A Marriage of Convenience with a Love-Struck Regent: From Arrangement to Love [GL] - Chapter 31

At home, Ning Huanyi was embroidering her wedding veil. The servants of the Marquis of Yongchang Residence bustled about, even Qingdai, her personal maid, often needing to help pack the dowry and personal belongings, everything she would take with her after marriage.

The tradition of “Ten Li of Red Adornments” meant the family prepared everything a woman would need for her lifetime, ensuring she wouldn’t have to rely on her husband’s family for basic needs and could maintain an equal standing.

Besides clothes, jewelry, gold, and silver, the dowry included estates both within and outside the Capital City. The night before the wedding, Ning Huanyi was summoned to Pei Ruan’s chambers.

As she walked through the Marquis Residence, Ning Huanyi saw the familiar spaces now draped in red silk ribbons, exuding a festive atmosphere. Even the servants wore new, brightly colored garments.

Even as dusk fell, Ning Huanyi could still see the mountainous piles of betrothal gifts in the Marquis Residence’s courtyard: countless silver notes and jewelry, and chests upon chests of gold and silver. Servants surrounded the chests, cataloging them, the gleaming gold creating a pleasing sight.

Since Pei Ruan wasn’t in a hurry, Ning Huanyi stopped in the front courtyard. Her sky-blue dress didn’t clash with the mansion’s deep red walls; instead, the hem fluttered in the early summer evening breeze like ripples on a lake, creating an indescribably beautiful scene.

By evening, the wedding robes crafted by the Imperial Embroidery Bureau had arrived and were now displayed in the main hall of Qiyan Pavilion. The phoenix embroidered in golden thread was so lifelike that even Ning Huanyi, with her notoriously discerning eye, couldn’t tear her gaze away.

Connecting this sight with the crates piled high with wedding gifts, the atmosphere of the impending marriage reached its peak intensity.

The crates overflowed into the front courtyard, leaving the servants barely any space to stand. Ning Huanyi simply stood to the side, watching, before bypassing the courtyard and heading toward the main hall.

Qingdai was either attending to Ning Huanyi or helping organize the wedding trousseau. Apart from the initial betrothal visit, this was her first time witnessing such opulence. She quickened her pace to Ning Huanyi’s side and whispered, “Miss, isn’t Your Highness being overly lavish? I’ve secretly observed your dowry and betrothal gifts, and I doubt anyone in the Capital City could rival this display, even going back fifty years.”

Ning Huanyi couldn’t help but chuckle at Qingdai’s words. “How can you, a girl of only nineteen, have seen sights from fifty years ago?” She playfully poked Qingdai’s head with a jade-like finger. “Who knew you were actually fifty years older than me, Qingdai?”

Qingdai froze for a moment before realizing Ning Huanyi was teasing her. Pouting, she tugged at the hem of Ning Huanyi’s dress and followed her into the main hall.

Just then, the finest embroidery workshop in the Capital City arrived to deliver wedding robes for Pei Ruan and Ning Yuanxun, all to be worn the next day for Ning Huanyi’s wedding procession.

Though Ning Yuanxun had a busy night ahead, he made time to sit in his formal seat and offer his daughter some final pre-marriage advice.

Ning Huanyi entered gracefully, her aquamarine dress shimmering like dew-kissed frost. The more Ning Yuanxun gazed at his daughter, the prouder he felt, yet the thought of her leaving tomorrow filled him with melancholy.

“Huanyi… I had hoped to keep you by my side a few more years,” Ning Yuanxun began, his voice thick with emotion. Before he could continue, a tear rolled down his cheek. Pei Ruan, finding the scene amusing, dabbed at her husband’s eyes with a handkerchief and took over speaking.

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