The two magpies in the jujube tree outside the window had already fought three times and made up three times.
Feng Shu had changed into a new bride's attire, and her hair had been swept into the joined-heart bun proper for a married woman.
A silver hairpin adorned each side, with a few star-like jade hair ornaments at her temples.
But after wearing twin buns for more than ten years as an unmarried girl, she clearly had yet to grow used to this married woman's hairstyle.
Her right hand kept touching the top of her bun, while her left kept steadying the pair of silver hairpins.
"Husband, does it look nice?" she asked, then immediately lowered her head, feeling she had been too forward.
"Qingluo insisted on doing my hair this way..."
"It looks lovely."
"Really?"
"Really."
Fu Niang raised her eyes to him, half doubtful. Only after a moment did she hold out the tea cup in her hands.
"Here. Your bride's tea."
Wei Nisheng accepted the cup.
According to custom, a new bride had to offer tea and pay her respects to her parents-in-law the day after entering the household.
His parents were absent, so the imperial family had accepted that cup of tea the night before.
This cup was for her husband alone.
The side room of the Main Hall.
The people of Zhou served no heavy meat dishes at Morning Meal, favoring congee and soups, supplemented by flatbreads, with pickles and fresh seasonal vegetables on the side.
Households in the Capital prized the saying, "A bowl of congee at dawn beats an immortal's medicine."
And so the Wei Residence had prepared just such a meal that morning:
A clay pot of plain rice congee, a plate of steamed flatbreads, and a plate of ring