Jiangshan Fengwuzhi

Chapter 291 The Wedding (Part 1)

April in Jusai City is always sunny, especially as the wedding date of Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian approaches, the sun shines brightly and the breeze is gentle.

Pei Nian has been living a quiet life at the post station lately. Fortunately, she is a patient person and spends her days practicing martial arts and reading books.

Although she had witnessed the power of supernatural abilities, she ultimately did not neglect her martial arts skills.

Pei Wugou kept saying that she wanted to take her away as soon as possible. Sometimes she was sure that even if she left, she would never be able to completely cut off her ties with Gu Jingnian. She even thought to herself, "If only it were that easy to sever our ties." But after not seeing Gu Jingnian for many days in a row, she sometimes thought with a little resentment that even if she left, Gu Jingnian would still have beautiful women by his side. No wonder he never came to find her.

That morning, as usual, she opened the window and looked at the monotonous scenery in the backyard of the inn. Suddenly, she was surprised to see a person standing under a tree, with a graceful figure. She was stunned for a moment and thought she was dreaming.

It was Gu Jingnian. He was leaning against a tree, holding a book in his hands and reading.

This action is very similar to that of Wang Qinghe, another detective in the Kaiping Division, but Gu Jingnian standing there gives a completely different feeling. He is not so focused, and it is more like he is idly passing the time.

He lowered his head slightly, and from Pei Nian's angle, only his sword-like eyebrows were visible; his eyes were not.

So Pei Nian knew he hadn't seen her yet, so she didn't call out to him. She just watched silently. The courtyard was quiet, without even the sound of turning pages.

After a long while, Gu Jingnian looked up, saw Pei Nian, walked to the window, and waved.

"Wait," Pei Nian said.

She turned around, put on a coat, and was about to go downstairs. When she passed the bronze mirror, she hesitated for a moment, sat down, picked up the box on the table, and looked through it a few times. Because she had seen Shen Lingshu's attire before, she recognized some rouge and lipstick, which were prepared for her wedding.

After applying her eyebrows and lip rouge in front of the mirror, Pei Nian glanced at the bronze mirror, her brows furrowing slightly. She turned around, picked up the teapot on the table, poured water onto a handkerchief, wiped her face clean, and then went downstairs.

It's unclear how much time passed during this process, but Gu Jingnian was still standing there when he went downstairs.

Pei Nian didn't say what she had done just now. She was so negligent, as if she didn't take Gu Jingnian seriously. In fact, only she knew that it was because she took him too seriously.

The two looked at each other, somewhat awkwardly.

"How long have you been here?"

"They arrived before dawn."

"Holding a book, not even reading it, are you just putting on a show in front of my building?"

"I was daydreaming."

"What are you thinking about?" Pei Nian asked.

Gu Jingnian shook his head, not answering the question, and said, "Today, your fourth brother invited your father over to discuss our marriage. The Gu family has prepared a house for the Pei family in Jusai City. You will move there, and I will come to pick you up when the wedding is held."

He rarely talked to Pei Nian about trivial matters like this, and sure enough, Pei Nian wouldn't listen and asked, "Are we really going to get married?"

"Yes."

Gu Jingnian's reply was too brief, leaving Pei Nian no chance to say what she wanted to say.

But his single word was full of determination and conviction. If it were just some other concerns, Pei Nian might have been moved by him. But the problem she was facing could not be solved with words.

"Gu Jingnian, I'm having second thoughts."

“You’re not the type to back down,” Gu Jingnian said. “Since I’ve known you, you’ve always been fearless.”

Pei Nian said, "That's because I've become cowardly. If I hadn't changed because of you, why would I have married you?"

"I know you have concerns..."

Gu Jingnian spoke slowly, pausing for a while, and finally, as if omitting some words, said only, "You don't need to worry."

Pei Nian looked into his eyes, still wondering if he really knew what she was worried about, when he stepped forward and gently embraced her.

He moved slowly, and Pei Nian took a slight step back with one foot, but did not dodge.

"Don't worry, just trust me, there's no need to fret."

"Ah."

The two, who had been a little awkward just moments before, hugged each other and didn't let go for a long time.

At the same time, Pei Wugou had just left the Marshal's Mansion with a furrowed brow, thinking that he absolutely could not let his daughter really marry Gu Jingnian.

Today's meeting with Gu Jize was again to push forward the marriage between Gu Jingnian and Pei Nian. Moreover, Gu Jize's attitude was far more firm than Pei Wugou had expected. In fact, this was Pei's way of showing sincerity. If there was no sincerity, all the previous discussions would have been castles in the air.

"Shaoqing, Gu Jingnian has arrived at the post station."

A subordinate came up to him and whispered in his ear, afraid of offending Pei Wugou.

