Chapter 064 Chapter 64
The Yan family had been celebrating a big wedding these days. The wedding tent had not been taken down, and there were lanterns and decorations everywhere. Yao Niang had finished her bath early in the morning and was being helped by the servants to get dressed. Her skin was as fine as top-grade porcelain, and her white jade-like skin was pink. Although she was only fourteen and a half years old, her figure was exquisite. Although she had not yet reached the stage of having enlarged breasts, a slim waist, a round butt and slim legs, her breasts were so big that one could hold them in one hand, and her waist was so soft that she looked like Chang'e.
When she changed her clothes and came out to dress, Mrs. Liu had already come over, and she had brought her daughter with her. Yao Niang happily took Shan Jie'er's hand and said, "I have sewed a lot of dolls and made a lot of small clothes myself. Do you want to play with them? I'll have someone bring them out for you."
Shan Jie'er is now eight or nine years old, still a little girl. When she saw Yao Niang's cabinet full of dolls, she was envious: "Sister Yan San, are all these yours?"
"Yes, the one on top was bought for me by my father. He used to be the Minister of Rites in Nanjing and had contact with many foreigners. You see, that doll is from Japan, and that one is from Persia. The rest were all sewed by me. The row in the middle is the Twelve Flower Gods, which were sewed based on my own drawings. This small brocade box contains their clothes and jewelry."
When Mrs. Liu heard Yao Niang's introduction, she thought of Minister Yan whom she had met. He did not look like an easy person to get along with. It was said that he was now the only candidate for the Minister of Rites. She did not expect him to treat her daughter so well. No wonder the third daughter of the Yan family looked talkative and smart, but she did not have any fawning or flattering attitude. She was just cute and adorable. Even she liked her very much.
Shan Jie'er was also a little girl, and when she saw that she could play with these dolls, her eyes lit up. Yao Niang asked the maid to play with Shan Jie'er, while she sat down and let the hairdresser start to do her makeup.
Mrs. Liu found that Miss Yan San was indeed different from Miss Yan Da. She kept her place tidy and organized, and even when a bridesmaid from outside came, there was no mess at all. Her mother was always coordinating everything.
These may not seem surprising, but they show her daily skills. Besides, that girl's room is a mess.
Just as she was thinking about it, a girl came in from outside. Mrs. Liu took a closer look and found that it was the fourth daughter of the Yan family. She heard that she was engaged to the son of Qiu Guan, the Minister of Justice. It was true that all the daughters of the Yan family married up to higher status and none of them married down.
Yao Niang also noticed that Ying Niang had arrived. Her relationship with Ying Niang had always been ordinary, but she still had to consider her for the sake of face, so she asked her to sit down. Ying Niang felt that it was unfair when she thought of Yao Niang's dowry, but she couldn't say anything. Her father acted as if the third sister had suffered a great loss.
"Third sister." Yingniang sat down beside her.
Yao Niang thought that although Madam Liu was a blessed lady, she was also the wife of the Marquis of Jinghai and the wife of Commander Liu. She would never give such connections to Ying Niang for nothing, and naturally she would not let Ying Niang play with Sister Shan. She just smiled and said to Qing Dai, "Bring out some cakes and preserved fruits for the fourth young lady."
Soon Qingdai brought four kinds of snacks, including sugar-coated molasses cake, mirror-shaped cake, sugar-coated cherry and jade dew ball. Among them, the sugar-coated cherry was especially famous, as it was the most famous dish in Xie's teahouse.
When Madam Liu came over just now, Yao Niang had almost served these snacks. Anyway, any leftovers from the guests could be given to the servants, so these expensive pastries would not be wasted.
Yingniang pretended to be a lady in front of everyone, and even went over patiently to play with Shanjie, but her patience was often not enough, and Yaoniang was not the kind of person who would be snatched away by others.
"Sister Shan, there is a small closet next to it. The most beautiful clothes are in it, but you must not let others wear the Peony Fairy's clothes."
"Sister Yan San, I also like Peony Fairy the most. I won't do that, don't worry."
