NOVEL NEXT
Chapter 150
Li Xin sent someone to fetch Li Xia, who got up and followed Dan Mo to meet the guest. Xu Xinyue also led her people back to the lively area.
It wasn't until the end that Lu XuanNing left Li Hui's study to return home.
On the way, Old Madam Lu asked Lu XuanNing if he had taken a liking to anyone.
"No," Lu XuanNing shook his head, but Old Madam Lu noticed a slight hesitation. For some reason, the image of the Second Miss of Li Residence flashed in his mind.
"You've taken a fancy to the Li family's second daughter," Old Madam Lu's words startled Lu XuanNing. Had he really? He wasn't sure. Perhaps influenced by the dream, he paid attention to her, but was this liking?
Seeing this, Old Madam Lu didn't say more, but in her heart, she was thinking about how to propose a marriage. However, the girl was a bit young, so they would need to wait a couple more years.
Xu Xinyue had decided on a match, it was Wang Dong, a former classmate of her elder brother Xu Youshan. Wang Dong was of good character, and his family circumstances were decent. Wang Dong worked in the Hanlin Academy editing historical books. The Wang family situation was also straightforward.
Wang Dong was the only son in his family. His first wife had passed away when their child was two, leaving behind a son, Wang Xiao, now 9 years old. Wang Xiao was mainly raised by Wang Dong's parents.
Xu Xinyue's situation wasn't hidden from the Wang family. After consideration, the Wang family proposed to meet Xu Xinyue. The two families met, and during this process, the Wang family was very satisfied with Xu Xinyue. Xu Xinyue's impression of Wang Dong was neither good nor bad. Neither family had any objections, so the Wang family sent an official matchmaker to the Xu Mansion to propose marriage.
Both were in their second marriages, so there weren't too many formalities. They quickly set a date and sent out invitations to acquainted families.
Madam Jiang personally came to deliver the invitation to the Li Manor. Besides delivering the invitation, she also hoped that Mrs. Lu would agree to let Li Xia stay at the Xu Mansion for a few days to keep Xu Xinyue company.
Mrs. Lu carefully inquired about the groom's situation. Madam Jiang explained in detail. It was evident that the Xu family truly wanted Xu Xinyue to be happy, and the man she was marrying had been carefully chosen.
Mrs. Lu was happy that Xu Xinyue could have her own happiness. She said she would definitely attend the wedding. Li Xia would also go to the Xu Mansion five days before the wedding.
Li Xia arrived at the Xu Mansion with a large trunk. The trunk was filled with trousseau items she had prepared for Xu Xinyue. Li Xia had spent most of her money to save up for Xu Xinyue's dowry, and the rest was exchanged for anonymous bank notes for Xu Xinyue.
Xu Xinyue held Li Xia's hand and cried uncontrollably. Li Xia comforted her, telling her not to cry.
Xu Xinyue gave Li Xia all the money she had saved for her, which included the silver Li Xia had previously given to Xu Xinyue, as well as what she had earned from managing the shop over the past year. Li Xia didn't refuse and accepted it.
The Xu Mansion was now being managed well by Madam Jiang. Li Xia followed the servants to rest in the guest quarters.
Opening her eyes to see Xu Xinyue sitting by the bed, Li Xia patted her chest. She was a bit helpless, as she had almost attacked just now. "Mother, don't scare me like that."
"From now on, you need to take good care of yourself," Xu Xinyue said, and started crying again.
"Mother, you're not marrying to a faraway place. If I want to see you, I can just go to the Wang family. There's no need to act as if we'll never see each other again," Li Xia looked at her hand, finding no handkerchief, she rolled up her sleeve to wipe Xu Xinyue's tears.
Xu Xinyue said nothing and continued sobbing. Li Xia hugged Xu Xinyue, letting her cry.
Qiu Ju and Qiu Ling heard the sound and came in, but Li Xia waved for them to leave. They went out and closed the door, leaving the mother and daughter space to be together. This must be Xu Xinyue's pre-wedding anxiety, Li Xia thought. She let Xu Xinyue do whatever she wanted.
Xu Xinyue kept crying and clinging to Li Xia, which initially worried the other members of the Xu family. Later, seeing how skillfully Li Xia comforted her, they stopped worrying and wondering.
