Everyone's attention was on Wang Shouzhe, and no one noticed a pretty maid of sixteen or seventeen quietly appearing in a corner at the other end of the corridor.
Peeking around and seeing this, the little maid immediately turned and sprinted back, her face filled with grave urgency.
Shulan Courtyard.
Today was the bride's great day.
Early that morning, Shulan Courtyard had been cleaned several times over. Even the blue bricks along the corridors had been scrubbed with clean water until they gleamed like new. All the lanterns beneath the eaves had been replaced with red ones, and tiny red lanterns even hung from the trees in the courtyard. One glance was enough to fill the heart with festive cheer.
Inside the bridal chamber, the bride, Liu Ruolan, sat upright before her dressing table. Several attractive middle-aged women surrounded her, carefully helping her dress and apply her makeup.
As this was a grand wedding, the bridal attire was elaborate. To avoid getting rouge and powder on it, she had to finish her makeup and arrange her hair before putting on the wedding dress.
At this moment, Liu Ruolan's makeup was only half finished. Yet even so, her eyes were clear and limpid as water, bright and penetrating without losing their intelligent liveliness. She was not the sort of peerless celestial beauty rarely seen in a lifetime, but she was certainly of exceptional beauty. Simply sitting there, she possessed the gentle restraint of a great clan's young lady, along with a faint air of nobility that ordinary girls lacked.
That noble air had not been spoiled into her by indulgence. Rather, it had been nurtured bit by bit by the deep foundations of a wealthy and powerful family, something others would find difficult to imitate even if they tried.
Perhaps because