As soon as word spread that the Holy Maiden of Miaojiang would choose a husband by tossing an embroidered ball, all the young men of Miaojiang eagerly prepared to compete. I told Meng Xuanche, the high priest’s illegitimate son, in advance that he had to stand beneath the third banyan tree from the east when the ball was thrown. I would toss it to him.
But on the day of the ball toss, Meng Xuanche was standing outside the neighboring Zuichun Pavilion, catching the courtesan Liu Ruyan’s bellyband. He looked up at me and smiled. “Even if I don’t catch the ball today, you’ll still marry me, won’t you?”
I smiled. That year, I’d saved his life by planting a love gu in his body. My father had forbidden me from marrying him, so I came up with the husband-selection ceremony.
Meng Xuanche didn’t know that if I didn’t use my maiden’s blood to dispel the gu within three days, he would die as countless gu worms devoured his heart.
