My Wish for Chang'an

As a child, Weiyang was innocent and carefree. By day, she played the spoiled young lady of Yunchu City. At night, she studied with her father. In winter, she learned martial arts from her master at Plum Blossom Mountain Manor, then spent afternoons admiring plum blossoms and brewing tea with him, or tinkering in his medicinal herb garden.

Xiao Wushang was her father’s student, but he only came to study with him for two months each year. He stayed at Weiyang’s home, arriving sometimes in spring, sometimes in autumn. After two months, he would leave. Her father said he was the son of an old friend, five years older than her, and told her to call him Brother. Weiyang thought Brother Wushang was so handsome, the most handsome person she had ever seen. Whenever he visited, the little girl would follow him around, calling “Brother” over and over. Every time he left, she would cry as if the world were ending.

When she was fourteen, Wushang was nineteen. The young man rushed to her birthday celebration, travel-worn from the journey. The road had been dangerous, and he had lost the birthday present he had meant to give her.

He said, “Xiao Yang’er, I forgot to bring your birthday present. How about I make it up to you next time?”

The little girl smiled slyly. “The elders say you can’t make up a birthday present later! Why don’t you grant me one wish, Brother Wushang? Then it can be my birthday present.”

The young man smiled too. “All right!”

She rose onto her tiptoes and pointed to the space between his brows. “When I grow this tall, will you marry me, Brother?”

It felt as if fireworks bloomed in the young man’s heart. He drew her into his arms and replied in a trembling voice, “All right. I’ll wait for you to grow up.”

But who could have foreseen how life would unfold over the years?

Later, Weiyang stood in a red wedding gown, smiling sweetly. At the other end of the red bridal sash, the handsome man, usually so cool and self-possessed, had tears in his eyes. “Xiao Yang’er, Brother Wushang has come to take you home.”