The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 31 – Part 3

Xie Xun laughed loudly and said, “The union of man and woman is a lifelong commitment. How is it improper? Wuji, your parents also wed on a deserted island, bowing to heaven and earth on their own. Had they not cast aside worldly conventions that day, where would you be now, boy? Besides, today your sworn father is here to officiate. Do you not like Miss Zhou? Do you not wish to drive the poison from her body?”

Zhou Zhiruo covered her face and tried to leave. Xie Xun caught her sleeve and laughed, “Where are you off to? Will we not see each other tomorrow? Ah, I understand now. You are unwilling to call this blind old man your father-in-law?” Zhou Zhiruo said, “No, no, that is not it. Elder Xie is a hero of this age…” Xie Xun said, “Then you have agreed?” Zhou Zhiruo only said, “No, no!” Xie Xun said, “Do you find my sworn son too unworthy?”

Zhou Zhiruo paused, then said, “Order Leader Zhang’s martial arts are superb, his name known throughout the jianghu. To gain… to gain such a husband, what more could I ask? Only… only…” Xie Xun said, “What?” Zhou Zhiruo glanced briefly at Zhang Wuji and said, “He… the one he truly loves in his heart is Miss Yin, is Miss Zhao, is Xiaozhao. I know this.” Xie Xun said, “Miss Yin has passed away. Xiaozhao has gone to Persia and will never be seen again. That wench Zhao Min brought us such misery. How could Wuji still be deluded? Wuji, tell her yourself.”

Zhang Wuji’s mind was a maze of confusion. He recalled Zhao Min’s silvery laughter, her countless charming ways, and felt that if only he could take Zhao Min as his wife and remain by her side forever, that would be the greatest bliss of his life. But in the next instant, he remembered the ghastly, criss-crossing sword-wounds on Yin Li’s face, drenched in blood, and blurted, “Miss Zhao is my great enemy. I will kill her to avenge my cousin.”

Xie Xun said, “Exactly. Miss Zhou, what further doubts do you have?” Zhou Zhiruo said in a low voice, “I am not at ease. Unless… unless you make him… take an oath. Otherwise, I would rather the poison claims my life than have him help me drive it out.” Xie Xun said, “Wuji, swear quickly!”

Zhang Wuji knelt on both knees and said, “I, Zhang Wuji, if I forget my cousin’s blood-feud, may heaven and earth not tolerate me.” Zhou Zhiruo said, “I want you to say it more clearly. What will you do to that Miss Zhao?” Xie Xun said, “Wuji, make it plainer. What is this ‘heaven and earth not tolerate’? Too vague.”

Zhang Wuji said in a loud voice, “The Mongolian woman Zhao Min serves the Tartar royal house, has brought suffering to our people, harmed the righteous men of our wulin, and moreover stolen my sworn father’s treasured dao and harmed my cousin Yin Li. For the rest of my days, I shall surely avenge this great wrong. Otherwise, may heaven reject me and earth reject me.” Zhou Zhiruo gave a faint smile and said, “I am afraid that when the time comes, you will not have the heart to strike.”

Xie Xun said, “There you are. An auspicious day is not as good as a chance day. We heroes of the jianghu do not concern ourselves with such womanly fuss and tedious ceremony. You two might as well wed today. The sooner the Ten-fragrance Softening-Tendon Powder¹ is driven from her body, the better.”

Zhang Wuji said, “No! Sworn father, Zhiruo, hear me out. My cousin held me in deep affection. From childhood she regarded me as her husband in her heart, and I too regarded her as my wife. Though there was no wedding, there was the bond of husband and wife. Her bones are not yet cold. How could I bear to take a new bride so soon?”

Xie Xun mused, “That is also well said. What do you propose?” Zhang Wuji said, “In my view, let me first formally betroth myself to Miss Zhou today, then help her heal and drive out the poison. That will be far more proper. If fortune favours us and we return to the Central Plains, once I have killed Zhao Min and recovered the Dragon-Slaying treasured dao to return it to my sworn father’s hands, then I can wed Miss Zhou. That would satisfy both sides.” Xie Xun laughed, “You have thought it out nicely. What if ten years, eight years pass and we still cannot leave this island?” Zhang Wuji said, “In three years, whether or not we can leave this island, I ask my sworn father to officiate my wedding then.”

