Chapter 065 Chapter 65
"Bow to heaven and earth."
"Bow to your parents."
"The couple bows to each other."
When Mrs. Liu saw that the ceremony was completed, she learned that weddings in the Jiangnan area were complicated. The bride and groom had to go to the bridal chamber to perform the fanning ceremony, and then after drinking the wedding wine, they had to come out again to meet relatives and friends for tea and toasts.
This was also her last step, so she looked very happy.
Yao Niang had been covering her face with a fan, and was afraid of making mistakes in the etiquette, so she was extremely nervous. When she was helped out, she felt hot and almost fainted. She only drank a glass of water and ate two rice cakes that day.
When he walked, he was completely like a puppet, but Shen Linfeng's feet were full of wind and his peach blossom eyes were full of smiles.
The mansion of the Shen family is slightly different from that of the Yan family. The mansion of the Yan family was purchased by the eldest and third old grandfathers together, and it is located in Anrenfang, a place where people are either rich or noble. However, the Shen family is even better. There are pavilions and terraces, not to mention the rockery, strange rocks, flying pavilions and flowing red. It can be seen that even every blade of grass and every tree is carefully cultivated. No wonder Wuxing Shen family is said to be a wealthy family.
I remember when my elder sister got engaged to the Shen family, someone once said that the Shen family was not only a noble family, but also wealthy extremely. Therefore, for a period of time, my elder sister did not show any resistance at all, and even looked forward to it. This time, many members of the Yan family came to Beijing. Yao Niang heard from two female relatives who had been to the family temple that Yan Ningxin regretted running away from the marriage. This time, Yao Niang did not let the news of her marriage to Shen Linfeng reach her ears.
"Bride, watch your step." Hearing Mrs. Liu's reminder, Yao Niang concentrated.
After passing two winding corridors, they came to a main courtyard at the back. Because Yao Niang's veil was covered with a light gauze, she could vaguely see the situation outside. After entering the courtyard gate and walking straight ahead, she saw three small side rooms. She couldn't see clearly how many main rooms there were at the back. She was helped in and walked around a screen. The inner room was brightly lit.
The bed was filled with longans, lotus seeds, lilies and other things. Yao Niang was very familiar with them. She had seen her brother's wedding bed, and it was exactly the same.
After she sat down, she heard Mrs. Liu's voice beside her: "Please ask the groom to lift the veil, and everything will be fine from now on."
Then, the red veil on the crown was taken off, but the fan was still in her hand. Mrs. Liu smiled and said, "Groom, you must recite a poem to urge the bride to put on her makeup so that she can take off the fan."
Shen Linfeng nodded heavily: "Okay."
Mrs. Liu couldn't bear to look at it, but fortunately Shen Linfeng was indeed a good poet, so the bride slowly took off the Hehuan fan.
After Yao Niang took the fan, she felt a little embarrassed when she saw Shen Linfeng staring at her. She had never seen Shen Linfeng look so happy before. Then she saw him in a bright red wedding dress, with an upright figure and bright peach blossom eyes. She couldn't help but feel her heart pounding. As for Shen Linfeng, he was rarely speechless because of beauty. He found her shy and very cute.
Unexpectedly, Mrs. Liu had to hurry up and complete the process because she was really afraid that something might happen to her as a fully-fledged wife. So she smiled and said, "The bride and groom, please drink the wedding wine, and then life will be sweet and happy."
The maids brought two cups of wine tied with a red string, but the red string was very short and they had to hold it close. Yao Niang was so hungry that she felt dizzy and almost staggered, but Shen Linfeng supported her directly.
"Are you okay?" Even though he always mentioned his sister the Divine Concubine, he didn't dare to call her that in front of Yao Niang.
Yao Niang shook her head: "Nothing."
Getting married was supposed to be a sweet and romantic thing, but now someone was urging them to meet the guests, so after drinking the wedding wine, they didn't have time to say a few words, and they had to change their clothes.
Yao Niang took off her thick crown, and Aunt Wang replaced it with a small crown with a golden flower pattern and a bridge of clouds. She also changed her formal dress into another wedding dress with a skirt embroidered with swastika tassels, which looked much lighter. Shen Linfeng was also dressed in red, and took off her flowered hat and tied her hair up with a golden crown.
