Chapter 187 – Chen Eldest II – Part 2

 

As night fell, the wedding banquet that had started at dusk in the Chen family finally ended.

Chen Bozong wanted to help his mother watch the servants in the yard clean the place up, but Sun shi said disdainfully: “Hurry up and accompany A’xiu, you are not needed here.”

Chen Yanzong: “That’s right, brother, don’t keep Sister-in-law waiting for too long.”

If these words were said by Chen Xiaozong, there would be a strong sense of ridicule, but since it was Chen Yanzong, it means he really didn’t want his brother to neglect his sister-in-law.

Chen Xiaozong smiled ambiguously.

Chen Jingzong didn’t quite understand the matter of the wedding night, and didn’t understand why his third brother was smiling so slyly.

Under the urging of his family, Chen Bozong had to go back to Guanhe Hall first.

That was the new courtyard that his grandmother and second uncle built for him to get married. When it was the turn of the second, third, and fourth brother, courtyards would be built one by one, symbolizing the prosperity of the Chen family.

Guanhe Hall was not divided into front and back yards. There were only five upper rooms and two side rooms.

Seeing the eldest young master coming, the maid hurried inside to pass on the news.

Yu Xiu welcomed him nervously.

Although she had taken a quick glance when she took off the veil, that glance was too short, and she did not see Chen Bozong’s facial features clearly. She only thought that his front face must have been more handsome than his side face.

Standing at the door of the main hall now, Yu Xiu still did not dare to look over. Her face was half drooping, and her eyes were looking left and right.

In a noble family, this would look petty, but Chen Bozong grew up in the countryside. Even though he had read books and gained knowledge since he was a child, and even though his father’s official position was getting higher and higher and he had broadened his horizons in the capital, Chen Bozong always knew where his roots were. The Chen family was born commoners. No matter how high his scholarly achievement, he was no different from the neighbors in the town and the people in the countryside. It was just that he took a different path from most people.

His father became an official to realize his ambitions, not to be a superior and pretentious person.

Chen Bozong was the same.

He could see his wife’s shyness and understood the reason why she was like this, so why would he mind?

Chen Bozong only took a quick look at his wife’s freshly wash face. It was clean and rosy.

“I’m going to clean myself first. You go back to the room and wait first.”

Chen Bozong said at a distance.

Yu Xiu nodded as if she had received some kind of amnesty, and returned to the inner room with a red face.

Hot water was already prepared in the west side room. Chen Bozong took off the wedding gown that had been spilled with other people’s wine, washed up, and then changed into another bright red brocade gown.

When he came out, he asked the maids waiting outside to leave.

Yu Xiu listened to his footsteps getting closer and closer but didn’t know where she should stand. By the bed, it seemed like she was in a hurry to sleep; in the middle of the room, she felt even more uncomfortable.

The door curtain moved, Yu Xiu then saw the groom’s feet and the hem of his clothes.

Her whole body seemed to be on fire, but she didn’t know what to do.

Chen Bozong saw that she was frozen, so he walked over and held her right hand.

Yu Xiu trembled all over, and a strange feeling crawled along his palm to her body like a snake.

She followed him stiffly to the bedside, then sat down stiffly with her head down.

Chen Bozong still held her hand and asked, “Are you afraid of me?”

Yu Xiu shook her head.

“Then what is it?”

Yu Xiu didn’t say anything.

Chen Bozong: “Or do you not like me? You were forced to marry me because of our engagement?”

Yu Xiu hurriedly said, “No, I, I am willing, but I haven’t seen you for a long time, and I feel a little strange.”

Chen Bozong: “You didn’t even look at me, how do you know I’ve changed?”

Yu Xiu kept her eyes down. She couldn’t see his face, but she saw his hands. His palms were broad and his fingers were long, completely different from when he was twelve or thirteen years old.

The most obvious difference was his height. She had obviously grown a lot taller, but he had also become taller, and now she was only as tall as his shoulders.

“I dare not look at you.” Yu Xiu turned her face away when she noticed that his fingers were slightly tightened, as if urging her to answer.

Just when she was wondering if he would ask the reason, he actually let go of her hand.

Yu Xiu felt a little relieved, but also a little disappointed.

Then, she caught a glimpse of him unbuckling his belt.

Yu Xiu: …

So fast? You didn’t even say a few words?

The naughty boy’s jokes that she heard when she was a child suddenly popped up in her mind again: “When you grow up, you will sleep in the same bed and kiss each other!”

And also the booklet that her mother stuffed to her last night. Yu Xiu began to tremble uncontrollably.

Chen Bozong did untie the red silk belt, but he did not take off anything else. He just sat there, raised his hand to cover his eyes with the belt, and tied a knot behind his head, whispering: “Like this, do you dare to look at me?”

Yu Xiu was already looking at him. At first, she was surprised by his action, and then she was attracted by his handsome face.

His lips were not as red as hers, having a faint color and being rather thin, which made them appear even more cold and frosty.

However, this gesture was filled with a tenderness to took care of her. Avoiding his gaze, Yu Xiu indeed felt much more relaxed.

Chen Bozong stretched out his hand, and Yu Xiu’s hand that was still on the place where he just released it, held his hand again: “It’s been so long since we met, do you have anything to ask me?”

Yu Xiu indeed had a lot of questions and uneasiness, but she couldn’t speak. After a moment of silence, she asked: “Do you have anything to ask me?”

