Chapter 245 — The Wedding Night (Extra Chapter: Begging for Pink Tickets)

Only after they had bowed to Heaven and Earth, and she sat alone and quiet in the bridal chamber, did she think of the wedding night... and her heart at once felt deeply awkward. Yet she knew that since she had become Song Yan's wife, she ought to bear the responsibilities and duties that came with it. So she steeled herself, resolved not to think too much, and let things be as they would.

But she had never imagined that Song Yan had no intention of consummating the marriage with her.

That left her relieved and at the same time somewhat uneasy.

As though he knew what was in her heart, Song Yan calmly pointed to a small red-lacquered box painted with gold that he had brought in, and said with a smile, "Mr. Yan helped me with this—chicken blood mixed with some medicinal herbs and smeared on. An ordinary person could never tell the real from the false... rest easy, no one will know..." Yet a crimson flush spread from his cheeks to the roots of his ears, betraying his shyness.

Dou Yan stared at Song Yan in amazement, her gaze as bright as the blazing summer sun, as though she would see every one of his organs clear and plain.

Song Yan was embarrassed.

He turned on his side and lay down.

"Sleep now!" he murmured, closing his eyes. "We must rise early tomorrow!"

Dou Yan stood by the bed, gazing at Song Yan, who had turned his back to her and curled up, her expression complicated. After a long while, she said softly, "How can I let you sleep here? Let me sleep here, and you go sleep on the bed..."

Gan Lu's bedding was of fine cloth, with only a single thick cotton mattress laid down; hers was of silk and satin, with several layers of cotton mattresses, exceedingly soft.

"It is nothing," Song Yan said. "When I followed my eldest uncle in the old days, I even slept in a stable. I am not particular about such things. Go and sleep!"

Dou Yan stood there a good while before she quietly lay down on the nanmu bed.

The room was brightly lit. So still that a falling needle could be heard. Faintly, the third watch drum sounded.

Dou Yan could not sleep at all.

If things could be this way now, what of later?

And what of Song Yan's legitimate son?

Yet to let her share a bed with Song Yan... the past of her former life flashed through her mind. She truly could not summon the courage.

Rustling, she turned over again.

"Can't sleep?" Song Yan, whom she had thought already asleep, suddenly asked, breaking the stillness of the room.

Seeing that Song Yan was not as indifferent to the matter as he had appeared, Dou Yan felt much better.

She faltered, "Then in the future..."

"The future can wait for the future," Song Yan said with an easy laugh. "Did you not say so yourself? You may not make a good wife, but you will surely make a good partner. What I need now is a good partner!"

Was that why Song Yan had chosen to spend his wedding night in the outer room?

Dou Yan did not dare think further.

She wanted to be a little selfish, to comfort her own heart first.

But for some reason, the more she tried, the less she could sleep.

Song Yan chatted with her: "Our household is divided into three sections. The central section is the main hall, with the upper chambers behind it; the garden is in the eastern section, and our daily living quarters are in the western section... Our new home is Yizhi Hall in the western section, the courtyard where I once lived. It could only be given a casual whitewashing; if you find it unsatisfactory, then next summer we will summon craftsmen to renovate it properly... Since my mother passed away, my father moved to the Guixiang Court over in the eastern section... My second brother lives in the Luming Pavilion beside the Guixiang Court; it was my grandfather's painting studio, named for the deer he kept there. But after my grandfather died, my father had the deer sent to be raised at the estate outside the capital, and over a dozen years they bred to over a hundred head, which has in fact become a source of income for the household. As for the upper chambers, they were simply left empty..."

His rambling gradually quieted Dou Yan.

Dou Yan very much wanted to know why Yan Che had helped Song Yan prepare the chicken blood, but feared to break the tranquility of the moment, so she could only press the question down in her heart for the time being.

She told Song Yan about the little girl who had shouted outside her door earlier, and said, "She called you Third Cousin, and called your father Second Uncle—is she a child of the Third Uncle and Fourth Uncle?"

"It must be Third Uncle's daughter, Song Jin!" Song Yan said without thinking. "The Song family's line is thin, and she is the only girl of our generation. Whether the elders or we cousins, we all indulged her; ordinarily we only thought her somewhat spoiled, never imagining she would become so overbearing." His tone was faintly angry, and he did not doubt in the least what Dou Yan had said. "If she makes things difficult for you tomorrow, say nothing at all—just smile, and I will step forward." Then he began to tell Dou Yan about some of the relatives in the household.

She had summoned Chen Yanzhou to ask about these matters the moment she decided to marry Song Yan, and had long known them all. But Song Yan's words, "say nothing at all—I will step forward," made Dou Yan pause, her expression stirred.

In two lifetimes, apart from Song Yan, who had ever said such a thing to her?

Amid Song Yan's voice, clear and melodious as spring water, Dou Yan sank into a deep sleep.

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Sisters and brothers reading this, here's a rough draft for now—I'll fix the typos later!

o(n_n)o~

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