Chapter 114: The Ceremony of Joining Forces

When the flotilla arrived at the wharf on the outskirts of Beijing, it was the eighth day of the lunar month. Because he chose the auspicious time to worship on the ninth day of the first lunar month, Yuan Changqing arranged for Shanniang and others to stay on the ship for one more day. According to custom, the dowry was sent to the Yuan family by Hou Rui and the eldest grandmother Zhao first.

Speaking of dowries, the reason why the girls of the Hou family sharpened their heads one by one and wanted to drill into the West Garden was precisely because the girls in the West Garden would be prepared by the old lady for a rich dowry. In the previous life, Shanniang's dowry was all prepared by the old lady, because the old man was not satisfied with the marriage, he only gave Shanniang 3,000 taels of silver to press the box money, and then there was nothing else. In this life, Shanniang thought that because of such a stiff relationship between her and the old lady, I was afraid that the old lady would no longer have anything for her, and the old man looked at the fact that there was no money to make a living, and I was afraid that the dowry in her life would be like that - but I thought that Yuan Changqing would not care about this with her - but I didn't expect that the old lady Xu was afraid of losing face in front of the Yuan family, so she actually reduced the promised dowry by two and gave it to her. What made her even more unexpected was that the fifth master, who obviously didn't have a serious business, suddenly took out nearly 10,000 taels of silver to buy a dowry for her. When carrying the dowry on the boat, just the complete set of finely crafted Soviet-style furniture made the people of Meishan Town stunned, and they all guessed what kind of windfall the fifth master had made...... So, in this life, Shanniang's dowry was two more boats than in the previous life.

Yuan Changqing hired a total of six boats on this trip, he and Hou Rui took one, Shanniang and the eldest grandmother Zhao and others on the wedding, and the remaining four ships were all loaded with Shanniang's dowry.

Naturally, it is much easier to take the water route than to take the land route, and this way, in addition to not being able to leave the cabin, Shanniang is also at ease. However, because of the wax moon and the strong wind on the river, Shanniang was afraid of the cold, and she was not happy to ask her to go out to blow the wind at this time. It's that Wufu can't hold back her temperament and wants to open a window to breathe in (in fact, she wants to see a river view), but she resolutely refuses to allow it, for fear of walking away a little heat. Therefore, since she left Meishan Town, she has never met Yuan Changqing again.

Shanniang guessed that even if she kept the rules and didn't leave the hatch, Yuan Changqing was afraid that she would have to find a reason to come to see her. It's just that she guessed the antecedents, but she didn't guess the result.

It is said that Hou Rui, the seventh master of the fifth master's mansion, has always given people the impression that he is a little unreliable, but this time he was ordered by the master to escort his sister to marry away, and he actually took this errand as an errand for the first time and was doing it seriously. From beginning to end, he guarded Shanniang's boat like a puppy guarding food, and Yuan Changqing was not allowed to get close to half a step. He and Yuan Changqing lived in the same boat, and no movement from Yuan Changqing could escape his eyes......

Without further ado, I just said that the next day, Shanniang was painted into a white gray wall by Granny Xi, and then was helped into a sedan chair by Sanhe Wufu. Next, it's just a matter of going through the process of going through the previous life again.

It was completely different from the hesitation when she came out of the house a few days ago, and at this time Shanniang had calmed down, and she even thought to herself a little amusement, she was also familiar with the road.

I just don't know, this time, will there be someone like in her previous life, who will give her a dismount in the cave room.

