Chapter 239: Ceremony
Bai Jingyu thought more deeply and understood the old lady's thoughts: as the elder of the Hou Mansion, she couldn't interfere with Xu Junying's marriage. She had to at least catch the sixth son Xu Junxuan, and she had to make it a success, otherwise she couldn't regain her dignity and face. She was competing with the head of the Hou family. Looking back at what the old lady did after Meimei returned to the Hou Mansion, how many of them were not directed at the eldest grandson's wife? She wanted to tell Meimei and other children and grandchildren that the status of the elder of the Hou Mansion was not in name only, and they should not look down on her. Unless she voluntarily turned a blind eye, she still had the final say in this family!
The reason why she insisted on having the sixth son marry the daughter of the Luo family was simply to gain an easier control. Since the daughter of the Luo family came to her, she would naturally rely on her for support. After marrying the sixth son, he would be completely on her side. She was not blind to the fact that the sixth son was close to Meimei before, and that the eldest master of the Qin family won the top spot in the imperial examination thanks to the sixth son. By winning the sixth son over to her grandmother's side, she would have one more supporter and her words would carry more weight. The fourth son was taciturn and soft-hearted, with not much future, and his wife was even more timid, so she was not a concern.
Thinking of this, Bai Jingyu couldn't help but shake his head: It seems that it is not easy to get rid of the Luo sisters together. Even if the sixth brother is determined not to marry them and makes the old lady crazy, it is not impossible to give them to Xu Junlang and Xu Junya as concubines!
When Bai Jingyu thought of how Luo Xiangying had made Xu Junlang lower his head with just her eyes in front of him, he couldn't help but get angry. No! He had to get rid of her!
Bai Jingyu approached the old lady and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Grandma, you have to think carefully. Killing these people will only silence a few people and hurt the girls' hearts. It's hard to say when the girls will recover.
And no one saw it at Xianglan Pavilion? What does the eldest brother-in-law think? You might as well ask your aunt! If there is such a thing that is immoral, it should be the work of the bold little cousin, and has nothing to do with the sensible and well-behaved eldest cousin. It is better to keep the peace and let the women shut up. At the same time, it can also preserve the reputation of the eldest cousin and the girls. Sixth brother, you can still discuss marriage with the eldest cousin!"
The old lady slowly turned around and looked at Bai Jingyu, but Bai Jingyu didn't know that the old lady was just angry with her age. Her eyes were full of coldness, which frightened her a little:
"What do you want to do?"
Bai Jingyu said, "First, cousin Xiangying had an affair with the sixth brother, and then she caused this trouble with the eldest brother-in-law. No matter what the reason was, it was seen by others and gave them an excuse. The girls saw her fall in love with brother-in-law Li. If she is promised to someone else in the future, what can we use to teach the girls? Is it okay to let them think about changing their minds?"
Mother Ji moved her sleeves nervously, and the old lady glared at her: "How dare you! How dare you say such a thing?"
Bai Jingyu bowed and apologized: "My granddaughter-in-law deserves to be beaten! My granddaughter-in-law was just talking about the matter!"
"According to you, you want to give Xiangying to Li Zhao?"
"My granddaughter-in-law thinks that this is the only way to cover up the matter... There is no wall that is impenetrable. If this is the case, the old lady will definitely not let Sister Xiangying be the co-wife of the sixth son. Even if the sixth son takes Cousin Xiangying as a concubine, I'm afraid he will be angry when he hears about this in the future!"
The old lady's eyes darkened for a moment, and she sighed, "The eldest girl's family lives in Yuehua Courtyard. It's not good to serve her alone when serving meals. Why not ask the son-in-law to come along? He will always run into the girls if he often goes into the garden... We have given him many maids, why let him wander around alone? This son-in-law is troublesome, and the eldest girl is not smart! If I had known this would happen, I would have let her live in Jingyuan, or she would have lived in the outer house!"
Mother Ji asked carefully, "What should we do now? Just now, the Third Master and his men came to the gate of the courtyard. I asked Ruiyu to stop them. They said the old lady was taking a nap. They should go for a walk in the garden over there and come to eat soon. The Second Master and his wife will be here soon..."
The old lady waved her hand impatiently: "Let them go back, and tell them that I want to have something light tonight and won't leave any food for them!"
