Xu Nian’an put down the handkerchief wiping her tears, glanced at Zhao Huanxi, and saw the bewildered look in the slightly red eyes of the young man.

Fine then, since he has admitted his mistake, might as well take the opportunity to back down; pretending to cry is also quite exhausting.

“For the sake of you calling me ‘Jiejie’, I will not bicker with you further.” Xu Nian’an gave the corners of her eyes a final dab with her handkerchief and said to Zhao Huanxi, “I do have my calculations, but you and I are a fake couple with only two or three years of destiny together; you need not care. Your Zufu was a great benefactor to my family; I will not harm your family members. If your family members come to harm me, I will only protect myself. You can rest assured.”

Zhao Huanxi nodded, glanced at the cold porridge and dishes on the table, and said, “The porridge is cold. I’ll go ask them to reheat it.”

Xu Nian’an hurriedly said, “No need. It would be laughed at if the servants were sent twice with food on the first night of the wedding. They might think I’m a hungry ghost reincarnated. Just make do with a few bites.”

The two finished the lukewarm porridge. Xu Nian’an first had the maidservants Yisu and Mingli, who had come as her dowry, come in to attend to their washing. Zhao Huanxi then reluctantly let Xiaowei and the others come in to serve.

"陪嫁丫鬟" (dowry maids) are servants who move with the bride from her maiden home to her husband's home. They are usually her most trusted confidantes.

After he finished washing up, the maidservants carried the water out. When he came out from behind the screen, he found that Xu Nian’an had already laid out two quilts on the bed.

“Do you want to sleep inside or outside?” Xu Nian’an asked him.

In a traditional Chinese alcove bed (拔步床 - Bábù chuáng), the "inside" is against the wall, and the "outside" is the edge of the bed.

Even a fool knows it’s more convenient to get out of bed from the outside.

“I’ll sleep on the outside,” Zhao Huanxi said.

Xu Nian’an walked over to blow out the candles.

Zhao Huanxi suddenly became nervous. “Why are you blowing out the candles?”

Xu Nian’an said, “I’m tired and want to sleep. If you don’t mind leaving the lights on, I won’t blow them out.”

Zhao Huanxi looked at the two quilts tightly together on the bed and said, “Then, then you can blow them out.”

Xu Nian’an blew out the candle, and the room immediately became dim, with only the moonlight from outside and the faint glow of the red lantern shining through the window paper.

“I’ll get into bed first. Be careful not to step on me when you come over,” Xu Nian’an said.

Seeing that she wasn’t shy at all, Zhao Huanxi felt uncomfortable being so timid. He purposely walked over heavily, to show his boldness.

Little did he know, when he reached the bed, he stepped on Xu Nian’an’s embroidered shoe that was on the footstool. His foot slipped, and with an “aiya”, he fell onto the bed, his face hitting something hard, his nose hurting, and his lips touching that something.

He instinctively pursed his lips and found that the thing beneath them was warm, smooth, and faintly fragrant. Before he could react, the thing suddenly disappeared with a whoosh.

This startled him, and he sat up, asking, “What was that just now?”

Although she knew he didn’t do it on purpose, Xu Nian’an still blushed deeply. She slipped into the inner side of the quilt and said, “I don’t know.”

Upon hearing her say she didn’t know, Zhao Huanxi’s neck hairs stood on end. Many stories of snake spirits and fox demons that his wet nurse had told him in childhood flashed through his mind. He stammered, “N-n-not something that’s yours?”

Xu Nian’an was puzzled for a moment when she heard him stutter, but then she realized what he meant. She found it funny but didn’t want to embarrass him by saying it was her foot, so she said, “It was my hand.”

Zhao Huanxi breathed a sigh of relief, muttering discontentedly, “If it was a hand, just say it’s a hand. Why say you don’t know, scaring me like that?” He then slipped into the outer side of the quilt.

The room fell silent for a while.

Zhao Huanxi was used to sleeping alone. Now, with someone else beside him, even though there were two quilts, how could he sleep peacefully with the sound of breathing so close in the quiet night? He tossed and turned.

“We just got married, and everyone in the mansion is watching us. It’s not convenient to do anything now. After a few days, when everyone is more relaxed, we should find a time for you to meet Daixue Guniang as soon as possible,” Xu Nian’an suddenly said.

