Chapter 2

Chapter 2

My wedding to An Yuanqi was simple, but not a single proper step was skipped.

We went through the Six Rites, had the deputy magistrate of Qinghe County officiate, and held a modest banquet with a few tables of guests.

The An family still had a few distant relatives in the county, all ordinary common folk.

This time, we stayed at the home of one of his cousin-uncles. His uncle and aunt were warm and thoughtful, decorating the bridal chamber and bustling about before and after the ceremony with great enthusiasm.

Considering An Yuanqi was an orphan who had lost both parents, and a butcher besides, it was truly touching that his uncle’s family treated him this way.

Also accompanying An Yuanqi back to Qinghe County for the wedding was Zhao Yuning, a cousin from his maternal aunt’s family in the capital.

The Zhao Family also did business in the capital. I heard their business was doing quite well. In any case, they looked rather wealthy.

His cousin wore fine brocade robes and carried himself with effortless elegance. His long, narrow eyes made him look like a fox.

On the second day after the wedding, when he saw me, he twirled the fan in his hand and bowed. “Greetings, Sister-in-law. You must have been tired yesterday.”

His cheeks were fair, and his smile was full of implication. My face immediately turned red.

When I had been doing my hair and makeup before the bronze mirror, the marks on my neck had been far too obvious. I had already done my best to cover them.

Everyone else would pretend not to notice even if they saw, yet he just had to say something with a hidden meaning. I was somewhat displeased and felt he was far too frivolous.

An Yuanqi seemed to know exactly what I was thinking. He kicked that elegant young master squarely.

“Shut your mouth. Your sister-in-law is quiet and reserved. Don’t tease her.”

His cousin yelped in pain and clutched his backside, shouting, “Who was teasing her? There are so many tiring formalities on a wedding day. What’s wrong with offering a word of concern?”

Out in the suburbs, when we visited my parents-in-law’s graves, I kowtowed four times alongside An Yuanqi.

An Yuanqi’s voice was low and solemn. “Father, Mother, your son has married. My new wife is the one you arranged for me back then, Xiuyan of the Anyang Li Family. Her childhood name is Lianlian. I am very pleased with her, so you may rest easy.”

I had a guilty conscience and did not even dare look directly at my parents-in-law’s tombstones. All I felt was sweat gathering in my palms.

On the way back, An Yuanqi touched my forehead. “What is it, my wife? Why do you look so pale?”

Feeling guilty, I said, “I feel a little unwell.”

He pressed, “Where do you feel unwell?”

I glanced at him but had not yet answered when he suddenly smiled again, his expression softening. “I understand. Come on, I’ll carry you.”

With that, he crouched down.

I felt a little embarrassed. “It’s all right, husband. I can walk on my own.”

“Get on. Otherwise, I’ll carry you back in my arms.”

Since he insisted, I stopped refusing and lay against his back.

An Yuanqi was strong and sturdy, his shoulders and back broad. For some reason, it made me feel safe and grounded.

He carried me along the little country path. With no one around us, he coaxed me softly, “My wife, I’ll be careful tonight.”

After saying that, the tips of his ears turned a little red. I buried my face against his neck, my cheeks burning hot.

“Stop saying that. It’s too embarrassing.”

On the third day, when a bride returned to her maiden home, we went to the Anyang Li Family. The plan was to return directly to the capital from Anyang.

Miss Xiuyan came to see me. She held my hands and asked, “Lianlian, is that butcher good to you? Has he bullied you?”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry, Miss. He treats me very well.”

“Good girl. You’ve suffered for my sake. Don’t worry. Once I marry in the future, if your life is not going well, I will give that butcher a sum of money and bring you to live by my side.”

Miss Xiuyan and I had grown up together. She had a gentle temperament. Though she was my lofty mistress, she treated me generously and without the slightest arrogance.

When she studied and learned to read, she would always teach me how to write my own name as well. She said, “Lianlian, when a woman can read, understand words, and comprehend proper principles, she becomes virtuous and good. Que’er and the others don’t have this chance. Since you are by my side and have the opportunity to learn, you must study seriously.”

Strictly speaking, I could read and write. This was probably why Madam had chosen me to marry in Miss Xiuyan’s place.

No one understood Miss Xiuyan better than I did. I could play her role very well.

