68. Chapter 68 Wedding Date
Mu Xi touched his chin and tutted, "If you try to fool Mu Wen with this, she might believe it."
Hearing this, Xiaoxiao's face turned even redder.
The girl's skin was so white and tender that you could squeeze water out of it. Mu Xi couldn't help but reach out and pinch it. "Your cheeks are so soft, is this even softer?"
Mu Xi said, reaching out and pinching her, his eyes full of teasing, "Did my cousin touch here?"
Xiaoxiao's cheeks flushed deeply, and she quickly put her hands over her chest. She had never expected that someone would even dare to ask such a question. She felt embarrassed and annoyed, and couldn't help but whisper, "Brother Pei would never do such a thing."
Mu Xi smiled and withdrew his hand, saying, "Okay, okay, don't be angry. I underestimated my cousin's patience. Who knew he could endure so much? Tsk tsk tsk, I didn't expect him to be so good at pretending."
After seeing Xiaoxiao's unhappy expression, she covered her mouth and said with a smile, "I was wrong, I was wrong. It's not that he can pretend, it's that he has great self-control! With such a beautiful woman by my side, I definitely wouldn't have such self-control. I didn't expect my cousin to be such a Liu Xiahui."
Xiaoxiao snorted and turned her head away. She always felt that her words were strange and did not sound like she was praising Brother Pei at all.
Mu Xi couldn't help but laugh and shook his head, reaching out to pinch her little face, "You haven't even gotten married yet, and you're already siding with your cousin?"
Xiaoxiao blushed a little at what she said, "Who's on his side? If you're right, I'll side with you too. You shouldn't have doubted his character in the first place."
She spoke so righteously that she had long forgotten that just two days after she expressed her feelings, he not only bit her but also kissed her. If they stayed in the capital, he might not be able to resist touching her.
In her heart, no matter how bad he was, Xiaoxiao would be unhappy if Mu Xi said anything about him. This protective look made Mu Xi laugh.
"Yeah, yeah, it's my fault. I shouldn't have doubted my cousin. He's the greatest gentleman in the world! Is this finally okay now?"
Xiaoxiao glared at her and couldn't help but laugh.
Mu Xi sat here for a while before returning home. As soon as he returned, he was called over by Zhong. After learning that Xiaoxiao was also interested in Pei Xiuhan, Zhong was completely relieved.
This arranged marriage caused quite a stir in the capital, and people were discussing it for several days.
The people of the capital also liked to get together after dinner to talk about this happy event. Unlike the ministers' concerns, they liked to talk about another version of the story. The storytellers in the teahouse compiled their emotional entanglements into vernacular books.
It is similar to the fact that Xiaoxiao saved the Regent's life. The Regent brought her back to his mansion to repay him, but unexpectedly the little girl grew up to be a stunning beauty. The two fell in love with each other over time, and the love between them was so great that they became a beautiful story.
Of course, there is also a melodramatic version. It goes like this: the emperor and Xiaoxiao were originally in love with each other, but the regent fell in love with her over time and couldn't help but steal her away. The emperor was afraid of the regent's power, so he had to reluctantly grant the marriage.
Pei Jing was quite interested in these folk stories, so he asked the eunuch to collect several versions. He also maliciously asked someone to send the version of the story that he and Xiaoxiao liked to Pei Xiuhan to Guzhou.
When Pei Xiuhan received the storybook, his face turned black. He shattered the storybook with a palm, and the pieces of paper fell to the ground.
He recalled the scene when Xiaoxiao pointed at Pei Jing. To be precise, he had coerced and bribed this little girl to come here. Seeing that everyone knew about this, Pei Xiuhan felt a little embarrassed.
He couldn't help but order the secret guards around him, "Let someone check, how did they know about this?"
He had never read the storybooks, so naturally he didn't know that the storybooks were all made up by everyone. He didn't think Pei Jing was a good match for her, nor did he think Pei Jing could bring her happiness. Even so, he still felt a little unhappy when he saw others saying that he had stolen her love. If he didn't want to commit murder, he would have given the order long ago.
Xiao Chen was distraught for a long time because of Xiaoxiao's arranged marriage. Ever since he learned that Xiaoxiao had a lover, he had imagined this day, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.
Xiao's father was worried about him and was extremely grateful that he and Xiaoxiao did not have any deep entanglement. If he offended the Regent, Xiao Chen's bright future might be ruined.
Ten days passed before Zhang Li returned home. He had already known about the emperor's arranged marriage. It was naturally a great joy to have the emperor arrange the marriage. Others would have been overjoyed, but Zhang Li was a little worried, fearing that Xiaoxiao would be wronged in the future.
