Chapter 212 - Wedding Night
Chapter 212 Wedding Night
It looked like Madame Dou Junior was joking, but actually what she said was rather mean.
Having a boy in a year meant that she needed to get pregnant months after she was married. Who could be sure of this kind of thing?
Even if she had gotten pregnant, what if it was a girl?
She was clearly telling that to Qiu Yelan to make her feel miserable. She was talking about the child when Qiu Yelan hadn’t even had consummation. If it had indeed been a new bride who was just sixteen, she would have been panicking.
“Want to prevail over me from the very first encounter?” Qiu Yelan snorted coldly in her heart. She curled up her lips and put on a coy and soft smile, ” This sister-in-law, how can I take that? No matter Jiang Yashuang or I, we are still young, what honor do we have to let God give us such luck?”
“So, you’re saying He Shuijin was lying?” Madame Dou Junior blinked her eyes. She looked at He Shuijin with a faint smile, “Then you’re breaking your sister-in-law’s heart. And the heart of uncle and aunt…”
I knew you would say that!
Qiu Yelan deepened her smile. She said slowly, “I didn’t finish what I said. Don’t you think the rain today is that God is looking after the Jiang Family? Jiang Yashuang and I are just benefiting from the luck of our family.”
“Exactly!” He Shuijin just smoothed things over for Madame Tao before. She didn’t think that the first branch would just use it to stir up their relationship. It was not only the womenfolk of the Jiang Family in the Flower Hall. There were a lot of relatives. They could all be counted as family, but there were too many of them. Some of them would babble.
On the big day of the grandchild of the Jiang Family, He Shuijin publicly disgraced the Empress… Even if it had not been the time of the Crown Prince fight, it wouldn’t have sounded nice if the word had gotten out.
Let alone He Shuijin had a special status among the daughters-in-law in the Jiang Family. Before she was married, she took charge of the ledger of Marquess Qin’s branch. Even though she wasn’t going to despise other people, she didn’t have a sense of fear for Madame Dou Junior! She didn’t show her emotions on her face, but she was furious in her heart. Seeing the opportunity, she immediately took over, “The child she will give birth is still the Jiang Family’s bloodline. In the end, it’s all the blessing on the Jiang Family! Like you, after you married into the family, you had Xu’er in the first year. It was indeed blessed by our ancestors!”
Qiu Yelan squinted at Madame Dou Junior. She thought that no wonder Madame Dou Junior used the having-a-boy matter as a raft. She had a boy when she was married. Because she didn’t know Madame Dou Junior very well and she was just married today, so she didn’t want to seem too aggressive. She only changed the topic of Madame Dou Junior.
But He Shuijin didn’t have these concerns, “Besides Xu’er, you only had two daughters. Zhi’er, Hao’er, and Yi are all not your children. Are you saying those mistresses are more blessed than you? So, we can see, this is really not about the luck of us. It’s the luck of the Jiang Family!”
Seeing how Madame Dou Junior instantly straightened her face, she smiled shiningly, “Right?”
“We are talking too much and forgetting to introduce everyone to Yelan.” Seeing the atmosphere getting intense in the room, Madame Tao Junior sighed inside her heart and came forward to smooth the situation, “Yelan still called our big sister-in-law ‘this sister-in-law’! Come, I’ll tell you about the wives, sisters, and nieces…”
There weren’t many daughters-in-law here. Because even though they had Madame Tao and Madame Ou leading the wife of Jiang Tianqi with the guests, they still needed some younger daughters-in-law to run some errands.
Madame Tao Junior introduced everyone who was there according to their age. Besides Sheng Shishui, Qiu Yelan only knew Madame Zhuang Junior. She was Zhuang Man’s sister and Jiang Yahong’s wife.
As for the sisters, Jiang Qizheng was naturally there. She was frowning and looking at Madame Dou Junior with an unhappy look.
This was the first time Qiu Yelan met the others. After being mentioned by Madame Tao Junior, they greeted Qiu Yelan with different attitudes. Some were close and some felt distant. To Qiu Yelan’s surprise, she thought the fourth branch only had four children, three legitimate and one illegitimate. But there was Jiang Qilai who ranked the ninth. She had gorgeous clothes and accessories and she looked elegant and graceful. Standing with Jiang Qizheng, she didn’t look like an illegitimate daughter, especially not of the fourth branch!
