Chapter 96 Marriage: Little Sister, Do You Want Me?
Jin Suiqing trembled as she was interrogated. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, she forcefully pushed Jin Shiyu away, pulled open her collar, and pulled out all the cloth, throwing it on the ground.
Jin Suiqing kicked the cloth at Jin Shiyu with her toes and closed her eyes resignedly.
After a long while, she heard Kim Shi-ok sigh.
Jin Suiqing resignedly said, "Go ahead and curse me."
"Why would I scold you?" Jin Shiyu picked up the measuring tape, came back to her, and gently measured her again, saying as she did so, "You've lost weight because you don't eat properly."
His tone was so low and somber that it sounded more like he was cursing at her.
Jin Suiqing cautiously opened her eyes, and said with a slightly aggrieved expression, "I just wanted to speed things up so that you could get rid of the Jin family's constraints sooner..."
The special bloodline gave the Jin family unparalleled wealth, and therefore, it had to be a secret that no one but the head of the family could know.
Because once the news gets out, the Kim family will definitely be treated inhumanely.
Undeniably, the Huangfu family might attempt to innovate the super sulfur combustion engine, but until a true prototype is unveiled, the Jin family will remain confined. Men will be drained of blood until they die; women will give birth until they die; siblings will be forced into arranged marriages to produce children with the purest blood.
Even for the Huangfu clan, controlling the Jin family was a more advantageous option than researching new sulfur-burning engines.
Looking back now, it seems understandable why successive generations of Jin family heads chose to swallow their anger.
Blood is both a miracle and a curse.
It turned Jin Guizhong into a coward, drove Princess Qingyang insane, dragged Jin Suiqing into it, and forced Jin Shiyu to lose his mother.
After measuring her waist, Jin Shiyu knelt down in front of Jin Suiqing to measure her hip circumference, adding, "And Huangfu Feng too."
Jin Suiqing was amused by his words and patted his shoulder: "I'm being serious with you, why are you bringing Ah Feng into this again?"
“Because I’m jealous, I’m envious.” Jin Shiyu helped her up by the waist, like a snake swimming upwards, slithering up her body. He tightly embraced Jin Suiqing’s waist, pulling her close, stroking her prominent spine and shoulder blades, and said tenderly, “How do you know her? How good is your relationship that you would go to such lengths for her?”
When it came to transmigrating into a book, Jin Suiqing felt somewhat embarrassed.
He couldn't express it in words, nor could he explain it clearly, so he could only laugh it off to Kim Shi-ok.
Seeing that she wouldn't speak, Jin Shiyu bit her ear and said, "I'll get it out of you one day."
After the measurements were taken, Jin Shiyu had no reason to stay any longer. He lingered for a while, watching Jin Suiqing eat some food. Before leaving, he wiped the crumbs from the corners of Jin Suiqing's mouth and suddenly asked her softly, "Suiqing, after we get married, do you want children?"
"Huh?" Jin Suiqing was stunned, her face turned pale. After hesitating for a long time, she stammered out the truth, "It's... I don't really want it."
This is a sincere statement, and there is no falsehood in it.
Jin Suiqing really hadn't thought about becoming a mother.
Pregnancy is painful, childbirth is painful, and raising a child is difficult. Jin Suiqing felt resistant to it, and since she didn't have a mother, she naturally didn't fantasize about what it would be like to be a mother.
Even when she thought about taking care of children, all she could think about were the little brats in the orphanage, who were a headache and incredibly annoying.
Let's forget about making her a mother.
She looked up and tentatively glanced at Kim Shi-ok.
No matter how advanced the industrial setting of this book may be, the background is still feudal. Is the idea of not having children a bit too advanced for him?
To her surprise, Jin Shiyu was not angry at all. Instead, he smiled, lowered his head, and kissed her forehead. "Okay, I remember."
Jin Suiqing was stunned. What had he remembered?
Before she could ask, the person had already quickly left.
