12 Wedding?
◎Ci Ying didn't wait.◎
There's no denying that Madam's words briefly soothed Ciying's anxious heart. Later, she still dreamed of Madam inserting a golden hairpin into her throat, but she also dreamed of Madam holding her in her arms, caressing her gently, and saying, "Asu's mother is also your mother. Just treat me as your mother."
The next morning, Ciying went to Jiang's house with his wife.
Ci Ying was originally worried about Madam's health, but after what happened yesterday, Madam looked more energetic.
After riding in a carriage all the way to the Jiang family's house, they could already see the Jiang family's welcoming guests from a distance. Ci Ying looked at the lady, but found that she was just staring out the window wearily, without any joy at meeting her relatives. When Ci Ying turned her gaze and met Aunt Yusheng, she shook her head at her again.
The Jiang family had made thorough preparations. When the patriarch took up his pen and carved Ciying's name into the family tree, the incense in the ancestral hall slowly rose thinly and then dissipated in the air.
Minister Jiang spoke with the gentleness of an older man: "Is your name Ciying?"
Ciying nodded, and before Minister Jiang could say anything else, his wife came up and took Ciying's hand: "Okay, cousin, I'm tired. I'll take Ciying back first." There was no emotion in Lin Lan's words, and she did not have the intimacy of cousins with Jiang Wen. Her whole demeanor was even more noble than when she was in Xie's house.
In a trance, Ci Ying felt that the relationship between the lady and the Jiang family was not as good as rumored in the mansion.
On the way back, the mistress fell asleep. Yu Sheng whispered to Ci Ying, "Don't worry about it. You won't have any contact with the Jiang family in the future, so you don't need to feel indebted. The identity of an adopted daughter in exchange for the gimmick of being the future mistress of the Xie Mansion is a win for the Jiang family anyway."
So Ci Ying understood that this was just a transaction of interests.
But she hadn't paid anything, yet she was about to reap the greatest rewards. Even after Madam's words, she couldn't hide her panic. Ci Ying looked across at Madam, who was exhausted and sleeping, and tried hard to suppress the emotions churning in her heart.
After returning to the mansion, Xiaowan and Ciying exchanged greetings and then talked about the third young lady, Xie Anyun: "Miss, this morning the third young lady was sent to a farm in the countryside of Longnan. I heard that she won't be allowed to return to Chang'an for two years."
Ci Ying was not surprised. She had not been on guard against Xie Anyun at the beginning. It was not because she was careless, but because she thought Xie Anyun would at least know that when they were out, especially at an occasion like a flower-viewing banquet hosted by the emperor's sister and the princess, since they were both from the Xie family, they were seen as one in the eyes of outsiders.
If something really happened that damaged the Xie family's reputation outside, neither she nor anyone else would be able to escape. She had never thought that Xie Anyun was so absurd, and she didn't know whether she had never thought of this or whether she really resented her offense at the academy that day, and actually had the intention of making her look bad from the beginning.
The wedding date is coming soon, June 7th, which is still three months away.
According to the customs in Chang'an, women need to sew and embroider their own wedding dresses, but most women from wealthy families would just add one or two stitches to the wedding dresses that were tailored by the embroiderers, just for the sake of formality.
The wedding dress was delivered two months before the wedding date. It was very gorgeous, embellished with countless pearls and gems. The patterns on the dress were all sewn with gold thread, except for the heart, which was embroidered with silver thread, probably because of the negligence of one of the embroiderers.
Ci Ying took the needle and gold thread from Xiao Wan's hand and sewed a few stitches along the silver thread on her chest, covering the silver lightly. Xiao Wan exclaimed beside her, "Miss, the mending is so complete that it's completely unnoticeable."
Ci Ying said softly, "My mother is an embroiderer. I learned embroidery for a while when I was a child, but I haven't embroidered for a long time."
It was a lie. Ever since she was a child, the scholar had always pressed her against inferior rice paper, so she had never had the opportunity to learn embroidery from the embroiderer. She simply watched too much. Before the embroiderer went blind, she was either weaving or embroidering. Ci Ying watched in her peripheral vision, and she learned by watching.
Three months passed quickly, and Ciying was delighted to learn that since her engagement to Xie Huaijin, Madam's health had gradually improved. Madam, who had been bedridden, was gradually able to get out of bed, basking in the sun in the courtyard, and accompanying Ciying as she embroidered her wedding gifts. One day, when she woke up, she even personally combed Ciying's hair.
The lady smiled happily, and Ciying also smiled happily.
At that time, Ci Ying didn't know about the phenomenon called "last breath." She only knew that the June sun shone on Madam, and she looked warm and comfortable, as if all the lingering illness had disappeared.
As wedding characters were posted all over the house and red lanterns were hung, and the lady came to see her in the room for the last time on a starry night, Ci Ying finally felt like she was going to get married.
That night, the lady gave her a trousseau in addition to the dowry she had prepared for her. Ciying opened it, revealing a box full of round pearls. The lady looked at her tenderly and whispered, "This was prepared for you by Ah Su long ago. She knew her time was running out, so she gave it to me."
Ciying was about to cry again. The lady's slender fingers gently stroked Ciying's face: "Don't cry, Ciying. You're going to be a bride tomorrow. Don't make your face look messy with tears. You should marry beautifully."
Although she had been unhappy all her life, Lin Lan still said gently to Ciying, who was about to get married: "It is a very happy thing to know and stay with the one you love. Ciying, be happy."
