Crossing the Mountains

Chapter 2: The Soul-Calling Gate
The exquisite and cramped flower bed blocked everyone's gaze, and Tan Huaike relaxed a little.

At this point, she no longer felt the same urge to break free and escape as she had a few days ago. After weighing her situation, she felt that this arrangement was a turning point. Although there would undoubtedly be many obstacles ahead, and simply getting through to the Shentu family was fraught with obstacles, at least she had a new foundation for her life...

The joyous music and drums attracted many onlookers. Pei'er followed the sedan chair and heard a lot of discussion. She was originally from outside the village. Ever since being sold to the Tan family by a trafficker, she had been kept in the courtyard to learn the rules. She knew very little about Zhangye County and was even confused about her own young lady's marriage. Now was the perfect time to listen to the rumors.

"The eldest son of the Shentu family is truly remarkable. He has shown ability since he was young. He has only been in the army for a few years, but he has already become a captain of a thousand households."

"He seems to be a lieutenant or something. Who knows, he might even become a general one day. What a pity..."

"Compared to that, his youngest son is quite useless. He's neither good at literature nor martial arts. He's been spoiled into a dandy."

"His ancestors were high-ranking officials in Andu, but they were demoted for crimes and came here, right?"

"What crime?"

"How would I know?"

"The Shentu family has a good reputation and a promising future. Although the Tan family is not as prosperous as before, they were once wealthy. A lean camel is bigger than a horse. A marriage between the two families should have been a great joyous event, with no one losing out. Who knew such a thing would happen? Sigh..."

"That's right, otherwise the Tan family wouldn't have suddenly changed their daughter to marry."

"What the Tan family did...tsk, why not just cancel the engagement?"

"How could they bear to quit? With such a prodigal son squandering his wealth every day, the Tan family has had a tough time before. I heard that if it weren't for the betrothal gift from the Shentu family, Mr. Tan's business would have been almost unable to survive."

"Oh, that's right. The Shentu family's betrothal ceremony was truly magnificent. The betrothal gifts alone took up several carts, and they also gave away a lot of land and shops. You haven't seen Madam Tan's face. She was grinning from ear to ear for days on end."

"What a pity! The eldest son of the Shentu family is unlucky, and so is this concubine's daughter of the Tan family..."

"Speaking of which, I don't think I've seen much of this concubine of the Tan family. Was she born to Master Tan by that Hu Ji?"

"I don't know either. I think it's because Hu Ji died of illness a few years ago. I heard that she had a daughter, but she was probably sent to a country house by Madam Tan to be raised there. She must have been brought back for this matter."

Pei'er still didn't understand what had happened. Why did he become so unlucky?

At this moment, two figures, one black and one white, appeared out of nowhere, holding up flowing white banners to call back the soul. They openly stopped the bride's procession, waving them left and right around the sedan chair, chanting, "Soul, return, and welcome the bride into the house... Soul, return, and welcome the bride into the house!"

When the spirit-summoning flag hit her face, Pei'er exclaimed, "Ah, who are you?"

The bearers of the sedan chair were also frightened. They immediately dropped the sedan chair and cursed, "What, what's going on? You didn't tell us this was going to happen! Get out of the way! Don't let this happen to me! It's so unlucky!"

The scene became chaotic and the musicians stopped playing.

Pei'er babbled incoherently, "Young lady, what should we do? Two people suddenly rushed out, as if they were summoning spirits. Did we run into someone else's funeral? On this happy day..."

"Don't panic." Tan Huaike told her calmly, "My husband has come to take me home."

"W-what?" Pei'er was stunned and felt a chill coming over him.

"Dear sedan bearers, I think my husband's family is busy and I didn't explain it clearly. I apologize here." She took off two hair ornaments from her head and gestured to Pei'er to take care of them. "This is also part of the wedding ceremony. Please don't be offended. Please send me to the door of my husband's house. It should be just a few steps away." After all, they accepted her favor and reluctantly sent me off for the last time. However, they couldn't help but complain: "It doesn't matter whether it's happy or sad. I've never taken on such a creepy job..."

Pei'er also gradually realized the absurdity of this wedding.

But before she could think about it, she had already arrived at the door of Shentu Mansion and was caught off guard by the sight of white.

For a moment she couldn't tell whether this was a wedding or a funeral.
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The bright sedan chair tied with colorful silk fell to the ground, and the joyful music stopped abruptly. The leader hurriedly told everyone to finish work, saying that the bride could be brought here and left here. They walked around the two people holding soul-calling banners, packed up their things and dispersed. The originally noisy neighbors suddenly quieted down.

Pei'er was so frightened by the scene that he stood still, guarding the sedan chair, unable to move forward or backward.

Although the Tan family's wedding ceremony was extremely sloppy, it was at least arranged according to the ceremonial arrangements for a formal marriage. Why was it that at the Shentu Mansion, all it had was a bleak, glaring white curtain? Could it be that the young lady's husband really...

Wait, was it sent to the wrong place?

Pei'er walked back a few steps and looked up at the door again. It was indeed the Shentu Mansion.

At this time, even the discussions of others were lowered:

"Wedding a new bride and holding a funeral at the same time is quite a strange thing!"

"What else can we do? The Zhenxi Army has reported that the eldest son of the Shentu family has died suddenly in battle. Wouldn't the wedding we've been planning just happen to coincide with a funeral?"

"I haven't heard of any fighting on the front lines, how could he have died in battle?"

"There haven't been any major battles, but the Western Territory has been so chaotic in recent years, and we can't say for sure where things are being fought over, right?"

"The military report came back a few days ago, right? How can we get married when the person is dead? Why ruin someone's daughter?"

"The Tan family refused to return the betrothal gifts and insisted that the engagement still stand. Old Madam Shentu, having lost her beloved son, felt she had made arrangements too late and felt deeply indebted to her son, so she took advantage of the situation and welcomed a new bride into the family."

"What's the point of welcoming her in? To be the wife of a memorial tablet?" The straightforward woman who spoke was quite indignant about this matter. "After all this fuss, this couldn't be a ghost marriage!"

"Don't talk nonsense! This can't be considered a ghost marriage," the old scholar watching the ceremony rebuked. "The Shentu family negotiated this marriage last year. They didn't deliberately marry a deceased person. Today's ceremony was also a formal wedding. One is willing to marry the other, so what right do others have to interfere..."

"Don't give me this bullshit!" the old lady cursed, her hands on her hips. "A good girl has been sacrificed in this idiotic affair. Who knows if her husband's family will find a pretext to torture her to death in a few days, then turn around and say the bride died of illness and followed her husband to the underworld. Isn't this still a ghost marriage?"

"Oh, Madam Cao, please be more polite."

"Why should I be so virtuous? If someone could really do something like this, how can I shut them up?"
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　Next chapter: Joy is also sorrow.

　　Thanks to Xia Xi Chan Ming for the recommendation vote~

(End of this chapter)