Fetching the Bride (Part 1)

Mount Lijing. The side courtyard had been swept spotless. Taking advantage of the clear, sunny weather, Li Jingtian set up a wooden rack to air out some wooden slips. As she carefully arranged them, a little girl of seven or eight came trotting in from the inner courtyard. Dressed in a festive red gown embroidered with gold patterns and holding an embroidered sachet in her hand, she grinned and said: “Mother! When is Brother Jiao going to fetch the bride?” Li Jingtian scooped Li Qingxiao into her arms, checked the time, and answered gently: “The hour should be close. Tidy up your clothes, and we’ll head down the mountain together.” “Oh…” Li Qingxiao was already eight years old. Around the turn of the year, she had been found to possess a spirit aperture, which had overjoyed Li Jingtian so much that she immediately fetched a cultivation technique for her daughter to practice. Everyone had come to offer their congratulations, and Chen Donghe was also quite pleased. But after the husband and wife closed their courtyard gates and watched Li Qingxiao cultivate for a time, they began to notice something amiss. By all accounts, Chen Donghe had decent aptitude, and the Li family descended from Foundation Establishment stock. Since Li Qingxiao possessed a spirit aperture, her talent should not have been inferior to Chen Donghe’s. Yet after observing her for a while, the couple realized her talent was truly mediocre. Forming the Xuanjing Wheel required condensing eighty-one strands of spiritual qi, yet it took Li Qingxiao nearly half a month just to condense a single strand… By that calculation, it would take her over three years just to have a chance at condensing the Xuanjing Wheel—scarcely different from the descendants of foreign-surname cultivators down below the mountain. Moreover, Li Qingxiao was cultivating the *Shanglang Wheel Nourishing Method*, which Li Tongya had brought back from Lingyanzi years ago. Tailored specifically for Li clan members who had not yet received a talisman seed, it was already far superior to the arts practiced by those foreign cultivators; without it, her progress would have been even slower. Husband and wife sat facing each other, brooding over it for a long time. Looking at the others of the Yuan-Qing generation, Chen Donghe even felt a wave of guilt, believing that the Chen family’s bloodline was impure and had held Qingxiao back. Seeing Li Qingxiao respond, Li Jingtian could not help but urge her: “When that Xiao family boy gives the jade ring to your Brother Jiao, you hand him the sachet and say a few auspicious words. It’s just an old custom, but keep it all in mind so no one gossips.” Li Qingxiao nodded obediently. Li Jingtian picked up a wooden box beside her and explained: “It’s a long journey, so I packed some pastries for you. Eat some in the carriage so you won’t get hungry.” Carrying the wooden box in hand, Li Qingxiao blinked her eyes and suddenly asked: “Mother, I heard that in the future, I will also have to marry into the Xiao family, just like sister-in-law marrying into ours…” Li Jingtian paused, her expression complex and difficult to put into words. She merely replied: “It’s still far too early for that. That’s more than a decade away—who can say for sure?” Li Qingxiao nodded and giggled: “If I have to find a husband in the Xiao family, Mother must pick one who treats Qingxiao well…” Li Jingtian simply took her hand, her voice growing somewhat subdued as she said: “Let’s go down first, lest your brother gets impatient waiting.” *** At the foot of Mount Lijing, the Li family estate was a bustling, festive scene decked out in lanterns and colored banners. It was far grander than the Lu family wedding years ago. Red silks hung everywhere, and the piping trill of suona horns echoed through the Li family avenue, which was already bubbling over with merriment. Joy and excitement radiated from the summit all the way down to the base. In the half-year since Mount Huazhong and Mount Yuting had fallen, the Li family’s territory had nearly doubled. Li Xuanxuan planned to establish seven towns beneath Mount Huazhong and Mount Yuting. Combined with the four towns of Lijing and the three towns of Huaqian, there were fourteen towns in total. This opened up vast swathes of land for cultivation and ample work for laborers, giving the growing population that had begun crowding the original seven towns a place to go and injecting fresh vitality into the entire Li family. Just like the golden age ushered in by the conquest of Mount Huaqian years ago, the commoners under the Li family’s domain once again found an opportunity to climb upward. Ambition stirred and winds swept through the seven towns, with everyone eager for advancement. So long as one was not an idle sluggard, throwing oneself earnestly into hard labor was sure to yield a plot of land or a bucket of gold. Commoners did not ask for