Third day of the month.
Auspicious for: Marriage, travel, buying a house, opening a business
Inauspicious for: Brooding, repairing graves, erecting monuments
On this day, Commander Jiang's daughter was to be married.
It was somewhat rushed.
Gong Qichi brought Young Lord Zi and Zi Ganjiang to attend the wedding.
Zi Ganjiang had also received an official appointment.
Following his adoptive father in rebellion, he now shared in the rewards.
He was now a proper military officer, albeit a minor one.
When he first laid eyes on Jiang Wan, he had thought about taking her as a wife.
Later he realized his thinking had been clouded by delusions of grandeur - he wasn't worthy.
Jiang Wan was clearly a young lady from a noble family. What right did someone like him, who risked his life in battle, have to pursue her?
Did he think his face was that impressive?
Instead, he had taken an interest in Commander Jiang's eldest daughter.
Zi Ganjiang and Jiang Feng had spent a fair amount of time together and could be considered friends.
He quite liked Jiang Feng's sister.
However, Zi Ganjiang believed that for a real man, establishing one's career came first, before starting a family.
After receiving his appointment, he had originally intended to propose.
The last time they were at the jewelry store, Jiang Feng's sister had smiled at him, revealing white teeth and dimpled cheeks, her smile warm and bright.
But he never imagined that the next time he came, it would be to attend her wedding.
It turns out that if you like a good girl, you should confess and take action early.
If you wait too long, someone else will snatch her away.
He never would have guessed that the Young General Meng, who came from the Capital City for his appointment, would propose to Miss Jiang Yu.
And even more surprisingly, he was willing to stay with Miss Jiang at her family home for three years.
The former was already unimaginable, but the latter, those three years, was even more inconceivable.
Zi Ganjiang felt he couldn't do it, so he didn't put on any act of undying love. He simply enthusiastically presented his gifts.
For a man to establish his career, the prime of youth is fleeting. He couldn't afford to waste three years, or three years after three years. Life is short, there aren't that many sets of three years to spare.
Gong Qichi was simply happy for his good friend Changtian.
As for the Meng family's sons, aside from the pressure to produce heirs, even they as rebels couldn't find fault with them.
Though they were rebels, they only opposed the court, not humanity itself.
So they happily brought General Zi's gifts to pay a visit.
For the appointment, Gong Qichi didn't receive an official post. He remained Young Lord Zi's tutor and advisor.
He brought the quiet Young Lord Zi to visit.
Jiang Mianmian was delighted to see Young Lord Zi.
He was practically the first child she had met in this world, besides Jiang Xiaoshu.
They even had the shared experience of wearing big floral jackets together.
Natural allies.
It had been a long time since they'd met. The child's face was chubbier now, even cuter.
But what was Young Lord Zi's real name again? Jiang Mianmian tilted her head and thought for a good while, but couldn't recall.
Oh no.
Jiang Mianmian grinned at him foolishly. Unable to remember his name, she simply reached out for a hug instead.
Young Lord Zi was surprised by the little girl's enthusiasm, but blushing, he picked her up anyway.
She felt plump and soft.
Her chin rested on his shoulder.
With her head on Young Lord Zi's shoulder, not having to look him in the eye, Jiang Mianmian thought slowly, trying to remember his name.
Sure enough, as she glanced at a group of ants dragging a small worm on the ground nearby, she remembered - that's right, Zi Xiaochong, Zi Congheng.
This name was truly hard to remember, and difficult to write too, with so many strokes in the classical characters.
"Bug Brother, I missed you so much!" Jiang Mianmian said with a sweet smile, showing many teeth.
Zi Congheng still wore a serious expression. Even with his chubby cheeks, he looked very solemn.
But the corners of his mouth twitched upwards irrepressibly.
In the summer, without such thick clothes, she realized that although his face was round and chubby, he wasn't actually fat, but rather tall and slim.
Zi Congheng held the little one, gently touching her face and patting her head.
"You have more hair now."
Hearing this, Jiang Mianmian was so happy she wanted to jump up and down. Keep talking if you can talk, she thought excitedly.
Gong Qichi came over to help host the wedding, leaving the young lord with the Jiang family's little girl.
It was quite thorough to see someone who looked like an old man serving so attentively.
