Chapter 67 Chapter 67 Finally it’s my wedding night…
Weddings are such a troublesome thing, Duan Zhiwei thought again.
The sky-blue silk she had chosen had been made into a long-sleeved dress. The blue and plain gauze inner garment, knee-length cape, socks, and shoes were all the same color as the dress and had been delivered early to be hung on the mahogany rack in the room.
The honeysuckle hairpin and glass accessories on the head were also almost chosen. The next step was the guest list for the wedding day. The relationship between relatives and friends in the restaurant was very simple. Pu Tao would go back a day in advance to pick up his grandparents to liven up the party. Zhu Niang asked if she could bring a few hundred spider relatives and friends to watch the ceremony, but was rejected.
Monster friends are very loyal. The headless lady sent a big box from Jiujiang County. Duan Zhiwei was very worried that a head would pop out of it. Fortunately, it turned out to be another barrel of pepper worth more than gold. There was also a letter attached saying that she still wanted to eat the delicious chicken and hoped that Duan Zhiwei could send a recipe. She would randomly go to the pleasure boat on the river to grab two chefs to cook for her.
The frogs of Nanyan Temple sent a bamboo basket of green carp, and asked Duan Zhiwei to add some lotus cakes when he was free, but because they were frog cakes, they should have less sugar. The Jinhua cat was so happy that it ran to the temple with the food box containing lotus cake in its mouth to return the gift.
Mohele Doll and Grandma Gao brought two pairs of knitted shoes. The soles were knitted very densely and firmly, making them very suitable for working.
The flower fairies sent two carts of flowers, including magnolia, camellia, crabapple, and peony. They said they didn't know which one to give, so they decided to send some of all and let Madam Duan choose for herself so she can wear it on her head on the wedding day. This attracted the neighbors near the restaurant to come and watch.
The master Hua Sisi, who had cheated Duan Zhiwei last time, even came over shamelessly and asked if he could buy it for a high price since the jade-colored camellia did not look like an ordinary one. However, he was driven out by Aunt Duan.
Surprisingly, the Snow Girl, who had only been to the restaurant once, also brought a large ice cube and asked Duan Zhiwei if there were any other high-ranking military officers in the Jinwu Guard who were as pretty as Yuan Shenji.
"Be in good health." She gave Duan Zhiwei an ambiguous expression of "you know what I mean". Duan Zhiwei had to pretend not to understand and enthusiastically invited her to have another hot pot, the hottest kind.
Looking at it this way, she felt that the demon veins she had accumulated were quite extensive, and she became quite complacent.
On the other side, Yuan Shenji was at the Du Mansion, listening to the nagging of his aunt and uncle.
Among the "three books and six ceremonies", the names of both parties' parents must be written on the engagement letter, indicating that both parents have approved and decided the marriage. Duan Zhiwei's parents have passed away, and her side was written by Aunt Duan, so there is nothing wrong with it being written by her closest aunt.
However, Yuan Shenji's biological father was still alive and in good health, but the name of his aunt Liu was written on the engagement letter.
Liu also knew that after her sister died, her brother-in-law married a beautiful wife soon, and had a young son before the mourning period was over, leaving Yuan Shenji alone in the wind and snow on the border. It was understandable that he did not want his biological father to write this word, so he decisively helped him write the three words "Liu Fuxue" on the engagement letter.
Yuan Shenji did not plan to invite his biological father to watch the ceremony. He was even worried that the vicious stepmother would come to torture his new wife, so he only sent a letter to Runan to inform them and asked them not to come to watch the ceremony.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Xie reacted strongly and wrote a letter to denounce his eldest son for being unfilial. He also disliked his future daughter-in-law for being a bartender. In his opinion, his eldest son should marry the daughter of the Minister of the Central Secretariat and gain the tremendous power, which would bring glory to the Yuan family of Runan.
This was not the end. He wrote another letter to the Du Mansion. After all, Minister Du was a third-rank official, so the tone of this letter was much more restrained. However, the general idea was still to blame them for not choosing a lady from an aristocratic family for his nephew, and even allowing him to choose a merchant. It seemed that he was "unable to see his relatives doing well."
