“Young Master and Young Madam, it’s time to drink the wedding wine together,” the matchmaker said while bringing over two cups.
Lu Zhao turned his head and took the cups. Shen Qingyao came to her senses and carefully took one from his hand. The two clasped wrists and drank simultaneously.
“Very good!” The matchmaker laughed heartily, saying ‘good’ three times in a row, singing joyfully, “Drinking the wedding wine together, sharing blessings and misfortunes, lasting forever, never parting.”
Lu Zhao’s lips curved upwards visibly with pleasure as he exclaimed, “Cheers!”
The matchmaker was even more delighted upon hearing this, thanking profusely and saying many auspicious words. This single word ignited the atmosphere in the whole new room. The younger generation, curious and eager to join the fun, crowded in from outside. Among them were Young Masters and Young Ladies from the Duke’s mansion and guests from elsewhere, many of whom Shen Qingyao did not recognize, but all wore friendly smiles and unabashed curiosity.
“Wow! Is this Sister-in-law? So beautiful!”
“Didn’t they say she was sickly? She doesn’t look like it at all!”
“Tsk! Why bring that up at a time like this!”
Shen Qingyao felt a bit uncomfortable being surrounded like a monkey for a while. She subtly shifted and finally looked towards Lu Zhao for help, only to find his gaze fixed on her. Catching her signal, Lu Zhao winked and stood up.
The groom needed to toast in the main hall, and the group didn’t linger long before bustling out with Lu Zhao. Finally, only Shen Qingyao and Cui Qiao were left in the room, together with the system who pretended to be dead.
Shen Qingyao slumped with relief, exhaling deeply and fanning herself with her hands, but the heat rushing to her head just wouldn’t dissipate.
“They’re finally gone! I was so nervous!!” Shen Qingyao complained softly, prompting a gentle laughter from Cui Qiao.
Cui Qiao teasingly remarked, “Nervous? I thought Miss was very calm!”
Shen Qingyao rolled her eyes and lifted her gaze. “Calm? What calm! I was faking it!”
Just seeing Lu Zhao’s face made her so nervous she couldn’t even speak!
Cui Qiao giggled and walked over to gently remove the heavy phoenix crown from Shen Qingyao’s head. Shen Qingyao felt the weight on her head lightened and felt like she finally came back to life.
[Host! Are you going to do the ‘wedding night’ with White Moonlight tonight? Hehehe…] the system, no longer feigning inactivity, smirked lewdly.
“…Hey, you pervert!” Shen Qingyao blushed at the thought, scolding and threatening, “Shut down! Do you understand?!”
Although the idea of wedding night felt like they were far from reality, the system’s gaze made her feel embarrassed. She attempted to assert authority despite lacking any real intimidation.
The system chuckled slyly for a couple more sentences before falling completely silent, leaving Shen Qingyao wondering if it had truly shut down.
Bored, Shen Qingyao began to look around. It was hard to imagine she was in Lu Zhao’s room now, with red silk everywhere, rendering the whole room festive yet tacky. Coupled with Lu Zhao’s face, so far removed from the mundane, it felt somewhat out of place. Shen Qingyao chuckled softly and gradually relaxed.
It wasn’t until the sky darkened that Shen Qingyao heard some commotion outside. She quickly abandoned the pastries in her hand and hurried back to sit on the bed. Cui Qiao opened the door, and a young man Shen Qingyao hadn’t seen before supported the drunken Lu Zhao. Seeing someone came, the young man was overjoyed and quickly handed Lu Zhao over to Cui Qiao.
“How did it come to this?” Shen Qingyao heard something amiss and stepped out to help, supporting Lu Zhao with Cui Qiao. She was somewhat surprised that Lu Zhao could get drunk like this.
That young man seems to have a very good relationship with Lu Zhao. He just smiled, didn’t say anything, just blinked at Shen Qingyao, then hurried away under her puzzled gaze.
Cui Qiao suddenly realized, exclaimed with a sudden understanding, smiled mysteriously, then boldly pushed Lu Zhao towards Shen Qingyao, and hastily said, “Miss, I… I’ll go down first!”
After speaking, without waiting for Shen Qingyao’s reaction, Cui Qiao quickly left.
“Ah? Hey! Cui Qiao! Can’t you help me carry him back first?” Shen Qingyao was forced to accept the weight of an adult man, and was immediately overwhelmed. Lu Zhao was unconscious from drunkenness, so while she lifted his hand, his head fell down again. By the time Shen Qingyao managed to get him onto the bed with great difficulty, she was already sweating profusely.
Shen Qingyao gasped for breath, glaring at Lu Zhao irritably. She saw his cheeks slightly red, breathing evenly, looking just drunk, not uncomfortable. Shen Qingyao sighed with relief, smiled after a while. She never expected that the wedding night, which should have been tense and exciting, would turn out like this.
“System, what should I do next?” Shen Qingyao asked, but then remembered that she had just threatened the system to shut down, so of course, it wouldn’t respond now.
She sat down slowly, taking advantage of Lu Zhao’s unconsciousness, her gaze boldly lingering on him.
“Why does the groom look more beautiful in wedding attire than the bride? Fortunately, I wore a veil outside, otherwise, losing to you would be too embarrassing!” Shen Qingyao complained softly, unconsciously reaching out a hand and delicately tracing Lu Zhao’s handsome features from a distance of one finger.
