Chapter 30: Sharing the same dream, you and I can only be real husband and wife.
The dragon and phoenix wedding candles burst into flames, and the night was already deep.
Xie Xuanlan quietly gazed at the bride lying on the wedding bed through a curtain of coral beads. After a long moment, he turned and walked out. The bride behind him lifted her veil and said, "There are people keeping watch outside. Where are you going, Third Young Master?"
Xie Xuanlan paused slightly and said, "Lock it down."
With a "click", the bridal chamber became even quieter. Xie Xuanlan turned around and looked at his new bride.
She was always beautiful in her natural state; Xie Xuanlan had seen her only a few times, but each time he had been deeply impressed. But her current makeup felt like a mask stuck to her face. She didn't smile, nor did she look up at him. She simply stood motionless beside the couch, like a caged bird listless in its cage, or an elk immortalized after the spring hunt, draped in jewels and precious stones.
"Go change your clothes." Xie Xuanlan said after a long silence.
The bedroom connected to two bathrooms. The sound of water was like faint waves. She stopped for a long time before coming out. Although she had taken off her wedding dress and makeup, she was still dressed in a complete outfit, almost ready to receive guests at any time.
Unlike Xie Xuanlan, who had taken off all his robes and hats, only wearing a red undershirt, his long hair was casually spread out, and was wet with water droplets.
He leaned against the window in a frivolous manner, playing with a green jade hairpin in his hand, which he had just found in her dressing box.
He looked at her with a half-smile and said, "Censor Du always claims to be a clean man, yet today he came uninvited. It's clearly my wedding banquet, but he's drunk, clutching a jade hairpin, his face filled with sadness and idiocy. I was just laughing at his bad luck, but now I find the same hairpin here with you—"
"Jiang Congying, do you like this hairpin?"
His new wife, Jiang Congying, the fourth lady of the Jiang family, said, "I don't know the origin of this hairpin. The things in the dressing box were not prepared by me."
"Do you like it?" Xie Xuanlan asked again.
Cong Ying said, "I'll give it back to him someday."
It means that she will go see him again. Xie Xuanlan chuckled and threw the jade hairpin back into the dressing box.
As for Du Rupan, he knew that the rising star from a humble background was a treasure in the eyes of the elite. If the Jiang family had not desperately needed the protection of the Xie family, the old censor Jiang would have married his favorite granddaughter to his most proud student.
What a perfect match they would be, a couple made in heaven - Xie Xuanlan was a little drunk and his forehead was twitching slightly.
The upbringing of aristocratic family prevented him from questioning her again and again. However, his brows were furrowed, his jawline was sharp, and his expressionless face gave him a cold, distant, and unapproachable air.
The other party seemed to see his displeasure and said sympathetically, "This marriage is indeed unfair to the Third Young Master. I forced you to stay here for the sake of my own reputation. As for the rest... I won't bother you anymore. I'll go to sleep on the small couch."
As he said this, he walked over and moved the coffee table on the small couch, and really took out a quilt and put it on it.
Xie Xuanlan's headache intensified, and he felt his veins throbbing. He felt as if he had been hit with a club while wearing a sack. He was furious, but he didn't know who to direct his anger at.
Until he heard Cong Ying breathe a sigh of relief - as if he had escaped from some big trouble and felt relieved after surviving a disaster.
It was like a slap in the face.
Xie Xuanlan suddenly stood up, picked up the wine jug on the table, and walked over to pour it all over the brocade quilt on the small couch. He threw the wine jug with a "clang" and blocked in front of Cong Ying, smiling a bit frivolously and maliciously: "So you want to have a fake marriage with me, but what can I do? Everything Xie gave to Jiang is real."
Cong Ying seemed confused as to why he was so angry. She hugged her pillow, feeling quite bewildered. "I remember everything my family owes the Xie family. If I have the chance in the future, I will do my best to repay them... Even if you and I get married, I won't stand in your way. Whether you want to take a concubine or find a new lover, I won't cause any trouble."