When she came out again, night had fallen. The maids were lighting candles. A night breeze blew and Yao Niang felt a little cold. Soon a cloak was put on her. She looked up and saw that it was Shen Linfeng.
Yao Niang felt warm in her heart: "Thank you very much."
Shen Linfeng wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth he didn't know what to say, so he just smiled faintly.
They returned to the main hall where they had just held the wedding ceremony. It was already crowded. Being from a big family like the Yan family, Yao Niang did not feel timid in front of such a large group of relatives from the Shen family. Instead, she followed Shen Linfeng into the hall with ease.
Madam Zhou, who was standing beside Madam Shen, recognized them. She was already waiting at the door and said to them, "Madam, please ask the eldest master and the eldest mistress to come over here."
Yao Niang smiled at Mother Zhou and said that they would meet with relatives and friends first today, and Mother Zhou would be the recommender.
"This is our second master and second lady."
Yao Niang looked at him with a smile. The second old man had a square face and looked like a scholar, but he had a murderous aura. The second wife had met him before when they were talking about marriage. She was an extremely decent and noble woman. To be honest, Mrs. Shen looked older than her.
The second room was gifted with a pair of lacquer boxes. The lacquerware had a strong ancient Chu style and the craftsmanship was elegant, which was definitely not something that ordinary people could appreciate.
Besides, Shen Xunfu from the third room is currently serving in another post. His eldest daughter-in-law sent him a set of Ru kiln teacups. Ru porcelain has a simple and elegant shape, and is glazed with precious agate. The color is unique, and it has the beauty of "agate glaze has been passed down from ancient times". It is said that the glaze color can change with the light, and people who appreciate it use metaphors such as "the sky clears after the rain and the clouds break", "the green waves of thousands of peaks come".
In the generation of Shen Linfeng's father, the Shen family had three brothers, three sisters, and three aunts, each of whom received rewards. Yao Niang accepted these rewards with grace and grace, and her eyes were full of smiles. She didn't even need to flirt with others. Just standing there, it was easy to understand what it meant to fall in love at first sight.
These relatives flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. The only one she had some impression of was Aunt Gan with triangular eyes. She heard that she was Mrs. Shen's biological sister.
After the ceremony, Second Madam Shen smiled and said to Madam Shen, "Sister-in-law, let the young couple go about their business. The relatives are all here anyway, and it won't be too late to meet and talk tomorrow."
Mrs. Shen was about to nod, but she saw the second aunt came forward and grabbed Yao Niang's hand: "Good child, I think you are a lovely person, but don't learn from your sister."
Before Yao Niang got married, she had thought about the influence Yan Ningxin would bring, so she also summed up a set of words at home, so she reacted quickly, so she smiled and said: "I wonder which sister of mine you are talking about?"
Shen Linfeng also felt that something was wrong and was ready to think of a proper excuse, but Yao Niang said it directly. The second aunt was about to speak, but then she remembered that the eldest daughter of the Yan family ran away from marriage, which would bring shame to the Shen family, and she felt embarrassed.
Upon seeing this, Yao Niang pulled her hand out from hers, thinking to herself, you are just trying to intimidate me, maybe in the next life.
As a human being, once you start to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens, you will be stepped on in the face by others.
Of course, she couldn't show off her power, so Yao Niang just smiled and spoke without getting angry.
"The second aunt is really drunk. My dear bride, I'll see you tomorrow." Mrs. Shen stood up calmly and pulled the second aunt aside.
Mrs. Shen was naturally unhappy, but she couldn't show it now. She just said to Shen Linfeng, "There are guests ahead. You stay and entertain them. Let the bride go back to her room and rest first."
"Yes, son, I understand." Shen Linfeng's peers, classmates, and teachers had all come, so naturally he had to entertain them.
But he was worried about Yao Niang, so he turned around and looked at her. Yao Niang smiled and said, "I'm fine. You go ahead. I'll go back to my room first."
She and Shen Linfeng knew each other before marriage and had played together before, so naturally they didn't have to go through the process of getting to know each other like ordinary newlyweds. Shen Linfeng smiled and left. Yao Niang also took the servants back to the main courtyard first. She was not an ignorant woman who had never been out of the house. Even in the Shen family, she could handle herself.
