Song Jinning didn’t realize that she was in a book until a few days ago.
She was in an online novel called “How my sister-in-law became my empress.”
Song Jinning remembered that this novel was really popular in her past life. She wondered why her roommates were hooked with this novel, so she read it as well.
After reading it, she concluded that the reason everybody liked it was because it was exciting.
In real life, people are consumed by responsibilities, and have to work hard. But which person doesn’t want something exciting in their life? It is understandable why this kind of literature is so popular.
After all, life flows like water, and something exciting only happens once in a blue moon.
But for Song Jinning, she only realized that she was in the book seven years after she transmigrated.
Song Jinning became nervous because of this.
After she calmed down, she quickly recalled the plot of the book and tried to remember what her role was.
It has been many years, so she cannot remember the details of each chapter clearly, but she can still remember the basic details. In the future, at least she won’t have unnecessary troubles.
It’s just that her role in this book is a bit hard to describe.
The heroine is not her, but she is not the second female lead either. However, she cannot be called a side character since she appeared many times in the book.
Song Jinning quickly recalled the original character’s profile. The original Song Jinning was arrogant and domineering. Since childhood, she had the love of her aunt, parents and older brothers. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she was extremely spoiled.
Because of her aunt’s love for her, she was often in the palace and thus she became acquainted with all the princes and princesses.
Back then, Li Chengxuan’s mother was a humble palace maid and he was not favored, so Song Jinning naturally didn’t want to interact with him.
Not only was she unwilling to talk to him and play with him, she would sometimes bully him with other princes as well. Even if Empress Dowager Song adopted Li Chengxuan after his mother died, Song Jinning still didn’t want to get close to him and often mocked him.
How could Li Chengxuan like Song Jinning? Naturally, there is only disgust for her. Even after listening to Empress Dowager Song’s words and marrying Song Jinning, for various reasons, he grew even more disgusted with her.
Three years after he married Song Jinning, he fell in love with the female lead who also happened to be his second sister in law.
At that time, he had already gained a firm foothold in court, and regardless of the threats of the Empress Dowager, he made the female lead his concubine before deposing Song Jinning and making the female lead the Empress. He also disbanded the whole harem to prove his love for the female lead.
Song Jinning transmigrated into the original Song Jinning’s body when she was 8 years old. During this time, the original Song Jinning has already bullied the male lead a couple of times, so Li Chengxuan must already hated her.
She only realized she was in the book a few days earlier, and Song Jinning at that point couldn’t do anything to prevent the marriage.
It’s impossible for her to jump off the sedan and say she will not marry now, right? Even if her father is Prince Nanyang and her aunt is the Empress Dowager, she will still be punished.
Fine, let’s marry.
Anyway, since she knows the plot of the original book, she will avoid Li Cheng Xuan and will not hinder his relationship with the female lead.
An empress eats, drinks and has fun everyday. Why would she leave?
Moreover, according to the book, even if Li Chengxuan deposed her, due to the power of Prince Nanyang and the love of the Empress Dowager, instead of banishing her to the cold palace, she was sent back to Yunnan to be with her father and lived a comfortable life.
Since that is the case, why not be the empress for three years? After she gets deposed, she can just marry a man of her choice.
It would be even better if Li Chengxuan can depose her earlier.
After thinking about this, Song Jinning was determined and sat in the sedan chair with a peace of mind.
*
Regular weddings are already cumbersome, not to mention an imperial wedding. After finishing the etiquette, Song Jinning just wanted to collapse on the bed and sleep.
But the maid reminded her not to, so she continued to sit with her back straight, waiting for Li Chengxuan to come over and remove the red veil from her head.
During a wedding night, no one would dare enter the bridal chamber. The hall was quiet, and even the sound of the wind blowing outside the window could be heard.
Under such circumstances, the sound of footsteps are very clear.
When she heard footsteps, Song Jinning knew immediately that Li Chengxuan was here. Sure enough, after a moment, a figure appeared in front of her.
In Song Jinning’s opinion, since the original owner had bullied Li Chengxuan, Li Chengxuan naturally hates her. Moreover, even though Li Chengxuan is the emperor, he is forced to marry Song Jinning because of Empress Dowager Song. Song Jinning wouldn’t be surprised if Li Chengxuan wanted to throw up in front of her.
So, when he stood in front of her, shouldn’t he be disgusted and turn his head away? Why did he suddenly take off the red veil?
Song Jinning raised her head in surprise, and the first thing she saw was a pair of dark and indifferent eyes looking at her. There was a trace of disgust and impatience in those eyes.
It seems that he is really unwilling to marry her.
But by coincidence, she was equally unwilling.
She lowered her head and stopped looking at Li Chengxuan. There was no shyness or nervousness on her face, but only a calm and cold look.
Although it was already the wedding night, there is still a lot of etiquette to go through before the wedding can be considered over.
While the two were sitting on the edge of the bed, someone came over to tie the corners of the bed curtain. Another person brought a large plate of nuts, such as peanuts, and red dates, and placed them on the table.
Then someone brought the wine.
The arms of the two people had to go around each other and they had to drink closely.
Song Jinning: …
This is a bit embarrassing.
From the corner of her eye, Song Jinning looked at Li Chengxuan secretly, and saw that his face was still cold. Song Jinning thought that since he didn’t feel embarrassed, why would she be embarrassed?
She withdrew her gaze, and with a cold face, she raised her head and drank the wine in one gulp.
Song Jinning didn’t usually drink alcohol, but she was a little too eager to drink at this moment, so she choked. She coughed a lot, and her face turned red.
She raised her sleeves and lightly covered her nose and mouth, and at the same time handed the empty cup to the maid standing next to her.
The wine drinking is the end of the wedding process. The maids, mamas[1] , and the eunuchs knelt down and said auspicious words like harmony for a hundred years and that they wish a prince will be born.
After this, some people bowed and exited the hall, while others continued to stay in the hall to wait on them.
But the rules are extremely strict. Although there were many people left to wait in the hall, there was no sound.
Under such circumstances, Song Jinning, who has always been loud, inevitably felt a little restrained.
And even though the red veil on her head was uncovered, the phoenix crown was still on her head.
This phoenix crown is made of red gold, with a lot of pearls and gems inlaid on it. It is very heavy and it is not suitable to be worn on the head for long.
Song Jinning had worn the crown for the entire day, so her neck already felt sore. Seeing that the wedding was done now, she was thinking about taking the phoenix crown off. She also wanted to wash her face that she doesn’t know how many layers of pearl powder and rouge had.
But when she turned her head to look at Li Chengxuan, she saw that this man had a stiff back and a cold face, and was motionless.
Song Jinning didn’t bother to think about what he meant by this action. However, out of politeness, she still said: “Your Majesty, chenqie[2] wants to wash up.”
Although the man in front of her is the superior male protagonist, Song Jinning wasn’t scared of him.
She knew in her heart that as long as Prince Nanyang and Empress Dowager Song were alive, as long as she did not die, her life was basically worry-free. So there is really no need to be afraid, just treat him as an ordinary person and get along with him.
Li Chengxuan didn’t look at her and still looked ahead. He gave a cold hmm, and Song Jinning regarded it as a yes.
Immediately, a dowry maid came over to help her to clean up.
After taking two steps forward, Song Jinning noticed that the corner of her clothes were stuck and she could no longer take a step forward.
[1] 嬷嬷(mā mā)- this refers to old female servants.
[2] 臣妾 (chén qiè)- Lit. I, your royal concubine. illeism for the empress and imperial consorts when speaking to the emperor.