Eunuch Duan was originally supposed to stay and officiate the wedding.
But he found that looking after the little mistress seemed to have more potential.
For some reason, the great-aunt had him stay behind to take care of the little mistress.
And then he ended up looking after another child as well.
The only son of the rebel Zi Lu.
He suddenly felt a great sense of responsibility.
When Eunuch Duan wasn't paying attention, Jiang Mianmian took Zi Xiaochong and climbed up a tree.
Last time she climbed a tree, she got spanked.
Afterwards, her father had someone build her a little house in the tree, with a ladder so she could climb up.
In the time it took Eunuch Duan to brew some tea and fetch some snacks, the two little ones had already climbed up to the treehouse.
It was very simple inside, with woven grass mats laid out, small blankets, and two rows of seats around the sides.
Jiang Mianmian knelt on one of the seats, able to look down through the small window.
Zi Congheng was slightly uncomfortable with the height, not used to it.
He had thought that after so long, the little turtle Jiang would have forgotten him.
But he never expected that, as young as she was, she would still remember him.
As soon as they met, she wanted a hug.
The corners of Zi Congheng's mouth turned up slightly.
His round face trying to look serious, he joined her in looking down.
In the afternoon sunshine, the leaves were lush, and they could hear cicadas chirping in the trees.
The buzzing seemed right next to their ears.
A soft, plump child squeezed next to him.
People came and went beneath the tree.
They could see many heads below.
...
Jiang Yu wore a beautiful red wedding dress, sitting in the room.
Her great-aunt watched her.
She had to keep an eye on her - this girl, on her wedding day, smelling the fragrance from outside, was thinking about sneaking off to eat something...
The great-aunt truly had it hard.
Jiang Yu was dressed very elaborately, sitting on the bed, fiddling with the silver tassels hanging in front of her forehead, finding them amusing.
She wore red lip rouge, her mouth a bright red, her cheeks plump. She shook her head, swinging her legs, her feet adorned with red embroidered shoes inlaid with pearls.
When this grown girl acted childish, Aunt Yin felt it was fortunate she was born into such a family. In any more complicated household, she would have died eight hundred times over.
"I don't ask for much, just that you know how to act properly. Keep your mouth shut. If you don't understand, keep quiet. If you want to say something inappropriate, also keep quiet. Before marriage, your great-aunt will teach you. After marriage, let your husband teach you. Learn from your father - know how to appear weak."
Aunt Yin repeatedly instructed her.
Jiang Yu nodded seriously, the tassels on her forehead swaying as she did, distracting her once again.
The great-aunt sighed.
She also understood why the master wanted to keep the son-in-law at home for three years. Like this, how could they not worry?
After three years, with a child or two, even if the marriage wasn't ideal, it couldn't be called off.
...
Today.
Meng Shaoxia wore the red attire of a bridegroom.
He came from the county office to escort the bride.
After the wedding, he would live at the Jiang family home, in a separate suite.
It had a bedroom, tea room, dining room, study, bathroom, small kitchen, and reception room - a fully functional set of rooms.
The training grounds were just outside, very convenient.
Although required to stay with the Jiang family, being separated by the training grounds provided some distance.
Meng Shaoxia was accompanied by personal guards left by Old Master Meng to escort the bride.
The two tigresses at home, his mother and grandmother, though complaining, efficiently handled matters.
The betrothal gifts were rushed over, arriving just in time.
The gifts were given quite discreetly.
They included shops in the Capital City, courtyards, property deeds.
There were also specially exchanged property deeds from Jingzhou Prefecture, including a mountain villa and a mountain.
Then there were gold, jade, pearls, precious stones, and silver notes - small in volume but all valuable items.
The value of the betrothal gifts wasn't reduced just because the bride's family lived in a remote area.
Of course, it didn't look like much - there was no large furniture or the like, as it wasn't practical to transport such things so far. Everything given was practical and genuinely generous.
Changing into the red bridegroom's attire, wearing the formal hat, Meng Shaoxia mounted his horse and set off for the Jiang family home.
The weather today was truly fine.
He took a deep breath, feeling very happy.
It was as if he had fulfilled the lifelong wish of two lifetimes.
Today, he was getting married.
