Ink Burns

Chapter 111: Private errands

I don’t know whether it was Liu Huan’s intimidation that worked or the bribery that was more effective, but during the next two days of banquets, Qiu behaved much more normally.

On the second day, when the Xue family's wedding procession arrived in Songjiang, the entire alley became noisy and bustling.

Although the front yard is bustling, Shanyue always lives quietly in the backyard.

There were only a few red candles and lamps in the backyard.

All the servants of the Liu family went to the front yard to wait for orders, making the gloomy backyard look empty. The bright red color that was added as a perfunctory decoration was like the remaining blood that flowed out like a sign before the old house was about to fall.

The whole yard was filled with red camphorwood boxes, utensils were draped with red colored threads, clothes and cloth were fumigated with sandalwood, and broken silver was placed at the bottom of the boxes. Long and straight bamboo poles were specially propped up in the yard, and glazed green oilcloth was laid on them to prevent the dowry from getting wet by rain.

Qiu Tao was panicking: "They said that my son-in-law is coming, and Master Huan went to the city gate to welcome him, and specially invited the adults from Jinling Mansion to accompany him."

After saying that, he ran away, and came back in a panic: "Master Huan has booked a whole official post house for my son-in-law!"

Then he ran, and when he was done, he reported back: "The son-in-law is here! He has been given a feast! Everyone is running to see him! I don't dare to join in the fun, because everyone 'knows' that I come from the Xue family, so how can I go to see my own son's fun out of curiosity!"

Shan Yue: Very good. While trembling, Xiao Qiutou analyzed calmly. She has made much progress compared to Zhou Liniang who could only cry while looking at handsome men.

Qiu Tao added, "But everyone praised our son-in-law for his bright eyes, thin eyebrows, and beautiful appearance! - Miss Bozhu in the next room was hiding behind the screen, her handkerchief was almost torn to pieces, and when she looked into your room, her eyes were filled with hatred and anger!"

Shan Yue glanced sideways slightly, but did not show any emotion: whether Xue Xiao was a jade-faced parrot or a broad-faced horn eagle, it actually had little to do with her.

After hearing this, she inexplicably had another feeling: she felt that it was difficult to comment on worldly affairs, and that all mundane things were a bit absurd - she was a chess piece being manipulated at will, while the official girl who was cherished and raised like a treasure was inexplicably jealous of her whereabouts.
What a naive and shallow girl of heaven.

On the next morning, forty pieces of music for welcoming the bride started on time, with the sounds of sanxuan, suona and erhu interweaving together. As the journey to welcome the bride was too long, all the wedding ceremonies and wedding customs were put on an auspicious day in advance. In front of the old house of the Liu family, firecrackers were set off with a "crackling" sound. The younger generation of the Liu family symbolically asked for red envelopes and then opened the door.

The waiter was dressed in a bright red round-necked robe, a black gauze hat with flowers on his hair, a leather belt, and a red cloak. He pushed the door open with a calm expression.

Following behind him was none other than the new prefect, Bai Yusi, who had been competing fiercely with the Liu family for Songjiang Prefecture, but now had a gentle smile on his face.

The Liu family members were shocked, and felt that Xue Xiao was both vicious and evil: How could someone bring a political enemy from his mother's family as a groom when getting married? ?
The younger generation of the Liu family and the son-in-law did not dare to stop him. They asked a few simple questions about the eight-legged essay for official recruitment and then let him in.

Xue Xiao lifted his robe and kowtowed to Shan Yue's nominal father Liu Heping and mother Qiu. Qiu gave him a small red envelope, and Liu Heping spoke a lot at length: "The moral principles of human relations are to obey the will of heaven first, to obey the father's orders as the original principle, and to respect teachers and respect the way as the foundation. If one does not have these principles, he is even less than a bird, a pig, or an animal... A son-in-law must lead the young with words, set an example with actions, and be consistent in words and deeds, without burdening the king."

Basically it has nothing to do with marriage.

