by Jin Yong
"Miss Zhou, Miss Zhou,” he called in a very loud voice, "You ... why didn’t you look at the bright side? Why did you . why .”
Suddenly he heard someone from outside the door calling out, "Han Dage, what is it?” A man walked in, it was Zhang Wuji.
As Zhang Wuji saw what happened, he felt as if a lightning bolt had just struck him. With trembling hands he broke off the rope around Zhou Zhiruo’s neck, and then he felt her chest and found that her heart was still beating. "She is all right,” he happily said, "I can save her.” Reaching down toward her back and lower abdomen, he massaged her acupoints, while transmitting the Jiu Yang divine energy from the palms of his hands. After one round, ‘Wah!’ Zhou Zhiruo regained her consciousness and started to cry.
"Good, very good!” Han Lin’er exclaimed in exultation, "Miss Zhou is alive!”
Zhou Zhiruo opened her eyes and as she saw Zhang Wuji, she cried again, "Why do you care about me? Let me die in peace.” Suddenly she noticed Zhang Wuji’s upper lip was still bleeding, with some fine tooth marks on it. She could not suppress her fury; she raised her hand and heavily slapped Zhang Wuji’s face left and right.
Han Lin’er was flabbergasted; how could anybody beat the Cult Leader? But in his eyes, Zhou Zhiruo was like an immortal; so he was confused and did not know what to do. Right that moment, someone gently tapped his shoulder twice. Han Lin’er turned his head and saw Peng Yingyu. In his delight he said, "Peng Da Shi, you’re back! Quick, quickly advise Miss Zhou.”
Peng Yingyu laughed, "Advise what?” Toward Zhang Wuji he said, "Reporting to Jiaozhu: I did not find any information regarding Jin Mao Shi Wang [golden-haired lion king].”
"Hmm,” Zhang Wuji mumbled. He looked awkward.
"Han Xiongdi,” Peng Yingyu said, "Let’s go and take a walk outside.”
"No, no, we can’t,” Han Lin’er replied, "They are going to fight. Miss Zhou is certainly not Jiaozhu’s match.”
Peng Yingyu laughed out loud, "Silly brother!” he said, "Do you think even if the two of us are ganging up with Miss Zhou, we can beat Jiaozhu? I’ll say Jiaozhu is not Miss Zhou’s match.” He winked at Han Lin’er, and pulled his hand out of the room. Han Lin’er was still trying to turn his head, his face showed a deep concern. Zhou Zhiruo could not help but try to stifle her laugh, and then threw herself on the bed and wept again.
Zhang Wuji sat on the edge of the bed, gently tapped her shoulder and said in a tender voice, "Zhiruo, I did not have any appointment to meet her; it was truly an incidental meeting.”
Zhou Zhiruo randomly kicked her feet, while sobbing, "I don’t believe you, I don’t believe you. Whatever lies you are saying, don’t tell me to believe you.”
Zhang Wuji sighed, "’When Zhou Gong feared the days of rumor, Wang Mang enjoyed being praised as a polite and modest scholar,’” he quoted, "The matters of this world is so easy to be misunderstood .”
Zhou Zhiruo snorted and sat up, "That Junzhu Niangniang [princess] uses those verses to insult me, yet you consider it so poetic that you memorize it in your heart. Look at your lip, aren’t you ashamed? Where is your dignity?” Speaking to this point, she could not restrain her own cheeks from blushing.
Zhang Wuji thought that whatever he said, the incident today was very difficult to debate. Besides, he had determined to marry Zhou Zhiruo and grow old together. So the only thing he could do was suppress his emotions, and wish that this incident would eventually fade away from her memory as well. Under the candle light, he saw her pretty face was slightly red, with a deep rope mark around her neck, causing the neck swell on both sides. He thought that if Han Lin’er had been late in realizing what was going on and not rescued her, by the time he returned to the inn, she would have been dead, and no matter what kind of power he had, he would hate himself. Thinking of this, he was both ashamed and felt compassion toward her. He reached out to embrace her and kissed her cherry-red lips.
Zhou Zhiruo turned her head to avoid his kiss, and indignantly said, "You have committed dirty things with others, and come here to annoy me. Do you think you can take advantage of me?”
Zhang Wuji tightened his embrace so that she was unable to free herself, and then he deeply kissed her lips again. Because she could not struggle free, in the end Zhou Zhiruo’s heart softened. Zhang Wuji thought that although they were engaged, they were not married yet. Being together in a room deep into the night, unavoidably some people would find it unacceptable. Besides, it would not be good in the eyes of Peng Yingyu, Han Lin’er and the others. Thereupon he let her go and said, "Zhiruo, take a good rest. We’ll talk about it tomorrow. If I lied to you and went to see Miss Zhao, although you chop me with a thousand knives and cut me into ten thousand pieces, I will die without any regret.”