The Regent is of noble status, unlike ordinary people, he only marries one person, and may marry a concubine in the future. Even if he really likes Xiaoxiao now, how long can this relationship last?
As time goes by, there is no guarantee that he will not fall in love with someone else. If there is a new person in the harem, how will Xiaoxiao deal with it?
The imperial decree had already been issued, and even if Zhang Li wanted to stop it, he was powerless. After receiving Pei Xiuhan's letter, he wrote to Xiaoxiao, and now he knew Xiaoxiao's feelings for Pei Xiuhan. Seeing the little girl so happy, he stopped worrying.
When Xiaoxiao learned that he had returned, she was very happy and immediately prepared a table full of food, every dish was Zhang Li's favorite.
Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, the weather had turned colder and the leaves had gradually turned yellow. It seemed that winter had arrived overnight, and Mu Xi also had her coming-of-age ceremony.
She had been without a mother since childhood, and her father had never remarried. Her coming-of-age ceremony was organized by Zhong. Xiaoxiao also came to the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion that day. Many people came to the mansion, and it was very lively for a while.
Xiaoxiao felt a little lost for no reason. She should be coming of age soon, but unfortunately she didn't even know her real birthday.
After attending Mu Xi's coming-of-age ceremony, Xiaoxiao went to see Mu Wen again. Mu Wen's wedding day was getting closer and closer, and she had not been out recently. This is always the case for women waiting to get married. Firstly, it is not convenient for them to show up in public, and secondly, they need to learn a lot of things.
Now Mu Wen is learning accounting from Zhong, and she also embroidered the wedding dress herself. Fortunately, she can always sit still, so she didn't find it too boring. When she saw Xiaoxiao, she smiled and took Xiaoxiao's hand and pulled her to the warm couch.
There is a floor heater in the room, so it is very warm.
On the couch was her wedding dress. She was quite good at needlework and the dress was almost finished. She could try it on after it was embellished with pearls. Xiaoxiao couldn't help but be attracted by the wedding dress on the couch.
The wedding dress was bright red, with a double-breasted sleeved shirt embroidered with dragons and phoenixes on the bodice, and an ankle-length skirt embroidered with intricate patterns. It looked incredibly exquisite. Xiaoxiao couldn't help but pick it up and examine it carefully, praising it, "Sister Wen's needlework is truly excellent."
Mu Xi also followed and, upon hearing this, he tutted his words, "She's only good at needlework."
Mu Wen rolled her eyes at Mu Xi, but didn't say anything back because she was coming of age today.
She smiled at Xiaoxiao and said, "Are you going to start embroidering your wedding dress too?"
Although Pei Xiuhan has not returned to Beijing yet, all matters have not been neglected. The procedures such as offering the betrothal gifts and asking for the name have been completed according to the regulations. Some time ago, the betrothal gift was officially given.
This time the betrothal ceremony was particularly ostentatious. The betrothal gifts filled more than a hundred horse-drawn carriages. He also sent Shi Yu to catch ten pairs of wild geese. In this season, the wild geese basically migrated south. It was unknown where Shi Yu found them from. The pairs were trained. They flew all the way to Xiaoxiao's residence along the betrothal carriages, changing into dozens of formations during the flight, which gave the pedestrians on the street a feast for the eyes.
It was not until they saw this scene that they realized how much the Regent valued her. When Zheng Danyun learned about this, she was so angry that she even smashed a vase.
Her marriage had been decided, but the wedding was delayed. She never expected that the position of Regent Princess would eventually fall into the hands of Zhang Xiaoxiao. After learning that the Regent had put in a lot of effort and had people catch so many wild geese, Zheng Danyun could not suppress the jealousy in her heart.
She controlled herself tightly and didn't rush to Zhang Xiaoxiao and scratch her face. She just felt that it was Xiaoxiao who seduced him, otherwise, how could he be moved?
Xiaoxiao didn't know that the betrothal proposal had caused a sensation in the entire capital, and also aroused Zheng Danyun's jealousy.
Hearing Mu Wen's question, her cheeks began to heat up. "The wedding date hasn't been set yet. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory calculated three dates, and the closest one will take six months. It won't be too late for me to embroider it after the New Year."
It usually takes more than a month to embroider a wedding dress. Mu Wen didn't rush her, but Mu Xi touched her chin and said with a smile, "In my opinion, you should embroider it as soon as possible. Aren't you afraid that your cousin won't be able to wait and will marry you after returning to Beijing?"
