Lady in the Mirror - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I married into the Yan Family as a substitute for my sister, Wen Mingzhu.

The day Mingzhu fled her wedding, the Wen Family was thrown into utter chaos.

My father stood at my door clutching a rattan switch, his face a sickly shade of pale.

“Zhaowan, the bridal sedan has reached the entrance of the alley.”

“Don’t let the whole family be disgraced.”

My mother’s eyes were swollen like peaches from crying.

“Your sister was just scared for a moment.”

“When she comes back, I’ll make her kneel and apologize to you, alright?”

I asked, “Apologize for what?”

Neither of them spoke.

The Yan Family was a prominent clan in Qingzhou.

Yan Cizhou had already lost one wife.

I heard that woman was surnamed Shen. She was gentle and dignified; in the three years she lived with the Yan Family, she had never once raised her voice or lost her temper with anyone.

Later, she died in her own Dressing Tower.

The authorities ruled it an accidental fall.

Among the common folk, however, it was said that when she died, she was wearing her wedding robes and clutching a Bronze Mirror in her arms.

I had once asked Mingzhu why she was willing to marry him.

Mingzhu had been leaning by the window, painting her nails with balsam.

She laughed softly.

“Yan Cizhou is handsome, and his family is wealthy.”

“Marrying over there to be the Young Madam is better than staying home and listening to Father scold me.”

I asked her, “What about the one who died?”

Mingzhu blew on her fingertips.

“She’s already dead. Is she going to reach out and lift my bridal veil?”

Now I know she wasn’t fearless.

She had simply run away before it was too late.

Before I stepped into the bridal sedan, my father said only one thing.

“Zhaowan, I have never asked you for anything.”

“Just this once, do not let the Wen Family lose face.”

I didn’t cry then.

Crying was useless.

The Wen Family had raised me for seventeen years, and this was the first time they realized I could actually do something for them.

Since they had finally remembered my existence, I couldn’t exactly play deaf.

When the bridal sedan entered the Yan Mansion, there was no celebratory music at the gates.

There was only a row of white lanterns.

The matchmaker’s face turned green.

Through the sedan curtain, I asked, “Are we holding a wedding or a funeral?”

No one outside answered.

Yan Cizhou came to kick the sedan door himself.

He was dressed in wedding robes, his features handsome and refined, but his face was deathly pale.

He reached out a hand to me.

“Come down.”

His voice was cold.

It didn’t sound like he was taking a wife.

It sounded like he was taking custody of a prisoner.

I didn’t give him my hand; I jumped out of the sedan on my own.

His hand remained frozen in mid-air.

After a moment, he pulled it back.

“You certainly have some nerve.”

I replied, “Even if I were a coward, I didn’t see any of you hesitate to carry me here.”

He glanced at me.

It was a deep, lingering look.

As if he had known me for a long time.

During the wedding ceremony, Old Madam Yan sat in the seat of honor.

She was dressed in plain, somber clothes, with nothing but a single silver pin in her hair.

There were no Yan Family relatives in the wedding hall, only a few pale-faced servant women.

When Old Madam Yan saw me, the first thing she said was, “This face is much more useful than Mingzhu’s.”

I asked, “Who do I look like?”

She ignored me.

Yan Cizhou said in a low voice, “Grandmother.”

Only then did Old Madam Yan fall silent.

At the time, I thought she meant I looked like Wen Mingzhu.

Now, looking at the woman in the Mirror, I finally understand.

I am the one who looks like her.