Lost in thought, she didn’t notice that Lu Zhao’s lips had quietly curved up.
“However… such a handsome man is now mine!” Shen Qingyao felt a little proud, lightly tapping Lu Zhao’s eyebrows with her finger, “Mine,” tapping his eyes, “Mine,” then tapping his nose, “This is mine too!”
Finally, her hand slid to Lu Zhao’s lips, before she could speak, the person on the bed suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed her mischievous hand, startling Shen Qingyao. She instinctively wanted to run, but he held her and pulled her into his arms.
“Yours?” Lu Zhao hugged her, his voice low.
Shen Qingyao, caught off guard by her own fantasy, felt awkward and panicked.
She pushed Lu Zhao lightly, “You’re not drunk? You’re lying!” Her voice was soft, sounding like she was being coquettish.
Lu Zhao chuckled, feeling his chest tremble slightly. He said warmly, “If I don’t lie, how could I come back so early?”
Shen Qingyao pushed him again. He lied to come back early, and just now he was also lying to her, right?
“It is my honor to make Yaoyao like it so much,” Lu Zhao relaxed his grip a bit, but didn’t intend to let her go.
Shen Qingyao choked for the second time. Like? Like what? Speak clearly! I’m just a sucker for good looks, don’t overthink it!
Shen Qingyao roared in her heart, realizing that it wasn’t good that the system wasn’t here; she couldn’t real-time barrage her complaints, which was frustrating!
“What are you thinking?” Lu Zhao, seeing her not responding for a long time, lowered his head curiously.
Shen Qingyao moved in his arms, lifted her head, and brushed her nose against Lu Zhao’s chin. The strange touch made both of them freeze for a moment.
Shen Qingyao’s round apricot eyes met Lu Zhao’s deep eyes, and she stiffened, murmuring, “Nothing, just… nothing…”
But Lu Zhao had stopped listening to what she was saying. He lowered his eyes, the beautiful girl in his arms had a lovely face, her fair complexion tinged with a blush, her eyes watery, her lips plump and rosy. Lu Zhao’s eyes darkened, his breathing becoming heavier.
Shen Qingyao didn’t dare to move, her panicked eyes blinked rapidly. Her small hand hanging by her side waved in the air as if trying to find something to hold onto, eventually landing on the soft fabric of Lu Zhao’s outer garment.
She watched as Lu Zhao’s face drew closer and closer, his warm breath gradually brushing against her face, carrying a fragrant scent of alcohol. She felt a bit intoxicated, her whole being dizzy, her heartbeat becoming increasingly heavy and clear.
Suddenly, Shen Qingyao felt a bit breathless, taking a deep breath and thinking to herself : Could it be my heart condition? Why is my heart beating so fast!
Just as Lu Zhao’s nose touched hers, she couldn’t hold back any longer. Nervously, she closed her eyes, anticipating the touch that didn’t come. Curious, she opened her eyes slightly and saw Lu Zhao’s face close to hers, grinning like a mischievous fox.
He was teasing her again! Shen Qingyao couldn’t help but feel annoyed, so she opened her eyes, and as the mischievous fox moved his face away, she felt a pair of hands supporting the back of her head. Lu Zhao leaned in once more, this time without hesitation, and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead…
Lu Zhao’s lips were slightly cool, but when they touched her forehead, it felt like a fire had been lit, burning away all the thoughts in her head.
—He kissed me…
Shen Qingyao was dumbfounded, recalling a phrase she had read before: ‘A kiss on the forehead is a lifelong promise, far more precious than a kiss on the lips.’
Lu Zhao had a satisfied smile in his eyes and on his lips, reaching out to ruffle the girl’s hair. He didn’t want to do anything else, knowing the girl’s body still needed to be taken care of well. For now, he could only restrain himself.
If Shen Qingyao was still sober at that moment, she would have noticed that Lu Zhao wasn’t as composed as he seemed. At least his heartbeat wasn’t much slower than hers. Unfortunately, Shen Qingyao was not in that state. Finally, Lu Zhao lightly flicked her nose again, teasing softly, “Come back to reality.”
Shen Qingyao snapped out of her daze, jumping up excitedly. She walked over to the table, hastily pouring two cups of tea, feeling that both of them needed to calm down.
“Let’s… let’s have some tea to sober up,” Shen Qingyao said, holding out a cup of tea, avoiding his gaze out of embarrassment.
Lu Zhao chuckled as he took the cup from her. Shen Qingyao took a sip from her own cup, trying to calm her overly active heartbeat. But in that moment of lowering her head, her gaze inadvertently passed over Lu Zhao’s head, and she caught sight of a shining [30].
???
*Cough, cough, cough…* A mouthful of tea got stuck in her throat, causing Shen Qingyao to cough uncontrollably, her pretty face turning red.
What’s going on? Last time it was [20], how come it increased by 10 points after getting married! It’s not increasing gradually anymore, huh? The price increase unit has changed to 10 points, huh??
And he kissed me! He kissed her and then his ‘blackening’ value increased immediately after, what does that mean?! I want to give back that forehead kiss!!!!
“Why are you drinking so fast?” Lu Zhao walked over and patted her back, amused and exasperated. It seemed like the girl had a talent for making things take strange turns.
Snapped out of her thoughts, Shen Qingyao looked at Lu Zhao with resentment. Don’t you know what you’ve put me through? You’re really good at acting…
Shen Qingyao was tired. She would never believe in White Moonlight again…