Minister Du was a man who valued his reputation very much. He was immediately furious, but he also knew that it was not Yuan Shenji's fault, so he just called him over and said a few words of concern, and didn't say anything else. However, when Yuan Shenji saw that their faces didn't look right, he guessed what was going on. Feeling that he had caused trouble, he stood up and bowed to apologize.
He was stopped by two old men: "When your temper gets tough, even ten cows can't stop you. The teacher in the private school said that you were the most serious in studying. He thought that if you could pass the imperial examination, our Du family would be able to help you more in the court. I didn't expect that you were determined to join the army."
"Forget it. After all the hardships, I will soon have a family. It can be said that the hard times have finally paid off. Do you want to choose a noble lady from an aristocratic family or a commoner? As long as you are willing, we will follow your wishes."
Liu thought of her own Yourong. Although marrying into the Pei family was a great benefit and she wore everything beautifully, she always felt that Yourong did not look that happy and was always eager to take a concubine for her husband.
Perhaps it would be better for Master to interfere less in the marriages of young children.
Du Yourong, who was worried about her mother, was sitting in the restaurant eating her second serving of rice noodles. She felt that the rice noodles tasted particularly smooth and chewy. She also came here to deliver gifts. She heard that Duan Zhiwei had been tinkering with wedding cakes and candies these past two days, so she came to taste some.
Apparently, Zhu Niang who came here also thought so. She was strictly forbidden to send any gifts related to spiders, so she had to throw her favorite spider doll back home and send some ordinary gifts in a proper manner.
Duan Zhiwei was much more motivated about making wedding cakes and candies for her own wedding than wedding dresses. After all, if she did a good job, diners who wanted to get married in the future could place orders from her again.
Duan Zhiwei planned to make flower fairy cake for her wedding. Roses were not easy to come by, but luckily the flower fairies enthusiastically sent two carts of them. Moreover, the flowers they sent were really beautiful, with large flowers and thick petals.
Wash the rose petals, crush them with a pestle, add honey and sugar and boil them together. It has a strong rose flavor. Although a large amount of honey is added, when mixed with the rose, the taste is sweet and not too choking.
In addition to making cakes, rose ice jelly, rose water chestnut cake, and rose sauce glutinous rice balls are all very delicious, not to mention adding milk tea.
It was a rare occasion that Zhu Niang and Du Yourong were both there, so Duan Zhiwei boiled a small copper pot of milk tea, which was made by adding smoked jasmine tea to fresh milk. The last spoonful of red rose jam dyed the milk tea pink, and the rich aroma of rose milk wafted out.
Everyone likes to drink it.
Rose sugar cake is also simple. It is just osmanthus cake with roses instead of osmanthus. There are just a few hints of red in the white skin, like clouds stained among the snow. It looks better than osmanthus cake.
Before it cooled down, several people couldn't wait to grab a piece and take a bite. The soft and glutinous rice cake and the rich fragrance of roses spread on the tip of the tongue. Duan Zhiwei saw their intoxicated expressions and said quickly: "This is the flower cake for my wedding. Don't eat it all!"
The six ceremonies finally reached the final step of welcoming the bride.
According to the rules, the groom can go to the bride's house in person or send an envoy to marry the bride, but Yuan Shenji naturally decided to go in person.
In May, the locust flowers are fragrant, and the snow-white petals are blown by the wind to every neighborhood, with a faint sweet fragrance in the air. It was a bright sunny day in Chang'an. The sun was shining, and the glazed tiles were radiating dazzling light. Yuan Shenji rode on his horse, passing by children playing and bustling streets, all the way to Xuanyangfang.
Zhen Hui was considered the bride's family member, and according to custom, he had to take a stick and go to that station to "beat" the man. However, when Yuan Shenji came towards him, his hands holding the stick were shaking, so he easily let him pass.
Aunt Duan and A Pan were busy entertaining the guests, presenting them with colorful silk ribbons, and then the ceremonial music nearby began to play to urge the bride to get ready.