"Am I looking for a new love, or are you planning to have an affair?"
Xie Xuanlan snatched the pillow from her arms and threw it away. When he approached her, he could feel the slight trembling in her forced composure.
He sneered, "My family doesn't have a rule about taking concubines, and I'm too lazy to be with anyone secretly. Now that you've become my wife, don't think you can get away with it with just a few words. Why would you turn against me just because the Jiang family rescued you? How can I let you take all the benefits?"
Cong Ying defended herself somewhat anxiously, "I never meant that. So, Third Young Master Yi, what do you want me to do?"
Xie Xuanlan said: "You and I can only be real husband and wife."
Seeing Congying's eyes widen, he scoffed lightly, "Of course I won't force you. If you don't want to, I'll write the divorce papers now and send you home tomorrow. I'll take all the blame myself."
"What a...real couple." Zong Ying's eyes drooped quickly, and she bit her lip, not knowing what she was thinking.
However, Xie Xuanlan didn't have the patience to waste time with her. His heart grew cold, and he turned around to find a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and happily wrote down three words: Divorce Letter.
"Third Young Master!"
Xie Xuanlan, the author of this book, and my wife Jiang, are now in disharmony, and this is due to my wild and unruly nature...
"We can't get divorced now!" Cong Ying chased after him, snatched the paper he had spread out, rolled it into a ball and threw it into the brazier.
Seeing Xie Xuanlan was about to draw a new piece of paper, she hurriedly pressed his hand and nodded hurriedly, saying, "I promise you!"
Xie Xuanlan remained unmoved: "Unhappiness will last a lifetime. Think it over more clearly."
Whether it was out of nervousness or fear, Cong Ying's voice trembled like rice beads on a broken tassel, falling lightly and delicately: "I've thought it through. I'm not... I'm not unhappy."
She raised her hand to untie her belt, but because of her nervousness, she couldn't open the delicate buckle.
Under Xie Xuanlan's gaze, a thin layer of cold sweat broke out on her palms, making her feel even more embarrassed.
Until a bony hand held her and unbuttoned her coat, and the coat slipped off her shoulders. The coolness of early spring made her shiver slightly.
Xie Xuanlan's hand moved down along the fabric on her shoulder, holding her waist to give her support, and with his other hand he removed the hairpins in her hair one by one.
The scent of freshly bathed women was like cold bamboo after rain, but the touch of his lips was soft. He first tentatively landed on her forehead, then slowly found her red lips.
He remained calm and composed as he kissed and pecked her, saying, "You can regret it anytime... but only tonight."
Cong Ying shook her head slightly, and instead took the initiative to put her arms around his neck.
The pen, ink, paper and inkstone fell to the ground, the coral bead curtain swayed, a pair of shadows disappeared into the red tent, and clothes were thrown out with a rustling sound.
By the light of the dragon and phoenix wedding candles, Xie Xuanlan could clearly see the crisscrossing whip marks on her back.
It was left on the day of Old Censor Jiang's funeral. Though it had healed, the scar remained indelible, becoming a part of her body. Xie Xuanlan's fingertips caressed it inch by inch, sensing her suddenly tense butterfly bones, and placed a soothing kiss on her ear.
Whatever anger he had in his heart dissipated, and at least at this moment, he felt pity for her.
"Don't be afraid...it won't hurt you."
＊
Xie Xuanlan woke up from his dream and subconsciously raised his hand to touch the side of the bed.
Empty——
The moonlight outside the window was bright, but the room was pitch black. There were no wedding candles or curtains, only swords, spears, and halberds filling the room.
Was it a dream? Xie Xuanlan stared at the ceiling in a trance, then suddenly frowned and looked down. His face became extremely embarrassed and he cursed through gritted teeth.
He turned over and held her down, but still felt a tingling electric current running straight up. He endured it for a long time, but finally, in self-loathing shame, he put his hand down.