Xie Xun nodded and asked Zhou Zhiruo, “Miss Zhou, what say you?” Zhou Zhiruo hung her head and did not answer. After a long while, she said, “I am a lonely, helpless girl. What say can I have of my own? Everything rests with you, Elder.”

Xie Xun laughed heartily, “Very good, very good. The three of us are agreed. You two are betrothed, husband and wife-to-be. Have no further qualms. Wuji, drive the poison from my daughter-in-law.” With that, he strode away towards the rear of the mountain.

Zhang Wuji said, “Zhiruo, can you forgive the distress I have put you through?” Zhou Zhiruo smiled faintly and said, “It is only because I am so plain-looking that you hesitate and stall. If it were Miss Zhao, I daresay you would… this very evening…” With that, she turned her head away, too embarrassed to continue. Zhang Wuji’s heart stirred. He thought, When we were all adrift in the small boat together, I foolishly dreamed of taking all four as my brides. In truth, Zhiruo’s words are right. The one I truly love in my heart is that wicked, cunning little heretic woman.² I call myself hero and brave man, yet my heart so fails to distinguish good from evil, so bewitched by beauty.

Zhou Zhiruo turned back and saw him still lost in thought. She rose to her feet and was about to walk away. Zhang Wuji reached out, caught her hand, and pulled. He had not expected that Zhou Zhiruo’s neili had not yet returned. Her legs were weak, and she swayed and fell into his arms, unable to struggle free. She said crossly, “I am destined to be bullied by you my whole life long.”

Zhang Wuji saw her brows knit in gentle anger, strikingly lovely. Holding her tender form, he said in a low voice, “Zhiruo, the two of us first met as children by the Han River. Who would have thought we would come to this? At Bright Peak, when I alone faced the four elders of the Kunlun and Huashan Schools, you guided me to the vital points and saved my life. At the time I was only grateful for your care, and dared not harbour any other thought.” Zhou Zhiruo leaned against him and said, “That day I struck you with my jian. Do you not hate me for it?” Zhang Wuji said, “I knew you did it only under your shifu’s strict orders. The fact that you did not strike true to my heart told me you secretly cared for me.” Zhou Zhiruo spat and her cheeks flushed crimson. “If I had known that, I would have struck your heart true that day. How much cleaner that would have been, sparing me all these endless years of being bullied by you and suffering your wrath.” Zhang Wuji tightened his arms around her and said, “From now on, I will only love you and cherish you the more. We are husband and wife as one. How could I give you grief?”

Zhou Zhiruo turned sideways and gazed at his face. “If I do something wrong and offend you, will you beat me? Scold me? Kill me?” Their faces were only several inches apart. He could feel her breath like orchids and could not help pressing a soft kiss to her left cheek. “A gentle, refined, graceful and virtuous wife such as you, how could you do anything wrong?” Zhou Zhiruo softly stroked the nape of his neck and said, “Even a sage makes mistakes sometimes. I had no mother or father to guide me as a child. I cannot be sure I will never be foolish.” Zhang Wuji said, “If you truly do something wrong, I will only counsel you gently.”

Zhou Zhiruo said, “You will truly never change your heart towards me? You will never kill me?” Zhang Wuji kissed her cheek once more and said softly, “Do not think wild thoughts. How could such a thing happen?” Zhou Zhiruo said in a trembling voice, “I want you to promise me with your own mouth.” Zhang Wuji laughed, “Very well! I will never change my heart towards you, and I will never kill you. I would not raise so much as a fist or a foot against my beloved wife, Zhou Zhiruo.”

Zhou Zhiruo gazed into his eyes and said, “I will not have you laughing and jesting. I want you to say it seriously.” Zhang Wuji smiled, “What strange thoughts are in that little head of yours?” He thought, It is because I showed favour to Zhao Min, to Xiaozhao, to my cousin. I left tokens of affection for each, and so she cannot be at ease. But from now on, how could there ever be such a thing again? He composed his features and said gravely, “Zhiruo, you are my beloved wife. In the past I was of two minds and three intentions. I only ask you to let the past be. From now on, I will never change my heart towards you. Even if you do something wrong, I could not bear to speak a harsh word in blame.”