much—only a livelihood. Such an opportunity was already more than they could ever dare hope for. The stagnation and stagnant waters bred by the growing number of youths from the Li clan and the prominent-surname families were cast to the winds. The wealth and military merits gained through expansion allowed more capable talents to distinguish themselves, and several prominent families already had a faint premonition. *When the winds rise and clouds gather, great changes are bound to follow… The seven towns produced five prominent families, and now seven more towns have been added to the north. How many people are fighting with all their might to make a name for themselves…* Standing at the eye of this rising storm, Li Yuanjiao held up his sleeves and adjusted the gold trim on the red cuffs. As the head of the Clan Rectory, he naturally understood the restless ambition flowing through the Li family from top to bottom. Straightening his wedding robes, he smiled. “Fine days lie ahead.” From the moment Li Tongya broke through to Foundation Establishment and allied with the Xiao family by marriage, crushing the An family to the north had become an inevitable course of events. From the Foundation Establishment ancestor and Qi Refinement immortals at the top down to the prominent clans and common folk below, all waited with eager anticipation. Now, every stratum had profited, and the Xiao family was personally marrying a daughter into their clan, causing everyone above and below to support and revere the Li name all the more. Li Yuanjiao took all of this in, naturally in high spirits. The uncles standing beside him did not know why he was smiling, assuming he was simply delighted by the upcoming marriage, and showered him with congratulations one after another. Only Li Yuanjiao’s concubine-born brothers exchanged glances and chuckled quietly. Seeing that the hour was drawing near, Li Yuanjiao and his retinue mounted their horses and set out to meet the Xiao family entourage according to custom. Fortunately, the Xiao and Li families were not too far apart, and Embryonic Breathing cultivators possessed astonishing stamina, so the trip was no great hardship. Had the distance been too vast, they would have had to make it a mere formality and dispatch someone riding the wind to bring Xiao Guiluan back. The Guli Road had already been renovated twice, having been put in order by the Xiao family several years ago. Relays and post stations lined the way, and the road was flat and easy to travel. As a peak Embryonic Breathing cultivator, Li Yuanjiao did not need to rest, but many of the Li clan men accompanying the wedding party lacked cultivation. Moving in fits and starts, it took them several days to reach Lixia Commandery. Xiao Guiluan had already come down the mountain and was waiting in the commandery seat. After sitting in her carriage for a while, word finally came that the party had arrived to fetch the bride. The retinue was naturally here for Xiao Guiluan. After waiting at the foot of the mountain for a time, the festive Xiao family ceremonial procession came into view nearby, the ground littered with red flower petals. Li Yuanjiao waited in silence, watching the ornate bridal carriage roll to a halt before him. A boy of about ten hopped down from it, dressed in festive attire and holding a circular jade bi in both hands. He declared respectfully: “The phoenixes sing in sweet harmony, prosperity through five generations; the young peach blossoms in resplendent bloom, a harmonious match for a thousand years… Glories upon the ancestral halls, united in everlasting harmony.” Once the boy finished his auspicious wishes, Li Yuanjiao offered his thanks and received the jade disc. From behind him, a rosy-cheeked little girl slipped out—none other than Li Qingxiao. Li Qingxiao was only a child, after all, and after traveling in a carriage the whole way, she appeared somewhat listless. But she was sensible, neither crying nor throwing a tantrum. Smiling, she pressed an embroidered sachet into Xiao Xian’s hand and led him up toward the carriage, leaving Xiao Guiluan alone inside the bridal carriage. Li Yuanjiao dismounted, offered incense, and presented wine, completing the full suite of rites for the Xiao family’s side. It took a full two hours before everything was concluded. Nodding, he turned his horse around and rode leisurely alongside the carriage, heading in the direction of the Li family. Only then did he find a spare moment to glance at the bridal carriage. Without deploying his spiritual sense to pry, he carefully looked upon the graceful silhouette cast against the curtain. Li Yuanjiao spoke softly: “Fortunate am I to meet you.” The silhouette paused slightly, then lifted the round fan in her hand. A faint shadow was cast downward, and a clear, melodious voice drifted out from behind the curtain, gentle and effortless: “I have waited long for you, my lord.”