Zhou Zhiruo’s face blushed, her chest was heaving. Taking a deep breath, she said, "What nonsense are you talking about? You know that I will never chop you with a thousand knives and cut you into ten thousand pieces.”
Zhang Wuji laughed. "You can always chop my both legs, what do you think?” he said.
Zhou Zhiruo lowered her head, beads of tears streaming down like rain. Zhang Wuji felt bad to walk out the room, he returned to her side, wrapped his arms around her shoulder and gently said, "What makes you sad?”
Zhou Zhiruo did not answer, but she kept crying. Zhang Wuji asked her again and again, but to his surprise, the more he asked, the sadder she was. Zhang Wuji cursed himself and swore, saying that he was a heartless and ungrateful man. Zhou Zhiruo covered her face with her hands and said, "I blame my own cruel fate; I am not blaming you.”
"Everybody is suffering right now,” Zhang Wuji said, "The Tatars suppress the people of the Central Plains; everybody lives in suffering and great difficulty. Later on, when we get married and also have driven out the Tatars, then we will live a happy life and not suffer anymore.”
Zhou Zhiruo raised her head. "Wuji Gege,” she said, "I know you are being sincere to me. It’s just that that little witch Zhao Min is trying to seduce you, it’s not that you are of a double-minded person [orig. ‘three-heart two-intention’]. Only ... only she is too smart, her martial art skill is superior, her beauty, her power, everything in her is ten times better than I am. After all is said and done, I simply cannot beat her. It is better for me to die than to live a broken-hearted life. Who would have thought that that fool Han Lin’er would revived me. I have tried to die once, I don’t have the courage to try again. I . I want to be like Shifu, I want to shave my head and become a
Buddhist Nun. Ay, in the end, our Emei Pai’s Zhang Men [Sect Leader] is not a family woman.”
"You are always anxious,” Zhang Wuji said, "Let’s do this: tomorrow, we are leaving for the Huai Si River, we will get married over there.”
"We haven’t found Yifu,” Zhou Zhiruo replied, "Besides, you haven’t destroyed the Barbarians, how can you get married? In the end ... in the end we can’t get married yet.” While saying that, tears started to flow again.
"Naturally we must intensify the search for Yifu,” Zhang Wuji said, "But it will be a lot easier for us to find information if we are among our brethren. As for driving the Tatars away, nobody can tell when would that be. Are you saying that we should wait until we become ‘lao gong gong’ [old man or grandfather] and ‘lao po po’ [old woman, also grandmother] before we can bow to the Heaven and the Earth to get married? A pair of an old man and an old woman getting married is not strange, but we certainly can’t get any children, then the Zhang family of mine will die without any heir.”
Zhou Zhiruo blushed and covered up her mouth. "An honest and naive person like you, I wonder where did you learn to talk garrulously like that?” It was as if the anxiety clouds and the miserable fog in the sky were lifted up and scattered away with their laughter.
Early morning the next day, Zhang Wuji requested Peng Yingyu to stay in Dadu for three more days to inquire about any news on Xie Xun; while he took Zhou Zhiruo and Han Lin’er heading south toward the Huai Si River area. When
they entered Shandong’s border, they saw a large group of defeated Mongolian army, dragging their armor and losing their helmets, swarm in.
Seeing the condition of these defeated soldiers, Zhang Wuji and the others avoided them by taking a detour. Later on, they saw a lone soldier fall behind, they captured and interrogated him, and found out that in Huaibei, Zhu Yuanzhang had repeatedly won several big battles and completely routed the Yuan army.
The three of them were unable to restrain their delight; they picked up their speed and reached the Lu Wan [Anhui province] boundary, which had fallen under the Ming Cult’s rebel army [orig. ‘yi4 junl’ - justice/righteous army] territory. Someone in the rebel army recognized Han Lin’er and quickly reported to the general mansion. As the three of them approach Haozhou, Han Shantong, leading Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Deng Yu, Tang He, all the senior generals, were already out welcoming them within thirty ‘li’s [about 15 km] of the city limit. It was their first meeting after a long separation, so everybody was very happy. As Han Shantong learned about Han Lin’er being captured by the Beggar Clan and how their Cult Leader battled his captors to rescue him, he did not cease from expressing his gratitude. Amidst the clamoring gongs and drums, and dazzling armored entourage, they entered the city of Haozhou.
