The two of them quarreled until late at night. Minglan collapsed exhausted. Even though her body was sticky and uncomfortable, she didn't want to move. Her eyelids felt like they were weighing down on her. Gu Tingye had been living a rough life outside in the past few years, sleeping in the open air. He didn't want to get out of bed to take a shower, so he just hugged the half-asleep Minglan and was affectionate with her.
Minglan slept very soundly. In her daze, she seemed to be back in the military training days in college, standing at attention and marching for eight hours a day. She lost consciousness as soon as her head touched the pillow at night. Her whole body felt like it had been beaten up. Her waist was weak, her legs were sore, her bones had been reassembled, and her brain was a mess. She almost needed to go to the factory for reconstruction.
At daybreak, Minglan was awakened by the pressure. She opened her mouth and exhaled with difficulty like a crucian carp out of water. She closed her eyes and groped for a while, and felt a huge Jinhua ham pressing on her stomach. She was so angry that she wanted to scratch the man's face. Gu Tingye also woke up. The morning light was dim, and the dawn beams shone through the bed curtains. He looked at Minglan with his bald head, only to see that her snow-white face was quite tired, and the dark circles under her eyelids were more obvious. Only her big eyes were still bright, as if happy and angry. Gu Tingye was pleased, and pulled her little hand to his mouth and blew gently, his deep and handsome eyes full of brilliance.
Minglan took it in for a long time before uttering, "That... well... as long as there is life, there will be no shortage of firewood..." Her voice became lower and lower as she spoke, as if she was begging for mercy.
Gu Tingye laughed, hugged Minglan in his arms, rolled her into a ball, and kissed her without thinking, his chest shaking with laughter.
At this time, the maid outside called softly through the door curtain: "Second Master, Second Madam, it's time to get up."
It took Minglan a while to realize she was being called, and she hurried to get up, but Gu Tingye was still laughing softly beside her. Minglan clenched her fists and punched his thick, broad shoulders, shouting, "Stop laughing! Someone's coming... Are you still laughing? Are you still laughing?... If you laugh again, I'll have the constables arrest you!"
Back then, Yao Yiyi had threatened her cousin's four-year-old nephew with the following words: "If you cry again, I'll call the police to arrest you!" Now, in a moment of urgency, she blurted out the same old tactic.
Gu Tingye laughed even harder, lying on the quilt and shivering. Minglan lay on the embroidered quilt, covered in the shadow by his tall body. She was so angry that she wanted to bite him, baring her fangs and claws like a little animal that had just grown its milk teeth. She was not threatening, but rather endearing. After a long while of making noise, Gu Tingye finally had enough and asked someone to come in to help her wash and comb her hair.
Mother Cui was well prepared. She led Danju and Xiaotao in first, wrapped Minglan in a wide robe and took her into the compartment to bathe and wash up. Then she asked the maids and servants outside to come in one after another with basins, buckets of water, handkerchiefs and other things. One group served Gu Tingye, and the other group served Minglan.
When Minglan finished and put on her inner dress and middle garment, she came out and saw Gu Tingye had also washed and was asking Xia He to help him comb his hair and tie it into a bun. When the two of them had almost finished, a housekeeper came in, found the white silk veil from the inner room, looked at it, and smiled as she put it into a carved red lacquer and gold-painted wooden box.
The wedding dress for the first day of the lunar year must be grand. Minglan wore a gorgeous dress embroidered with bright red peonies and gold brocade, a large hairpin with five phoenixes facing the sun and gold beads holding rubies, earrings with red coral beads and red gold tassels, a red gold necklace with two fishes and a red ruby lock hanging on her chest, and seventeen or eighteen gold bracelets with dragons and phoenixes on her wrists. This outfit almost weighed Minglan down. Unfortunately, she had fought too hard last night and her muscles were sore all over. It hurt when she stretched her hands and lifted her feet. Mother Cui felt distressed. Thinking of the blue and red bruises on Minglan's body, she looked at Gu Tingye with a somewhat unfriendly look.
Gu Tingye was also wearing a scarlet festive robe, with golden bat and flower patterns embroidered on it from the shoulders down. He had a rosin-colored, elastic, and black jade-inlaid belt tied around his waist. He was standing in front of a full-length mirror and letting Xia Zhu adjust the corners of his clothes.
Minglan looked at him from the side and couldn't help but praise: Such a rich and warm red, like in full swing, always has a bit of femininity, but he is a tall and straight man, with a straight back and broad shoulders, which shows his imposing manner, and a sense of noble heroism overflows from his body.
Gu Tingye saw Minglan looking at him in the mirror, so he turned to look at her. After looking her up and down, he smiled and said, "You look very good like this." Minglan nodded, her eyes showing mischief but her face looking serious. She whispered, "You look very good like this too."
