Jin Mengmeng's senior sister Jin Ruizhu was going to marry Lord Shui, the second son of the Shui family. So Jin Mengmeng got up at three 3 o'clock to prepare red eggs. After all the eggs had been dyed red and the bride got on the sedan chair, the bridal procession went all the way to the Northsea Pass.

Lord Jin paid the crossing fee but the bandits blocking their way didn't move.

Several minutes later, a young man in an old-fashioned blue shirt came down from the hill, and lifted the bride's red veil with a silver-handled whip.

Jin Mengmeng tried to draw the whip aside, but she failed.

The bride in the sedan chair bit her lip as she glared at the young man, her face flushing red.

Song Taixi curled his lips and ridiculed, "Milady, you are neither a ***** nor an actress. How come you turn hostile to me so fast? You had just slept with me last night and now you are going to marry someone else?"

This time it was Jin Mengmeng who blushed. Standing still in front of the sedan chair, she scolded, "You bastard, let go of my senior sister or there’ll be consequences."

Song Taixi raised his eyebrows and rebuked, "Ignorant little girl, how dare you threaten me!"

Before his voice had died away, the whip in his hand snapped and flew directly at Jin Mengmeng's face.

It missed, however.

The lash was blocked by a silver coin.

Jin Mengmeng looked back in surprise and saw a tall young man walking out from behind the hill. The young man was in a white shirt and a black bow tie, and looked quite commanding with his hair slicked back.

Jin Mengmeng blinked in confusion, for his face didn’t ring any bells to her.

The man put one hand over his lips and whistled. One or two hundred men armed with guns immediately galloped out from behind the hill.

As the two groups of people confronted, Song Taixi's men immediately realized they were at an unfavorable position for being equipped with sabers.

The man rode up on his horse and casually pointed at Jin Mengmeng, saying, "Get changed, now! The auspicious time is ticking."

Standing in a daze, Jin Mengmeng obviously didn't understand what was going on.

The bride's face, however, was already soaked with tears. "Lord Shui, please don’t let his nonsense get to you. I'm innocent..."

Lord Shui urged the horse to move forward without even looking at Jin Ruizhu.

Next, two matchmakers grabbed Jin Ruizhu out of the sedan chair, tore off her wedding dress, and carried Jin Mengmeng away.

Jin Mengmeng cried, "Help, senior sister! Help me..."

Jin Ruizhu, who had been scooped into Song Taixi's arms, was so angry that it looked as if her eyes was about to erupt with flames. "What are you waiting for, bitch? Bite your tongue off and take your own life right now!" she snapped.

Jin Mengmeng didn't commit suicide after all.

She was sent to the residence of the Shui family, a mansion that was decorated with rows of lanterns as well as red carpets spreading to the main hall, where the sound of firecrackers could be heard clearly.

After the wedding ceremony, Jin Mengmeng was directly sent to the bedroom where a bed covered with red dates and peanuts had been prepared. The new-style mattress was so soft that sank Jin Mengmeng's bottom as soon as she sat down.

Suddenly, beams of bright light came into her sight. Her red bridal veil was lifted by something, which turned out to be the long barrel of a box cannon (Mauser C96).

In front of her was Lord Shui who was wearing an empty smile. "From now on, you will be my legal wife, the second young mistress of the Shui family."

"But my senior sister..."

Before she could finish her words, she was brought down, turned over, and pressed against the bed. Her pants were ripped off in the blink of an eye.

Then, she felt a sharp pain in her bottom.

"Woooo..." Jin Mengmeng burst into tears due to the pain. Clenching her teeth, she cried out, "Metal (Jin) generates water (Shui). The fortune teller said the Jin family just had to marry one of their girls to you. He didn't say the girl would need to have sex with you."

"Heh..." He continued pounding as he said, "How do we ‘generate water’ without sex?"

He was wheezing behind while she was wailing in front.

After it was done, he stood up, buckled his belt and went out with his coat. At the door, he said without looking back, "I'll be back at 12 tonight."

"Creak!" The door with intertwining floral patterns was closed. It was the maidservants who came in to wait upon. ***** from the waist down, blood could be seen all over Jin Mengmeng's private parts.

Scared, she hastily burrowed into the heap of covers.

With the presence of two servant girls and one old maidservant, Jin Mengmeng couldn’t muster up courage to speak. Glancing around, she noticed a whole set of new-style furniture made of phoebe sheareri glimmering under the light.

On the night table there was an electric lamp covered with a fashionable glass lamp shade.

She had only heard of this type of furniture from her senior sister but had never seen it before.

When the old maidservant asked for new orders, she finally learned that the bridal procession of the Jin family hadn't left yet. Hesitated for a moment, she asked about her senior sister and the opinion of the Jins on this matter.

Jin Ruizhu was abducted by Song, the Fifth Lord of the Northsea Pass.

...******...

...Translator’s Note: According to Chinese Taoist doctrines, the world is made up of 5 fundamental elements: metal (金Jin), wood (木mu), water (水shui), fire (火huo) and soil (土tu), among which the generation and restriction have inseparable correlations. In which case, wood generates fire, fire generates soil, soil generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood. People in the old society tended to believe that if an element generates another, the person whose name contained the former element would contribute to the future development of the person whose name contained the latter....