The person who did Duan Zhiwei's makeup was introduced by Du Yourong. It was said that she had superb skills and only did makeup for high-ranking nobles. This time, she was doing Duan Zhiwei's makeup for free out of a favor from Du Yourong.
It sounds very reliable, but when Duan Zhiwei saw her throwing the flour-white stuff on her face, she had a bad feeling in her heart.
First, apply lead powder, second, apply rouge, third, apply forehead rouge, fourth, draw dark eyebrows, fifth, apply lip balm, sixth, draw dimples, and seventh, apply flower ornaments.
When she opened her eyes again and saw the bronze mirror, she fell silent.
Her face was as if covered with a layer of white latex, her eyebrows were made into emerald feathers, she had an emerald flower on her forehead, and her cheeks were painted with yellow powder to look like a shooting moon. The makeup artist proudly said, "This is the most popular emerald eyebrow and yellow star-shaped cheek in Chang'an. Most people can't make eyebrows as beautiful as the tail feathers of a kingfisher."
Duan Zhiwei thought to himself, "Is it too late for me to take it off now?"
Outside the house, Yuan Shenji had already recited three poems urging people to get ready. Duan Zhiwei really wanted to jump in front of him with this big painted face to see if that icy face could continue to recite the line "A faint smile makes the flowers pale" without changing his expression.
I'm afraid it should be mispronounced as "fairies and ghosts fighting with magical powers".
She sighed deeply, covered herself tightly with a round fan, and got into the sedan chair.
According to custom, Aunt Duan cried loudly outside.
In fact, they had already discussed it. Duan Zhiwei would continue to do business in the restaurant, and they would still live in the restaurant most of the time, and then live in Yuan's mansion when they had free time.
Therefore, Aunt Duan did not show the slightest hint of sadness. She cried so realistically because she was completely intoxicated by the osmanthus oil.
Xinchangfang and Xuanyangfang are not far from each other. Pu Tao was always worried that she was hungry beside the sedan chair, so he would stuff a piece of cake into the sedan chair from time to time, and after a while, he would throw in two dates.
The Yuan family had few servants, so the old housekeeper hired a few temporary workers to clean the house inside and out. All the red silks that needed to be hung and the red carpets that needed to be spread on the floor were left out, making sure everything was prepared to the best of circumstances.
After the two of them bowed three times to the official in charge of ceremonies, they entered the bridal chamber and were sprinkled with grains by their relatives inside. This is the custom of "scattering the tent."
Although later generations changed the custom of scattering the tent with peanuts, ginkgo nuts, and dates, which meant "a happy marriage and a son soon", in this dynasty, the custom of scattering rice on the tent was still preserved. Some wealthy people would even use copper coins to scatter the tent, which meant "a long life and wealth".
Duan Zhiwei preferred the customs of his dynasty, so he was quite happy to be hit by grains. It would have been even better if it could be exchanged for copper coins. However, as an official appointed by the imperial court, Yuan Shenji thought it sounded a bit rustic to use copper coins to scatter the bills, and he was worried that he would be laughed at by his colleagues, so Duan Zhiwei let it go.
Finally, they drank the wedding wine. A pair of small celadon wine glasses with lovebirds pattern were placed on a silver plate with a wild goose and branch pattern, tied together with a red rope.
The two of them drank with their bodies slightly tilted. Duan Zhiwei was afraid that he would see his painted face, so he used a round fan to counter his scorching gaze all the way. But now he couldn't avoid it anymore, so he had to face him with his painted face.
As a result, the man on the other side reached out and touched the flower ornament between her eyebrows and asked, "How did it get stuck with the vegetable stuffing?"
The emerald flower ornament was taken off by Yuan Shenji.
The women around him burst into laughter and then drove him out.
The women in the room laughed, talked for a while, and then left.
Only Duan Zhiwei and two maids were left.
Since Duan Zhiwei explicitly said that she did not want to buy a maid and did not want anyone to serve her, and Yuan Shenji was not used to having strangers in the house, the two maids on the wedding day were loaned to them temporarily by Du Yourong's mother, Liu.