Mother Ji went downstairs and asked Ruiyu and the others to pass on the message. The old lady looked at Bai Jingyu and said, "Call the maid and your cousin aunt from the Luo family to come. The two of them will sign the documents and prepare the gifts and other things for them... You will take care of this matter for them. Tonight, tie a few feet of red silk to the wedding ceremony and make her a concubine of the Li family. From tomorrow on, seal the corner gate of Yuehua Courtyard. The son-in-law does not need to enter the garden unless it is something important. If the maid wants to come in, let her go through the Pingxiang and go in through the side door!"
Bai Jingyu lowered his head: "Isn't it a bad idea for the granddaughter-in-law to do this? We have the grandmother. After all, this is the Hou Mansion..."
The old lady frowned: "Just do what I tell you to do! Even if I can't hide this from her, I'll let her know later, so that she won't laugh at me secretly - it really makes me so angry!"
Meimei once arranged for Xu Xiaojuan's family to live in Jingyuan, but she stopped them and insisted on living in a better place. When the Luo sisters came, Meimei suggested that they live in another courtyard of the garden. However, she listened to Xu Xiaojuan, that brainless girl, and made the sisters live in Xianglanxie next door. Now that something happened, wasn't she slapping herself in the face and letting herself be laughed at?
The old lady just felt dizzy and stretched out her hand to Ji's mother: "Give me a dizziness pill. I can lie down only after the eldest girl and Luo Zhuang come over and say that everything is settled."
Then he said to Bai Jingyu, "You go and do it! There should be many things in the small storeroom of Jinhua Hall, such as silk, wedding candles and incense, which can be used for such a small matter. Mother Ji will give the key to Second Madam, and she will take people to choose!"
Xu Xiaojuan and Luo Zhuang were called to Jinhua Hall, thinking they were going to have dinner. Xu Xiaojuan asked two wet nurses and maids to bring Li Jiao and Li Xu together, but she saw the old lady with a gloomy face. She pointed at her and cursed her, and then rebuked Luo Zhuang coldly. Luo Zhuang's face turned red, and she knelt down and kowtowed with tears. When Xu Xiaojuan found out what happened, she was stunned on the spot. She couldn't accept it no matter what. She just scolded her husband a few words in Qiuhua Courtyard, and he left angrily. She didn't catch up in time, and didn't take it seriously. She just drank tea and complained in Qiuhua Courtyard. In less than two hours, she got a good concubine?
Then Bai Jingyu said to her, "Congratulations, Aunt! The old lady personally appointed a concubine for the eldest brother-in-law, and she is also a relative of ours. This is a great thing that you can't find even with a lantern!"
Xu Xiaojuan burst into tears: "Why did my husband want to take a concubine? He was walking in the garden without seeing any maids, but he just came to her doorstep and got involved with her? It must be that her daughter was shameless and threw herself into his arms! Grandfather, you have to make the decision for your granddaughter. She doesn't want a concubine!"
The old lady stared at her with a cold gaze, "I'm not dead yet, if you dare to howl again! This matter concerns the reputation of several girls in the garden. In a month, the Guan family will come to marry the second girl. You are the eldest sister after all, you should think about your younger sisters! Li Zhao will take Luo Xiangying as his concubine tonight, without further ado, you go back and get it done immediately!"
Luo Zhuang bowed to the old lady, turned around and left. Xu Xiaojuan cried and refused to obey, shouting, "I'm going to find my sister-in-law and let her judge this matter!"
The old lady asked two maids to grab her, pointed at Mother Ji and said, "Slap her face for me!"
Mother Ji couldn't bring herself to do it. The old lady said, "Do you want me, an old man, to do it myself?"
Mother Ji slapped Xu Xiaojuan on the face twice, and the old lady said to her coldly: "Without me, would you be where you are today? Go find her, go ahead, she will not only laugh at you, but will also kick you out of this house. Do you believe it? If you don't listen to your grandmother, you will be forced to starve and live in poverty when you leave the house!"
In Xianglan Pavilion, Luo Xiangying was even more crazy. She pushed away the old women and maids who wanted to come close to help her with dressing and dressing. Luo Zhuangshi became anxious and went forward to hold her down. She was bitten by her. Luo Zhuangshi was in pain and angry, so she pushed her out suddenly. Luo Xiangying fell and hit her head on the edge of the couch, and she was actually unconscious.
Luo Zhuang thought she was dead, so she went forward and hugged her in her arms, crying loudly. Luo Zhaoying sniffed her breath and shook her, saying, "Mother, my sister just fainted. If we don't take action now, she will wake up like a little tiger. Who can catch her?"
