Chapter 182
"Aunt Baise, please spare me."
Li Pan regretted it. He shouldn't have softened his heart and agreed to Li Ping's request to help Baise.
It would have been so much better to just stay and watch over his mother while she rested. Why did he have to get involved in their grudges?
"Be a good boy, it will be over soon. Your step-father isn't the kind of man who can draw a woman's eyebrows. He will definitely give up. I won't take any of the red envelopes he brought; I'll give them all to you." Baise belittled Jiang Mingzhe while promising Li Pan benefits.
Baise made it clear that she was going to make things difficult for Jiang Mingzhe to the bitter end today.
"If Jiang Mingzhe admits defeat, the red envelope will be 10,000 taels."
Jiang Mingzhe had prepared red envelopes totaling 10,000 taels. Having given half to Li Ping, he only had 5,000 taels of silver left in his hands.
He glanced at Li Ping. This brat did it on purpose.
Li Ping raised an eyebrow and smiled: That's what you get for scheming against me.
Now taste the feeling of being schemed against.
"Second Master Jiang, Commander Jiang, are you going to admit defeat or continue?"
The words "admit defeat" didn't exist in Jiang Mingzhe's dictionary. "Continue."
"Straightforward! Pan'er, sit well." Baise pressed Li Pan down into a chair, took a step back, and signaled for Jiang Mingzhe to begin.
Watching the eyebrow-trimming scissors getting closer and closer to him, Li Pan felt afraid.
"Father, I still have to take the imperial examinations."
"I won't hurt your face." Jiang Mingzhe's hands were very steady.
He trimmed the stray hairs and combed them smooth.
Using an eyebrow pencil, he drew a pair of heroic sword-shaped eyebrows.
Li Pan had a naive and honest temperament, and the sword eyebrows added a bit of heroic spirit to his appearance.
"Done." Jiang Mingzhe stepped back to make room.
"Big brother, you look much more mature after having your eyebrows drawn." Li Ping was surprised; a simple change in eyebrows completely altered Li Pan's aura.
"Really?" Li Pan took the bronze mirror.
Was this him? He felt different.
Baise clenched her fists. "You pass this round. But for the next round, hmph."
Baise believed she would definitely make Jiang Mingzhe beg for mercy.
Baise opened a box, revealing a fortune-stick cylinder inside.
There were 100 sticks in the cylinder.
Among them, only one was the most auspicious stick; drawing it would allow him to enter the room.
The rest were all punishment sticks. If he drew a punishment stick, he had to perform the penalty written on it.
"Don't worry, they are all harmless little punishments."
The more Baise said this, the more Jiang Mingzhe felt something was wrong.
"Step-father, don't tell me you don't dare? Don't make me look down on you." Li Ping fanned the flames again.
"Little brother, stop talking." Li Pan was truly afraid that Jiang Mingzhe would beat Li Ping up. "Father, I have money I can lend you first."
"Big brother, you promised me." Li Ping was unhappy.
Li Pan looked at Jiang Mingzhe in a dilemma. Sorry, step-father.
"Oh my, are you really giving up?" Baise was excited. "Jiang Mingzhe, hurry, hurry, say it. Say you admit defeat and accept the penalty."
She, Baise, was finally going to beat Jiang Mingzhe.
"Who said I admit defeat?" Jiang Mingzhe picked up the cylinder and started shaking it.
Soon, a stick fell out.
Li Ping picked it up immediately. "The most auspicious stick!"
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Baise shouted in disbelief.
A one-in-a-hundred chance, and Jiang Mingzhe got it on his first try.
"I passed." Jiang Mingzhe took the stick from Li Ping's hand, handed it to Baise, and pushed the door open to enter the room.
"No, you can't." Baise tried to stop him, but Chen Xiang held her back.
Tie Yi walked up to Baise, holding their son.
"Wife, let's go home."
"I'm not resigned to this." Baise decided she would set another trap for Jiang Mingzhe in the bridal chamber.
"Aunt Baise, you can't beat my father. Just admit defeat," Li Pan advised Baise.
"I, Baise, will never lose." Baise scoffed. The words "admit defeat" didn't exist in her life either.