Gu Tingye pretended to be ferocious and glared at her. Minglan held her sleeves and smiled pitifully. In a moment, they looked at each other and smiled without any restraint or strangeness. It seemed that there is such a saying in this world that people can feel as close as if they were old friends.
All the maids and servants in the room lowered their heads and said nothing, secretly surprised. Those in the Sheng Mansion thought to themselves, "The young lady is so familiar with her son-in-law", and those in the Gu Mansion said to themselves, "I have never seen the Second Master so good-tempered". A few of the more thoughtful ones even glanced at Minglan, thinking that the Second Master must be very fond of such a bright and charming new wife.
According to normal procedure, the first day of a wedding would be to kowtow to the eldest of the direct lineage, then acknowledge the collateral relatives, then visit the ancestral hall and enter the family tree, with time for meals in between. Due to the special circumstances of the Ningyuan Marquisate, Minglan had secretly asked about this beforehand, and Gu Tingye simply replied, "Of course, you should pay your respects to your parents first."
The meaning of this sentence is too profound and too vague. First, his father died a long time ago. Second, his mother died even earlier. Third, his current mother is a stepmother, and it is rumored that the relationship between stepmother and son is not very harmonious.
Minglan was very puzzled. In this situation, how should she understand the new leader's words?
Just as I was daydreaming, a housekeeper wearing a dark brown plain brocade jacket suddenly came in from outside. The maid standing by the door, lifting the curtain, bowed softly and said, "Hello, mother."
Xiang Mama had a fair face and kind eyes. She bowed to Gu Tingye and Minglan as she entered the room, and said with a smile, "Second Master, Second Madam, the Madam said that we should go to the ancestral hall to pay our respects to the old Marquis and Madam Bai first. She will go and wait for us."
Gu Tingye replied with a smile: "Thank you, Mom. We'll go right away." The smile was warm, but it didn't reach his eyes.
Minglan hurriedly asked Danju to take a red envelope and give it to Xiang Mama. Xiang Mama took it with a smile on her face, and then respectfully took her leave. Perhaps because she smiled at Xiang Mama a little too attentively, Gu Tingye glanced at her indifferently, and then the group surrounded her and walked towards the ancestral hall.
The so-called ancestral hall is a place where ancestral tablets are placed and people pay homage to them. In ancient times, people valued their origins and ancestors. It was said that the more ancestral tablets a family had, the more glorious its ancestors were, and the longer its history was, and the more famous its family was.
Back when Minglan was kneeling down in Youyang to offer sacrifices to their ancestors, she was so bored that she counted the tablets of the Sheng family's ancestors. But—ah! No wonder, despite the Sheng family's prestige and wealth, they still didn't dare to act like the boss in their hometown.
According to Pinlan's gossip, Old Man Sheng was originally a beggar, so ignorant he didn't even know his own name. One day, he heard a part-time fortune teller predict the coming of a prosperous era. This sparked hope in the hearts of the starving beggars, and the old man managed to survive. He later took "Sheng" as his surname, and also gave himself a name. However, Pinlan's gossip was 90% fabricated, as she, too, was tired of kneeling in the ancestral hall for so long, and her resentment fueled her slander.
Actually, although Old Man Sheng lost his parents at a young age and had been wandering and begging since he was young, it is said that he vaguely remembered his parents, but he could not remember his ancestors before that. He did not have the courage of General Wei to ask his wife to compile a list of ancestors for three generations and report it to the court for enthronement. Therefore, the tablets in the Sheng family ancestral hall are really shabby, and the total amount is not even enough to fill a string of gourd brothers.
So when Minglan stood in the Gu family ancestral hall, she felt an inexplicable sense of inferiority.
The deep and solemn lobby with tall pillars had an entire north wall made into an altar. Step-like tablets eight or nine inches high were stacked up layer by layer, reaching a height of seventeen or eighteen stories. Minglan couldn't help but feel short of breath when she saw the densely packed tablets.
Madam Qin was already in the ancestral hall. When she saw Gu Tingye and Minglan, she took a few steps forward and said with a gentle smile, "You must have been exhausted yesterday. Now, come and burn incense and kowtow."
A maid had already prepared a futon and incense sticks before the altar. Minglan glanced over and saw a fairly new tablet in the center of the bottom row, inscribed with "The Seat of the Late Father, Mr. Gu Yankai." Minglan understood and followed Gu Tingye closely, kneeling respectfully on the futon, burning incense and praying, before placing the incense sticks into the cauldron to conclude the ceremony. Turning sideways, Minglan saw Gu Tingye fixedly gazing at an old tablet at the bottom right, inscribed with "The Seat of the Late Mother, Bai of the Gu Family." His eyes dimmed slightly.