Zhou Zhiruo rode a horse right behind Zhang Wuji. She looked to the left and glanced to the right, and thought that although this parade was not as glamorous as the Emperor and Empress’ ‘Tour of the Imperial City’, she was quite pleased with it.
Zhang Wuji rested inside the city for a few days. As Yang Xiao, Fan Yao, Yin Tianzheng, Wei Yixiao, Yin Yewang, Priest Tieguan [‘iron hat’], Shuo Bude, Zhou Dian, and all leaders of the Five-Element Flags received the news about his arrival, they all came from all over the country. Zhang Wuji told them that Xie Xun had returned to the Central Plains; and how he was captured by the Beggar Clan but went missing later on. He told them everything related to this incident.
Yang Xiao, Fan Yao, Yin Tianzheng, and the others discussed this matter over and over again, but nobody was able to offer any explanation. Fan Yao said, "The origin of that lady in yellow is
unknown, but perhaps she holds the key to the information on Xie Xiong’s [brother Xie] whereabouts.”
Nobody had ever heard about that in the Wulin world there existed this lady in yellow. They could not offer anything except exhorting Zhang Wuji not to worry. "Judging from her speech and conduct, this lady in yellow does not hold any ill intention,” they said, "If Jin Mao Shi Wang has fallen into her hands surely he won’t come into any harm. Perhaps all this woman wants is some information on the Tulong Saber.”
Zhang Wuji was still feeling an inexplicable concern in his heart, but he could not do anything except dispatch the Five-Element Flags to go everywhere to find information.
The next day Peng Yingyu arrived from Dadu; he also said that he could not find any news about Xie Xun.
Although the Ming Cult’s rebel army had achieved great victory everywhere, the casualties in their side were also very serious. Hereafter they would be busy in the next two, three months to reorganize their troops and recruit new soldiers; hence, they were unable to engage the Yuan army in a large-scale battle for the time being.
Peng Yingyu knew that Zhou Zhiruo attempted suicide that night. Although he was unclear of the real reason behind it, he speculated that it had something to do with jealousy between the two. Fan Yao and the others were also aware of Zhang Wuji’s unusual relationship with Zhao Min. If the Cult Leader of the Ming Cult took a Mongolian princess as his wife, the threat facing their great undertaking of resisting the Yuan would not be small. Since currently there wasn’t any important matter at hand, they all agreed to urge Zhang Wuji to conclude his marriage with Zhou Zhiruo. Since Zhang Wuji had had a talk with Zhou Zhiruo beforehand, he readily agreed. Yang Xiao immediately decided that the fifteenth day of the third month would be an auspicious day.
The entire Ming Cult was jubilant; straightaway they busied themselves making preparation for their Jiaozhu’s wedding. By this time, the Ming Cult’s name had shaken the world. To the east, Han Shantong repeatedly scored major victories around the Huai Si River area. To the west, Xu Shouhui also defeated the Yuan army again and again around the northern Hubei and southern Henan. As the big news of the Cult Leader’s marriage spread out, the Wulin world’s figures’ congratulatory gifts came flooding in like a tidal wave of the river.
Kunlun, Kongtong, and various other Sects were originally in enmity with the Ming Cult. However, first, Zhang Wuji had rescued them from the Dadu’s Wan An Temple, and thus each Sect felt indebted to him; second, Zhou Zhiruo was the Sect Leader of Emei, so that each Sect Leader was obligated to send their representative to deliver their gift. Kongtong Five Elders’ [Kongtong Wu Lao] gift was especially lavish.
The gift from Zhang Sanfeng consisted of calligraphy of four characters, ‘Jia Er Jia Fu’ [lit. excellent son (husband), excellent woman (wife)], and his own writing of the ‘Tai Ji Quan Jing’ [Taiji Fist Manual], which were delivered by Song Yuanqiao, Yu Lianzhou, and Yin Liting, three of his chief disciples. By this time, Yin Liting had already married Yang Buhui, who also came to Haozhou.
Zhang Wuji welcomed her with a big smile on his face. "Liu Shi Shen [sixth martial aunt]!” he called out loudly. Yang Buhui blushed profusely. She pulled his hand away to reminisce about the past; with a heart full of joy and gratefulness.
