Chapter 196: The Bridal Chamber, Love at First Sight

The night grew heavy.

Guests left one after another, and the bustle in the mansion gradually faded away.

The servants were busy tidying up.

Bai Qingtong had just seen Jia Tanchun and the others out of the main gate when she saw the carriage of the Bowang Marquis Mansion parked outside.

Bowang Marquis Wan Zhuo hurried down from the carriage, and upon seeing her, asked anxiously: "Qingtong, is your father still in the main hall?"

Bai Qingtong said indifferently: "He is."

Wan Zhuo sighed, his face full of shame as he said: "I am truly sorry that Wan Qianzi came to cause trouble today. I only just returned from outside the city and learned of this matter. I have already had her locked in her room and will never let her out again. I have come specifically to apologize to your father."

Having said this, he sighed again and entered the mansion.

After seeing Jia Tanchun and the others into their carriage, Bai Qingtong returned to the mansion and came to the corridor outside the main hall.

A long time later.

Bai Ming saw Wan Zhuo out, smiling: "It is a small matter, I have not taken it to heart."

Wan Zhuo was full of apologies and apologized once more.

The two spoke as they walked out of the main gate.

After Wan Zhuo boarded his carriage and left, Bai Ming returned to the mansion, and Bai Qingtong hurried forward to ask: "Father, what did he say?"

Bai Ming gave a cold snort and said: "What could he say? He just played the fool, claiming he knew nothing, and said his daughter had been agitated and might not be quite right in the head lately, telling me not to take it to heart."

Bai Qingtong said: "Wan Qianzi does indeed seem not quite right; her personality is too extreme. It is fortunate that Eldest Brother did not choose her back then."

Bai Ming said: "Alright, let us not speak of this anymore. You have been busy all day, go and rest."

Bai Qingtong nodded and said: "Father, you should also rest early."

She arrived at Xue Yuan.

Just as she was about to return to her own small courtyard, she hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked toward Luoxue Residence.

A maid carrying a lantern hurried to the front to knock on the door.

Hua'er opened the door, and seeing her arrive, hurriedly whispered a report: "Young Miss, Bai Bai and Qingqing have come out and are guarding the entrance; Xiaohuan and Ziyuan are there as well."

Bai Qingtong's gaze shifted, and she asked: "Where is Fenfen?"

Hua'er said: "This servant did not see her."

Bai Qingtong did not ask further and said: "Let's go, let us return. It is enough that they are guarding here."

Hua'er agreed and said toward the inside: "Ziyuan, come close the door, I am leaving."

"Alright."

Ziyuan answered and hurried down from the corridor.

Hua'er helped close the door.

Several maids surrounded Bai Qingtong as she left. After returning to her own small courtyard, Bai Qingtong called Hua'er into the room and asked in a low voice: "Did you remember the maids and matrons who were making a scene in the bridal chamber earlier? Have you remembered them all?"

Hua'er said: "This servant has remembered them all."

Bai Qingtong instructed: "Write them all down, and write down everyone's connections as well."

"Yes, Young Miss."

Hua'er hurried to the table to grind ink and write.

Outside the window, the cold wind wailed, and snowflakes were still drifting in the night sky.

In the bridal chamber, red candles burned, and the warmth was thick.

Luo Zijun was sitting on the floor, drinking fruit wine while telling the story of "Snow White" to Bai Daxiaojie.

"In the end, the princess and the prince lived happily together..."

After listening, Bai Daxiaojie only said two words: "So fake."

Luo Zijun said: "I also think it is fake. Snow White was so beautiful, how could those seven dwarfs not be tempted? I think that as soon as the prince saved the princess, he should have been killed immediately, and then the seven dwarfs could have been with the beautiful princess."

Bai Meixue snorted: "Do you think everyone is as bad as you?"

Luo Zijun said: "Daxiaojie, where am I bad?"

Bai Meixue said: "You wanted to dirty my bed. And you didn't buy sugar figurines for me and Bai Bai."

Luo Zijun: "..."

"Woo—"

Outside, the cold wind howled, blowing the lanterns under the eaves until they clattered.

Bai Meixue said: "The time has come, go in."

Luo Zijun stood up, placed the wine pot and cup in his hand back on the table, then looked at her and said: "Daxiaojie, this wall is not soundproof. Could you plug your ears? Otherwise, I will feel embarrassed."

Bai Meixue said: "What is there to be embarrassed about?"

Luo Zijun said: "The bride is left alone in an empty room, while the groom is in the next room being intimate with another woman, and making loud noises at that. I feel it is not very good."

Bai Meixue ignored him.

"Since Daxiaojie does not mind, then consider it unsaid."

Luo Zijun did not waste more words; he went over, pushed open the wall, walked in, and then slowly closed the wall again.

Inside was another room, like a secret chamber, quite narrow.

Red candles were lit on the table, and double-happiness characters were pasted on the walls.

In the corner sat a small bed, covered by pink curtains. In the innermost corner of the bed, a person sat curled into a ball, her entire body tightly covered by a quilt.

Hearing the sound of the wall closing, her body seemed to tremble.

"Ahem..." Luo Zijun coughed on purpose, walked around the narrow room once, then came to the bed and said: "Eh, why has this Young Master's bride disappeared? Did Daxiaojie not say that the bride who would spend the bridal night with me was here?"

The figure in the corner remained motionless and silent.

"It seems she has snuck away. I will go out and ask Daxiaojie."

Luo Zijun pretended to prepare to leave.

A trembling voice immediately came from inside the quilt: "I... I am here..."

"Who? Who is speaking?"

Luo Zijun looked left and right, his face full of confusion: "This voice is so familiar, why does it sound like... like that fierce little girl who is always threatening me?"

