Agarwood Pavilion.
Su Jin ca out of the backyard, and the maid promptly handed over the invitation.
To be honest, seeing the invitation from the Marquis Jingguo Mansion, Su Jin was dumbfounded.
Xingxing looked at the invitation and said, "Is the bride really Miss Qin?"
Bi Zhu looked at Xingxing in confusion, "If the Heir of Marquis Jingguo isn’t marrying Miss Qin from the Southern Border, who else could he marry?"
That question stumped Xingxing.
The matter of the Heir of Marquis Jingguo and Qin Hanhan’s faux engagent couldn’t be ntioned.
He hadn’t even told his own parents, so how could others leak such information and cause him trouble?
Since it’s a faux engagent and nobody knows where Qin Hanhan’s family resides, how did the housekeeper sent by Marquis Jingguo Mansion manage to bring back Miss Qin?
Could he bring back a completely unknown girl?
Did Housekeeper Zhou ever see Miss Qin?
The invitation was gilded; Su Jin closed it and said with a smile, "We’ll find out when we go to the wedding feast tomorrow."
Su Jin never expected Chu Shun to marry at this ti, so she hadn’t prepared a congratulatory gift in advance.
Earlier, when the Heir of Marquis Beining married Miss Zhou Qi, Su Jin gifted a set of Rouge in addition to the gift. Now, as Chu Shun gets married, Su Jin couldn’t favor one over the other.
She took Xingxing to the garden to pick fresh flowers, and by the ti they were done, the sky was already dark.
That night, Chu Shun tossed and turned, unable to sleep well.
The servant thought he was excited and said, "Young Master, if you don’t sleep well tonight, how will you have the energy to welco your wife tomorrow?"
Chu Shun glared at the servant, turned over, and showed him the back of his head.
Chu Shun had thought about escaping the marriage.
But the idea was slapped out of him by the eldest young master of Duke Dingguo Mansion.
When the bridal sedan arrives, would the wedding be canceled because the groom ran away?
By then, they’d use a rooster for the ceremony, and the marriage would be binding.
Not only would it be useless, but he’d get beaten even more severely and horribly when he returned, unless he never ca back for life.
Chu Shun’s head ached; who knows how long he lay awake before he eventually fell asleep.
Early the next morning, he was woken by the servant, dressed in the groom’s bright red brocade robe, and went to the city gate to greet the bride.
Last night, the bridal party had stopped at the inn.
The inn was forty miles from Capital City, departing before dawn, arriving at the city just in ti.
At the city gate.
Chu Shun sat on horseback, with bright red silk hanging on his chest, looking utterly exhausted.
This might have been the most worn-out groom ever seen by passersby.
They waited and waited, but instead of the bridal sedan, they saw Prince NanAn and the Heir of Marquis Beining riding over leisurely.
Although they promised Chu Shun they’d check who the bride was, yesterday they didn’t go.
After breakfast in the morning, they went to the inn, took a look, and then returned.
Seeing Chu Shun, Prince NanAn and the Heir of Marquis Beining exchanged glances.
Their smiles faded, replaced with a hint of sympathy and pity as they walked over to Chu Shun.
Seeing their expressions, Chu Shun felt even more uneasy. Riding forward, he asked, "Who is it?"
Prince NanAn sighed, patted Chu Shun on the shoulder, with an earnest expression Chu Shun had never seen.
He said fearfully, "Don’t scare ."
Prince NanAn patted Chu Shun’s shoulder again, "Brother, it’s not scaring you, but your Housekeeper Zhou is just too easy to deceive..."
Chu Shun, "...."
He looked at the Heir of Marquis Beining, who said, "Housekeeper Zhou indeed got fooled."
Chu Shun couldn’t believe it. Housekeeper Zhou was known to be shrewd, how could he be so easily deceived. "You must be joking with !"
Prince NanAn said, "Everything I said is true, I guarantee it with my head."
Then he pointed to the Heir of Marquis Beining, "Include theirs too."
Both the Heir of Marquis Beining and the eldest young master of Duke Dingguo Mansion nodded in agreent.
What they said was all true.
Chu Shun, who had just been sitting comfortably on horseback, now found he couldn’t sit still, as if needles had been stuffed beneath him.
Prince NanAn and the Heir of Marquis Beining stood by, watching.
After two intervals, the bridal party appeared in everyone’s view.
Chu Shun stood still as Princess Nanan walked over, slapped the horse’s rump, making it neigh and charge toward the bridal party.
