[Chapter t.i.tle: Crossing the Threshold
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Even though Jiahui"s dragging out of the matter has earned her the t.i.tle of the oldest bachelorette in the capital, and even though her younger brother"s wife has a bun in the oven while her own marriage is just now being confirmed, she"s still immensely proud of all this, her tail raising high up into the sky.
She opened the carriage"s curtain and pointed to a house with a courtyard that was being built not too far away. “There, Yu Yixiang!” she called, brows raised as she sighed. “That"s the Estate I"m going to live in someday!”
Zhongli Luo can"t live with the Rong family her whole life, after all, so getting her own Estate is still necessary. It"s not even finished yet and Jiahui is already itching to go live in it.
Yu Yixiang sighed. “I get it already. You say that every time we pa.s.s through here. I"m going to get calluses in my ears at this rate. You need to calm down. Sister Yang became a Prince"s wife and even she wasn"t as smug as you are.”
“Is that the same thing?” said Jiahui. “There isn"t anyone who doesn"t know that the Grand Empress Dowager loves Sister Yang a lot. She was destined to be a Prince"s wife the moment she was born, it was just a matter of which Prince was going to be lucky enough. As for me, I wasn"t destined to be a Marchioness. Moreover, I"m getting so old, yet I"m finally able to marry, so I"m a bit happy is all. What are you stopping me for?”
Yixiang propped up her face. “Fine. You"re super happy, having waited impatiently for so many years and now you get to part the clouds to see the moon at long last. As I recall, Sister Wen is only a year older than you, and she has a child that can run and talk. Oi, I don"t know where this cousin of mine"s gone… you being so lovestruck is going to sicken me to death.”
“This isn"t a ‘beauty in the eye of the beholder" thing. Anytime I saw her, I couldn"t pick out a single flaw, aside from the fact that she didn"t stay by my side. Though, after she ran off over there, I just followed after her. Staying at home was boring, anyways, and who knows? Maybe I could kill a few Xirong.”
Yixiang gave her a reproachful look. “You really are just a girl. You"re over twenty now yet you"re the same as always, loving to say a lot of c.r.a.p.”
“And aren"t you the same as always, knowing that I say a lot of c.r.a.p yet forever taking me so seriously?”
She"d just finished speaking when they found that the carriage unexpectedly stopped. Jiahui hurried lifted the curtain to ask, “What is it? What"s happened?”
The coachman pointed ahead, perplexion on his face. “Young Mistress, we"ve met with the Nanping Countess"s carriage.”
This road isn"t too wide, so one of the two groups will have to move aside to make room. Jiahui never would have stepped aside for this, and that would be even moreso for that old Xiao family, especially those arrogant, nose-in-the-air, preciously-spoiled Countesses of Prince Ning"s Estate.
Yu Yixiang is well aware that her cousin can"t stand the Nanping Countess at all, and, for fear that they"d fight, quickly went up and tugged Jiahui"s hand. “You"re about to be a new bride, Rong Jiahui. You mustn"t start things with others.”
“Who do you think I am?” Jiahui asks. “How could I dare to start something with a Nanping Countess?”
With that, she said to the driver, “Let the Countess go first, coachman. Everything"s been going belly-up for her these few years, so let"s give her a little bit of favor now. Just a little.”
Jiahui"s words were truly anger-inducing. Yixiang didn"t know if the Countess could hear her, but when she thought of the look that would be on that haughty Xiao Wenyan"s face, she can"t help but smile.
After the Xiao family"s carriage pa.s.sed, Yixiang pulled Jiahui into a proper sitting position. “Ah, you… still a pot to call the kettle black. You"re a few years older than her, yet you"re being so bullish.”‘
“I know, I know,” says Jiahui, “you"re really naggy. You get more like an old mother the older you get. You should have a kid already so you can be a proper old mother.”
Yixiang can"t keep from sighing at that. “I think so too, but something like this can"t be rushed.”
Following her bowing her head in thought, she once again looked towards Jiahui and prompted, “You may as well have a big clutch of them and pick one for me to adopt later.”
Jiahui quietly rolled her eyes. “You have so many younger sisters in your own family. Go look for them for that and don"t bother me.”
Yixiang"s lips pursed and she didn"t pursue the subject.
Wedding clothes are very difficult to embroider. For the clothes in her last life, she had only added a few st.i.tches to her in-laws" and husband"s clothes because she found it too troublesome. It"s not like every rich Young Miss is a good embroiderer, and people whose job this is can be found everywhere. Jiahui isn"t a hardworking one and would naturally steal the chance to be lazy like everyone else, but this time around, she"s firmly decided on doing it herself.
After Bai Lu poured tea for her as she was embroidering by lanternlight in the middle of the night, she spoke to her with some concern. “Young Mistress, it"s still so early for this. It"s okay if you don"t finish embroidering, you should take a rest.”
