Cheng Yujin seemed to notice Huo Changyuan’s gaze. She looked over and gave him a dignified and polite smile that perfectly adhered to etiquette: “I wish Marquis Huo and second sister a happy marriage, May you give birth to a child soon and grow old together.”
This sentence hit Huo Changyuan badly. His ears suddenly buzzed, and his mind was full of “May you give birth to a child soon and grow old together.”
Where had he heard this sentence before?
The words were exactly the same, but the scenes, the people around, and even the couple who was being congratulated were completely different. His mind vaguely saw the picture of a room with a red canopied bed and red candles, with people throwing auspicious seeds1 and said joyfully: “May Madam and Marquis to be blessed. May you give birth to a child soon and grow old together.”
Huo Changyuan’s pupils suddenly shrank, and his fingers tightened uncontrollably. That was Cheng Yujin. The person who was sitting on the wedding bed was clearly Cheng Yujin.
However, the crowd didn’t wait for Huo Changyuan to sorted up his chaotic mind and pushed him inside. The door opened, and a red figure sat on the bed. A red veil covered her face, showing only her slender figure. When she heard the door opened, she seemed to be startled and began to tremble slightly.
The people on both sides suddenly laughed, and the men shouted loudly. Even Yichun Marquis Manor’s womenfolk also covered their mouth with a handkerchief and laughed. They turned around and said to the person on the bed: “The groom is here.”
Everyone was laughing, except for Huo Changyuan, who stood dumbfoundedly on the door. For the first time, he was truly aware that something wasn’t right. It shouldn’t be like this. His wedding wasn’t supposed to be like this.
However, no one paid any attention to Huo Changyuan’s shock. Seeing him standing there without moving, the wedding officiant thought that the groom was so excited. The bride and the groom were the protagonists of the wedding day, but the festivities also had nothing to do with them. Amid the noise and laughter, the couple was quickly made to hold red silk, and like a wooden puppet, was guided to walk surrounded by the crowd.
Throughout the whole process, Huo Changyuan was like a string puppet. He walked according to the instruction, knelt when was told to kneel, and said whatever he was told to say. Many times, he didn’t aware of what he was truly doing. Later, he bid farewell to Old Madam Cheng, Cheng Yuanhan and Ruan-shi, and held the red figure to sit on the horse. Only then he vaguely realized that his wedding has truly been concluded. There was still a later half of the ceremony at Jingyong Marquis manor, but after he left Cheng family’s compound with the bride, no matter what happened in the future, he couldn’t change the fact that he was married.
He and Cheng Yumo were completely bound together for life. From now on, Cheng Yujin was no longer his former fiancee, but only his wife’s sister.
Huo Changyuan suddenly felt a sense of panic and couldn’t help looking back. The sky was dim, but the Yichun Marquis manor was decorated with bright lanterns, full of people coming and going, and there were firecracker residues on the ground. Seeing Huo Changyuan looked back, the guests and relatives who had not yet to return inside smiled at him and waved their hands.
There were two wedding banquets, one in the Cheng family and another in the Huo family. Cheng Yujin saw Huo Changyuan took Cheng Yumo away and personally sent off the welcoming team. The lively noise gradually faded, and the boudoir that originally was also lively soon quieted down.
Next, Cheng Yumo and Huo Changyuan should be going to bid farewell to Cheng Yumo’s parents and Cheng family’s ancestors, but it had nothing to do with Cheng Yujin. She looked around the room, called the servant girls, gave a few orders about the follow-up cleaning, and then walked back.
Had it not been for the Cheng family to have only two daughters and Cheng Yujin had to send off the bride as a sister, she wouldn’t bother to manage Cheng Yumo and Huo Changyuan’s wedding. It was Cheng Yumo’s business to marry whomever she wanted to marry, but Cheng Yujin cherished her reputation. Since Cheng Yujin put on the reason for observing mourning for Old Master Cheng, she couldn’t attend festive events for a year and couldn’t go to the wedding banquet. This also coincided with Cheng Yujin’s own wish, since she rather avoided the crowd and stayed in her own courtyard.
