Chapter 16 bridal night

Walking out of Yiyuan and getting into the sedan chair, Chen Shilong ordered a place name that Hu Xueyan had never heard of. He only felt that he had to go through several long alleys in a tortuous way, and arrived at a quite remote place near the foot of the city.When I got off the sedan chair, I saw that it was a very neat stone house, with black paint and double doors, and I could see all the way to the hall. The lights were brightly lit, and there were many figures. When I looked closely, there were palace lanterns hanging in front of the eaves, and red candles were burning in the hall. What a festive look.

"Where is this?" Hu Xueyan asked. "It's my house." "Oh!" Hu Xueyan had an idea, "Fourth Brother, could it be your birthday today? Why didn't you tell me first!" Yu Si nodded with a smile and said, "You'll know when you go in and have a look." When I walked inside, I saw two old masters, Yang and Qin, Huang Yi, Lao Zhang, and friends from the bank that Hu Xueyan knew. When they saw them coming in, they all clapped their hands together and said "Congratulations".Hu Xueyan just congratulated Yu Si, and had nothing to do with himself, quietly stepped aside to look at the layout of the house, thinking in his heart, if the place is spacious enough and the Feng Shui is good, he might as well talk to Yu Si, or buy or lease, Make a home in Huzhou.

After looking at it, I found something strange. On the table surrounded by the red table in the middle, red candles are shining. Now not only can you not see the longevity peach birthday noodles, but what is offered is a five-color Kesi "Hehe Erxian".This is not a birthday, but a happy event to marry and marry a daughter. "Huh!" Hu Xueyan rubbed the back of his head and said, "It's really 'Zhanger King Kong can't figure it out'! What's going on?" This time, the hall burst into laughter, and amidst the laughter appeared a guest, Azhu's mother, with curly hair, red flowers in her hair, and a satin jacket and skirt.Hu Xueyan had never seen her dress up like this before, and couldn't help being stunned again.

"Mr. Hu!" Ah Zhu's mother laughed, "Congratulations, congratulations!" Hu Xueyan suddenly realized, turned around and said in an apologetic voice: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It turns out that everyone just congratulated me. I was rude!" As he said, he cupped his hands again and again. This made everyone laugh again.Hu Xueyan found another question, grabbed Yu Si and asked, "Where is Sis Yu?" "Probably stay with the newcomers inside." "That's right!" Ah Zhu's mother smiled very happily, "A real good person! Mr. Hu, you are so lucky, why don't you come and see?"

So they all rushed in to see Hu Xueyan's new favorite.On the contrary, he himself faltered, thinking to himself, there are such strange things in the world, everyone knows that he married a concubine, but he was kept in the dark!Now that it has been revealed, I have to ask clearly, otherwise the words will not be connected, and it will be a joke everywhere. So, he was two steps behind, grabbed Chen Shilong and said, "What's going on? You tell me first." "Fourth Uncle has agreed, let Mr. Hu be the ready-made bridegroom." Hu Xueyan fully understood that today's situation was managed by Yu Si alone, and he advised himself to go to Nanxun for the purpose of "tuning the tiger away from the mountain" so that he could hold a wedding in these two days.Although he is very face-saving in Huzhou, the time is too rushed, it is almost unbelievable that it takes the time to drink a cup of tea with uncooked rice.Liu Bucai is also a difficult guy to mess with. Yu Si was able to get him to submit in just two days, probably by threatening and luring him, and using both soft and hard tactics. I don't know how much effort he spent!

Thinking of this, Hu Xueyan couldn't help but think of the idiom "gracious affection can be touched", money is a trivial matter, what is rare is his heart and strength!It's a bit of a taste to make friends like this. "Hi!" Yu Si turned around and shouted, "What's the matter with you?" This cry made Hu Xueyan wake up, and when he looked up, he happened to see Ah Qi, who was full of jewels and emerald hair, in a red dress and jacket, with heavy makeup, coming out from a room in the east, beaming. Yu Si was very happy at this time, and first made fun of Ah Qi, "Hey!" He looked her up and down, "You look like a real bride!"