Although Madam Shen felt that her daughter-in-law had too much influence on her son, she still told Madam Zhou: "Send some food to Grandma. I'm going to go to the front to greet the imperial edicts."
Mother Zhou replied yes.
Neither the Yan family nor the Shen family were small and medium-sized families. How could a family on the rise openly mistreat the new bride? If the news got out and people in the capital knew about it, the Yan family would not let it go.
Yao Niang was also aware of this, which was why she agreed later on. Her husband was a recognized good man, had no concubines, and treated her well. Why would she not want such a marriage?
Almost all the furniture in the new house were her dowry beds, cabinets, and even the screens were from her own home. In this dynasty, there was a custom of lavish dowries, and it was said that many men often ate their wives' dowries. Even after Shen Linfeng passed the imperial examination, the Yan family gave him money to pay for the land.
However, seeing the familiar objects, Yao Niang felt relieved.
Not long after they sat down, Mother Zhou brought the meal over. Qingdai helped Yao Niang take off her hairpins and washed her hands before she started eating.
"Have you eaten?" Yao Niang asked Mama Gu and the others.
Mother Gu smiled and said, "Girl, no, Grandma, please eat quickly. We all had a full meal at noon. If it's inconvenient for you to eat, we all brought snacks with us."
Yao Niang then began to concentrate on eating. The dishes sent by the Shen family were not those muddy and greasy ones. There were four side dishes, two pickled vegetables, and a bowl of egg custard.
When she was halfway through her meal, she saw Shen Linfeng personally coming over with a tray. She was about to stand up, but she saw Shen Linfeng smiling and said, "I know you must be very tired today, so I asked the kitchen to stew a nourishing chicken soup early in the morning. Don't worry, I specially asked them to skim off the excess oil."
I didn't expect Shen Linfeng to be so considerate. When Yao Niang was at home, apart from her mother who cared about her so much, she had never seen a man so considerate. Even her own brother had never been so considerate to a girl.
"Thank you." Yao Niang smiled and invited him, "Come eat with me and we can talk."
This is what Shen Linfeng thought. He waved his hand and all his men left. Shen Linfeng was actually so happy that he felt numb, but he didn't know how to express it. Yao Niang didn't know how Shen Linfeng felt about her, but she knew that he really cared about her. But she was very good at finding topics to talk about: "You know what? When we finished the ceremony today, I saw Mrs. Liu breathe a sigh of relief."
Shen Linfeng remembered that in his last marriage, Mrs. Liu was also the wife of Quanfu. Hearing Yao Niang's teasing, and seeing that she didn't mind at all, he laughed: "Yes, in fact, I also found out."
"Is that so? So when your aunt said that about me, I had actually already expected that someone in your family would say the same thing. With a scar like this, people who want to do good for us would definitely wish us the best and would not mention such bad luck, but those who stir up trouble love to do so. But I'm afraid that if it gets really serious, people will isolate us all." Yao Niang still had to speak her mind to Shen Linfeng, especially the attitude of the people in their family was actually very important.
Shen Linfeng saw Yao Niang finished her words and waited for his opinion. He lowered his head and said, "Actually, if you hadn't said it just now, I was going to have someone help Second Aunt down."
"I knew you weren't the kind of person who would let his wife be bullied, but I don't want you to stand up for me too much in public." Yao Niang looked at Shen Linfeng with a smile.
Shen Linfeng was also looking over. He grabbed Yao Niang's hand and said, "Don't worry. If someone bullies you in the future, just tell me."
"I am still young and married into your family alone. You are the only one I can rely on. Please don't abandon me." Yao Niang said seriously with tears in her eyes.
Shen Linfeng felt very distressed: "Sister Shenfei, I will never let you down."
Yao Niang took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears, then lowered her head and drank all the chicken soup. It must be said that the Shen family's chicken soup was still very delicious. After the meal, it was time to bathe. The servants separated Yao Niang and Shen Linfeng with a screen so that they could bathe separately.
Shen Linfeng drank alcohol today and was afraid of disturbing Yao Niang, so after taking a shower and rinsing his mouth, he put a piece of mint candy in his mouth.
