Once the matchmaker had determined that Seollan and Hoya’s birth times were compatible and had divined a happy future for them and the Lee family delivered the necessary marriage papers and gifts to the Yong family, the more practical aspects of the marriage were all that remained to be figured out.

Seollan wanted no part in the wedding arrangements, and that worked out perfectly for her because she wasn’t supposed to have a say in the first place. It seemed like her mother was doing most of the planning out of the three parents, and Seollan was content to let her manage the details of food and decorations and clothing and guest lists. No doubt her mother would be inviting every person of import she could convince to put in an appearance, even if it was just to freeload on a bit of alcohol.

Seollan and Hoya’s contribution went as far as adding a few names to the guest list: Dongwoo, Woohyun, Sungyeol, and Myungsoo. They didn’t know if they would be able to travel from their hometowns for the occasion, but it was worth a try. Both of them were anticipating the reactions when their friends realized Seollan’s identity.

The wedding date had been picked to maximize the good fortune of the couple, and when the morning dawned bright and clear, the final preparations proceeded with good cheer and high hopes.

Seollan was confined to the house and spent more time pacing inside her room than anything else until it was time for her to be all done up for the ceremony.

That was when the true torture began, as she was forced into the heavy layers of silk wedding dress, deep blue on the inside and vivid red on the outside, embroidered with flowers. The sleeves consisted of red, blue, and yellow stripes with a wide section of white at the ends. Another expanse of white cloth was draped over her sleeves, decorated with all the good luck symbols possible and the phrases “lifelong harmony” and “eternal blessings” embroidered in blue. In keeping with tradition, Hoya’s family had provided the materials to make it, having sent them over with the wedding contract and gifts.

This time around, Seollan could not escape the layer of makeup that masked her “unsightly” tan and turned her face powdery white, the only color coming from her lips and the dots of red on her cheeks.

Her hair, which had grown back to its original length before her army days, was gathered at the back of her head, secured by a long hairpin carved with a dragon. The protruding ends of the pin bore two wide silk ribbons that cascaded down her front on either side of her head.

This all was topped off, quite literally, with the crown-like headpiece that trailed an even broader length of black silk cloth stitched with gold letters down her back. She had become a life-sized doll of sorts.

“You look like a queen,” her mother told her, a proud smile of approval lighting up her face. It was technically true since wedding attire was derived from the royal family’s clothing.

“I look ridiculous,” Seollan replied. Her mother would have cuffed her on the head, but she didn’t want to risk mussing her daughter’s appearance, which had taken hours to perfect.

With that accomplished, Seollan resigned herself to waiting until Hoya’s arrival, which would mark the beginning of the wedding ceremony.

***

Howon paid his respects to his late father, holding a brief vigil for him, before riding out of his home toward Seollan’s. He would spend a total of three days in his in-laws’ household before bringing his bride back to his home.

The procession that he rode in stretched on quite a distance, with one person at the front to bear the wooden goose that represented lifelong commitment, several people to tote parasols, a few to play instruments, and still others to simply march with him and add to his pomp and circumstance as a man of status—the more, the merrier.

The whole point was to be as flamboyant as possible, and as he rode through the streets, and passed by the gathering throngs, he almost suspected that the entirety of the city had turned out to gape at the spectacle for entertainment. It was impossible to avoid attention, and he could only put on a stoic face as he was supposed to and hope he didn’t look like a total fool. Halfway through, he remembered the elaborate clothing Seollan would have to wear, and suddenly his own situation didn’t seem so unbearable.

At last, he reached the Yong residence. Dismounting at the door, Hoya took the wooden goose from the leader of the parade, entered the courtyard, and walked over to Seollan’s mother to present the goose to her, bowing twice. Her mother, his mother-in-law, accepted the token graciously and left briefly to put it away before returning and settling down beside Seollan’s father and Hoya’s mother.

***

When a servant reported that the groom had arrived, Seollan exited her room, led by Eunjin. She boarded a palanquin lifted by four men, who carried her to the main courtyard. There she stepped off the palanquin, helped down by Eunjin, and walked toward the clearing framed by the crowd of guests.

She had to suppress a laugh when she saw Hoya. Although his maroon robe could not compare to her vibrant, multicolored dress, his gauzy black hat with its “wings” bobbing slightly with his every slight movement gave him a comical look. She had always wondered how the king’s officials could muster up any dignity when they marched around wearing funny hats. Sungjong claimed that they were used to them, so the "funny hats" had become almost like an extension of their persons. In truth, he didn't really understand it either.

In the center of the courtyard stood the wedding table, set with two burning candles, rice, nuts, jujubes, dried persimmons, red beans, fruit, and rice cakes, as well as a pair of wooden geese and red and blue thread that symbolized the opposing yet complementary eum and yang, bride and groom. Two flat, square cushions had been laid out on either side of the table, and bride and groom lowered themselves to kneel on them, facing each other, with Hoya on the east and Seollan on the west.

Eunjin helped Seollan wash her hands, and a male attendant did the same for Hoya, a symbolic cleansing in preparation for their new life.

After this, each of them was given a cup of alcohol, both the corresponding halves of a single gourd, and they sipped from them, drinking only half of the liquid. They exchanged cups and drank again, emptying the cups.

Next, they performed two sets of bows, each time with Seollan bowing twice to Hoya and Hoya bowing once to her, as a mutual promise of commitment. Following that, they bowed in unison three final times to show respect: once to their parents, once to their ancestors, and once to their gathered guests.

Immediately after, Seollan and Hoya visited with their parents briefly before returning to the guests, who sat at numerous circular tables set up in the courtyard, eating and drinking merrily.

After scanning over the tables, they found their friends seated together being entertained by Sungjong. Woohyun was accompanied by a charming young woman with rosy cheeks; the fiancée he had mentioned long ago was now his wife. The others were still bachelors and enjoying it.

Hoya cleared his throat to get their attention, and they all cheered at seeing him. He pulled Seollan closer to the table and said, “I present to you my wife, Yong Seollan.”

Upon receiving the invitation to the wedding, they had not thought anything of the name, thinking it a coincidence, but during the ceremony, they had to keep from bursting into an uproar over their discovery. Now that the ceremony was past and moderating volume wasn’t an issue, they started bombarding the couple with indignant interrogations and comments. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t swear because it was bad form for wedding guests.

“Thank you for coming,” Hoya told them all, once they had settled down a little.

“You’re welcome, but you have more than just that to thank me for,” said Dongwoo, grinning.

“What do you mean?” Hoya asked.

“Who do you think arranged this match?”

“The matchmaker…”

“Right. But also wrong,” said Dongwoo. All of a sudden Hoya remembered his mother’s mention of a “close friend.” Dongwoo was starting to lose control of his face, which was contorting into a smirk. “I was the one who suggested it to your mother.”

In the ensuing moments, a great racket of unintelligible noise, punctuated by Dongwoo’s cackling laughter, filled the air, drawing a few stares from the guests who weren’t already wasted. Woohyun’s wife, who had no context to work with, was caught in the middle, bewildered.

As the bride, Seollan wasn’t supposed to speak, but she didn’t care and instead threw herself in Dongwoo’s face. “You mean to tell me that this entire time, you knew?” Her words were soft, but her tone was far from gentle.

Dongwoo scratched his chin. “Well, not exactly. I think I figured it out after the first week.”

At this point, Seollan and Hoya weren’t sure whether they wanted to thank Dongwoo or murder him, so instead, Hoya poured more drink down the lieutenant’s throat.