To Be A Virtuous Wife

54

"Wang ye, be careful where you step," said the yahuan holding the lantern in a gentle voice, "Not many people come to Xi Ce Yuan. The road isn't easy to walk on."

He Yuan smiled at the yahuan until the other bashfully buried her head lower and lower. He finally spoke: "If that's so, then the lantern needs to be raised higher."

The yahuan's face turned red and the lantern in her hand swayed before she recovered her composure.

Originally, no one had lived in Xi Ce Yuan. Because a ce fei was soon to be taken in, the chief steward of the wang fu told the servants to clean it. The majority of the furniture had not been renewed before Qu Yue Su's imminent arrival.

The procession entered Xi Ce Yuan. Inside, the lights shone brightly but He Yuan didn't have the innate joy that sprang from taking a beautiful woman as a ce shi. He looked at the tightly closed door, and then at the two kneeling yahuan who were safeguarding it. In a heavy voice, he said: "Open the door."

"Yes," One of the yahuan bowed and gently pushed open the door. He Yuan stepped inside and passed the Shelf of Many Treasures to see Qu Yue Su sitting on the bed. She was wearing a light-colored girdled dress. The girdle was pale green in color. Her head was bowed, revealing a pale neck. She did seem to have some beauty.

He Yuan stood next to the Shelf and motioned for everyone inside to leave before slowly moving forward.

"Wang ye," Qu Yue Su stood and bowed. Her movements were graceful and subtle, acting more like a daughter of an educated and noble family than his own wang fei, Qin shi.

"Was Beauty waiting for ben wang?" He Yuan raised her chin with his index finger, his thumb curling at her lip, "Each minute of the spring night is worth a thousand gold pieces. We shouldn't waste any more time." He didn't wait to hear Qu Yue Su's thoughts before pushing her onto the bed.

The piercing pain erupting in the lower half of her body made Qu Yue Su spill hot tears. She'd never thought that her wedding night would end up like this, painful and without a shred of warmth. She hadn't even heard a gentle word from the man lying on top of her body. To this man, she was probably just a plaything.

The pain slowly dulled into numbness. She stared wide-eyed at the lotus flowers embroidered on the pink curtains above her head. She wouldn't always be in this position. Qu Qing Ju had achieved a good life so why couldn't she? What Qu Qing Ju could do, she could do also.

When Qu Qing Ju first heard that the Duke of Chang De had put Qu Yue Su in a blue sedan and sent her off to Rui Wang Fu, she was sitting in zhengyuan listening to the flattery of the qieishi. When she had finished listening to what had happened, she sighed ruefully: "Such a pity." She might not like Qu Yue Su personally, but to send a fifteen-year old girl away to be a qie? It really was a waste of her talent and beauty. Her entire life had been ruined because she had a mother like Liang shi.

The qieshi sitting below her didn't know what to say in response. They knew that wang fei didn't have a good relationship with her maternal family. Her half-sister rushing off to become a qie of Rui Wang wasn't some glorious event. Should they be outwardly happy that a person wang fei disliked became someone's qie or sad because wang fei's sister had shamed her?

Jiang Yong Yu glanced at wang feiand saw she wasn't angry yet she wasn't happy. She looked regretful. Jiang Yong Yu's thoughts switched tracks and she said: "Qie heard that Qu san xiaojie is talented and beautiful. No wonder His Highness Rui Wang would fall in love with her."