Climbing on the Sparrow Branch – CH 028

Chapter 28: Wedding

On the wedding day, An Zhi greeted the ladies in the backyard and invited two cousins from the front yard to help.

Hao Dongmei had to come here today because her father and An Chengye were both officials. However, she had just arranged a marriage a few days ago with the second son of the third-rank Hanlin Wu family. It was a very good marriage for her, so she came here today to show off.

An Zhi hadn’t known about Hao Dongmei’s engagement until the other girls teased her. However, she didn’t react at all. Unlike her relationship with Lin Shuyao, she and Hao Dongmei simply disliked each other but there was no ulterior motive. Therefore, she couldn’t bless them, nor would she curse them.

When Madam An arrived, An Zhi respectfully gave her the seat of honor. Firstly, she was of high status, and secondly, she was the most senior woman in the An family.

As soon as Li Sihui arrived, she followed An Zhi. Madam An didn’t stop her and told her to follow An Zhi to learn how to entertain guests.

“Cousin, my mother has been praising you a lot lately.” Li Sihui stood next to An Zhi. Her cheeks were round and she looked more childish. “Really. Don’t disbelieve me. She said you are capable, talented and beautiful, but it’s a pity that you didn’t meet a reliable father.”

“Oh dear cousin, you can’t say the rest of the words today.” Binglu hurried over and reminded in a low voice.

“Oh, I know.” Li Sihui clicked her tongue and stuck out her tongue. “I was just saying it casually. No one could hear it.”

An Zhi didn’t mind this. After she and Li Sihui greeted the guests in the corridor, they went in to warm up the atmosphere.

She was adept at this kind of work, but it was always exhausting. She had to greet and see off guests, and every young lady and lady had to smile and chat a few words, so tired was she that by the time she returned to her room at night, her face was stiff.

She laid down as soon as she returned to her room, “Binglu, I won’t wash my face today.”

Binglu knew her young lady was working hard, but if she didn’t wash off the rouge on her face, it would get on the pillow and all over the bed. “Miss, lie down. I’ll go get some water to help you wash.”

An Zhi responded and soon fell asleep.

At the same time, in the restaurant, Pei Que and Li Da were drinking and talking.

“Today I heard people say that the eldest daughter of the An family is capable and beautiful. In this world, it is rare to see someone who can manage her father’s marriage, but she can do it smoothly and without any stage fright. In my opinion, your nephew is a fool. It’s a pity to give up such a capable and beautiful woman for a girl who can only hum and act coquettishly.” After Li Da finished speaking, he sighed repeatedly, not caring at all about Pei Que’s previous statement that he liked An Zhi.

Pei Que drank a glass of wine, “I heard yesterday that the Queen has arranged for you to marry the daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo. I heard that girl is very capable.”

Li Da’s mother, the imperial concubine, was of low status and died of illness when he was seven years old. Coincidentally, the empress’s second son had also died at the same time. To ease the empress’s grief, the emperor had her adopt Li Da. Therefore, everyone in the court considered Li Da to be on the side of the empress and the crown prince.

The Duke of Zhenguo was in charge of the capital’s Imperial Guard. If the Empress could recruit him, she would control the capital. However, the Duke of Zhenguo’s daughter, Lan Xingyue, was notoriously jealous and domineering. She had previously beaten her fiancé to a disability simply because he went to a brothel for a drink.

Li Da was so worried about this kind of marriage that he couldn’t sleep the whole night.

Pei Que mentioned this now just to attack Li Da on purpose.

Li Da snorted, “Don’t be so quick to laugh at me. No matter how domineering Lan Xingyue is, I’m still a prince. I can keep her in the palace and only see her once every ten days or half a month. Besides, she has no right to interfere with my choice of concubines. But you’re different. I’ve heard that your old man is adamantly against you marrying An Zhi. Can you be the next Pei Yu for An Zhi?”

“How do you know I can’t?” Pei Que looked at Li Da, his dark eyes like the abyss.

Li Da raised his glass. He knew Pei Que well and knew that he was determined to marry An Zhi. “Then I’ll toast you a glass of wine and wish that all your wishes come true.”

Pei Que clinked his wine glass with Li Da’s and said, “Thank you.”

“But I still need to remind you of something.” Li Da poured himself another glass of wine. “Right now, Prince Mu and Prince Shu are both keeping an eye on the Crown Prince. You definitely know what they’re thinking. Everyone knows I’m the one protecting the Crown Prince, and you have a relationship with me. If you truly want to treat the girl well right now, arrange for better personnel. Don’t wait until something goes wrong and you regret it again.”

“Yeah.” Pei Que frowned slightly when he heard this, then stood up, said goodbye, and left.

After leaving the restaurant, the servant asked him if he wanted to go back home. Pei Que looked up at the crescent moon in the sky, shook his head and told the servant not to follow him.

He came to the An’s residence as he knew the way and climbed over the wall. He had promised An Zhi that he would not go to her room to disturb her again, so he did not enter the room, but just took a look from a distance.

At this time, the lights in An Zhi’s room were off, probably she had gone to bed.

Pei Que stood in the corner, staring for a long time. When he was about to leave, he saw a young man looking at him.

Fusheng and Pei Que bowed slightly.

Under the moonlight, Pei Que saw Fusheng gesturing that everything was fine.

He nodded to show that he understood, turned around and looked at An Zhi’s room, and then left reluctantly.

The next day, when An Zhi woke up, according to the rules, she had to serve tea to Meng Jie and An Chengye.

While she was dressing, Meng Jie’s maid Xi’er came to An Zhi with gifts.

Xi’er had almond eyes and an oval face, and her appearance was quite good. When An Zhi saw her, she couldn’t help but squint her eyes.

Xi’er said with a smile, “Miss, this is a little gift that Madam prepared for you. It’s a special thank you for the little Northwest toys you gave her earlier. Our young master likes it very much.”

An Zhi took a look and saw that they were some ordinary brocade bags and lucky dolls, not valuable things. She thought that Meng Jie used them to express her closeness. “I like them very much. Thank you, Madam, for preparing these for me. Binglu, go get some silver and ask for good luck for Miss Xi’er.” Even after Meng Jie married into the family, An Zhi still couldn’t call her mother, so she followed others and called her Madam.

Binglu had already prepared the silver. Xi’er smiled and politely refused for a while before accepting it. When she left the courtyard and quietly weighed the silver given by An Zhi, she was quite surprised. The silver in her hand was probably half a tael, which was equivalent to her salary for half a month in the Meng family. She couldn’t help but sigh in her heart that the An family was indeed better than the Meng family, at least they were richer.