Ah Qi ignored him, and shouted at Hu Xueyan: "Brother Hu!" She asked triumphantly, "How do you thank me?" "Thank you so much!" Hu Xueyan cupped his hands and said, "I will burn incense in the morning and evening, and wish you an early birth to a precious son." This is good praises and good prayers, Ah Qi's face became more and more smiling, and then, as the host of the residence, entertained the guests, and entertained everyone, looking exquisite, but Yu Si was a little impatient. "Okay, okay!" He stopped her and said, "It's important to be serious. Please come out to see the ceremony!"

Marrying a concubine to see the ceremony, according to the rules, just kowtow to the master and mistress, the mistress is not there, only the master, Hu Xueyan thinks this is unnecessary.Helplessly, the congratulators all agreed that courtesy cannot be dismissed, and forced him to sit in the middle of the grand master's chair.Then I saw that the curtain on the east side was lifted, Ah Qiquan acted as a bridesmaid, helped Fu Rong out, kowtowed upwards, and softly called out: "Master!" Fu Rong was shy, and Hu Xueyan felt shy too, but the congratulators were very happy, especially the two old masters Yang and Qin, who had no scruples about their comments.Ah Zhu's mother came to rescue the siege, urged them repeatedly, and invited the guests to the table.

There is only one table for the wedding banquet, which is set in the hall, and all the guests are male guests.He Ke left, only Yu Si and Chen Shilong stayed. "Go inside!" Yu Si said, "Look at your new house, Ah Qi took care of it all by himself, I don't know if it suits you or not?" He said, pulling Hu Xueyan away. "Slow down, slow down!" Hu Xueyan said, "Fourth Brother, I don't know how to put you in such trouble, how much did you pay for me?" "What's the deal at this time? Let's talk about it tomorrow." "Okay, we'll talk about it tomorrow. But there's one thing I don't understand." Hu Xueyan asked, "Where's her uncle?"

"You mean Liu Bucai?" Yu Si paused and said, "Why do you think he has the nerve to come?" The niece and daughter are concubines, and the uncle is ashamed to come to the wedding.Hu Xueyan thought, from this point of view, Liu Bucai is still a person who wants face. "But if you don't come today, you will come to the door sooner or later. This person is a bit troublesome. I will talk to you tomorrow." Hu Xueyan originally wanted to tell Yu Si that he was going to subdue Liu Bucai as a helper, but Yu Si couldn't allow him to be so calm, and kept urging him, so he had no choice but to put aside "uncle" and go to see him. "Niece".