"So good." Yao Niang said, and then she said to Madam Liu, "I really like your daughter Shan. When I go to the Shen family in the future, I will invite her to play more often."
Mrs. Liu laughed and said, "That's nothing. She just doesn't want to stay at home."
As for how to socialize and build her own network in the future, Mrs. Liu is the best choice. Her family often holds flower banquets and she has a high status. Most importantly, Yao Niang also likes her as a person and she is not the kind of person who is shrewd and scheming.
Yingniang naturally knew Madam Liu's identity, otherwise she would not want to come. Before, Yan Ningxin had someone blocking the door, but this time, for fear of complications, no one was blocking the door, so she did not need to come.
But seeing that Mrs. Liu was obviously on better terms with her third sister and didn't pay much attention to her, she felt aggrieved.
Little did she know that Madam Liu just thought that she was Yao Niang's wife today, so of course Yao Niang was the priority in everything. Besides, Miss Yan San was also talkative and clever, often making witty remarks, and she herself was a very curious person. Shen Linfeng, a cheerful, neat and unrestrained man, suddenly became a dog circling around Miss Yan San.
Such legendary stories, which are like stories from human stories, are much more interesting than those about the Fourth Miss Yan.
Besides, the dolls on Miss Yan San’s shelf are so beautiful that even she can’t walk. It would be great if Miss Yan San could give a pair to her or her daughter.
It's OK to give it to my daughter, so she can play with it secretly. It's just that Liu Ji is always busy and can't accompany her.
Probably only Yingniang curled her lips when she saw the pile of dolls, thinking that Mrs. Liu would not look down on such little girls' things.
Mrs. Xie came to see Yao Niang, and saw that she was still combing her hair, so she invited Mrs. Liu and others to the table. Shan Jieer didn't want to eat outside, but Mrs. Xie was very easy to persuade: "Then let's eat in Yao Niang's room."
Mrs. Liu felt that she had a strong personality, so she liked people like Xie very much. She also liked to talk to Yao Niang and often had opinions.
There were many guests outside, so Yingniang went out and unexpectedly met her second sister and Zhao Fang. Her second sister already had a hint of superiority on her face, and she was not so polite to Zhao Fang when she spoke.
She walked closer and heard Zhao Fangzheng say, "Yes, my brother is preparing for next year's imperial examination."
"Then you must prepare well. If you have any inconvenience, you can come to me."
When Yingniang saw that her second sister even treated Zhao Xian as a stranger and had no feelings for him at all, she wondered if her second sister really liked Zhao Xian back then?
In fact, it doesn't matter to Yu Qianniang whether she likes him or not. Wen Qilang, the man she married, is a man who can understand elegant thoughts from the sound of music. She is very satisfied with her husband, and Wen Qilang is a good person. He handles the complicated relationships between the first and third wives in her family very well, and he is even more impeccable to her.
In a blink of an eye, Qianniang saw Yingniang and said, "Fourth sister, why are you here? The banquet is about to start. Let's prepare for lunch. The groom will come to pick up the bride in the afternoon."
Zhao Fang came from his hometown. In fact, he heard that the health of the old lady of the Yan family was not very good, and the eldest wife was always looking for supplements, like water flowing. Thinking of the big things that happened in the Yan family, what is this now? The eldest uncle became the younger uncle, the elder sister did not get married, and the younger sister got married again.
It is true that the world is bustling for profit. Thinking of this, she laughed at herself. In fact, she just married her aunt's cousin.
In the past, Qianniang would still boast that her good friends would write to her, but now that she has become the prime minister's daughter-in-law, she seems to be indifferent when people talk to her.
Because the Yan family was married to the Shen family, the Yan family's sons and son-in-law Wen Qilang all helped to entertain the guests. Yan Jingzhao took out a handkerchief and wiped his sweat: "There are so many people here today. I'm sweating in the middle of winter."
Wen Qilang and Shen Linfeng were also quite familiar with each other, so he couldn't help but say, "Shen Gongding is now our brother-in-law, we have to play a good trick on him. When we played polo before, this guy never gave in."