Minglan gathered her attention and saw two smaller tablets beside Old Man Gu's. One was for her legitimate mother-in-law, Mrs. Bai, and the other, a more delicate and gilded tablet, inscribed with 'The tablet of the late Mrs. Qin of the Gu family.' Minglan couldn't help but glance at the nearby Mrs. Qin, wondering, if she had died too, what would be written on the tablet? It wasn't popular to engrave women's names on tablets these days; wouldn't that easily lead to a collision?
Gu Tingye quickly came to his senses and turned to the Madam and said, "It's time to pay your respects to the Madam."
Madam Qin sat at the side, looking sad. She pressed her handkerchief to her eyes and gently waved her hand, saying, "No need, no need."
"Etiquette cannot be abolished, Madam, please don't refuse." Gu Tingye's voice was low, but his attitude was firm. Minglan was very virtuous and followed her husband wherever he went. She quickly asked Danju to place the two cushions in front of the Madam and pretend to kneel down.
Seeing that she couldn't refuse, Mrs. Qin sat upright and accepted it with a smile. After the two of them exchanged greetings, Minglan received a pair of extremely transparent jade bracelets inlaid with gold threads, plus a heavy gourd-shaped purse in the color of autumn fragrance and embroidered beads.
This head knock is worth it.
"Go check on your eldest brother." Madam Qin looked at the two of them with relief, tears welling in her eyes. "He hasn't been well in the past two years. He's been ill since the beginning of the year and is now bedridden. He'll be so happy to see you start a family and build a career."
Gu Tingye's expression was gloomy, and he seemed quite sad. He said softly, "It's natural."
Then, a group of people followed one another and walked towards the main courtyard. It was quite quiet along the way. Only Mrs. Qin could be heard occasionally nagging about Big Brother Gu's illness. But she was the elder after all, so she couldn't say too much and appear unstable. After a few words, she fell silent. Minglan was a newly married young wife, so she couldn't be too talkative, so she had to keep her mouth shut and pretend to be shy. Gu Tingye didn't want to talk at all, his face was gloomy and his expression was depressed. Minglan bet that if she asked him, he would open his mouth and say: Big Brother is seriously ill, I feel sad.
Minglan watched from the side and realized that this guy was definitely not saying what he meant.
After walking for about a cup of tea, Minglan and her group finally arrived at the main courtyard. As soon as they entered the second courtyard, they smelled a strong smell of medicine. Minglan followed the lady in and came to a large bedroom with blue bricks on the floor and velvet carpets. There were no decorative objects at all. From the desks and tables by the wall to the bed, they were all filled with various medicine jars and stoves. Even the treasure pavilion on the east side was filled with bottles and jars. Although it was March outside, there was still a roaring fire in the house.
A man was lying on a rosewood bed carved with patterns of vines, grass, birds, insects and flowers. Mrs. Shao was sitting beside the bed, secretly shedding tears. When she heard footsteps, she quickly wiped the tears from her face and stood up to greet the person.
"Yu'er, your second brother is here to see you!" Madam Qin called out softly. Seeing that Gu Tingyu wanted to sit up, she hurried forward to hold him down, holding his hand and patting it gently, while muttering softly, her eyes red.
Although Minglan was very dissatisfied with the Madam's omission of her, she stepped forward with a smile and bowed with Gu Tingye: "Greetings, brother. Greetings, sister-in-law."
Mrs. Shao hurriedly returned the greeting. Gu Tingyu propped himself up slightly, and Mrs. Shao helped him lean on the pillow. He nodded to Gu Tingye, then smiled at Minglan and said, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, sister-in-law. I'm really useless."
Minglan hurriedly said, "How dare I? It's more important for my brother to recover." When she raised her eyes, she was shocked. Although Gu Tingyu was seriously ill, with a sallow complexion, and withered and thin body, his eyebrows and eyes were very similar to those of Madam Qin, and even more beautiful and delicate. Among the people Minglan had seen since ancient times, only Qi Heng's appearance could be compared with his.
The difference is that Qi Heng is handsome, while Gu Tingyu is more feminine. After he finished speaking, he coughed softly a few times, and a few sickly blue veins popped out on his pale neck, and an abnormal blush appeared on his cheeks.
"My son, you take a rest." Madam Qin seemed to be heartbroken, and she stroked the back of Gu Tingyu's hand trembling slightly. This kind of friendship between mother and son seemed to be completely real concern.