...Translator: Madesmoiselle V....

...To be continued...

Jin Yong, the master of the Jin family, who was Jin Ruizhu's elder brother and also known as Jin Mengmeng's senior brother, sent Jin Mengmeng a word that she should take good care of Lord Second Shui and try to bear a son soon so that the Jin family would have a backer.

The Shui family had a dominant position in River Town, a city vast in territory.

When the second young master of the Shui family decide to take a wife, the first thing he had to do was to match his "eight characters[1]" with the other side. He was told that only by marrying a girl from the Jin family could help him consolidate the family business.

Since Jin Ruizhu was no longer eligible to be considered, Jin Mengmeng had to make up for it.

With such good luck, more than eighty or nighty percent of the women in River Town would scramble onto Lord Shui's bed.

Jin Mengmeng had actually won out.

She didn't think she so, for it was hasty and painful when she lost her virginity unlike what she had heard from the operas.

Lord Second Shui came back at midnight as he had promised. As soon as he stepped inside, he dismissed all the maidservants and beckoned her to wait upon him.

She tugged at the quilt without moving. Staring at the tall, handsome figure in front of her, her eyes, full of anger and panic, were gradually filled with tears of timidity.

Standing at the end of the bed, he took off his shirt and trousers, and shook off his riding boots before grabbing her feet and dragging her towards him.

The same scene played out. Lord Second lifted his body against hers and entered her. She firmly clasped the quilt and clenched her teeth, ready to suffer again.

This second time, however, was different. Although it was still painful, she gradually had a little tingling or numbness sensation and it was unexpectedly not that uncomfortable.

The groans went on for some time until Lord Shui released with a low growl. Collapsed in bed, Jin Mengmeng stared at him with watery eyes.

Lord Second dressed himself up and sat at the head of the bed. Then he stretched out a finger and stroked her cheek gently. "How old are you?" he asked expressionlessly.

"Eighteen." She answered obediently.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Jin Mengmeng."

"Mengmeng?" he smiled.

With that, he went out alone.

Lord Shui didn't come back that night.

The maidservants came in to clean up the mess. Jin Mengmeng hid herself in the quilt and had a good sleep.

It was already in the morning when she woke up. The big western wall clock in the room showed it was seventeen past seven.

Jin Mengmeng knew how to read the wall clock. There was a small western table clock in the main hall of the Jin family and her Master had taught her before.

A maid came in and said, "You need to get up now, madam, everyone is waiting for you."

Who would be waiting for her at this time of the morning?

In the drawing room of the main courtyard sat Master Shui, Mrs. Shui and several gorgeously dressed young ladies.

When Jin Mengmeng entered the room, they all turned to look at her.

After serving tea to Mrs. Shui, her mother-in-law, she sat down beside her.

Now she finally realized that all the women, except for Mrs. Shui, her mother-in-law, were Lord Shui's concubines.

They came from various backgrounds but all shared one thing in common: they were older and married into the Shui family earlier than her.

Mrs. Shui smilingly said, "From now on you are the second young mistress of the family. You have to know your place and act with propriety. Just learn from Mama Rong. She used to be the personal maid of the former Madam Shui."

Jin Mengmeng was a bit confused.

She still appeared bewildered after returning to the bridal chamber. Seeing this, Mama Rong could only explain everything all over again.

Master Shui got sick a few years ago and could no longer overwork himself. And Lord Shui had been the one handling all domestic affairs.

There were no elder masters than Lord Shui in the family. The only one died at age three, though his title was kept.

Which makes Lord Shui the real and the only young master.

Mrs. Shui was Lord Shui's stepmother. His birth mother died when he was studying in England.

Lord Shui promoted his concubine, Mrs. Shui to be his new legal wife later, who, however, wasn't able to bear a child.

"So?" asked Jin Mengmeng as she looked at Mama Rong.

Annoyed by her ignorance, Mama Rong said bluntly, "So, as long as you can bear a son for Lord Shui, a grandson for the master, you'll be in charge in the future. What is there to worry about?"

Jin Mengmeng didn't want to be in charge. She just wanted to go home.

Lord Shui came back at noon.

When he came in the room to call her to lunch, Jin Mengmeng was putting on hand cream in front of the dresser.

In the Jin family, she was a junior sister. She had been wearing and eating her senior sister's leftovers since she was young. And her hands were full of calluses due to years of hard work.

Now she had been married into the Shui family. The drawer was full of fragrant powder and cream for her to use. Simply for the hand cream, there were five different kinds.

Mama Rong was helping with the cream, whose fragrance intrigued her.

Seeing Lord Shui, Rong immediately stepped out of the room.

Jin Mengmeng looked up and found Lord Shui was gazing at her face. The next moment, she was swept into his arms and pressed against the dresser.

...*******...