Surprisingly, after Pei Wugou snorted unhappily, he sighed and said, "There's no way to stop him."

Not only could Gu Jingnian's desire to see Pei Nian be unstoppable, but in fact, the marriage itself could not be stopped either.

Pei Wugou has been forced into a dilemma.

Success was within reach; if he refused to marry off his daughter now, all his previous efforts would be in vain, and he would be unable to leave Jusai City. On the other hand, if he married her off, it would be tantamount to being led by the nose by the Gu family, and more importantly, it would drag his daughter down with Gu Jingnian. As he sat in the carriage, his subordinate noticed his worried expression and carefully said, "Young Master, if you are troubled by the matter of the marriage for the sake of the mission, I must say something I shouldn't."

"explain."

"Pei Gong's daughter's marriage was all due to coercion from the Gu family. It was a sacrifice for the sake of the country. The court will only remember Pei Gong's merits and will never hold him accountable. Even if Pei Jishi and Gu Jingnian were to get married, they could still get a divorce."

"Heli?"

Pei Wujiu scoffed, thinking the idea sounded stupid.

But his subordinate's words made him realize one thing even more clearly: whether Pei Nian and Gu Jingnian got married or not was actually not important; it was just a formality. The Kaiping Division had always used Pei Nian to restrain Gu Jingnian because of the feelings he couldn't sever between the two of them.

Once he understood this, he realized how foolish his objections had seemed.

In the end, it all came down to a long sigh.

"Ugh."

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a pair of eyes with deep wrinkles looked out over the long street of Jusai City, where red silk was hanging from the eaves of every house.

--------

The wind blows the red silk, making it seem to dance, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Several "囍" characters cut from red paper were blown out of the bamboo basket and fell into the flower bed.

"Hey."

Qin'er tried to pick them up, but the wind was more mischievous than her. Even with three hands, she still couldn't retrieve any words.

"Why pick them up?" Fengniang said casually. "They'll just be scattered out anyway."

They were sitting at a stone table in the backyard of the Gu residence. Qin'er and Luoxia were cutting out the character for "double happiness," while Fengniang was too lazy to touch the scissors. She brewed a pot of flower tea and was sipping it while preparing the beauty cream she used to apply to her face.

Qin'er said, "Although it is to be sprinkled out, I sprinkled it myself at the wedding. I cut it with great difficulty, so how can it be blown away by the wind?"

"Why cut?" Fengniang repeated, her voice tinged with a smile, though she wasn't particularly jealous.

Luo Xia understood what she meant and said, "After all, we have received the young master's favor. He is about to get married, so we have to do something."

In the past, she would never have imagined that the person who killed Chu Danqing would have done her a favor. But the longer that feeling of being connected by blood disappeared, the more she realized that she actually hated Chu Danqing. The transformation from loyalty to hatred was like that of two completely different people.

Seeing how hard Luoxia and Qin'er were working, Fengniang shook her head and chuckled, "All your hard work has been for nothing. Just you wait and see, this marriage is definitely not going to happen."

After saying that, she applied the prepared beauty cream, leaned back in the recliner, and exuded an air of shrewdness and confidence.

The courtyard was bathed in sunlight, and soon Fengniang drifted off to sleep.

A gentle breeze carried several "double happiness" characters, which stuck to the beauty cream and covered her eyelids, fluttering gently and seemingly stirring up some of her emotions.

She was starting to miss Gu Jingnian.

In her dream, she felt herself covered by a red veil, and all she could see was the festive red.

Finally, the veil was lifted, and she met those eyes again, so she reached out and pulled Gu Jingnian closer.

……

A few days later, Fengniang picked up a red veil and looked at Pei Nian in the bronze mirror, and was amazed by her beauty.

It was truly stunning, even though Pei Nian did her own makeup.

The two didn't have a good relationship and occasionally bickered, but Fengniang had done her best today.

She was certain the marriage wouldn't happen, so what harm was there in having Pei Nianmei?

"How is it?" Fengniang said, "When it comes to dressing up, my skills are unparalleled in the world."

"You're so beautiful, do you still need to dress up?" Pei Nian asked.

Feng Niang chuckled lightly, "You wouldn't understand my pleasures."

Pei Nian smiled faintly upon hearing this.

Today, she is the one marrying Gu Jingnian. Her smile in response to Feng Niang's words carries a lot of meaning, which can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words.

Feng Niang immediately felt she had lost ground and said, "Of course, I don't understand your ambition either."

Pei Nian's eyes narrowed.

At the same time, a red veil was gently placed over her head, concealing her somewhat worried eyes.

Outside, gongs and drums resounded; today was the day she married Gu Jingnian.

(End of this chapter)