Chapter 87: Warm Red Curtains

  "No matter what Lian Qi and others are like, you are the only mistress of Ling Wang Fu, and I, Yuan Longqiao's only wife."

  Her actions stopped abruptly, her tearful eyes changed from anger to joy and then to sorrow. "We didn't have a wedding ceremony, can I be considered your wife?"

  "Fool!" He finally let out a breath, gently wiping away her tears and said softly, "It's just a formality, it can be made up for anytime."

  "Don't you really like them?" She raised her face stubbornly, with a cute expression that wouldn't let up until she got an answer.

  Yuan Longqiao started to get a headache again, "Xiaotian!"

  Two snow-white arms stretched out from under the quilt and tightly grasped his neck, threatening to strangle him. "Speak! Speak!"

  Yuan Longqiao raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Why aren't you wearing any clothes!"

  "Others are sleeping, what's the difference whether I'm wearing it or not!" She simply lifted the quilt and continued to crawl on his body, domineeringly saying: "You're only allowed to like me, you're not allowed to like anyone else!"

  He grabbed a quilt and covered her with it, Yuan Longqiao could only helplessly respond with a "fine".

  "In my heart, there can only be me, no one else is allowed!"

  "Okay."

  "Only get into my bed," her face burning, yet refusing to mince words, "don't ever get into anyone else's bed again."

  "Little jealous woman!" Her body entwined around him like a snake, her skin as smooth as silk and satin pressed against his. Every breath of hers was captured by him. The intoxicating liquor surged up in waves, and with one swift movement, he turned the tables and pinned her beneath him.

  "Alas! If you deceive me, I'm done for!" Her low whisper, as if to herself, suddenly exploded in his ear, merging with a certain memory in his mind. Fear instantly filled his consciousness and froze the blood in his veins. His gaze was fixed on her, dull and unblinking, as deep pain slowly gathered at the bottom of his eyes.

  "What's wrong?" Xiatian asked puzzledly.

  His eyes closed in pain, he pressed her head into the crook of his neck, his cheek gently rubbing against her hair, his hoarse voice whispering: "If one day I'm not here, if something happens, go find Xiao Qi for help."

  "Where are you going? I'm coming with you."

  A dizzying feeling accompanied by heartache made his body tremble slightly, his face itched a bit, he slowly opened his eyes, and a pair of warm, tender lips pressed against his icy lips. His pupils were somewhat scattered, his hands on her back uncontrollably trembling, the whole person seemed to be drowning in water, his vision blurry as if seeing something but couldn't quite make out what it was.

  In the summer, uncomfortable curled up one leg, wanting to find a comfortable posture on him.

  His lower abdomen was suddenly bumped, and he subconsciously opened his mouth to take a breath, her soft lips were thus swallowed into his mouth.

  She is so tender and soft, naive and curious, like a wave of blue water that will cleanse his body and mind. Deeply suppressing the unease at the bottom of her heart, the tempered steel is thoroughly transformed into gentle fingers.

  Candlelight flickers, gauze is elegant and beautiful, peony is shy...

  The wedding of the king and his concubine, although not as grand as the one for the queen, still drew much attention due to the fact that the bride was the eldest daughter of General Xia Jingting, a powerful military leader. The marriage also led to subtle changes in the positions of the three princes and five princes in the imperial court, who had previously been evenly matched in terms of military and political power. People wondered which daughter General Xia would support if the two princes were to clash one day. Except for Chancellor Si Tuwei, many others waited with bated breath, even taking pleasure in the potential misfortune that might befall the royal family.

  The General's mansion was filled with guests celebrating his daughter's wedding, but the Prime Minister's mansion, where the Empress Dowager lived, was closed to visitors.

  In the summer, Xia Tian did not go with Rong Longqiao to Wang Fu to congratulate him, but instead chose to return to the Hu Guo Jiang Jun Fu to see off Xia Yu.

  The horse carriage stopped in front of the government office, Xia Jingting and the others had already been waiting there.

  "Welcome, Princess Ling."

  He hastily walked up and helped Xia Jingting up. Xia Tian's eyes lit up with a smile as he called out, "Dad!"

  "Has your cold improved?"

  In the summer, Yuan Longqi had few memories of his big wedding day, but before leaving, Yuan Longqiao specially instructed her, although he didn't know where this wind and cold talk came from, she still nodded vaguely.

  Xia Jingting saw that her face was rosy and her complexion was quite good, and she felt a lot more at ease. "Go see your sister, from today on you are not only sisters but also sisters-in-law, you must get along well."

  He nodded again without saying yes or no.

  "Fourth sister!"

  Xia Tian turned around. After not seeing each other for a while, Xia Xue had grown up a lot and also became more elegant. Xia Xue warmly grasped her arm, pouted and shook it, "I'll accompany you to see Second Sister."

  Xia Jingting had one arm around a daughter, with an uncontainable happiness in his smile. "As long as you sisters get along, Dad can rest assured."

  "I'll go with you too." Xia Shuang also came over.

  Looking around in the summer, except for Xia Yu and Fourth Madam who were not there, Jing Fei was standing alone in the distance, and there was no sign of Big Brother.

  "Where's big brother?"

  As soon as the carriage stopped, Fengli immediately perked up her ears and found that there was no Da Gongzi in the crowd. In the short time when everyone was talking, she had already thought of countless worst possibilities, and her heart had been broken into pieces, shattered, and riddled with holes.

  "Big brother?" Xia Shuang also looked around in confusion, "I didn't see him this morning, maybe he's inside attending to the guests."

  "Oh." Xiatian let out a sigh of relief, and Fengli also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Jingfei's expressionless face gazed at Xiatian from afar, her eyes glancing over the latter's shoulder to Fengli, who was forcing herself to remain calm, and a hint of mocking smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

  The boudoir of Xia Yu was decorated with flowers and brocade everywhere, the four madams were busy inside and outside, and the serving maids were all smiling, overjoyed.

  Wearing a bright red wedding dress, Xia Yu sat upright on the couch, with a radiant smile on her face, elegant and proud. It had to be admitted that Xia Yu was extremely beautiful, with a slender figure and lovely features. However, the corners of her eyes were slightly raised, giving off an air of frivolity; her lips were too thin, making her appear somewhat petty.

  When Xiafeng and Xiaxue walked in, the fourth lady immediately smiled and welcomed them. "You're here, your sister was just mentioning you!" As soon as she saw Xia Tian behind them, her smile instantly faded, her eyebrows raised, and she turned around and left.

  Xia Xue looked at Xia Shuang anxiously, then quickly pulled Xia Tian to the front of the bed and said with a smile: "Second sister, look who's come to see you off! Fourth sister has rushed here specially!"

  Xia Yu's wedding dress and golden crown were adorned with peonies, but as a concubine, she had to differentiate herself from the empress. So the peony decorations on her clothes were slightly smaller, making her look somewhat petty and shabby compared to Xia Tian, the official queen.

  He glared at Xia Xue fiercely, and Xia Yu's face sank as he said coldly: "I'm not worthy of Princess Ling's presence, so please leave."

  Let's take a look at something else first.