Chapter 58 Choosing a Hairpin for My Wife
Perhaps it was the intoxicating aroma of the wine, or perhaps it was because he had kept her up until midnight, but Chi Ying slept until the sun was high in the sky before waking up.
Looking up, I saw the man was still sleeping soundly, probably from being drunk, so I stayed with him in bed for a while longer.
After the two had breakfast, Chi Ying continued to have him draw lots.
Today she deliberately lowered the "once every two days" rule, but it was precisely ignored again. Those wishes that started with "not allowed" were also ruthlessly bypassed by him.
Chi Ying secretly clenched her teeth, sometimes really doubting that he could see.
Her gaze was fixed on him selecting bamboo slips, but she inadvertently caught a glimpse of the faint teeth marks on his fingertips. A sudden panic gripped her; she must have bitten too hard last night, for the teeth marks hadn't faded yet.
She glanced up at his face furtively. Could he possibly know?
Probably not, he's blind, and he was completely drunk last night.
Yan Xue noticed her gaze, and the fingertips she had bitten trembled slightly. She had indeed bitten quite hard, probably mustering up her meager courage.
He, however, thoroughly enjoyed it. The stimulation that went straight to the top of his head was so pleasurable that his scalp tingled. The lingering taste of her lips and teeth still remained on his fingertips, and he wished he could put his fingers in her mouth again and entice her to bite them once more.
But in the end, he held back. Under normal circumstances, such behavior would probably frighten her, but in bed... everything would proceed naturally.
Yan Xue calmly pulled out a bamboo slip.
Chi Ying looked at the long sentence and read it aloud with some embarrassment: "...Can a skill that can impress people at grand palace banquets be learned in a short time?"
Yan Xue urged, "Actually, if you don't want to, you can decline all these palace banquets in the future."
Chi Ying was naturally unwilling to go, but there would inevitably be occasions for family reunions or grand birthday celebrations, and it would be unusual for her to be absent.
"I'll learn it first. Whether I'll need it or not is another matter. I won't embarrass myself unless absolutely necessary."
Yan Xuecui rubbed her fingertips, pondered for a moment, and said, "After breakfast, come with me to the back mountain."
Chi Ying nodded: "Okay!"
She had thought he would teach her to play the piano, or to perform the sword dance that night, but neither turned out to be true. The back mountain was set up as a simple shooting range, and Yan Xuecui handed her a crossbow.
“This is the crossbow that killed the assassin on the night of your return visit,” Yan Xuecui said. “It once frightened you, so why don’t you take control of it and defeat it yourself today?”
Chi Ying took it in surprise, "I thought you would teach me the arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting."
Yan Xuecui: "Didn't you say you didn't like playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting?"
Chi Ying: "But these crossbow bolts..."
She can't possibly perform this at a palace banquet...
Yan Xuecui guessed her thoughts, "There are often competitions in the palace, such as pitch-pot and willow shooting, but none of that matters. As long as you don't want to participate, no one can force you."
"I will teach you self-defense techniques."
Yan Xue lifted her hand, gripped the crossbow handle, aimed at the bullseye a hundred paces away, and breathed warmly into her ear: "This crossbow has been improved. It is lightweight and does not require brute force to use. It has a long range and great power. The quiver can hold ten arrows. In an emergency, it can be used for self-defense. I or the secret guards will arrive before you run out of arrows."
Under his instruction, Chi Ying gently pulled the trigger with her fingertip, and the arrow "whooshed" out like lightning, firmly embedding itself in the bullseye in the distance.
Chi Ying's eyes lit up, and her breathing quickened slightly. "How does my husband manage to hit the bullseye every time?"
Yan Xuecui pursed her lips and said, "If you can't see, your hearing will be more sensitive than that of an ordinary person. Over time, you can use your hearing to locate people and kill them with one blow."
Chi Ying knew she couldn't master his skills, and she might never need the crossbow in her life. However, having a suitable weapon for self-defense and the best master in the world to teach and train with her, she certainly wouldn't miss such an opportunity. After half a day, she was already able to easily hit the target, and occasionally even hit the bullseye.
Yan Xuecui practiced with her for half a day, and at the end praised her, "You've practiced well. You may not have hit the vital points, but you can hurt the enemy and protect yourself. That's enough."