Gu Tingyu smiled and held the lady's hand. He kept looking at Gu Tingye, from his tall figure to his lively face, with a hint of envy and gloom in his eyes. After taking a few breaths, he could finally speak: "You are finally willing to come to see me. Well, it is God's will after all. The seat that should be vacated will be vacated. It's like this once, and it's like this twice."
Gu Tingye also looked at his brother for a while, then said with a soothing look: "What are you talking about, big brother? Big brother is just not feeling well now. Once you recover, everything will go smoothly."
Gu Tingyu gave a bitter laugh: "You have finally made progress and learned to say this. It seems that these years of training outside have not been in vain. Well, now you are the only one who can hold on in this mansion."
Gu Tingye lowered his head and said nothing. After a while, he smiled and comforted them with a few words, which showed a deep brotherly love. After Brother Gu said a few words, he started coughing and having a fever again, and fell into a deep sleep. Everyone tiptoed out.
The lady-in-waiting looked melancholy. As she left, she turned back and said to Madam Shao, "I'm afraid you haven't eaten yet? Ask the maids and the servants to look after Yu-ge'er. You can eat with us first."
Mrs. Shao declined a few times and then followed them out. Everyone followed them towards the east wing courtyard. When they stepped in, they saw a table full of food and a young woman who was busy preparing it.
The woman had a face as beautiful as a lotus, and she wore a rose-purple brocade jacket embroidered with lotus flowers. A ruby-red peony-shaped pearl hairpin with a gold base adorned her slanted bun. She looked charming and endearing. When she saw everyone arriving, her big eyes curved into a smile, and she said, "Mother, eldest sister-in-law, second brother, second sister-in-law, you're all here. If you hadn't come, I'd have eaten all by myself if I'd been starving!"
When these words were spoken, Mrs. Shao's face lit up and she laughed. However, Mrs. Tai's expression remained indifferent, not as warm as she was with Mrs. Shao. She only said, "Let's have dinner. Everyone is hungry."
Mrs. Shao pulled the woman over and introduced her to Minglan, "This is your third brother's wife, Wei'er's daughter-in-law. Her family is the Zhu family of the Marquis of Chengping. She is usually very warm and enthusiastic. If you feel bored in the future, go talk to her. She will definitely be happy to meet you."
When Minglan heard the word "Viagra", she almost choked to death on her saliva. Then she remembered that the thing in ancient times was not called this name. It was probably Gu Tingwei, the third brother of the Gu family, and the biological son of Mrs. Qin.
Minglan smiled and nodded, but suddenly she felt embarrassed. In terms of age, she was several years younger than Zhu, but in terms of seniority, she was the second sister-in-law. Just as she was thinking about how to address her, Zhu came over without any care, bowed with a smile, and said, "Hello, second sister-in-law, please give your greetings."
Minglan blushed and could only say, "My sister-in-law is doing well too." Then she took the purse that had been prepared earlier from Danju and handed it to her. Zhu's expression was natural and easygoing, and she happily accepted the purse: "It's good to be a daughter-in-law of a young son. It would be even better if I had more brothers and sisters-in-law!"
Everyone laughed together, even the lady couldn't help but force a smile.
After the meal was served, everyone took their seats. Seeing that Madam Shao and Madam Zhu were still standing, Minglan also consciously stood aside, intending to serve the dishes. The Madam hurriedly waved her hand and said, "You should sit down and eat too. Don't say that there is no distinction between the young and the young in the first three days of marriage. My family doesn't have such rigid rules. Come, sit down." Then she pointed to Gu Tingye and said, "You can go to the outer room. Your third brother is waiting. It's been a long time since you two brothers have been together. Let's have a good chat now. After breakfast, we can recognize each other again."
Gu Tingye bowed and agreed, walked to Minglan and whispered, "I'll be over first, you... have a good meal." Although his face was expressionless, his concern was evident.
The lady turned around and told the maid something, but she seemed not to have seen anything, with a smile on her lips. Madam Shao smiled at her, with a slight sour envy in her heart. However, Zhu laughed undisguisedly and said, "Second brother, we won't eat your sister-in-law!"
Gu Tingye bowed slightly to the female relatives and walked out with a smile.
Minglan stood with her face flushed and her head lowered, feeling a little helpless - very good, very good, she could basically control her blushing now. When she could control the degree of her blushing freely, she would be considered a master.
Minglan raised her eyelids slightly and glanced at the female relatives. From the current point of view, everything was normal. Her mother-in-law was kind and amiable, her sister-in-law was dignified and virtuous, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law were lively and friendly, and the atmosphere among relatives was very harmonious and warm. If all this was true, then she was very lucky.
However, ever since being flooded by the mudslide, Minglan understood one thing: life is always full of surprises, but she didn't know what surprises the Ningyuan Marquis' Mansion would bring her.
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