Chapter 272: Welcoming the Bride, Infatuated but Ruthless
Clang~clang~clang~clang~
Just after noon, two servants dressed in red and green led the way with the sound of gongs. Behind them, Sun Shaozong rode on a tall horse, wearing a bright yellow bullfighting robe. He looked even more majestic and heroic!
Looking further back, it turned out to be a luxurious wedding sedan carried by eight people, with nine phoenixes carved on it. On the charcoal-red sedan cover, there were four embroidered balls with the meaning of eternal love hanging, and below it were countless tassels and colored beads...
If you just look at the composition of this team, you might think that Sun Shaozong is getting married - but in fact, these days, the groom will never show up in front of the bride's family before the bride enters the house.
I heard that in the early years, the Zhou Dynasty did not have such rules. Instead, like the previous dynasties, the groom would go to the bride's house to marry her in person, and would also be tested on poetry, archery and so on.
But as the idea of male superiority and female inferiority gradually escalated, the groom gradually retreated from the wedding procession and only needed to sit comfortably and wait for the bride to arrive at home.
Of course, according to Sun Shaozong's speculation, in addition to the factor of male superiority and female inferiority, the imbalance in the ratio of boys to girls caused by years of war in the early days of the founding of the Great Zhou Dynasty was probably one of the important driving forces behind this change.
After all, rare things are valuable!
I heard that it was very easy for men to get married in those days. If they were willing to accept foreign women, they would be spoilt for choice. It was from that time that the practice of taking over the wife of a brother who had died young became popular.
Uh~
Stop talking nonsense.
Since Sun Shaozu could not show up, his younger brother Sun Shaozong naturally became the main force in welcoming the bride. He rode on a horse around the city for most of the way, showing off to the whole city, and finally arrived at Rongguo Mansion.
Outside the black lacquered gate, a colorful archway had been erected early in the morning, and countless red hydrangeas and red lanterns were hung on the wall. However, according to Sun Shaozong's understanding, it seemed that all the money was paid from the public account of Rongguo Mansion, and Jia She was as stingy as a miser.
Since the groom does not show up, there is naturally no rule of blocking the door.
Therefore, as soon as Sun Shaozong dismounted from his horse, Jia Lian, Xue Pan, Jia Rong, Jia Qiang and other brothers and nephews all came to greet him with smiles on their faces.
Others were fine, but Xue Pan laughed heartily while feeling a little aggrieved and said, "My second brother came back from Jinmen Prefecture without telling us a word. This is really not a decent thing to do - I must make up for it with the wine today!"
"Not only the welcoming wine , I'll also make up for your wedding wine today!"
While Sun Shaozong was chatting and laughing with everyone, he couldn't help but wonder, even Xue Pan, who was not a formal relative, came to greet the guests, so where did Jia Baoyu go?
As he and Jia Lian walked into the room hand in hand, he asked quietly, and Jia Lian looked a little embarrassed.
It turned out that ever since she killed Mingyan that day, Lin Daiyu had been bedridden, with her temperature fluctuating for two or three days, and she was still in a daze and had not shown any signs of improvement.
During these few days, Jia Baoyu had been serving without taking off his clothes, and would not leave even a step unless it was necessary.
In the morning, Jia Lian called him twice, but was impatiently dismissed by him.
After hearing what Jia Lian said, Sun Shaozong felt speechless.
Should we say that Jia Baoyu is infatuated or heartless?
You can say that he is heartless, but he can't be considered "heartless" for standing by his beloved's window and serving her without taking off his clothes for several days in a row.
But to be honest, Jia Yingchun was the sister he grew up with. Now that she is about to get married, he, as her younger brother, refuses to even show his face, which is really disheartening.
Not to mention how Sun Shaozong was welcomed into the living room like a star and accepted the hospitality of Jia Lian and others.
But at the same time.
In Jia Yingchun's boudoir, someone was also feeling extremely embarrassed for Jia Baoyu.
"Second Miss, he prepared these in advance. He originally wanted to hand them to you personally, but now..."
Xiren placed several rare and glittering treasures on the round table one by one, rubbing her hands and saying, "You also know that when he gets hysterical, no one can persuade him. It is definitely not his intention to treat the second young lady badly..."
"Alright, alright, just explain a few words!"