Zhou Zhiruo said, “Wuji gege, you are a man, a true man. Remember the words you spoke to me tonight.” She pointed at the newly risen crescent moon and said, “The moon in heaven is witness between us two.”

Zhang Wuji said, “Yes, you are right. The bright moon in heaven is witness between us two.” He held Zhou Zhiruo in his arms and gazed at the moon at the sky’s edge. “Zhiruo, I have been deceived by many, many people in my life. As a child, my trusting nature brought me suffering countless times. How many times exactly, I cannot recall even now. Only on Fire Ice Island, with Papa, Mama, and my sworn father, was there none of the world’s treachery and cunning. The first time I returned to the Central Plains, I met a beggar with a performing snake. He tricked me into peeking into his cloth sack, and before I knew it, he had the sack over my head and had taken me captive. And how could I have imagined that, having come to this island through life and death and hardship together, Miss Zhao would put deadly poison in the very first meal?” Zhou Zhiruo said with a bitter smile, “You are the man who will not give up until he reaches the Yellow River. Once at the Yellow River, it is too late for regret.”

Zhang Wuji suddenly thought, From now on, no one will ever practise deceit on me again. If it is so forever, how wonderful that would be! His heart filled with a sense of happiness and he said, “Zhiruo, you are truly my forever and always my dearest kin. You have always treated me well. If we can return to the Central Plains in days to come, you will help me guard against crafty, cunning folk. With you as my wise helpmeet, I will fall into far fewer traps.”

Zhou Zhiruo shook her head. “I am the most useless of women. Weak, incompetent, and plain besides. Never mind the vast gulf between me and the extraordinarily clever Miss Zhao. Even Xiaozhao, with her penetrating schemes, how could I match one in ten thousand of her? Your Miss Zhou is an honest, stupid girl. Do you not know that even now?”

Zhang Wuji said, “Only a loyal and wise woman such as you would never deceive me.” Zhou Zhiruo turned and laid her face against his chest. “Wuji gege, my heart is overflowing with joy to be wed to you. I only pray you do not despise me for my foolishness and uselessness, look down on me, and bully me. I… I will do my utmost to serve you well. If in days to come you find I have done something that wrongs you, it is only because I love you.” Zhang Wuji said, “Whatever you do out of love for me, I will never blame you for it.”

Zhou Zhiruo took his hand, held it softly, and stroked the back of it. “Wuji gege, there is a great and weighty matter in my heart. Give me your counsel on what to do.” Zhang Wuji said, “You are my beloved wife. Your affairs are my affairs. However great the difficulty, we shall bear it together.” Zhou Zhiruo said, “That day atop the high tower at Wan’an Monastery in Dadu, my shifu passed the zhangmen’s iron finger ring to me, and instructed me to draw close to you…” Zhang Wuji slapped his thigh. “If your shifu has given the order, that is excellent!” Zhou Zhiruo said, “No, you do not understand. Shifu told me to draw close to you, but forbade me to harbour love for you in my heart. I was not to treat you as a true beloved, and still less was I to wed you as my husband. She… she forced me to swear a terrible oath: if I were to become your wife, though my own mother and father were already dead and buried, their bones would know no rest. After my shifu Miejue Shitai died, she would become a vengeful ghost and trouble me day and night for the rest of my life. If I bore you sons or daughters, the males would be slaves generation after generation, and the females whores for all time…” Her voice was already trembling by the end.

Footnotes

1. 十香软筋散 – Shíxiāng Ruǎnjīn Sǎn. Literally Ten-fragrance Softening-Tendon Powder. A powerful poison that neutralises neili and renders the victim limbless. Its ten fragrant components mask its lethal effect. ↩

2. 妖女 – yāonü. Heretic woman. The orthodox schools’ term for a female member of the demonic cult, carrying a doctrinal charge of heterodoxy rather than mere criminality. ↩