Chapter 1868: 926 Newlywed Life (Part 1)
The young marquis’ wedding made the Marquis Residence lively for the entire night. The opera troupe rotated three shifts, singing until their voices were hoarse, and it wasn’t until the sky was tinged with the light of dawn that the event ended.
Little Yiyi couldn’t sleep because of the noise and wailed throughout the night, keeping Princess Xinyang up late as well.
When she opened her eyes, she realized it was already daylight. Pressing her aching temples, she said, “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”
Yujin helped her sit up and whispered, “You went to bed so late last night. It’s still early now, why not sleep a bit longer?”
Princess Xinyang waved her hand tiredly, “I can’t sleep, Ahen and Gu Jiao will come to serve tea soon.”
On the first day of the wedding, the daughter-in-law has to serve tea to the parents-in-law to be formally recognized by the family.
Although Princess Xinyang acknowledged Gu Jiao in her heart, she was a person of tradition and couldn’t neglect the rituals.
She freshened up, changed into dignified attire, and sat at the dressing table.
Yujin came over to do her hair.
She said, “You didn’t rest well either, did you? You don’t need to work today; let Huaping come over.”
Yujin smiled, “I slept well, I wasn’t here last night.”
At this point, her voice paused, and she looked at her princess in the bronze mirror. Sure enough, the princess looked unhappy.
She cleared her throat and fell silent, quietly doing Princess Xinyang’s hair.
As she was combing, her expression started to look off.
Princess Xinyang saw it in the mirror and asked curiously, “What’s with your expression?”
Yujin’s eyes flickered, “Nothing.”
Princess Xinyang: “You do.”
Yujin opened her mouth, and with some reluctance, said, “Next time, you should ask the marquis to be more careful.”
“Careful about what?” Princess Xinyang had just asked when she followed Yujin’s gaze in the mirror and saw a reddish mark on her neck.
She took a sharp breath in, finally understanding Yujin’s expression.
She stated primly, “It’s a mosquito bite, not what you think.”
Yujin continued combing, “Oh.”
From Yujin’s tone, Princess Xinyang knew she didn’t believe her and sighed, “It really is a mosquito bite!”
“If you say so.” Yujin raised an eyebrow, tying a section of hair into a bun and fixing it with a jade pin on Princess Xinyang’s head. “The marquis left late last night…”
Princess Xinyang gritted her teeth, “That’s because Yiyi cried half the night!”
Yujin smiled slightly, “If you say so!”
Anyway, I don’t believe it!
Princess Xinyang felt at a loss for words, just then, Marquis Xuanping came in looking refreshed.
Men and women are different, both slept late but while she was exhausted, he was energetic.
Princess Xinyang glared at him, then noticed he had a similar reddish mark on his neck.
Marquis Xuanping noticed her gaze, “Qin Fengwan, why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my neck?”
He looked in the mirror, “When did this happen? No wonder it’s itchy.”
Yujin stifled a laugh.
Princess Xinyang shot her a glare.
Yujin held back her laughter and said, “Marquis, was it a mosquito bite? It couldn’t have been a person, could it?”
You two were too intense last night!
Yujin really misunderstood. Nothing happened last night; there were just too many mosquitoes. In retrospect, Little Yiyi’s crying wasn’t just because the opera troupe was loud; she might have been bitten too.
But how could she explain it so Yujin would believe her?
Princess Xinyang felt so frustrated she wanted to hit someone.
To Marquis Xuanping, her demeanor suggested something else. He lazily sat on the dressing table and sneered coldly, “Qin Fengwan, are you accusing me of going out to find another woman last night?”
Princess Xinyang coldly glanced at Yujin, signaling this was her doing.
Yujin pinched her comb, “Ah, I think I hear Jingkong! I’ll go check on him!”
With that, she dashed out of the room.
Princess Xinyang couldn’t be bothered to explain.
Anyway, even if she did, he had a hundred reasons not to believe it.
“Go find whoever you want, it has nothing to do with me.” She stood coldly and walked toward the cradle.
Marquis Xuanping looked at her back and suddenly spoke, “I didn’t find anyone else. I’m here every night with you; there’s no time to find another woman.”
Princess Xinyang stopped by the cradle, didn’t turn around, and said coolly, “Go if you want, I’ll take care of Yiyi myself.”
Marquis Xuanping raised an eyebrow, “That won’t work, you can’t calm her down.”
Princess Xinyang took a deep breath, inwardly telling herself to stay calm and not to kill him, or Yiyi would be fatherless.
