In her dazed state, she weakly said to her younger sister Luo Cuizhen, who was accompanying her as a wedding attendant, "Even if someone gives me a mountain of gold, I will never marry a second time."
Seeing her elder sister staggering and looking disheveled, Luo Cuizhen quickly asked all the maids in the bedroom to leave. After closing the door, she turned back and looked at her elder sister with great sympathy.
"How about I take the golden crown off for you for a while, and you sneak a snack?"
Luo Cuiwei sat on the edge of the wedding bed, her eyes glazed over. She nodded blankly, then shook her head. "I've taken them off. I'm going to sleep for a while."
"You can't sleep now, can you?" Luo Cuizhen leaned over and gently supported her tilted head, reminding her with a mix of distress and shyness, "There's still the...the joint bed ceremony later..."
"Tell Yun Lie about the 'shared bed ceremony'... don't wake me up... do whatever you want..."
She murmured, closed her eyes, and mumbled out an absurdly ridiculous plan.
----2018/3/20 19:33:57|52552131----
Chapter 51
In fact, Luo Cuiwei was so tired that she was completely confused and had no idea what nonsense she was spouting.
Looking at her elder sister, who had casually fallen onto the bed as soon as she took off her golden crown and then fell into a deep sleep after a few breaths, Luo Cuizhen's round face turned bright red with embarrassment.
She was, after all, a girl who was not quite grown up. Although she did not know exactly what the "bed-sharing ceremony" was about, she could vaguely sense that her elder sister's words, "do whatever you want," seemed a bit... bold.
However, ever since she angered Luo Cuiwei at the beginning of the year, she no longer dares to make decisions on her elder sister's behalf.
Although she vaguely felt that what her elder sister had told her to relay was somewhat absurd, she didn't dare to pretend she hadn't heard it.
After rubbing her chin vigorously with her index finger for a while in distress, Luo Cuizhen's eyes lit up and an idea came to her.
As dusk approached, Xiahou Ling finally finished counting Luo Cuiwei's dowry and handed it over to Steward Chen to be stored in the treasury. Only then did she have time to go to the bridal chamber to take a look.
Upon hearing that the person outside was Xiahou Ling, Luo Cuizhen immediately tiptoed over like a thief, squeezed through the crack in the door, and put her index finger to her lips.
"My sister is too tired and has fallen asleep," she whispered to Xiahou Ling.
Xiahou Ling was stunned for a moment, and before she could speak, she was dragged aside again.
Looking back at the maids waiting at the door, and making sure they were too far away to hear, Luo Cuizhen whispered Luo Cuiwei's words to Xiahou Ling, without daring to miss a single word.
“Th-such words…” Xiahou Ling blushed and shook her head and waved her hands repeatedly, hurriedly taking two steps back. “Since Cuiwei asked the Third Miss to relay this, then please go and tell His Highness yourself.”
Luo Cuizhen's face was also bright red, and she was jumping around like a hot potato: "How could I say such a thing? I'm still a child!"
"Even if I were an adult, I wouldn't dare say something like that!"
Even so, Xiahou Ling didn't dare to actually let her go.
The two girls, one older and one younger, stood blushing under the eaves, looking at each other with the same awkwardness in their eyes.
The two remained locked in this stalemate for a while. Luo Cuizhen, with her sharp eyes, spotted Yun Lie, dressed in a dark auspicious robe, approaching in this direction, accompanied by a male and a female official. She immediately scurried behind Xiahou Ling, only peeking out half of her head.
Yun Lie stopped in front of the two of them, frowning in confusion as he looked at the half-head behind Xiahou Ling.
"Why isn't your younger sister in the new house with her older sister? What are you doing hiding here?"
Luo Cuizhen coughed awkwardly several times and stammered, "Sister, sister, let... let... let A-Ling deliver a message to His Highness!"
After saying that, he didn't even leave half his head behind, hiding behind Xiahou Ling as if he wanted to shrink himself into a solid little dot.
"It's better to die for my third daughter than for my fellow Daoist!" Xiahou Ling gritted her teeth in frustration. Under Yun Lie's questioning gaze, she lowered her embarrassed red face, took a deep breath, and stammered, her voice barely audible—
"Cuiwei asked me to tell Your Highness... well, whatever... in short, she said do as you please and wish you a long and happy marriage. There's no need to see you off!"
Without daring to look at Yun Lie's reaction after saying that, she grabbed Luo Cuizhen and slipped away.
****
Fortunately, the two officials were standing far away, and Xiahou Ling spoke softly and quickly, so they were unaware of what had happened.
Seeing Yun Lie seem stunned, the male master of ceremonies stepped forward and whispered a reminder, "Your Highness, the auspicious hour..."
Since it was the wedding of a nobleman who had just established his own household, even the "bed-sharing ceremony" required a set of complicated rituals.
Yun Lie cleared his throat and turned to the two officials in charge of ceremonies, saying, "Today's ceremony is quite complicated, and the Princess Consort is too tired. We will skip the rest of the formalities. Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen. Please return."
After speaking, he raised his hand to signal to the maidservant of Prince Zhao's residence who was waiting at the door.
A maid immediately came forward and cleverly presented the two officials with small ingots wrapped in red silk.
The two officials were clearly not the type to neglect their duties easily; after accepting the small gold ingot, they exchanged a glance.
This time, the female master of ceremonies advised, "Your Highness, if Her Highness the Princess is truly weary, I may continue the remaining ceremonies as much as possible..."
Yun Lie remained silent, only casting a cold glance at the two of them.
In the sweltering summer night air, the two officials in charge of ceremonies suddenly shivered.
Alright, we know that in your Prince Zhao's mansion, everything revolves around the Princess Consort. Stop glaring at us with that fierce look that's ready to take us into battle.
****
Entering the inner room of the new house alone, Yun Lie saw his beloved wife with her head hanging over the edge of the bed, curled up on the couch, fast asleep and oblivious to the time.
The small gold crown with half of its gold tassels on her head had been removed and placed aside. The bright red makeup she had carefully applied during the day had also been washed off, and her clean sleeping face appeared even whiter under the red light filling the room.
He couldn't help but smile, and slowly walked over.