But when he finished washing, Yao Niang came out from behind the screen. The ends of her hair were still wet with water vapor. Her hair was no longer tied up like before, but was all let down. Her hair was very long and shiny black, and her skin was as white as pear blossoms. She walked towards him with a smile.
Although the two of them are more familiar with each other than ordinary people, they still feel a little shy when they think about actually sleeping in the same bed.
But Shen Linfeng had to go to bed at a certain time every day. He had already stayed up very late today, but he was afraid that Yao Niang would feel that he had neglected her, so he had to hold on.
Fortunately, Yao Niang took a look at the bedding on the beds and saw that there were six beds in total. She looked at him and said, "Then let's each have two beds and sleep separately. We have to get up early tomorrow."
Shen Linfeng didn't have any objection, "Okay, then you go to the bed first, I'll sleep outside and you sleep inside."
In fact, Yao Niang really liked Shen Linfeng like this. He was not at all lewd and really respected her feelings. She went to the bed and took two quilts to cover herself. They were indeed goose feather quilts sent by her family. They were very comfortable to cover herself with. When she lay down, she even yawned.
The person next to him also rustled up to the bed. He lay flat on his back with his eyes closed. He was extremely sleepy. When Yao Niang looked at him, she found that he had fallen asleep. Yao Niang also breathed a sigh of relief. She herself was tired after a whole day. Now that she relaxed, she also fell into a deep sleep.
No one expected them to fall asleep so quickly, but the others didn't fall asleep yet.
Mrs. Shen and Mr. Shen had just seen off the guests. Mrs. Shen couldn't help but pounding her waist: "I'm getting old. I can't help but feel backache after a while. My neck doesn't even feel like my own anymore."
"I hope the marriage goes smoothly. My third brother has been praising the third daughter of the Yan family in his letters to me, saying that she is not only talented and beautiful, but also extremely filial and intelligent. She is a remarkable woman. Only a woman like this is worthy of being Linfeng in our family. You should worry less in the future. As the saying goes, a man who is neither deaf nor dumb is not fit to be a father-in-law." Mr. Shen always felt that his wife had changed a lot recently. She no longer liked to plant flowers and plants as before, but she could not control her temper. She also particularly liked to drink strong tea and often woke up in the middle of the night.
In fact, his words were meant to persuade the other party, but he didn't want to be too specific when they were close relatives and distant spouses.
Mrs. Shen argued, "I like this girl too. She is now our Linfeng's daughter-in-law, so I should be nicer to her. But her sister was so unruly and caused such trouble. I have to teach her some more rules. If she does something shameful again, it will bring trouble to the family."
Mr. Shen nodded: "That makes sense. Although you teach her to behave, you can't be too strict. After all, she is still young."
Madam Shen laughed and said, "You underestimate me, old man. How could I possibly be your daughter-in-law? We are from a family like that, and we are not like those mother-in-law and daughter-in-law from a small family. I just love her so much."
The old couple fell asleep after their conversation, but Mrs. Shen had nightmares. She dreamed of her eldest son who had not been seen for a long time. He had dark circles under his eyes, his clothes were in disarray, and he kept looking at her with his hand stretched out.
…
Shen Mo couldn't sleep either. She was not young anymore, but her marriage had not been settled. Her mother wanted her to marry Yan Jingzhao. Although she was not very interested, she was half or half in favor. But the Yan family chose Li. It was too difficult to choose such an outstanding son of a noble family.
Today, several relatives asked her if she had a husband. Shen Mo didn't want people to talk about it too much. If she couldn't marry a good man, she might as well be a virgin.
But as my mother said, a virgin has to see how her brother and sister-in-law look at her in the future. Her brother is easy to get along with, but if her sister-in-law is not easy to get along with, she can't stay at home. So, she also has to observe what her new sister-in-law is like and how she should deal with it.
Compared to Madam Shen and Shen Mo's worries about their own situations, the Second Aunt made a fool of herself today. The Third Aunt slept with her two sisters and couldn't help but say, "You too, what are you talking about today? This is embarrassing for the eldest sister-in-law and Lin Feng."
"I also think that the Yan family is too shameless. They caused such a big scandal in our family before. Now that my elder sister is no longer a woman, they married their younger sister to our family. Only our nephew has a good temper and is cheerful. It makes me sad to see this." The second aunt was indignant.
