Chapter 208
Chapter 208: Wedding Night
Luo Ning finished eating her noodles, rinsed her mouth again, rubbed her teeth with tooth powder, then washed her face before returning to the inner bedroom.
“Prince, the tooth powder here has too much borneol in it,” Luo Ning said, as if she were just finding something to talk about.
Xiao Huai Feng said: “That is the one I use. If you are not used to it, I will have someone get the kind you like tomorrow.”
“Thank you.”
As they talked, Luo Ning yawned.
Xiao Huai Feng called toward the door: “Someone, come in.”
A maidservant came in to help Luo Ning change. She took off Luo Ning’s outer coat and put her into inner clothes and trousers.
Luo Ning really wanted to ask which maidservant would be on night duty tonight, and whether she would sleep on the long couch to the side, or on the couch at the foot of their new bed.
However, after the maidservant helped her change and lowered the bed curtains for them, she went out.
The bed was large, like a small warm pavilion, and the bed curtains were very thick and heavy.
Beside the bed there was a foot couch and a cabinet, on which stood a small horn palace lamp.
The bed was already made.
Luo Ning and Xiao Huai Feng both wanted to speak but did not know what to say. For a moment, the silence was so awkward it felt suffocating.
The flame of the palace lamp was small, and the light of the red wedding candles outside the bridal chamber was blocked by the heavy curtains, so the light on the bed was dim.
“Prince, should I sleep on the outside, or on the foot couch?” Luo Ning asked him.
She remembered that she was his slave, and the deed of sale was still in his hands.
If she were his wife, she should sleep on the outer side, so she could get up in the night to serve him. That was the rule. If she was a slave, she could only sleep on the foot couch.
Xiao Huai Feng said: “You sleep on the inside. I am not used to having someone block me.”
Luo Ning: “…”
If she slept on the inside, then when she got up at night she would have to climb over him. If she wanted to drink water in the night, she would have to trouble him to reach for it.
Normally, this was improper.
But Luo Ning was obedient.
She immediately crawled to the inner side of the bed and even switched the pillows. The inner pillow was clearly higher; it was the one the maidservants had prepared for the Prince.
After changing them, Luo Ning still sat there, thinking about what would happen next.
She saw the bridal blood handkerchief and glanced at Xiao Huai Feng.
Xiao Huai Feng was already on the bed.
They were both sitting. He asked: “Do you still have something to say?”
“No.”
“Then sleep,” he said.
As he spoke, he reached out and covered the horn lamp.
This kind of lampshade only covered the light instead of putting out the flame. Once the cover was removed, the lamp would shine again without needing to be lit.
After the lamp was covered, the bed was plunged into darkness.
When her eyes could not see anything, her hearing and sense of smell became especially sharp.
Luo Ning could vaguely smell the cool scent of borneol from the tooth powder. She did not know if it was his or hers.
She also felt that her breathing seemed heavy, so she quickly slowed her breath, which made her feel a little suffocated.
Xiao Huai Feng lay down.
When he lay down, Luo Ning lay down too. They each had a quilt, with a bit of space between them.
It was very quiet.
Before the wedding, Luo Ning had even thought about how to avoid pregnancy.
But now that he lay there quietly, waiting to fall asleep, Luo Ning understood that she had been overthinking.
He might not need her to do anything.
Didn’t he still hold her deed of sale? Even if she was Princess Consort Yong, appointed by the Imperial Court with an investiture decree and seal, in his eyes she was only a slave.
Maybe he would let the secondary consorts serve him and would not lower himself to have a slave attend him.
Luo Ning did not feel insulted. Instead, she let out a big sigh of relief.
Heaven knew how afraid she was of getting pregnant.
She had never experienced matters between men and women, so it was nonsense to say she was afraid of that. But she had seen pregnancy, and she had been a daughter herself, so she knew very clearly what a mother meant.
Xiao Huai Feng stopped moving.
Luo Ning had gotten up too early and had been busy all day. Even if the sky fell, it could not beat her drooping eyelids. Very soon, she lost consciousness.
The next day, she was woken by knocking at the door.
“Prince, Princess Consort, it is the end of the yin hour. You should get up,” Nanny Shi’s voice sounded at the door.
Luo Ning sat up.
Xiao Huai Feng had already gotten out of bed. He hooked the bed curtains onto the golden hooks. The red wedding candles that had burned all night in the bridal chamber still lit the room brightly.
