Volume 5: Fellow Traveler Chapter 755: Newly Married
The road is filled with fragrance from the BMW and carved carriages, the sound of phoenix flutes is heard, the light of jade pots is turning , and fish and dragons are dancing all night.
At first, the people in the capital thought that Zhang Yuan's wedding would be a scene of numerous nobles, elegant clothes, and jewels. After all, with the style of the Zhu family, the Duke of Zhao's mansion, and the extravagance of Miss Zhu, there would always be many nobles and even civil servants who would give face to Zhang Shou, a nouveau riche, and go to Zhang Yuan to join in the fun.
The roads were filled with BMWs and luxury cars, and there was music and dancing all night long; that was as it should be, just like the festive scene that lasted all night long at the Zhao Mansion. People who had previously been to the Zhao Mansion and Zhu's family to attend Zhu Tingfang's wedding even claimed that this time the Zhao Mansion's daughter's wedding was even more grand than the previous marriage of a daughter-in-law.
However, the biggest news in Zhang Garden that night was not the nobles who went out of their way to give face to Zhang Shou, such as Zhang Kang, the Earl of Weinan, and Zhang Qiong, the Earl of Xiangyang, nor was it Zhang Shou's students who were of noble birth and increasingly famous, but rather the famous scholars and wise men from all over the country and their students.
These guests, who were quite famous in the literati circle, occupied a total of thirty tables, and more than half of them promised on the spot that they would go to the public school to give lectures, or even stay there to teach for a while. Even though many people said behind his back that it was because the old Grand Tutor Ge Yong personally promoted his closed disciples, and Lu Wan and Liu Zhiyuan made great contributions, this was Zhang Shou's wedding after all.
So, at this wedding, some people envied the grandeur, some secretly cursed it for being extravagant, some were impressed by the sight of so many talented people gathered together, and some cursed the people for having ulterior motives and selling dog meat under the guise of wolves, and even secretly despised those followers... But no matter what outsiders said, it could not affect Zhang Shou's night of love and pleasure.
Although he wanted to emulate the carefree life of a king who never held court again after a short night, Zhang Shou was not as diligent as Zhu Tingfang. He could not possibly do such a feat as taking only two and a half days of wedding leave, which added up to only one day. However, when he opened his eyes from a deep sleep early in the morning, he found that there was only a faint fragrance by his pillow, but his newlywed wife was gone.
Just like that beautiful and tender wedding night, it was just a fleeting dream for him.
Just as Zhang Shou half-raised himself and looked around in a daze, he found that the curtain was opened and heard Zhu Ying's crisp voice faintly coming from outside: "Ah Shou seems to be very tired these days, let him sleep a little longer, mother won't mind it anyway. By the way, don't wear those green clothes today, that silver-red robe is very good, since it is newly made, it would be a pity not to wear it."
A woman's low voice reminded Zhang Shou from the side. Zhang Shou couldn't hear it clearly for a moment, but soon, Zhu Ying's clear voice came again.
"Zhan Jin, are you worried that Ah Shou doesn't like to wear red? Hey, just because he rarely wears it doesn't mean he really doesn't like it. I know him best, because blue is easy to match, and there are many colors in the same series, so he doesn't have to think about it. If someone really says that he is repeating himself, he will have something to say. Besides, do you expect Ah Liu to know how to match clothes for him? Now that I am here, of course he will listen to me!"
Faced with this domineering statement, Zhang Shou couldn't help but rub his brows. Just as he was about to make a final statement about his taste in color, he heard Ah Liu's weak voice from outside: "The young master seems to have woken up."
"Huh?"
Following this exclamation, there was another sound of footsteps, and Zhang Shou saw Zhu Ying appear in front of him like a gust of wind. He stared at the brightly colored dress for a long time, but unexpectedly, Zhu Ying glared at him angrily: "What are you looking at? This is not bright red, it's cherry color! It's different from the bride's dress last night!"
"You know all kinds of green, but did you know there are many kinds of red?"
"Just the light reds include imperial red, pink, peach red, and crabapple red. The slightly darker ones are pomegranate red, cherry red, silver red, and scarlet red. Vermilion red and red are similar. Even darker ones are crimson purple, rouge, and madder... You can't dress the same way in the future. There are many ."
At this point, Zhu Ying winked playfully: "I don't want the young girls and wives in the capital to feel that the exiled immortal they admired the most in the past has become dull now that he is married. I want you to be more dazzling than before!"
