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Chapter 63.2: Keep Up Ok? Husband~
Xiaoqi pulled the beautiful missus to the table to sit, then personally poured tea for her. She blinked her eyes, then asked, “Mom, why are you here?”
“Because I miss you, obviously. That’s right, does your mother-in-law treat you well? She seems like quite a candid person.”
“Really well. She treats me as well as mom treats me.” Xiaoqi lowered her head and was silent for a while before saying, “Mom, Husband does like me.”
The beautiful missus rubbed the corners of her eyes and laughed, “Mom knows ah. If he didn’t like you, there was no way Mom would have let him marry Mom’s precious darling.”
Xiaoqi smiled with closed lips. She studied her fingers as she said, “Mom, I’m getting ready to return.”
The beautiful missus pinched Xiaoqi’s cheek fat and knitted her brows. “What happened? You’re not happy? The surnamed Song doesn’t treat you well anymore?”
Xiaoqi shook her head. Lifting her eyes, she said, “Mom, he said he likes me. I also like him. But there’s still another person that wanted to be his wife. I can’t beat that person. I’m a little scared of her. I want to return first and let Husband come find me.”
Xiaoqi smiled then said, “Mom, since Husband said he likes me, I believe he’ll come searching for me. That way, I’ll also feel like everything is fixed. Husband would have also pursued me once. Hehe, otherwise, wouldn’t it be such a loss?”
The beautiful missus lifted Xiaoqi’s face as she examined her. “You’ve gotten skinnier, you’ve still received grievances after all. Qi er ah, if you’ve figured it out, then it’s good. Mom also won’t ask you about what happened before. Mom believes that Song Liangzhuo with his personality also wouldn’t dare to do anything terrible. Whatever Qi er wants to do, just do as you wish. Mom definitely won’t stop you. Just one thing. Since you’ve ascertained your own heart, then don’t hide and duck anymore. Even if you leave, you still have to let him know what you’re thinking. When wavering between whether to love or not, people always feel a little sick at heart. But the truth is, you really can’t fault people for being first or being second. In those two years, Xiaoqi was also very happy for a long time, wasn’t it so?”
The beautiful missus pulled Xiaoqi to her front and pressed her head against her forehead as she said, “After you pursue him too long, you’ll feel tired. But once you’ve managed to obtain what you want, then these feelings of tiredness mean nothing. Hearing what Xiaoqi said, Mom knows that Xiaoqi has thought everything through repeatedly and clearly. Mom just said so, right? My family’s Qi er is the smartest! But if that other woman pursues tightly, for Qi er to run away first is also good. ‘Advance through a retreat’, hehe. We won’t meet force with force, and still win clean and prettily.”
Xiaoqi nestled in the beautiful missus’s arms like a spoiled child. After whispering for half the day, she finally licked her lips shyly, and said, “I want to shake off the bad green plum with this plan. Heehee, I’ll trick Husband away, then come back after giving birth to a fat little baby. Mom, don’t tell Husband, ok?”
The beautiful missus laughed softly as she rocked gently while hugging Xiaoqi. Only after a long while did she say, “QiI ah, you’ve definitely eaten bitter bones, it seems you’ve grown quite a lot. Haa, really shouldn’t have let you come to Ruzhou by yourself.”
Xiaoqi flattened her mouth as she lifted her head. “Mom ah, in the future, I won’t let Mom worry anymore.”
The beautiful missus felt heartache as she stroked Xiaoqi’s cheek. She sighed, then asked, “When are you planning on leaving?”
Xiaoqi stuck out her tongue. “Let’s see when’s a good timing. I want to stay with Husband for a couple more days.”
The beautiful missus continuously sighed. Pinching Xiaoqi’s chin that had gotten a little sharper again, she felt uncontrollable heartache.
The wedding ceremony was very lively. Even when a person that shouldn’t have come arrived, it was still lively.
Zixiao had also arrived in a rich attire and her appearance, when compared to Xiaoqi’s, could only be described as stronger. Because people are free to come and stay during days of big festivities, the Song fu couldn’t very well block a guest. Mother Song also had her own backup plans. If Zixiao tried something new again, she planned to directly expose her scars from being exchanged through multiple aristocrats’ hands and openly break dealing with the Lin fu in front of everyone. This way, it’d also prevent this person from wandering around near the Song fu again.