*
Time always flies. On the day of the wedding, before dawn, Jin Suiqing, still half asleep, was dragged out of bed. Ye Zhufeng was even more anxious than she was at the time, "Still sleeping, Qingqing? Get up and change into your wedding clothes."
Jin Suiqing barely opened her eyes. Ye Zhufeng was flanked by two women. It was really inappropriate for the princess to personally serve the bride, but since she was the princess, they couldn't rashly disrespect her. The two women could only stomp their feet anxiously, pacing around like ants on a hot pan.
Jin Suiqing chuckled: "Yezi, I'll get up now. Don't take over the two ladies' work. Let them help me with my washing and dressing."
Ye Zhufeng's eyebrows furrowed. He was about to say that he couldn't just stand there while his best friend got married, but before he could speak, Jin Suiqing and two other women escorted him out of the room.
Before closing the door, Jin Suiqing chuckled through the crack, "Once you're dressed in your wedding attire, the first person I'll show it to is Ye Zi."
She closed the door.
Of the two ladies, the one in the lead, surnamed Yu, held up the auspicious dress and said with a smile, "First of all, I would like to congratulate you, young lady. I heard that this auspicious dress was embroidered by Young Master Jin himself, stitch by stitch. Oh my, look at these stitches! They are even finer than those embroidered by the ladies in the embroidery shop. What ordinary man would have such patience? You are sure to enjoy a life of luxury after marrying into this family!"
Jin Suiqing smiled so broadly that her eyes disappeared: "He's meticulous, but I haven't suffered much."
Madam Yu's eyes darted around, and remembering that the two had once been siblings, she stopped talking and focused on helping the person change into their auspicious clothes.
The layers of the auspicious robes seemed to cling to the body, both beautiful and well-fitting. I wonder what kind of fabric Kim Shi-ok used; it was so light and thin that it wasn't stuffy at all.
Jin Suiqing couldn't help but wonder if Jin Shiyu had already decided on the wedding date for the two of them, and whether it would be set in the summer, and by whom.
Madam Yu praised her hair several times, then led Jin Suiqing to the mirror to comb her hair and draw her eyebrows. Madam Yu's hands were gentle: "Young Master Jin specifically said that you are afraid of pain, so you must be careful with your strength when combing your hair."
Jin Suiqing murmured "Dad" softly, but the joy in her eyes kept overflowing.
While she was getting ready, another woman slipped a Mohele (a type of traditional Chinese medicine) and a fire-avoidance diagram into her hands: "If you learn more about the different positions, you'll suffer less on your first time tonight."
Jin Suiqing thought to himself, "What suffering could I possibly endure?" He remained expressionless as he played with the inlaid Gorilla, turning the fire-avoidance diagram over and over with a rustling sound.
Indeed, aesthetics change with the times. The human body and movements are nowhere near as appealing as those drawn by modern female fans of BL (Boys' Love).
Seeing that she showed no embarrassment, the two women exchanged glances and chuckled softly.
Jin Suiqing didn't even look up: "What are you laughing at?"
Madam Yu smiled and said, "I'm not laughing at anything. I just think that you are a very generous and graceful young lady. You will definitely be a lovable and affectionate person in the future, and there will be little discord between you and your husband."
Jin Suiqing sensed the teasing in the words, picked up a hairpin from the dressing table, and tossed it to Madam Yu. Madam Yu chuckled and put it in her hair.
The women were quick and skillful, and soon they had finished her makeup and then placed the face-covering fan into her hand.
Jin Suiqing examined it closely; the stitches were fine and the pattern was lifelike. What surprised her was that the mandarin ducks were not carrying a twig for building their nest, but a crocus flower.
Madam Yu rubbed her eyes and said in surprise, "Usually, fan paintings depict male mandarin ducks carrying branches, but this one is truly eye-opening. It actually depicts female mandarin ducks carrying flowers!"
