奉天殿檐角的铜钟撞响巳时三刻，鎏金铜鹤香炉里腾起的龙涎香雾，与殿外百姓身上蒸腾的汗味绞成一股浊浪，隔着三层红纱盖头扑在沈微婉面上。她指尖在袖中蹭过铜镜冰凉的弧面，盖头下的嘴角勾出狡黠弧度——三日前她对照钦天监星象图算过，此刻的阳光正如金箭般穿过东侧菱花窗，恰好能让缝在盖头右角的抛光铜镜反射出刺目强光。
"小姐，左前方第三排！"春桃的指尖掐进她嫁衣内衬，声音抖得像秋风中的落叶，"戴珍珠抹额那个，林婉柔的指甲都快把帕子抠穿了！昨儿她还在御花园扬言说要掀您盖头呢！"
沈微婉微微侧身，绣着九九八十一朵金线凤凰的盖头边缘轻颤，藏在里面的半面铜镜精准对准林婉柔。那姑娘正踮着脚尖往前凑，珍珠抹额下的眼睛瞪得溜圆，活像盯着猎物的母豹。
"The auspicious time has arrived—" the ceremonial officer's drawn-out voice struck the golden pillars with coiled dragons, the echo humming like a bee. "The newlyweds—worship!"
As Shen Weiwan bent her knees, her right shoulder suddenly sank, and her red veil was violently yanked up! She had anticipated this, using the momentum to pivot to the left. The bronze mirror hidden within her veil swung toward the light like a sword unsheathed. The midday sun refracted through the mirror, and a pale arc of light swept across Lin Wanrou's face, more dazzling than the flash of an executioner's knife!
"Ah!" Lin Wanrou screamed, covering her eyes. Her pearl headband slid to the back of her head, and her nine-bead hairpin tinkled and clanged as it tumbled to the floor. Natural tears oozed between her fingers, and her cheeks, covered in three layers of rouge, were streaked with red and white, like a spilled rouge palette. "Chen Weiwan! How dare you use sorcery to plot against me..."
"Oh my!" Shen Weiwan took the opportunity to take a half step forward, her voice suddenly rising, "Look, ladies and gentlemen! Why are the groom's ears as red as boiled shrimps?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Xiao Yu, already frozen by the sudden lifting of his veil, and now exposed in public, a blush instantly spread from the tips of his ears to his earlobes, down his neck, and to the roots of his hair beneath the jade crown. He instinctively unfolded his folding fan to shield his face, but his bony fingers trembled so much that ripples appeared on the surface of the Xiang Fei bamboo fan, drawing laughter from the entire hall.
"Hahaha! The Seventh Prince is shy!"
"The bride has excellent eyesight! She can even see under the veil!"
The emperor on the dragon throne laughed so hard he fell forward and backward, his jade ruyi nearly slipping off, his white beard trembling like a reed in the autumn wind. "What a Seventh Concubine! This trick of 'reflecting the veil' is brilliant! It's ten times more interesting than the trick I used when I married the empress!"
Lin Wanrou rubbed her stinging eyes and climbed up, her hair disheveled like a bird's nest, pointing at Shen Weiwan with trembling fingers: "You...you are using evil magic!"
"Miss Lin, what you said really embarrasses me." Shen Weiwan tilted her head and pretended to be innocent. The bronze mirror in the veil shook quietly again, scaring Lin Wanrou so much that she took a half step back reflexively. "But according to the rules, lifting the veil is the groom's job. Why bother Miss Lin to do it herself?"
Xiao Yu took the opportunity to step forward. Just as his fingertips touched the edge of the veil, he heard a low voice from beneath the red veil: "Your Highness, the cinnabar mole behind your ear has been exposed by the sunlight. Don't let the people mistake it for rouge when you leave the hall later."
"Nosy." Xiao Yu's voice was muffled behind his folding fan, but the tips of his ears were red, practically dripping blood. He took a deep breath, hooked his fingertips around the veil's ties, and as the pearl tassels slid down like a galaxy waterfall, Shen Weiwan blinked at him quickly and thrust a sugar-coated plum into her palm. The sweet and sour aroma, mixed with the fragrance of jasmine, filled his face.
By the time they finished their ceremony and moved to the bridal chamber, Suzaku Street was packed. Chuntao held up a mother-of-pearl mirror to shield Shen Weiwan from the light. The mirror was still stained with the chili powder she had ground this morning. "Miss, when Lin Wanrou was escorted out by two maids just now, she was crying! She said she was going home to complain to her father!"
Chen Weiwan shook the Nine Phoenix Chaoyang Crown, and the pearl pendant in the golden phoenix's mouth jingled. "Go ahead and sue me. It's a good opportunity for His Majesty to see that even lifting her veil can make her eyes cross. Oh, and scatter the 'wedding candy'."
Chuntao opened the red lacquer wedding candy box, and what rolled out were not red dates and peanuts, but spicy peanuts printed with a crooked pig pattern. The people laughed and scrambled for them, and the spicy smell mixed with the sweet aroma exploded:
"Ouch! Why is the Seventh Prince's Consort's wedding candy spicy? It's making me cough!"
"Didn't you see the pig printed on the candy wrapper? This must be the princess's 'exclusive scam'!"
"Hahaha! After eating these peanuts, I'll have to take a detour when I see the princess next time, otherwise I'll be blinded next time!"
Xiao Yu, who was riding on his white-hoofed black horse, heard the laughter and tapped the sedan chair pole with his folding fan: "Weiwan, you even put Western Region Seven-Star Peppercorn in your wedding candy?"
"That's it!" Chen Weiwan lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and threw a peanut. The fiery red sugar coating gleamed dangerously in the sunlight. "This is called 'wife-protecting peanuts.' Eating it can enhance your ability to deceive others! Later, I'll give my father two pounds of it and say it's a filial act of a daughter-in-law."
Xiao Yu caught the peanuts, feeling both amused and embarrassed. As he peeled them, the spicy aroma rushed into his nose, but he deliberately smacked his lips: "Hmm, quite strong. I'll put a purse in it and give it to my father at the court tomorrow morning so that he can also taste this 'surprise'."
On the wedding night, the candles burned brightly. As Shen Weiwan took off her phoenix crown, Xiao Yu came in, holding a brocade box inlaid with oriental pearls. The double fish pendant on the jade belt buckle shone warmly in the candlelight. "Weiwan, I'll give you a weapon for self-defense."
The brocade box opened, revealing an intricately carved bronze mirror with a diamond pattern. Its surface was three times brighter than an ordinary mirror. A crooked piglet was inlaid with silver thread along its edge, its tail curved into the shape of a chili pepper. "I had the Imperial Household Supervisor polish it for three days and three nights. They say it can even reveal a fly ten miles away." Xiao Yu traced his fingertips over the pig's tail. "Next time anyone tries to lift the veil, just shake them with this." He suddenly leaned in close, his warm breath brushing against her ear. "But this won't happen again—during the ceremony today, my ears were reddened by the officials' stares, and they're still burning."
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