Luo Ning closed her eyes again for a moment, letting them adjust to the light.
Xiao Huai Feng seemed to remember something. He turned back, picked up the bridal blood handkerchief on the bed, and stuffed it into Luo Ning’s hands: “Find a place to hide this.”
Luo Ning: “…”
Taking advantage of the fact that the maidservants had not yet come in, she could not help asking: “Prince, isn’t this supposed to be handed to the Empress Dowager?”
Even in ordinary noble households, on the second day of the wedding the bridal blood handkerchief had to be given to the stewardess, who would take it to the mother-in-law.
“I will handle it,” Xiao Huai Feng said.
Luo Ning quickly got out of bed and stuffed it into the inner compartment of her dressing table.
Maidservants came in one after another to serve them.
Nanny Feng, who had been the bridal attendant yesterday, also came in to make the bed.
Not seeing the bridal blood handkerchief, she froze for a moment.
She hesitated for quite a while before she carefully asked: “Prince, this servant needs to take the bridal blood handkerchief to report to the Empress Dowager.”
In front of a room full of maidservants and old maidservants, Xiao Huai Feng said calmly: “I will keep it myself as a treasure. Go report to Imperial Mother and just say the rite is complete.”
Luo Ning sat there.
She did not know whether it was because she felt guilty like a thief or for some other reason, but everything from her cheeks to her ears tingled. A wave of heat rushed up and her face turned red.
She lowered her gaze and let the maidservant comb her hair.
Nanny Feng was very surprised, but she did not go against him and answered briskly: “Yes, this servant will go back and report at once.”
Luo Ning: “…”
[Was it really that easy to get through this?]
After she finished washing and dressing, Luo Ning changed into the morning court dress of an Imperial Prince’s Consort. Although it was not as heavy as yesterday’s wedding robes, it was still complicated and cumbersome.
She was busy for half an hour before she was fully dressed.
She could not help asking in a low voice: “Prince, why didn’t we fake the bridal blood handkerchief? Putting some blood on it would have been enough…”
How hard could that be?
Half a month before the wedding, Nanny He had shown Luo Ning many pictures and had even taught her how to serve the Prince.
She had also clearly explained the bridal blood handkerchief so that Luo Ning would not be confused.
Luo Ning thought that since Prince Yong did not even care to have her, he would certainly not care to fake anything either.
But Xiao Huai Feng said: “I have never seen one, but Imperial Mother has. How could you fake it?”
Luo Ning: “…”
That really would have been unnecessary.
After Luo Ning and Prince Yong finished breakfast, they entered the palace.
On the first morning after the wedding, they had to perform the morning greeting and pay respects to the Empress Dowager and the Emperor and Empress.
They also had to go to the Imperial Ancestral Temple to offer worship.
Luo Ning’s morning court dress was too complicated to take off easily, so she did not dare eat or drink much, only forced herself to have a few pastries. Luckily, she had eaten her fill last night and was not hungry.
Inside Shoucheng Palace, the Empress Dowager had also changed into her court dress, dressed grandly and waiting for her son and daughter-in-law to come and kowtow.
Although there was not much of a smile on her face, her expression was relaxed, and it was clear she was very pleased.
Luo Ning and Prince Yong made their bows.
“A’Ning, come here,” the Empress Dowager beckoned.
Supported by a palace maid, Luo Ning rose and walked slowly toward the Empress Dowager.
The Empress Dowager rewarded her with a red envelope and said: “From now on, we are one family. If you are ever wronged, just tell Imperial Mother.”
Luo Ning answered: “Thank you, Imperial Mother.”
The Prince Yong manor had already sent the gift Luo Ning had prepared. A palace maid brought it on a tray: a pair of shoes Luo Ning had made herself.
She took them and handed them to the Empress Dowager. This was the respect a daughter-in-law owed her mother-in-law, though it was mostly a formality.
The Empress Dowager accepted them.
“Huai Feng, you are now a married man and must be sensible,” the Empress Dowager said. “Do not let A’Ning down.”
Xiao Huai Feng agreed.
After the ceremony was finished, firecrackers were set off outside Shoucheng Palace.
As for the bridal blood handkerchief, the Empress Dowager did not ask a single question, and Luo Ning finished her first morning ceremony as a new bride smoothly.
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