Chapter 519: Entrance (Part 2)

Soon the room was full of people again. Lady Zhongqin greeted Eleventh Lady very attentively. Eleventh Lady and Fifth Lady exchanged a few polite words with her and then left the bridal chamber on the pretext of some matters.

It was already midnight, and both of them felt a little tired. After talking for a few minutes, they went back to their rooms.

But just as Eleventh Lady stepped onto the steps of the main courtyard, Jade Tablet from the Lady Dowager's side hurried over.

"Fourth Madam," she said, panting slightly, "The Madam asked you to go over. She said she had something to say."

Eleventh Lady and she went to the lady's place.

The lights in the lady's room were still brightly lit, and under the light, her fatigue was evident.

Eleventh Lady stepped forward and bowed. The Lady Dowager had already sent away the servants and asked Eleventh Lady in a low voice, "How is the bride?"

That’s what I was worried about!

Eleventh Lady looked at the crow's feet at the corners of the old lady's eyes and felt that she looked much older than when she first met her.

She couldn't help but hold the lady's hand and whispered, "It's okay for now." Then she told the lady everything she had seen and heard in detail, "... Xiang is very beautiful, has read a lot of books, and acts generously and steadily!" Thinking of the two concubines, "They are not the kind of people who have never seen the world." Thinking of the eldest cousin's wife, "I'm afraid she is not the kind of relative who will swallow her anger."

The lady-in-law disagreed: "No matter who the third daughter-in-law marries, even the best-tempered ones will become more temperamental." But a big stone fell from her heart, and she sighed, "Then we can only wait and see if there is any change the day after tomorrow morning!"

The auspicious time was set late, and it was almost dawn when the guests were sent away. The next morning, the couple had to meet each other again, so the wedding night could only be arranged tomorrow night. If there were no unexpected incidents the morning after tomorrow, this would be a good marriage.

Eleventh Lady nodded and comforted the Lady Dowager: "Don't worry, nothing will happen." She added, "I see you look tired. Why don't you have a good rest tomorrow morning? I have to get up early to go to the hall to recognize my relatives anyway. If there is anything, let the housekeeper come to me for instructions!" "No need!" The Lady Dowager smiled, with a hint of cunning in her smile, "You can't calm her down. Let me do it! You should go and rest. It's the right thing to do to take good care of my brother."

Although the lady was kind to Zhe'er, she always had a hint of sympathy for him. She was less sympathetic to Jian'er, but had more genuine love for him.

Eleventh Lady didn't know how the family arranged the expenses for Xu Siqin's marriage. Xu Lingyi wouldn't care about it. The Madam hadn't mentioned it, and it was even more difficult for her to ask rashly, otherwise people would misunderstand that she was being stubborn. Now, from the tone of the Madam, it seemed that she was arguing with the Third Lady. It was even more difficult for her to ask.

She wanted to help the old lady rest, but she waved her hand and said, "Mother Du and I have something to talk about. You should go back now! Don't let the fourth son drink so much. He is not young anymore. Drinking too much will harm his health."

Eleventh Lady replied respectfully, "Yes," and left. Then she instructed Zhu Xiang, "... Find out how the expenses for the eldest young master's wedding are calculated?"

The next day, Xu Siyu, Xu Sizhen, Xu Siyi, Zhen Jie'er, Madam Wen and Madam Qiao came to pay their respects at dawn. Eleventh Lady dressed up, accepted their gifts, and, surrounded by a large group of maids and old women, took her children to the small flower hall next to the main hall - where Xu Siqin and Fang were recognizing their relationship.

As soon as she stood still, the Fifth Lady came with Xin Jie'er and Shen Ge'er.

Xin Jie'er immediately left her wet nurse and ran over to hold Jing'er's hand.

After watching her giggle a few times, Jian'er became impatient, let go of her hand, and turned to look at the big red wedding character hung in the hall.

Xin Jieer was a little embarrassed. Xu Sizhen came up to her and asked, "Why didn't I see you at the banquet yesterday? There was a sesame snowball with sweet-scented osmanthus filling inside. I thought you would like it, so I asked Biluo to send some over. Did you eat it?"

Xin Jie'er's expression relaxed after hearing this, and she revealed a faint smile, with a hint of joy in her sweet childish voice: "The nurse said it was made of glutinous rice, and only let me eat half of it. It's really as Fourth Brother said, it's delicious!"

Xu Sizhen was delighted to hear this, and the brother and sister lowered their heads and huddled together to talk.

Xu Siyu's gaze fell on Jiang'er.

I saw that Jianger was wearing a bright red silk cloak with five crane patterns holding clouds and flowers, white silk pants, and a red gold necklace with a golden lock on her chest. She was dressed in powder and jade, with a pair of big black eyes sparkling, as cute as the golden boy in front of Guanyin. When her eyes met his, she grinned, but did not stay for long, and soon her eyes were attracted by the big red lantern with five beads on her head, which was hung by Sui'er.

The corners of Xu Siyu's mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

Sister Zhen held Xu Siqi's hand and followed closely behind Shiyi Niang to meet Grandma Hongda, Grandma Fuer and Grandma Dingsan from Nanjing.

Among them, Grandma Hongda and Grandma Fuer both brought their eldest daughter-in-law. They hadn't seen each other for several years, so they had to get to know each other and ask about each other's situation. In the midst of the excitement, the third wife came in with a smile, accompanied by the wife of the Zhongqin Earl and several aunts, great-aunts and aunts of the Gan family.

