Daily Life of a Powerful Official Supporting His Wife

Chapter 23

Chapter

Perhaps because of a guilty conscience, Lu Baoer saw Xie Junling refusing to go to bed that night and thought he was still angry. This thought really wronged Xie Junling. He was just thinking about some things about the Gu family and had a hunch that the old fox of the Gu family would not let him go because he had a grandson-in-law who was so satisfactory to him.

From now on, when Lord Gu promotes Shen Yun, just don't take the opportunity to step on him.

Seeing Xie Junling's increasingly stern expression under the candlelight, Lu Baoer's heart trembled. She thought about the delicious sweets on the plate that the old nanny had handed her today, which were sweet but not greasy.

After thinking for a moment, she picked up a piece of candy with her boneless hands and handed it over. She looked at Xie Junling eagerly with a kind and endearing temperament, and said coquettishly: "Husband, would you like some candy? Mammy asked the cook to make candy for me. It tastes delicious and even has osmanthus honey in it."

Xie Junling looked at the candy held by Lu Baoer. The white candy was indeed embedded with large and small dried osmanthus flowers, and it smelled very fragrant. However, the candy was not even whiter than Lu Baoer's hand, and he couldn't help but look in the direction of her hand.

The wrist bones in Lu Baoer's sleeves were dazzlingly white and her skin was very tender.

She usually eats delicious food and drinks spicy drinks, and in just a few months, she has become a little fatter. Xie Junling thought that if he rashly said that Lu Baoer was fat, she would definitely get angry again. He couldn't help but curl up his lips, took her candy and fed it to himself.

"Don't forget to rinse your mouth before going to bed." Xie Junling reminded her not to fall asleep immediately after eating the candy.

Thinking that she had to go to the outer room to rinse her mouth in such a cold day, Lu Baoer responded lazily and reluctantly, regretting that she had just tried to please Xie Junling and even gave him candy.

Lu Bao'er had been sleeping well for the past few days. Soon, Li Jiao's wedding day arrived. Since she was to be Shen Yun's wife, the invitation should be sent to the mansion. Marry a chicken, follow the chicken; marry a dog, follow the dog. Regardless of how noble Li Jiao was before her marriage, now that she was marrying Shen Yun, she belonged to her husband's family and had to abide by their rules.

Therefore, many wives of officials originally did not want to attend the ceremony, but only came to the Shen Mansion to give gifts for the sake of the Gu family. Liu Xiang watched the people carrying the dowry enter the Shen Mansion in a mighty procession, and saw the lights and decorations and the bustling crowd in the distance, and she couldn't help but feel a little envious.

She muttered beside Lu Baoer: "Miss Li's wedding is really grand."

The old nanny knew that Xie Junling and Lu Baoer had never had a grand wedding before, and fearing that Liu Xiang's words would upset Lu Baoer, she hurriedly said, "Every family's grand wedding is like this, nothing new. Madam, look, the ladies ahead have all gone to the bridal chamber. Let's follow them." At a grand wedding, to avoid neglecting the bride, married ladies would always be invited to meet her and chat with her. After all, the groom would be toasting all night and it wasn't known when he would return.

Today, Lu Baoer wore a lake-colored satin jacket with a light-colored chrysanthemum pattern, paired with a skirt woven with gold orchid flowers. She pinned a light pink velvet flower in her hair, tinged with red, for auspiciousness. The word "velvet flower" sounds similar to "ronghua," meaning prosperity and wealth, and is bright and pleasing to the eye.

Shen Yun had already lifted Li Jiao's veil and drank from a cup of wedding wine with her. He was teased by the other ladies, who said he felt sorry for his new wife and was reluctant to leave the bridal chamber.

Li Jiao found Shen Yun's hesitation amusing. At least her husband liked her, that was all.

As soon as Shen Yun left, Lu Baoer was supported by the old nanny into the house. Li Jiao was stunned for a second when she saw her. She didn't expect her to come. Then she thought, it would be strange if she didn't come, because their husbands were colleagues working in the Hanlin Academy.

Somehow, Li Jiao always found Lu Baoer disliked in every way. When she saw Lu Baoer wearing a velvet flower on her head, she thought of the red velvet flowers that women in Kyoto would wear when they got married, symbolizing wealth and splendor. Although Lu Baoer was wearing a pink one, why did she wear a velvet flower to the bridal chamber?

This thought really wronged Lu Bao'er. She had only heard the old nanny say that Kyoto women all loved velvet flowers and wished they could wear one in their hair all year round for good luck. She thought it was fun, so she asked the old nanny to go to the jewelry store and order a few more.

Perhaps Li Jiao had been plotting against Xie Junling before, and now that she saw the queen coming, she felt guilty and a little jealous.

She said sourly, "What a coincidence! Today the nanny who was doing my makeup told me that I should wear a velvet flower when I get married to bring good luck. I picked out a red velvet flower and put it on. Then I turned around and saw that Madam Xie was also wearing a velvet flower." This was a subtle criticism that Lu Baoer dressed up and wanted to steal the limelight from the bride.

Lu Baoer was not stupid. She didn't know why Li Jiao was so hostile to her, so she answered innocently, "I was very happy to think that Madam Shen's husband would be a colleague of mine in the future, so I wore this light pink velvet flower."

These words stung Li Jiao's ears. Lu Baoer had deliberately mentioned that she was Xie Junling's wife, and that Li Jiao's husband, Shen Yun, was Xie Junling's subordinate. Was she a superior who could overpower others? She actually showed off in front of Li Jiao. She was furious!

Li Jiao had nothing else to say. She tugged at the bridal veil in her hand, almost tearing it.

(End of this chapter)