After the lady left, Xiaowan closed the door from the outside. The lights were extinguished one by one, and the wedding characters on the window frames were lost in the darkness. Ciying curled up, her hand on her heart. Everything seemed like a dream, but when she closed her eyes and opened them again, nothing had changed.
In the darkness, Ci Ying slowly heard the sound of her own heartbeat.
Like summer rain, it hurts when it hits your body.
The seventh day of the sixth lunar month is the wedding day of Ciying and Xie Huaijin.
This is generally the case for all aristocratic families. Even though the Xie family simplified the formalities as they only had three months to prepare, Ci Ying still went through an extremely tiring day.
Before daybreak, Ciying was woken up from her bed by Xiaowan. Ciying hadn't fallen asleep yet, and Xiaowan only called her once, and Ciying raised her hand and gently parted the curtain. Xiaowan came to serve Ciying, and when Ciying subconsciously reached out her hand, she was startled. Habit is really a terrible thing.
The courtyard was already bustling with activity. Ciying peered through the curtains of her bed, where the lights were ablaze. Wedding characters were lavishly pasted throughout the room, and Nanny Fu was already waiting outside with a smile. When Ciying got up, she discovered Aunt Yusheng was there too. Seeing Ciying, she chuckled and said, "Since Madam can't come today, I'll take you off to marry."
Ci Ying dared not refuse and sat down in front of the bronze mirror with red eyes.
The maid in charge of dressing and dressing came forward and surrounded Ciying, busy but not chaotic. About an hour later, Xiaowan and four other maids from the courtyard helped Ciying put on her wedding dress. The dress was heavy, and the maids, fearing Ciying would become tired, didn't dare let her stand for long. They knelt to adjust the hem of her dress and then quickly asked her to sit down.
The maid who had been in charge of her makeup came forward and continued with the rest of the process. By the end, Ci Ying had lost count of how much powder she had applied to her face. Three and a half pearls, resembling tears, lay on her cheeks. From a distance, she looked like a weeping bride.
Towards the end of the process, Aunt Yusheng walked behind Ciying and picked up a red wooden comb. As dawn broke, Yusheng raised her hand and gently combed Ciying's hair from the beginning to the end. Her hair, which had been carefully groomed by the maids for an hour, was smooth and shiny. The red wooden comb quickly emerged from her hair. Looking at Ciying in the bronze mirror, Yusheng said gently, "Comb all the way to the end."
Then Yu Sheng picked up the comb again and whispered, "Comb the white hair to the eyebrows."
Ciying's eyes were already filled with tears. Xiaowan beside her wiped the tears in Ciying's eyes with a handkerchief. Yusheng uttered the last sentence: "Comb your hair three times and you will have many descendants." After that, Yusheng combed Ciying's hair for the last time, and then handed the mahogany comb to Nanny Xi beside her.
Nanny Xi stepped forward and repeated what Yu Sheng had done.
When the sky was completely bright, the sedan chair that came to pick up the guests had arrived. Although it was going from Xie's house to Xie's house, it still had to go around the street. The sedan chair lifted Ciying, and Xiaowan got on with Ciying.
Although she had not yet gone to the housekeeper, after Ru Zhen left, Xiaowan had become the head maid in the yard.
The streets were bustling with activity. Ci Ying clutched her handkerchief, a faint fear mingling with her restless heartbeat. For the past three months, she hadn't dared to think of Xie Huaijin. She had let her wife down, but the person she let down even more was Xie Huaijin.
It can be said that her engagement with Xie Huaijin was obtained by her wife at the cost of her own life. She felt sorry for her wife for going to such lengths for her, and felt guilty and grateful every day.
She accepted all the benefits, and she had every reason to feel guilty.
But Xie Huaijin is innocent.
She had received such great favor from the Madam that it was impossible for her to refuse this marriage in front of others. Everything the Madam did was for her. Starting from the farce at the flower viewing banquet, Ci Ying lost the right to refuse.
But Xie Huaijin is innocent.
Ciying's hands were trembling slightly, and her heart was beating faster and faster. Something was about to burst out from inside, vibrating along with the suona in front of the wedding sedan, one sound after another, until Xiaowan suddenly grabbed Ciying's hand.
Ci Ying looked at the small bowl through her veil, and vaguely saw Ru Zhen again. She opened her mouth, but only said, "Go get some refreshments after you get off the bus."
Greeting in the morning and traveling in the evening, yesterday the lady told her that she would wait in the bridal chamber until dusk, and when she got to the bridal chamber she would ask the maid to get some food so that she would not go hungry.
Xiaowan lifted the curtain of the car and saw a familiar figure. Just as she was about to call out "Miss", the figure hurried away. Xiaowan fixed her eyes on him and finally said nothing.
She was carried from the main gate into Xie's house and all the way to Zezhi Courtyard. Ciying was helped down from the bridal sedan by Xiaowan.
The wedding veil on her head obscured all she could see, a patch of red mixed with light. Ci Ying simply closed her eyes and walked into her room, where she sat on the bed and listened as the noise faded to silence. A small bowl of tea and snacks was brought in from the back, and Ci Ying forced herself to consume some, waiting for the evening ceremony.
Ciying didn't wait.
When the door was pushed open, what she heard was not the gongs and drums welcoming the bride, but Xiaowan kneeling on the ground and crying: "Miss, the lady is dead..."
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