In the previous life, after Yuan Changqing unveiled Xipa and went out to toast, Yuan Yongmei, the fourth girl of the Yuan family, accompanied a few girls from high-ranking families in the capital. One of the girls once mocked her very unceremoniously in front of Shanniang: "What kind of fairy did Brother Yuan marry, he didn't look as good as the maid next to me, I heard that he was still a concubine?" It's really not worth it for Brother Yuan! ”

Later, Shanniang learned that the person who spoke was Zhou Xiuyuan, the only daughter of the king of Nanyang County. According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, all royal family members will only be given titles when they are adults, although Zhou Xiuyuan was only fourteen or fifteen years old at that time, and she was not old enough to be titled, everyone still called her "Lord of the Great County". Because of the relationship between Yuan Changqing, she is only friendly with Yuan Changqing's cousin and Yuan Changxing's sister Yuan Yongmei...... So, it's clear what some of them are boring. It's a pity that Shanniang didn't know about it at that time, and when she saw that this "second sister" took the initiative to stand up and persuade the "big county lord" out, she was really a good child, and she was very grateful to her for a while......

Therefore, when she sat in the new room and Yuan Changqing came up to open her Xipa, she didn't even bother to glance at Yuan Changqing, so she was busy peeking at the people around her who came to watch the ceremony.

To her surprise, the first thing she saw was not the Yuan family, but Qi Niang.

Qi Niang stood behind an old woman with a bit of a stern eyebrow, and when she saw her coming, she raised her eyebrows at her. This small gesture happened to fall into the eyes of the old woman with a stern face. The old woman suddenly glanced at Qi Niang - that glance, although there was a sense that Qi Niang was not stable enough, she could also see that there was no loss of intimacy.

Shanniang knew that this old woman was Qi Niang's mother-in-law. In her previous life, Qi Niang did not have a very good relationship with her mother-in-law, so on the wedding day of her previous life, although she also came, she was always detained by her mother-in-law's side, and did not come in to see her like now - and although she and Qi Niang were the only girls in the Hou family who married in Beijing, in fact, neither of them was very willing to interact with each other at that time. It was more than ten years later, and it wasn't until two years before Shanniang's death that the two gradually cherished their sisterhood when they were children because of their respective circumstances.

At this time, looking at the interaction between Qi Niang and her mother-in-law, Shan Niang couldn't help but sigh for a while that the world was impermanent. Qi Niang came to the capital in the spring, and at that time her marriage was almost turbulent due to the turmoil in the court. It was also thanks to her that she insisted on getting married, and within a few months of her marriage, the second assistant was back again. It is precisely because of her indefatigable indemnity that her mother-in-law did not provoke her as much as in her previous life, at least from Qi Niang's letter, Shanniang can see that she is doing well now.

After she and Qi Niang exchanged eyes, she turned her head to look at the others.

At this time, the people who watched the ceremony in the cave room had a few more unfamiliar faces than in their previous lives, and the Yuan family, in addition to the fourth lady and the current Duchess Yu, was a few distant relatives of the Yuan family, and Shanniang could still recognize them. And what surprised her secretly was the tall and thin woman who was accompanied by Mrs. Yuan Si - it was Yuan Changqing's aunt Liu. In her previous life, she didn't know what the situation was outside, but she remembered it clearly, the Fang family, like Qi Niang, only sat outside and did not enter the cave room.

Like the divination of superstitious people, there are two situations that are different from those in the previous life, which makes Shanniang feel that this is a good omen, and it should indicate that her marriage in this life will have a different future......

She was thinking like this, when she suddenly heard a burst of girls' playful laughter outside, and the sharpest voice was Zhou Xiuyuan's voice.

Shanniang's eyes narrowed slightly, and she secretly said in her heart: It's here.

She was thinking about how she would reply in this life, whether to simply give up pretending to be a virtuous person and speak ill of her on the spot, or pretending not to hear it like in her previous life, but a figure suddenly flashed in front of her.

As soon as she raised her head, she was surprised to find that Yuan Changqing, who had gone out non-stop to entertain guests after removing her hijab in her previous life, was still standing beside her at this time, and was still holding the piece of Xipa in her hand.

Yuan Changqing glanced at her dissatisfiedly when he bent down to put the Xipa in his hand on the bed.

