Chapter 3

Chapter 3

On the eve of my wedding to the Eldest Young Master of the Jiang Family, rain fell through the entire night. Muffled thunder rolled overhead, like an ill omen.

Mother did not sleep all night either.

Dragging her injured body along, she half-reclined on the couch and hurried to finish a padded jacket for me.

No one had expected my marriage to happen so suddenly. It was the hottest part of summer; I had no need for a padded jacket at all. But Mother insisted on making one.

Cailian tried to persuade her softly from the side. “Madam, please be careful with your eyes. The Jiang Family deals in silk and satin. I doubt they would leave our young miss short of a single outfit.”

It would have been better if she had said nothing. Once she did, Mother’s eyes lowered. After a long while, she only said, “Anything from outside won’t be as good as mine. This one is thick. Warm.”

I stood by the window for air. At her words, my body gave a violent tremble, and I nearly burst into tears.

When Mother learned that her own daughter was to be married off to a fool, she almost cried herself blind.

Day after day, I tried to comfort her. A concubine-born daughter like me would most likely end up as someone’s concubine in another household anyway. Now that I could marry over as a legitimate wife, perhaps that was my good fortune.

In the end, Mother came around. In this life of hers, as someone else’s concubine, it was wrong not to fight, and wrong to fight. Being a concubine was itself the mistake.

Marrying a fool as his proper wife-who could say it would not be a blessing in disguise?

Only, in the end, it was still hard to accept.

The wedding banquet was extremely lively.

The Jiang Family did business with its doors open to the world, so the banquet welcomed guests from every direction.

The one who came to escort me into the bridal sedan and bowed with me in the wedding ceremony was the Jiang Family’s second young master, Jiang Shaoqiu.

He was handsome and accomplished, and could be considered a way to preserve both families’ dignity.

Only at the very end, in the bridal chamber, did I finally see Jiang Shaoling.

He was sitting on the wedding bed, digging out the red dates tucked beneath the bedding and eating them.

Setting aside the foolish, innocent look in his eyes, Jiang Shaoling could actually be considered a shy, delicate-looking youth. I lowered my head and happened to notice the hangnails beside his fingernails. Because it was a grand wedding, everything from top to bottom had been properly arranged, but these tiny details-no one had thought to see to them for him.

Simply because he was a fool, it was enough if he looked presentable.

Date pits had rolled all over the floor. I swept a few together, then poured two cups of wine and handed one to him.

Jiang Shaoling waved his hand. “Wine, no drink. Father, hit.”

I said to him, “This is our wedding wine. We have to drink it. My name is Lin Xi. Once we drink this, I will be your wife from now on.”

Jiang Shaoling stared at me foolishly. I did not know whether he understood or not. His lips worked a couple of times before he finally squeezed out two words.

He said, “Lin Xi.”

In the end, both cups of wedding wine went into my stomach. After I put out the lamp, borrowing a little courage from the wine, I took off my bright red bridal clothes and asked Jiang Shaoling, “Do you know how to sleep?”

I had not expected him to understand. To my surprise, after hesitating for a moment, Jiang Shaoling said, “Make baby?”

“Yes.”

“Baby, stupid. Everyone not like. Father, Mother, not like either. No make.”

My hands, which had been undoing my buttons, suddenly froze-who said fools understood nothing?

Jiang Shaoling’s position in the Jiang Family was not high.

Though he was the eldest young master and the servants showed him respect, in the end, there was always some disdain mixed in. He liked to play, but the servants usually stopped him. No one wanted to play with a fool. Besides, if they delayed their duties just to keep the eldest young master company and the higher-ups punished them, who would take the blame? If he could sit obediently, quiet and trouble-free, that was best.

As for his parents, my mother-in-law had passed away early, and my father-in-law was busy weathering the rises and falls of the business world.

I heard that even when my mother-in-law was still alive, Jiang Shaoling had not lived particularly well. Merchants valued profit; the eldest son being a fool made my father-in-law feel he had lost face. It was not until the second young master was born that my mother-in-law’s days became a little easier. But once she had a clever second son, the share of maternal love that fell to Jiang Shaoling was no more than making sure he was fed and clothed.

After my mother-in-law passed away, perhaps no one even knew whether he was full or not.

He was only a fool. How could he ever explain himself clearly?

There were only a few servants in his courtyard altogether, and all of them wanted to run over to Jiang Shaoqiu’s side.

What future could there be in serving a fool?

That night, each of us slept in our clothes. For some reason, I dreamed of Song Shubai.

By then, it had already been a long time since I had last seen him. Not long after he placed as Tanhua, he cut off contact with me. The last time we met was when I went to beg him to save Mother.

In the dream, I stood outside a half-open window and asked him whether he had eaten the meat cakes I had tucked beneath the soup tureen.

The scholar lowered his head and ground ink. His face revealed no expression; only the tips of his ears showed red. At last, he said quietly, “I ate them.”

Then I carried the food box away, my heart brimming with joy.

From the first little bit of pity I felt for him to falling in love, it had taken a full five years. Those two meat cakes were saved from my own meals. Afraid they would be too cold by the time I delivered them, I had specially hidden them under the soup tureen to keep them warm.

A young girl’s small affection had all been there.

Unfortunately, he had not been a worthy man.

When I opened my eyes, the fool beside me was sleeping with drool all over his face.

I sighed and pulled the quilt up over him.

The next morning, I found a pair of scissors and trimmed Jiang Shaoling’s nails. When I cut near the hangnails on his fingers, his hand trembled slightly, but he did not pull away. When I pushed his sleeve farther up, I saw bruises-some yellowing and nearly healed, others still red and swollen. I did not know where he had bumped himself so recently.

After applying medicine, I asked him, “Does it hurt?”

He did not say whether it hurt or not. He only tugged out a foolish smile and called, “Lin Xi.”

I said, “Don’t call me Lin Xi. Call me wife.”

Jiang Shaoling stared with his vacant eyes and called again:

“Lin Xi.”