Chapter 93: Consummation
Shen Shi freshened up her makeup and changed into a rose-colored sheer gauze robe embroidered with crabapple blossoms.
Her hair was styled into a loosely piled high chignon, with long temple locks drawn out, adorned with gold-thread flowers and a kingfisher-feather comb.
Her face was powdered to a soft, radiant glow, with dark eyebrows sweeping toward her temples and lips painted a deep rouge.
She retained both dignified elegance and delicate charm, her shyly lowered eyes brimming with allure and grace.
Standing beneath the corridor, she held a vermilion-lacquered small tray bearing a glass cup filled with sweet sugarcane juice and a pink porcelain dish with two preserved plums.
Ning Yuanjun, already tipsy, casually drank the sugarcane juice.
Seeing he had been drinking, Shen Shi helped him into the room to sit down, her face flushed as she murmured, “Husband, you’ve had too much wine. Have some soup and rice and rest early.”
Ning Yuanjun had been restless and uneasy all day, his insides churning, ever since picking up Tan Leyao’s pouch.
To make matters worse, Phoenix Ripple Courtyard had invited him for drinks. Knowing he couldn’t avoid it tonight, he had already begun drowning his sorrows in wine.
Thus, he smiled and said, “At the banquet, they served lamb wine, but I found it too greasy and didn’t drink much. Since my wife has prepared Jinhua wine here, having a couple more cups won’t hurt.”
Only then did Shen Shi feel at ease. Sitting by the dining table, she poured the wine and urged him to drink three cups first.
Ning Yuanjun didn’t refuse, downing each cup as it was offered, and also encouraged Shen Shi to drink half a cup.
The young couple, each with their own thoughts, took turns sipping the wine until the entire pot was empty.
After hastily eating a few bites of dishes and soup, they ordered the dining table cleared.
The couple sat on the cool daybed to drink tea. The maids lit the lamps and refreshed the goose-pear incense in the bed curtains.
As the night grew deeper, a gust of wind swept through, followed by a light, pattering rain.
Granny Zhao, knowing the plan, smiled broadly and advised, “It’s already quite late, and now it’s raining. Duke, since you’re drunk, you shouldn’t return to the study. The ground might be slippery and the dew heavy, and catching a chill in the wind and rain wouldn’t be good.”
Ning Yuanjun, deeply intoxicated, merely squinted his eyes without speaking.
Shen Shi sat beside him, twisting a silk handkerchief in her hands, her cheeks flushed crimson and her ears burning hot.
Granny Zhao eagerly urged them on, having the maids prepare the bathhouse for Ning Yuanjun to bathe and change.
She herself escorted Shen Shi to the Dressing Room, where Shen Shi swallowed the bitter medicine, held fragrant tea on her tongue, and then removed her makeup, washed, and perfumed herself.
Zhi Qing had already brought in pomegranate-red gauze bed curtains and a pink silk quilt embroidered with mandarin ducks, refreshing the Warm Pavilion entirely.
That night, Ning Yuanjun and Shen Shi shared the mandarin duck bed curtains and completed the wedding rites, as expected.
Meanwhile, in the small kitchen courtyard, everyone had been busy all day. Granny Fan secretly took some leftover meat dishes and distributed them among the servants.
Pear Moon received half a plate of goose breast, marinated duck feet, and a large box of sweet and salty preserved fruits.
If these snacks were left in the small room, they would surely be snatched up by Autumn Abundance and Huan Huan.
Pear Moon also wanted to finish clearing the cups and plates quickly and return, but no matter how many times she counted, one of the fine porcelain cups was missing.
This cup couldn’t be lost—if it were, everyone in the small kitchen would have to compensate for it, which would be a real hassle.
She stood in front of the cupboard, thinking for a long time, but couldn’t recall which dish from the evening meal had used that particular cup.
Just as she was pondering, she suddenly felt a tap on her back. Autumn Abundance was holding a white cup, grinning mischievously.
Looking closely, it was exactly the missing fine porcelain white cup!
“You troublemaker! What are you doing holding it? If you accidentally drop it, you’ll have to pay for it!”
Pear Moon quickly took it and placed it on the very top shelf of the cupboard before locking the cabinet door.
Autumn Abundance immediately glared and pinched her fiercely.
“Ungrateful Xiao Yue! I found the cup for you, and you call me a troublemaker? If I hadn’t remembered, where would you have found it? Tomorrow, you’d have had to pay ten taels of silver for it!”
She hadn’t done anything all day, yet she remembered to retrieve this cup? Pear Moon refused to believe it.
“It was I who stopped Xiangyun and had her fetch it from the Main Chamber. Otherwise, would you have remembered?”
Only then did Pear Moon recall—this was the white porcelain cup that had held the bitter medicinal broth during the day.
It had been returned clean, with not a drop of the decoction left inside. It seemed Shen Shi had indeed used it.
The two young maids exchanged glances, both mysteriously covering their mouths.