The person under the quilt: "..."

"Eh, it seems there is someone on the bed."

Luo Zijun pretended to have just discovered this, then ducked into the bed curtains and went over to pull away the quilt in the corner.

!

"Ah..."

A cry of alarm suddenly rang out from under the quilt.

In the corner, a petite young girl wearing a pink dress with many small braids in her hair was sitting there, hugging her knees and cowering.

She was seen keeping her head tightly lowered, almost buried between her legs; she had pink red strings tied in her hair and pink hairpins clipped on; on her right ear, a small pink flower was tucked; beneath her pink gauze skirt, two petite jade feet wearing pink silk socks were revealed; her whole person was pink and tender, like a delicate, unopened flower bud.

Luo Zijun sat on the bed, stared at her for a few moments, and asked: "Are you..."

The young girl's small hands hugging her knees could not help but tighten; after a long pause, she slowly raised her head, biting her pink lips, her small face flushed red, and looking at him with teary eyes, she said shyly: "It's me..."

"Ah, Fenfen? You... why are you here?"

Luo Zijun looked surprised, feeling it was unbelievable.

Fenfen immediately buried her flushed little face back into her arms and legs, and stopped speaking.

Luo Zijun said again: "By the way, Fenfen, didn't you say last time that you wanted to complain to your Young Master, saying that I seduced your Young Lady, and that you wanted your Young Master to beat me to death? Where is your Young Master? Did he come here?"

Fenfen was instantly so ashamed she wished she could disappear, her petite body twisting, seemingly wanting to crawl under the bed.

Luo Zijun said: "I'm asking you a question."

Fenfen did not want to pay attention to him, but dared not ignore him, so she could only bury her cheeks and whimper: "I... I was wrong..."

Luo Zijun said: "Ah, where were you wrong? Who are you talking to?"

Fenfen had no choice but to raise her flushed cheeks, looking at him pitifully, and whimpered: "Young... Young Master, I was wrong..."

Luo Zijun said in astonishment: "Ah, Young Master? When did I become your Young Master? Didn't you want to call your Young Master to beat me? Now are you asking me to beat myself?"

"Wu..."

Fenfen let out a whimper, buried her cheeks again, so ashamed she wished she could disappear, and the two small feet in pink silk socks under her skirt also moved unconsciously a few times.

Luo Zijun watched for a few moments, and seeing it was getting late, he did not continue to tease her, and said solemnly: "Fenfen, now, what should we do?"

Fenfen buried her head like an ostrich, not daring to make a sound.

Luo Zijun said: "Then let's sit for the night."

Fenfen suddenly raised her head, looking at him with a face full of fear, and pleaded weakly: "Can we... only do it for half the night?"

Luo Zijun: "???"

Fenfen whimpered: "I... I am a first-timer, please... please Young Master, have mercy..."

Luo Zijun was speechless and said: "I meant, sit for the night. I will just sit here without moving, sit for the night."

Upon hearing this, Fenfen whimpered again: "Young Master, don't... I, I don't have the strength... If you don't move, I can't move for the whole night..."

Luo Zijun: "..."

"Enough, I won't waste words with a fool like you. Listen, the eldest young lady said we must share the bridal chamber tonight, mainly to prevent spies from knowing. But I certainly will not share the bridal chamber with you, and you certainly do not want to share the bridal chamber with me, so I have other candidates. You just need to sit here without moving tonight, and you must keep your eyes closed and cover your ears, do you understand?"

Luo Zijun did not scare her anymore; after finishing, he got off the bed, went over to push open the wall, and shouted to the outside: "Ziyuan, come in quickly, the eldest young lady is not doing well!"

Then he pretended and said: "Eldest young lady, rest well, I won't bother you."

When Ziyuan heard the voice and was about to enter the room, she was suddenly blocked by someone.

Qingqing said coldly: "The young lady hasn't spoken yet."

Luo Zijun's gaze turned to Bai Daxiaojie, who was still sitting by the bed, and he whispered: "Eldest young lady, I am calling Ziyuan in to share the bridal chamber."

Bai Meixue said: "Why?"

Luo Zijun explained: "Fenfen is unwilling, and I am not familiar with her either; I cannot let myself share the bridal chamber with her just because of the rules. I feel this is not very good for her."

Bai Meixue was silent for a moment and said: "Only she will do, Ziyuan will not. And I have already discussed it with her, and she has agreed."

Just as Luo Zijun was about to speak, Fenfen's shy and anxious voice suddenly came from inside: "Young Master, when did I say... say I was unwilling? You are slandering people."

Luo Zijun looked inside and said: "You are willing? Don't you hate me?"

There was a silence inside, then she said shyly: "When did I say... say I hated you? I just felt... felt that you look good, that's why I liked kicking you and being fierce to you..."

Luo Zijun: "..."

At this time, Bai Daxiaojie suddenly said again: "That day, you told my father and mother that you fell in love with me at first sight at West Lake Academy. What you said was a lie, but that day when we first met, Fenfen fell in love with you at first sight; that is the truth."

"Also, these past few nights when you went to Bai Hua Hu to see me, every time she was fierce to you, and even deliberately said that when the time came, she would serve the new Young Master together with Bai Bai and Qingqing; in fact, it was all to deliberately scare you and provoke you, so that you would hurry up and marry into the family."

"And one last thing, I want to tell you."

"Actually, from beginning to end, except for you, I had no other candidates; there were no wealthy young masters or honest men, just you. Everyone knows, Qingtong knows, Fenfen knows, Bai Bai also knows, only you, you don't know..."

Luo Zijun: "..."

(End of this chapter)