Zhao Huanxi didn’t expect her to fulfill her promise to cover for him to meet Daixue so quickly. He couldn’t help but turn over and look at her. In the dim light, he couldn’t see much, only that she was lying on her back, her forehead full and smooth (bright and clean).

Sensing his movement, Xu Nian’an also turned to face him, whispering, “You must persuade her. Acts that harm others and benefit oneself, like today, should never happen again. After our divorce, if you want the elders in the mansion to agree to you marrying her as your legitimate wife, she must behave well in these years, win the favor of the elders in the mansion, especially your mother. When the time comes, as long as your mother does not object, adding with the fact that she isDa Nainai’s distinct Biao cousin. I also heard that your father thinks very highly of Da Yé, so Da Nainai will surely ask Da Yé to persuade your father to agree. If your parents don’t object, then this marriage will be settled.”

“Oh,” Zhao Huanxi responded listlessly, not looking very interested.

“You can’t say everything to her. First of all, we are a fake couple, regarding the no-consummation matter, we can’t hint at anything to her, or to anyone else. Otherwise, if it reaches the ears of the elders, all our plans will be ruined,” Xu Nian’an advised. “So, in the few days that’s coming, if you have nothing to do, think about what to say after meeting her, so that you can both deceive and persuade her.”

Zhao Huanxi suddenly felt troubled. After all, he hadn’t known Daixue for long, and their conversations had mostly been about his various frustrations. He didn’t know much about her and wasn’t sure how to persuade her.

So, after listening to Xu Nian’an’s words, he tossed and turned even more frequently.

“Do you have any intimate contact with Daixue Guniang?”

Xu Nian’an’s sudden question made Zhao Huanxi freeze halfway through his turning over. He then sat up angrily, looking at Xu Nian’an lying beside him, and said, “Do I look to you like the kind of base person who would commit illicit intimate relations without a matchmaker?”

无媒茍合 (Wú méi gǒu hé): "Illicit relations without a matchmaker." In traditional society, a "proper" relationship required a matchmaker and parental consent; anything else was considered shameful or "base" (下作 - xiàzuo).

“If there isn’t, then there isn’t. Just clarify it, why get so worked up? Setting aside our childhood ones, this is only our second meeting. How would I know what kind of person you are? Asking you about this is just a reminder. No legitimate wife enters a household already pregnant. If we haven’t divorced yet and she’s pregnant, then you’ll have no choice but to take her as a concubine,” Xu Nian’an said calmly.

Her argument was logical and well-founded. Zhao Huanxi had nowhere to vent his anger, so he could only lie down sullenly.

They spent the night in silence. Xu Nian’an didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, but she woke up before dawn.

She opened the door and called the maid to bring water for washing. After washing up and getting dressed, Zhao Huanxi was still not up.

Seeing that Xiaowei and the others were already waiting at the door with water, Xu Nian’an went to call him herself. “Sanlang, it’s time to get up.”

“Don’t want to get up. Let me sleep a bit longer,” Zhao Huanxi grumbled, turning over and burying his face in the quilt.

“Get up quickly. We have to kowtow to the elders today. If you’re really tired, you can sleep in the afternoon when we come back,” Xu Nian’an said, shaking him through the quilt.

“No, aiya you stop shaking. I can’t even open my eyes,” Zhao Huanxi whined, his voice soft and somewhat coquettish.

“Then sleep for another half an hour. I’ll wake you up after half an hour.”

“En…”

Xu Nian’an then stopped bothering him and went to call Xiaowei and the others to bring in the water basin. At this moment, a decent-looking nanny in a ginger-colored jacket with a silver hairpin came in. Xiaowei and the other maids called her “Nanny Hou.”

Nanny Hou saw that Xu Nian’an was already up, so she came in and bowed, smiling. “Greetings, San Nainai. Lao Pozi is San Yé’s wet nurse, surnamed Hou. Da Taitai was afraid that San Yé wouldn’t get up in time and would delay the kowtowing to the elders, so she specially asked Lao Pozi to come and urge San Yé to get up.”

As she spoke, she secretly observed this new San Nainai.

Her plump oval face was just the type that elders liked, a look full of luck and capable of bringing prosperity to her husband. Her eyebrows were gentle and well-shaped, above a pair of warm, smiling black eyes that gave people a sense of closeness even before she spoke. Her nose was slightly higher than that of the average woman, but her features were naturally elegant and beautiful, so it didn’t appear out of place. Her full, red lips were softly angled, making her look approachable.