Jin Suiqing felt ashamed and annoyed when she thought about that haphazardly made lamp that she had smashed and then repaired, and how he still remembered it. She covered her face with her fan.
But then she noticed the faint bitter scent of Jin Shiyu on the fan, which made her even more embarrassed, and Jin Suiqing couldn't help but chuckle softly.
After finishing her makeup, Madam Yu earnestly instructed Jin Suiqing to cover her face and not let anyone other than her husband see her. However, as soon as she led Jin Suiqing out of the room, Jin Suiqing immediately put down her fan and called out to Ye Zhufeng, "Ye Zi, do I look pretty?"
Ye Zhufeng smiled and reached out his hand, taking Jin Suiqing's hand and turning her around. Her emerald green skirt billowed out, and Ye Zhufeng said happily, "Beautiful! My Qingqing is the most beautiful in the world."
The two were playing around in the courtyard, while Madam Yu kept groaning and complaining.
She really learned something new today; this wedding was so different from ordinary weddings in every way!
*
Madam Yu finally took Jin Suiqing's hand again and led her out of the Princess's mansion.
Outside the mansion, it was noisy. Through the red fan, Jin Suiqing could only see everything vaguely. She didn't even know what the bridal sedan chair parked in front of the gate looked like, or what Jin Shiyu looked like now.
She took two more steps forward and glanced sideways at Huihong, Dagou, and Boss Ji, who were huddled together, happily handing out wedding candy to the children. When they saw her come out, they quickly came to greet her.
On the surface, Jin Suiqing had no family members, so she should have walked these steps by herself. However, Huihong, Dagou, Ji Saiyu, and Yezi took turns pushing her forward. Finally, Yezi held her hand, lifted the sedan curtain for her, and sent her into the bridal sedan.
As the sedan curtain was lowered, Ye Zhufeng said to her, to Jin Shiyu, and to everyone in the capital: "If you ever suffer any injustice in the future, the Princess's Mansion will always be your home. Go back anytime, and I will stand up for you!"
Jin Suiqing was about to cry.
The bridal sedan chair curtain was lowered, and the bride was ready to depart.
But then another exclamation rang out outside the sedan chair, the loudest being from Madam Yu. Jin Suiqing heard the clatter of hooves, and soon after, a corner of the sedan chair curtain was lifted, and half a hand peeked in.
It belongs to Kim Si-ok.
Madam Yu shouted from outside, "Oh dear, oh dear, how can the groom walk on foot instead of riding a horse during the wedding procession? Young Master Jin, please get on your horse quickly."
Jin Shiyu replied, "It would be an honor for me to marry you, my lady. Riding a horse, I am above you, so I should show you respect. It would be best if you walked with me in the sedan chair."
After saying that, the bridal sedan chair was lifted up and swayed forward.
Jin Suiqing leaned closer to the curtains and muttered, "Is brother in such a hurry that he doesn't even want to follow the rules?"
Jin Shiyu tapped his fingers inside the bridal sedan chair: "Yes, I'm anxious, I can't wait even a second longer."
Jin Suiqing covered her face and burst out laughing.
And so, the capital city witnessed an unprecedented wedding.
The groom followed the sedan chair, step by step, steadily arriving at the Jin residence. Once the sedan chair came to a stop, Jin Shiyu stepped forward, bent down, and finally, as he had wished, reached out his entire hand.
Inside the sedan chair, Jin Suiqing grabbed his hand without hesitation.
Perhaps due to nervousness, her palms were sweaty. Jin Shiyu squeezed her palms and waited patiently for a moment before gently pulling her out.
Through the fan, Jin Suiqing could vaguely see Jin Shiyu.
He wore a hair crown and a crimson official robe. Whether it was because of the view through the fan or because of his red attire, he appeared exceptionally radiant, and the cinnabar mole on his forehead shone even brighter.
Jin Suiqing then began to feel a sense of reality that she was going to get married.
Jin Shiyu asked in a low voice, "Are you feeling unwell? You're sweating so much."