...[1] Translator's note: the “eight characters” consists of the hour, day, month, and year of one’s birth, each being represented by two characters of the Celestial and Terrestrial Cycles. The Chinese believes that human beings are of the five types represented by the Five Elements: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth. Marriage is a science of matching types. There are types that beautifully complement each other, and types that, if not mutually destructive, would hasten one another toward common destruction. “Inbreeding” between a boy and a girl of the same type should be discouraged because it would only emphasize or augment the original tendency in the husband or the wife. This is clear enough: marrying an indolent (“water”) wife to an indolent husband would only make matters worse, and marrying a quick-tempered (“fire”) husband to a quick-tempered wife would just burn up the couple....

...Translator: Madesmoiselle V....

...To be continued......

This time she was sweating all over and too tired to move.

Lord Second stood up and buckled his belt. After taking a look at the red marks on her back, he tucked her in the mandarin duck quilt and said, "I'll tell Mama Rong to bring you some food. You don’t have to go to the front yard."

With these words, he tucked the black box cannon in his pocket and left.

Then Mama Rong brought her some delicacies that she had never seen before.

Daring not to gobble it down, she ate slowly until she was satiated.

Then she gargled with strong tea. A servant girl brought a handkerchief to wait upon her, but she wiped her hands herself as she did not dare to order others around.

Just at the point, someone came to inform her that Lord Shui wanted her to go out.

Her hands trembled and the handkerchief fell on the ground.

Instead of riding a horse today, he was driving a shiny black car.

Jin Mengmeng had heard from her Master that it was fashionable for rich people in the city to drive cars and that the River Town was said to have two cars.

At the moment one of them was before her eyes.

Lord Shui was sitting in the driver's seat and beckoning her to get in.

She didn't know how to get in the car, so she stood still beside him for a long time.

Lord Shui smiled and stuck his hand out the window to stroke her chin as he said, "Silly girl."

One of the servants took one step forward to open the door at the front passenger seat. "This way please, second young mistress."

Jin Mengmeng clumsily got into the car. Sitting in the small car, she turned to look at Lord Shui and asked, "Where … Where are we going?"

The car whizzed out. Jin Mengmeng hurried to grasp something to stabilize herself. Not knowing what she could grip, she began screaming foolishly.

Lord Shui hit the brakes and turned to look at her, with his face darkened.

Jin Mengmeng almost bumped into the windshield in front of her. Seeing his face, her heart thumped and she immediately held her breath and lost the courage to scream again.

Finally, he was satisfied and bent over to help her fasten the seat belt. "No worries. I have been driving for years in England. I’m sure everything will be fine."

She nodded and sat stiffly, still daring not to speak.

He could only get closer, press his lips against hers, and slowly kiss for a while before raising his head.

Her mouth was wet, her face was red, but she was not scared anymore. Her pitch-dark watery eyes were filled with nothing else but his face.

He smiled and turned to drive on.

Instead of looking at the scenery, she fixed her eyes on him.

Lord Shui's side face was gorgeous. He had dark eyebrows, long eyelashes, straight nose and thin lips. Tight-lipped, he was wearing a serious look.

Lord Shui of River Town, who was so good-looking, was now her husband, her greatest reliance now.

As she peered over, she suddenly pursed her lips and chuckled.

She suddenly remembered that morning when her senior sister was going to get married, she got up at three 3 o'clock to prepare red eggs. When the eggs were half dyed, her senior sister came. Wearing a new nightgown, she rested her arms on the windowsill and scolded Mengmeng for being too clumsy.

Thinking back, she realized that she was actually dyeing eggs for herself, and she didn't feel that hard anymore, though her hands were covered with bright red paste.

Thinking of this, her sense of grievance from being scolded that night suddenly dissipated.

The car went straight towards Longju Temple (Lit. Dragon- Resting Temple) on the Western Hills.

There were many pilgrims inside the temple, most of whom had never seen a car before. So they all ducked aside at the sight of the coming car.

Sitting in the car, Jin Mengmeng blushed when she met the surprised gaze of the bystanders.

Lord Shui remained completely still along the way.

The two entered the temple. A monk saw Lord Shui and immediately came over to lead the way. After several turns, the three of them arrived at the courtyard of the abbot.

The monk went inside to tell the abbot while Lord Shui and Jin Mengmeng was waiting in the yard.

Before long they were invited in and the monk left. Following Lord Shui, she was a bit nervous.

She hadn't been to the temple many times in her life, not to mention meeting the abbot of the Longju Temple.

Being delighted to see her, the abbot invited her to have some fruit in the meditation room.

Had it been in the Jin family, she would have grabbed an apple and taken a bite already.

But now with Lord Shui, she felt that it was inappropriate to do so. If she did, he would definitely be angry.

"What do you think, Great Master?" Lord Shui asked.

The abbot measured Jin Mengmeng with his eyes for a while before fixing them on her face. In the end, he nodded and smilingly said, "Good, good."

Jin Mengmeng was confused about what was going on.

Lord Shui continued, "Metal generates water. Now I've married a girl from the Jin family. Can I embark on my grand design?"

Hearing his words, the abbot sighed and started walking towards the back of the meditation room. "Be patient. I'm afraid we have to wait a bit longer."

Lord Shui looked quite impatient, saying, "The northern part is already at war. If we keep waiting, the River Town will ..."

...Translator: Madesmoiselle V....

...To be continued......