Master and Madam had already laid out a path for Miss Xiuyan. When she married in the future, she would change her name and be wed out as the Li Family’s adopted daughter.

If we were going to put on an act, we had to see it through. The Li Family prided itself on being upright and respectable. They would never allow something as disgraceful as abandoning an old betrothal to stain their name.

We stayed at the Li Family home for a day. Madam and I played the part of a deeply affectionate mother and daughter so well that no one could find a flaw in it.

Only, on the day we left, Lin Sirun was among the crowd seeing us off.

There was no hiding the matter of the substitute marriage from him.

Back when I was still a maidservant, Miss often entrusted me with delivering things to him.

Lin Sirun was the most outstanding student at Qiushan Academy, and his family was well-off besides.

When he sat for the prefectural examination, it happened to be winter, and Miss made him a pair of knee warmers by hand.

When I delivered them, he was leaning against the academy’s carved railing with a book covering his face, sleeping on his back.

I called out, “Young Master Lin.”

He raised a hand and moved the book away. His eyes were hazy with sleep, his expression languid, and even his voice was lazy.

“Little Lianlian, you’ve disturbed my sweet dreams again.”

Since I often delivered things to him, we were fairly familiar with each other. I handed him the knee warmers and grumbled, “The prefectural examination is right around the corner. Everyone else is studying, yet here you are sleeping.”

He smiled, dazzlingly bright. “It’s only the prefectural examination. This young master could pass it with his eyes closed.”

He was always making such shameless boasts, yet somehow there never seemed to be anything wrong with them. Facts later proved that he really was that capable.

Miss said he had already become a ranked jinshi and could have taken an official post directly, but he was proud, ambitious, and from a good family, so he was in no hurry to enter government service. He planned to sit for the examinations again.

Lin Sirun said, “With looks like mine, I won’t rest until I win the title of Tanhua.”

Since ancient times, women were usually the ones who cared about beauty. Among men, someone as obsessed with his own face as he was truly stood alone.

But no one found it strange. Lin Sirun was exceptionally handsome, with beautiful brows and eyes, red lips, and white teeth.

For him to parade through the streets one day as the Tanhua seemed only natural.

Otherwise, Master and Madam would not have gone to such lengths to marry Miss to him.

That day, when I came at Miss’s request, his fingers brushed over the knee warmers. His eyes shifted, gleaming, as he asked me, “You made these?”

I shook my head. “Miss made them.”

He gave an “oh,” then said, “Then make me a pair when you have time.”

“Why?”

He leaned closer, his eyes pitch-black. “Your young lady is precious, so the knee warmers she made are precious too. Better for you to make me another pair, so I won’t be too reluctant to use them.”

I ignored him. I was a servant of the Li Family, not his.

But later, I still made that pair of knee warmers.

Because after I repeated his words to Miss, she was rather pleased and told me to make him another pair just as he had asked.

He was always like that, arrogant and conceited, causing trouble for others.

On the day we returned to the capital, An Yuanqi helped me into the carriage. I looked toward the crowd seeing us off and unexpectedly caught sight of him.

A young master in white, purer than snow, spotless and untouched by dust, with a faint, unreadable smile in his eyes.

Was he pitying me for marrying a butcher?

I paid him no mind. The carriage curtain fell, and the carriage set off with a swaying lurch.

On the road, An Yuanqi held my hand. His palm was rough and covered in calluses, but it was broad and warm.

He must have suffered a great deal before. Slaughtering pigs and selling meat in the outskirts of the capital could not have been easy. I heard competition for business around the imperial city was fierce.

Madam looked down on him. People from great households like theirs had no idea how hard it was to make a living.

For this visit to the Li Family, he had prepared many generous gifts. Added to the earlier betrothal gifts and everything else, he must have emptied his savings.

When I married out, the Li Family had given me some dowry, but not much.

Living a life together meant planning carefully. I said, “Husband, our family probably doesn’t have much money left. From now on, we’ll work hard to earn money together. Our days will only get better.”

He laughed again, looking very happy. So happy he could hardly contain himself, he pulled me into his arms and rested his chin against my neck. It tickled.

“Lianlian, following me won’t mean living on husks and weeds.”

Later, standing in front of the Pingxi General’s Manor, I finally understood where his confidence had come from.