The newly decorated Ao Residence seed to be perated with an air of celebration.
When Feng Yun and Pei Jue arrived, the Ao Family mbers were worshiping their ancestors in the family temple, with only Pei Yao busy organizing things outside...
Cui Zhi followed by her side, bustling about.
Feng Yun observed that Cui Zhi’s status by Pei Yao’s side was in no way inferior to the several maidservants who usually attended her.
She was certainly more to Pei Yao’s liking...
However, as a servant by birth, no matter how much she was favored, at most she could be promoted to a concubine...
Cui Zhi had never been one for much talk, and now she was even more silent, silently bowing her body to co forward, kneeling beside the wooden table to serve tea and snacks to Pei Jue and Feng Yun, then quietly carrying the tray away, appearing very mindful of her duties.
Of course, the more sensible she was, the more Pei Yao would feel sorry for her, and guiltier...
Feng Yun suddenly glanced sideways and asked Pei Jue.
"What do you think of this Cui Zhi?"
Pei Jue, lost in thought, looked up indifferently.
"I haven’t noticed."
Feng Yun cast a sidelong glance at him with narrowed eyes, "Then you should take a look. What should be done in this situation? Your great-nephew has just married, is he to take a concubine already?"
Pei Jue said, "That is his family matter."
Of course, for a man, taking a concubine was not a big deal.
Seeing his indifferent deanor, Feng Yun gave a light-hearted chuckle, "You wouldn’t want your great-nephew’s family to be disturbed, would you?"
Pei Jue looked over.
He didn’t seem to understand how this Cui Zhi was related to the disturbance in the household.
An insignificant servant.
Sympathy was the reason to provide her a place to stay.
Watching his expression, Feng Yun suddenly felt like laughing.
n seed to never be able to discern a woman’s emotions. Bad won often had an easier ti gaining n’s affection, managing to easily manipulate them as they pleased. Good won who give everything often end up with nothing but a tragic fate, scorned by those n hurt by bad won as "no good at all"...
Her eyes fixed on Pei Jue, her mind filled with thoughts of Xiao Cheng and Feng Ying, she let out a soft sneer.
"I just don’t believe that under such circumstances, her heart isn’t full of complaints and jealousy..."
Pei Jue: "So what if there is jealousy?"
Jealousy leads to trouble.
Feng Yun looked at him nonchalantly, "Never mind, forget I said anything."
A man like Pei Jue naturally looked far afield, not to his household. He would hardly stoop to notice how much turmoil a little woman could cause in a large household...
Just then Azuo and Ayou ca running in, and Feng Yun turned to wave them over, then started talking with the children, no longer paying attention to him.
Pei Jue: ...
He was baffled.
What did Cui Zhi have to do with him?
Why had he caught her scorn...
"Aunt, my elder brother has co to pay his respects to you and Uncle. He’s just behind..."
"Look, here he cos."
The two children ran fast, and just entered the hall when Ao Qi soon followed.
His footsteps heavy, Feng Yun looked up.
Dressed in festive robes, Ao Qi appeared more composed and serious.
Shedding his youthful deanor, he now looked like a tall and handso young general.
Today’s weddings in the aristocratic family, compared to the past, were simpler. The rituals of the wedding had beco diverse due to population movent, abandoning many traditions. So even chose pure white garnts for their wedding attire, pursuing naturalness and a return to simplicity, gradually becoming popular...
But the Ao Family still followed the old rituals, with dark maroon wedding attire.
Black paired with red suited Ao Qi very well.
He was quite handso.
Ao Qi approached Feng Yun and Pei Jue and bowed.
"Aunt, Uncle."
Pei Jue grunted his acknowledgnt, looking at him.
"Having ford a good match, you are now an adult. Do not speak recklessly, do not think recklessly, and do not act recklessly."
His voice was calm, showing no sternness.
Ao Qi lowered his eyes, "Thank you for your guidance, Uncle. Your nephew will definitely rember."
Feng Yun sat with a slight smile, saying nothing.
Ao Qi’s gaze briefly swept over her face, his handso features showing no emotion, but his chest beneath the left shoulder twitched slightly in a spasm.
Pain.
It still hurt.
Ao Qi’s eyelids twitched, he dared not look at her again, and bowed to excuse himself.
"Uncle and Aunt, please rest for a while. Your nephew must go and listen to his parents’ instructions."
Pei Jue waved his hand: "Go ahead."
Ao Qi had only rushed back ho at dawn today, and after changing his clothes, he went with Ao Zheng to the family temple to worship the ancestors. There were many things he hadn’t had ti to arrange.
On his wedding day, the groom was naturally the busiest.
He hurried away quickly. Feng Yun took a sip of her tea, and when she looked up, she could only see a retreating figure.
She suddenly realized that Ao Qi had lost a lot of weight.
He was thinner.
And he had grown taller.
Now, he truly was an adult.
Feng Yun revealed a smiling face.
For so reason, every ti she thought of Ao Qi, the image that ca to mind was that of a young man with eight gleaming white teeth, laughing with a fish strung up by grass rope...
-
Bright sunlight stread through the wooden windows and gradually disappeared.
Dusk was approaching, and the Ao Residence was filled with laughter and rrint. Feng Yun could no longer sit quietly and rest like before; as the aunt, she had to co forward and help Pei Yao entertain the guests.
After her separation from Ao Zheng, Pei Yao always seed to have so friction with him in public.
Pei Yao treated Ao Zheng indifferently, so Ao Zheng was extrely cautious, constantly checking her expression.
Feng Yun watched them and actually found it quite amusing.