"hiss--"
His forehead rested on the porcelain pillow, but that thing grew harder than the pillow.
What the hell, was he drugged?
Xie Xuanlan closed his eyes and sloppily coped with himself, but the charming scenes from his dream kept resurfacing in his mind. From Ying's every smile and frown, to her breathing, sometimes shallow and sometimes heavy, it seemed as if it still lingered in his ears, like silver needles piercing his bulging veins, constantly burning and stimulating him. He cursed his own shamelessness, but at the same time, he couldn't help but recall it.
It was a little painful when he stretched it to the extreme. The Hangjin mattress under him was about to be torn by him. Finally, the silver bottle broke, the water leaked out, and Xie Xuanlan turned over and lay on his back on the other side.
The hot air gradually cooled down, and he finally sensed something strange.
This was the first time in twenty years of dreaming that it was so clear. Not only did it not fade into a blurry scene the moment I woke up, but the more I thought about it, the clearer the details of the dream became.
He remembered the mandarin duck pattern on the brocade quilt, the color of the firefly belt, and even the cinnabar mole on her neck and the width of her waist measured with his palm.
Okay, I can’t think about it anymore…
It's so real that it seems to have happened before.
However, it was different from reality - Xie Xuanlan thought, how could he bear to treat Jiang Congying in that way.
She clearly loved him, but she was uneasy and didn't dare to express it. She was also shy on their wedding night, so she seemed cold. Besides, even if she was truly heartless, he shouldn't have forced her into a dilemma. It didn't matter if they were married, real or fake. As long as they got married, there was still a long way to go, and sooner or later, it would all be real.
And the whip marks on her back were even more bizarre.
On the day of the funeral of Old Censor Jiang, Princess Xuande did intend to whip her, but didn't Prince Jin later come back to life, so the matter was over?
Xie Xuanlan felt a headache from thinking so much, so he got up and went to the bathroom to take a cold shower.
When he came out refreshed, he looked at the dark night outside the window and the messy bed curtains. He finally sighed and covered his face, blaming this strange dream on the fact that he had been too emotional recently and had not yet married.
He cut the Gordian knot and made up his mind: Marry her, and quickly.
As he spoke, he pushed the door open and walked out. The guard who was dozing off on duty was startled. Seeing Xie Xuanlan's energetic and impatient look, he asked hesitantly, "Third Young Master... who are you going to deal with?"
Xie Xuanlan: "Pack your things."
He ran to Xie's storeroom and, like a robber breaking into a house, pointed at the treasures in the room and asked the guard to take notes: "Two hundred thousand taels of silver, one hundred thousand taels of gold, this set of East China Sea pearl and kingfisher crowns, the imperial gift of Li Chao ink, and this box and that box, count them all."
The guard was dazzled, his charcoal pencil about to spark. He couldn't help but swallow his saliva and asked, "Third Young Master, are we planning to take the money and set up our own faction?"
Xie Xuanlan glanced at him and said, "What do you, a bachelor without a wife, know? These are just betrothal gifts."
Guard: “…”
Xie Xuanlan: "I will go hunting for geese myself tomorrow. I'm thinking of what else I need. I heard they need powder and a makeup box. Let me look for them—"
Suddenly, Xie Xuanlan caught a glimpse of something, his voice stopped, and his pupils suddenly shrank.
At the innermost side of the rosewood antique display cabinet lies an exquisite dressing box, inlaid with gems and mother-of-pearl on all four sides. The box is painted with Zhuang Zhou and butterflies, and exudes a faint wood fragrance.
He took down the dressing box and examined it carefully. It was exactly the same as the one he had seen in his dream, the one Jiang Congying used in the bridal chamber. However, he had never seen this box before.
A vague, terrifying chill arose spontaneously.
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The author has something to say: I'm going out this weekend, so next week will be busy, so the update frequency will be lower, but I will work hard. I wish everyone a happy weekend!
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