The Third Aunt sighed, "Second sister, you are still like this. Although the Yan family is trying to marry their daughter off, they are not an ordinary family after all. If you go too far, the Yan family may target you. This Minister Yan is definitely not a good person. He used the imperial examination to drive away all the confidants of the former Prime Minister."
The second aunt said, "I don't want my eldest and second sisters-in-law to be bullied by a young daughter-in-law in the future, so I just gave them a warning. As an elder, isn't this enough?"
She had heard from her second sister-in-law that the last incident was a big deal. Shen Linfeng was troubled by rumors in the Hanlin Academy, so he had to hide in Henan for so long. If he had not passed the imperial examination, his future would have been ruined. Now they were dreaming of being nice to the daughter of the Yan family. Moreover, she was also in a dilemma. If the bride was intimidated, she would naturally become docile and closer to her husband's family in the future. This was common sense.
The girls in the Yan family are all known to be arrogant and love to put on airs, and she is doing this for the good of the Shen family.
No matter what these people behind her think, Yao Niang grew up in a big family like the Yan family. She has seen all kinds of people and is not afraid of them. She knows that her husband is the eldest son of the Shen family and she is the future wife of the eldest son. These people will have to look at her face in the future. They are making things difficult for her just to alienate their relationship.
Some people specialize in sowing discord between couples and trying to please both sides. How could she be afraid?
When she woke up in the morning and saw Shen Linfeng still sleeping, she couldn't bear to wake him up, so she called the servants in to serve him. It takes a lot of time to dress up.
"Grandma, should we call out to Grandpa?" Aunt Gu asked worriedly.
"No need. He doesn't need to dress up like me. Let him sleep a little longer." In fact, Yao Niang discovered his little secret when she traveled with him that time. If he came later that day, he would definitely be in high spirits. If he got up early, he would look listless.
In fact, Shen Linfeng had already heard what Yao Niang said. He quietly closed his eyes and squinted for a while, then pretended to have just woken up. When he woke up, he saw Yao Niang turning around and looking at him warmly with her head tilted.
"Get up and wash up first. We still have to serve tea to our elders today." Yao Niang originally thought that for someone like Shen Linfeng, she would be gentle and submissive like her sister-in-law. She didn't expect that she and Shen Linfeng were completely the opposite, and she was the one who took the lead in everything.
She originally thought that men should be able to dress quickly, but she didn't expect Shen Linfeng to be so particular. He would arrange every piece of clothing, such as how to match it, what kind of crown and jewelry to match it with, and even if the perfume on his body was not right, he would redo it.
Is it really that complicated?
But Yao Niang was a person who respected others very much. She would not change other people's living habits without permission. After all, Shen Linfeng had been with her for twenty years before she married him, and there was nothing she could do to change him.
So, she just sat at the table, resting her chin on her hand and looking at him with a smile, without rushing him.
After Shen Linfeng changed his clothes, he stood in front of her and asked, "How is it?"
The color of silver red didn't look like powder on him at all, but rather had a kind of devilish charm. With his peach blossom eyes, Yao Niang said in a coquettish voice, "It looks good."
Shen Linfeng was a little embarrassed: "Sister Divine Concubine is like a fairy today."
"Good brother, let's stop praising each other. We all have to go and pay our respects." Yao Niang reminded.
So the couple went out to Madam Shen's place. Yesterday it was dark and everyone saw the bride's only vague beauty, but today they saw her appearance in person and suddenly felt that their promise of watching Luofu was not just empty talk.
Yao Niang just stood up after bowing, Madam Shen and Old Master Shen nodded secretly, and Old Master Shen went out first. The couple accompanied Madam Shen to have breakfast. Yao Niang hadn't decided what to eat yet, and she saw Shen Linfeng smiled and said, "Have peanut porridge, I'll serve it to you."
"Ahem." Yao Niang originally stood up to serve the dishes, but Shen Linfeng helped her serve the dishes. She winked at him, signaling him not to do that.
Unexpectedly, Shen Linfeng, who has always been quite smart, said: "Do you want to eat shrimp dumplings? Unfortunately, in winter, there are only frozen shrimps in the ice cellar, which are not very fresh. It is better to eat sugar lotus root, which is very fresh."
Yao Niang almost fainted. It's not good to be too masculine!
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