Chapter IBMLS Ch.27 Newly Wed (1)
Newly Wed
The exhausted Mu Mingtang quickly fell asleep after she returned to her corner. Without a nanny or maidservant to disrupt her or the sun shining into the room, it wasn’t late in the morning, when the sun had risen three poles high, that she finally woke up.
As soon as she opened her eyes and saw the hour, she was shocked. She got up quickly to change her clothes and wash. As she tied the clothes, she sighed quietly. Fortunately, she didn’t need to wait on her parents-in-law after she got married, and no one in the manor paid any attention to her. Otherwise, she would never be let off for sleeping in so late on the day after her wedding.
After she finished changing her clothes, she encountered a troublesome problem. There were all kinds of objects in the Yulin Pavilion, but a vanity with a mirror was not among them. She reckoned it was because Xie Xuanchen was still unwedded when he had the manor built, so there was no need to prepare a vanity.
Of course, Mu Mingtang could still brush her hair without using a mirror, but that wouldn’t do for the long run. Remembering that there was a full set of furniture in her dowry, she decided to go search for it when she had time.
No changes had occurred to Xie Xuanchen’s condition overnight, and his position was exactly the same as before. However, after she washed his face and cleaned him up, his appearance was beginning to resemble that of a pretty boy.
Mu Mingtang wiped his face again with a damp handkerchief and changed the medicine. Afterward, she turned around and realized suddenly that there was nothing else for her to do.
Even when she was living with the Jiang family, she seldom had free time because she had to learn etiquette and poetry. Her life after marriage was unexpectedly the very opposite.
She sat by the bed for a while before standing up, too embarrassed to continue staring at Xie Xuechen’s face, and walked around the pavilion before beginning to clean again.
She was playing with the dust in the easternmost room when she heard a voice at the door. Standing up, she quickly patted her clothes and hurried to open it. The two maidservants from before were standing outside.
The place she was living now was completely different from the Jiang Manor. None of the maidservants were willing to follow her, and she didn’t blame them. Like her, they were struggling to survive. There was no need to make them accompany her to death, so Mu Mingtang took the initiative to tell Madam Jiang that there was no need to choose dowry maids for her. In the end, Madam Jiang arranged for two of them to go with her anyway.
Mu Mingtang knew that the two maidservants were not dowry maids, but spies that the Jiang family sent to keep an eye on her. Neither of them dared to enter the room as they spoke to her.
As she stood at the high threshold, Mu Mingtang suddenly realized that she was like a Wannian Wang Ba, and Yulin hall was her shell. No matter how fierce the people outside were, she was safe as long as she stayed inside. This thought gave her the confidence to stand up taller.
“Why are the two of you here?”
“This servant greets the princess. We are here to see how the princess is doing and if there is anything we may help with.”
Mu Mingtang thought about it and nodded. “There is, actually. I remember that my dowry was moved to a side room in the Qingxi Pavilion. Go and see if you can find a small vanity for me to use.”
Then, she paused and added, “And don’t even think about stealing from my dowry. The dowry list is with me, and I went over each and every item before coming here. If I find that there’s something, you will be held responsible.”
The two maidservants looked at each other and secretly glanced behind Mu Mingtang. “This servant understands. Princess, did your night with the Prince of Qiyang pass smoothly?”
Mu Mingtang snorted coldly. “Didn’t you both listen in last night? Shouldn’t you know whether or not our night passed smoothly?”
Her words caused the maidservants to blush. They were afraid to get near, but they also didn’t dare to abandon the task Madam Jiang had entrusted to them, so they had tried to listen in from afar. However, was the Yulin Pavilion, the main edifice of the Qiyang Manor, a place that could be spied on so easily? Obviously not.
After hearing only silence and seeing no big movements for a long time, they had assumed that the fake second miss was still alive and went to bed.
Every door in the main courtyard of the Yulin Pavilion was heavily guarded by soldiers. Although the maidservants were afraid of these armed men, they feared the Prince of Qiyang much more.