"The wedding procession has finally arrived in our village after months of waiting!" my cousin exclaimed excitedly. Being young and less physically capable, she found farm work quite taxing. If a new sister-in-law joined the family, she could share a good portion of the burden.
Official orders were not to be defied. With my cousin's support, I left home and headed for the threshing ground at the eastern end of the village.
Due to years of warfare, the vast majority of the village's young men had been conscripted into the army.
Including myself, there were only four unmarried young men left in the village, collectively known as the "Four Young Masters."
The other three were: one with a low intellect, dubbed the "Foolish Young Master."
One with a leg length discrepancy, known as the "Limping Young Master."
And another who was deaf and mute, called the "Deaf Young Master."
Originally, as a scholar, I shouldn't have been in this category. However, due to my eyesight problems, I had become essentially useless. Gradually, even the village children began to address me with "Young Master," calling me the "Blind Young Master."
"Well, what a joyous occasion today! The 'Four Young Masters' of our village are all gathered!"
"Back in the day, could people like them even find wives? They're getting off easy!"
"Don't say that, Master Wu is at least a scholar!"
"What can he do besides study? He can't even farm, and now he's blind, a complete waste. A grown man with hands and feet, relying on a young girl to take care of him, isn't that shameful!"
The onlookers were the women who remained in the village. Seeing us "Four Young Masters" arrive in our awkward procession, they whispered and gossiped amongst themselves.
Under normal circumstances, I would have debated these gossips with my scholarly eloquence. But today, I had no inclination for it. I pretended not to hear. Su Yao, my cousin, was about to retort, but I pulled her back.
I'm merely nearsighted, not truly blind. In good light, by squinting, I can still see clearly. Moreover, along the way, I've been trying to use my previous life's true qi circulation techniques to clear the blockages in my eyes. It's been quite effective. My nearsightedness has reduced from over two thousand degrees to around five hundred, allowing me to see my cousin's clear face within a meter.
The wedding procession drew closer. At the forefront was an officer on horseback, holding a white banner inscribed with crimson characters that were difficult to discern, possibly signifying marriage. Following him were four foot-bound yamen runners. They weren't carrying flags, but each wore a red silk sash diagonally across their yamen runner uniforms, distinguishing them from other official detachments and identifying them as part of the bridal escort. Behind the yamen runners were two donkey carts, carrying seven or eight girls with luggage.
The village chief jogged forward to greet the mounted officer, engaging him in conversation. The officer seemed impatient, urging the chief to commence the selection process quickly.
Perhaps he feared the approaching darkness. This was the northwestern frontier of the Yi Kingdom, adjacent to the territories of the Northern Desert demons. Once night fell, hordes of demons would appear, posing extreme danger.
"Wow! Brother, you're truly blessed to have two young ladies, and they're so beautiful!" My cousin's eyesight was far better than mine.
"Oh? How beautiful?" I squinted, trying to look towards the approaching procession. The distance was too great, and I couldn't make out their features clearly.
"I haven't read as many books as you, brother, so I don't know how to describe it. But I've never seen such beautiful sisters before!" my cousin exclaimed excitedly.
However, when the girls alighted from the carts, my cousin shook her head, lamenting, "What a shame, what a shame..."
"What's the shame?" I asked quickly.
"It's a shame that both of them have 'big feet.' No wonder no one married them and they're being sent away."
"Big feet?" I was taken aback. An image of a deceased female artist flashed in my mind. But quickly, I accessed my ancient memory bank for relevant information.
Although the Nine Provinces and Yanxia were parallel dimensions, many cultural customs, including language and writing, were quite similar.
As I merged the historical knowledge of both worlds, I was surprised to find a high degree of consistency in ancient history. The legends of Nuwa mending the sky, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and Yu the Great controlling the floods all matched. The divergence in history occurred at the Battle of Muye.
People in the 21st century all know that King Wu of Zhou succeeded in his campaign against King Zhou, and the Western Zhou dynasty replaced the Shang dynasty.
However, in this parallel world, the campaign against King Zhou failed, or rather, was not entirely successful, resulting in the coexistence of the Zhou and Shang states. Because the Central Plains did not achieve unification, subsequent historical developments were completely altered. There were no Spring and Autumn periods, no Warring States, no Qin, Han, or Three Kingdoms eras. The history, as it has passed down to the present, spans over two thousand years, which, on the timeline, is equivalent to the Song Dynasty in the prime era.