Lu Yun’s thoughts were simple. No matter why the marriage contract had been arranged in the first place, it should be honored, even though the circumstances had changed over time.
Still, since the young lady was marrying into the family, she deserved all the dignity and respect due to a proper bride.
“No.”
Jiang Lingyuan answered without the slightest hesitation.
Lu Yun did not bother to investigate whether she was telling the truth. He merely nodded.
“It’s getting late. We should rest.”
The spacious canopy bed was large enough for four or five people. Jiang Lingyuan and Lu Yun each lay beneath their own quilt, occupying opposite sides. The occasional crackling of the dragon-and-phoenix wedding candles only made the room seem even quieter. Their breathing was so soft it was almost impossible to hear.
Relieved that Lu Yun made no move to touch her, Jiang Lingyuan quietly let out a sigh of relief. Now that they were husband and wife, the Duke Yu Manor would never allow its descendants to divorce casually for the sake of the family’s reputation. She wasn’t particularly opposed to the intimacy between husband and wife, but tonight was their very first meeting, and she still couldn’t quite relax.
As for expectations of her husband, she truly had none. In fact, it didn’t even have to be Lu Yun. As long as he was a young master of the Duke of Yu Manor, that would have been enough.
Truthfully, if not for an unexpected turn of events, she would never have gone to such lengths to make the Duke of Yu family fulfill the marriage agreement.
And now, it seemed her grandmother had shown remarkable foresight in arranging this marriage.
Nothing happened that night. When they woke the next morning, neither of them had moved much from where they had fallen asleep.
Lu Yun raised an eyebrow slightly. Maintaining the same sleeping posture all night was something only someone trained from childhood by a proper etiquette governess could manage. Duke of Yu Manor certainly had the means to provide such instruction, but the Jiang family was merely the household of a fourth-rank official. How could they have had such governesses?
Besides, even if they had, Jiang Lingyuan had only lived with the Jiang family for two months before her marriage. It seemed unlikely she could have developed such discipline in so short a time.
Still, Lu Yun didn’t dwell on it. Hearing movement inside the room, the maids filed in one after another.
The servants attending Lu Yun and those attending Jiang Lingyuan kept distinctly to their own sides. A careful observer would even notice there seemed to be some underlying hostility between the two groups.
After washing up, Jiang Lingyuan sat before the dressing table. Seeing that Lu Yun was nearly ready, she softly instructed Michun and Xunxia,”Keep it simple.”
Although she had said “simple,” Michun wasn’t a maid who specialized in hairstyling. Even so, she carefully arranged Jiang Lingyuan’s hair into an elegant lily-shaped bun. She adorned it with a gold filigree kingfisher-feather hairpin inlaid with rubies and shaped like a pair of phoenixes, along with a magpie-on-plum-blossom hairpin. When Xunxia reached into the jewelry box and produced another sapphire-blue kingfisher-feather pearl hairpin, Jiang Lingyuan immediately declined. She disliked wearing too much gold, jade, and jewelry on her head, it was simply too heavy. Instead, she pointed to two silk flowers, one sapphire blue and the other silver-red, each about the size of a teacup.
It was the first time Lu Yun truly studied his wife.
Without question, she was beautiful, but not in the empty, superficial way some women were.
Her delicate brows were lightly defined, her almond-shaped eyes seemed to hold pools of clear water, and her graceful nose and cherry lips gave her a beauty that was both fresh and subtly alluring. She was like a jasmine blossom, grounded in the mortal world yet carrying a trace of ethereal grace. She was also like a peony, noble and elegant, yet refined and reserved.
How could someone raised in the countryside possess such bearing?
Lu Yun found himself puzzled once again. His new bride was clearly no ordinary woman. Still, he didn’t ask any questions. After all, she had already married into the family. There would be plenty of time later.
Once Jiang Lingyuan had finished dressing, he gave her a slight nod.
“Let’s have a light breakfast first. After that, we’ll go to Songhe Hall to pay our respects.”
Though he called it a light meal, the carved rosewood round table in the eastern warm chamber was already laden with four varieties of sweet and savory porridge, along with eight or nine dishes of side dishes and pastries.
