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After a long and exhausting day, the wedding ceremony was finally completed. Leaving behind the rowdy crowd outside, including Pang Tong and others, Fei Qian entered the bridal chamber.
The wedding had taken place at the foot of Lushan. A green tent had been set up outside the wooden cabin for the ceremonial bowing, and temporary cloth screens were erected to block the mountain wind. Fire basins were lit to ward off the cold, and with so many guests in attendance, the temperature was bearable despite it being the first month of the year.
Pang Tong, Zao Zhi, and Xu Shu were outside helping Fei Qian entertain the guests. Fei Qian himself had already made three rounds of toasts. Even though the alcohol content of Han Dynasty wine was low, he was already quite tipsy. But the troublemakers outside were egging him on to make a fourth round...
A fourth round? And after that, would there be a fifth?
Fei Qian decided that this would never end if he kept going, so he slipped away, ignoring the laughter and teasing from Pang Tong and the others outside. Let them laugh all they wanted—he wasn't going back out no matter what.
Sure enough, after a while, the troublemakers outside, seeing that Fei Qian wasn't coming out, gradually dispersed to find others to drink with.
Finally, Fei Qian could catch his breath. But when he turned around and saw the young girl before him, he couldn't help but feel another headache coming on.
If this were in his previous life, she would be at most a middle schooler. Yet here in the Han Dynasty, she was already considered old enough to marry. Was this a good thing or not?
In fact, Fei Qian didn't know that his bride wasn't even considered particularly young. Think about Zhang Fei, who had snatched a girl from the Xiahou family—she was only twelve or thirteen at the time.
Anyway, it was about the same.
---
"That won't do! Mother said I should call you that! But... she also said I should listen to my husband..."
"Fine, call me whatever you're comfortable with," Fei Qian said helplessly. "Let's get back to when you first found me."
"Okay. After I got injured at the gates of Xiangyang, Little Modou—oh, Little Modou is my personal maid..."
Fei Qian nodded, finding the name amusing. Most maids had names like Lu He (Green Lotus), Cai Die (Colorful Butterfly), or Qing Ping (Blue Duckweed), but this one was named Modou (Ink Marker).
"Little Modou went out to look for you, but you had already left. Later, during Governor Liu's wedding, she saw you and thought your figure looked familiar, so she asked Pang Tong for help..."
"So Pang Tong just took one look and confirmed it was me? What if someone else happened to have a head injury too?"
"We weren't completely sure at the time. But later, when Pang Tong brought you to my house to make arrows, we saw Uncle Fu... Um, can I call him that?" Huang Yueying blinked.
"Of course. I call him that, so you can too."
"Okay. Little Modou and I secretly watched you and Old Fu several times before we finally confirmed it was really you!"
Fei Qian nodded but still had some doubts. "I don't remember going to your backyard. How did you see me?"
"Well..." Huang Yueying looked a bit embarrassed and lowered her voice. "There's a wooden plow in my backyard. If you stand on it, you can see over the wall..."
"Oh, I see..." Fei Qian thought to himself. So Huang Yueying had been peeking over the wall. No wonder he had sometimes felt like he was being watched but never saw anyone.
---
"By the way," Fei Qian suddenly remembered something, "your name... On the marriage certificate, I only saw 'Huang Yueying.' Is that your given name or your courtesy name?"
Huang Yueying's eyes curved into a smile. "It's both! My father thought it was too much trouble to give me a separate courtesy name, so he just used this one. Everyone calls me that, so I'm used to it."
Fei Qian found this amusing. No wonder her father, Huang Chengyan, also used his courtesy name as his given name. He then remembered that Huang Yueying had mentioned having a childhood name and asked curiously, "What was your childhood name?"
Huang Yueying hesitated for a moment before whispering, "My childhood name... is... Ah Chou (Little Ugly)."
Fei Qian almost laughed out loud but managed to keep a straight face.
"Hmph! Go ahead and laugh if you want..." Huang Yueying pouted, then quickly glanced at Fei Qian and asked hesitantly, "Husband, am I... really ugly?"
"Ugly?"
Fei Qian looked at Huang Yueying and understood why she might think that.
Huang Yueying wasn't ugly at all. Her features were well-proportioned: big eyes, a high nose, and a nice mouth. Her face was a standard oval shape. The only things that stood out were her slightly darker skin and her deep reddish-brown, naturally curly hair, which was different from most people in the Han Dynasty.
Fei Qian laughed. "You're not ugly at all. How could you be considered ugly?"—Having slightly darker skin wasn't a big deal. In his previous life, many girls even intentionally tanned their skin to achieve that look.
As for her hair, in his previous life, he had seen all kinds of hairstyles and colors. Some people dyed their hair in dozens of colors, and it didn't look bad. Huang Yueying's natural reddish-brown, slightly curly hair might even be envied by many girls in the future!
Huang Yueying studied Fei Qian's expression carefully and, seeing that he didn't seem to be lying or just comforting her, let out a soft sigh of relief, as if a weight had been lifted from her heart.
Fei Qian let out a big sigh. After a long day and drinking so much wine, he was utterly exhausted. He said to Huang Yueying, "It's late. Let's rest..."
After all, she was still just a young girl. Fei Qian had no intention of doing anything inappropriate. He was just too tired and wanted to sleep.
"R-rest?" Huang Yueying seemed startled. After hesitating for a moment, as if steeling herself, she stretched out a hand to Fei Qian, closed her eyes, and said through gritted teeth, "Then... go ahead and prick me!"
"What?!"
Huang Yueying opened one eye and glanced at Fei Qian. "Didn't Mother say you would use a needle to prick me? And that it had to draw blood? It's okay, I'm not afraid of pain. Go ahead..." She closed her eyes again, though her trembling eyelashes betrayed her true feelings.
Fei Qian's face darkened. What kind of irresponsible pre-marital education was this?