“That’s odd. Jiang Yashuang never mentioned her to me.” Qiu Yelan thought in her heart, “According to He Shuijin, my mother-in-law Madame Zhuang was easy to get jealous. Even though she and Jiang Yazhu are far apart, she still made his life difficult. This Jiang Qilai doesn’t look like she was suppressed. Is it because she is a girl?”
After introducing the whole room with witty language, Madame Tao Junior did smooth the air. At the same time, Madame Tao also heard the news that Madame Dou Junior made things difficult for Qiu Yelan, so she quickly sent someone over, “The Mesdames said that there were too many people coming to congratulate Jiang Yashuang and Qiu Yelan. They don’t have enough people there to help. They need more people there!”
She then said, “The Mesdames understand and sympathize with the ladies. They have asked the kitchen to make some dishes that you like. They also asked Miss Sun to accompany you to attend the dinner!”
Madame Dou Junior frowned. As the eldest daughter-in-law in the grandchild generation, she needed to help. But He Shuijin’s words really made her furious. She was not satisfied to leave now. So, she hinted at her daughter Jiang Huizhi.
Jiang Huizhi was already fifteen years old. She could understand what her mother meant. She said, “If we all leave, then aren’t we leaving sister-in-law alone here?”
“That would be better. Give her some time to relax.” He Shuijin said calmly, “Didn’t you see she is already sweating because of all the jewelry on her head? If we stay here, she can’t even tidy herself up!”
After saying that, she held Jiang Qizheng’s arm and walked outside, “Let’s go. We’re staying here and they are all busy outside! Now they are sending someone to call us. If we are late, maybe they’ll say we are loafing!”
When she left, most of the people followed. Seeing Madame Dou Junior was still looking angry, Madame Zhuang Junior went over to her and said quietly, “Today is their big day after all. Why do you have to make this difficult? Huizhi is no longer a kid. She’s about to get married. What if Qiu Yelan remembers this and gets back at you?”
“Let’s go!” Madame Dou Junior swallowed the anger. She said while biting her lips.
After everyone left, Qiu Yelan found out that this room was very spacious. No wonder with dozens of them and their servants in the room, it wasn’t too crowded.
She looked at the furniture in the room. With Jiang Yashuang’s status in the Jiang Family, the room for his wedding was magnificent. It had carved beams and painted rafters, and was decorated with resplendent jewelry.
“I wonder what the yard looks like?” Qiu Yelan’s face was covered by the veil when she came in. She had grabbed a piece of silk and followed the lead. She didn’t know where she had been through. Now seeing everyone is gone, she was only with her maid, so she stood up and wanted to look outside the window to see where she was going to leave from now on. Yet she just stood up, the maids who saw her asked her nervously what she wanted.
Knowing that she just wanted to see the yard, Su He and others all felt funny, “The yard was well decorated. It’s delicate. But now it’s too late. You can’t see it clearly even with light. You can see it tomorrow. Please just sit tight and wait for the young master to come!”
She couldn’t persuade them, so Qiu Yelan just sat on the bed wearing all the heavy clothes. When she was about to fall asleep, Jiang Yashuang finally came back. When he entered the door, a strong smell of alcohol came with him.
“They all kept me busy at the dinner table. So, Jiang Yadan just poured some wine on me. I pretended to be drunk so I got out!” He closed the door when he came in. He explained quietly, “I’ll go take a bath and change the clothes. If you’re tired, just take off the crown and other things. No one will show up from now on!”
Qiu Yelan exhaled a long breath. When he went to the bathroom, she said hurriedly, “Take this off me! My neck is going to break!”
“You can’t say such things today!” Chunran and Xiaran stopped her simultaneously. They removed her make-up, took off her crown, and put her in usual clothes, “Should we ask someone to get some water, so you can take a bath behind the screen? Otherwise, it would be too late if you go to the bathroom after the young master!”