As soon as he stepped into the new house, his eyes were dazzled, it was full of bright red and green, and in the brightly framed room, the furniture, utensils, bed curtains and quilts were all brand new. Of course, in his opinion, the newest person was Fu Rong. ! The newcomer was having dinner with Ah Zhu's mother and Ah Qi, when she heard the sound of footsteps, she stood up first, as if she was at a loss.Hu Xueyan also felt awkward, and said repeatedly: "Please sit down, please sit down! You eat your food. Let me see!" As an excuse to strike up a conversation, I saw a tiger skin paper framed in red silk hanging on the wall. It was written by Huang Yi. Hu Xueyan didn't have much ink in his stomach, but he could read the words clearly, because it was a piece he was familiar with. The first poem—the signed poem, only changed two words in the last sentence. It used to be "where is the beauty picking hibiscus", but Huang Yi wrote it as "the beauty is picking hibiscus on the river". Hu Xueyan smiled, and when he looked back at Chen Shilong, he also smiled.Obviously, this is a trick he and Huang Yi played. Others don't understand, I don't know what they are laughing at.Ah Qi was the most impatient, and asked first, and Chen Shilong told the story of how Hu Xueyan asked for a lottery and how he was disappointed by the word "where" with a smile. Everyone felt that this incident was very interesting, especially Furong herself. While listening, she kept raising her head to take a look. Every look was like flashing lightning, and Hu Xueyan felt that her eyes were extremely bright. "Then there's nothing to say!" Ah Qi said to Fu Rong, "You should be born with the surname Hu!" "Yeah, the real marriage is pre-determined." Yu Si also said, "I have never done such a smooth thing." "Having said that, it's the completion of both of you. Borrowing flowers to present Buddha, I offer a glass of wine to my fourth brother and fourth sister-in-law." Ah Zhu's mother was quick, and upon hearing what Hu Xueyan said, she had already handed over two glasses of wine, one for her and one for Yu Si. "Slow down, slow down! That's not the case." Ah Qi said in a commanding tone, "You guys just sit down and talk about it." So Ah Qi personally arranged the seats, the first two, Hu Xueyan and Fu Rong, Ah Zhu's mother and Chen Shilong faced each other, and then she and Yu Si said: "Old man, let's sit down and be the masters." Everyone sat down, only Fu Rong was timid, as if she was afraid of overriding etiquette and dared not sit with the "Master", Hu Xueyan stretched out her hand without hesitation, and Fu Rong sat down with a blushing face. "You guys have a cup of tea first, and then both of you thank the matchmaker." From here on, Ah Qi came up with tricks to make trouble, the laughter continued, and she herself became drunk.Hu Xueyan ate a lot of wine, but he was very clear in his heart that he was afraid that Ah Qi would make a fool of himself when he was drunk. If he said something inappropriate to Chen Shilong, it would be an irreparable regret, so he kept winking with Ah Zhu's mother, asking They discouraged. "Okay! It's time for us to disperse and let the newcomers settle in early." Ah Zhu's mother said this, looked back and asked, "Hey! Where's Shilong?" Seeing the opportunity, Chen Shilong had already escaped from the table.Hu Xueyan was a little anxious, fearing that she would draw Ah Qi's attention if she pressed her questions, so she hurriedly babbled: "Sister-in-law Yu drank a lot, let's help her lie down first!" Before finishing a sentence, Ah Qi spit out, messing up the ground, messing up the brand new bridal chamber, making Yu Si sigh repeatedly.Naturally, Hu Xueyan wouldn't mind, Furong was even more attentive, forgetting her shyness and reserve, and not caring about a dress, she took care of it herself, and at the same time commanded a new maid and a young lady she brought to clean up the mess. After vomiting, Ah Qi's wine sobered up, and the boss felt sorry and apologized repeatedly.Yu Si scolded her for being "in the present world" again, and others intervened to persuade her, which seemed extremely lively. After a while of chaos, the congratulators left one after another, Fu Rong sent to the middle gate, and Hu Xueyan sent to the gate. Before Yu Si got on the sedan chair, he clung to his hand and said, "Fourth brother, you have created a problem for me this time. Huzhou is afraid I have to stay for a few more days." Yu Si smiled silently, but Chen Shilong picked up the words, "Mr. Hu!" He said, "If there is something to do in Hangzhou, I will go for a visit." "That's right!" Ah Zhu's mother said, "Just ask Shilong to go!" "Let me think about it and talk about it tomorrow." After returning to the door, he closed the door himself, and walked into the hall, the candles were still there, and the red halo was shining, which brought Hu Xueyan a dreamlike feeling. "It's really like a dream!" He muttered to himself, sat down on a new chair, looked at the armrest, and recognized the wood. It is called "suanzhi" in Guangdong, and its appearance is also Cantonese. You can find it in Hangzhou. It is not easy to get a new furniture, let alone in Huzhou?It is really touching to see Yu Sihua's hard work. From Yu Si thinking of Ah Qi, then