Chapter 29: The Bridal Chamber

  Recommend another good-looking urban legend "Look at My 72 Changes", author Mingcha

  A pair of golden-painted dragon and phoenix auspicious candles, inserted on a slender beauty-shaped candle holder, its flame jumping happily. Two eight-sided thin gauze red palace lanterns with golden tassels hanging down, suspended in the center of the house, casting a crimson glow on all four walls of the bridal chamber.

  With a soft "pop", the dragon and phoenix candles on the wedding bed suddenly burst into bloom, causing the newlyweds sitting on the edge of the bed to jump slightly. Since being sent into the bridal chamber, they had been waiting in silence for over an hour, with the embroidered golden red veil separating them from everything around them, their eyes seeing only a mysterious reddish haze. In the quiet room, it seemed as if one could hear the sound of one's own heartbeat, and all sorts of thoughts flooded into their minds.

  She wondered what her future husband would look like. He seemed to be a very complex person, originally a idle and extravagant young master, but in the process of his grandfather's re-appointment, he was relied upon as an ally by the Cai family, and Tong Guan, who was far away in the northwest, did not play any role. On the contrary, it was he and his father, who had been promoted to the position of commander-in-chief through his connections, who made great contributions, and after several rounds of planning, they quietly changed the prime minister. With the imperial edict of praise a few days ago, her father had been promoted to Taifu, becoming the number one military officer in the Song Dynasty, and he had also been promoted from his original position as Chengwu Lang to several levels, appointed as Gongbu Lang, and was appointed by the emperor to take charge of the Dongnan Yingfeng Bureau, creating the record for the youngest official to be granted a substantive position through imperial patronage in this dynasty.

  She thought back to her conversation with her grandfather, Cai Jing, a few days ago. Her grandfather's words still echoed in her ears: "Yinger, although Gao is young and inexperienced, he is cunning and clever, a rare talent in my lifetime. With his father, Gao Yun, being favored by the imperial court, this son will surely rise to greatness soon. I chose him as your husband with some personal motives, hoping to form an alliance with the Gao family, but also wishing you could marry a heroic husband. You often lament that as a woman, you are unable to achieve great things, but if you can assist your husband in leaving a name in history, it would be a comfort for my lifetime." Ah, yes, if her own husband could truly leave a mark on history, it would indeed be a blessing for her life.

  After a while, she remembered the private matters that her mother had entrusted to her before leaving, and suddenly felt her face burning. Those things that would make her blush and palpitate when she heard them in the past, would she soon experience them all by herself? He was already familiar with the streets of pleasure, wouldn't he despise her for not serving him well? "No, shameless!" She suddenly cursed softly, as a proud daughter of the prime minister's family, a thousand jin of hanlin, a clean and pure girl, how could that boy compare her to those courtesans?

  Suddenly, she became dazed again: I heard that the famous singer Bai Chenxiang, who is now renowned in Bianliang, was originally a courtesan. It's said that she's an extremely beautiful woman with exceptional talent and beauty! I also heard that it was "he" who promoted this courtesan to fame, but I don't know if I can surpass her? Moreover, he already has a concubine in his household, as well as a favored young songstress. How much of his heart will be devoted to me in the future?

  Suddenly, the sound of people outside the door grew louder and turned into a commotion. The outer door creaked open with a "creak", and two maids who were guarding the door outside shouted in unison to stop them, but to no avail. A large group of men's voices boomed and shouted as they rushed in, as if the entire world had suddenly returned to her side.

  It's strange to say, but the anxious mood just now has suddenly calmed down. She sat steadily on the edge of the bed, quietly listening to the movements outside the room, her heart as calm and peaceful as a clear autumn sky.

  Only to hear someone outside shouting loudly, wanting to see the bride, wanting to make a disturbance in the bridal chamber, but they were all suppressed by a loud voice. The person shouted: "One moment of spring is worth a thousand pieces of gold, we are tired of being disturbed here for one more moment, Brother Gao will be less happy for one moment, the sage said 'a gentleman has the beauty of adulthood', how can we not know the current situation? Disperse, disperse!"

  At that moment, some people opposed and some applauded, but the applause was obviously overwhelming. The crowd gradually dispersed, leaving only two dowry women guarding the outer room. One person stumbled in, followed by the soft sound of the door hinge, and the door to the inner room closed behind him with a thud.

  Her hand tightened involuntarily, and the swan-patterned silk handkerchief in her hand was twisted into a knot. Is it time to lift the veil? The lifelong companion, this is going to be revealed, how can my heart beat so fast, what should I do, why do I have the urge to jump up, escape, and not see anyone? Ying'er, calm down, calm down...

  That person walked with a light and heavy step to the bedside, getting closer and closer. Suddenly, the light in front of his eyes moved, and that hand had already reached out to lift the quilt! Cai Ying's heartbeat became a straight line, but saw that the hand did not lift again. Suddenly, he heard the person in front of him shout loudly: "Xiao Yi, pay respects with wine!"

  This almost made Cai Ying furious to death, and she nearly spat out a mouthful of blood: "This is a matter of life and death, and he's still thinking about drinking wine!"

  It was immediately clear that something was amiss, as a commotion erupted on the roof, with water splashing everywhere. A loud voice rang out, "By order of the Magistrate, I offer fine wine to all relatives and friends who have come to celebrate the wedding!" Following this, there was a great clamor from the four corners of the walls, with countless footsteps echoing from the eaves, but not one person dared to curse. Instead, they pinched their noses and called out "Thanks for the Magistrate's wine!" "Thanks for Brother Gao's wine!", before gradually dispersing in disarray.

