coobybook Chapter 1076: The Dignity a Woman Should Have When Getting Married
Chapter 1076: The Dignity a Woman Should Have When Getting Married
"The ink on the document from the Ministry of Rites hasn't even dried yet, and Mr. Jiang is already here to cause trouble?"
Fu Dong turned around and stopped, the nine-sky rings on the sword tassel still tinkling: "It is said in the streets that a girl who is about to get married should embroider her wedding dress in her boudoir."
"I want to see who dares to gossip."
Jiang Xiaoan took out a celadon bottle from his sleeve and shook it: "This is a new recipe for the Dumb Voice Powder. I was worried that I had nowhere to test its efficacy."
As he spoke, he took out a pendant with a carved dragon pattern from his bosom and said, "The sword is too cold and solemn, adding a jade pendant is just right."
Fu Dong's fingertips stroked the winding cloud-thunder pattern on the jade pendant, and suddenly placed the sword across his neck: "Since it's a token of love, why don't you tie a mandarin duck knot?"
The blade reflected the tip of the boy's ear, which suddenly turned red. But the boy stiffened his neck and argued, "I... I carved the sword ornament overnight! Look at the carving of the nine-turn dragon."
Before he finished speaking, Fu Dong had already pulled off the mutton-fat jade pendant from his waist and said, "This belongs to me. I will return the double crane pendant to you tomorrow."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and threw an object. Jiang Xiaoan hurriedly caught it. In his palm was half a tiger talisman: "Tonight at midnight, take this and climb over the east wall to get in."
Jiang Xiaoan's Adam's apple rolled as he swallowed back the tension, and the white jade pendant in his palm had already been warmed.
This jade pendant carved with twin lotus flowers had been hidden in his sleeve for three days and was finally handed to Fudong.
Seeing her lowering her eyes to examine the jade ornament, his left hand behind his back almost wrinkled the corner of his robe - it was the first time in his life that he gave a gift to a girl, what would happen if it was returned?
“You’re quite good at picking.”
Fu Dong's face suddenly brightened, the jade tassel and the cloud pattern on the scabbard complemented each other, shining brightly at her fingertips: "My sword tassel happened to break the other day."
The young man smiled as he followed the swaying green color: "The shopkeeper of the Jade Shop in the West Market said that this material can ward off evil spirits."
Before he could finish his words, his sleeve was suddenly grabbed, and the girl's fingertips with light calluses poked the protruding blue veins on his wrist.
"Since you gave me something good..."
When Fu Dong tilted her head, the flower ornament on her forehead shone slightly: "Come to my courtyard tonight at midnight to pick up the gift."
Jiang Xiaoan grabbed the wrist that was about to be pulled away with his backhand, and his thumb unconsciously rubbed the sword callus at her knuckles: "I stayed up three nights in the study last night and read through the almanac. Fudong, what do you think of this day?"
He took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his bosom: "The 26th of next month is a good time to get married. If you miss it, you will have to wait until the Waking of Insects next year."
"As long as the princess agrees." Fu Dong's ears were tinged with red, and his fingertips unconsciously stroked the hilt of the sword.
When she was getting engaged in front of the three armies on the city wall that day, she could clearly hear her own heartbeat shaking so much that her armor was trembling slightly.
When Jiang Xue put down the red silk gift list and looked up, she saw the young man walking over the threshold with joyful steps, even the hem of his clothes was full of joy.
"Did Doctor Jiang come here on a lucky day?"
The princess held up her round fan to cover the corners of her lips that were raised. "I see that the corners of your robe are about to fly up."
"Your Highness, be careful what you say!"
Jiang Xiaoan took a half step back and pretended to cover his ears: "Last time you praised my excellent archery skills, and then the Third Prince tricked me into going to the hunting grounds to be a living target all day long."
A light laugh came from behind the fan: "Tell me, what's the reason for such a pressing situation?"
"Your Majesty, please grant me your permission!"
The dark robe suddenly fell to the ground like a dark cloud, and Jiang Xiaoan presented the almanac with red ink in both hands: "Fudong and I would like to borrow the auspicious time of the 26th of next month..."
Before she finished speaking, she saw the eldest princess' eyebrows slightly raised, and hurriedly added: "The appointment letter from the Ministry of Rites has been prepared, and the house in the north of the city is being renovated. If you don't believe me, I will call the accountant over now."
