The Guide to Capturing a Black Lotus

Measuring the bride’s clothes alone took an entire day. By the end of the day, Ling Miaomiao could barely keep her eyes open.

With the rushed three day deadline to get married, it was obvious the bridal clothes could not be as exquisite and refined as they could’ve been. There was far too little time to add the embroidery. All they could do was create a basic design for her.

Ling Yu’s aunt from her mother’s side tried her utmost and managed to bring a bridal gift from a thousand li away (approximately 500 km)——- A pair of precious embroidered shoes kept in a delicate little box. The sharp toes of the shoe were adorned with beautiful, round pearls. When one walked in them, they would reflect and shine brilliantly under the sunlight. Apparently even the soles of the feet were made from sheepskin. They were soft beyond compare. However, the material they were made of was also tenuous: They could not get wet in the slightest. They were a part of the dowry given to Ling Yu by her family.

The weather had turned colder so Ling Miaomiao wore it in the house when she roamed. It looked like there were two bright little moons beneath her dress, glittering brightly.

She didn’t put on her shoes properly as she sat by the side of her bed. She reached out with her arms and for the third time, allowed the dressmaker to verify the length of her arms.

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Before the measurements were made, the door opened with a creak and Mu Sheng’s figure appeared from the shadow of the doorway. He had no hesitation as he strode into the room.

The dressmaker discovered that the youth had no intention whatsoever to shrink away whilst the girl before her showed no reaction to this either, still maintaining her posture with her head lowered. She felt astonished as she put away the measuring tape and nodded before leaving the room quietly.

Mu Sheng had been extremely busy the past few days. Although they had already gone for a simplistic wedding, the matters he had to deal with still piled up into a mountain. He had been running left and right all day long. It wasn’t until night fell that he could find the time to come find Ling Miaomiao.

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“What do you mean why?” She rubbed her sore arms while yawning at the same time.

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“Why do you want something simple? Why…. the day after?” There was a rare thread of anxiety hidden in his tone, as if he was truly anxiously looking for her to give him advice.

She curled up the corner of her lips and raised her chin. Her tone sounded almost mocking: “Ziqi, weren’t you the most anxious one?”

He was starstruck and immediately stood up the next moment. He softly caressed her face for a long period as a smile adorned his face. However, the smile on his face seemed somewhat blurry, as if she was seeing through colored glass. In that sense, he looked just like a fresh flower: “If this was actually your doing… that’s good.”

Ling Miaomiao puckered up her brows: “You’re the one that’s faking it.”

He paused slightly before he shoved his white jade-like face towards her, restraining himself greatly as he growled: “Miaomiao.”

He raised his face but his lowered lashes trembled softly. He looked like he wait anxiously waiting for someone to console him.

It was a posture that sincerely asked for a kiss.

Ling Miaomiao looked at him then she tapped her lips with her index finger a few times. After she stained her finger with some of the red rouge from her lips, she pressed her finger into his lower lip with force.

As their marriage ceremony was rushed and hastily prepared, even the weather was ugly. From dawn till the sun slowly turned to dusk. There were large patches of clouds gathered in the sky and the air was thick with moisture. Despite the cool autumn climate of Changan, the odor of mold growing on wood and furniture permeated the atmosphere.

The golden pendant silently swinging back and forth in the mirror was just like a swing. Mu Yao’s ten long fingers shuttled back and forth through her chestnut hair. Then, she finally reached out to place the complex head ornament onto her head.

The golden pendant was linked with a string of exquisite pearls that glistened brilliantly on her forehead. The very last pearl just so happened to be pressed against the center of the bright red flower imprint.

Mu Yao pursed her lips at the person in the mirror. Ling Miaomiao’s head was lowered as she fiddled with her fingers. Her eyelashes were pointed downwards but there was a rare curl at the corners of her eyes. She hadn’t had the chance to put on her lipstick yet.

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The normal girl who looked like any other pretty daughter from a humble household… seemed to suddenly be suffused with a rare charm.

“Miaomiao…. what do you think?” She somewhat awkwardly clasped her hand on Miaomiao’s shoulder.

Ling Miaomiao stared at the mirror with full concentration. Her bright red, done up face with her peach shaped cheeks and her apricot irises. With how fresh and lovely she looked, the pale Mu Yao in her darker clothes seemed to lose all of her presence.

“Sister Mu….” Her expression was somewhat astonished: “Your expression doesn’t look right.”

“I…..” Mu Yao smiled bitterly. She attentively watched Miaomiao through the mirror for a long time. Then, she let out a sigh and said: “Ah Sheng… he….”

However, she didn’t know how to explain — If she really spoke the truth would she scare Ling Miaomiao off?

She hesitated for a long pause before her pupils seemed to clear up: “…. If he ever bullies you, just come look for me. You don’t need to endure it, you got it?”