thinking of Lao Zhang and his wife, children and son-in-law, and Huang Yi and the two old masters in the yamen, and finally thinking of the scene of this day, Hu Xueyan was very excited-there are so many good people in the world and bad people At least, just looking at today, you can understand that not only did my good deeds come true, but also in order to give myself some unexpected surprises, I spent a lot of effort in advance to "tune the tiger away from the mountain".This is all emotion, not snobbery born of interest. Just as he was lost in thought, chewing deliciously, he heard someone softly shout: "Master!" Turning around, she saw that it was Furong, who was holding a cup of tea. She had already removed her evening make-up, her lips were red and her teeth were white, and she was wearing a new light and black bun. At this time, she was standing in front of Hu Xueyan with a shy smile. There was a different kind of affection, which made Hu Xueyan feel excited that he had never experienced from the bottom of his heart. He swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva to moisten his dry throat before he could answer. "Thank you!" He took the tea bowl with one hand and pinched her left arm with the other. "Sit outside for a while before you go in!" Furong said, "I smoked an incense burner there, and the smell may not be gone yet." "Sister-in-law Yu is really interesting." Hu Xueyan asked, "Are you guys very familiar?" "We've only known each other for two years, since she married Fourth Master Yu, there was a social occasion—" Fu Rong smiled and stopped talking. "What's the matter?" Hu Xueyan wondered, "What kind of joke is it?" "It's not a joke." Furong replied calmly, "No one talked to her much that day, presumably because they disliked her background. I don't know who she is, but I think she is very open-minded, and I talked to her a lot Time. We became good friends.” "I see!" Hu Xueyan admired Fu Rong's attitude, and at the same time thought of how she took care of Ah Qi who was vomiting and messed up just now, and was glad that he married a very virtuous woman. In this flash of thought, Hu Xueyan's thoughts on Fu Rong were different.For a man, there are many differences between wives and concubines, the most important being "marrying a wife and virtue, marrying a concubine and sex".Hu Xueyan took a fancy to Furong, that is, she fell in love with her water-cut eyes, and twisted her willow waist. Although she was reserved and solemn at the moment, her coquettish demeanor could still make people feel like a moth to a flame, willing to die without regret.However, Hu Xueyan felt that it was a pity to have such a thought, just like the British gold foreign currency on his watch chain. The pound is indeed more valuable than any foreign money, but it is unique and interesting as a watch pendant, and it is more expensive than its own. Much higher value.In this way, if it is only used as a foreign currency that can be converted into silver, wouldn't it be a bit of a waste of it? It is not too difficult to marry such a beautiful concubine as Furong, but being attractive and virtuous is something that can be met but not sought after, and should be cherished especially.Thinking of this, his mind has changed again, just now he was blindly excited, what he thought of was "hand in hand into the curtain", now he is satisfied and happy, like a famous flower, like tasting fine wine, he needs to slowly appreciate it. Seeing that he didn't speak, but just blinked and smiled for a while, Furong really wanted to know, what was he thinking so interestingly?However, the feeling of strangeness is still strong, so I can only do my best, and said tentatively: "Please go and sit inside!" "Okay! You go first." Such politeness made her feel restrained, so she took a step back and said, "Master please first! I have something else to do." Her job is to fulfill the responsibility of a housewife, blow out the candles, close the doors and windows, and check the kitchen before returning to the "bridal chamber". Hu Xueyan drank alone in the room. Four dishes of side dishes and a jug of wine had been prepared there long ago. Looking back on the past of the day, there were countless questions in his heart that needed to be answered, so he was busy when he saw her come in. Busily arranging the quilt pillow, he said, "Furong, come here! Let's talk first." "En! Good." Fu Rong came over, pulled out the chair and sat down, conveniently put a plate of ham in front of him, and then filled him with wine. He put the wine glass to her lips, and she took a sip, and took another slice of ham, which she ate too. "Do you know that I made a big joke today?" This started well, and it seemed that he became familiar all of a sudden. Fu Rong looked at him with great interest and concern, "What's the matter?" she asked. "I walked in with Mr. Yu, and everyone said 'Congratulations'. I didn't know it. I just thought it was Mr. Yu's birthday, and everyone congratulated him. Think about it, there is such a thing in the world!" Furong couldn't help laughing, and burst out laughing with a "poof", but quickly pursed her lips and put on a serious look: "Don't you know that in advance?" "I don't know at all. In order to hide it from me, they even took me to Nanxun