Yan Jingzhao, who was about to laugh, slapped his head. He really forgot that his sister couldn't play polo at all.
So Yan Jingzhao was a little disappointed: "Qilang, don't tease him. It's not easy for him to find a wife."
Wen Qilang thought of the past and said, "You are right. Besides, Third Aunt is still young. If she knew that we were playing a prank on her, she would be very anxious."
Yan Jingzhao and Wen Qilang went to the front hall and saw that someone around Li had brought soup and food over. She also said, "Grandma said that you had a poor appetite this morning, so she specially asked someone to stew sour bamboo shoots and pheasant soup for you."
"Okay." Yan Jingzhao was quite pleased that Li cared about him in every detail and was considerate.
By the time lunch was over, Yao Niang had combed her hair. She looked at herself in the bronze mirror. Her hair was really as dark as clouds, and she was extremely charming and beautiful, like a peony in full bloom.
Mrs. Liu praised: "You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen."
"Madam, please don't make fun of me. I think you are the most beautiful person I have ever seen." Yao Niang held the fan, feeling a little shy.
She sat alone on the bed, and Shan Jie'er also went out sensibly. Yao Niang specially selected a pair of rag dolls, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao, for her, and also gave them two sets of clothes. Shan Jie'er couldn't wait to play with them.
I don’t know if Shen Linfeng has come?
Of course Shen Linfeng got up early and changed into his wedding clothes. He was still greeting guests at noon. Everyone looked at him with an expression that they hoped the wedding would be a success, but were also afraid of repeating the same mistakes.
Some older people even asked, "Whose family did the eldest son of the Shen family marry?"
"The Yan family, the daughter of the Minister of Personnel, Mr. Yan, and the granddaughter of Mr. Zhushan."
