Chapter 28: Hello Husband

  No matter how helpless Ye Zhaowas, the day of the wedding would still arrive. On this day, almost the entire Xisi Street was wrapped in red decorations, and the crowds watching the excitement filled every street. Many people actually didn't know why it was so lively today, but they also swarmed onto the streets. Moreover, it was said that stages had been set up everywhere, and from tomorrow on, there would be seven days of grand opera performances. It had been a long time since Xisi Street had been so lively.

  Ye Zhaowas dizzy and his head was heavy as he escorted his bride back to the mansion, then under the bright red candles in the main hall, he and the new bride with a phoenix crown and a cloud-like veil bowed to their parents and heaven and earth. Under the guidance of the master of ceremonies, they went through the rituals in a daze.

  I thought the little girl would cry and make a fuss, but unexpectedly the "bride" was calm and composed, one move at a time, it's clear that she had practiced countless times.

  The Phoenix Pavilion's western warm pavilion, the four walls are painted red, and the festive candles shine brightly. To the north of the pavilion is a bright red wedding bed and a treasure seat, under the south window there is a heated kang with a table on top, holding exquisite and luxurious wine utensils.

  It was hard enough to get into the bridal chamber, Ye Zhaohad only felt that all his bones were scattered, and after lying down on the kang, he didn't want to get up again.

  Just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard the maid lightly knocking on the door, and it turned out that she had come to deliver "tangyuan and zisun dumplings". Ye Zhaohad no choice but to put up with his annoyance and open the door. In the midst of the maids' auspicious words, he still had to force a smile on his face. After the maids arranged the tangyuan and dumplings and retreated, Ye Zhao finally noticed the new bride sitting at the other side of the fire kang table. The little girl hadn't made a sound until now, she was indeed very patient.

  Ye Zhaowu finally remembered what he was supposed to do, searched for half a day, and finally found the jade Ruyi that he had thrown aside from under the tea table. He walked over and lifted the veil of the "new bride".

  Ye Zhaowas stunned for a moment, the red clouds and misty veil made the little girl look lovely and adorable, with her eyebrows like paintings, bright eyes and white teeth, she looked as beautiful as a little fairy in a New Year's painting.

  If it were her own sister, she wouldn't know how much more painful it would be. Ye Zhaohad this thought, but saw the little girl closing her eyes tightly, and found it funny, saying: "Play by yourself, do whatever you want." As he spoke, he lay back on his side of the kang, wanting to take a short nap.

  There was not a sound in the room.

  "Not yet, haven't even had the wedding wine." After a while, the little girl couldn't help but "remind her husband", her childish voice and originally secretly opened beautiful big eyes saw Ye Zhao suddenly lift his head, and hastily closed tightly again.

  "Let's just forget it, it's just a formality." Ye Zhaoye said lazily, without even bothering to move.

  "Oh." The little girl replied, with a somewhat pitiful and wronged tone. But, after all, when marrying into the family, the husband is the most important, if he says not to drink the wedding wine, then so be it. However, it's never been heard that one doesn't drink the wedding wine after entering the bridal chamber, how unlucky would that be?

  Ye Zhao narrowed his eyes, seeing that this eleven-year-old little girl actually wanted to have a dignified and serious attitude, really found it amusing. Suddenly he stood up and said, "Do you want to drink cross-cupped wine?"

  The little girl couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams that "husband" would ask such a question, and she didn't know how to respond.

  "Alright, let's make a bet then. We'll play chess, and if you win, we'll drink together, but if you lose, we won't drink." Probably the whole Qing dynasty has never seen such an absurd proposal as Ye Zhao's.

  It's just that Ye Zhaofei felt that this little sister was too proper, and suddenly wanted to change the little girl into a "little rascal". At what age should one have what kind of appearance? Eleven years old, making noise and having fun is the way it should be!

  "Alright, alright." Rong'er's tears were welling up in her eyes, she had never heard of a husband being so stingy before, but since she was married into this family, the husband was like heaven, and she could only follow his temper.

  "Rong'er, Rong'er's chess skills are not good, Master said that Rong'er must work harder to reach the national master level." Rong'er still had to confess quickly, lest she be exposed later. Since her husband wanted to play chess, it seemed his chess skills were extremely refined.

  Ye Zhao was shocked, his eyes almost popping out. This little girl was quite skilled at Go, what? A national-level player? Don't try to fool me!

  Luckily, I wasn't planning on competing with you in Go anyway. Otherwise, losing to a little kid like you would be depressing.

  Ye Zhaolong clapped his hands, and the gate was gently pushed open. Outside were two lovely maidservants, dressed in bright red and green, chattering and laughing, one of whom was Rong'er's dowry maid, and the other was chosen by Ye Zhaolong from the mansion, and he renamed them Jixiang and Ruyi.