to play." "Then—" Fu Rong hesitated for a while, looked at him with piercing eyes and asked, "Is it not your intention to want me?" "How can there be such a thing!" Hu Xueyan quickly argued, "I can't wish for it!" Fu Rong nodded, her expression relaxed, "I never thought of it." She lowered her head and said, "I'm really scared!" "What are you afraid of?" "I'm afraid that if I am clumsy and can't speak, I will be hated by old ladies and wives in the future." "That will never happen! You must rest assured." After receiving such assurance, Fu Rong immediately burst into a smile, which was very faint but deep. She is the kind of woman who is born with magical powers. No matter how faint her expression is, the recipient will feel deeply. "You probably have heard about my situation from Fourth Aunt Yu." Hu Xueyan asked, "What did she say about me?" "There are a lot of words." Fu Rong condensed the many words into one sentence, "In short, persuade me to enter the door of your Hu residence." "What about you? Are you happy or not?" It seemed difficult for Fu Rong to answer this question. After a while, she lowered her eyes and said, "I was born with such a fate!" There is infinite sadness in the words, and it can be seen that there are infinite twists and turns hidden behind these words.Hu Xueyan felt sorry for her, so he couldn't help but ask, but he was afraid of touching on some hidden pain in her life experience, so he didn't want to say more.So he hesitated and didn't know how to speak. A thought turned to her relatives, and she immediately felt something to say, "Don't you have a brother?" He asked, "Why didn't you see me today?" "It's at my uncle's place." Fu Rong raised her head and said solemnly, "I'm going to talk to the master first, and then I'll make arrangements for my brother after seeing what the master wants." "I don't know how you plan to arrange it?" Hu Xueyan said, "Sister-in-law Yu told me that you would be with me. You don't need to ask me. You can do whatever you want. In the future, you will be educated and grown up, of course. my responsibility!" Hearing the last sentence, two crystal clear teardrops finally rolled out of Fu Rong's blinking eyes, she bit her lip, forced her tears back and said, "My parents are grateful even in the underworld." "Don't say that!" Hu Xueyan took a handkerchief and handed it to her, "Not only your brother, but also your uncle, I want to give him a hand. Since we are a family, we must take care of him. As time goes on, you You know my temper." "I know, I heard sister Ah Qi say it." Fu Rong sighed, "Oh! I don't know what to say." "I've also heard that your uncle's nickname is 'Liu Bucai'. It doesn't matter! Others dare not use it, but I dare to use it because I'm afraid he has no skills." At this point, Hu Xueyan quickly added a sentence , "I don't know what's going on in your family." Fu Rong nodded: "Of course I want to tell you." The Liu family is also a businessman. Furong's grandfather opened a large medicine store with the brand name "Liu Jingdetang".Grandfather had three sons, the eldest was Fu Rong's father, the second died young, and the third was Liu Bucai.Liu Bucai is extremely smart, but he has been a dandy since he was a child. Fu Rong's father is a very honest and honest man, unable to discipline his little brother, and afraid that his relatives and friends will say that he is mean, so he tries his best to provide for Liu Bucai.Therefore, although Liu Jingdetang's business is doing very well, it is not prosperous. Unfortunately, a great accident occurred ten years ago. Fu Rong's father went to Sichuan to buy medicinal materials. He went down the Three Gorges and was in distress at Xintan.Liu Bucai rushed to Sichuan to take care of the funeral, the eldest young master's temper was showing off everywhere, and he spent hundreds of silver just to hire someone to retrieve the corpse, but the corpse was still not retrieved, so he went to the local area to do extravagance and spent a lot of money. A lot of money. "Think about it, with my third uncle's way of doing things, how can the business do well? In less than a year, it can't be maintained, and the debts and debts are settled, and there is still a shortfall of seven thousand silver. At that time, my third uncle's My temper is still very hard, so I gave the store to others, the house, the wealth, and the inventory, all of which were sold at a discount of 10,000 yuan, and I got 3,000 silver coins back." Three thousand silver, Liu Bucai spent it all in less than a year.Therefore, they first went to pawnshops, and then sold furniture and goods. When there was nothing to pawn and nothing to sell, they had to live on loans. "It's easy to save the poor and help the poor." In the end, there was nowhere to borrow. Speaking of this, Fu Rong shook her head, and didn't say any more. The terrible scene was completely silent. Hu Xueyan thought for a while and asked, "Where's your mother?" "Mother died a long time ago, my brother was a posthumous child, and my mother had dystocia." Furong said again, "When I was fifteen years old, my third aunt also asked my third uncle to kill her alive! Where did the third uncle learn the skill? The rice tank at home is empty every day, but he comes back drunk every day, so he relies