This pedantic old scholar who failed the imperial examination took this opportunity to denounce the "heretics" who had "no respect for their elders"!
I almost said it explicitly, you rotten thief, you don't respect your father, you don't respect your teacher, and yet you still hold a high position. I hope you will live up to the title in the future and don't make the saint work hard for you anymore!

If it weren't for Shan Yue, Liu Heping would never have the chance in his life to point at Xue Xiao's nose and criticize his words and deeds.

Xue Xiao lowered his head. When Liu Heping was about to quote from the classics, he lifted his robe with one hand, stood up calmly, glanced at the clock, and interrupted Liu Heping: "It's getting late, we should get going."

"It's time to hit the road," he said as if he was going to a funeral.

Liu Heping didn't dare to speak again, and Qiu started to make arrangements.

Shanyue had already put on her long-sleeved shirt, Juyi, lining, xiapei, horse-faced skirt, five-piai crown and embroidered shoes with jade pendants. Early in the morning, Grandma Liu returned to the Liu family and personally helped Shanyue with her facial makeup. She applied a thick layer of powder and rouge on her face, and her eyebrows were thick and black, and her lips were bright red.

It was in line with everyone's expectations of a newlywed: festive, lively, and silly. Qiu's eldest son carried Shanyue, who was covered with a red veil, on his back, out of the second door of the back house, through the corridor and around the screen wall.

The sound of firecrackers became louder and more frequent.

There was a red look of joy in Shanyue's eyes.

Red, rising and falling with the bumps of the back.

It was like falling into a pool of silent and colorless blood.

A corner of the red veil was gently blown up by the wind, like a psychedelic dream, and Shanyue seemed to see Cheng Xingyu in the crowd through the gap.

The young miracle doctor, dressed in coarse linen clothes, stood calmly and quietly not far away, surrounded by groups of onlookers who knew nothing about the matter.

There seemed to be light on him, a faint and gentle halo that distinguished him from everyone else.

Shanyue's right hand tightened unconsciously.

The young man moved his mouth, and the two simple words could only be conveyed to the person under the red silk through his mouth shape.

——"Good luck."

Shan Yue closed her eyes gently, and a fresh sourness seemed to rush straight up to her throat.

Arriving at the dock, they boarded the wedding boats. There were three wedding boats, one for Shanyue and Qiutou, one for the Xue family, and one for the goods, dowry, gifts and boatmen. The Wei Dynasty had a rule that "official sedan chairs give way to wedding sedan chairs", so the wedding boats had a very smooth journey down the river. When they sailed north to Cangzhou, the wedding boats docked. To avoid trouble, Shanyue never left the room on the boat until they docked to rest. Taking advantage of the misty night, Shanyue came out with a veil on to get some fresh air.

The boat swayed with the waves at the dock.

People disembarked from two boats one after another.

The previous boat had docked without any planks, so the people getting off the boat needed to have some basic kung fu skills to get ashore safely.

A tall figure in a black gown and a green hairpin in his hair, in the cold moonlight, touched the ground with his toes and jumped up. After landing on the shore, his body paused slightly, as if he sensed something, and he stopped on the ground and looked back sideways.

They were too far away, so Shan Yue couldn't see the specific features. He could only see the shadow's clothes fluttering in the wind, broad shoulders and narrow waist, and his tall and slender body blocking most of the moonlight, casting a large shadow. He was surrounded by darkness, like a falcon waiting for an opportunity to strike.

"Where are they going?" Qiutou asked with a yawn.

Shan Yue said calmly: "Murder."

Walking at night, wearing black clothes, strong clothes, practicing martial arts, sneaking.
Putting these words together, it can't be about having a midnight snack, right?

So funny.

This "unfilial bird" Xue Xiao, on his way to get married, went to kill someone in his spare time.

Shanyue lowered his veil and turned back to the wing room: No wonder he has had such a smooth journey and risen so quickly - how many people in the court can be so dedicated?

(End of this chapter)