  "Go, bring me my Go pieces!"

  Jixiang didn't understand what was going on, but Like intended quickly agreed and pulled Jixiang along, rushing off like flying.

  Before long, a colorful and peculiar chessboard was placed on the fiery hot table, with dice, cute little ceramic people, and silver tickets made of hard cardboard.

  This is what Ye Zhaoworked out in Shanghai, the Qing version of Monopoly, originally just made for himself to play with when he was bored, but now it's being brought out to make things difficult for this young chess saint.

  Ye Zhaohui explained the rules to Rong'er, speaking as they walked a few steps together so she could get a feel for them. Anyone else might have gotten dizzy from listening, but Rong'er just quietly memorized each one. Her husband was "multi-talented and wise", and patiently taught her, so naturally she didn't want to disappoint his good intentions.

  "Got it?" Ye Zha asked after trying to walk for a while.

  Rong'er furrowed her small brow and thought hard for a while, then nodded her little head.

  "It's on then, best two out of three, I win and we don't drink the penalty cup, I lose and we do." Ye Zhaosaid something that might get him struck by lightning, but he didn't take it seriously.

  Rong'er made a bitter face, lightly nodded, but secretly encouraged herself. The rich man's chess didn't seem too difficult either. If she could win two games in a row, losing the third to him would be fine.

  The game of Monopoly is indeed not difficult, but sometimes the luck factor of the dice is really big. Ye Zhaoyang's luck was quite good, and he won two games in a row, each taking less than a minute, and completely defeating Rong'er.

  But winning these two games really didn't bring much joy, Rong Er this little girl is too stubborn, she's indeed unaffected by success or failure, what's the point of being happy about winning? What's the point of being sad about losing? Not to mention the behavior of shouting and throwing chess pieces, even when losing miserably, her beautiful big eyes didn't blink once.

  However, Ye Zhaofei felt that after losing two rounds, Xiao Yatou seemed a bit disheartened. After thinking for a moment, Ye Zhaofei smiled and said: "I won, so let's drink the wine of defeat together! The old ancestor's rules can't be forgotten!"

  "En." The little girl nodded, concise and to the point.

  When drinking cross-cupped wine with Xiaoyao's little arm, looking at the little guy's beautiful big eyes close at hand, Ye Zhaowei couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. This was completely different from what he had thought! Although only eleven years old, she was more sensible than the little maids in his own world at that age.

  "Alright, you've had your cup of wine, go to sleep now. Tomorrow you'll have to get up early for the ancestral rites and all that. You can't keep exhausting yourself like this. Do you want to sleep on the kang or in a bed?" Ye Zhao asked.

  "The bed." The little maid naturally followed the rules and went to sleep on that intricately designed, multi-layered wooden bed. Ye Zhaoyang actually quite liked the beds of this era too - they were so meticulously crafted, emphasizing "intricacy, sturdiness, grandeur", their luxury and complexity left one breathless. Ye Zhaoyang even thought that the wooden bed, imbued with elegant ancient charm, could be considered a work of woodcarving art.

  Watching the little girl shaking out the beautiful brocade quilt, it seemed like she was spreading something out, then slowly took off her butterfly-embroidered shoes and quickly lay down on the bed, wrapping herself tightly in the quilt.

  Ye Zhaoyin couldn't help but laugh, almost bursting out loud. At first, her every move was elegant and refined, with a dignified air about her, but in the end, she quickly wrapped herself up in a quilt and revealed her true age with her adorable actions.

  Goodbye to the little girl, it seems that she has lifted a seam of her quilt and secretly looked at herself. Ye Zhaoyang found it even more amusing. Sitting up, Ye Zhaoyang poured himself a cup of wine and took a sip.

  It was unclear how much time had passed when the red candle flame jumped once. Listening from outside the window, it seemed that the sound of the third watchman's rattle could be faintly heard.

  Turning around, I inadvertently discovered that the little guy was peeking out from under the quilt with a lovely and cute face, looking at me.

  Ye Zhaohui vaguely guessed that before getting married, the little guy would probably receive some enlightenment education. Although he was confused and didn't understand much, if he ignored her for one night, through his mother's enlightening words, it might be a very serious matter for him.

  Ye Zhaoknew he couldn't explain it to her, but also didn't want the little one to be mentally hurt, thinking that he didn't like her or was too proud to touch her.

  Yeh thought for a moment and then pointed at the chessboard on the table, smiling: "How about two more games?"

  "Good!" The little guy immediately scrambled to his feet, put on his nice shoes, and ran over two steps. Suddenly remembering something, he hastily collected himself and took dainty steps, but the smile in Ye Zhaos eyes was so wide it almost brought tears to his eyes. But no, when had he ever been so careless at home?