Ling Miaomiao pursed her lips into a slight smile.

She reached backwards with her hand to clasp onto the hand Mu Yao placed on her shoulder: “Sister Mu, Mu Sheng…. to you may seem like someone else on the surface but in reality, he’s really not that different. You don’t have to be scared of him.”

“….” Mu Yao was stunned and was immediately rendered mute.

Ling Miaomiao had someone taken the words she had wanted to say out of her mouth and said it first.

She pursed her lips again and it felt like the tear shaped birthmark below the corner of her eye flickered under the lantern light: “You don’t understand, Ah Sheng he…”

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“Sister Mu.” Ling Miaomiao interrupted her again, “If your beloved steed of ten years were to suddenly go insane and there was a bottomless abyss in front of you but a flat road behind, what would do you?”

Mu Yao paused for a moment before subconsciously replying: “Of course I’d pull on the reins and stop it from going over the precipice.”

“In such a dangerous situation, you could just toss aside the reins and let the horse choose for itself whether or not to leap down the abyss.”

“But since I have the ability to pull back on the reins, why not try? After ten years of interacting with one another, I’m sure our hearts would be as one. Even if it were to go mad, I shouldn’t…”

She suddenly stopped, her brain buzzed loudly. She finally understood what Ling Miaomiao meant.

Ling Miaomiao picked up the rouge paper and dabbed her lips. Her eyes were filled with a glimmering dampness and her bright red lips were slightly curled up. She looked into the mirror and said: “Then just give it a pull then, don’t let it fall over the edge.”

The fringe of the vermillion red cover hung down and covered her face. There were tassels hanging off the sides of the cover that also drooped down, all the way to her stomach.

Her pace was very quick, never having nor capable of learning the way to walk in a reserved, elegant manner. However, because the tassels hanging down from the cover on her head swayed with her every step, it made her seem like she was very high spirits.

Leaving her seat, Mu Yao carefully supported her arm and softly reminded her: “Walk slower.”

The biggest matchmaker temple in all of Changan was right before them. The clouds in the horizon were thickly drooping downwards, as if they had gotten a full stomach of water vapor. It looked like it would start raining at any moment.

Mu Yao raised her head to look at the thick clouds, and a thread of worry appeared in her eyes.

“Coming coming….” A cacophony of chaotic footsteps sounded out. It was the loud cry of an aunty who had dropped half a packet of sunflower seeds. The few of them had just gotten off of their seats, hastily rushing to stand on ceremony.

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There was a pair of stone statues within the matchmaker’s temple. The roof above the statues even sported a giant hole, letting the rain and wind in.

A few days ago, Miaomiao’s aunt specially came to this temple to find monks who were in dire monetary straits. She wanted to hurriedly fix the hole in the ceiling yet the monks replied with: This hole was purposely left untouched. In the middle of the night when moonlight shone through the hole it would light up the statue, bringing the manifestation of the temple’s god.

So, fixing it no longer became possible.

The aunty raised her head to stare at the hole until… it was dark and cold in the evening. She felt so cold she shuddered for a long time — she had never seen such a simple and crude marriage ceremony.

Ling Miaomiao’s bridal clothes were specially ordered for her. The tailor was very astute and left a smidge of space inside for her to wear another layer of cotton apparel inside. She sewed a small little form-fitting jacket on the inside of the dress. Even when she stood in place, unmoving, she didn’t feel the cold at all.

The strength supporting Ling Miaomiao’s hand suddenly increased and a familiar plum blossom scent attacked her nostrils. She slightly raised her head and through the red muslin, she discovered that the person by her side had at some moment in time already switched due to the flickering candlelight filling up the room.

The couple slowly walked hand in hand into the temple with slow steps.

Their clothes were slightly darker in design but the satiny material accompanied by the numerous beads and pearls glimmered under the dark yellow candlelight in the room. Behind the bride was a long dragging train, which in addition to the flickering reflections on her, somehow made her seem to be possessed with an indolent beauty.

Two rows of candles flickered in front of the statue, the little spots of fire seemingly like the reflections of lantern light on a river’s surface.

Miaomiao’s uncle cleared his throat: “Cough cough, then we…”

Suddenly, the world turned bright and immediately following that, a deafening ‘kaboom’ struck. The bolt of thunder seemed to be the cry of the skies as the trees outside the window were blown about so fiercely they looked like they would snap at any time.

The aunt was greatly shocked. In addition, within this simple and crude matchmaking temple, other than the new bride and groom having absolutely no reaction at all, everyone else basically leapt up in fright.

Ling Miaomiao looked down at her skirt covering the ground. The pearls adorning the pointy end of her shoes sticking out from her skirt glimmered under the candlelight. She slightly adjusted her position and he immediately grabbed tightly onto her arm. One could say it was a consoling gesture or, a controlling gesture to stop her from running away.