  Cai Ying found it interesting and couldn't help but burst out laughing, originally the official had expected that these people were not good intentioned, pretending to say something about dispersing early, in fact they all hid around the four sides waiting to eavesdrop on the bridal chamber, if some private matters were overheard, it would be shameful.

  He arranged for his men to pour wine on the people from the roof and around, and gave it a nice name "Respectful Wine", but it's really hard to express the bitterness!

  Just after this laugh, Cai Ying's heart suddenly became nervous again: Before her mother left, she repeatedly reminded her that the Cai family was a prestigious and cultured one, where poetry and etiquette were passed down through generations. A daughter who married out must be careful to follow etiquette and not make any mistakes, especially at the moment when the groom lifts the veil, which would affect his first impression of her. She had been warned to be dignified and serious, but now she had actually been made to laugh by him! What was she to do?!

  At that moment, a bright light suddenly appeared in front of her eyes, and the big red cover had been lifted! The sudden brightness made her involuntarily lower her eyelids, using her long eyelashes to filter out the light entering her eyes. She had already caught a glimpse of a pair of brocade boots standing right in front of her.

  Look up, look at him. Mother said that once the official lifts his veil, it's up to oneself to serve the official. What else was there? Oh dear, just now, with this one smile and nervousness, how many times I've repeated in my heart have all been thrown into the abyss!

  Although he was drunk, he found it interesting to look at her. Just then, he heard Miss Cai let out a crisp laugh, and suddenly felt a few more points of affection for her in his heart. He raised his hand and lifted the veil, revealing a beautiful woman with a phoenix coronet and a cloud-patterned hairpin sitting in front of him. Her features were exquisitely delicate, and under her elaborate makeup, she looked as lovely as a heavenly fairy. At this moment, she was lowering her blushing face, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, not even daring to lift her eyelids. He had already drunk quite a bit of wine, and now, having just successfully teased the people who were making a ruckus in the bridal chamber, he was feeling extremely pleased with himself. Seeing that his new wife was "not disappointing" and was a great beauty, he felt extremely delighted in his heart. He turned around and sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her left hand up, smiling and looking at her profile, drawing out his voice to say: "Wife..."

  This gentle call seemed to wake up the sleeping beauty, Cai Ying was like a dream just waking up, hastily got up from bed and made a curtsy: "I have seen you, sir, I will help you change your clothes and rest, also, you drank a lot of wine, I'll go get you some hot tea...and, I must let you enjoy yourself, don't be restrained...ah, mistake!" But it was a momentary slip of the tongue, she had just remembered her mother's words from before and blurted them all out, immediately becoming so embarrassed that her face turned bright red, wishing she could find a hole in the ground to hide in.

  At first, Gao was taken aback, but then he understood and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Originally, he had some reservations about consummating the marriage with a woman he had never met before, but now he let go of all his worries. He found this lively beauty who could get nervous and make mistakes truly lovable, completely unlike the virtuous and gentle lady he had imagined her to be.

  He added strength to his hand, pulled Cai Ying up and sat her beside him. He immediately stretched out his hand to hold her waist and said with a sly smile: "Don't be in a hurry, my wife. Let's talk about some private matters first."

  Cai Ying was pulled and held by him, her originally red face turned even redder to the back of her ears. Upon hearing the teasing tone in his words, she became so anxious that she almost cried out loud, thinking that this was the end, if the official took herself as that kind of promiscuous woman, she would probably not be able to hold her head up for the rest of her life!

  At that time, I didn't know what to do, so I had to hang my head and listen to Gao Qiang's arrangements. Suddenly, I don't know where it came from, I raised my head and stared at Gao Qiang's young face, trying hard to put on a pretty face and said: "Sir, is there anything you'd like to say?"

  Gao Jian was taken aback, just a moment ago she was still a shy and lovely girl, how did she suddenly become so serious? He immediately understood that for women of their status, romantic love came second to the education they received since childhood, which emphasized hierarchy, etiquette, and propriety. On their wedding night, such playful teasing was definitely unacceptable, and he might have thought himself inferior to her.

  He sat down properly and said to Cai Ying in a theatrical tone, "My lady, the spring night is short, let's get some rest!" Since you want to play it this way, I'll just go along with it.

  Then the two of them, like they were going through the motions, had Cai Ying clumsily serve Gao Qiang as he changed clothes. Afterwards, she also removed her own makeup and hairpins, following her mother's instructions to place her own clothes on top of Gao Qiang's, secretly hiding a white handkerchief, quietly crawling onto the bed, closing her eyes and lying down beside Gao Qiang.

  If the other party was an ordinary man, what would happen next could be guessed with one's toes. But Cai Xiaojie closed her eyes and waited for half a day, yet she didn't wait for any movement!

  She was astonished, and couldn't help but slightly open her eyes to take a peek, only to see that smiling face less than a foot away from her! The shock was not small, she quickly closed her eyelids again, but her heart began to beat wildly out of control.

  In front of him, the beautiful figure under the white dress was trembling with fear, and even he couldn't help but feel his heart racing. He forced a smile and said, "My dear wife, what should we do now?"

  Cai Ying was taken aback and opened her eyes, saying: "Sir, what do you mean by this?"

  "Just now my wife said rest, so I'll rest," Gao Qiang said, his heart racing again at the flush of red that rose to her cheeks at the words "my husband", "Is there anything else you'd like to instruct?"

  Cai Ying still didn't understand what was going on and asked again, "How can you mention the word 'order'? Serving the official is my duty."

  "In that case, then next I'll just have to listen to my husband, huh?"

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