Jiahui shook her head. “I won"t be able to rest easy if it"s not finished.”
These eight years, in her opinion, have been just like a dream. As of recent, she"s constantly dreaming about her past life that she had almost completely forgotten. The feeling of being the person in the dream is always so real, and the realness… is making her a little scared.
The increasingly nearing lucky day has the dread in her heart growing deeper and deeper. When she"s not thinking that this is all a dream, she feels like she"s going to bungle the wedding ceremony, so much so that she"s worried that Zhongli Luo will abruptly change her mind and think that she"s a little woman who needs a big man, and then she"ll abandon her at the altar and slip off into the night with some feral male that came from G.o.d-knows-where. Were that true, it would be a book that really wouldn"t be read much, and reading it would make her quickly want to seal it away like a demon. She doesn"t currently know that future generations would have a proper word for her circ.u.mstances.
[T/N: *props my leg up on the fourth wall* sup]
No matter how much she fretted, their wedding still came as scheduled.
Marriage has always been an extremely complicated matter, especially for those of the so-called aristocracy. Jiahui"s dowry is the same as her last life, with no less than 164 bearers carrying ten-li"s worth of bridal gifts. Her family isn"t the sort to be overly concerned with how they look to others and handle the dowry freely, with the hard effort of 80 bearers able to have the effect of 120, resulting in a decent amount of dignity while still being completely frivolous. If Rong Chen and Mrs. Yu were to emulated, then Jiahui"s dowry would need 200 bearers.
Her luxuriant dowry procession astonishes everyone and fills them with envy, with many of those of declining n.o.bility wringing their hands and sighing, yet they didn"t heckle this richling and instead joined the roar of the crowd. With this display, they thought it was a daughter of the royal family getting married, even if that wasn"t the case at all.
Jiahui was sitting cutely in the boudoir, neatly dressed with her makeup making her look like a ghost and a phoenix crown on top of her head that was about to break her neck from the weight.
She saw the group of bride escorts coming, and quickly told her little brother, “Behave. I know you have to look like it, but don"t actually block your brother-in-law, got it?! And don"t you dare hurt her, either, or your big sis is going to beat you to death.”
“Sis, this is supposed to be a happy day. What are you going all ‘death, death, death" for?” he replies. “Besides, how could I even block him? Take it easy.”
She sighed in relief at his obedience, then gave the maids a signal with her eyes. They understood, quickly handing her male cousins red envelopes that she had prepared, and she smiled towards them. “Cousins, these are some minor gifts of goodwill from me.”
At that, she glanced at Jiaze, who she"d just told off, with a look that plainly meant what she"d said before; don"t get in his way.
The men of the Yu family look at her powerlessly. She hasn"t even crossed the threshold of marriage yet and she"s already turned against her family. How is it going to be afterwards?!
Zhongli Luo has no close friends or family on her side, which lead to her having no option but to bring a few co-workers to help s.n.a.t.c.h the bride. Compared to the other side, it seems quite shabby.
They hadn"t even gotten close to the door before a group of maids blocked their way, stuffing up the doorway with happy smiles and clamoring for them to give them red envelopes. If they didn"t get any, they absolutely were not getting out of the way.
Thankfully, Zhongli Luo had prepared for this earlier on, and brought out a big red envelope in turn. The maids happily accepted it, pa.s.sing it out amongst themselves with satisfaction, and she sighed in relief.
Jiahui could faintly see the scene outside through the veil, and she smiled. Looks like her warning was effective, and she didn"t think about how obedient these d.a.m.n maids would be if she hadn"t beaten them beforehand.
Though they got past the barrier of maids, the rigidly-shut door is somewhat difficult to manage for Zhongli Luo"s group.
Following her is a long-since promoted fifth-rank Guerilla General Tan Jun, who bangs on the door and shouts, “Open up, open up! We"ve come to pick up the new bride.”
From within came Jiaze"s m.u.f.fled speech. “No! Someone"s coming to s.n.a.t.c.h my sister and I"m worried about who it is!”
“Hey,” Tan Jun said to Zhongli Luo, “This little brother-in-law you have is pretty fun.”
After that, he shouted, “Then I"ll ram it down!”
Jiaze rolled his eyes. “You can ram it and ram it, but my sister"s door is made of yellow rosewood. You break it and it"s a hundred gold liang!”
Hearing that, the other party stopped doing any sort of ramming action on the door in an instant. What kind of wood was this? He reached out and tried to comprehend this. How could the wood for this lousy door actually be worth so much coin? Is this kid just trying to scare him?
Zhongli Luo thought about it, then leaned in to whisper to him, “Let me pay for it if it breaks.”
He looked at her like he was seeing a ghost in broad daylight. Is this guy really saying something like that out loud?
He gave a big, toothy grin. “Very well!”
Just as he was about to smash it down, a gentle voice rang out from the gate. “Wait a moment.”
They looked behind them, then quickly cupped their hands in greeting. “Prince.”