Chi Ying hesitated for a moment: "My husband gave me this bow and crossbow, what will you use from now on?"
Yan Xuecui chuckled and rubbed the back of her head. "I can protect myself, don't worry about me."
Chi Ying had seen him practice swordsmanship and shoot fish with tree branches, and he was always accompanied by bodyguards, so she figured there was no need to worry too much about his safety. She nodded happily and said, "Then I'll gladly accept it."
In the following days, Chi Ying would come to the back mountain every day to practice her crossbow and arrow, while Yan Xuecui continued to draw lots. The two did almost everything that a husband and wife could do.
Sometimes, one can row a boat on the lotus pond, relax comfortably in the dense lotus pond for a half-day, and return to the boat in the evening when the fun is over.
Sometimes I would go down the mountain to eat a bowl of steaming hot scallion and pork wontons in Yanhuo Alley, or go to a nearby Buddhist temple to listen to the ethereal chanting, the golden bells on the eaves, and the midnight bells.
She was also fortunate enough to hear the noble and precious Prince Zhao play the zither for her, and every night he would recite a poem for her in his clear and melodious voice, explaining the profound meaning behind it.
Many times, this thought would float into Chi Ying's mind: how happy she was. She had married a nobleman, handsome beyond compare, exceptionally intelligent, impeccable in every way, and second only to the emperor. Despite his ruthless and decisive nature, he gave her all his tenderness, willingly ferrying her across the river, playing the zither and reciting poetry for her, and teaching her how to protect herself... He was someone she would look up to for a lifetime. In the past, she wouldn't have dared to even dream of such a thing.
Time passed little by little. From the beginning to the end of the month, she felt as if she had spent the most relaxed, sweetest, and most dreamlike month of her life.
At the end of the month, Yan Xuecui finally drew the bamboo slips that said "once every two days" and "let her rest for two days". Immediately afterward, Chi Ying's period arrived. She didn't know what kind of luck he had or if he had a third eye, but he actually got to enjoy it until the very end.
During her period, Chi Ying couldn't soak in hot springs, walk on mountain paths, or wade in ponds. She just lazily stayed in bed, with Yan Xuecui keeping her company.
Chi Ying knew that once her period was over, they would have to go back.
She felt a deep reluctance to part with this hard-won time, wondering what changes awaited her after returning to Beijing. Perhaps they would continue to be loving, or perhaps life would be unpredictable and things wouldn't go as planned.
Yan Xue hugged her from behind, her warm palms gently massaging her aching lower abdomen.
Chi Ying's eyes stung, and although she tried to hold back, he still noticed something was wrong.
Yan Xuecui gently stroked her cheek, "What's wrong?"
Chi Ying smiled slightly, "It's nothing, it's just that every time I have my period, my emotions fluctuate easily, and I feel inexplicably sad."
Yan Xuecui pondered for a moment, "Then how can I stop being sad?"
Chi Ying shook her head, her voice trembling slightly: "I don't know."
She truly didn't know how she could have agreed to marry in place of another, especially since the person she married was completely different from what she had imagined. Yet, they actually fell in love and had these tender and affectionate six months together.
Good dreams are always the easiest to wake from, and colorful clouds are easily scattered while glass is fragile.
She had a vague premonition that no matter what happened in the future, she would never be this happy again in her life.
Yan Xue kissed her ear and said, "I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back."
Chi Ying nodded, closed her eyes and slept for a while on the bed. When she woke up again, she heard footsteps outside.
Yan Xuecui returned from outside, followed by the footsteps of several people, along with a rich aroma of bone broth and the sweet fragrance of pastries.
Chi Ying got up to look, and the table was already full of food. "Did you go down the mountain to buy this?"
Yan Xuecui hummed in agreement and walked up to her. "I went for a walk down the mountain and brought you some food."
Chi Ying had been suffering from menstrual cramps and had a poor appetite, barely eating any of her three regular meals. Now, smelling the aroma of food, she felt quite hungry.
After lying in bed for half a day, the discomfort in her lower abdomen had eased considerably. She got up and saw a table full of snacks, and couldn't help but stare in astonishment: "You bought so much?"
Yan Xuecui lifted the lid of the ceramic bowl for her, revealing a bowl of steaming wontons inside. "I know you don't have a good appetite, so I bought a little bit of everything."
