Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Husband

The ending tone of Grandma Xi's song rises and draws out, as if an invisible hand is plucking the heartstrings, leaving a lingering sound.

Jiang Hexue became nervous belatedly.

The door was pushed open with a slight "creak" sound.

The young man who entered the hall first had slightly disordered footsteps, and the strong smell of alcohol filled his nose.

Jiang Hexue shrugged his nose, and in his nervousness he was distracted enough to come to a conclusion: good wine.

Fang came to a conclusion, but it felt wrong - why was she so nervous?

It's just a sham marriage, just lifting the veil and drinking the wedding wine...

Just as she was thinking about this, she heard the bride's mother-in-law say with a smile: "Please ask the groom to use the wedding scale to lift the bride's veil, which means that the married life will be happy and satisfying--"

A shiny black ebony weighing rod appeared in Jiang Hexue's sight.

The slender scale bar, inlaid with gold chips, deliberately stopped in front of her eyes for a moment and tentatively moved up an inch.

Jiang Hexue whispered, "Your Highness."

As soon as she finished speaking, there was a lightness above her head, and the bright red veil fluttered to the ground.

Jiang Hexue looked up in shock, and his breathing suddenly became disordered.

In front of her was Shen Qingchen, whom she had never seen before.

She was wearing an elaborate and grand bright red wedding dress, with a jade belt inlaid with gold around her waist. Her cold, white and handsome face was now stained with a faint blush, and her thin lips were also red from the alcohol.

The peach blossom eyes that were usually cold now held a gentle and sparkling smile. The moment they looked at each other, a faint smile gradually rose on his lips.

Jiang Hexue forgot to blink and stared at him without blinking.

She couldn't think of any idiom to describe it, she just felt that it was a very beautiful and perfect appearance.

It was like a human-sized corpse suddenly appeared in front of her.

Normally, he wore white clothes, which made him look cool and noble. But now, he was wearing red wedding clothes, which only made his skin as white as jade, his appearance more beautiful and handsome, and his expression more gentle than usual...

It suits her better than white clothes.

The two of them looked at each other in silence until Granny Xi coughed lightly.

Jiang Hexue reacted instantly, but the ceremony had not yet been completed, and there were many wedding ladies and servants watching nearby.

She immediately collected her thoughts and thought of Aunt Zhang who had come to monitor her in the name of serving her.

The people around her were probably the same - after all, she and he were really not a good match now, and she should act like they were in love with each other in order to allay other people's concerns.

Jiang Hexue then curved her lips and smiled at him, shy and timid, yet also revealing the joy of being married for the first time.

Shen Qingchen's eyes dimmed slightly.

The girl in front of him was already bright and charming, and her wedding dress made her snow-white skin and raven hair look even more striking. Her eyebrows were curved like willows, and her purple phoenix eyes were filled with tenderness. Her smile was shy, and she seemed hesitant to speak.

Shen Qingchen leaned down and moved closer to see her more clearly.

The alcohol made him less clear-headed, and the emotions that had been suppressed for years seemed to surge especially violently in such a charming and ambiguous atmosphere. For a moment, he even had an illusion.

She loves him too.

This marriage was not planned by him, but was a natural outcome of their mutual affection.

"Your Highness..." Grandma Xi coughed lightly again. Seeing that he was still staring at her and did not take the next step, Jiang Hexue called out softly.

She was not good at such a restrained and shy smile. If she continued to do so, her face would become stiff.

It would be terrible if it was exposed.

Really, even if he needed to put on a show, he wouldn't have told her in advance. After everyone left, she would definitely have a good talk with him.

Shen Qingchen finally moved his eyes away from her beautiful face, his eyelashes drooping slightly, his gaze falling on her hands hanging on her knees.

Her skin is as white as porcelain and her fingers are slender.

He didn't know that, holding it in his hand now, the feeling was still somewhat similar to that of the past.

Shen Qingchen paused for a moment, and finally fulfilled his wish, took her hand, and held her fingers together.

Even the base of the palms must fit tightly together, making them very close.

Her hands were no longer as soft as she remembered. Her palms and fingertips were covered with calluses from work, a thin layer that rubbed against her heart, causing a deep pain.

Shen Qingchen took her hand and brought it close to her lips.

Gently kiss the thin calluses on her fingertips.

-

Jiang Hexue widened her eyes in shock, unable to hide. She wanted to scold him but had to swallow it back.

I had no choice but to wait until he finally stood up straight.

His fingertips felt gentle, his lips were cold and soft, and the electric-like numbness made her ears feel hot.

Acting, did he really have to make it so realistic...

Well, he has done his best, and she must not hold him back.

Jiang Hexue smiled a more shy smile than before, touched his fingertips, then moved upwards and gently scraped the back of his hand with the edge of her finger.

It's like a lover's little habit of secretly scolding each other, shy and intimate.

"Please ask the bride and groom to drink the wedding wine together, which symbolizes sharing the joys and sorrows after marriage and becoming one—"

Shen Qingchen personally took the wine pot, poured two cups of wedding wine, and handed a cup to Jiang Hexue.

Jiang Hexue gently clinked his cup with the young man beside him, pursed his lips and was about to drink.

"Drink from the same cup." Shen Qingchen reminded in a low voice.

He placed his fingertips on her wrist, guided her to interlace her arm with his, and raised the cup again.

The golden cups clinked together, and the wedding wine flowed down Jiang Hexue's throat, sweet. She drank it all and her eyes met his again.

Still gentle and affectionate, her long, dark blue eyelashes were slightly drooped, stained with the wetness of alcohol.

