphere of rouge and power on it, I am still not very willing to go back.
And what I did not expect, after a little while, was a line of people dressed in ordinary clothing, leaving the pleasure s.h.i.+p. That one walking right at the front is precisely my husband of my lifetime, An Zi Wu.
This is emperor incognito……?
Following by his side are all his trusted confidants, I curiously follow after them.
They head down to the town’s night market, on the night of seventh-seventh, the town is brightly lit up, the road lined with shops selling lanterns on both sides, all around are couples walking hand in hand. He steadily walks to the front, choosing to head to the most bustling areas where the crowds are, not even caring for the guards behind, anxious like ants in a hot pan.
An Zi Wu is just a wilful person like this. Still this wilful after becoming emperor.
I follow after him without a sound. He seems to be deliberately trying to lose the guards, walking in several circles around the crowded areas, in the end, he buys a ghost mask to put on, and also buys a lantern, acting just like a man out searching for his lover.
I couldn’t resist a little burst of laughter.
Time flies by, the people pa.s.sing by me all carrying warm smiles on their faces, the little river running through the city is filled with lanterns, carrying phase after phase of either deep or shallow romances as they gently float by.
He slowly walks past the little white stone bridge over the river, one hand holding a festive lantern, one hand hanging by his side. I continue to watch as he turns his body sideways, allowing the frolicking children to run past him, his hand reaching behind, practically giving me the illusion of thinking he wants to hold someone’s hand.
After the children had all ran past, he remains standing on the spot, freezing for a moment, he abruptly hooks up a smile, carrying half a trace of taunting, but within those eyes, there is even more of an infinitely disconsolate loss.
This kind of expression does not stay on his face for long, as he steps off the little bridge, walking up to the riverside, rolling up those wide sleeves, he lights a lantern and places it on the river.
I who was on the other side of the sh.o.r.e, upon seeing this scene, couldn’t help but to think back the seventh-seventh festival many years ago in Jiangnan, under the dim moonlight, I said to him: “An Zi Wu, I set off a lantern for you.”
“Thank Madam for taking to the trouble.” His hands rests behind his back as he gazes towards the lively market in the distance, answering without much care.
I help him neaten out his cloak and tidy his hair, messed up in the wind, literally turning his face towards me: “You’re always putting on such a good-for-nothing impression of a wealthy boy in front of people, but I know your heart lies higher than the clouds in the sky, definitely not satisfied with being a mere idling marquis. There will be a day you’d leave the Marquis of Chang Ye Estate in this misty Jiangnan.”
His eyes falls upon me, the glimmer in his eyes swirling.
“In my hometown, lights are a harmonious melody, taking on the meaning of remaining behind in waiting. Sang Ge being your wife in this lifetime, towards me, be it real affection, be it insincere feelings, I am still your wife. Should there be a day, you leave. I will definitely wait for you, even if this life is depleted.”
His eyelids hangs low, sinking into silence for a long time: “Wait for me then.”
Later, I have always been waiting. The Marquis of Chang Ye Estate in Jiangnan moves into the Capital City, every day I wait for him to come back from the court a.s.sembly. When he is out in the Xiongnu plains beyond the Great Wall, every night I wait for his triumphant return. He employs a plot to make Emperor of Zhao send him out the Capital, I thus became a hostage, constantly waiting for his return to collect me.
Later he finally returns, yet along with my waiting……brushes past my shoulder.
A lively sparkle suddenly flashes past my eyes, along with a tremendous burst of sound, interrupting my thoughts. I raise my head as I look up, not knowing what grand family in this little town is setting off fireworks. Illuminating the night skies with great magnificence.
Everyone else is looking up towards the night sky, a burst of amazed cheers erupts.
I could not help curving my lips into a smile, during every banquet in the palace, there will always be fireworks, grand and luxurious, however, looking at it always make people unable to refrain from sensing an icy coldness, absolutely not as warm and joyful as it is here.
Zi Wu must also feel this way right?
I turn my head to look back at him, but sees his face is not carrying a smile as I expected, and is instead rigidly looking towards my direction, slowly removing the mask from his face.
Within those eyes filled with incredible disbelief, there faintly suppresses wild joy.
In this moment, I ridiculously thought, perhaps he sees me. Silently standing by the riverside, gazing at the him on the other side of the sh.o.r.e, I slowly spread a smile. If not for the slowly floating lanterns following the waves of the river and the beautifully blooming fireworks in the sky, I would have thought time had already stopped.
“Sang Ge.”
He softly, tenderly calls out, one foot stepping into the river water.
In the moment everyone had yet to react to this, he abruptly trickles into the river, pathing his way to where I stand. Knocking over many lanterns along the way.
The guards discovers him, struck with slight panic, they constantly call out from above “Lord!” “Lord! Careful!” He cannot swim, but fortunately this river is not deep, the deepest area just about sweeping past his chest.
Eyes locked onto me, step by step towards me he approaches. With every step closer, the delight in his eyes becomes increasingly hard to conceal.
A sharp sourness softens my heart, my face somewhat unable to withhold the smile.
All of a sudden, with a slip of his foot, his entire person drops into the river. I instinctively step forward, wanting to pull him up, but sensing the water flow directly through my ankle, gently flowing away, I freeze on the spot, motionless.
The guards could no longer care for anything else right now “putong putong” a few of them jumps in, desperately rus.h.i.+ng to his side. He struggles in the water for a bit before solidly standing on his feet, the very moment he stands up, those eyes urgently sweeps towards the sh.o.r.e, face suddenly turning pale.
“Sang Ge!” He yells my name in panic, pus.h.i.+ng aside the guards who came to support him, staggeringly running onsh.o.r.e, overwhelmed like losing a child, “Sang Ge! Sang Ge……”
As though other than these two words he cannot say anything else.
I silently listen to him call out to me by my side, looking all around. Whole body drenched, appearing in an absolutely sorry state.