Bab 23: Seeing you again after another lifetime
"Get up the palanquin!" When the nanny saw the new bride get on the bridal sedan, she shouted again.
Grand Preceptor An stood inside the gates of the Residence of Tranquil East Tribe and watched as Ah Jin sedan chair gradually disappeared into the distance.
Within the inner chamber of the Residence of Peace, the Aunt Xiu knelt in front of a wooden statue of Guan Yin as she recited a scripture, praying for the Buddha to be merciful and to protect her daughter for the rest of her life.
To the other masters in the Residence of Yu An, An Jin's marriage didn't seem to have anything to do with them. Today, it was no different from before.
In the crowd, the Shizong turned to leave in the opposite direction from the bridal sedan chair. He thought back to that smile he had seen just now from An Jinxiu and lamented the fact that it was rare to find a beauty he had taken a fancy to, but he had never imagined that she would be someone's wife.
Eunuch Xie brought along the guards in disguise to stay by the side of the Emperor. They didn't dare to make a sound and just pretended that they didn't know anything. Today, they were just accompanying the Emperor out of the palace to relax.
Shangguan Yong brought the bridal sedan chair over to the palace gates. Grand Preceptor An ordered a pair of newlyweds to kneel before the gates to kowtow in gratitude.
A eunuch came out of the palace gate and passed on the benevolence of the world.
Shangguan Yong and An Jin naturally kowtowed to show their gratitude before they took the gold and silver brocade that the Master of the World and Empress Xiang had bestowed upon them and left for the Shangguan Mansion.
When he saw his own home from afar, Shangguan Yong let out a breath of relief. When he arrived at the door, he saw his sister and brothers from the military standing outside, looking at him with a smile, and his face heated up.
"Boss Shangguan, don't just stand there!" There was a military official who accompanied Shangguan Yong to the Residence of An to escort the bride. He followed up with Shangguan Yong and laughed loudly, "Why aren't you picking up sister-in-law up and entering the door?"
Amidst the laughter, Shangguan Yong's face flushed.
An Jin was sitting in the sedan chair, holding a phoenix flower that grew in the courtyard in front of her house. As the wind blew, the flower fell in front of her. When she married in her previous life, the autumn laurel was fragrant. In this life, she married the same man with different moods and seasons. The autumn laurel was still full of green leaves, but the phoenix flower was still blooming like fire.
A large hand stretched out from the palanquin and extended all the way to her face, waiting there without moving.
This life was different from her previous one. An Jinxiu told herself to forget the memories of her previous life and spend this life with this man who held her hand and helped her out of the palanquin. She thought the previous life was just a nightmare she need to forget.
Shangguan Yong used the bright red silk cloth to carefully lead the An Jin to cross the threshold of Shangguan's front door, stepping on the ground of his own house. Only then did Shangguan Yong feel at ease.
"We want to see the bride!" Seeing the bride enter the house, the martial artists who couldn't wait any longer started to stir up a ruckus.
An Jinxiu heard Shangguan Yong, who was walking in front of her, say: "You're all not allowed to cause trouble!"
"Big Bro, this is Big Sis coming in, so you don't need us brothers?" Someone shouted right after Shangguan Yong's words.
They were all loafers in the military camp, and one of them immediately joined in to cause a ruckus. Fortunately, these people still remembered that An Jin was a young lady from the Grand Preceptor's estate, so they didn't dare to say anything vulgar like they usually did.
Shangguan Yong's forehead was covered in sweat, for the first time he realized that having more brothers in the army was not a good thing.
Just as the crowd was having a good time and Shangguan Yong was about to lose his cool, An Jin pulled on the red silk cloth in his hand.
His bride had red hat and wore bright red wedding dress. Only then did Shangguan Yong realize that it was summer, and his bride was standing right next to him in the yard. Wouldn't it be too hot if he stayed here for too long? Thinking up to here, Shangguan Yong's face fell, he looked around at all the fellows around him who were eager to stir up trouble, "You all have a day of marriage, remember today's events for me."
Everyone was stunned, other than Shangguan Yong who had been ferocious and emotionless during the war on horseback, he was usually an honest man. It was harder than ascending to heaven to hear his words, was he showing off his power in front of the bride today?
The nanny was an experienced person. While the group of martial artists were still in a daze, she shouted, "General is bringing the bride to the wedding hall!"
The wedding hall's layout could not be seen by the veiled An Jinxiu. She was only supported by the nanny, bowing to Shangguan Yong amidst the crowd of joyous cries.
"Send them to the bridal room!" After the couple bowed to each other, the host, the joyous Duke, said loudly.
Shangguan Yong protected her tightly, preventing the crowd from meeting his bride. This man's consideration was something that the previous life's An Jinxiu had never experienced. However, at this time, An Jinxiu was fully aware of it. She smiled and was escorted by Shangguan Yong to a new room in the backyard.
The new room was a set of wedding etiquette again. This time, An Jinxiu seriously responded to the wedding ladies' questions.
… ….
Shangguan Yong grinned, but just as he was about to say something, he heard his brothers outside the bridal room fighting again. Some wanted to have a drink with the bridegroom, while others were anxious to have a bridal ceremony before they even had a drink.
An Jin lowered her head and sat on the edge of the bed. Shangguan Yong had a lot of brothers in the army. In her previous life, she had looked down on these lower ranking military officials, but Bai Chengze had taken them seriously. In the end, the result proved that Bai Chengze, the man who became the emperor, had a sharp eye, and was a loyal person who slaughtered dogs ever since the ancient times.