Shanniang was confused by him for a while, and didn't understand where she had upset him.

At this time, I only heard Mrs. Yuan Si smile and said, "Changqing, you should go out, the guests are waiting outside." ”

Yuan Changqing lowered his eyes and glanced at Shanniang again, and then retreated from the bedside.

Seeing that he retreated, Shanniang didn't care, so she turned her eyes to look at the door of the new house. Just now she obviously heard the voices of Zhou Xiuyuan, Yuan Yongmei and others, but it had been like this for a while, and those people hadn't even come in.

Yuan Changqing didn't know what she was looking at. He only knew that since he lifted the Xipa, Shanniang had been absent-minded, and she had never even given him a straight look. This couldn't help but make him feel disappointed.

Seeing that Yuan Changqing didn't move, the fourth lady got up and pulled him, and then urged him again.

Yuan Changqing looked back at his fourth aunt, and then looked back at Shanniang.

A distant aunt of the Yuan family next to her saw it, so she joked to him: "You can go with confidence, we will take care of the bride for you, and a hair is indispensable for the care." The guests laughed.

No matter how Yuan Changqing pretends to be mature and sophisticated, he is still a young man in the end, his face is still thin, and he blushed all of a sudden when he was told by the aunt, so he didn't want to look at Shanniang anymore, and turned around and hurried away amid everyone's laughter.

And until the banquet had already opened outside, Shanniang still couldn't wait for Yuan Yongmei and Zhou Xiuyuan and their party. The fourth lady asked the maid who came to inform the opening of the banquet: "Have you seen the fourth girl?" ”

The maid smiled, "The fourth girl was dragged by the big county lord and the girls of the Bai family, and she has already entered the table first. ”

When the fourth lady heard this, she turned around and greeted the guests, and said with a smile: "Let's also go to the banquet, it happens that the bride is loose and loose, and it has been sitting for a day." ”

Seeing the guests gradually disperse, Shanniang couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It was only then that she realized that she had been worried that those people would really come to her for trouble as they had in her previous life—not that she was afraid of being humiliated again, but that after changing her life, changing the time, and changing the guests, what should have happened in her previous life would still happen again like fate......

Shanniang didn't know that this incident almost happened again. That Yuan Yongmei had already fooled Zhou Xiuyuan to the courtyard where Yuan Changqing lived (so Shan Niang would hear their voices), and she didn't want Zhou Chong to come over with his fox friends to make trouble. The two parties met one after the other, Zhou Chong saw through Yuan Yongmei's trick at a glance, and in terms of generation, Zhou Xiuyuan had to call him "uncle", how could he see his family being used as a gunman, so he used words to provoke Zhou Xiuyuan and others to go out with him to play wine and fight for wine.

Yuan Yongmei originally wanted to drag Zhou Xiuyuan, but at this time, Yuan Changqing was blasted out of the new house by the fourth lady. And compared to the trouble of finding a bride, Zhou Xiuyuan was more willing to revolve around Yuan Changqing, so he turned around and followed Yuan Changqing out. Yuan Changqing only glanced at the people present, and then guessed the whole thing, his cold eyes swept over Yuan Yongmei, making the four girls subconsciously shiver, and no matter how many small movements they did, they didn't dare to do it. Therefore, Shanniang couldn't wait for anyone to come.

After the last guest left, Shanniang, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed with her shoulders straight, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, and while beating her waist, she ordered Wufu to close the door, complaining, "It's cold." There were people coming in and out all the time, and the room had just gathered a little heat before it dissipated again. ”

Wufu smiled while closing the door: "Girl, really, how can it be so cold, I heard that there is an earth dragon burning in the house." "I'm curious about what the earth dragon is like, we don't have anything like it in the south." ”

Sanhe said while helping Shanniang remove the jewelry on her head: "I heard that this year is a warm winter, and there have not been a few snows in the capital. ”

The two southern girls came to the north for the first time, and they were more excited than Shanniang, who had been in the north for half their lives in the previous life.