Qiu Yelan rubbed on her sore neck, shoulders, and arms. She nodded hurriedly.
They finished almost at the same time. Qiu Yelan strapped up her bellyband with Su He’s help. She was torn looking at the coat that was as thin as the wing of a cicada. Then the door was pushed open. Jiang Yashuang who was wearing a robe with wide sleeves came in. His dark hair was let loose.
“You can go.” His pupils shrank and he ordered quietly, after seeing her. Under the red curtain, Qiu Yelan leaned on the bed. Her skin was like white snow and her black hair was like a cascade. She was blushing after taking a hot bath. Her face was gorgeous like a begonia.
Su He and the others took the order. Su He tucked the thin robe in Qiu Yelan’s hand. They left quickly.
They were the only two left in the room. Even though they were used to being alone, but when it came to the wedding day, they strangely felt surreal.
After dazing for a while, Jiang Yashuang coughed lightly and broke the silence, “Are you hungry?”
“I had some dim sum before bath.” Qiu Yelan puckered her lips. She said a bit awkwardly holding the robe. She naturally felt uncomfortable in this scene.
“Are you nervous?” Jiang Yashuang hardly ever heard her talking in such a small volume. He smiled. He walked behind the curtains and took down the hook. He took over the robe she was holding. “We have been alone before. I’ll put this on the shelf for you!”
Qiu Yelan wanted to say something, but she couldn’t find the right topic. She subconsciously held on to the robe, “Wait!”
Jiang Yashuang was dazed, “What?”
“I…” Qiu Yelan tried her best to find a topic, “When Madame Tao Junior was introducing everyone to me. She mentioned that Jiang Qilai was also in our branch. Why haven’t you mention it before?”
“She was married when I was young. I never really know her. We’re not familiar.” Jiang Yashuang explained, “And we never mentioned her. So, I didn’t talk about it specifically.”
Qiu Yelan said, “Oh, I see. She looked really elegant. Who is her husband?”
“Her husband works in the Ministry of Revenue. But her father-in-law is the Minister of the Ministry of War. He is the direct boss of our third uncle.” Jiang Yashuang pulled the robe again. Seeing her holding it tightly, he felt funny, “We’re about to go to bed. Why are you still holding the robe?”
“I feel cold…” Feeling like he didn’t want to continue the topic of Jiang Qilai, Qiu Yelan continued, “I’ll put that on. By the way, your sister is a couple of years older than you. Does she have children?” While talking, she took up the coat shakingly and decided to wear it. She then saw Jiang Yashuang dazing. His smile deepened. In the end, he couldn’t hold it but start laughing, “You’re so feisty in normal days. Now you’re scared?”
She froze halfway. She acted nonchalantly and said, “No. I’m just… Um, I want to know about your family. So tomorrow when we go serve the tea, I won’t say anything wrong.”
Jiang Yashuang was laughing so hard that he almost fell, “We’re serving tea to our own family tomorrow. I’m the youngest grandchildren. All of my sisters are married. Why will they be here tomorrow?”
“…” Qiu Yelan fell silent. She then said, “The girl who was wearing a pink dress that had red flower embroidery was quite cute. I think she’s your niece? How old is she? Is she engaged? What does she like?”
“So, you’re going to ask me about everyone you saw and go straight to serve the tea when it’s dawn?” Jiang Yashuang pointed on her pink cheeks. His fingers went down and stopped on her collar bone. He said with a smile, “Tonight is important for us. Do you think I have the mood to introduce my family to you?”
Qiu Yelan’s cheeks went red. She tried to stay calm and said, “I just think we need to talk first…”
“We can talk whenever we want during the daytime!” Jiang Yashuang grabbed her hands that were trying to push him away with a faint smile, “And you have already wasted some time talking…”
“Um!” Qiu Yelan wanted to stall for more time, but Jiang Yashuang had already kissed her eagerly. After a while, Qiu Yelan who lost all her strength was pressed on the red quilt behind her.
The sound of the banquet and drizzle outside the window made the room seem even quieter.
On the long table with carvings and gilding, a pair of wedding candles were burning. The light cast the shadows of the two people which tangled behind the red curtain.