"The Yan family? Why did you marry someone from the Yan family last time?"
These words were of course very embarrassing. Shen Linfeng had originally planned to seal his heart and give up love, and didn't want to get married for three to five years, but somehow he had to get married anyway, especially marrying Miss Yan San, which was the happiest thing for him. She was a person who knew how to fight for her mother's imperial edict at the age of thirteen. She was filial and ambitious, talented and beautiful, and more importantly, she said that he was the only one in her heart, and they would never be separated.
“風哥兒，準備迎親了。”
耳邊傳來沈夫人的催促，沈臨風才回過神來，他笑道：“好，兒子這就準備過去。”
沈二夫人還在旁打趣道：“風哥兒，可別誤了吉時，可別是歡喜太過了。”
“哪能啊，二嬸。”沈臨風不以為意。
沈臨風去了前廳，沈二夫人正和沈家幾位姑太太還有沈夫人的姊妹們一齊說話，沈陌這等未婚女子和韓若華先去了新房檢查了一遍，表姐妹二人又對視一笑。
韓若華現寄居在沈家，也不免打聽起窈娘的為人，怕自己日後得罪人，故而道：“沈表姐，這未來的大嫂子是個什麽脾性？”
沈陌想了想：“我和她的姐姐們接觸頗多，和她接觸的少，但容貌甚是好看，是個嬌花嫩柳的姑娘。”
韓若華又想起沈臨風，總覺得她和自己印象中的表兄其實也有點不同了，她因為一直在沈夫人身邊，不小心聽到她身邊的兩個丫頭提起沈臨風下跪要求娶顏家三姑娘，這讓她是有震驚的。
像沈表兄這樣的人，幾乎是人人仰望的存在，莫說是娶顏家女兒，就是娶宰相千金也不在話下。也不太符合世家子弟的樣子，舉凡世家子弟的婚姻都是聯姻，很難有真情的，頭一次見到這麽真情實感的愛慕，仿佛被控制下的傀儡突然有了自己的情感似的。
但這些韓若華不會說出來，沈陌見她這般，又笑道：“等會兒就能見到了，我哥哥現在不就是去接了嗎？”
韓若華點頭。
不僅僅是顏氏要過門，二房二夫人的兒媳婦信寧侯的女兒也要進門，韓若華心想想必到時候沈家也會熱鬧起來了。
再說窈娘這邊中午也不敢多吃，也不敢喝水，因為這喜服實在是太繁複了，穿上去都要好幾個人通力合作才行，出恭就更不方便了。
還好她很美，今日看起來比以往還要美，這就足夠了。
屋裏添了兩個炭盆，因為久坐就會變冷，窈娘又把合歡扇拿起來看了看，忍不住笑了。
外邊已經有人進來報：“姑娘，沈姑爺已經來了。”
沈臨風的人馬絕對已經到了門口了，他看到站在門口的顏景昭，拱拱手：“大舅子。”
“诶，先別這麽喊，你得過了我這關，才能進去接人。”顏景昭笑道。
沈臨風心想上次他為了過三關，還彈琴了，不知道這次會不會也如此呢？但見他笑道：“悉聽尊便。”
顏景昭則道：“催妝詩還是要作的。”
“應該的。”沈臨風笑吟誦了幾首催妝詩，他還在想顏景昭是不是憋了個大的，沒想到顏景昭等他進來，就放了幾個靶子讓他射。
居然如此簡單，沈臨風都有些不可置信了。
只是快走到三房門口時，顏景昭才道：“好兄弟，這第三關就勞煩你吹一曲《鳳求凰》，若是吹的好，我妹妹自然開門。”
沈邦彥是之前就跟着沈臨風過來了的，那次顏家可是為難的很，一關過一關多的很，現在看起來完全是放水了。
《鳳求凰》是熱烈的求偶的樂曲，也象征着男女理想投契，志趣的高尚，知音的默契，現在成親男方吹這首曲子，也是表達對女方的求愛之情。
沈臨風沒有推辭，而坐在裏邊的窈娘正怕自己的臉上妝花了，正在補妝，不料卻聽到了一陣感情熱烈奔放而又深摯纏綿的曲子，她有些怔怔的。她雖然舍不得家中，但今日是真的要嫁過去沈家了，她又有些期待。
在家裏她能夠做小姑娘，可小姑娘總是要長大的。
“姑娘，大爺說了，您若是覺着好，可以推門出去。”
“可我想聽完。”
沈臨風剛吹的時候，還覺得自己吹得不錯，幻想神妃妹妹會不會和自己合奏一番，可一曲快罷的時候，門卻沒開，他心裏忐忑不安起來。站在他身後的沈邦彥也是見門還沒開，心想上次大哥親事失敗，這次難道……
