Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
“My name is Zhang Yunshu. I was born and raised in Zhan Clan Village. Zhang Clan Village was rather cut off from the rest of the world, but in this deep valley, Zhang Clan Village thrived for a hundred years.”
Zhang Yunshu started her story from the very beginning and told Ning Huanxin about what happened back then.
Every single thing began from that very river.
The river was a mystical one. Even during dry weather, the river would never dry up. The Zhang Clan Village and Li Clan Village had lived happily and peacefully for so long on either side of this river and relied on that mystical river.
Everyone believed that a deity’s spirit lived in the river and blessed people of both villages.
There were many tales and legends about the River God, and the ritual to pay respects to the River God had been passed down for years.
Actually, the ritual for paying respects was very simple. Every year, each village would choose one pure and clean woman who had outstanding looks amongst the same age crowd in that village. The two girls would then bathe in the river and pray, representing the respect the villages had for the River God, and also to pray for a bountiful harvest that year.
This tradition had been followed for a hundred years, and the people of both villages have deep faith in it.
Until that very year…
“That year, they chose my cousin and me as the holy maidens to pray respects to the River God. I was only 16 years old back then, and my cousin Li Yan was 17 years old. My cousin was the most beautiful woman in their village, and because my cousin was chosen to be the holy maiden, people in the Li Clan Village were extremely respectful towards her. People asking for her hand in marriage could form lines stretching over miles. For the people of those two villages, the girl chosen as holy maiden represents the most outstanding and beautiful woman amongst her peers. All along, all the holy maidens would get married into a good family and wouldn’t have to worry about food or money for their entire life. To be honest, back then… I was already engaged to Little Yan’s father. Since I was still a pure virgin, the engagement wouldn’t affect our praying ritual that year. However, for some unknown reason, my cousin refused all the engagement proposals from anyone in the village. Back then, everyone thought it was because her standards were very high. I also thought my cousin had not found someone she likes, but who knew…”
As she continued speaking up to this point, Zhang Yunshu’s expression became very painful and conflicted. “On that day of the ritual, everything had originally gone smoothly. Yet who knew that just before dawn, my cousin suddenly fainted. The people in the Li Clan Village carried her away. After that, they found a physician to do a check-up on my cousin, and it was then that everyone realized my cousin wasn’t sick, she was pregnant!”
An elite female chosen to be the holy maiden for a sacred ritual was actually pregnant?
Wouldn’t that be the same as lying and disrespecting the deity?
Moreover, it was forbidden to get pregnant before marriage in the Li Clan Village during those times.
“Back then, my Aunt and Uncle had begged desperately, but the Chief of Li Clan Village still decided to throw my cousin into the river. It was to protect the Li Clan Village’s reputation and also pay for their sins to the River God!”
As she spoke, Zhang Yunshu suddenly smiled. “Miss. Ning, you must think that we are very foolish, right? Actually, back then, I also thought people in the Li Clan Village were crazy and completely unreasonable. They said that my cousin was a blasphemy to the River God. They said that her body was impure, so they forced her to eat only vegetarian food and bathe cleanly for seven days, and then throw her body deep into the river seven days later. Back then, they guarded my cousin very closely, so no one could get close to her. I had to try very hard and put so much effort into getting the guards at the Li Clan Village to allow me to say a few words to her outside her door. I was still young back then, and when things went out of hand, I would only keep crying continuously. I kept asking her who that was, but my cousin simply refused to answer. No matter who asked her, she would never say a single word about that man.”