Chapter 244 — Entering the Door

Mrs. Lu the Elder went over to Song Yan and explained in a whisper, "You must sit on the veil, with it beneath your buttocks!"

"Oh!" Song Yan came back to his senses and reached out to snatch the veil from Mrs. Zhao's hands. "I did not know there was such a custom..."

Beyond Song Yan's expectations, Mrs. Zhao whisked her hand up, and his grab caught only air.

"That won't do!" Mrs. Zhao said with a laugh. "You did not sit on it just now, so you certainly cannot sit on it now!"

Song Yan, about to reach for it again, looked questioningly at Mrs. Lu the Elder.

Mrs. Lu the Elder laughed and said, "It is only a token of good fortune—if the bridegroom sits on the veil, then after the wedding he will be able to keep his bride under his thumb!"

Song Ke grinned sheepishly. "Then, then let us not sit on it!"

Everyone in the room laughed at this.

Gazing at Dou Yan, whose long brows swept up toward her temples, whose air of fierce spirit was yet dazzlingly bright and beautiful, Mrs. Lu the Elder could not help but sigh.

Even heroes cannot pass the gate of beauty!

A man as cold and aloof as the Song family's cousin, and yet upon seeing his bride he had spoken such words as these!

She instructed Song Yan, "Quickly, take a velvet flower from your bride's hair and stick it up high."

Song Yan had to ask the reason, as though fearful that Dou Yan might come to some harm.

Dou Yan was rather dumbfounded.

Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that Song Yan could be so muddle-headed...

Dou Yan lowered her head and pretended she had seen nothing at all!

Mrs. Lu the Elder, torn between annoyance and amusement, said, "It means husband and wife in harmony, and sons born early!"

Only then did Song Yan, with a faint blush, pluck a velvet flower from Dou Yan's hair, and he asked Mrs. Lu the Elder, "Where should I put it?"

"Anywhere at all will do!" Mrs. Lu the Elder said with a laugh, having learned her lesson. "Put it up high and you will have a son; put it down low and you will have a daughter."

Gazing at the white wall pasted with silver-flower patterns and the double-happiness characters, Song Yan could not help but ponder: What exactly counts as high? What exactly counts as low? And if one wishes for both a son and a daughter, where then should it be placed?

For a moment he hesitated, unable to decide.

Madam Wang Yu could see what was amiss, and she softly prompted Song Yan, "Why not place it in the direction of the God of Happiness."

The direction of the God of Happiness had been calculated by the geomancer, and it was the most auspicious orientation for the newlyweds.

Song Yan saw the light. He cast a grateful glance at Madam Wang the Younger and stuck the velvet flower in the very center.

Mrs. Lu the Elder felt a sudden sense of relief.

At the rate Song Yan was dithering, the toasting of the guests might well be delayed.

She hastily handed the two of them the cross-cupped wine she had prepared.

This time Song Yan asked nothing, and readily drank the exchanged cups with Dou Yan and ate the sons-and-grandsons dumplings. Then Song Yan went to the front main hall to toast the guests, while Dou Yan sat cross-legged on the kang, facing the direction of the God of Happiness.

And with that, the wedding ceremony was complete.

On behalf of the Song family, Mrs. Lu the Elder escorted Mrs. Zhao to the flower hall where the Dou family's wedding party was resting, while Madam Wang the Younger and Mrs. Zhang San led the serving maids and matrons out of the room.

The bridal chamber fell quiet, with only the soft crackle of the lamp wick to be heard; and the faint clamor drifting in from the outer courtyard only made the chamber seem more still.

Dou Yan heard a serving woman speaking in a low voice outside: "Eldest Miss, you cannot go in! The heir has given orders. If you wish to see the bride, you will see her tomorrow at the family recognition—there is no need to rush."

"You are talking nonsense," a little girl's voice cried out sharply. "Third Cousin would never say such a thing! If you block my way again, I shall go and tell Second Uncle!"

"If Eldest Miss does not believe me, you may go and ask the heir yourself!" the serving woman said, unhurried and gentle. "How would this slave dare to lie to Eldest Miss's face!"

The little girl shrieked in displeasure, and someone came and pulled her away.

All around fell quiet once more.

Dou Yan could not help recalling the wedding of her former life.

From the moment she stepped down from the sedan chair, everything had been chaos, people everywhere. When the veil was lifted, her first impression was not of what the bridegroom looked like, but of Wei Wan's voice, severe and tinged with fault-finding. After Wei Fan went to toast the guests, the Wei family's aunts and uncles had picked her apart from head to toe before finally dispersing.

She had thought all weddings were like that.

Only later, after she had seen enough of such things, did she learn that some families still observed the ancient rites: before the two families formally acknowledged one another, the bride was to remain alone in her bridal chamber.

At the time she had envied them.

She had thought only a wedding like that could be called solemn.

Did this count, then, as a good beginning?

She wondered who that little girl was in the Song household.

The composure of that servant woman had left a deep impression on Dou Yan.

A person like that, now, could be put to use!

She was still turning it over in her mind when the door creaked open and Sulan slipped in, bright with excitement.

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Sisters and brothers who read books, time is short, so watch for typos later.

o(n_n)o~

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