Chapter 2 - The Wedding Party

The Golden Melody Troupe provided the music, fireworks and ritualistic dancers which would protect the wedding procession against evil influences which could potentially ruin the marriage. In front of the entire procession were Yi Cheng and Lilong Gong, dressed as a male dragon and female phoenix, symbolising the union between woman and man. Right behind them was the majestic scarlet fox which would spit out fire at set moments to make the dance of the dragon and phoenix look more authentic by enshrouding the pair in fire. Following right behind the magical creature were four female and four male members of the Golden Melody Troupe playing their instruments. In the middle of this group of musicians walked the one-horned lion, roaring loudly whenever the other players ended one of their melodies. Closely behind the musicians followed the bridal sedan. It was carried by eight close friends of the bride and groom. At the back of the procession were two more musicians. They carried heavy gongs, their reverberating sounds ensuring that evil influences could not sneak up from behind.

When the sedan arrived at the wedding place during noon countless firecrackers were set off as the bride was led along a red carpet towards the main hall of the primary mansion of the Futou family. Upon arrival the junior master of the Futou clan kowtowed three times to worship the heavens, parents and spouse. After this ritual had taken place the new couple was heading straight to the bridal chamber where they could look forward to good-natured but bawdy encouragement from their friends and family for the rest of the day. Only when the sun would set would the doors of the bridal chamber finally close so that the groom could deflower his bride.

From the moment the wedding couple entered the bridal chamber the wedding banquet started. In ancient times this was a very formal banquet and both genders enjoyed separate feasts, but in the last few millennia this practice had been long abandoned. Wedding feasts were now joyous occasions with lots of food, music, alcohol, scarcely clad dancers and other delights that were expected at such a drunken revelry.

The Golden Melody Troupe performed several acts of infamous comedies that would most certainly not be performed in respectable venues due to their raunchiness. Noble families such as the Futou and Mu clan would normally not approve of such plays, but newfound common belief dictated that a lascivious wedding party would greatly improve the fertility of the bride, resulting in many children.

After the applause of the final act Yi Cheng wanted to quickly leave the party before he would be forced to remain longer. Even if others wouldn’t believe him, he still had to return to the park and meet with the little green spirit again. His plans of a quick retreat were thwarted when one of the bridesmaids pulled him to a corner of the hall.

“I need your help with something Yi Cheng,” said the young girl while she pushed her chest against his arm, flattening her breasts. Yi Cheng wasn’t surprised in the slightest. The differences between actors and courtesans were known to few. Many actors would become concubines or manservants after or during their acting careers. His own mother had become a concubine of the city lord of Thundercloud City a few years ago.

Normally he would have leaped at the opportunity to entertain a young woman from a noble family since he rarely left empty-handed, but tonight he had a more urgent appointment. “Milady, I am afraid I can’t assist you since there are other matters I must attend to,” said Yi Cheng while trying to escape from her grip. The girl could not be persuaded, and managed to drag him out of the main hall with little effort. How could he possibly cause a scene in front of so many esteemed guests of two noble families?

Yi Cheng resigned to the fact that he would have to comply with this young lady’s wishes for the moment, following her through several halls before arriving at a door which he guessed would be one of the guests' bedrooms.

Upon entering the bedroom he quickly discovered that the situation wasn’t as simple as he expected it would be. The bridesmaid had dragged him into the bridal chamber.

The half-naked groom had passed out, an empty wine cup still in his hand. The only thing the bride was still wearing were her thin silk undergarments, leaving very little to the imagination. “Dear Futou Ai. If you had taken any longer I would surely have lost my maidenhood to your brother,” said the bride without shame.

"I guess we are lucky that I managed to arrive on time then,” said the bridesmaid, holding Yi Cheng tightly while flashing a radiant smile.

“Mu Nuan, let’s arouse our fathers' anger,” said Futou Ai as she pushed Yi Cheng towards the bed. Yi Cheng’s jaw dropped when he realized what the girls were planning to have him do. Their actions were blasphemous against their fathers, their clan, the heavens might even disapprove, yet the idea excited him greatly.

After thoroughly enjoying the groom’s bride and his younger sister Yi Cheng was about ready to leave the crime scene as he noticed a manual between the wedding gifts.

He picked it up from the desk it was placed on. The cover had three words on it, “Quintessential Spear Arts”.

“You have a good eye, that tome was the gift of my uncle, it has several high class spear arts recorded in it. If this wedding wasn’t so important to the family they would have never been willing to give away such an heirloom,” said the bride from the bed. “Feel free to take it. This oaf of a husband has no martial talent at all if I can believe my dear Futou Ai.”

The groom’s sister had already left the bridal chamber, knowing it wouldn’t be wise to remain absent from the party too long.

“Don’t mind if I do then,” said Yi Cheng while flashing a wide smile to the blushing bride. Just as the actor was planning to leave the bridal chamber through the side the main doors opened. In the door opening stood the current master of the Mu Clan.

Yi Cheng had no idea how he would manage to get out of this situation, but Mu Nuan responded almost instantly, “FATHER, FATHER! He is trying to steal the quintessential spear arts!”

The eruption of commotion in the room managed to wake up the groom. Upon waking he looked at the scene with glassy eyes. His slow comprehension meant that he would most likely never discover that he would wear a green hat for the rest of his life. Yi Cheng was the second one to react and made a run for the door. As he slipped into the hallway, he started to run towards the main hall, hoping he could manage to win valuable time in the crowd of people before slipping out of the mansion entirely.

The Mu clan master shouted loudly, his voice echoing through large parts of the mansion, “THIEF! THIEF! YI CHENG HAS STOLEN THE QUINTESSENTIAL SPEAR ARTS!”

No one in the main hall had heard, but several guards that were stationed in the nearby hallways, had started to chase after Yi Cheng. Luckily enough the handsome actor managed to reach the main hall which was a massive drunken revelry, allowing him to shake of his pursuers.

Upon reaching the courtyard, Yi Cheng hurried towards the stable, knowing the three-tailed horse of the troupe should be there. When he entered he quickly found the magical beast and mounted it.

Several guards had run towards the main gates of the estate, ordering the gatekeepers to close the gate as soon as possible. The young actor realised he would soon be trapped in the estate, ordering the three-tailed horse to speed towards the gate in a full gallop.

Before the gatekeepers could succeed in closing the heavy metal gates the three-tailed horse had brought Yi Cheng outside of the Futou family grounds.

In the twilight Yi Cheng hurried towards the park. The wisest thing would be to leave the city immediately before the city guard closed it off hermetically, but Yi Cheng had no intention of breaking his promise with the little green spirit. His life was in shambles, but he couldn’t imagine himself breaking his promise to the little creature.