Plum Trees' Sorrow - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

What happened with my mother taught me one thing.

If I wanted something, I would go and take it.

I would never wait for someone to hand it to me.

That was why, when I was choosing candidates for marriage meetings, I put the cold, aloof Xie Jinyan dead last.

I hated people who were frigid and pretentious.

The first person I met was Cui Zhaoyu. From that very first meeting, we took a liking to each other.

I did not bother meeting anyone else after that.

On the day Cui Zhaoyu and I pledged our feelings to each other, he gave me a piece of pure white mutton-fat jade, and I gave him a hand-carved seal made of mountain stone.

As we walked through the bustling crowd, countless emotions churned through my heart.

I hesitated over whether I should tell him about my mother.

If I did, I feared it would ruin the mood.

If I did not, it would remain a thorn lodged in my heart.

At last, when we reached a quieter stretch away from the crowd, I gathered my courage and said to him,

“Heaven, earth, sovereign, parents, and teacher-I know many people and many duties will come before me. But when it comes to love, I must be first in your heart. If you cannot do that, you may as well tell me plainly. I will not resent you for it.”

Cui Zhaoyu smiled.

“What are you saying, my lady? Once I have chosen someone, there will only be that one person in this life and the next. Since I have chosen you, it can only be you. Naturally, you will be first in my heart.”

That gave me a little confidence, along with the resolve and sorrow of offering up my true heart.

“Good. In that case, I have to tell you this: do not make me wait. I do not like waiting for people.”

“If you make me wait, it means there are other things in your heart that matter more than I do.”

“If it is for affairs of state or family, I will never hold you back. If you go to war, I will guard the home. If you kill, I will hand you the blade.”

“But if it is for private matters, I will only wait for you three times.”

“The first time will be for the joy of meeting you. I am glad to have known you.”

“The second time will be for the bond of understanding you. True understanding does not come easily, and I do not wish to think of you as a bad man.”

“The third time will be for the affection of companionship. In this life, falling in love is easy; staying together is hard. Waiting for you once will be my way of honoring that.”

“After those three times, whatever bond there was between us will be severed. From then on, we will have nothing to do with each other.”

“You and I may seal this oath with three claps of our palms, and neither of us may go back on it.”

That day, Cui Zhaoyu’s eyes shone as though he had discovered a priceless treasure.

He looked at me deeply, then took a step back, cupped his hands, and bowed, his tone solemn beyond measure.

“Hearing you speak so, my lady, I know you are an extraordinary person. To meet you is my good fortune.”

“To win your favor as well is a blessing from three lifetimes.”

“With such a heaven-sent match before me, I would never be so foolish as to push my good fortune away.”

“Then let us seal it with three claps. If I betray this promise, may I die a terrible death.”

He stood there smiling, his gaze sincere and ardent.

Like a gentle spring breeze, it wrapped around all my unease.

All at once, I felt that being with him might not be so bad. Better than staying at home and constantly seeing my father’s miserable old face.

I struck palms with him three times, and we made our pact.