on me to embroider for others and support my brother. I want to save a few taels of silver so that my brother can read in the future , how would you know? Delusion!" "What is a delusion?" "My third uncle!" Fu Rong had that kind of angry, funny, and hopelessly open-minded expression, "No matter where you hide the money, he can find it! It's really luck." Hu Xueyan also laughed, "This is also a skill." He said, "It's not the same thing if it goes on like that. What should you do?" "That's it! I thought and thought and made up my mind." Fu Rong paused for a moment, then puffed up her chest and said, "When I was twelve years old, I approved a horoscope, saying that I was born with a partial life. If you don't believe me , it will definitely be the Kefu family. So I told my third uncle, since this is the fate, why not sell me, I can get two or three hundred taels of silver, start my own business again, open a small pharmacy, and take my brother to live, There is also hope in the future. Do you know what my third uncle said?" Hu Xueyan knew people like Liu Bucai very well, and what he wanted was to lose face, so he replied: "He will definitely not, for fear of losing face." "That's right! He said, for a family like ours, even though it's poor, it has a solid foundation. How can there be any reason to have a daughter as a side room? It's easy to talk about, and it's absolutely impossible." Fu Rong said, "It's at this point that I see that my third uncle is still promising." The words before and after did not quite match each other, Hu Xueyan had some doubts in his heart, but it was inconvenient to interrupt her to ask, so he just nodded and said, "What about the future?" "I will marry the one I died from now on." Fu Rong said sadly, "It took more than a year, and sure enough, the word on the horoscope has been fulfilled!" Only then did Hu Xueyan understand that she is now willing to be a concubine, which is "accepting her fate".But what about Liu Bucai?But it was still the same as before, what kind of tactics did Yu Si use to make him submit?Should I ask Fu Rong about these situations at this time, or ask Yu Si tomorrow? He was thinking about this, but Fu Rong said again, "There is one thing, I am not reconciled!" She said, "The one in front of me died of the epidemic. It is not serious at first, as long as a little Huoxiangzhengqi pill, Zhuge Xingjunsan This kind of very common medicine can save your life, but you can't even get these medicines on the boat, and in the middle of the night. I often think, if my pharmacy is still open, these medicines must be everywhere It's all, I will definitely stuff some in his suitcase when he goes out, so that I don't have to use it when I don't need it. I shouldn't die, but I die, and that's what I'm not reconciled to!" Hu Xueyan remained silent.Furong's words were an inspiration to him, and he needed to think carefully.In this silent confrontation, there was only a sound of "divination", and when I looked up, a big flower on the red candle exploded. "It's getting late!" Furong asked softly, "I'm afraid you are tired?" "You're tired too!" Hu Xueyan held her hand and squeezed her arm again. Through the little purple satin jacket, he could still clearly feel that the muscles on her arm were soft but not slack. Powerless, he said again: "You are not thin!" Fu Rong rolled her eyes flexibly, and pretended to ask casually: "Do you like to be thin or fat?" "Not skinny or fat, just like you." Fu Rong didn't speak, but she had a gratified expression on her face, "Where's your wife?" she asked, "Slim or fat?" "It turned out to be similar to you. You gained weight after giving birth." Hu Xueyan suddenly mentioned an important question, "Do you have any children?" "No!" Fu Rong said again, "The fortune teller said that I should have two sons in my destiny." Hearing this, Hu Xueyan was very happy, held her face in his hands and said, "I can also read faces, let me take a closer look." Looking at each other like this, with no room for movement or turning around, Fu Rong was very uncomfortable, and snatched his hand away with an embarrassed smile: "It's nothing to see!" She said, avoiding it. "Let me ask you," Hu Xueyan said, holding her hand and sitting on the edge of the bed, "that day you promised to eat vegetarian food, why did you suddenly change your mind when you left the gate of Tiansheng Temple?" "I'm a little scared!" "What are you afraid of?" Furong smiled secretly, shook her head, and refused to answer. "Say it!" Hu Xueyan asked, "Is there anything inconvenient for me to say?" After a moment of hesitation, she finally opened her mouth: "I'm afraid of being fooled by you!" "What did you fall for?" Hu Xueyan laughed, "Are you afraid that I will put poison in the food?" "It's not because I'm afraid you'll put poison, but because I'm afraid you'll put ecstasy!" As she spoke, she smiled to herself, then turned around, and lay down on a white satin quilt embroidered with patterns of red phoenix and the rising sun, lifting her head in shame. Can't get up. Regardless of whether her words were true or not, Hu Xueyan only felt that they were very interesting, so he also bent down, kissed her neck hair, and then flicked his feet, throwing the brand new pair of double-beamed satin shoes far away.