After all, she really won't take off the three layers of clothes inside and outside.
The two maids Liu sent over were her personal servants. They worked very efficiently and were good at reading people's expressions. Therefore, before Duan Zhiwei even opened her mouth, they quickly fetched hot water to help her wash her face.
Duan Zhiwei scrubbed vigorously several times until the water became turbid before it was clean. The maid immediately handed her a piece of ointment with a faint osmanthus scent and asked her to apply it on her face.
After finally taking off the complicated wedding dress, she breathed a sigh of relief, politely thanked the two maids, and invited them out for dinner.
The two maids immediately understood the hidden meaning of her words, bowed and went out, turning around and closing the door considerately.
Duan Zhiwei quietly walked to the door to observe, and seeing that there was indeed no one outside, he threw himself on the bed and lay down in a "spread" shape.
After a long time, the noise outside the house gradually weakened, and the door was suddenly pushed open. Duan Zhiwei hurriedly got up, and Yuan Shenji came in with unsteady legs, and then lay down beside her.
Duan Zhiwei moved next to him, sniffed the alcohol on him, and then tapped his arm: "Pretend!"
A pair of strong hands lifted her up and made her sit on him. Yuan Shenji held the back of her head and gave her a loud kiss: "Not bad, you can see that. Be my military advisor in the future."
The wines in Chang'an tasted like sweet water and were bland. He drank strong liquor to keep warm in the cold winter in Liangzhou, and the amount was calculated by the kilogram. This group of people still wanted to fight with him.
Duan Zhiwei disliked his strong smell of alcohol and urged him to take a shower. Yuan Shenji stood up helplessly and muttered, "I know, little ancestor."
The maid had already prepared hot water behind the screen, so he just washed himself. He came back soon wearing a white middle-length robe. His hair was slightly wet, and he smelled faintly of soapberry. His deep black eyes stared at her like a leopard staring at its prey.
Her dress was thin and transparent, revealing the scarlet bra embroidered with locust flowers. She also asked A Pan to help stuff some bamboo frames into this dress. With the support, the bra outlined a charming cuff.
Her face was as white as mutton-fat jade, and seemed to be smeared with some ointment, and it glowed like jade under the red candlelight. Her mouth was as delicate and plump as rose petals, making people want to taste it.
There was fire in his eyes.
"You didn't have enough dinner, did you?" Duan Zhiwei thought of the first trick to delay the wedding night. She stood up and said, "I asked Ah Pan to bring rice noodles and soup. You can eat them after heating them up. It will be quick. It will only take five minutes. I'm going now!"
She stood up and tried to run, but Yuan Shenji quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms with a little force: "I really didn't eat much food."
Duan Zhiwei breathed a sigh of relief: "I just said..."
Yuan Shenji interrupted her: "But I took the time to eat a large plate of Hu Bing, and I was very full."
Duan Zhiwei: "..." She did not give up: "Let's go check the gifts sent by your colleagues. What if someone gave you a night-shining pearl worth a thousand gold coins, and the censor saw it and reported you..."
Yuan Shenji stood up and held her horizontally: "There won't be such a boring person."
Duan Zhiwei started the third move, recalling the past: "Do you still remember the first time we met in Liangzhou..."
Before she could finish her words, Yuan Shenji gently carried her to the bed, and his warm breath came close to her ear: "Tell me if it hurts."
His strong and muscular chest rubbed against her back and it hurt. She felt a little painful lying on her side, so she turned her head and wanted to talk to him. As a result, a burning breath hit her face and her lips were accurately captured. That man was so bad. He bit her gently and coaxed her by saying something sweeter than rose stew.
Yuan Shenji felt that this feeling was so intoxicating that he couldn't help but lift her up and work harder. Duan Zhiwei could only curl up in front of him, like a cooked shrimp, bent and hot.
Finally, the noise from the bed died down, and the little locust flower dress that she had worked so hard to embroider was torn into pieces on the floor.
.
The last soft and tender arm stretched out into the air in vain, trying to grab something for help, but was quickly grasped by a big bronze hand and pressed back.
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