Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 220 - 8: The Wedding (Part 3)

After sending them off, Fen Dai and the others supported Susu and followed behind Hong Sheng, heading towards the front courtyard.

The front courtyard was brightly lit. Although Hong Sheng had few relatives or friends, he still set up more than ten tables, all ordered from the top-notch banquet of Wangxiang Building. Susu caught the strong aroma of alcohol, with ten-year flower wine, twenty-year nu’er hong, and lamb wine bestowed by the palace.

Even though she could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk, Susu didn’t want outsiders to know, so she signaled to Fen Dai with a glance. Fen Dai nodded quietly and secretly switched Shuimo over. Susu then slipped into the kitchen. Since there were no servants in Hong Sheng’s house, the servants who came along with Susu’s dowry yesterday were all assigned duties today, so switching the wine was convenient.

Hong Sheng noticed the small antics between Susu and Fen Dai and laughed, "I hope my lady will also rescue your husband later. I’ve made some poor friends, that group of miscreants won’t let me off until they drink me under the table today."

Susu glanced up with a smile, "What do I get in return?" Hong Sheng was taken aback, seeing his playful young bride’s charming demeanor, he just felt like offering his heart with both hands. As they passed through a shadowed area, he quietly took Susu’s hand and whispered, "I have nothing of worth, so I’ll have to offer myself instead!"

Susu touched her tingling ears, realizing she hadn’t teased a man, but was instead teased by one. She now understood, this Hong Sheng was anything but an "honest and simple" man; he was more of a cheeky rascal.

The three were looking at the young couple whispering to each other, and they automatically distanced themselves. Watching their blushing but smiling mistress, they couldn’t understand why someone who could become an imperial concubine would marry a crude man like their master.

The two together seemed so mismatched, much like Chang’e and the Black Bear Spirit! Could it be true that "good men don’t have good wives, and the lazy ones marry beautiful branches"?

Hong Sheng didn’t know he had become synonymous with "Black Bear Spirit" and "lazy man." At that moment, he relied on his sharp gaze to see the blush and shyness on Susu’s face, and he only wished he could take his wife away, not letting anyone else see, and then do some playful wrestling with this fairy.

Thinking of this, Hong Sheng released Susu’s hand, coughed to cover some upcoming embarrassment, and said, "Later at the banquet, never mind others, but the brothers I brought from the Northwest are all crude people. If they speak indelicately, please be more forgiving. Though they’re rough, they have kind hearts!"

Susu nodded. She didn’t need Hong Sheng to say this, for she knew well. Not to mention that they were Hong Sheng’s solemnly mentioned "brothers," even if they were just random individuals, Susu would never let them lose face.

She had spent seven or eight years in the Song family, accustomed to shaping herself into a gentle and considerate nature. Though she had let herself loose after leaving the mansion, entering the marriage phase tightened her exterior once more. Her true nature might be a bit stubborn and whimsical, but if someone could make her consistently play the "gentle and lovable" role, then she would play along for life without complaint.

In the front courtyard, the drinking had reached a cheerful state. Even the elegant Prince Song and the two sons from Duke Zhen’s Mansion were competing in drinking with those Northwestern soldiers, while the escorts from the Yangwei Escort Agency watched the commotion and added fuel to the fire.

One black-faced man slurred, "Competing with us in drinking is truly...," hesitating with "truly" for ages, having nothing in his belly to show for it. Trying hard to show off, he forgot what to say at the critical moment and desperately looked for help from the smartest "Leng Scholar" among his brothers!

If not at Boss Hong’s wedding feast, Leng Xiao would have laughed mockingly. What sins had he committed in his past life to encounter such a bunch of fools in this life?

Clearly a Black Bear Spirit, yet pretending to be a cute little lamb, it made Leng Xiao’s head ache, "I think you, Yang Xiaoshan, really have a death wish!"

The soldier called Yang Xiaoshan ignored whatever Leng Xiao said, hearing only what he wanted to hear, jumped up enthusiastically, "Come, come, let me show you what having a death wish really means."

Susu and Hong Sheng arrived just in time to hear this. Hong Sheng, like Leng Xiao, felt a headache seeing the reckless Yang Xiaoshan, while Susu covered her mouth with a handkerchief to hide her laughter, unabashedly watching the scene.

The man was half a head taller than Hong Sheng, about 1.85 meters tall. While Hong Sheng’s skin was a healthy bronze, this man was as dark as coal. Yet he had a set of snow-white teeth that, under the light, was the most noticeable feature.