Zhang Wuji was afraid Chen Youliang and Song Qingshu had not given up on their wicked scheme and would take this opportunity to strike. Thereupon he sent Wei Yixiao as his envoy to convey his gratitude to Wudang Mountain. He quietly told Wei Yixiao in detail how Song Qingshu had killed Mo Shenggu, and how he had conspired to harm Zhang Sanfeng. He asked that after Wei Yixiao paid his respects to Zhang Sanfeng, to collaborate with Yu Daiyan and Zhang Songxi in guarding against Chen Youliang’s evil plan; and that he should wait until Song Yuanqiao and the others return to Wudang before he leaves.
Wei Yixiao spitefully said, "Following Jiaozhu’s order, Wei Yixiao does not dare to suck others’ blood; but this time, if I ever come across those two traitors, I must suck their blood dry.”
Zhang Wuji hastily said, "About that Chen Youliang, I don’t care if Wei Xiong [brother Wei] get rid of him. But Song Qingshu is my Song Da Shibo’s only beloved son, he is also Wudang Pai’s future Sect Leader. Besides, we should let Wudang clean up their own school. We must avoid hurting my Song Da Shibo’s feelings.” Wei Yixiao complied and left immediately.
By the tenth of the third month, the heroines of Emei arrived at Haozhou bringing gifts. Ding Minjun sent her gift, but she did not personally come.
When the fifteenth of the third month came, everybody from the Ming Cult, from top to bottom, were wearing new clothes. The wedding ceremony was to be held at the mansion belonging to the richest man in Haozhou. The reception hall was adorned with hanging lanterns and colorful embroidered banners of congratulations. Zhang Sanfeng’s calligraphy, ‘Jia Er Jia Fu’ was hung in the middle.
Yin Tianzheng presided over the groom’s family, while Chang Yuchun presided over the bride’s side. Priest Tieguan was in charge of Haozhou’s security; he deployed the Cult disciples to patrol around town, to guard against the enemy mingled in and caused trouble. Tang He stationed his army of elite troops to guard the city’s perimeter.
That morning, the delegations from Shaolin Pai and Huashan Pai also arrived with their gifts.
When the ninth hour [between 3 - 5 pm] came, the wedding ceremony started. Cannons were fired repeatedly. The guests flooded the reception hall. Upon the command of Master of Ceremony, Song Yuanqiao and Yin Yewang walked Zhang Wuji into the hall. The string and woodwind ensemble started to play; the mood was bright.
Accompanied by eight of Emei Pai’s young heroines, Zhou Zhiruo willowy and elegantly stepped into the hall. Zhou Zhiruo was wearing red embroidered dress, with phoenix crown and red-cloud cape on her head, and red veil covered her face. The male on the
left and the female on the right, the bride and the groom stood side by side.
"Bow to the Heaven!” the Master of Ceremony shouted.
Zhang Wuji and Zhou Zhiruo were about to kneel down on the red-felt rug when suddenly from outside the main gate someone shouted, "Hold it!” A dark green shadow flashed, and a young woman in dark green clothes stood in the middle of the hall, smiling softly; it was none other than Zhao Min.
As the crowd saw that it was her, they exclaimed in surprise. Many masters from Ming Cult and various Sects had suffered under her hands; they did not expect her to be as bold as to enter this dangerous place alone. The hot-tempered among them were ready to pounce forward.
"Hold it!” Yang Xiao spread out his arms and shouted. To the guests he said, "Today is our humble Cult’s Jiaozhu and the Emei Pai’s Zhang Men’s [Sect Leader] day of happiness. Since Miss Zhao
has come to join us in this celebration, she is also our honored guest. Therefore, I am asking everybody to look at Emei Pai and Ming Cult’s humble faces and willing set aside the old grudges temporarily; and thus not to treat Miss Zhao impolitely.”
He cast a meaningful glance toward Shuo Bude and Peng Yingyu. They understood his intention. Circling to the rear of the hall, they went outside to investigate, to observe how many martial art masters Zhao Min took with her.
To Zhao Min he said, "Miss Zhao, please have a seat over here and watch the ceremony. Later on I will salute you with three cups of insipid wine.”
Zhao Min smiled slightly and said, "I have something I want to say to Zhang Jiaozhu. I will leave as soon as I am finished. I will come back later to accept your hospitality.”
"Whatever it is that Miss Zhao wants to say, it won’t be too late to wait after the ceremony is over,” Yang Xiao said.
"After the ceremony, it will be too late,” Zhao Min said.
Yang Xiao and Fan Yao exchanged a look, knowing that she had come today to deliberately create trouble. Whatever it was, they must prevent it at any cost, so as to avoid disruption of the ceremony, embarrassment, and to displease the guests.