“Don’t be scared.” His low voice entered her ear.

Ling Miaomiao tilted her head to the side without uttering a word.

“Miss Mu, look! It’s about to rain, this…”

It was hard to say whether or not this temple in great disrepair could actually withstand a bout of intense rain and wind. Just that hole in the roof alone was already enough of a headache.

“It’s fine…. let’s hurry up.” Mu Yao helplessly let out a sigh, before urging the ceremony onwards with a soft tone.

All the ceremonies were sped up as the sound of thunder outside the window seemed to grow more and more furious. All of the guests and family members there were trembling with fear and trepidation. Mu Sheng however, was completely unflustered. He nearly locked her in place as they performed their marriage vows.

When the two of them rose, they faced the statue holding a red ribbon in its left hand. As a result of many years of tear and wear, the red ribbon in the matchmaker god statue’s hand was full of holes and from the side, could see all the cotton patches added to it.

Ling Miaomiao couldn’t help but grin.

The youth quickly tilted his head towards her, silently staring past the muslin covering her face. He could only see a blurry outline of her brows yet he somehow felt like he was suffering from an illusion. An illusion where she was happy right now.

He lowered his long brows and a self-mocking grin appeared on his face .

—- Other than him, who else would be happy during this event?

“Please, rise.” Mu Yao hurriedly declared the end of the ceremony.

According to this world’s customs, they had to make vows to one another before the ceremony would be considered complete.

“What should I say?” Ling Miaomiao opened her mouth to ask, speaking for the first time this night. As a result of not using it for so long, her voice sounded brittle yet bright.

Mu Yao was stunned before turning to her and reminding: “From this day forward and the rest of my life, I will not leave nor forsake you.”

“Ok.” She paused and then turned towards the old statue, slowly uttering: “From this day forward and the rest of my life, I will not leave nor forsake you.”

After her voice faded away, he still didn’t utter a sound. Everyone held their breath as they waited for him to repeat the words. For a period of time, the only sounds within the room were of the wild torrent outside taking out its rage on the vegetation and the creaking of the building.

“Ah Sheng….” Mu Yao’s brows knitted together.

“…….”

“Ah Sheng!” She hurriedly tried to urge him again.

He finally opened his mouth yet the words that came out weren’t the words he was supposed to say.

His pupils were pitch black yet the corners of his eyes were dripping red. His tone was extremely heavy but somehow carried a bigoted air to them: “Whether in life or in death, we will never be separated, entangling endlessly.”

The instant the last word was uttered, the sky suddenly brightened, bright to the point of blinding, and a thunderous boom shook the air. The sudden clap of thunder erupted just like the god of heaven using his hammer to continuously strike down.

At nearly the same instant, a hole seemed to be broken in the heavens as the rain poured down like a flood.

In an instant, the thick water vapor outside surrounded the temple and the people inside were frightened. They had suddenly become buried by the deafening roar.

Before the water could rush into the temple, everyone hurriedly escorted the new bride and groom out of the temple.

The sky outside was dusky and the rainwater flooding the streets formed countless little whirlpools on the surface of the water.

Ling Miaomiao and company stopped in front of the gates and looked somewhat hesitantly at her sheepskin boots.

Before she could react, an arm wrapped around her waist and carried her in a princess carry. She suddenly felt her body go weightless as he charged into the flooded streets with absolutely no hesitation at all.

The soft, satiny skirt piled up into countless folds in his arms and swayed back and forth by his feet. Ah Yi barely managed to keep up with an umbrella in hand, blocking the rain from drenching the two. She stumbled and staggered as she tried to follow Mu Sheng’s footsteps.

The youth slightly raised his eyelid. The rising water vapor seemed to penetrate into his dark pupils, turning them watery. He lightly spoke: “Just hold it for your family’s young miss, that’s all you need to do.”

“Oh….” Ah Yi peered at his expression, stiffly holding onto the umbrella.

Mu Sheng pulled aside the palanquin’s curtain and shoved her in. When he bent over, the greater half of his back was rendered wet by the rain, turning his clothes a darker shade.

TLN: Cough cough uhm…. I have to apologize greatly. I know this’ll come across as an excuse but I really feel like I’m going senile… In short, about a month ago now, when 85 was supposed to come out initially, I dreamt a dream where I made the post and posted the chapter. I even double checked the post after I published it to make sure nothing was glaringly off. Well well well. I didn’t make the post. It was just a dream. And then the same thing happened again last week. I thought I posted chapter 87………. but now that I check the drive again, I haven’t even finished 87….

Once again, I apologize for the lack of posts. I’m going to try to get up to 87 posted in the next couple days… and 88 will be a week late most likely.

Also, shoutout to Anonmyous for reminding me to post again 🙂

Have a great weekend y’all~