“Why are you here this morning? Yiyi doesn’t cry in the morning!”
At least she found a fault of his!
Marquis Xuanping sighed innocently, “Today the daughter-in-law serves tea. You won’t go to the Marquis Residence, so I had to come to the Princess Residence.”
Princess Xinyang clenched her fists. It was indeed… a irrefutable reason!
For her son’s and daughter-in-law’s sake, Princess Xinyang suppressed her rising anger and didn’t argue with the irritating man.
The two of them sat down in the room.
Little Yiyi opened her eyes and immediately spotted her handsome father, happily waving her arms and legs.
“Where’s Qingqing?” Marquis Xuanping asked Qin Fengwan while holding his daughter.
Princess Xinyang replied, “It’s not time yet, he should have gone out with Jingkong.”
Otherwise, the monastery would have had to search the entire residence for Gu Jiao by now.
Xuanping Marquis: “Then…”
Princess Xinyang: “No more talking!”
Little Yiyi: “Wah—”
“You too!”
The father and daughter both obediently closed their mouths.
The two exchanged eye contact.
Xuanping Marquis looked mournfully at his daughter in his arms, your mother is really fierce.
Little Yiyi looked aggrieved at her biological father, your wife is really fierce.
Princess Xinyang dressed up magnificently, ready to greet her new identity.
Yet, she waited from morning till noon, and from noon till evening. The sun had set, but there was still no sign of the two little ones coming over.
Xuanping Marquis stood up with a smile, nonchalantly dusting his wide sleeves: “Truly worthy of being my son!”
Princess Xinyang: “…!!”
…
Orchid Courtyard.
Xiao Hen slowly awakened in the evening twilight.
He had actually woken up once already, but seeing Gu Jiao sleeping sweetly in his arms, he couldn’t bear to wake her and drifted back to sleep in a daze.
The thick curtains blocked the doors and windows, making the room dark, and it was hard to tell if it was day or night.
Until a sliver of golden twilight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting a dazzling spot of light on the red canopy.
The spot of light fell on her tightly closed eyelids.
He raised his hand to shield her eyes.
He maintained this posture, shielding her from the light, for who knows how long. His arm had grown stiff, but he didn’t feel tired.
If it weren’t for… he could actually still…
The person in his arms stirred, murmuring something indistinctly from her small mouth.
“Jiaojiao, are you awake?” he asked softly.
Gu Jiao opened one eye, looked at him, and quickly closed it again: “I’m not awake yet, I still want to sleep.”
Wait, why was her voice so hoarse?
It didn’t even sound like her own.
And her legs didn’t feel like hers either.
She couldn’t move them.
So sore.
What exactly happened last night?
The first half of their wedding night was quite normal—the inexperienced but theoretically savvy young couple fumbled their way through the ceremony.
The first experience wasn’t great.
They decided to try again.
At this point, Gu Jiao, feeling thirsty, accidentally drank floral brew instead of water, and from then on, things just spiraled out of control.
Xiao Hen had no choice but to dismiss all the servants in the courtyard and ordered that no one was to return without his command.
This is also why during the day no one went to report the situation at Orchid Courtyard to Princess Xinyang.
Gu Jiao vaguely remembered opening the little first and kit, not knowing what she took from inside…
Or perhaps that frivolous box conjured something improper for her again…
Xiao Hen said, “You’re awake.”
Gu Jiao, with her eyes closed: “I am not.”
Grumble~
Gu Jiao’s stomach growled.
The light spots moved elsewhere, no longer shining directly on her eyes. Xiao Hen lowered his slightly stiff arm and gently caressed her soft cheek: “Get up and have something to eat.”
Gu Jiao moved her slender legs, causing Xiao Hen to inhale sharply and say hoarsely, “Jiaojiao, don’t move.”
Gu Jiao stopped moving.
Not because she was being obedient, but because she really didn’t have the energy to move.
Why was it even more exhausting than fighting a battle… she could fight battles all night without feeling this sore and weak.
What exactly did she do last night?
While pondering, she secretly opened her eyes and glanced at the pillow, nearly choking when she did!
What did she see?
Little Dudu!
Enduring the soreness in her arm, she moved two fingers stealthily, planning to recover the box and destroy the evidence while Xiao Hen wasn’t paying attention!
“They’re all used up.”
Xiao Hen calmly stated.
“Two boxes.”
Gu Jiao: “…!!”