Xiaoxiao's face couldn't help but get hot.
The Imperial Astronomical Observatory only calculated the wedding date yesterday, and it would take at least two days for it to reach Guzhou. Brother Pei wouldn't be back for another month, so even if he couldn't wait, he couldn't possibly marry her the moment he got back, right? It would just be Chinese New Year.
Xiaoxiao always felt that he wouldn't do this. He couldn't ignore the auspicious time, right? However, for some reason, her heart was beating fast. After returning to the mansion, she was still a little uneasy.
This uneasiness lasted for five or six days, and she received another letter from Pei Xiuhan. Not only did she receive it, but the Imperial Observatory also received it.
The disaster situation in Guzhou has been basically stabilized now, and the group of people who robbed the government silver have been arrested. It will take some time for Pei Xiuhan to return.
As expected, in his letter, he asked the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to recalculate the auspicious time. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory also made excuses and actually added another auspicious time. They also told Xiaoxiao that they had originally calculated four auspicious times, but they crossed out this one because the date was too close and they were afraid of being too hasty.
As a result, the wedding date was set directly on the tenth day of the first lunar month. At most, there was only one month left.
Xiaoxiao panicked for a moment, and hurriedly bought some cloth and began to embroider her wedding dress. However, she didn't know that there were actually five auspicious times next year, and Pei Jing, with the malicious intention of "good things take time", crossed out two that were close to each other.
She didn't even know that her beloved brother Pei was annoyed with Pei Jing because of this. He had many people in the palace and Pei Jing's every move was under his control. Seeing that Pei Jing had crossed out the last two dates, he even thought that Pei Jing was still having evil intentions and still had improper thoughts about Xiaoxiao. If he was not far away in Guzhou, he would have wanted to give him a good beating.
When Xiaoxiao started embroidering her wedding dress, Muxi came again. She had come purely to enjoy the show. Seeing that Xiaoxiao was indeed a little anxious, she couldn't help but smile, "I guessed that cousin wouldn't be able to wait. I asked you to embroider it a few days ago, but you didn't listen. Now you know you're anxious?"
Xiaoxiao's face flushed. Her skin was as white as jade, and when it blushed, it looked even prettier than with rouge. Mu Xi admired her for a moment, then said with a smile, "Cousin, you're really not considerate. Don't you know that wedding gowns are hard to embroider? Are you in such a hurry to get married?"
The more she talked, the hotter Xiaoxiao's cheeks became. She couldn't help but glare at her, "Stop talking now."
Mu Xi's eyes were full of smiles.
Xiaoxiao didn't know that at this time, the people Zhao Jin sent to Zhangjia Village had already returned to the capital. The fact that Xiaoxiao was picked up was no secret in Zhangjia Village, and it was easily discovered by asking around.
Zhao Jin looked extremely excited. He originally wanted to tell his mother first, but after thinking about it, he decided to go to the Duke of Anguo's Mansion first and confirm the matter with his fifth uncle.
At this moment, Mo Chuan was polishing a dagger in the small bamboo house. The man was wearing a black brocade robe embroidered with cloud patterns. He was tall and his aura was very impressive even when sitting in a wheelchair. The expression on his face was also very cold.
When he heard Zhao Jin's voice, he paused while wiping the dagger. Although he hated Duke Anguo and the old lady, he did not hate his only sister. After all, when his eldest brother got into trouble, his sister was already married, and she didn't know much about the affairs of the mansion.
He didn't have a deep impression of this nephew, after all, they hadn't met each other very often. His expression was still cold, and when he spoke, his tone was a bit harsh, "What are you doing here?"
Zhao Jin knew that he was always indifferent, and he didn't care about his attitude. He bowed to Mo Chuan and said respectfully, "Fifth Uncle, I want to ask you about Xue Ji. When she died, was her child already born? Is it possible that the child is not dead?"
Mo Chuan's expression froze. The next moment, his wheelchair slid out and stopped steadily in front of Zhao Jin. He grabbed Zhao Jin's collar and said coldly, "What did you hear? Why are you asking about this?"
Zhao Jin was startled by the murderous intent that suddenly surged from him. He didn't dare to hide it and quickly confessed, "I, I suddenly remembered that when I was a child, I saw portraits of Xue Ji and my uncle here. Zhang Xiaoxiao and Xue Ji look very similar. I suspect she might be Xue Ji's child."
Mo Chuan's pupils suddenly shrank when he heard this. He grabbed his collar tightly, and his bony hands trembled unconsciously. He asked coldly, "Who is Zhang Xiaoxiao?"
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