Farm Girl's Manor-Chapter 1342: Extra one Harmony

The Dragon and Phoenix Candles burned side by side, their flames reaching high, the warm candlelight illuminating the red bridal chamber and making it look even more festive.

Looking at the woman sitting on the bed with a red veil over her head, Xiao Ruiyuan was somewhat entranced and began to doubt if this was just a beautiful dream he didn’t want to wake up from. In this dream, he had married the girl he loved and from then on, would hold hands with her into old age, no longer facing loneliness.

"Lord Hou, don’t dawdle. The bride is waiting for you to lift the veil!" Seeing that the groom was motionless for a long time, the matchmaker who had followed them in hurriedly spoke up to remind him.

Xiao Ruiyuan’s gaze became fixed, and his absent-minded look was replaced by a gentle smile. He nervously picked up the joyous scale from the tray that had a red silk flower tied to it, gently lifting a corner of the veil with the hook of the scale, clearly seeing the stunningly beautiful face hidden beneath.

Mo Yan instinctively closed her eyes due to the sudden bright light. The next moment, darkness fell before her eyes as the moisture that had welled up receded. She slowly opened her eyes, only to see the large hand in front of her.

Today, it was these large hands that gently took hers, leading her out from her familiar family home to this unfamiliar General Mansion, warming her palms and dispelling her apprehensions.

And now, it was these same large hands that offered her the most considerate care, protecting her eyes from the strong light. How could she not love such a man?

Once he was sure Mo Yan had adjusted to the light in the room, Xiao Ruiyuan moved his hand away and took out two ladles the size of a palm from the tray held by the maid, each filled with fine wine, and handed one of them to Mo Yan.

The ladles are the combined cups, created by splitting a gourd into two halves and filling them with wine. The bride and groom each take a half and drink from it—this is the Combined Cup Wine. "Combined Cup" symbolizes getting married. It’s an essential tradition for the newlyweds to partake in this ritual on their wedding night.

"Lady, it’s time to drink the Combined Cup Wine!"

Aware again due to the matchmaker’s reminder, Mo Yan, still lost in her thoughts, took the "wine cup," which was different from what she had envisioned, not knowing what to do next and raising her head to look at the man standing before her.

In the modern age, she had seen brides and grooms drinking from the bridal cup in television dramas, but many of the customs in Great Chu were different from the modern ones; if she rashly followed suit without really understanding them, she might make a fool of herself.

Facing his wife’s inquiring gaze, Xiao Ruiyuan also lacked experience and turned to look back at the matchmaker for guidance. He rarely attended other people’s weddings and had never stepped into someone else’s bridal chamber before; he only knew that they had to drink from the bridal cup, but not how to go about it.

The matchmaker, evidently not facing such a question for the first time, calmly stepped forward, bowed to the couple, and then showed them how to drink the Combined Cup Wine: "... After you finish, please Lord Hou and Lady throw the ladles under the bed. If one ladle ends up standing and the other laying flat, Lord Hou and Lady will enjoy harmonious and enduring love."

"So there’s such an interesting thing to do after drinking the Combined Cup Wine!" Mo Yan was full of interest about the upcoming task of throwing the ladles. Having the memories of two lifetimes but marrying for the first time, she was completely inexperienced and missed the matchmaker’s insinuations, thinking it was just auspicious to do so.

However, Xiao Ruiyuan had been secretly studying up on several explicit details in the days leading up to the wedding, egged on by his subordinates.

Making sure that nothing would go wrong with the Combined Cup Wine, Xiao Ruiyuan sat on the big red wedding bed, keeping a distance of half an arm’s length from Mo Yan, so they could properly complete this sacred ceremony.

But as their wrists intertwined, Mo Yan could distinctly feel that her husband’s temperature was a bit abnormal. She carefully examined his complexion, spotted some clues, and thought he might be feeling unwell due to being so busy with the wedding matters, which made her worry.

Mo Yan’s cheeks went numb under Xiao Ruiyuan’s burning gaze; her face felt scorched by fire, and her heart thumped as if it was about to leap out. She hurriedly lowered her eyes and dared not look at him.

After drinking the Combined Cup Wine, the matchmaker tied a knot in both of their hems and then cut a lock of hair from each of their heads, binding them together tightly with a red string and placing them in a long, narrow wooden box, signifying their union of hair and spirit.

Having done all this, the matchmaker left with the maid, leaving the couple alone.

Seeing that Xiao Ruiyuan remained seated and motionless, Mo Yan asked with a puzzled expression, "Aren’t you going out?" It seemed that at this time, the groom was supposed to be outside returning thanks to the guests and would then be made to drink so much that he couldn’t enter the bridal chamber, right?