She was dressed in an extremely gorgeous dress, a bright red brocade with gold-threaded peony patterns. She wore a headdress with seven phoenixes holding pearls in their beaks, and earrings with red gem tassels and gold pendants. She also had eight longfeng (dragon and phoenix) gold bracelets on her wrists. As the eldest grandson’s legitimate wife of a Guogong household, this outfit was neither overly luxurious nor would it embarrass Yin Furen.

Nanny Hou was briefly stunned but quickly realized that when the Zhao family formally proposed to the Xu family, at Guogong Yé’s instruction, the betrothal gifts were much more generous than usual. This outfit was likely part of those gifts. It was evident that Guogong Yé attached great importance to this granddaughter-in-law of his. When she looked at Xu Nian’an again, Nanny Hou couldn’t help but feel a bit cautious.

Xu Nian’an smiled and said, “Thank you, Nanny Hou. Sanlang said that he’ll get up after another half hour of sleep. I think we still have enough time.”

Nanny Hou smiled and said, “Since San Nainai is new here and may not know San Yé’s temperament yet, whenever there’s something important, one must drag him out of bed. Otherwise, things might get delayed.”

“That won’t be. Although Sanlang is young, he is a man of his word,” Xu Nian’an said. Just as she finished speaking, Zhao Huanxi lifted the quilt, swung his legs off the bed, and Xu Nian’an smiled at Hou Mama. “You see, I told you Sanlang keeps his word.”

Zhao Huanxi had deep dark circles under his eyes, indicating he might not have slept well last night. However, his eyes were still beautiful and elegant, reflecting the water-like light.

He glanced at Xu Nian’an, feeling somewhat pleased. After all, who doesn’t like compliments?

When Zhao Huanxi went to wash up, Nanny Hou went to tidy up the bedding for the two of them.

Xu Nian’an knew that she was going to inspect the purity handkerchief, so she turned around and instructed Yisu and Mingli to arrange the dowry matters.

(贞洁帕 zhēnjié pà) is a white handkerchief or cloth to 'check' the bride's purity. they also use it to check whether they did the act or not

Nanny Hou saw that there were two beddings clean and neatly arranged with very few wrinkles. She knew that nothing had happened last night. After searching for a while, she indeed found the square purity handkerchief at the foot of the bed, clean and spotless.

She stuffed the purity handkerchief into her sleeve without saying much. Seeing Zhao Huanxi finish washing up and being dressed by the maids, she went over and bowed, saying, “Since San Yé is up, Laonu will go report to Taitai. After San Yé and San Nainai are ready, please go directly to the main hall to pay respects to the elders in the residence.”

Xu Nian’an and Zhao Huanxi both acknowledge.

After Zhao Huanxi was dressed, Xu Nian’an glanced at him. His attire for the day was also in bright red. As a sixteen year-old, his height was still growing, and he still possessed the innocence of childhood. He lacked stature and presence, unable to carry off such a gorgeous and grand colour. However, his fair and handsome face, when set against this red, made him look even more like a peerless beauty.

“Why are you staring at me?” Zhao Huanxi initially felt a bit pleased when he noticed Xu Nian’an looking at him. However, after she scrutinized him from head to toe, he became uncomfortable and asked with a glare.

“Sanlang looks good, so I took a glance at you a few times. If Sanlang feels disadvantaged, just stare back. Why are you so hostile to me?” Xu Nian’an said, feeling wronged.

The maids on Zhao Huanxi’s side were all covering their mouths and laughing. Only Mingli glared at Zhao Huanxi indignantly until Yisu discreetly tugged at her sleeve, prompting her to look away.

Zhao Huanxi’s pale cheeks flushed with a hint of rouge. Not knowing how to respond, he flung his sleeve and said, “I won’t talk to you anymore!” With that, he walked away towards the door.

“Ei? Sanlang, wait for me ya! I don’t know the way,” Xu Nian’an hurriedly caught up, reaching out to grab a corner of his robe.

Zhao Huanxi pulled his sleeve forward, preventing her from grabbing it.

Xu Nian’an took a few steps and then reached out to grab him again.

Zhao Huanxi pulled again.

Xu Nian’an took two steps and reached out to grab him for the third time.

The beautiful young man’s cheeks were red. He didn’t really mind the slight pull on his sleeve, which carried a hint of dependence. So, he no longer shook her hand off his sleeve.