After taking her seat, Jiang Lingyuan noticed Lu Yun’s brow crease almost imperceptibly. She then caught sight of the elderly nanny standing behind him, dressed in a parrot-green silk jacket and chestnut-colored embroidered skirt, looking at her with a concealed expression of anticipation, as though waiting for a spectacle.
She immediately understood.
This was meant to put her in her place.
Unfortunately for them, when she was in the mood, breakfasts she had enjoyed in the past were far more lavish than this. She wouldn’t expose herself as someone who had never seen the world. The nanny’s scheme was destined to fail.
Seeing Lu Yun pick up his chopsticks and serve himself instead of letting servants wait on him, Jiang Lingyuan subtly signaled Xunxia not to assist her either. She ladled herself half a bowl of red bean eight-treasure porridge and chose the smallest kidney bean pastry before quietly eating.
Throughout the meal, both of them ate with impeccable manners, though they exchanged not a single word.
After breakfast, the same two maids who had carried in the bathwater the previous evening returned with two cups of tea. The maid wearing South Sea pearls was the first to present a cup to Jiang Lingyuan.
The tea was crystal clear and carried a faint jasmine fragrance. It would have been perfectly acceptable as drinking tea, but this was obviously mouth-rinsing tea.
Jiang Lingyuan inwardly shook her head.
Their methods were still far too crude.
She took a small sip, gently swirled it around her mouth, then silently spat it into the spittoon that Michun held before her.
Her movements were so practiced that she made not the slightest sound.
The maid bit her lip in frustration, but with Lu Yun present, she dared not show any dissatisfaction.
Lu Yun behaved as though he had noticed nothing.
“It’s getting late. Let’s go pay our respects.”
“Very well.”
Jiang Lingyuan rose to her feet, giving no further thought to the breakfast incident.
By early morning, Songhe Hall was already filled with members of Duke of Yu Manor. Altogether there were twenty or thirty people present. Even though Jiang Lingyuan had studied the family beforehand, she couldn’t help marveling at just how prosperous and populous the household truly was.
Although many members of Duke Yu Manor had opposed the marriage, when they saw Lu Yun and Jiang Lingyuan walking in side by side, they had to admit the pair looked perfectly matched, a handsome gentleman and a beautiful lady.
Seated in the place of honor, Old Madam Lu smiled and said to her husband,”I told you the two of them looked well suited. Wasn’t I right?”
The Duke of Yu nodded.
“Indeed.”
Those simple words alone made his approval of the marriage unmistakably clear.
The expressions around the room varied.
Jiang Lingyuan’s eyes flickered slightly.
Ever since the marriage negotiations had begun, she had felt that the Eldest Madam, her mother-in-law, had strongly opposed the match. Yet the Duke and Old Madam had clearly welcomed it.
Thinking back, had that not been the case, all of her careful planning might never have succeeded.
That only made the whole matter seem even stranger.
How exactly had this marriage been arranged in the first place?
Now was not the time to dwell on such questions.
Suppressing her thoughts, Jiang Lingyuan knelt beside Lu Yun on the prayer cushions. Together they raised their teacups above their heads.
“Grandfather, Grandmother, please accept our tea.”
“Good child, rise now. From this day on, may you and A-Yun love one another and live happily together.”
Old Madam Lu accepted the tea with a smile, took a sip, and spoke warmly.
The words seemed directed more toward Lu Yun than Jiang Lingyuan.
“Yes.”
Jiang Lingyuan answered respectfully.
As long as she observed every proper courtesy today, no one would be able to find fault with her.
Old Madam Lu then presented her with a welcoming gift, a complete ruby jewelry set.
Most striking of all was the enormous ruby on the principal hairpin. It was nearly the size of a pigeon’s egg, brilliant, transparent, and exceptionally rare. The moment Old Madam Lu brought it out, several of the younger women in the room visibly changed expression, revealing just how coveted the gift was.
Compared to Old Madam Lu’s generosity, the Duke of Yu’s gift was much more conventional, one thousand taels of silver.
It was said that every legitimate grandson’s wife received the same amount.
However, when it came time to serve tea to the Eldest Madam, the atmosphere was entirely different.
Unlike Old Madam Lu’s warmth, the Eldest Madam took only a perfunctory sip before handing Jiang Lingyuan a jewelry box. She didn’t even offer a single word of advice or welcome.
Her dissatisfaction with the marriage couldn’t have been more obvious.