Because she had to arrange for the cleaning, Cheng Yujin went out much later than other relatives and guests. She thought that there was no one outside, so she was surprised when a voice stopped her just right after she stepped out of the courtyard’s gate.
Xu Zhixian hid in the nearby alley, calling Cheng Yuanjing awkwardly: “Elder sister Jin.”
Cheng Yujin turned her head. Upon seeing Xu Zhixian, she smiled in surprise: “Second biao brother, why are you still here? Second sister and Marquis Huo’s welcoming team has long gone. Why don’t you follow them to the banquet instead of staying here?”
Xu Zhixian fidgeted without speaking. Why was he here? Of course it was for Cheng Yujin. Although the wedding was lively, the ceremony at the groom’s side was not much different. It was more important to see Cheng Yujin. If he missed today, he didn’t know when the next time he would have a chance to talk to Cheng Yujin.
Xu Zhixian took a deep breath and said, “Elder sister Jin, I was muddle-headed before and said many improper things. Are you not angry with me?”
“Why?” Cheng Yujin laughed, “Second biao brother is overthinking. How can I be angry at you?”
This was the truth. Cheng Yujin had changed her target and no longer minded Xu Zhixian’s rejection of her. Indeed, Cheng Yujin was pretty embarrassed when she heard how Xu Zhixian so blatantly refused to marry her, but she didn’t feel sad at all, let alone angry.
She neither liked Xu Zhixian nor Chang Duke manor. Why should she feel sad?
As the person with the highest status among Huo Changyuan’s welcoming team, Zhai Yanlin was supposed to follow the crowd back to Jingyong Marquis manor and appeared at the banquet to give the Huo family a face. However, he only followed for a while before he felt bored. Zhai Yanlin wandered around Cheng family’s inner courtyard aimlessly and once again found out that his mind was not in the place. Zhai Yanlin smiled mockingly at himself. What was wrong with him?
However, today he had a rare opportunity to see Cheng Yujin, so his time didn’t exactly being wasted either. After today, Cheng Yujin would have to observe the mourning and wouldn’t leave the manor for a year. Cai Duke manor had no close relationship with Yichun Marquis manor, and it would be difficult for him to visit. Therefore, taking advantage of the large crowd that following the groom and the lack of defense today, he could go back and see Cheng Yujin again.
What to do after he saw her? He still wasn’t sure.
Using the pretext of changing clothes, Zhai Yanlin quietly separated himself from the welcoming team and returned to the direction of the bride’s courtyard. He didn’t know where Cheng Yujin might be right now, but he couldn’t go to the female side banquet either. He could only go back to the previous place and try his luck.
After entered the moon gate, Zhai Yanlin saw Cheng Yujin at a glance, standing in the middle of the road. He was overjoyed. He didn’t expect to be so lucky today. Cheng Yujin’s back was facing Zhai Yanlin and his entourage, but from Xu Zhixian’s position, he couldn’t see the newly-came people either. Zhai Yanlin waved his hand, beckoning his men not to make any noise. He slowly walked behind the gate, listening carefully to the conversation nearby.
He seemed to hear the words ‘angry’ and ‘sad’ just now. Although Zhai Yanlin didn’t hear the whole conversation, from what he knew about the inner courtyard’s matter, he could more or less guess what they were talking about. Zhai Yanlin instantly became vigilant. Cheng Yujin was the woman that he rarely took a fancy of and whom he had regarded as his future wife. He couldn’t allow any random guy to stir up trouble with her.
The two people in the alley didn’t notice that they weren’t alone. Xu Zhixian stared at Cheng Yujin with a determined look and said: “Elder sister Jin, after I back home that day, I carefully thinking about what my mother said to me. The more I think, the more I feel that I’m such a damned.” Xu Zhixian paused, looked up at Cheng Yujin, and said again: “If elder sister Jin doesn’t dislike me, I’m willing to marry you.”
What? Zhai Yanlin couldn’t help raising his eyebrows. His face instantly darkened.
How did he forget that this kid was the young master from Chang Duke Manor and also Cheng family’s relative? These two were biao cousins, childhood sweethearts, nothing strange.
T/N:
Thusrday’s regular release.
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Five Color Auspicious Seeds: Five edible seeds or beans that symbolizes prosperity and abundance.