Jin Suiqing swallowed hard and whispered, "I'm nervous. I didn't memorize any of the procedures. What if I blunder later? That would be so embarrassing."
Jin Shiyu smiled and tightened his grip on her hand: "It's alright, just come with me."
Jin Suiqing nodded awkwardly and let him lead her into the Jin residence. The subsequent etiquette was as Jin Shiyu had said. Jin Shiyu started the ceremony, and she followed suit.
Jin Shiyu led Jin Suiqing to perform the handwashing ceremony. According to etiquette, Jin Shiyu should wash his hands and Jin Suiqing should wipe them for him.
But here, the roles reversed. Jin Shiyu lowered his eyes, carefully washed the sweat from Jin Suiqing's hands, and then gently dried them. He raised his hand to ask for the other fan, and Jin Suiqing hurriedly switched the hand that held the fan and handed it to Jin Shiyu.
Lady Yu was in despair, covered her face, and couldn't bear to look.
Jin Suiqing didn't understand the procedure, but hearing the guests gasp in surprise, she felt something was off. She asked Jin Shiyu, who was carefully washing her hands, "Is this how you wash them?"
Kim Shi-ok said firmly, "That's how you wash it."
Never caring about what others thought, Jin Suiqing let him be.
The rest of the process went smoothly, except when Kim Shi-ok toasted Kim Gwi-chung, he practically had to grit his teeth and make it happen.
Behind the fan, Jin Suiqing thought that this was probably the only time in his life his son would call him "father."
Jin Guizhong's smile wasn't very pleasant, but he still took the wine, said a few perfunctory words, and then let them proceed with the formalities. Jin Shiyu led Jin Suiqing to toast the guests, and, not wanting Jin Suiqing to be tired, told her to go and rest early.
Having given up all hope, Madam Yu told Jin Suiqing to sit aside and wait, occasionally asking if she was thirsty or hungry. Jin Suiqing shook her head, moved half of the fan down, and tentatively asked, "Madam Yu, have we caused you any trouble?"
Madam Yu choked on her breath, held it in, and finally laughed out loud: "Having been in this line of work for so many years, I've seen all sorts of troubles. Yours is nothing compared to that. I'm just glad that you've chosen such a good man, and I can't bear to see you suffer."
Jin Suiqing pursed her lips, gazing absently at Jin Shiyu's busy back. After he had toasted all the guests, it was already dark when Madam Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief and called out, "The ceremony is complete. The bride and groom may now enter their bridal chamber."
Jin Shiyu finally led the person away from the hall.
Madam Yu followed behind the two, wanting to go into the bridal chamber to give some further instructions, but Jin Shiyu blocked her out of the door, saying, "Madam Yu, you should go first."
Madam Yu looked Jin Shiyu up and down with a strange expression, and said to him, "This is the bride's first time. I've heard that Young Master Jin is very experienced. You must take it easy and don't hurt her."
Jin Shiyu's expression changed, and he suddenly regretted running that damn restaurant to make dirty money, which made him reek of filth. He felt disgusted just thinking about it.
He didn't make a note, but nodded in agreement and closed the door.
Hearing the door close, Jin Suiqing felt a sense of relief. She initially thought of throwing away the face-covering fan, but then she remembered that it was embroidered by Jin Shiyu stitch by stitch, so she carefully placed it on her pillow.
Looking up again, I could finally see the scene in front of me clearly.
This is Jin Shiyu's room, or rather, it used to be her room. Inside, sulfur lamps burn at varying heights, and large and small "double happiness" characters are pasted everywhere. Red silk ribbons fall, and the bed is covered with melons, fruits, and peanuts.
Jin Shiyu stepped forward and whispered, "I've already told people not to lay these out anymore."
Jin Suiqing asked in confusion, "Why aren't we laying pavers?"
Jin Shiyu did not answer. He bent down to tidy up the bed, led Jin Suiqing to sit on the bed, knelt on one knee in front of her, held her hand, and said earnestly, "We have not yet drunk the nuptial wine."