Wang Xifeng interrupted her with a smile, poked her head with her round fan, and said jokingly: "Look at how anxious you are. If Brother Bao is ruthless and doesn't treat you as a precious eyeball, I will be the first one to poke his spine."
"Second Grandma~!"
Xiren twisted her body unwillingly, and there was a burst of laughter from all around.
Only Shi Xiangyun couldn't help but interrupt: "I'm afraid that eyeball has someone else..."
Before she could finish her words, Xue Baochai quickly interrupted her and said in a feigned anger, "Look at you, look at you! It's fine on normal days, but now on the day of Second Sister's big wedding, why are you still only talking about Brother Bao's affairs?"
As she spoke, she took Li Wan's arm and said with a smile, "Eldest sister-in-law is the most considerate. She is here to help second sister with all the running around, unlike second sister-in-law who always teases people."
"Ouch~!"
Wang Xifeng shouted exaggeratedly, waving her fan and said in a stern voice: "Look at this lackey, isn't he hoping that the eldest sister-in-law will help you tidy up so that you can quickly marry your sweetheart?"
"You...you keep talking nonsense!"
Xue Baochai's face immediately turned red, and she threw herself forward with a bluff. The sisters tried to stop her and push her, and the whole place started to laugh and make a scene again.
Only Li Wan was still there, concentrating on helping Jia Yingchun touch up her makeup.
Seeing that the last eyebrow was finished, she stepped back half a step to take a closer look, and praised: "Sister really has a good foundation. She usually wears plain clothes, which doesn't show anything. Now that she is dressed up like this, she really has the noble air of a mistress of the house!"
"Sister-in-law, don't make fun of others."
Jia Yingchun shyly twisted her handkerchief into a knot.
However, Siqi's sudden behavior in the past two days really scared her half to death. Fortunately, everything was calm in the end and she was not affected, otherwise she really didn't know what to do.
"how?"
Just as she was feeling scared, Li Wan came forward, took her hand, and said with a smile, "Are you a little nervous? In fact, this is how life is like for a couple."
Because he thought she was concerned about Sun Shaozu's age, he tried to comfort her by saying, "I heard that although the groom is a little older, he is in good health. When a woman looks for a husband, she should find one who is strong and healthy, so that she can have hope in the future."
Originally, when she said this, she was always full of resentment, but now she remembered something, her face flushed, and her pair of tight and strong thighs were involuntarily tightly crossed together...
After all, Jia Yingchun lacked experience, so she didn't notice anything wrong with her. She just thought that she was thinking about her husband who died young, which was why she suddenly became silent.
So he wanted to comfort Li Wan a little embarrassedly, but he didn't know how to comfort her for a moment.
Just when she was in a dilemma, she saw the door curtain lifted and Qiu Tong came in with her slender waist. Seeing the crowds of grandmas and young ladies, she bowed quickly to greet each of them.
"Okay."
Before she had counted all the heads, Wang Xifeng asked quickly, "But has the Madam urged us?"
"Exactly."
Qiu Tong said crisply, "Madam said it's getting late, please leave early."
Before she finished her words, Li Wan reached out and pinched Jia Yingchun's buttocks. Jia Yingchun cried out in pain, then remembered what had been said before, and hurriedly held her face and pretended to be sad.
Wang Xifeng flicked her fan and ordered, "Go back and tell Madam that Second Sister can't bear to leave her family, and ask us to persuade her."
Qiu Tong agreed, and then she went out again, twisting her slender waist.
After she left, Wang Xifeng turned around and teased Yingchun again, "Don't be anxious, second sister. Try to hold back your tears. It will be a shame if you still can't cry when you get into the sedan chair."
The sisters in the room burst into laughter again.
Li Wan put her hands on her hips and shouted in mock anger: "What are you laughing at? Sooner or later, this day will come to you."
As she spoke, she spread out her palms again and said with a smile, "Second sister, you usually look very inconspicuous, but today I pinched you and found that you are really a good childbearer - no wonder General Sun insisted on marrying you."
When Wang Xifeng heard this, she pretended to pinch her as well, which made Yingchun so embarrassed that she could not stand it.
Just like this, Qiu Tong invited three times according to the rules, and only then did Jia Yingchun leave the west wing courtyard surrounded by everyone.
Seeing a group of unmarried women including the widow Li Wan outside the gate, they had to stop.
Wang Xifeng took Jia Yingchun's arm and whispered, "My dear sister, please don't forget the dowry I gave you."
