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"What good fortune? The Xie family's dowry isn't small in the least!"

"Pah... with his looks ruined, who would want him if the dowry weren't generous?"

"Oh, really? Didn't your family go begging for the match right after Ning-ge'er's engagement was broken off? They just didn't think your family was good enough!"

The woman everyone was laughing at rolled her eyes at them. Her family had indeed sought the match for the generous dowry. At worst, they could bring him home and lock him in a room. But Xie Dashu had thought her family unworthy, so she had not gotten her wish.

Before long, the sound of pipes and drums reached the Xie courtyard. The wedding procession had arrived.

Xie Xiaoyu skipped toward her second brother's door. In her excitement, she knocked a little harder than usual. "Second Brother, Second Brother, the Zhou family is here!"

As he had when he was little, Xie Ning sat crouched in a large wooden basin. Some of the water had splashed out. Hugging his legs, he made himself as small as possible and kept scooping up water to pour over himself.

His back was bare, clearly revealing his winglike shoulder blades, pale and youthful in their slender contours.

After his family had been alarmed by the incident of him sleeping in the water vat, his eldest brother had fetched him a basin of well water every day after lunch and left it in his room to cool him down.

Unfortunately, no household in the countryside would splurge on a bathing tub. Everyone used wooden basins or buckets, scooping water over themselves with a dipper.

Cramped and miserable though he was in the large basin, Xie Ning refused to get up even when his legs ached. Once he left the water, he would have to put on layer upon layer of bright red wedding clothes and sit alone in the bridal chamber, waiting for Zhou Jinian to finish eating and drinking before coming to lift his veil.

To keep him from dying of the heat, his eldest brother, Xie Yao, had prepared the water early that morning so he could soak to his heart's content.

Hearing the knock, Xie Ning answered nervously, "I know!"

His toes curled upward, and Xie Ning hurried to wash himself and begin dressing.

After delivering the betrothal gifts, the wedding procession would have lunch at the Xie home, as custom dictated. In the afternoon, the groom still had to perform the rites of filial respect. At dusk, when the sky grew softly dim, he could carry his husband home on his back.

Behind closed doors, people liked to joke that a wedding wore out the groom by day and the bride or new husband by night.

While the dishes were being served and the banquet laid out, Xie Yao slipped into his younger brother's room. Madam Xie Sun was tying up Xie Ning's hair.

He would no longer be sleeping at home tonight. A stepmother was still a mother, and Madam Xie Sun was finally acting like one.

"What are you doing in here? This isn't proper. Go eat in the front hall." The moment Madam Xie Sun saw Xie Yao, she tried to usher him out.

"The banquet isn't ready yet. I'll just say a few words to Ning-ge'er, then go." Xie Yao did not argue. His stepmother was right about the rules.

On such a joyous day, Madam Xie Sun did not want to quarrel either. "Then go ahead. I'll fetch Ning-ge'er's meal."

Only after she left did Xie Yao pick up the peachwood comb and smooth the ends of his brother's hair. "If Zhou Jinian treats you badly after you marry into his family, tell me. I'll bring you home."

"Brother, can I sneak a look at him?" Xie Ning squeezed his fingers together, fretting. Did Zhou Jinian not know he had turned into this hideous thing? Otherwise, why would he propose? Why would he agree to all their father's demands?

They were only a few rooms apart. Should he meet Zhou Jinian and let him see what he looked like now? If he frightened Zhou Jinian, they would not marry, and he would not be able to bring Zhou Jinian harm.

"No. It's bad luck." Xie Yao shook his head.

He recalled seeing Zhou Jinian in the main hall just now, dressed in bright red robes, his bearing imposing rather than particularly scholarly, his expression somewhat stern and cold. Though Xie Yao was older, he felt that Zhou Jinian was remarkably steady and mature.

With that air about him, Zhou Jinian was certainly no creature destined to remain in a small pond.

He reassured his brother, "Don't be afraid. I saw Zhou Jinian at the prefectural academy examination. He has handsome, well-formed features, though his expression is rather cool and indifferent. In looks, he makes Zhou Wenshu seem like mud beneath his feet."

"I'm not afraid of him. I'm afraid..." Xie Ning stopped, unwilling to let his brother hear him belittle himself.

Xie Yao added, "Our families live close by. The Zhou family surely won't make you suffer. But when necessary, you must be patient and give way, too. Respect your elders, and don't just do as you please."

Madam Xie Sun returned with the meal, bringing Xie Xiaoyu along. Xie Xiaoyu wore a □□-colored ruqun that brought out the innocent charm of her girlhood.

"Second Brother, once you get married tonight, does that mean I won't get to eat your steamed dried eggplant anymore?" Xie Xiaoyu ran to Xie Ning's side and asked, resting her hands on the table.

Xie Xiaoyu had been close to her two half brothers since she was little. Madam Xie Sun had given birth to twins, and two children were not easy to look after. She could only attend to her son, so it was Xie Ning who had taught Xie Xiaoyu to walk.

"Then I'll go greet the guests in the front hall. Take care, Ning-ge'er. When I go for the academy examination next year, I'll find a doctor for you. You'll get better eventually." Xie Yao had to bring his words to a hurried close and turn back toward the front hall.

Xie Ning watched his eldest brother leave the room. Only when Madam Xie Sun called him to eat did he turn back and say to Xiaoyu, "I can make steamed dried eggplant and send it home for you. You can also come to the Zhou house to see me. You'll still get to eat it."

"That's wonderful." Xie Xiaoyu took a couple of light steps to fetch a palm-leaf fan and fanned the dishes on the table to cool them, because her second brother could only eat cold food lately.

Seeing how thoughtful and affectionate Xiaoyu was toward him, Xie Ning asked, "What else do you like eating? Tell me."

"I like everything you make." Xie Xiaoyu was naturally a little dark-skinned, and her smile at her second brother revealed a mouthful of white teeth.

Madam Xie Sun helped straighten the wedding clothes, then went over and took her daughter Xie Xiaoyu's hand. "If you're too hot, wait until just before dusk to put them on. Eat up. Be careful not to mess up your hair."

With that, she led Xie Xiaoyu away. The Xie house was bustling today, and she had to hurry to the front courtyard with her daughter to get some celebratory gift packets too.

A ge'er was male as well. His hair had merely been combed glossy and smooth with a comb dipped in osmanthus oil, then tied behind his neck with a red ribbon. It would not easily get mussed; he simply could not lie down.

The Xie family's front hall and courtyard were packed with guests, lively and bustling, every face filled with joy. Only Xie Ning sat all alone in his room, eating by himself.