From afar, Housekeeper Zhou laughed, "My young master is so eager..."
At the bridal sedan, Chu Shun quickly tightened the reins, internally cursed his good brothers a few tis, and then looked at the carriage.
Housekeeper Zhou stepped forward, "Young Master, quickly help the Heir’s wife into the bridal sedan."
What could Chu Shun do but resign himself to fate?
He dismounted, walked to the carriage, and lifted the curtain.
The first thing he saw was a pair of bound feet.
Chu Shun, "...."
Next, were bound hands.
Chu Shun, "...."
Then, a gagged mouth.
Chu Shun, "...."
The head was covered with a wedding veil, obscuring the face, but just this was shocking enough.
Chu Shun looked at Housekeeper Zhou, who said, "Miss Qin’s uncle said this is the custom from the Southern Border. Although it’s said to follow local customs, they still wanted to send her according to the Southern Border customs. Young Master, quickly help unravel the Heir’s wife’s bindings."
Seeing Miss Qin bound all the way, Housekeeper Zhou felt a pang of sympathy.
The customs of the Southern Border are vastly different from those in Daqi.
Young ladies in Daqi during weddings would hold a Jade Ruyi, or sotis an apple.
Southern Border girls, however, needed to be bound completely.
This month-long journey, bound every single day.
Chu Shun jumped into the carriage, intending to lift the veil, but hesitated, finally bending down to take a look, seeing Qin Hanhan rolling her eyes at him, trying to speak through the gag.
Chu Shun was stunned.
How was it her?
Casually, he untied the veil.
Qin Hanhan waved her hands, indicating for Chu Shun to untie her.
Qin Hanhan was at her wit’s end.
After tirelessly returning from Daqi to the Southern Border, excluding days lost due to getting lost, it was over a month of travel.
Upon returning to the Southern Border, she stayed just one night.
Just one night!
The next morning, before she had even fully awakened, her uncle had bound her, stuffed her into the bridal sedan, fearing she’d escape halfway and sent her on her way to Daqi.
The entire journey, they hadn’t let her speak a single word.
If she’d known she couldn’t escape marrying, why did she bother rushing back to the Southern Border? Did she simply ask for trouble?
Chu Shun helped her loosen her bind, and Qin Hanhan rubbed her cheek, while Chu Shun held her, carrying her off the carriage.
And then—
Unfortunate all the way, Qin Hanhan couldn’t avoid bad luck.
Chu Shun was too eager.
While carrying Qin Hanhan off the carriage, her head knocked against the door fra.
With a bang.
Even Housekeeper Zhou’s heart skipped a beat.
"Young Master is excited, but please be careful," he thought.
Don’t accidentally knock silly the Heir’s wife, whom he’d finally managed to bring back.
Qin Hanhan felt dizzy.
She no longer wanted to live.
Could soone just give her a swift end?
After stuffing Qin Hanhan into the bridal sedan, Chu Shun was brimming with the excitent befitting a groom, feeling on top of the world.
He paraded around Capital City with the bridal sedan, while Housekeeper Zhou returned to the mansion to report.
With the bride brought back, Marchioness Jingguo’s anger subsided, and she no longer blad him, only asked, "Why did it take so long to return?"
Housekeeper Zhou replied, "The Heir’s wife might not understand our Daqi script well enough, wrote the address incorrectly, and we spent half a month unable to locate it."
"Eventually, I recalled the Heir’s wife’s family raises Disguise Gu, asked around extensively, eventually found the Qin Mansion, and the Heir’s wife’s error was off by several hundred miles."
Having suffered so much, Housekeeper Zhou firmly believed the Heir’s wife must learn the Daqi script well; rely speaking fluently isn’t enough; she needs literacy too.
Indeed.
The shrewd and capable Housekeeper Zhou never considered it might have been intentionally misleading.
With a young master so handso, which girl wouldn’t want to marry him?
It had to be an issue of literacy.
Having gone through all the trouble, there could be no return without achievent, otherwise, he’d have to go again.
With such persistence, he unwittingly made things harsh for Miss Qin.
Though Miss Qin’s uncle and aunt were sowhat greedy, they were reasonable to deal with. Once the marriage was arranged, Miss Qin returned ho.
They thought it would take longer, but unexpectedly they empathized with Marquis Jingguo Mansion’s urgency in wanting to get married, didn’t delay Miss Qin longer, and set off as planned.
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