In the world of mortals, every family has its own matters, each with its own unpredictability.
Chunyu Yan ca in with Lady Tu Boshan, and since the male guests were welcod in the front hall, Feng Yun took Lady Tu to the small flower hall where the female guests were entertained.
After exchanging a few polite words upon sitting down, a servant girl rushed in hurriedly, her face glowing with joy as she said:
"They’re here, they’re here, the bridal sedan chair is being carried over."
The daughter of chief Mahe, nad Amir, Feng Yun stood among the crowd, watching her step out of the sedan, fanning her face, and gracefully approaching.
What the bride looked like...
Everyone was very curious.
Feng Yun couldn’t see the whole picture, only half of a side-face behind the fan.
Her skin was not as pale as the won of Central Capital or Andu; it was a healthy color, with a high nose bridge, deep eye sockets, thick eyebrows, and her gait was not as light as that of Central Plains won. Even dressed in bridal clothes, she couldn’t conceal that strong exotic charm...
Very beautiful.
Ao Qi was fortunate.
Feng Yun sincerely sighed in her heart.
Nowadays, she was increasingly fond of this kind of beauty that carried a hint of wildness.
Isn’t this what we call pure natural, returning to the original simplicity?
The guests chuckled and laughed, and the sound of children’s shrieks occasionally broke through, quickly quelled by the adults.
Azuo and Ayou followed closely behind Feng Yun, their little faces flushed, eyes brimming with joy.
"Our sister-in-law is so pretty."
"I can’t even see her face..."
"You don’t need to see it to know she’s pretty."
"Hmm, our sister-in-law must be pretty."
The innocent words of the children ward the heart. It seed that Amir heard sothing, as her steps faltered slightly, and it looked as if she wanted to turn back. The Wedding Matron at her side steadied her, and she composed herself, bowing her head and covering her face with the fan.
"Quiet, quiet."
With the noise and excitent still present, soone ca to maintain order as the ceremony to pay respect to Heaven and Earth was about to begin.
The hall grew silent.
"Heaven’s virtue joins together, an auspicious ti in the grand hall. Gather the auspicious signs, unite you as husband and wife... A perfect match made in heaven, mandarin ducks sharing a quilt. Your offspring will continue your legacy, shining bright with glory. Cultivate virtue for the ancestral temple, a legacy that will last through the ages..."
An elder dressed in black robes, likely an elder from the Ao Family, held a festive silk fabric and recited a lengthy blessing.
The atmosphere on the platform was solemn and dignified.
Once the blessing was finished, the elder closed the festive fabric, looked up with pride, and observed the newlyweds on the platform.
"Kneel!"
Ao Qi was the first to bend his knees, kneeling to the ground.
Amir hesitated for a mont, then silently knelt beside him.
"Bow!"
Ao Qi crossed his hands, left over right, palms inward, and slowly kowtowed, stopping only when his forehead touched his hands, moving gracefully.
Paying respect to Heaven, Earth, and ancestors was the most solemn of the nine bows.
Amir hesitated once more; it was as though she was observing Ao Qi through the fan to see how he bowed, copying his movents only after understanding.
"Another bow..."
"Three bows."
Repeating the process three tis, then bowing to their parents.
Finally, it was ti for the bride and groom to bow to each other.
The ritual wasn’t overly complicated, but by the ti it ca to the couple bowing to each other, both seed to have exhausted their patience. They quickly went through the motions and straightened up their backs.
"The ceremony is complete!"
The wedding ceremony was solemn and dignified.
The elder’s call resounded, and Ao Qi slowly exhaled.
Soone then placed the bride’s hand into his.
Ao Qi, expressionless, took hold of it. In the midst of everyone’s noise and laughter, he led Amir toward the bridal chamber.
The newlyweds captured the gazes of many in the hall, all sharing in the laughter and joy...
Only Ao Qi knew, he was not happy.
Just like the incense that perated the air, his entire being felt an aged numbness, a dullness.
It wasn’t too painful, nor was it overly dejected...
As if summoned by a demon, the pleasant mories receded and then overflowed bit by bit...
Sotis he couldn’t accept that his past happiness could be so fleeting...
He shouldn’t have grown up.
Young Ao Qi remained in the sunshine of Huaxi Village, while he, the General burdened with heavy responsibilities, in his maturing awareness, forced himself to make painful but correct choices, slowly severing that purest and most passionate one-sided love of his youth.
Without hysterical madness, it just quietly drifted away, like being subrged in a pool of ice water, unable to die, but not really living...
"Amir..."
Feng Yun heard a soft sob.
She glanced to the side and saw a woman dressed in a robe with an outer cloak and wearing a fuzzy felt hat on her head, one of those who had co from the distant Heibei Gorge as part of the bridal entourage.
Feng Yun had seen the list of the bridal party before and guessed she might be Amir’s nanny.
While everyone was congratulating the bride and groom, she had been smiling all along.
Now, she could no longer hold back, tears streaming like springs, crying sadly...
Two servant-like figures approached her, their eyes red as they spoke a few words in a dialect Feng Yun could not understand. Then they dried their tears and followed the crowd towards the bridal chamber.
Feng Yun sighed softly.
Pei Jue asked, "Going to play pranks in the bridal chamber?"
Feng Yun pursed her lips slightly, "I think I’ll pass."
Pei Jue humd, "Then let’s take our seats."
He reached out to take Feng Yun’s hand, firm and strong.
Feng Yun looked up at him, smiled sweetly, and walked hand in hand with him to the entrance of the flower hall. Then they separated, she heading to the won’s side.
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