如此想的時候，門卻開了，沈臨風放下簫，笑了出來。
窈娘也被扶着到門口，她拿扇子遮面，因為喜服裙擺太長，特意選了三對童男童女幫忙牽着，更別提身後站着的仆從婢女無數，一時間不少人恍惚的以為是公主下降。
她們一起去拜別了顏應祁和解氏，解氏本來正在忙着，被喊過來的，一過來就見沈臨風和窈娘進來，女兒今日是真的就要離開了，她泫然欲泣，卻見顏應祁道：“窈娘今日畫了好幾個時辰的妝，你可別引着她哭，新娘子哭的太醜了可不好。”
如此，解氏憋了眼淚回去，只是聲音卻帶着哭腔：“三丫頭，要好好地。”
窈娘昨日就哭了半天，今日也是潸然淚下：“女兒知道。”
她起身想多看爹娘一眼，卻又聽劉夫人喊道：“吉時快到了，新娘子要出門了。”
新娘出門子腳不能沾地，因此窈娘由顏景昭背着出門，上次倩娘是由顏景璋背出去的，據說顏景璋因為背不起還埋怨倩娘太重了，窈娘上了哥哥的背，但有些擔心的在顏景昭耳邊道：“哥哥，重不重？”
“不重。”
“那我是不是和羽毛一樣輕？”窈娘笑道。
顏景昭莞爾：“那倒也沒有。”
走在一旁的沈臨風聽到兄妹倆的對話，忍俊不禁，他就是特別喜歡這種放松的聊天的氛圍，非常輕松，也非常快樂，還很溫暖。
頭上的冠子太重了，這是顏家四個女兒都有的鳳冠，之前很早顏應祁就打好了，還寫了各自的名諱在上面，就是等着她們成婚的時候戴着。
但她們四人的冠子各有不同，顏寧馨的是碧羅芙蓉冠，倩娘的是錦華霞彩金钿鳳冠，瑩娘的是鴛鴦雙花翠雲鳳冠，而窈娘戴的則是雙碟金銀珠花樹冠。
只是除了這冠子之外還有金鑲瑪瑙的頭釵，方勝花钿寶髻好些堆砌。
顏景昭果然體力比顏景昭強了不少，背着窈娘出大門，直接把她送進喜轎之內。
窈娘剛坐穩，就把袖袋裏的靶鏡和粉撲拿出來補妝，她甚至來不及知曉在她們的隊伍走後，解氏抱着那盆水，怎麽都不肯潑。
一路上吹吹打打好不快意，劉夫人也是第二次為顏沈兩家做全福太太，她現在真是心有餘悸，但又想克服困難，從哪裏跌倒，就從哪裏爬起來。
因此在花轎到了沈家門口，劉夫人舒了一口氣。
但她高興的太早了，花轎落地之後，新娘子要一直走着，前面要有人一直換着幾塊毯子，這也是落實腳不沾地，但是窈娘的裙擺又太長了，顏家特地準備了牽裙子的人，沈家這邊也不知曉，就沒有準備。
偏偏顏三姑娘和顏家倒是說讓丫鬟幫忙也可，但這個時候沈臨風卻道：“去喊六個小童子過來。”
劉夫人只覺得自己急的冒火了，趕忙上前道：“沈公子，這倒也不必吧。”
沈臨風卻覺得是自家委屈了窈娘：“劉夫人，要不先等等吧，裙擺還是童子牽着更好一些。”方才在顏家，都是這樣的，也有取六順利之意。
偏偏等了一盞茶的功夫都還沒有湊齊，劉夫人真的恨不得上前直接指使人走，可這是在沈家，沈家人也不會聽她的。
還好，此時傳來一道女聲：“就讓我的丫鬟牽着裙擺吧，天地本不全，便是婚事也應有不全之理，此事非人力所能為，我們還是不要錯過吉時了。”
劉夫人聽了這話倒是覺得很有道理，萬事過分完滿未必是好事，再看扇子下的顏三姑娘此時出來說話，不像別的女子，遇事則躲，這點她很欣賞。
“好，那就按照你做的辦。”
原本還在和劉夫人犟的沈臨風爽快答應了，還暗道神妃妹妹年紀雖小，見識卻不凡。
劉夫人笑道：“沈公子，你這是害我白費口舌啊。”
沈臨風連忙賠禮道歉：“劉世子夫人，是我不對，是我不對。”
劉夫人倒也不會因為這點小事生氣，只是打趣道：“我可不敢說你，要不然顏三娘子就生我的氣咯。”
“不會的，她很好的。”沈臨風還幫忙解釋。
劉夫人心道我說他，他倒不反駁，我說顏三姑娘，他比我還急。
其實窈娘也是頭一次到沈家來，她又舉着扇子，身邊都是人，也不好觀察沈家的場景，只一直跟着劉夫人的指點在走。
沈家今日自然是濟濟一堂，因為沈臨風再次和顏家聯姻，沈家親眷上次丢了大醜，這次都在觀禮，都想看看這位顏家新娘如何？有好奇探究者無數。
沈總憲和沈夫人端坐在上方，沈總憲倒是還好，沈夫人卻是非常緊張，她能感覺的到有的人就是來看笑話的，就跟她的大兒子死的那年一樣，那些人都是在看她的笑話，表面上安慰她的喪子之痛，其實都是在幸災樂禍。
世族落魄的起點就是科舉的興起，而聰穎絕倫的長子英年早逝，次子癡肥，如何能堪當大任？
This time at their wedding, many people were waiting to see them make a fool of themselves.
"Groom, here comes the bride."
Mrs. Shen seemed to be alerted by the shout and looked at the newlyweds coming in through the door.