Chapter 245 — The Wedding Night (Extra Chapter: Begging for Pink Tickets)

"How did you come running over here all by yourself?" Dou Yan asked in surprise.

To make it easier to look after her, the personal maids she had brought into the household—Suxin, Sulan, Ganlu, and Sujuan—were all lodged in the side chamber next door.

Sulan came skipping over to Dou Zhiwei's side and said with a grin, "Chen He, the one who attends the heir, just came by to ask whether the guests in the room had dispersed. If they had, we were to come in and attend you while you rested first. He also said, he said, however we served you at home is how we should serve you now. We were only to set someone to keep careful watch over the dragon-and-phoenix wedding candles. If they hadn't dispersed, then we were to wait a while... Sister had me come in and ask you—are you resting now? Or would you like a little something to eat to tide you over first?" Then, as if fearing Dou Yan might worry, she added, "When Chen He came over, he brought a young servant named Wuyi with him, saying that we had only just entered the household and knew no one and nothing, so if there was any matter at all, we had only to send Wuyi to see it done. I thought that Wuyi looked rather quick and clever—I daresay he won't make a muddle of anything."

For a bride to retire before the bridegroom had returned to the residence—that was a grave discourtesy. Were the groom's family to learn of it, a scolding would be the least of it; even if the bride's family were summoned and humiliated, they could do nothing but bear it.

Song Yan had thought it all out very carefully.

Dou Xin said, "I'd still rather wait for the heir to come back to the room."

Since Song Yan held her in such regard, she ought to show him respect in return.

Sulan nodded with a smile and said, "Then shall I stay and keep you company for a talk?"

"We're together every day—haven't you had enough of talking?" Dou Xin said. "Go and rest, all of you. Ganlu can stay on night duty; you'll have plenty to keep you busy tomorrow!" Then she asked, "Are the greeting gifts for the Song household all prepared for tomorrow?"

"All prepared," Sulan said with a smile. "Readied long ago. Sister even had us wrap a great many red packets—eight moneys of silver each with the double-happiness pattern, and four moneys each with the ground-flower pattern. When the time comes, Miss can also use them to tip the serving women."

Dou Yan nodded in satisfaction.

Sulan poured Dou Yan a cup of hot tea and withdrew.

Dou Ji examined the bridal chamber in careful detail.

It was a main building of five bays with side chambers, the easternmost bay fitted up as the inner room. The next bay was the sitting room, and the side chamber had been opened through to make a place for washing. The western side could not be seen, but it was likely a study or the like.

The father-in-law was still living, so this was certainly not the principal courtyard of the Yingzhen Ducal Residence.

When she had entered, the sedan chair had wound this way and that, so she could not tell whether this was Yizhi Hall or some separate courtyard set aside for the bridal chamber.

The walls had been freshly papered, and the hangings were of Hangzhou silk in a deep red with a four-persimmon pattern. Judging by the time between the match being made and the wedding itself, a full renovation would surely have been impossible. And looking at the ceiling, it was entirely faced with coffers painted in blue-green eight-treasure motifs; the floor was paved with mirror tiles in which a person's reflection could be seen. This room, made into the bridal chamber, was certainly not one chosen at random.

Dou Zhiwei's gaze was drawn to the lattice partitions between the inner room and the sitting room, inlaid with polychrome glass.

There were six panels in all, eighteen lattices, every one of blue fired enamel, each inlaid with a spray of magnolia in mother-of-pearl. The colors were bright yet never harsh, the design novel yet dignified, and she was so taken with them that she could not help leaning in to look closely.

She wondered whose handiwork it was.

The Meiling plain blossom had short, broad sepals with blunt, rounded tips; the Jian'ou plain blossom had petals that curled upward; the palm-fan plain blossom had petals like a palm fan... Down to the finest detail, it could truly be called workmanship surpassing nature.

She thought of the garden of flowers and trees she had left behind in Zhending. And of her grandmother.

She had thought she would be able to return before long, never imagining that one delay would stretch into two years.

If only she might have the chance to go back and take her leave of Grandmother.

And Suxin and Sulan—held back by her own affairs, their marriages had been put off as well.

Dou Yan thought again of last year's year's end, when Zhao Liangbi had come to the capital: Sulan had come in to serve tea, and there had been that burning look in his eyes—and Sulan's ears had gone red.

She could not help pressing a hand to her forehead.

Just then she heard brisk footsteps outside.

Then came a serving woman's respectful voice: "Heir. You have returned to your room!"

Song Yan gave a faint "Mm."

Dou Qu sat up very straight and proper.

The door opened with a creak, and Song Yan came in, his face slightly flushed and a trace of wine about him.

"Heir!" Dou Xin greeted him.

She was the bride; before the wedding night, her feet must not touch the ground.

Seeing Dou Yan still sitting on the nanmu bed in full bridal array, Song Yan was quite surprised.

Dou Ji explained with a smile, "I was waiting for the heir to return!"

Though their marriage carried a certain flavor of expedience, Dou Yan's respect for the ceremony moved Song Yan somewhat.

He gestured to the resplendent yet exceedingly heavy phoenix crown and cloud-and-phoenix robe she wore and said, "Can you take those off now?"

Dou Xin said, "Of course I can!"

Song Ji breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Then have someone come and help you out of your bridal things at once. It tires me just to look at you."

Dou Yan laughed softly and called Suxin and Sulan in.

Song Ji withdrew to the western bay.

After Dou Yan had washed and dressed her hair again in a simple bun, applied a little fragrant cream, and changed into a brand-new peach-pink undergarment, Sulan and the others withdrew, while Ganlu stayed behind and spread the bedding on the large kang by the window in the sitting room.

Song Yan, too, had changed into a lake-colored Hangzhou silk Daoist robe and came in.

Seeing Ganlu making up the bed, he instructed her without any change of expression, "You may go and rest. There's no need for you to keep night watch here."

Gan Lu looked blankly toward Dou Yan.

Now that she was married to Song Yan, she would have to respect the Song family's habits.

Dou Yan gave a slight nod.

Gan Lu hastily bent her knee in salute and withdrew.

Song Yan sat down on the bedding Gan Lu had laid out and said with a laugh, "Let us rest as well! Tomorrow we must rise at first light to offer sacrifices to the stove god and to our ancestors, to meet the relatives, and to host a banquet for kith and kin—you had better not be yawning away then!" With that he took off his shoes and climbed onto the kang.

"You—you mean to sleep here?" Dou Yan said, astonished.

Song Yan said, "If I slept elsewhere, you would likely be talked about by everyone tomorrow. It might even alarm your father!"

He thought of the tray of silver drafts Dou Huaiying had given Dou Zhiwei, and of how Dou Yan had choked back tears when taking leave of her parents, and his tone could not help but soften a little.

Dou Yan's face turned crimson.

It was only two days before the wedding that she had decided to marry Song Yan.

Too much had happened, and time had been too rushed; there were things Dou Yan had had no chance to think over carefully.