The distance was too close, and his breath was cool, tickling her cheek, as gentle as tiny white flowers falling to the ground in early winter.

Jiang Hexue's heartbeat inexplicably quickened a bit, and she hurriedly escaped from his sight.

This evasion was seen as shyness by Grandma Xi, and she immediately laughed more friendly.

"Please ask the bride and groom to share the children's cake, which symbolizes harmony between husband and wife and the early birth of a son—"

The servant held up a white porcelain plate, on which were neatly placed two snow-white round cakes, with a bright red "囍" character printed in the middle, and a lifelike, white and chubby baby painted on the side.

The aroma of this kind of food always carries a bit of warmth, and it penetrates into Jiang Hexue's nose warmly, but now Jiang Hexue can no longer be greedy.

This offspring cake is bigger than her fist.

She had just had dinner and some cakes and pastries while chatting with Shen Chuning. Now she couldn't eat a single bite, let alone such a big cake for her children and grandchildren.

No wonder when he wanted to order dinner just now, Nanny Zhang said it was against the rules.

If you eat such a big baby cake, you really don't need to have dinner. I'm afraid you will choke and have to drink several pots of water at night.

But she felt ashamed to say the refusal, and she was ready to take the descendants' cake at hand like a brave man ready to die.

Shen Qingchen took in her quietly changing expression, and the corners of his lips lifted again.

"You haven't finished the meal at the banquet." He reached out, broke off two small pieces of the steamed buns with the word "囍" printed on them in the middle, and handed one piece to her.

Jiang Hexue held a bite-sized bun in her hand and looked at him in surprise.

"Just to ask for good luck." Seeing that she didn't move, Shen Qingchen explained in a gentle voice. "Do you want to use something else?"

Jiang Hexue actually took his words seriously and took a look at the children's cakes on the plate.

After the "囍" character was broken off, the only remaining patterns on the descendants' cakes were those little babies.

Do you want to eat the little baby? No need.

Jiang Hexue shook his head and put the small piece of Zisun cake into his mouth and chewed it.

The royal meals were truly delicious. Even ordinary buns were steamed until they were soft, fragrant and glutinous. She took a small bite and didn't feel too full. She just used it as a snack to fill her teeth.

"I wish your Highness and the Princess a harmonious marriage, a long and lasting marriage, and a long and happy life together—"

Grandma Xi said a series of flattering congratulations and came out one after another.

Suddenly, they were the only two people left in the huge bedroom.

Jiang Hexue immediately relaxed a bit and glanced at Shen Qingchen who was still sitting stiffly on the edge of the couch, thinking that he was just drunk and needed to calm down.

She stood up and sent her maid to take off her heavy wedding crown and complicated bun, then she took a comb and combed her hair bit by bit.

Her wedding hairstyle was too complicated. It took her a whole day to style her hair, and now it was all curled up, making it difficult to comb through.

Jiang Hexue faced the bronze mirror and carefully combed her hair, still thinking about Shen Chuning's words.

"Zhu Qiu was not interested in exploring his family background. He simply thought he had no feelings for his family and didn't care about it, so he didn't bother looking..."

As she was thinking, she accidentally used too much force in her hand and the comb teeth got stuck in the clogged hair. The pain made her gasp. She dropped the comb and used her fingers to carefully untangle the hair.

The comb on the table was picked up by a cold, white, slender hand.

"Your Highness?" Jiang Hexue looked at Shen Qingchen behind him in confusion through the bronze mirror.

Shen Qingchen did not respond. He gathered a tangled strand of her hair with his long fingers and carefully used a comb to untangle it.

The flames of the dragon and phoenix candles flickered, and the stern profile of the young man behind him was coated with a hazy and ambiguous halo.

When Jiang Hexue was stunned, he caught a glimpse of the vague figure of Grandma Xi outside the window paper.

It turned out that he was still eavesdropping outside, and the couple's loving drama had not yet ended.

Jiang Hexue leaned back slightly, happily enjoying this rare warmth: "Your Highness."

"Thank you for your hard work today." Shen Qingchen's voice was slightly tired, not as cold as usual.

The corners of her peach blossom eyes were also red from the alcohol.

Jiang Hexue smiled, maintaining a shy tone, and quietly raised her voice a few notches: "Being able to marry His Highness is the blessing of this life of this concubine."

Shen Qingchen paused in his action of venting her hair, and the color of his peach blossom eyes seemed a little darker than usual, and his emotions were unclear.

Jiang Hexue found his reaction baffling, and insisted, "Marrying Your Highness is truly what I wished for."

Outside the window, I could faintly hear Grandma Xi's suppressed laughter.

"Change your words." After a while, Shen Qingchen said softly. "I told you, there's no need to be so polite."

With "Your Highness" on the left and "Your Majesty" on the right, she was definitely not a person who was willing to observe etiquette when she was young.

There is absolutely no reason for me to marry into the prince's palace and then be subject to formalities with him.

Instead of calling him "little god" as she did when she was younger, she could just call him by his given name and be more intimate with him.

He also knew her nickname, Qiong Qiong.

Qiong of viburnum.

However, as soon as he said this, the smile on Jiang Hexue's face froze slightly.

She sighed faintly.

Then she raised her hand, took his hand hanging by her side, put it on her shoulder, and held his fingers tightly.

Before Shen Qingchen could say anything else, a gentle kiss landed on the back of his hand.

He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her through the bronze mirror.

The girl in the mirror smiled softly, her eyes slightly curved: "It seems that I should change my words."

"Husband."