Chapter 441: 437: Play Again_1
And so, the two began to play leaf cards on the bed.
The loser would wear a red paper strip on their forehead.
In the end, Yingbao lost three rounds in a row.
She blew away the paper strip that hung in front of her mouth, refusing to admit defeat. “Again! I refuse to believe you can keep winning.”
Wei Zhan glanced at the darkening window outside and whispered softly, “It’s getting late, darling. We should rest.”
Yingbao wanted to argue but remembering her mother’s instructions, she could only nod in agreement.
Wei Zhan carefully peeled off the paper strips from Yingbao’s forehead, then tremblingly tried to help her remove her outer robe, cold sweats dripping from his forehead.
Seeing him dawdle, Yingbao pushed his hands away and quickly removed her outer robe herself.
She then took off her long skirt underneath, leaving only one white inner garment. She jumped off the bed, stretching her legs and arms.
Wei Zhan was stunned. “You… what are you…” Could she be planning to fight him?
Yingbao answered, “Sitting for too long has made my legs numb.”
Wei Zhan heaved a sigh of relief. He also got off the bed, fetched a brush, and began to clean the dry fruits such as red dates and longan on the bed.
He felt the bed to make sure no hard objects would hurt Yingbao before smoothing out the bedding.
Thinking about what was to come, Wei Zhan couldn’t help but blush. He was overflowing with joy.
Yingbao was finally his woman.
His lifelong companion, the mother of his children.
Wei Zhan’s heart was filled with warmth.
After making the bed, he saw Yingbao sitting by the table, examining something. He walked over.
Craning his neck to see, he was surprised to find it was a birth control chart!
Wei Zhan swiftly grabbed the booklet from Yingbao’s hand and tossed it under the table. “You don’t need to see this. I’m here.”
Yingbao blinked.
She was simply curious and didn’t mean anything by it.
It was impressive that someone could make two people look so ugly in a drawing.
Wei Zhan took Yingbao’s hand and led her to the bed, coughing lightly. “The bed is ready, let’s rest.”
“Alright.” Yingbao climbed into bed and slid under the covers, then watched intently as Wei Zhan removed his robe.
Wei Zhan’s hands trembled again. He turned his back and stripped down until he had only his white inner garment left.
He glanced at the candle and lowered the red curtain, followed by the bedposts.
Wei Zhan lay down next to Yingbao and gradually moved towards her until he could hold her hand.
Small and soft.
Just as the books had described, women’s hands were indeed soft and delicate. They were even more enjoyable than a kitten’s paws.
Wei Zhan held Yingbao’s hand and unknowingly fell asleep, snoring quietly.
It’s no wonder, since he had been busy all day and played several rounds of leaf cards with his wife. Now fully content, he unexpectedly fell asleep as soon as he laid on the bed.
Yingbao: …
What did he mean by this?
Could he be seriously ill?
Xuanwu burst into laughter in her mind’s eye.
Yingbao’s face darkened. She took out Xuanwu and threw him under the bed.
Eventually, she also closed her eyes and slept, having a strange dream.
She dreamed that Wei Zhan had turned into a cat, rubbing itself against her legs.
The crowing of the roosters woke her from her dream.
Wei Zhan also woke up, staring at her with a shy look on his face.
Although the two red candles on the table were still flickering, the outside was already bright.
As Yingbao was about to get up, Wei Zhan held her down, “I apologize, darling. I… I fell asleep.”
“It’s okay, let me go. I need to visit the toilet,” Yingbao said.
“Oh.” Wei Zhan let go of her and sat up as well.
The two did not use the toilet inside the house, but opened the door and slipped out to the outhouse.
Magnolia and Lan Xiang woke up early and had been listening for movements in the bridal chamber all along. When they saw the couple leaving the room, they walked in.
Lifting the quilt, it was clean and tidy with nothing inside.
Magnolia and Lan Xiang looked at each other, began to tidy up the bed, folded the quilt neatly, and hung up the mosquito net.
In a short while, a maid from the Wei family brought in a pot of hot water and bowed to Magnolia and Lan Xiang, saying, “Sisters, the hot water is here.”
Lan Xiang: “Put it over there.”
The maid placed the hot water pot on the ground and left.
Lan Xiang fetched a copper basin, poured water from the pot into it and, taking out a new towel, placed it on the towel rack.
Soon, Wei Zhan and Yingbao returned to the room.
Lan Xiang helped Yingbao wash her hands and face, and then led her to use the privy behind the mosquito net.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lan Xiang asked in a low voice, “Miss County, did… nothing happen last night?”
Yingbao said emotionlessly, “No, I was too tired.”
Lan Xiang didn’t quite understand.
Although she was already eighteen and had some things explained to her by Jiang Anren, she still didn’t quite understand what ‘too tired on the wedding night’ meant.
“But the Wei family might come for the white silk soon.” The white silk was something used on the first night of the marriage, it had to be shown to the mother-in-law.
Yingbao: “Then let her ask Wei Zhan for it.”
Lan Xiang said nothing more.
After getting dressed, Yingbao followed Wei Zhan to serve tea to her in-laws.
As soon as they entered the main hall, they saw several people already standing inside.
“Oh, our sister-in-law is here.” A woman in her thirties smiled at her.
There were also two young women in their mid-twenties and two teenage girls who also came over to greet her.
Yingbao returned their greetings, and heard Wei Zhan introducing them to her:
“This is my eldest sister-in-law, those two are my second and third sisters-in-law, and these are my fifth and sixth younger sisters.”
Following his introduction, Yingbao greeted them: “Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, third sister-in-law, fifth sister, sixth sister.”
The women were all very polite, and the three sisters-in-law insisted on giving her a welcoming gift.
Yingbao accepted, and signaled for Magnolia to return the favor.
Magnolia took corresponding gifts from the box she was carrying and presented them to the Wei family women.
In a while, Mrs. Wang and her husband came out.
A Wei family servant brought tea for the newlyweds to serve to their in-laws.
Madam Wang accepted the teacup, took a sip, and passed it to the servant.
“Baobao, from now on, this household is also your home. Feel free to ask Seveth Son for anything you need. If you encounter disrespectful servants, you don’t need to hold back, just dismiss them.”
Yingbao: “Yes, mother.”
Madam Wang took out a small gift box that was prepared in advance and stuffed it into the hands of her new daughter-in-law: “Take this and live a good life with Seventh Son.”
Yingbao nodded, handed the gift box to Lan Xiang to keep, then served tea to her father-in-law.
The head of the Wei family drank his daughter-in-law’s tea, then took out a box to hand to his new daughter-in-law.
After that, a maid from the Wei family led Yingbao to the kitchen to cook.
But ‘cooking’ really just consisted of taking the dishes prepared by the cook and pouring them into the pot, flipping them a few times with a spatula, and leaving the rest to the cook.
There were a total of five dishes, including fish, meat, vegetables, rice, and buns.
After doing this once for each dish, she just stood by and watched.
When the cook finished all the dishes and put them in the meal box, Yingbao carried it to the main room to serve her in-laws.
After having a meal with her in-laws, Yingbao finally returned to the room with Wei Zhan.
Then, the two sat facing each other on the bed, eyes staring at each other’s.
Seeing this, Lan Xiang hurriedly dragged Magnolia out of the room, and closed the door behind them.
Yingbao: “Why aren’t you on duty?”
“I have a marriage leave, seven days.” Wei Zhan held Yingbao’s hand.
Yingbao thought for a moment and asked: “Shall we play another round?”
Wei Zhan shivered slightly, was about to shake his head, but seemed to have thought of something and nodded: “Good! The loser has to take off a piece of clothing.”