Li Xia was afraid that if Xu Xinyue cried too much, her eyes would swell, making it difficult to apply makeup later. After each crying session, she carefully applied compresses to Xu Xinyue's eyes to reduce the swelling. On the night before the wedding, Xu Xinyue stopped crying. Her skin looked good, and Li Xia nodded in approval.
Xu Xinyue calmed down and felt a bit embarrassed. As a mother, she had been crying in front of her daughter all this time.
"I've heard that in some places, there's a tradition of crying before the wedding. You could say you've done your pre-wedding crying," Li Xia's words made Xu Xinyue laugh through her tears.
"Stay with me tonight," Xu Xinyue said.
Li Xia understood her mother's thoughts. She changed into her nightclothes, and they lay down on the bed. Li Xia had been worn out by Xu Xinyue these past few days, and as soon as she lay down, she fell asleep. Looking at the sleeping Li Xia, Xu Xinyue watched her lovingly all night.
Early the next morning, Madam Jiang, who had come with others, saw Xu Xinyue's two big dark circles under her eyes and became very anxious. She discussed with those around her how to get rid of the dark circles, as they couldn't let her go out like that.
Li Xia was squeezed to the side, watching a group of people bustling around Xu Xinyue. Qiu Ling and Qiu Chan came in, "Miss, you should change your clothes," Qiu Ling reminded Li Xia. Li Xia was still in her nightclothes.
Li Xia went to the guest room to change into the clothes Xu Xinyue had prepared for her. Qiu Chan brought breakfast. Li Xia sat down to eat, not forgetting to ask the two, "Have you had breakfast?"
"We have. Aunt-in-law arranged for all the servants to have breakfast early this morning. She said today would be busy, so we should eat more, as lunchtime would be uncertain. She said she'd arrange a separate stove in the main kitchen, so whoever has time can go and eat something at noon," Qiu Chan, who cared most about food, replied.
After hearing this, Li Xia quickly finished her breakfast and asked Qiu Chan to give a small box to Qiu Ju. The large trunk had already been placed with Xu Xinyue's dowry. This most important small box was entrusted to Qiu Ju, to be given to Xu Xinyue after arriving at the Wang family. With these things to rely on, Li Xia believed Xu Xinyue would be able to live a better life.
Bringing Qiu Chan and Qiu Ling, she went to Xu Xinyue's courtyard. Xu Xinyue had already applied her makeup, and was just waiting to put on the phoenix crown. The bright red wedding dress was something Xu Xinyue never dared to dream of when she was at the Li family. Now she was rightfully becoming someone's wife. Tears welled up in Xu Xinyue's eyes.
"You can't cry anymore. If you cry and ruin your makeup, it won't look good. Today, aunt, you need to be a beautiful bride," Madam Jiang said with a smile.
"Alright, I won't cry," Xu Xinyue held back her tears.
Seeing Li Xia walk in, Madam Jiang smiled, "Come and look at your mother, isn't she beautiful?"
"I'm so old now, what's there to be beautiful about?" Xu Xinyue felt a bit embarrassed being scrutinized by Li Xia.
For Xu Xinyue's wedding, Mrs. Lu brought Li Xin early. Arriving at the courtyard, they saw Xu Xinyue in her bridal attire. Mrs. Lu was momentarily stunned, this beautifully radiant Xu Xinyue reminded her of the somewhat timid Auntie Mei when they first met.
"Madam," seeing Mrs. Lu enter, Xu Xinyue quickly stood up to greet her.
"Sit down quickly," Mrs. Lu gestured for Xu Xinyue to take a seat, then walked over and sat down beside her.
"Mother," Li Xia came forward and bowed respectfully.
Mrs. Lu looked Li Xia over, noting her overall good appearance. "Xin'er is in the garden. Go find your sister."
Li Xia rose to go find Li Xin. Madam Jiang also left shortly after, leaving the room to Xu Xinyue and Mrs. Lu.
"My lady, Xia is a lively child. Thank you for taking the trouble to look after her," Xu Xinyue said, her tone full of gratitude and entrusting.
"When I first spoke of taking the second girl under my name, I meant it. Though she may not be treated exactly the same as Xin'er, I will take good care of her," Mrs. Lu's words reassured Xu Xinyue.