The Blest Prince raised his hand in a gesture of dismissal, then stepped forward and clapped Zhongli Luo on the shoulder, who he had established a revolutionary friendship with in the Northwest. Giving her a big-brotherly look, he also went up to the door and knocked on it. “Greetings, little sister Jiahui. It"s your Sister Yang"s husband. Yu"er and you are like sisters to each other, and I"m married to her, so I could be considered a part of your maternal family. Let me come in so I can help you all deal with these guys as well.”
Jiahui can"t stop herself from cracking a smile. Who is he kidding? A three-year-old wouldn"t believe this.
Jiaze turned to give Jiahui a questioning look, seemingly asking her whether or not he should let the Prince in.
She nodded. “Go ahead, go ahead.”
She"s eager to see the Blest Prince"s evil plan succeed.
Jiaze"s brain doesn"t work well, and he didn"t react to the little scheme of the Blest Prince"s. Yet, upon seeing her impatience, he suddenly became alert and continued to guard the door like his life depended on it.
Jiahui became a little worried at this. “You brat, what aren"t you listening to your big sister? Why don"t you go be like your cousins?”
After the business with the red envelopes, the Yu family was now lazily sitting to the side and drinking tea.
Jiaze"s mouth twitched. “Sis, you"re my only sister. This"ll be the only time I can block a door like this in my life. Why can"t you let me have fun for a little bit?”
“Why did I not see you blocking your older cousins" door when they got married? You can block a younger one"s next time.”
As the two talked, Jiaze noticed that something had been stuffed under door. Upon careful examination, it was plainly a red envelope.
Jiaze couldn"t stop from grinning. “Could a young lord like myself be lacking for this bit of coin?”
Tan Jun, who was lying on his stomach to stuff the envelope in, was a bit sad now.
Jiaze thought about it, then continued, “I"ll allow it only if you stuff a few more under.”
His sister isn"t staying and her getting s.n.a.t.c.hed away was inevitable, in the long run. He might as well fish for a little cash first.
Seeing that more and more red envelopes were being stuffed under, he smiled from the bottom of his heart.
“That"s enough,” said Jiahui, “let them come in. Whenever you"re short of money, just get it directly from me.”
“Just a bit more,” he replied, “let"s wait for a few more. Let me earn a bit more money.”
Jiahui sighed. Is this kid poor or something?
Just as he stooped to scoop up the complete pile of red envelopes, those outside the door sensed the loophole and began to ram it again, and this time, the door opened by a lot. Jiaze quickly stood up to stop it, but how could his two fists be a match for all their hands? They still rushed inwards in the end.
Tan Jun saw him fall flat on his face and eat s.h.i.t [1], so he helped him up out of the kindness of his heart. “You joker,” he said, wiping the dust off his clothes, “give some of those envelopes to your older brothers.”
Jiaze promptly picked up each and every one of the envelopes and covered them tightly with his arms. “You think it"s so easy for this old man to h.o.a.rd money? Ever since I married, my money"s no longer my own. How could I give it to you?”
Tan Jun had heard him talk and thought he was 18-ish, but he looks like a 16-ish child, and is somewhat astonished at this. This young fellow is already married?
However, thinking of his own wife, he suddenly had some sympathy for Rong Jiaze.
He held the younger by the shoulders. “Come, little bro, let your big bro tell you the secret technique of keeping a hidden money stash.”
They went off to the side to discuss a few things about the subject, and Zhongli Luo finally stepped in. Yet… the bride who was supposed to be sitting on the bed, was not.
Jiahui had been really eager when Zhongli Luo hadn"t yet come in, but the thoughts of a girl are always full of twists and turns. Now, when she at last expected Zhongli Luo to enter, she started to get a little bashful and ran away with a red face to deliberately hide behind a screen.
Zhongli Luo noticed the silhouette showing through the cloth screen and couldn"t stop a chuckle from leaking out. It reminded her of the old story of .
She went right behind the screen, and before Jiahui could react, she picked her up by the waist.
“Hey! What do you think you"re doing, Zhongli?!” she cried out, her feet suddenly suspended in the air.
Zhongli Luo smiled. “I"m taking my new bride home.”
Jiahui pats her chest, barely managing to steady her heart. She felt at the phoenix crown that seemed like it weighed a ton, and upon ensuring that it hadn"t been displaced at all, let out a sigh of relief. Her lips pursed up as she whined to Zhongli Luo, “Put me down! I"m already heavy enough, and this thing on my head probably makes me like ten catties more. What if I fall because you"re making a scene? I don"t think I"ll be able to get back up.
Zhongli Luo doesn"t know what to do. This girl loves nothing more than to dump cold water on her at times like this.
The translator says: Wedding night soon. Ohonhon.
[1] The phrase was literally “fell over like a dog eating p.o.o.p (aka on his face).” How else was a I supposed to translate this LOL