Zixiao and Master Lin’s seats were arranged to be in a place towards the back to the side, but it wasn’t as bad as to be at the very corner. If a conflict suddenly arose, it would also be easy to control.
Ruoshui had given herself the title of maid of honor and was dressed gorgeously to the point that looking at her seemed like a lovely scene of blossoming plants swaying in the breeze. She followed Xiaoqi to the hall. Because there was the matchmaker to the left and Song Liangzhuo’s sister, Xinyue, to the right supporting Xiaoqi, no matter which side Ruoshui stood, she was still conspicuously superfluous. When she saw Liu Hengzhi, she decisively decided to abandon Xiaoqi and sat down directly next to Liu Hengzhi.
The wedding ceremony this time counted as perfectly complete. The parents from both sides of the family were present and a large amount of guests were also invited. It was much livelier than last time by so many multiples. Xiaoqi’s little hand that was in Song Liangzhuo’s palm became slightly sweaty from the nervousness.
Song Liangzhuo leaned over to whisper softly, “Don’t be nervous, they’re all people we know well.”
Liu Hengzhi laughed and called out, “Ooooh, this isn’t the time to whisper sweet nothings yet. Hurry and finish the ceremony, then whisper all you want once you enter the bridal chamber!”
The guests burst out in laughter. Song Liangzhuo also hooked his lips and chuckled. His gaze moved around. When it swept across Lin Zixiao and met with her eyes that could be said to be very filled with emotion, it didn’t even stop for a second before it moved away.
Song Liangzhuo answered respectfully ‘yes’ under the master of ceremonies’ prompting, then moved in accordance with Xiaoqi to bow and make their salutations. When it came time for the husband and wife to bow to each other, Xiaoqi was a bit out of it. Only when Song Liangzhuo had already bowed did she hastily bend her waist and bow, causing her to knock right into Song Liangzhuo’s lifting head.
Because Xiaoqi moved too fast, she knocked herself a bit dazed. Song Liangzhuo instantly wrapped a hand around the back of her head and the other hand around her waist the moment she knocked into him. This subconscious movement provoked another round of laughter from the ceremony hall.
Song Liangzhuo carried Xiaoqi into the bridal room. Qiu Tong had already been waiting at the entrance of the bridal chamber and when she saw the groom approach while carrying the bride, she hurriedly led the girl relatives of the ‘more sons, the more happiness’ Song family in first. (aka, they had to get distant female relatives because the Song family is generally male dominated)
The girls scattered jujubes, lotus seeds, peanuts, and dried longans on the bed as they chanted things like ‘more sons, more grandsons’, and ‘happiness and longevity’.
Xiaoqi found it curiously new as she listened and sneakily tried to lift a corner of her veil to peak. However, Song Liangzhuo lowered his head and blocked her sight with the side of his face.
“It’s not good to take off your veil right now.”
“Hehe, I want to look a little.” Xiaoqi kicked her feet as she laughed sweetly.
“You can look a little later.” Song Liangzhuo’s voice was gentle.
The girls seemed surprised that the groom and the bride had already started chatting on their own and hurried to finish up their duties. When they turned back though, there would be a trace of an ambiguous smile on their faces.
Song Liangzhuo’s face was a little flushed with embarrassment. He picked up Xiaoqi and placed her next to the bed. After standing for a little while, he said, “Xiaoqi should sit here for a while first. I’ll come back as soon as possible.”
Xiaoqi lifted her head. Her face separated from his by a veil, she said, “Husband, can you not go?” She saw someone she shouldn’t have seen earlier so she didn’t feel that well.
Song Liangzhuo looked at Qiu Tong. Qiu Tong tactfully led the other people and withdrew.
Song Liangzhuo sat down next to Xiaoqi and clasped her little hands that wanted to lift the veil again. He said with a smile, “No matter what, I have to make an appearance. Otherwise, Hengzhi and the others will definitely come over to disturb the privacy of the bridal room*.”
Chinese custom where guests banter with and play pranks on the newlyweds
Xiaoqi swayed her head, causing the tassels on her veil to sway back and forth in an extremely pretty sight. Song Liangzhuo supported the back of her head and rubbed her forehead. “Does it hurt?”
“Aiyah, it hurts a lot so Husband should just stay in here. I’m sleepy, I want to sleep. My head was knocked into paste.” Xiaoqi rubbed her head against Song Liangzhuo’s chest.T/N
Song Liangzhuo smiled for a while, then pinched her hand and said, “Just a little while. I’ll just make a brief appearance, then head back right away.”