Shanniang smiled: "What about the nurse? ”

The two maids looked at each other and said with a smile: "The nurse is in her own room." ”

Shanniang knew that because she hadn't had a round house yet, the nurse was still worried that she would bump into her good deeds, so she still avoided it.

Thinking of the word "round house", Shanniang lowered her eyes and quietly blushed. On the night of her previous life, she and Yuan Changqing were both flustered and confused, so that apart from embarrassment and discomfort, she had no other impression of that night...... Xu is night did not leave a good impression on the two of them, and Yuan Changqing is a person who is good at self-restraint, so he never has many "requirements" for her. It's just that there are not many "requests", which always makes Shanniang feel uncomfortable and awkward, so gradually, she is even a little afraid of his "requests...... Xu Yuan Changqing doesn't like it very much, in short, since he had two children, he has completely lost his "requirements". In this regard, Shanniang only felt a long sigh of relief......

And thinking of the embarrassment of having to do it again in this life, Shanniang couldn't help but start to regret marrying Yuan Changqing again......

Here she took off her heavy coat and the horrible white-pink mask and makeup, changed into a small coat and red dress, and lightly applied fat, and there she led the bridegroom into the new room again. It's time to do the joint salute.

After eating the dumplings and longevity noodles, Granny Xi held the cup, and wrapped the red thread tied on the cup around the little fingers of Shanniang and Yuan Changqing. Another grandmother-in-law sang a melodious greeting outside the door. In the congratulatory speech, Shanniang and Yuan Changqing both held their wine glasses. Because the red thread tied between the two wine glasses was not long, the two of them were very close to each other at this time. When Shanniang's lips touched the wall of the cup, Yuan Changqing's whisper suddenly sounded in her ears: "May we grow old together." ”

Shanniang was stunned and looked up at Yuan Changqing. I saw that he was also staring down at her, and her reflection was clearly distinguishable in those dark eyes. At that moment, Shanniang felt that they should be able to do it in this life.

After the ceremony, Granny Xi pushed everyone down, and then grabbed a door with one hand, and said to the little couple sitting on the edge of the bed: "Good day and auspicious time, * the night is long, and the newlyweds are resting." With that, he closed the door with a grin.

When the door closed, there was silence in the new room. Shanniang lowered her eyes, silently looked at her hands, and secretly despised in her heart - she couldn't imagine that she was a human being in two lives, but she was just repeating what she had done in the previous life with the same person, but she was still so nervous......

"Why didn't you even look at me then?" Suddenly, Yuan Changqing's voice sounded in her ears.

"Huh?" Shanniang was dazed for a while, looked up and asked, "When?" ”

"When the hijab is lifted!" Yuan Changqing frowned slightly, and complained: "I stared at you for a long time, but you didn't even look at me, you just cared about eye-to-eye with your seventh sister!" ”

Shanniang blinked for a moment before she reacted, and couldn't help but raise her hand to cover the tip of her nose, and said with a smile: "You glared at me so dissatisfied just now, is it because of this?" ”

When she said this, Yuan Changqing felt that he seemed to be making a bit of a fuss like that...... And it's a bit naïve.

He turned his head embarrassedly, sat there silently lowered his eyes for a while, and suddenly called again, "Thirteen ......" halfway through, he suddenly paused, looked back at her, and called again: "Shan'er." ”

Although only the old lady would normally call her that, his tongue-curled pronunciation once again made him call her name with a different taste......

She knew he was looking at her, but she didn't dare to look up at him until his hand covered hers.

"Shan'er......" He just wanted to shake her hand, but after shaking her hand, he was suddenly dissatisfied, so as soon as his arm was forced, he took her into his arms again, and then pressed her shoulder with his other hand, until he felt that she did not resist him, he gradually relaxed, and then kissed her ear sideways, and said softly: "I can finally hold you......"