Autumn Abundance then said, “Since the Duke returned to the mansion in early spring, it’s been a whirlwind until now in midsummer. The couple has finally consummated their marriage. The Young Mistress has also taken this medicine, so surely a little Young Lord will be born soon.”
Pear Moon quickly hushed her, and seeing that no one nearby had overheard, she too pursed her lips in a smile.
No matter how unpleasant Shen Shi’s temper might be, Pear Moon still hoped for stability in Phoenix Ripple Courtyard and even throughout Ningguo Mansion.
To her, Ningguo Mansion was like a towering edifice that blotted out the sky, while she was a little sparrow sheltered beneath its eaves.
Only if this great mansion remained steady and peaceful could she slowly grow her feathers and one day fly away.
Since the Nuptial Wine Ceremony had already been held in Phoenix Ripple Courtyard, the young couple’s consummation now went without any noisy fanfare.
Ning Yuanjun rested in the chamber for three nights, finally relieving Shen Shi of the awkwardness she had endured for months.
Everyone in Phoenix Ripple Courtyard, from top to bottom, was overjoyed, and even Granny Zhao showed a hint of a smile.
Early that morning, after Ning Yuanjun had left for court, Shen Shi took her attendants to pay respects at both Crane Longevity Hall and Brocade Prosperity Hall.
With no pressing tasks in the courtyard, Granny Fan hurried over to Pear Moon, asking if she had sent gifts to the Main Kitchen.
“Xiao Yue, there are only a few days left before the Main Kitchen competition. Why haven’t you sent gifts to Granny Qin yet? I’ve heard that many young maids are lining up to give presents to Madam Jin, the cook from the second household!”
Granny Fan, now handling her duties smoothly, regarded Pear Moon with particular favor.
In preparation for the competition, Pear Moon practiced knife skills and controlled heat—whatever she needed, Granny Fan allowed her free use.
She often gathered news from outside and quietly relayed it to Pear Moon, keeping her informed.
The matter of selecting apprentice maids for the Main Kitchen had already stirred up quite a buzz among the mansion’s servants.
About twenty servant-born maids wanted to learn cooking from Madam Jin of the second household. Their parents brought them along, presenting gifts even before the competition, all scrambling to enter the second household’s courtyard.
In contrast, only five or six, including Pear Moon, had signed up to apprentice under Granny Qin, making it seem much quieter.
It was rather pitiful that the esteemed head cook of the Main Kitchen had less popularity than her subordinate.
“Now, Granny Qin is usually greedy for money and cares about face. Even before the competition, she’s already being overshadowed by Madam Jin—how can she bear it? Why don’t you, Xiao Yue, take the lead and bring her some gifts? First, to flatter her pride, and second, to curry favor with her. After all, none of these other girls are as skilled as you. Sooner or later, you’ll be apprenticing under her, so the money spent on gifts won’t go to waste!”
Granny Fan, being older and having navigated the lower ranks for so long, was well-versed in the ways of the world.
This was exactly what Pear Moon had in mind. She had already taken advantage of spare moments to prepare several gifts.
Two bottles of Jinhua wine, smoked goose, roast duck, and fine cured meats from a cooked food shop on Imperial Street, along with two boxes of delicately handmade pastries.
Besides the food and drink, she also bought a bolt of fine Songjiang cloth, two gold-embroidered handkerchiefs, and a pair of bamboo-handled silk fans.
Additionally, there were the soft satin embroidered shoes she had asked Autumn Abundance to make.
In total, it cost about ten taels of silver. Everything was packed into gift boxes, ready to be delivered today.
These gifts weren’t excessive, but presenting them even before the competition was quite a respectable gesture.
Granny Qin was a woman who would open her eyes wide at the sight of money—Pear Moon had long heard of this.
She had made up her mind that when the time came to formally acknowledge her as a master, she would spend another twenty taels of silver to have a set of pure silver hair ornaments made to give her face.
Since ancient times, it has been said that teaching an apprentice too well might starve the master to death. Without offering some truly compelling silver, how could one expect to be taught any real skills?
Though Pear Moon was young, she still understood such principles.
Taking advantage of the fact that Phoenix Ripple Courtyard was not busy today, she carried gifts large and small and made her way to the Main Kitchen.
Upon entering the Main Kitchen’s courtyard, she found it unusually quiet and still, not as bustling as it used to be.
Pear Moon went to the servants’ quarters and quietly called for her godmother, Madam Liu, to ask her the reason.
“Mother, why is no one in the kitchen? Is Granny Qin in her room or not?”
Seeing it was her, Madam Liu quickly pulled her aside, pointed toward the courtyard wall, and rolled her eyes.
“Oh heavens, ever since the second branch set up their small kitchen and Madam Jin went over there to take charge of the stove, which maid or old woman from the Main Kitchen hasn’t rushed over to flatter them? Anyone who didn’t know better would think a living phoenix had emerged from the second branch, and they’re all scrambling to hug the phoenix egg! Granny Qin is in her room sulking right now—you’ve really come at just the right time!”