  Living with Master for just a short while, how come it seems like my brain is all muddled up and I make mistakes unintentionally? But that Riches and Honor chess, really, really fun.

  Ye Zhaoben thought of saying: "In the future, if you want to run, just run." But seeing the little guy's expression, he knew that this sentence would make her cry out loud, so he didn't tease her anymore. He just smiled and said: "Today we'll have a midnight battle with lanterns, how about it?"

  The little guy sat on the kang, not daring to make a sound. If he said it was good, it seemed like playing with things and losing one's will; if he said it wasn't good, it would be disobeying Master Xiang. So he just silently distributed the silver tickets and porcelain figures. Ye Zhao smiled again: "I only want 1,000 taels, the rest are all yours."

  It's rare to meet someone who can play games with herself, Ye Zhaohad a strong interest and even asked Jixiang Ruyi to bring some snacks, and then they played Monopoly enthusiastically with the "newlywed wife".

  Rong'er was extremely reserved, and the only sound that could be heard from inside the house was Ye Zhao's loud and clear voice, playing with great enthusiasm. Ye Zhao even skillfully stuffed a few yellow-orange snacks into Rong'er's mouth, laughing: "Why don't you eat snacks? I researched and made these fried potato chips myself, try them! When playing games, of course, we have to eat and drink to have fun."

  Rong'er furrowed her small brow, putting the fries back, but seeing Master making gestures for her to eat, she elegantly used her ring finger to pick one up and slowly put it into her mouth.

  In the end, he unexpectedly lost two games to Rong Er, Ye Zha's excitement grew even stronger, unknowingly drinking two more cups, and didn't know when he fell into a deep sleep...

  ……

  Ye Zhaowu slowly opened her eyes and felt a headache, looking at the curtains as if it had just dawned.

  "Huh? Ye Zhaodong moved slightly, but felt that his body was quite cumbersome to move. He looked down and saw that he was sleeping on a kang, covered with a red satin quilt. Ye Zhaodong casually lifted the quilt, but was suddenly startled, only to see a lovely little figure hugging him tightly, just like an octopus. It was none other than Rong'er, who was also sleeping in her clothes, still wearing that red cloud-patterned jacket, except that she had probably kicked off her stockings while sleeping. Her two snowy white and adorable little feet were wrapped around his ankles."

  Ye Zhaoming couldn't help but laugh and cry, knowing that the child had indeed come to her. She gently pushed him aside, but who knew the little guy would turn over, turn his head back, and cling to her again, holding Ye Zhaoming tightly, muttering: "Mother... I'll sleep a bit more..."

  Ye Zhao had no choice but to let her hold him, leaning back and staring at the ceiling as he thought about his own affairs.

  After a short while, Jixiang knocked gently on the door outside, "Miss, miss, it's time to pay respects to Wang Ye and his wife."

  Ye Zhaoyi pretended not to hear and closed her eyes. Jixiang called out a few more times, then Rong'er suddenly sat up and quietly got out of bed to open the door to the outer room to wash up under Jixiang's attendance.

  When she went back to the inner house to wake up Ye Zhaowhen, she had changed into a pink embroidered butterfly and flower pattern cheongsam, which made her look even more beautiful.

  "Master, it's dawn." Seeing Ye Zhao open his eyes, Rong'er regained her calm and composed demeanor, not revealing a hint of nervousness, as if she wasn't the one who had just been sleeping soundly and wasn't the one who was woken up.

  This little rascal, Ye Zhaoyu was both amusing and infuriating, but could only get up to change clothes. Rong'er squatted down to help him put on his shoes, and Ye Zhaoyu picked her up, saying: "I'll do it myself." He also said: "From now on, don't call me husband." Yesterday he had already told Rong'er not to call him "master", but today hearing "husband" was also quite awkward.

  After being caught by Ye Zhao and pulled up by the back of his neck, the little guy was obviously somewhat indignant. This wasn't the attitude a husband should have towards his wife. The little guy felt it too, clearly treating himself like a child.

  "Just call out, just call big brother, or else call older brother." Ye Zhaohad said while putting on his shoes.

  "No!" For the first time, the little guy disobeyed Master Ye's intention, which left Ye Zha stunned and looking at him in surprise.

  Rong'er bit her lip, but showed no signs of yielding. She said, "Since Master doesn't like to follow the rules, Rong'er has heard that loving couples in the folk custom call each other 'old wife' and 'old husband'. So Rong'er will call you 'old husband'."

  Ye Zhao almost fell over, "husband"? If it's said that terms like "xiāng gōng" or "guān rén" are a bit awkward but still acceptable, then being called "old husband" by this little thing every day is really unbearable. After all, in the past, the most commonly used term of endearment between lovers and newlyweds was indeed "old husband". This little thing calls me "husband" once, I'm afraid I'll feel even more guilty!