Madam Gan smiled and talked with Eleventh Lady's sisters-in-law, leaving her own sisters-in-law and grandmother aside. The sisters-in-law of Third Lady couldn't help but curl their lips. Then they saw Zhongqinbo, Xu Jinkuan, several uncles and aunts of the Gan family, and Xu Sijian walking in with Xu Lingyi. There was a quarrel in the flower hall.

Everyone sat down in the side hall, divided into men and women. Gan Laoquan's family brought Xu Siqin and Fang over.

The newlyweds first paid their respects to Xu Lingyi and the others. Except for Xu Lingyi who presented a pair of red gold dragon and phoenix bracelets as a greeting gift on behalf of the Third Master, the rest of the people said something like "husband and wife should respect each other like guests", and then went to the side hall on the right which was filled with female relatives and children to pay their respects.

The third wife looked at her son and daughter-in-law who were kowtowing to her, tears welled up in her eyes. She took the shoes and socks made by Fang and kept praising them. Fang blushed. Qiu Ling hurriedly handed over the bright red gold-painted box.

Fang took it with both hands, and everyone's eyes fell on Eleventh Lady, who had the highest status in the room.

Eleventh Lady looked at the red gold hairpin inlaid with emeralds, rubies, cat's eyes and lotus-sized pearls on the Third Lady's head. She nodded slightly, took the big red gold-painted box from Qiuyu's hand and was about to hand it over, but the Fifth Lady smiled and said, "Wait, wait. Since we are recognizing our relatives today, we can't run away. Come one by one."

Everyone looked towards the Fifth Madam.

Eleventh Lady's hand that was carrying the box paused for a moment, then she took it back.

"Third sister-in-law married such a beautiful daughter-in-law, I don't know if she really likes her or is just pretending to like her?" Fifth Madam smiled and covered her sleeves, "What you say doesn't count, just look at what you gave as a gift today?" She motioned Qiu Ling to open the box, "Seeing is believing, hearing is not."

The third lady smiled slightly after hearing this, a smile that contained three parts of reserve and seven parts of pride.

Qiu Ling smiled and opened the box.

Inside was a set of red gold distraction, which looked a bit old, but seemed to be worth about five or six taels.

The Third Madam's sister-in-law thought the gift was acceptable, and smiled as she looked at it and said, "How is it? Is the Fifth Madam satisfied?"

"That's good enough!" Mrs. Wu smiled.

Fang lowered her head somewhat embarrassedly.

The third lady's face became even more smug.

Everyone's eyes fell on Eleventh Lady again.

Eleventh Lady showed some hesitation.

The Third Madam's sister-in-law saw this and rolled her eyes, saying with a smile, "Fourth Madam, everyone in our family is waiting!"

Eleventh Lady smiled and handed the box to Fang: "It's just a small gift, please don't dislike it, my nephew's wife!"

The third wife's sister-in-law saw that she didn't open the box and didn't show it in front of everyone, so she must have thought that the things were not good. Thinking that their family had done something good, the Xu family didn't add any more money except for the custom. She smiled coldly in her heart and immediately said, "The meeting gift from the wife of Yongping Marquis must open our eyes!"

When Fang heard this, a trace of anxiety flashed in her eyes, and she looked at Xu Siqin for help.

Xu Siqin just stood aside with a smile.

Fourth Auntie was always sincere to others. Even if the things were insignificant, she would usually use ingenuity to accomplish them, which was very impressive. He was not worried.

Fang had no choice but to open the box with a dim look in her eyes.

A red-gold hairpin with a flower pattern lay quietly on a purple-red velvet cushion. The head of the hairpin was as big as a bowl, and was carved with a phoenix in flight. The phoenix was lifelike, with exquisite carvings, flying with its wings spread, mating and looking at each other in the clouds. The clouds were stacked layer by layer, changing unpredictably, surrounding the phoenix in a circle. And because it was made of new gold, the cut surface was shining with gold, which was so dazzling that it was difficult to open one's eyes.

Some people exclaimed, "It's so beautiful," while others thought, "It must be about ten taels."

"This, this is too expensive." Fang looked up at Shiyi Niang as if she had been burned.

"The phoenix is ​​flying, its feathers fluttering." Eleventh Lady smiled at her gently, "Auntie Four wishes you a long and happy life together."

Fang was a little excited.

This sentence comes from the Book of Songs, Daya, Juan'a, and is usually used to bless couples to love each other and have a happy marriage. It was the poem she often recited in her heart before getting married.

"Thank you, Fourth Auntie!" She bowed deeply with her knees bent.

The Fang family is a family of poets and scholars. After hearing what the eldest sister-in-law said when she was sent to marry, and seeing that Fang looked like she was well-read in poetry and books, Xu Siqin had always been a little worried that Fang would be arrogant and proud. The gift from Eleventh Lady and Fang's sincere thanks made him feel relieved... But then he heard Fifth Auntie laugh teasingly, "Third sister-in-law, this won't do. You are a mother-in-law, how can you be outdone by Fourth Sister-in-law? You should at least give more. Come on, give your nephew's wife two more things."

The Third Lady's face froze. She was happy that Eleventh Lady had given her face, but she was also annoyed that the Fifth Lady was too tactless. Just as she was about to say something, the Fifth Lady had already opened the box she had brought with her: "My box is here. Wait for the Third Sister-in-law to give a gift to her nephew's wife and send it out immediately."

The room was immediately filled with jewels and precious stones.

Some people gasped, some stared with their eyes wide open, and some exclaimed: "They are so generous."

On the purple velvet cushion lay quietly a wine cup-sized flower, with a pure gold base and fingernail-sized rubies as petals, sparkling with a dazzling brilliance.

*******************