Chen Bozong: “Have you read the letters I wrote to Father-in-law before?”

Due to etiquette, he couldn’t write to her directly, but the meaning of those letters was not just to pay his respect to his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

Yu Xiu: “I’ve seen it all. Father praised your calligraphy for getting better and better.”

Chen Bozong: “Has anyone gossiped about you in these years?”

Yu Xiu was silent, wanting to lie, but also wanting to hear what he would say.

Chen Bozong: “I can’t control others, but I have never forgotten the engagement between you and me. Father and Mother have never wavered, and Mother often mentions you.”

Yu Xiu didn’t know whether to feel sweet or bitter. He never forgot the engagement, so if there was no engagement, would he marry a girl from a humble family like her?

She responded: “Well, Aunt always sent me fashionable jewelry from the capital every year. It must cost her a lot.”

Chen Bozong: “She took me to pick them. Besides, you should call her Mother now.”

Yu Xiu’s face became hot again.

Chen Bozong: “If you have nothing to ask me, then let’s go to sleep.”

Yu Xiu: …

She immediately began to look for questions, from where he studied in the capital, to the health of the two elders, to the situation of the other three brothers, including why the fourth brother came back by himself, to the climate and customs of the capital.

Chen Bozong patiently answered her questions one by one, until she racked her brains for longer and longer, then he said: “I’ll give you three more chances to ask questions, and they must all be related to me.”

Yu Xiu: …

What to ask?

She looked at his slender hands and whispered: “With your current status, will you feel wronged by marrying me?”

Chen Bozong: “No, you and I are both from Lingzhou, and we grew up in the same environment, so neither of us is unworthy of the other.”

His face was calm, and his voice was clear but powerful, so Yu Xiu believed him inexplicably.

She became bolder and continued to ask: “The capital is the richest place in the world, and the girls there must be very beautiful, right?”

Chen Bozong: “I don’t know. I haven’t noticed it. I’ve been busy studying.”

Such an answer, whether true or false, would make any girls happy, so Yu Xiu smiled secretly.

There was only one left.

Yu Xiu hesitated for a long time before tilting her head and asked: “What do you think of me now compared to when I was a child?”

He tightened his grip on her hand, and the answer was still simple: “Equally beautiful.”

When she was a child, she was beautiful as a little girl, and when she grew up, she was beautiful as a big girl.

Yu Xiu bit her lip and peeked at him. Thinking that he couldn’t see, a smile filled her eyes.

Chen Bozong: “Sleep?”

Yu Xiu hummed softly.

But neither of them moved.

After a while, Chen Bozong pulled her to his side.

Yu Xiu moved obediently.

Chen Bozong had no intention of untying the belt in front of his eyes. He continued to hold her hand with one hand and tentatively touched her face with the other.

A smooth and warm face.

Chen Bozong slowly approached.

Yu Xiu took a last look at his face and closed her eyes shyly.

The eldest son of the cabinet elder’s family, who was cold and steady, maintained his gentle restraint for a long time, until he couldn’t find her buckle, and finally revealed a bit of impatience.

“I’ll do it.”

Yu Xiu said in a panic, afraid that he would pull off his belt and afraid to meet his eyes that made her nervous again.

Chen Bozong stopped and waited for her.

Yu Xiu took off her coat and said in a lighter voice, “Done.”

Chen Bozong hugged her again. This time, there was almost nothing that could stump the intelligent eldest son.

But since he couldn’t see with his eyes, he repeatedly explored the places where his fingertips passed. Like the owner of a silk shop carefully checking whether a batch of new satin that had just arrived had any flaws. Like a customer in an antique shop holding up a piece of jade to feel every texture.

The Yu Xiu last night, or the Yu Xiu who that he was coming back to prepare for the wedding, never thought that her wedding night would be like this.

He was still the self-disciplined eldest brother of the Chen family, and he was obviously covered his eyes to take care of her, but now he was…

Yu Xiu was so shy that she couldn’t show her face, but she couldn’t tell him to stop.

But every girl had her own bottom line. Even a girl as obedient as Yu Xiu would want to escape when Chen Bozong went too far.

Chen Bozong held her down, raised his head, and said in her direction, “I must know where the ritual will take place.”

Yu Xiu:…

Chen Bozong: “If you don’t allow me, I can only look.”

In other words, Yu Xiu could only choose one.

Yu Xiu didn’t answer, nor did she hide again.

She tilted her head, her almond eyes went misty as she looked at the dragon and phoenix wedding candles on the table by the window. The candle flames jumped silently, but she had to cover her lips with her hands.

“Are you crying?”

Chen Bozong came over and touched her face with one hand. It was hot, but there were no tears.

Yu Xiu looked at the red ribbon on his eyes with resentment.

He held her face and kissed her again.

Yu Xiu then remembered that he couldn’t see her resentment.

Should she ask him to take off the belt? But if it was taken off, wouldn’t the grievance just now be in vain? Would he want to see it again?

The tender-hearted little bride finally just bit her grown-up husband’s shoulder not too hard.

With just this one bite, she was still worried whether he would feel pain or get angry with her.

Who would have thought that Chen Bozong seemed completely unaware, focusing intently on his ritual. The red silk ribbon covering his eyes, moving back and forth in her shifting view.

He looked very handsome.

A different kind of handsomeness from the cold, restrained demeanor he displayed during the day.

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