"No hurries?"
Jiang Xue used a golden hairpin to pick up the almanac in his hand: "Did you get into some trouble and want to use the marriage to cover it up?"
The jade hairpin suddenly knocked on the young man's hair crown: "The most proud girl by my side will not tolerate the slightest grievance."
Dusk streamed in through the window. Jiang Xiaoan stood on the crabapple-patterned carpet with his head bowed, his knuckles unconsciously rubbing the gold thread on his cuffs. "Princess, do you think that my feelings for Fudong are not enough to make you anxious?"
Jiang Xue put down the jade brush and used the brush to leave a few ink marks on the plain paper.
She looked up at the young man soaked in moonlight, and suddenly remembered that when she first met him three years ago, he was still a stubborn boy who was forced to perform salutes by his father and brother.
"Now that it has been agreed upon, it will be up to you."
She tapped the almanac on the table with her fingertips: "Although the 26th of next month is hasty, I want to see the etiquette of the Jiang family, a century-old family."
Jiang Xue was copying the third gift list when the bronze bell rang softly in the corridor.
Xiao Zhan took off his black cloak that was stained with night dew, and glanced at the piles of gold-sprinkled paper: "Are you going to clear out the shops on Suzaku Street?"
"A woman should marry with dignity."
The tip of her pen hovered above the "12 pieces of Sichuan brocade quilts": "The Jiang family is noble, and it would be humiliating to use the South China Sea pearls. These are more suitable."
Her fingertips slid across the silver comb under the dressing table: "Fudong has been with me since he was a child, so he must have something to cherish."
Xiao Zhan suddenly leaned over and held her hand holding the pen, his warm breath brushing against her ear: "You are so thoughtful, won't it be more troublesome when Yaoyao gets married?"
He clearly remembered that half a month ago this man swore under the moon that he would keep his daughter until she was twenty years old.
“Yun Che is forgetful.”
Jiang Xue smiled lightly, her lips just brushing his jaw: "Who said that night..."
The unfinished words were sealed in the warmth of each other's body touch.
Xiao Zhan looked at the flickering candlelight on the table and suddenly wished that time would stop at this moment forever.
Until the sound of the night watch woke Yanmi up, he stroked the pale blue under her eyes with his fingertips and said, "How about asking the female official of the Shanggong Bureau to help tomorrow?"
"I want to see it myself." The voice faded in the sudden fetal movement.
Jiang Xue clenched her husband's hand, feeling the warmth from her palm echoing with the new life in her belly, and suddenly she felt that the candlelight in the room turned into spring water.
At this moment, in the study of the Jiang residence, wisps of green smoke were rising from the gilded Boshan stove.
Jiang Xiaoan pushed open the carved window lattice for the fifth time, looked at the gradually full moon on the wall, and suddenly felt that the ancestral rosewood desk was particularly annoying.
There should have been a girl sitting there with her head down, putting on a jasmine bracelet.
As the moonlight spread over the eaves, Jiang Xiaoan looked towards the courtyard gate for the umpteenth time.
That girl always likes to walk on the eaves, insisting that this is more secretive.
He stroked the newly made seven-step knife at his waist, and suddenly opened the medicine bag in annoyance - if he really encountered danger, Fu Dong would probably not even bother to take out his hidden weapon, and it would be more satisfying to just whip people.
"What are you staring at, idiot?" The carved window frame creaked, and a woman in a red skirt fluttered as she jumped into the room.
Fu Dong was swinging an ebony box with her fingertips, and the newly-changed coral hairpin in her hair was trembling with her movements, reflecting tiny streams of light in the candlelight.
Jiang Xiaoan's Adam's apple moved, and he reached out to catch it and was almost hit on the nose.
The moment he opened the lid, he stared in a daze at the red Nine-Turn Snake Vine in the box.
This miraculous medicine, which grows in the miasma of Miao territory, is harder to find than a hundred taels of gold.
"I heard last month that the West Market pharmacy was robbed..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a silver bell-like laughter.
Fu Dong was leaning on the armchair peeling pine nuts, her skirt stained with a few suspicious pieces of glazed tile debris: "I took it myself, how can it be called stealing?"