Although the brothers in the army were not high officials, and did not have any illustrious families supporting them, but when it came to their lives, the soldiers in the army were the real weapons that could be used to kill people. Shangguan Yong's brothers were this man's connections in the military. If the future General Shangguan did not have these old brothers, how could he have become famous after so many battles?
"I'll be right back," Shangguan Yong whispered into her ear.
"Alright," An Jin answered.
Shangguan Yong didn't want to leave, but he could only stride out of the room. How could the little girl in the room worry him so much when he was drinking? Looking at his brothers who were crowded in front of the door, Shangguan Yong shook his head helplessly.
"Shangguan elder brother, today we are not going to talk about respect and inferiority," someone from the crowd shouted. "If we don't enjoy this wine, then elder brother can't enter the bridal chamber!"
Shangguan Yong pointed at the group of jeering men and led them to the courtyard. When he turned around, he saw his brother-in-law standing there, talking with a few martial artists and gesturing with his hands and feet. "Fifth Young Master." Shangguan Yong stopped and called out to An Yuanzhi.
An Yuanzhi walked up to Shangguan Yong and said with a smile: "Brother-in-law, just call me Yuanzhi."
"Yuan Zhi." Shangguan Yong didn't bother being polite with An Yuanzhi, immediately changing his words. This was the brother of An Jin's mother, and Shangguan Yong had instinctively treated his brother-in-law as his own brother. "Let's go ahead and drink. How's your alcohol tolerance?" Shangguan Yong asked An Yuanzhi: "How much alcohol can you cover for me?"
"Me?" An Yuanzhi smiled. "I won't get drunk even if it's a thousand cups. Brother-in-law, don't worry. For my sister's sake, I will do my best."
The surrounding military officials looked at An Yuanzhi's handsome face and found it hard to believe that this pretty boy had the ability to do so.
Shangguan Yong, however, did not suspect him. He patted An Yuanzhi on the shoulder and said: "Alright, then Yuanzhi will stay with me until he's drunk."
This was the first time that An Yuanzhi had come into contact with a military man. It was a novelty, but at the same time, he felt that joining the army was the only way for him in the future. When he was with these martial artists, he felt at ease as never before. "Brother-in-law, please!" An Yuanzhi waved his hand at Shangguan Yong, gesturing him to go.
A banquet was set up in both the front hall and the front yard. The wine was a strong alcohol used in the military, and the dishes were all big fish and big meat. It was not delicate, but it was enough to show the sincerity of the host. Shangguan Yong's alcohol tolerance had always been good, but after drinking a few cups today, he felt a little drunk. Not only were his steps weak, but he also felt dizzy.
An Yuanzhi was accompanying Shangguan Yong, and he truly did have the ability to keep himself sober. Even after a few rounds of drinking, the fifth young master of the Residence of An was still calm and composed. Everyone in the army recognized him. An Yuanzhi was a young master who could not see the looks of a noble family's young master; he was neither hypocritical nor pretentious. In a single round of drinking, he had already been treated as one of Shangguan Yong's brothers.
The day's worth of time passed by passionately and noisily. Shangguan Yong smelled the alcohol on the room and couldn't see the person in front of him clearly because of the drunkenness. Seeing the sky darken, two old military officials from the military dragged Shangguan Yong out of the lobby. The Shangguan family didn't have many rooms, the two directly brought Shangguan Yong to Shangguan Rui's room and gave him a big bowl of hard liquor and soup.
After an hour of drinking, Shangguan Yong regained his senses and asked: "Where am I?"
The two old military officials laughed. "Have you forgotten about the beautiful lady in the new room?"
Shangguan Yong tilted his head to the side as he listened to the noise coming from the front yard, he suddenly jumped up from his chair and was about to walk out of the room.
"Where are you going?" An old military official pulled Shangguan Yong back and asked.
"I'll go," Shangguan Yong stammered. "I … I'll go back to the bridal chamber, back to the bridal chamber."
Looking at General Shangguan's flustered look, the two old military officials sighed in their hearts. How could he have gotten out of the military camp? How old are you? Why are you so shy when it comes to women?
An Jinxiu heard the door ring, and then she heard the nanny who had accompanied her for the day calling for the general. She knew that Shangguan Yong had returned.
Zi Yuan, who was standing beside An Jinxiu, said to her in a soft voice, "Miss, Young Master seems to have drank quite a bit. Erm, it's time for me to leave. Miss, are you all right here by yourself?"
"Silly girl!" An Jinxiu said a few words to Zi Yuan.
"Miss, we're going out!" Seeing that everyone was walking out, the wedding nanny laughed and said, "You can't stay with your young lady on this day."
Zi Yuan looked at Shangguan Yong, and quickly looked away in fear. Young Master Shangguan was not as ugly as the rumors claimed, but he looked tall and mighty, and his temper looks like wasn't very good.
Shangguan Yong looked at Zi Yuan and smiled. This was the person who came to Shangguan family with An Jinxiu. They would have to meet every day in the future.
Zi Yuan lowered her head and ran past Shangguan Yong, not even daring to look up.
The nanny then followed Shangguan Yong and said some auspicious words. After receiving Shangguan Yong's reward, she happily walked out.
Shangguan Yong closed the door and walked to the bedside. Without delay, he picked up the scale and removed the red cap on An Jin's head, before staring blankly at her.
An Jinxiu also raised her head to look at Shangguan Yong. She had not expected to be able to remain so calm after seeing this man for so many years. It was as if she had finally gotten what she wanted, but it was no longer as impetuous as before. His eyebrows were dark, his eyes were deep, and he had a high nose bridge. His hair was always dry, and his lips were light in color. Upon closer inspection, her man was actually very handsome.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone