Chapter 067 Chapter 67
"Linfeng, would you come over and help me choose a bracelet? A bell bracelet or a jade bracelet?"
The sudden anger interrupted Shen Linfeng's thoughts. He took a deep look at Yao Niang in front of him. He originally thought that the painting was done by Yan Ningxin, but now he found that it might be done by Miss Yan San, and was used as a gift by the Prince of Qi. It is even possible that he took advantage of the little girl's love and took advantage of it.
He thought that no matter whether Yao Niang liked the Prince of Qi in the past, he was the most handsome in the painting, which proved that Yao Niang had good taste in the past. He must make her fall in love with him in the future. I think the painting was also two or three years ago. The Prince of Qi, huh, Yan Ningxin ran away with Wei Wuji because she was afraid that something would happen to the Prince of Qi. He couldn't do any harm to Yao Niang here.
He walked quickly to Yao Niang, looked at the two bracelets carefully, and shook his head: "You are wearing red today, and red with gold jewelry looks more luxurious and gorgeous."
Yao Niang smiled and said, "That makes sense. The bell bracelets are no longer suitable for me, and the jade bracelets are too cold. Let's choose a pair of gold bracelets."
Shen Linfeng quickly helped her put it on. Yao Niang turned her wrist and was quite happy.
The two of them stayed together, and it was getting dark without them noticing. It was not until their mother Gu reminded them that it was time to eat that they realized it was getting late. Shen Linfeng put away his painting and said, "Let's eat first."
"Yes." Yao Niang also took off her hairpin and washed her hands.
When the two of them were having dinner, Mother Zhou specially brought two dishes, saying that they were sent by Mrs. Shen. She also told Yao Niang that she didn't need to go to pay her respects tomorrow, which was also a thoughtful gesture.
Yao Niang said quickly, "It's so late, and I have to make an extra trip. I really trouble you." Then she stuffed a handful of money into her pocket and said, "I hope you can tell me more about the affairs of the mansion in the future. I don't understand anything."
Mother Zhou smiled and said, "Thank you for your visit, Grandma. I have to go back and report. Although you have just come in, we can see that you are a kind and respectable person. If you were not a newlywed, everyone would want to come and pay their respects. It is only because of my wife's help that I can come here specially."
…
Shen Linfeng watched Yao Niang and Zhou's mother talking, and seeing that she handled it skillfully, he couldn't help but nod.
After Mother Zhou left, Yao Niang said, "I met so many relatives today that I can't remember them all now. Lin Feng, among these relatives, are there any who are particularly kind to you?"
"Aunt Gan treats me almost like her own son. She always asks people to send me baskets of whatever I like to eat." Shen Linfeng said without hesitation.
Yao Niang thought that Aunt Gan was the one who found fault with her the most, but she loved Shen Linfeng the most. Although she and Shen Linfeng had a good relationship now, they were still distant and close, so she stopped talking and asked, "Is there anyone else who is nice to you?"
Shen Linfeng thought for a moment and said, "They all seem to be very nice to me."
"That's right." Not to mention the Shen family, even Ying Niang had always liked Shen Linfeng. Everyone loved him unconditionally.
Then Shen Linfeng looked up and said, "It doesn't matter. I like you the most."
Yao Niang was a little panicked. In fact, she had never been firmly chosen by others. Her mother's identity had always been unclear, and she just lived on a little favor from her father. Even her brother loved her later. No one said that I firmly chose her.
After Shen Linfeng finished speaking, fearing that he might scare the girl, he smiled and said, "Come, I'll serve you this bamboo shoot stewed chicken. This dish is very fresh, and winter bamboo shoots are delicious."
"Thank you." Yao Niang lowered her head and drank the soup carefully.
At night, the two of them did the same thing as before, she slept inside and Shen Linfeng slept outside. But before they fell asleep, they heard a maid come over and say, "Master, Master Lu is here and he wants to see you for something urgent."
Shen Linfeng was just about to get up. He had a wide circle of friends and was on good terms with Lu Long. He also admired Lu Long (Lu Long pronounced three times). Lu Long was always very sensible. Now that he was newly married and was looking for him, there might be something going on.
But thinking of Yao Niang, he glanced at her, and Yao Niang smiled and said, "Go ahead, and come back soon."
"Okay." Shen Linfeng knew that although Yao Niang was young, she was a reasonable person, so he stood up.
But before he left, he heard Yao Niang calling him, "Come here for a moment. I have something to tell you in private."
Shen Linfeng didn't understand what was going on, but he saw Yao Niang crawling out from under the quilt in her pajamas, standing on the bed and smoothing out the wrinkles on his body: "Come back soon."
"Don't worry." Shen Linfeng followed her movements and his eyes followed her.
After seeing him leave, Yao Niang wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. Her great-uncle was already very ill, and he was just enduring for them. To endure was to suffer. Her father said that he wouldn't be able to see the whole New Year at the latest, and she didn't know when he would die. How could any friend come to him on someone else's wedding day?
Although only one day had passed, Yao Niang found that she had become accustomed to obeying Shen Linfeng, and now she would be unhappy when he went to see other friends.
She had heard her brother mention before that Shen Linfeng pursued family interests above all else and was willing to postpone everything, not even matters between men and women. It was said that after he entered the Hanlin Academy, he became more popular than her brother and was also good at building good relationships with his superiors.
But Shen Mo and Madam Shen had dinner together. The mother and daughter ate the meal quietly and talked about the second wife. Shen Mo smiled and said, "I think even if she is the daughter of the Marquis, her dowry will definitely not be as good as my sister-in-law's."
"The number of servants brought as dowry is less than the previous one. The eldest daughter of the Yan family brought 500 people as dowry last time, and this time the third daughter of the Yan family has a total of 200 people." Mrs. Shen always had to pick out something.
Shen Mo lowered his head and took a bite of the food, then heard Madam Shen say, "You should keep the pair of bracelets your sister-in-law gave you. There are so many people in the family and it would be bad if someone touched them."
"Mother, I know. I met Mother Zhu when I came here just now. Although she didn't say it explicitly, her implication was that the eldest sister-in-law didn't give enough reward." Shen Mo was not gossiping. Her mother's health was not very good. Sometimes, although the second aunt helped with some things at home, she also helped to take care of them.
Mrs. Shen couldn't help but ask, "What did Brother Feng give as a reward?"
Shen Mo said: "I heard it was two rolls of colorful silk and a box of rose cakes."
"You are still too young. Since ancient times, it has been easy to meet Prince Yan but difficult to deal with the little devil. What does your brother say?" Mrs. Shen said.
Shen Mo said shyly: "How could a daughter know what happened in brother's room?"
Mrs. Shen called Mother Zhou to ask, and Mother Zhou said, "I heard that my brother is not angry and said it's all right."
"Everything is easy to talk about now in a newlywed relationship. What couples fear most is bringing up the past." Mrs. Shen shook her head. She was no longer worried about her daughter-in-law's ability. She just looked pretty and could seduce men for a while, but she still had a long life ahead of her.
Shen Mo just said, "Mother, speaking of that Miss Yan, it is said that she is still imprisoned in the family temple, but why do I feel that you seem to be more tolerant of her? When she wanted to marry here, you didn't say a word to her."
Just as she finished speaking, she saw Mother Zhou saying, "The people at the second gate said that our eldest son went out to meet Master Lu. This Master Lu is really something. He chose to come when our eldest master got married."
Shen Mo smiled and said, "Brother is still like this. Last time we went to play polo with Sister Yan, he also went there on the surface, but he was more for socializing. I heard that this Rulong is a genius in Qimen Bagua. Brother has always had a good relationship with him and has given him the greatest financial support."
After hearing what she said, Madam Shen said, "Yes, when your brother was talking to Miss Yan, although he said that she was very suitable to be the mistress of our Shen family, you and I both know that this was because Miss Yan was of noble status and worthy of him. Your brother is a person who wears a jade pendant on his body. He is unwilling to go out with someone who is not suitable. He only wants someone who is worthy of him, and that person happens to be good-looking. But Miss Yan did such a thing, and your brother wanted to accumulate strength to take revenge on the Yan family, but later he knelt down and asked me to agree to this marriage. At that time, there were many people who wanted to marry your brother who were of higher status than the Yan family. Do you think he was sincere?"
One of them is not sincere and the other is sincere, how can Mrs. Shen not be afraid?
Shen Mo got Yao Niang's bracelet today, and she didn't want to talk about Yao Niang all the time. She changed the subject and talked a lot. She helped Mrs. Shen to the bed, and then she came out. Unexpectedly, she met Shen Linfeng.
"Brother." She calculated the time and found that it was less than half an hour before her brother came back.
Shen Linfeng saw that it was Shen Mo and stopped: "Sister, where are you from?"
"I came out after waiting for mother to rest. Is my brother out now?" Shen Mo asked.
Shen Linfeng nodded: "I went to see Lu Long. Originally, they wanted to come out to celebrate for me, but I had a headache and wanted to go back and rest early."
"I think brother is worried about sister-in-law, so he came back early." Shen Mo covered his mouth and laughed.
Shen Linfeng scratched his head and agreed.
Shen Mo joked, "Now that my brother has married my sister-in-law, I am also very happy. Don't worry, I will be there to help my mother."
Shen Linfeng was deeply moved when he heard this: "Thank you very much, sister."
He didn't expect Shen Mo to say this, but he was still very happy no matter what.
When Shen Linfeng came back, he thought Yao Niang was asleep, but she was leaning on the bed reading a book. When she saw him, she was delighted and very excited. Shen Linfeng couldn't help hugging her: "I'm back."
"I've been looking at the door, wondering when you will come back. Even though we've only been married for one day, it seems like I can't live without you. But don't tell this to anyone else, otherwise they will laugh at me and say that I've become so childish." Yao Niang leaned in his arms, feeling at ease.
Shen Linfeng rubbed her hair: "No, no one will laugh at you."
窈娘還要說什麽，就聽沈臨風道：“都戌時了，我們先睡吧。”
“好。”窈娘回到自己的被窩，還欲說話，都聽到身畔這個人傳來均勻的呼吸了，她朝着沈臨風的方向睡下，心想自己以後肯定永遠都沒有黑眼圈了，枕邊人到了戌時（晚上九點）就一定要睡覺的。
她望着黑漆漆的床頂，很想把這裏當家，可她很清楚出嫁了之後，回到娘家就是客人了，不管父母多疼愛自己，那也不可能是自己的家了。在婆家，她也是外人，日後榮辱都系于沈臨風一身。
這一覺她睡的并不是很踏實，不是沈家不好，而是她真實的認識到她回不去了。一直到早上起來，她雖然醒來，但頭有些疼，遂對青黛道：“你擰了熱帕子，我敷一敷眼睛。”
每次太陽穴疼，眼睛敷一下就好了。
青黛小聲道：“姑娘昨日沒睡好嗎？”
“有點兒。”想東想西的就容易睡不着。
其實睡在床上的沈臨風恰好聽到了，他沒想到窈娘居然沒睡好，這到底是什麽原因？他總覺得自己很照顧她了，難道她還有許多不滿意的？
因為她頭上有個非常微不足道的小傷口，所以常常跟她梳頭發的人都會避開那個地方，窈娘也很煩惱的道：“我頭上這個地方，也不知道何時才能好，用的那些藥怎麽也好不了。”
“讓我看看，或許我知道怎麽幫你。”
沈臨風的聲音傳來，他一貫注意儀表，現在卻一幅寝衣起身，只欺身到自己跟前來，揮退了一衆仆婢。窈娘轉身看他：“還是別折騰了，原本可能再過個一年半載就好了，我之前就是忍不住總想剜去此疤，可沒想到流血不止。”
沈臨風笑道：“我就替你看看，絕對不碰到，成不成？”
“嗯，其實不疼也不癢。”窈娘有些抗拒，她做事情總覺得一開始做的好倒也罷了，若是做不好，拼命做一些無用的操作，反而讓自己傷的更深。
沈臨風按住她：“怕什麽？我真的通岐黃之術。在哪兒？”
莫名感覺他強勢起來，窈娘平日遇到的男子中，脾氣最大的屬她哥哥了，但是她是妹妹，自然受寵愛，他靠近她的時候，總覺得有些酥酥麻麻動彈不了了。
窈娘指了自己頭上傷口的地方，沈臨風把她的手拿開，扒開她的頭發絲，見是一個非常小非常小的一個黑褐色的痂。
“原來這麽小的一個痂？這裏和血脈連上了，若是在別的地方肯定極快就好了，因為長在這個出血口，血脈的傷口，所以這般。但你別擔心，我每日早晚跟你用雄黃酒清理一遍，再塗玉露膏，每天堅持肯定會好的。”沈臨風很是心疼。
窈娘轉過頭看着他：“真的嗎？”
沈臨風點頭：“當然了，也不是什麽大問題，堅持塗藥就好了。”
“可是上次她們幫我塗藥，力氣大，把我這兒戳破了。”窈娘忍不住對沈臨風撒嬌，若是把他當自己哥哥看待，也不是不可以。
沈臨風很是心疼：“那我一定輕輕的，好不好？”
他的語氣是這樣憐惜，窈娘無端生出一種缱绻之意。
還是顧媽媽提醒要用早膳了，沈臨風才開始洗漱，今日沒必要再去請安，她準備去清點一下自己的嫁妝，還有下人分配的問題。
窈娘的嫁妝有兩百多擡，是極其豐厚的，公中給了一萬兩的嫁妝銀，解氏私下給了五萬兩。錢自然都存放在錢莊，而庫房放的各種屏風床櫃子，都是好幾套，更別提珍奇異寶，沈臨風看了都咋舌。
“我今日先拿冊子點一下，有些破損毀壞或者丢失了的，也好記錄下來。”窈娘如是道。
她在之前就檢查過自己的嫁妝好幾遍，現在有哪些東西她是門兒清，床一共陪嫁了十二張，屏風八架，珊瑚兩盆，玉石兩盆，花瓶如意等等，解氏想的很周到，生怕窈娘想家裏的菜，還讓下人帶了些她愛吃的研制的蟹醬幹菜過來。
“我娘那麽忙，都還一直關心我。”窈娘忍不住拿着帕子抹淚。
沈臨風見她哭起來，第一反應不是安慰，而是想着她這般真如“籠煙芍藥，帶雨梨花”，他也不知怎麽了，有些骨軟筋酥，耳熱眼跳，跟中了毒似的。
窈娘轉過身看他一眼，見他立住不動，拉着他的手道：“傻乎乎的站着做什麽。”
又見沈臨風乖乖跟在她身後，窈娘心想他一時有些霸氣，一時又乖順無比，昨夜那些郁氣也散了不少。
到第三日回門，沈夫人早已準備了各式各樣的禮物，足足拉了三車，窈娘都道：“太太，這也太多了，我母親知道了，要說我不攔一攔。”
做面子這種事情，顏家嫁女排場極大，沈家回門也不會讓兒子丢面，沈夫人笑道：“好孩子，這也我與你爹娘的，她們若要說話，只管找我便是，與你甚麽相幹。”
如此，窈娘便也不推辭了，遂和沈臨風一道出門。
這樣冷的天，騎馬也不便，二人同乘一輛馬車。窈娘今日的衣裳是沈臨風幫她挑的，都是紫色，她是淺紫色的襖裙加白狐裘，沈臨風則是深紫色顯得貴氣，也有朱紫之色的意思。
“我爹爹和哥哥都是性情中人，很好相處的，自然你若是有問題，就喊我過去。”窈娘要回娘家了，心中很是開心。
沈臨風笑道：“放心。”
和人打交道，沈臨風并不怕，他這個人很容易和別人打成一片，但真的要交心還是很難。但是和窈娘，他第一次見到她，就覺得眼前一亮，似是故人。
顏家人都等在外面迎接，窈娘一看到解氏，就不顧沈臨風了，趕緊跑上去抱住解氏：“娘親。”
那日送走女兒，解氏悵然若失，總覺得心裏空落落的，時常忍不住還去女兒房中，但見人去樓空，吃不下也睡不着，非別人能夠排解，現在女兒抱住她，解氏忍不住道：“你這孩子，還跟小時候似的，也不怕人笑話。”
“為何女兒要怕人笑話呢，女兒是真的非常非常想娘親。”若是可以，她真的想一輩子待在娘身邊。
沈臨風跟在窈娘身後，他一直都很清楚窈娘孝順，否則也不會為了她母親去争取诰命，但見她這樣毫無保留的撒嬌，他的心裏也羨慕，若是哪一日她這樣抱着自己倒是很好了。
兩人牽手都還很短暫，沈臨風自然想多親近窈娘，可是稍微撒嬌說喜歡她，她就很不自在了，自己一定得尊重她，讓她感到舒服才行。
因此，他上前來，頗為恭敬的跟解氏問好：“岳母。”
解氏見女兒女婿穿同色衣裳，女婿不管何時看都神采奕奕，也頗有好感，現在的年輕人普遍身體虛弱，尤其是文人，肩不能挑手不能提，似沈臨風這樣的都很少見。
“我這女兒讓女婿你受累了。”
“不會，窈娘她在我們家裏都誇她好，不愧是顏家的女兒，我母親還讓我帶些補品專程送給岳母，說多謝您養了窈娘這樣出衆的女兒。”沈臨風對窈娘簡直贊不絕口。
解氏聽了也很高興，窈娘看了沈臨風一眼，明知他母親對她絕對不算很滿意，他能說的如此體面，自己也得承情。
原本窈娘想和解氏說說自己的煩惱，但想來爹娘要回家丁憂了，自己若是過的不好，一直讓她們牽挂着，娘本來就憂思多，她又不在身邊，還是不要讓娘操心了。
因此，沈臨風被哥哥拉走，她和顏家女眷們一處說話。
解氏又要忙前忙活，還是李氏道：“娘，兒媳去安排吧，您和妹妹多說說話。”
“好，大哥兒媳婦你去吧。”解氏也覺得自己有些過度緊張了，女兒年紀太小，再聰明也稚嫩，她怎麽會不擔心她被欺負？
其實甄氏何嘗沒有這種心理，瑩娘性子驕縱，又是個窩裏橫，甚至還不如窈娘精明機靈，再過兩年也要出嫁了，她就是能教恐怕女兒性格已經成型，很難再改了。
況且甄氏從上京的族人嘴裏得知公公身體恐怕沉疴難治，也就是這幾日的事情，也難怪解氏把愛女提前發嫁，她們以為這樣很聰明，殊不知顏家丁憂數人，顏景昭的确有能為，可性格素來狂妄桀骜，做庶吉士就敢上書直接串聯攻擊執政，若非是顏應祁攔下，恐怕早就被貶谪了。
等顏家人離去，這三丫頭在沈家能讨什麽好，官場人走茶涼非常快，不在其位的人，即便有三叔在，但三叔外任數年，遠水救不了近火。甄氏常常和沈家人打交道，也不是不清楚那些人的小九九，三丫頭的日子恐怕會很難過。
有時候，自己的日子過的好不好不重要，別人的日子難過，那就很痛快了。
“三丫頭，我看沈姑爺對你極好，你們夫妻郎才女貌，我們也都盼着你能白頭偕老呢。”甄氏笑道。
Yao Niang said, "Then I will accept your good words."
She still admired Zhen very much. No matter what, this person had never lost face. Whether she was happy in her heart or not was another matter.