Jiang Mingzhe walked into the room and came to the bedside.
Ye Yunniang, wearing a red wedding dress, was leaning against the bed.
Afraid that the cosmetics might harm the baby, Ye Yunniang hadn't applied any powder.
She only drew her eyebrows and applied some lip rouge to make her complexion look a bit better.
"Madam, your husband is here to take you home." Jiang Mingzhe reached out his hand.
Ye Yunniang placed her hand in his.
Jiang Mingzhe bent down and scooped Ye Yunniang up in his arms, walking steadily out of the room step by step, and carried her into the bridal sedan chair.
The seat and backrest of the sedan chair were lined with thick, soft cushions.
Ye Yunniang sat back comfortably.
The crowd in Sunset Glow Alley followed the wedding procession to Jiang Mingzhe and Ye Yunniang's new home.
The new residence was located on Shilin Road in Yanqing Ward in the north of the city. There was a spacious area in front of the door where tables and chairs had been set up.
In the eastern corner was a row of stoves, where the chefs were bustling about preparing the dishes.
Those who arrived early had already sat down and were eating melon seeds, pastries, and candies.
As soon as a plate was finished, someone would immediately bring out a fresh one.
The bridal sedan chair stopped in front of the door. Jiang Mingzhe dismounted, walked to the sedan door, and reached out to help Ye Yunniang step down.
Then he picked her up in his arms and walked into the main hall.
Seated in the positions of honor in the hall were Old Master Jiang and Old Madam Jiang.
Both had livid expressions on their faces. Those who didn't know better might have thought they were here to seek revenge rather than to attend their son's wedding.
Jiang Mingzhe carried Ye Yunniang to the center of the main hall and stopped, carefully setting her down.
"Madam, watch your step."
Ye Yunniang steadied herself using Jiang Mingzhe's hand, only to hear a familiar cold snort.
It was Old Madam Jiang's voice.
"Ignore them," Jiang Mingzhe comforted Ye Yunniang, signaling the master of ceremonies to begin with his eyes.
The master of ceremonies gathered his breath and shouted loudly.
"First bow to Heaven and Earth."
Jiang Mingzhe supported Ye Yunniang as they turned toward the outside to bow to Heaven and Earth.
"Second bow to the parents."
Jiang Mingzhe supported Ye Yunniang as they turned back inside to face Old Master Jiang and his wife.
Just as the two were about to bow.
"Hold on, mmm mmm..." Old Madam Jiang called out to stop them and was about to say something, but suddenly her mouth could no longer make a sound.
The people around looked at each other in bewilderment.
What was going on?
Chen Xiang stepped back behind Li Pan, hiding his merit and fame.
"Continue," Jiang Mingzhe said calmly, instructing the musicians not to stop.
Jiang Mingzhe and Ye Yunniang finished bowing to the parents.
"Husband and wife bow to each other."
The two faced each other and bowed.
"The ceremony is complete, send them to the bridal chamber."
Jiang Mingzhe supported Ye Yunniang as they headed to the backyard. As for the ugly-looking Old Master Jiang and his wife, someone else would deal with them.
Arriving at the bridal chamber, there were no outsiders present.
Ye Yunniang couldn't hold it back and began to dry heave.
Jiang Mingzhe grabbed a basin and placed it at Ye Yunniang's feet.
Ye Yunniang threw up quite a bit. After vomiting, she felt slightly more comfortable.
"Rinse your mouth." Jiang Mingzhe brought a cup of tea to Ye Yunniang's lips.
After rinsing her mouth, she drank a cup of water.
Ye Yunniang got into bed, but as soon as she lay down, the nausea returned.
"I'll go get a doctor."
"Don't go." It wasn't good to call for a doctor on one's wedding day. "The guests outside are all waiting for you. Go attend to them, I have Qiushuang here to take care of me."
Qiushuang was a female guard Jiang Mingzhe had specially arranged to serve Ye Yunniang.
Jiang Mingzhe wasn't comfortable leaving Ye Yunniang alone in the room. "Pan'er and Pingping are old enough; they can entertain the guests in my place."