In reality, Xiaoqi still felt like she was taking a loss in this wedding. Because even though the wedding ceremony was lively, she couldn’t see anything beneath her veil. Xiaoqi thought, why didn’t the grooms need to cover their heads with a veil?T/N2 If it was Song Liangzhuo that was covered by a veil and she was the one that headed over to lead him by the hand, she would be able to take advantage of the opportunity to look her fill. It seems like there were a lot of rare toys exhibited in the hall. Wonder if they’ll still be there tomorrow?
Xiaoqi lifted a corner of the veil a tiny bit and smiled after seeing the decorations in the room. It was much prettier than the time she remembered. There was actually two big fat porcelain dolls wearing red dudous(stomach covers, more info here) on the table. They were treading on lotus leaves and clapping their chubby little hands. It was really cute.
Xiaoqi was just about to get up to look at it more closely when Ruoshui burst in through the door. Hugging Xiaoqi’s arm, she dragged her back to the bed and also rolled on the bed a little before picking up the fruits on the bed and laughing. “Liu Hengzhi sent me to come immerse in the fortuitous air a little. Hehe, I’m going to take a little of each ok? You’re not allowed to tell, alright?”
“Hey, you’re not allowed to take too much. These are blessings that other people gave me.” Xiaoqi went to pry apart Ruoshui’s hands but Ruoshui hurriedly grabbed another bunch and shoved it inside her chest.
Ruoshui slapped Xiaoqi’s hand away and pouted. “Stingy little miser. I only took a little!”
Xiaoqi pouted. “When you get married, I’m also going to snatch some!”
Ruoshui ate a dried longan as she shrugged. “I’ll have Liu Hengzhi pile up an entire bedful, heehee, so you can snatch all you want.”
Xiaoqi imagined a wedding bed piled full of longans, peanuts and lotus seeds. On top, there was even a Ruoshui who was sitting and shrugging with a sinister smile. She felt like the part of her head that she bumped just now was starting to hurt again with pangs.
Song Liangzhuo had just arrived when Liu Hengzhi started to shout, “The bridegroom official has finally come ah! Hiding in there for so long, penalty drink!”
Song Liangzhuo smiled faintly as he walked over. Taking a wine cup from the ceremony official, he first toasted the beautiful missus and Old Man Qian. Then after selecting a couple of important tables and walking through them, he feigned drunkenness and leaned against Liu Hengzhi as he said in a low voice, “Help urge them to drink* in my place, I’ll leave first.”
It’s part of the groom’s duty in a traditional Chinese wedding.
Liu Hengzhi winked. “There’s a knife on top of the character for lust!” (b/c lust(色) and knife(刀))
Song Liangzhuo just slightly hooked his mouth. His lips didn’t seem to move but a sentence drifted easily out of his mouth. “Then are you hoping that it would be unpeaceful when you and Ruoshui meimei enters the bridal chamber?”
Liu Hengzhi wrinkled his face pitifully. He and Song Liangzhuo were naturally different. This guy is getting married again, but his is the first marriage. He hadn’t even taken a little bit of advantage at all. If Song Liangzhuo really poured him drunk during his wedding reception, then the bridal room and ornamented candles he had been looking forward to for so many years would be done for.
Liu Hengzhi supported Song Liangzhuo and walked towards the corner. When they encountered people they knew, he would just laugh as he pointed at the stumbling Song Liangzhuo and said, “He got drunk, haha, I’m bringing him to splash some cold water. When he gets back he’ll continue pouring the drinks.”
Liu Hengzhi helped Song Liangzhuo out of the lobby, then released his hands and shook them out disdainfully. “A nobleman won’t bicker with a lowly person. Considering Madam Sister-in-Law and Ruoshui’s relationship, I’ll forgive you this one time.”
Song Liangzhuo didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids to look at him and undulated towards the back courtyard.
__________
Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Ocelot
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
T/N – with all those tassels and stuff holding up the veil, when Xiaoqi rubs her head in Song Liangzhuo’s chest (unless she’s doing it really gently and Song Liangzhuo’s wedding attire is super thick) it must be painful…
T/N2 – lol, I looked at one of the images of a couple in traditional Chinese wedding clothing and the guy was not good looking… I was like, if only he had a veil as well…
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Thank you so much for the chapter and for the explanation!! 😊
full charge to the bridal chamber
thank you for providing the explanation, learned something new