Chapter 139 Birthday Celebration
Miss Xiu also got up very early today, put on her makeup carefully, and put on the red peony palace satin wedding dress. She turned around a few times in front of the dressing mirror, looking at her stunning face. She felt so happy in her heart, imagining her cousin's wife wearing that tacky wedding dress and walking with her cousin. Her cousin was so shocked by her beauty at the first sight that his eyes could not move away. She saw her cousin's wife's jealous look that made her want to kill. Listening to the sighs of the guests, Xiu'er's face showed an unprecedented satisfaction, and her eyes were fascinated.
He helped Bing Xin to arrive at Shouxi Hall early in the morning. The old lady's birthday hall was located in the main hall of Shouxi Hall. It had already been decorated with a new look. A birthday curtain had been placed on the front with a huge "Shou" character inscribed on it, and couplets were placed on both sides.
The first couplet reads: Be respectful, frugal, gentle, kind, and a good family member;
The second couplet: Benevolence and love bring longevity
On the Eight Immortals table next to it are placed incense burners, candles, longevity candles, paper ingots, the God of Longevity, and Shenmaer. On the long table are longevity peaches, longevity noodles, etc., and a red mat is placed on the ground directly in front of the Eight Immortals table.
The old lady, the first wife, and the first master had arrived earlier and were sitting there talking. Xiu'er kowtowed to the old lady, said a few auspicious words, and then greeted her aunt and uncle, and then sat next to the first wife. Waiting for the arrival of the cousins, not long after, Aunt Cui, Xiao Yun, and others also came one after another.
Miss Xiu was very anxious because she still couldn't see her cousin and his wife.
"It's such an important day, why are you so slow, cousin? I didn't sleep well last night, so I got up early and dressed up to wait for you."
Xiu'er almost waited till her eyes dropped, and finally her cousin appeared. The scene she had imagined countless times did not happen. What surprised her was that today her cousin's wife walked in holding her cousin's hand.
The moment Mengxi entered the Shoutang, all the beauties in the hall lost their color, including Miss Xiu. The elegant peony on her chest seemed a little vulgar in front of Mengxi's beautiful body and dreamy purple.
When they arrived at Shouxi Hall and got out of the sedan chair, Mengxi took his hand for the first time, which made Xiao Jun feel flattered. He no longer cared about the rules of etiquette and carefully supported his little wife, afraid of accidentally breaking this beauty. He hoped that this road could go on and on without an end.
As soon as he entered the hall and heard the sighs from all over the room, Xiao Jun's face suddenly showed a satisfaction he had never had before. With a wife like this, what else could a husband ask for?
Xiu'er saw that her cousin didn't notice her at all, and just supported his cousin's wife and walked slowly towards the hall. Especially when her cousin was looking at his cousin's wife with obsession, she hated him so much that she gritted her teeth and clenched her hands, her nails digging into the flesh. The snow-white handkerchief was stained with blood, and there was a trace of resentment in her eyes.
How could it be possible? How could it be possible? My cousin-in-law, who always kept her head down and followed the rules, who always was cautious, dared not wear the auspicious dress on such an important occasion today! Not wear the auspicious dress that my aunt made for me!
“Miss, Miss…”
Bing Xin and Yu Xin saw that the young lady had lost her composure and was about to explode. This was the lobby, not their boudoir where she could not do whatever she wanted. So they hurriedly and carefully called out to her twice to remind her where this place was.
Hearing Bingxin's call, Xiu'er finally calmed down, put on a gentle and virtuous expression, gritted her teeth, and acted like a lady from a noble family. She could not make any mistakes in front of the old lady, as this was related to whether she could marry her cousin and live a happy life from then on.
Little did she know that the old lady and the eldest master sitting in the middle had seen her expression just now. The old lady sat there with a kind face, but she couldn't help feeling a chill in her heart. The eldest master frowned, picked up the tea and drank it without saying a word.