She knew this; it was a toast made by sharing a cup of wine.
Jin Suiqing nodded: "Go ahead and drink, I'll go pour the wine."
"I'll go." Jin Shiyu pressed her down, preventing her from moving, and got up to go to the table. He then carried the wine pot and cups back to the bedside and placed them on the corner table. Jin Suiqing raised her hand to pour the wine, but Jin Shiyu stopped her again. "Do you remember what I asked you, sister, on the day you were measured?"
Jin Suiqing was confused by his words. "You...you asked me if I wanted a child."
"I remember you said you didn't want to."
Jin Suiqing suddenly realized that this was what he remembered from that day.
Jin Shiyu opened the corner cabinet, inside which lay many unsightly items. He precisely pulled out a small paper packet, opened it, and found dark brown medicinal powder inside.
He poured the powder into a wine glass, then added wine. The powder instantly dissolved, turning into a dark, medicinal soup.
Jin Suiqing frowned: "What is that?"
Jin Shiyu said, "The infertility medicine."
It is a drug that prevents pregnancy, not a contraceptive drug; once ingested, one will lose the ability to have children.
Jin Suiqing blinked and pointed at the cup of medicine, saying, "You...you prepared this for me?"
Jin Shiyu shook his head: "I prepared it for myself."
Jin Suiqing slowly opened her eyes wide, asking incredulously, "You don't want a child?"
“I don’t want to, and I’ve never thought about it,” Jin Shiyu said. “I don’t want to take care of someone who is related to me by blood. I raised you, and in this life, taking care of you alone is enough.”
Jin Suiqing was shocked. She opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know what to say. After a long silence, she said, "What if... I change my mind and want to be a mother?"
“If my sister has a child with someone else, I will raise it as our child.” As she said this, Jin Shiyu’s gaze was calm, but after she finished speaking, her expression suddenly changed, and a sinister look flashed in her eyes. “But you have to tell me who the child’s biological father is. He absolutely cannot live.”
Jin Suiqing was somewhat frightened and asked in a trembling voice, "Brother, are you going to be so resolute?"
Jin Shiyu chuckled and gently rubbed her cheek: "Don't worry, this isn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. It's the result of careful consideration, because I can't tolerate someone with my bloodline taking over your life again."
Jin Suiqing shivered and her eyes reddened. Jin Shiyu had already handed her the wine, put his arm around her arm, and resolutely tilted his head back, gulping down all the dark medicine.
He looked at Jin Suiqing with anticipation.
Jin Suiqing asked through tears, "You won't regret it later?"
Jin Shiyu stared at her without moving, as if he were speaking to her intimately: "If I can't bear it in the future and kill him, my sister will be sad, and I will regret it even more."
Jin Suiqing's body trembled violently. He took a deep breath, tilted his head back, and drank the wine.
The wedding ceremony is complete.
Jin Shiyu snatched the wine cup and casually and ruthlessly threw it on the ground. He slowly got up, blocked Jin Suiqing's path, and began to undress.
He didn't speak or urge him, but slowly shed his clothes one by one, hooking each piece with his fingertips and gently tossing it to Jin Suiqing's side.
Even someone as shameless as Jin Suiqing was brought to a blush by his persistent and annoying manner.
"Jin... Jin Shiyu," Jin Suiqing snorted, "Just be quick about it."
Kim Shi-ok remained unmoved, and even slowed down the process of undressing.
Until the last piece of clothing landed on her lap, causing Jin Suiqing to flinch.
Surrounded by clothes and enveloped in his bitter aura, Jin Suiqing suddenly felt a sticky, hot, and damp sensation. She shifted slightly onto the bed, waiting for him to come.
To her surprise, he became even more demanding. Not only did he not come, but he also reached out his hand to Jin Suiqing and said in a deep, hoarse voice, "Does my sister want me?"
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