Then they opened several more porcelain cups and oil paper packages, which contained crispy pork, fried fish, soup dumplings, pine nut candy, peach fermented rice, and a bowl of brown sugar glutinous rice balls.
Chi Ying took a sip of the wonton soup with bright green scallions floating on top, and her body quickly warmed up. Eating it with crispy pork was truly a delightful experience, and the inexplicable sense of loss in her heart seemed to be slowly filled.
Two days before leaving, Yan Xuecui drew the last fortune stick, which was to take her to town to pick out the most beautiful hairpin.
With Chi Yingyue's affair over, the two tidied up and leisurely descended the mountain.
I've already visited the villages to the west twice, and even had wontons there before. Today, I'm going to a small town to the east.
Before even entering the town, Chi Ying looked out at the houses through the carriage curtain and felt a vague sense of familiarity.
The further you go into populated areas, the more you feel like you've been here before, but you can't quite remember. Perhaps all the towns and villages around Beijing are pretty much the same.
The carriage stopped at the market, and right in front of it was the town's largest jewelry shop.
Chi Ying put on her veil and, together with Yan Xue, dismounted from the carriage.
The shops in the town are not as well-made, stylish, or exquisite as those in the capital. They only have some simple and unpretentious designs, but they are the most precious gifts that ordinary husbands can buy for their wives by working hard to save money.
Chi Ying once had a vivid memory of a scene where a simply dressed girl on the street had a newly bought pure silver hairpin inserted into her hair by her husband, and her eyes and brows were full of undisguised joy.
That smile lingered in her mind for a long time. One day, she suddenly remembered it and wrote down this wish on a bamboo slip.
However, she was quite surprised. From the time they drew lots until they arrived in the town, he had never said anything like, "There are so many jewels in the capital, why bother choosing them in a small town?"
He respected her preferences from the bottom of his heart. Just like before, he would not feel any condescending dissatisfaction because she disliked playing musical instruments, chess, calligraphy and painting but loved cooking instead.
The two got out of the car and entered the store. Although they were dressed casually, Yan Xuecui's appearance and demeanor alone showed that she came from a wealthy family.
The shopkeeper, seeing such a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman for the first time, hurriedly welcomed them in and instructed his assistant to carefully wipe the counter. With a face full of eagerness, he asked, "Young master, are you choosing jewelry for your wife?"
Yan Xuecui did not wear a blindfold or hold a bamboo cane. Although his eyes were somewhat vacant, his noble and elegant imperial demeanor still made people dare not look directly at him, let alone scrutinize his eyes closely.
Yan Xuecui smiled and said, "It's to pick out hairpins for my wife."
The shopkeeper immediately brought out the most exquisite and valuable hairpins in the shop for the two of them to choose from.
Yan Xuecui could only distinguish between gold and silver, and could make out the general outline, whether it was a flower or a butterfly, but she couldn't make out the specific design.
Chi Ying immediately took a liking to one of the hairpins, but before speaking, she said to him, "Husband, please choose one for me."
Yan Xue's long fingers lightly swept across the five hairpins on the velvet surface of the tray, finally stopping at a warm, smooth, and exquisitely carved silver hairpin inlaid with jade and begonia flowers. "This one?"
Chi Ying smiled and said, "How did you know I like this, my husband?"
Yan Xuecui: "You like crabapple blossoms, and they look similar to mine."
I also heard her hold her breath almost imperceptibly when his fingers touched the begonia hairpin, so she must like it.
Of course, according to his aesthetic sense, this hairpin can indeed be described as beautiful.
Although it lacks elaborate carvings and precious gemstone inlays, it is simply carved from green jade into begonia petals, which are then attached to pure silver begonia leaves. Two small jade beads hang from the bottom, giving it a natural and unadorned charm.
Yan Xuecui: "I'll put it on for you."
Chi Ying removed the curtain, revealing her fair and beautiful face. The customers in the shop who had been watching the young couple from afar also secretly cast their gazes over, all sighing in admiration at the woman's snow-white hair and flawless jade-like face, truly a beauty beyond compare.
A woman stared at her intently for a few more seconds, then stepped forward and asked, "Miss, are you... Xiao Ying?"
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