Mengxi and Xiao Jun finally walked to the red mat, knelt down, and kowtowed three times to the old lady. Mengxi waited for a while, and when Xiao Jun didn't say anything, she said:
"The granddaughter-in-law wishes the old lady a happy birthday. May the old lady be blessed with as much happiness as the long-flowing water of the East China Sea and as long-lived as the evergreen pines of the Southern Mountains. May you have this day every year!"
After Mengxi finished speaking, she saw Xiao Jun looking at her strangely and thought to herself: Is that wrong? Isn't that how it's played on TV? Xiao Jun coughed and said:
"Jun'er wishes grandma|prosperous descendants and longevity"
Damn, it’s so simple, why didn’t you tell me earlier? I had to rack my brains to think of so many words to express it.
Mengxi glanced at the Second Master with dissatisfaction. When Xiao Jun saw Mengxi glaring at him coquettishly, he suddenly felt relaxed all over. The corners of his mouth moved slightly, revealing a hint of a smile.
When Xiu'er saw the two people kneeling there, flirting with each other, her teeth were chattering and she was about to go berserk.
"Hurry up and get up. Xier usually has no makeup on, but today she is dressed up. I can't take my eyes off her. How great is this? Come and sit down."
"Thank you, old lady. Today is your birthday. On such an important day, how dare your granddaughter-in-law celebrate your birthday without dressing up?"
"Okay, okay, Xi'er is still filial."
The old lady was very happy after hearing Mengxi's words. She kept saying yes, not caring whether Mengxi was wearing wedding clothes or not.
At this time, Xiao Jun had stood up, turned around and helped Meng Xi up from her kneeling position. They both greeted everyone in the hall and helped her to sit down. Xiao Jun then sat down and looked up to see Xiao Yun looking at Meng Xi with an obsessed expression. His face suddenly turned cold and he secretly decided that it would be best if Meng Xi could only be seen in Xiao Xiangyuan in this outfit in the future, and she must not be shown to others to feed their eyes. He shouted coldly:
"Third Brother"
When Xiao Yun heard his second brother calling him, he turned around and met his second brother's gaze that seemed to want to kill him. He laughed inwardly: This second brother is finally willing to be jealous of his second sister-in-law.
He made a face at his second brother and sat there obediently without saying a word.
At this time, several of Xiao Jun's concubines also came forward one by one, kowtowed to the old lady, wished her a happy birthday, greeted everyone, and stood behind Mengxi politely.
After a while, the second aunt Xiao Hua, the second master's sons Xiao Jie and Xiao Fei also came in one after another. The old lady saw that almost everyone was there, and while asking someone to serve the food, she said:
"Everyone, please have dinner early. The guests will be here soon. Today is a special day. The meals for the concubines in each room have been placed in the side hall. The mansion has also invited a troupe of actors. After dinner, let's go to the theater. You can choose any of your favorite plays. The guests will be entertained by the eldest, second, and third masters. We will have a family dinner together in the evening."
…
After the dinner, the old lady led everyone to the hall, where they saw a row of small and exquisite octagonal palace lanterns of various colors had been prepared and hung around, with some puzzles pasted on them, as well as fragrant tea, melon seeds, fruits, snacks, etc., as well as exquisite purses, sachets and other toys as gifts for guesses. The old lady, the eldest wife, the eldest master and the five girls sat at the table.
Xiao Jun, Mengxi, Xiao Yun, Xiu'er, Xiao Hua, Xiao Jie, Xiao Fei and other cousins sat at another table, and the aunts and concubines from each room also sat below.
When the old lady saw everyone sitting down, she said, "Today is a special day, and we are all family, so don't be too formal. The eldest lady has prepared some riddles, and everyone can guess them together. Don't be too restrained. Whoever is tired can go back and rest first."
After the old lady finished speaking, everyone started eating tea and snacks at their tables and chatting in low voices.
The eldest master and mistress had been very busy all day, especially the eldest master, who had just seen off the guests and was already exhausted. But it was his mother's birthday after all, and he had been accompanying the guests all day and had no chance to be with his mother. It would be bad to just leave like this, so he forced himself to stay with the old lady.