What else could Zhang Shou say? He sighed, raised his hands and surrendered, "Madam, I haven't said a word yet, and you're already pushing me aside. I really don't know much about colors, and I didn't know there are so many different shades of red... So you can make me any color you want. Anyway, I'm just a clothes hanger, and you can dress me up, okay?"
Zhu Ying suddenly remembered that when they were whispering in each other's ears last night, Zhang Shou said that if she was a pound more she would be too fat, and if she was a pound less she would be too thin. She had none of the disadvantages of being plump and thin, but was just a perfect clothes hanger. He also extended his conversation to talk about the feel of her hands and many other things that made her face hot. Her strong attitude just now immediately flew to Java, and she said angrily, "Nonsense, what about the words 'Qingqing' and 'Niangzi'? They are so ugly!"
She said this with a happy smile on her face, and sat down on the edge of the bed. Seeing that Zhang Shou had already sat up, she reached out to take the clothes from Zhan Jin and Liu Yin behind her, and put on the clothes for Zhang Shou one by one, just like those brides who serve their husbands. Her movements were obviously awkward, but the corners of her eyebrows and eyes showed undisguised tenderness and affection.
For a man, being able to satisfy his wife on the wedding night is of course a very proud thing. Therefore, Zhang Shou did not refuse Zhu Ying's unskilled service. When he was finally dressed, he did not imitate the ancients to draw eyebrows for his wife for fun. Instead, he took Zhu Ying's hand, gently scratched her palm with his fingers a few times, and then walked out of the inner bedroom leisurely.
Although Zhan Jin and Liu Yin, who were following behind, did not notice those little movements, they could not help but smile at each other when they saw the fingers clasped together. No wonder the Madam tried to bring the two together after the Master and the Young Master successively spread bad news... If they had known that their young lady's son-in-law was a man like Zhang Shou, they would definitely have tried their best to persuade them like the matchmaker in the opera!
Although when maids receive various kinds of instruction, matchmakers are always the biggest negative examples...
Because she got up late, it was already late, and Zhang Shou had the habit of having breakfast with Wu in the past, so this time she simply took Zhu Ying with her. Wu had been waiting in the room for a long time, and finally saw the two of them coming together, wearing bright robes, radiant faces, and clearly showing a satisfied expression. Even though she knew it would be like this, she still smiled from ear to ear.
However, she insisted on accepting only half of the gifts from Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, claiming that the full gift should wait until they went to the ancestral temple to worship their parents. Not only that, after the two of them had finished their gifts, she took the clothes, shoes and socks that Zhu Ying had presented to her, but then pulled her daughter-in-law to sit next to her.
"Yingying, when you first arrived in the village, you said you wanted to stay. Although I was happy, I didn't dare to think that you would fall in love with Shou at first sight. I am not very knowledgeable, but I know that in matters between men and women, if a woman is attracted first, most men will think they have won the heart of a beauty and often don't know how to cherish her... Yingying is the best example."
When Wu talked about Cui Yingying, she could not help but think of the widow Zhang: "My wife once told me that Yingying was locked up in the inner courtyard, lonely and no one understood her, so she was instigated by Hongniang and fell into Zhang Sheng's hands. Life and death, honor and disgrace, were just a matter of Zhang Sheng's thoughts. In "The Story of Yingying", Zhang Sheng abandoned Yingying after having an affair with her, and Yingying did not have a good ending. In "The Romance of the West Chamber", Zhang Sheng had a conscience, so Yingying's dream came true."
"So when I saw you at that time, I thought to myself, if a girl like you who is so straightforward and sincere is really willing to marry Ah Shou, I will definitely do my best to make it happen. If Ah Shou really has no intention, then I will never let you get hurt. At least Ah Shou is not blind, nor is his heart as hard as stone. He finally fell in love with you."
After saying this in one breath, Wu saw Zhu Ying was first shocked, then in deep thought, and finally quite moved. She continued word by word, "My wife and my husband never left each other. Although you both died young, you still had the best time together. Now, I just hope that you can support each other and grow old together."
At this point, Wu turned to look at Zhang Shou, with a rare stern look on her face: "Ah Shou, you must treat Yingying well in the future, and you must not let her down."
Who is the biological son after all... Zhang Shou secretly complained in his heart, and then he realized that he was indeed not Wu's biological son. It was just that she treated him like an old hen protecting her chicks and often overprotected him.