This sentence reminded Luo Zhuangshi, who quickly called the maids to help her daughter wipe her body and change her clothes. Luo Zhaoying personally recombed her sister's hair and put on the jewelry that Bai Jingyu had sent, including pearl hairpins, gold hairpins, jade hairpins, which were similar to those worn by her cousin Xu Xiaojuan on weekdays. She just regarded it as the headwear prepared by the Li family for the new concubine. Luo Zhaoying stroked her sister's pink cheeks, thought for a while, got up and walked away, and came back after a while with a small glass of wine in her hand. She asked the maid Ling'er to help her pour the wine slowly into Luo Xiangying's mouth, sighed, and said:
"This way, even if she wakes up, she won't have the energy to hurt herself!"
Bai Jingyu had no intention of taking on such a task. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she could only do her best. Of course, she didn't need to run around. She just stayed in Yuehua Courtyard and directed the maids to decorate the wedding hall. The wing on the right side of the upper house was used as the bridal chamber. Xu Xiaojuan was helped back by the maids and kept crying. The two children were hungry and tired, and they also kept crying. Bai Jingyu looked at the mother and children in annoyance, and told the nurse to take the children down, and told them to go to the kitchen to get food for them immediately. The maid poured hot water for Xu Xiaojuan to wash her face. Xu Xiaojuan couldn't find Li Zhao anywhere, and Bai Jingyu said:
"The groom is getting dressed and will be out soon!"
Xu Xiaojuan cursed, "What kind of groom is that? He is my husband! If he dares to spend the wedding night with that little witch tonight, I will have the guards in the mansion kill them!"
Bai Jingyu glanced at her and said, "It's up to you, but remember what the old lady said: If you dare to cause any trouble before the sixth son marries Miss Luo, you will be kicked out of the mansion. This time, the one who is kicking you out is the mansion's most senior elder, your grandmother! You may not know how powerful your eldest sister-in-law is. With the eldest brother's pampering, she doesn't dare to provoke your grandmother easily. Just try it!"
Li Zhao was bathing and getting dressed in another room. He couldn't believe it, but he had no choice. He was walking and thinking about something when his cousin bumped into him. She actually became his roommate. He didn't know whether to call this a joke or a good story. He could definitely call it a romantic encounter. But he felt a little uncomfortable. Wasn't this forcing people? He had to ask before marrying a wife or a concubine. But the second cousin's wife said: Cousin Luo is versatile, beautiful, and a relative of ours. The old lady wanted to find a good support for her. She saw the eldest brother-in-law and gave him to you. The elders' gift should not be violated. Brother-in-law, don't forget to say thank you tomorrow. Others can't even think of such a good thing!
In that case, what if he accepted it? Cousin Luo was indeed beautiful and passionate. If she looked at him like that, he would either lose his mind or have wild thoughts. Moreover, there was a secret between him and his cousin, the jade ring... In any case, he would take her into his room first. It was a gift from the elders. From now on, he would have a legitimate concubine. What could Xu Xiaojuan do?
Xu Xiaojuan really couldn't do anything. Bai Jingyu intended to suppress the old lady and ordered her to go back to the upper room, close the door and sleep after the ceremony. No matter how aggrieved she was, she was not allowed to do anything. There was a lot of time in the future, so she could do whatever she wanted to do after tonight. He left a few maids to watch over her and went back to the West Mansion.
The bridal chamber was filled with springtime. Luo Xiangying woke up from a coma with a red veil on her head. She wanted to struggle but had no strength. She was pushed into a sedan chair in a daze and carried to Yuehua Courtyard. After the ceremony, she was sent to the bridal chamber. Li Zhao lifted the veil and saw the bride's pretty face, as if covered with red clouds, extremely beautiful. Her pair of peach blossom eyes looked at him affectionately and angrily. Her red lips were half-open, as if she wanted to say something but stopped. Li Zhao sat down next to her and called softly, "Cousin, Xiangying!"
Luo Xiangying immediately fell into his arms. Li Zhao's whole body went limp. He quickly waved his hand to let the maids go back. He hugged the newlywed and kissed her. But the newlywed seemed to be more anxious than him. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and gasped... Li Zhao couldn't help himself. Under the light of red candles in the room, he undressed and had sex with the newlywed.
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