A Thousand Years, Ten Thousand Years

A daughter from Huaishan Prefecture left home on a whim, defied the traditions of her hometown, and worked herself to death in the back courtyard. Her daughter, Gui Niang, became a demure young lady from a respectable family, a dutiful daughter renowned near and far. A quiet, obedient life, with everything decided for you, is the norm in this world. As usual, Gui Niang walked through the market and ran into a neighbor. The woman told her the latest gossip, such as who had arrived in the city and who had left, and what a rigid person the new County Magistrate Lu was, though his mother was an extraordinary imperial physician who had supposedly delivered the emperor. After discussing other people's affairs, the woman always had to ask after Gui Niang's family as well. "The imperial physician mother of Magistrate Lu's family has bought a house next door to yours. Gui Niang, your elder brother is old enough now, and their family has young ladies and young gentlemen of the right age. What do your elders..." Gui Niang listened to the whole ramble with an empty gaze and a smile, then turned away, thinking: What does any of this have to do with me? It should have had nothing to do with her. Everything in the world was like the old osmanthus tree that always stood in the courtyard: it bloomed when it wanted, and dropped its flowers when it was time. People had no say in it at all. She had never met anyone like herself: sincere and open, like the sun in the sky falling into her arms, radiant and brighter than the osmanthus blossoms covering every branch under the midday sun, warm and bright. "When is Miss Gui's wedding date?" "The first day of winter." The osmanthus tree would die in late autumn and revive in spring. It would never reach winter. Note: The setting is modeled on the Tang Dynasty. The story takes place after the reigns of two empresses. The gap in status between women and men has narrowed somewhat. This is most apparent in the capital and the imperial palace, but the overall situation remains bleak. The more prosperous a place is, the more open-minded it is; the more remote a place is, the more divided it is. The protagonist is currently in Yao County, thousands of miles from the capital. Compared to the capital, it could be called a barren wasteland. Theme: Move forward bravely, exercise your own agency, and change your life