However, when the new bride came into the family, the status of the family seemed different - it was obvious that Wu felt that Zhu Ying cared more about him than he did about Zhu Ying. He was even more wronged than Dou E. When it comes to love, can it be counted by who was moved first?
But even though he thought so, when he saw Zhu Ying's bright and brilliant smile, pulling Wu to say a lot of good things about him, and almost guaranteeing him, Zhang Shou couldn't help but laugh. As long as he was the best in Zhu Ying's mind, that was enough.
Seeing that the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were as close as mother and daughter, he had to cough to spoil the mood: "Mom, when are we going to have breakfast? I'm already hungry. After breakfast, I'll take Yingying to the ancestral temple."
"Look at my memory. I even forgot the most important thing!"
Wu smiled immediately and immediately ordered someone to bring breakfast. When she saw the huge table filled with so many delicious dishes, even Zhu Ying couldn't help but say, "Mom, isn't this too much? I can't finish it even if I'm pregnant!"
"This is different from your previous home. In the past, we only knew that Aunt Xu's vegetable dumplings were a specialty. Later, we found out that she also had a special skill in making dim sum, but she didn't want to show it before. Today, for your sake, she is not only willing to make it herself, but also willing to teach Aunt Liu as an apprentice, so she made so much today. Try them one by one and see which ones suit your taste."
"As for whether you can finish it, you don't have to worry about it at all." Wu smiled and said, "Hey, why don't you come in? Why are you hiding at the door?"
With a response from outside, Zhu Ying turned her head and saw Ah Liu, with a calm expression, enter the room. When he looked at her, his eyes seemed to be smiling and innocent. She immediately remembered that he was a big eater and she laughed.
As expected, just as Wu said, even though the table was filled with all kinds of dim sum and porridge, when Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying both said they were full, Ah Liu, who had been eating in a gentle and elegant manner, immediately let go and in an instant, the remaining dishes on the table were swept away. Not to mention the leftovers, even the porridge bowls were clean.
Mrs. Wu was used to this kind of situation. Seeing this, she smiled and said, "Okay, okay, it's almost time. Ah Liu will stay with you. Ah Shou, you and Yingying can go to the ancestral temple."
Zhu Ying had always admired the widow Zhang, whom she had never met but only heard of from her mother and Yu. Seventeen years ago, when Prince Ye rebelled and Prince Lu followed him, in an environment full of murderous intent, her mother Jiu Niang and Concubine Yu were able to fight their way out of the temple together because they knew each other well, had known each other for many years, and were two people.
However, Widow Zhang escaped alone. After meeting her pregnant mother and Concubine Yu, she did not just care about herself, but took them to her own home. This was not great wisdom and courage, but great benevolence and righteousness.
Therefore, when Zhu Ying followed Zhang Shou into the ancestral temple and burned incense and performed the ritual, she saw Zhang Shou stand up and pray silently. She could not help but staring at the portrait for a long time before she smiled brightly.
"Mother, I am your daughter-in-law. Although you left too early, you have seen me, because when I was just born, it was thanks to you that I was able to be born safely into this world. Therefore, you are my savior."
"There is a folk story about the snail girl repaying a favor. Now I am married to Ah Shou, but this is not a way of repaying a favor, because I fell in love with him at first sight. After spending some time together and getting to know his personality and character, I fell in love with him even more. I think this is fate."
"So, thank you, mother, for saving me, and thank you for risking your life to give birth to Ah Shou. I can't imagine who I would marry and what kind of life I would live if I hadn't met him. Before I met him, I had seen countless men in the capital, but none of them caught my eye. He is like a treasure given to me by God, making me even luckier."
At this point, she glanced at Zhang Shou and then raised her eyebrows proudly: "But, Ah Shou actually avoided me before and thought I was troublesome. Fortunately, he had a good eye for talent, otherwise I would have given up on him even if I liked him. Now, I followed him to pay my respects to you, mother, first to report our marriage, and second to ask for your blessing."
"You must bless him and me to live a hundred years, and bless our children to be as smart, handsome, and happy as we are! Oh, and you must also bless mother to be safe, happy, and live a long life. It's really not easy for her..."
Listening to Zhu Ying talking earnestly, Zhang Shou felt a sense of peace in his heart. In this place that was undoubtedly a foreign land, or even a foreign land, he was finally no longer alone, he had a fellow traveler!
