Chapter 243: Chapter 243

September 8th, an auspicious day indeed.

After meticulous selection by the officials of the Imperial Astronomy Bureau, this truly favorable hour had been chosen.

The night before the wedding, within the gauze curtains adorned with various pearl strands, An Ning nestled obediently in her mother's embrace, listening to her whisper about the intricacies of marital relations.

Having lacked guidance from female elders since childhood, Lady Yu herself had actually been rather clueless for a long time. Coupled with not being particularly clever, to put it bluntly, she basically operated entirely on intuition.

Her limited experience had also come from years of interaction with Yang's father afterward.

But there was one thing about her that even An Ning found incredibly impressive.

That was her constant ability to keep herself happy and joyful—in short, she never drained her own energy. At first glance, she radiated an extremely warm and even harmonious centripetal force.

Along with her eternally beautiful appearance, it could be said without exaggeration that just one look at her would lift anyone's spirits.

In An Ning's view, this quality was even more striking than her mother's peerless beauty.

On the bed, Lady Yu was still murmuring something, her jet-black, thick hair cascading smoothly over her shoulders. Under the moonlight, her already magnificent appearance became even more breathtaking:

"Ningning, Mother has no other wishes in this life, only that our A-Ning may have a smooth and happy life forever!"

"Hehe, daughter wishes the same—that Mother may be happy forever, always remaining daughter's most beautiful mother dear!"

This was also the greatest wish of the original young girl.

It will definitely happen, An Ning told herself, buried in her mother's soft embrace.

That night, mother and daughter once again slept holding each other.

Early the next morning, before dawn even broke, An Ning was already being pulled up by her mother to get dressed and made up.

Although the spiritual energy in this time and space was indeed exceptionally thin to the point of being almost nonexistent, over two years, thanks to the spirit stone reserves in her space, An Ning's cultivation had actually improved a tiny bit.

Nourished by pure wood-element spiritual energy, her originally flawless face now looked stunningly beautiful—it wouldn't be excessive to call it icy skin and jade bones. Even the experienced old matron responsible for applying makeup didn't know where to begin.

Finally, she couldn't help but sigh:

"Third Young Lady looks so much like Madam!"

Almost like carved from the same mold—no, to be precise, even more striking than this madam.

With such looks, thankfully it's the royal family, and the current emperor's full brother at that.

The old matron couldn't help but click her tongue inwardly.

Looking at herself in the mirror, An Ning was also in good spirits. Putting aside other reasons, since everyone is human, who doesn't wish to always be exquisite and beautiful?

Just looking at herself lifted her mood by more than a few degrees!

Amidst the sounds of gongs and drums, An Ning soon sat in the wedding sedan chair that came to fetch the bride.

As the biological son of the Empress Dowager and with the current emperor's regard, this wedding was exceptionally lively, truly displaying royal grandeur.

It's just that the rituals were rather tedious. After all the commotion, by the time Situ Jing, the groom, entered the room, An Ning was almost exhausted to the point of collapsing.

Instead, Situ Jing showed no signs of his usual sickly appearance at this moment. First, he gently coaxed her to eat some easily digestible pastry snacks.

Knowing his princess consort liked shrimp wontons, he had long ordered the small kitchen to prepare them. Except for certain moments when he was somewhat impatient, he remained as gentle and meticulous as always.

"A-Ning, don't worry. As long as it's not too obvious, from today onward, there's no part of your husband's body that you cannot touch..."

What happened to the promised refined gentleman? An Ning clicked her tongue inwardly—and she had wondered how long he could keep up the act...

In any case, apart from the tedious palace greetings on the first day, newlywed life wasn't much different from before.

Especially without the daily greetings required in the women's quarters, the inherently lazy An Ning wished she could sleep until the sun was high before getting up.

The bed curtains had been lowered at some point, and in her ears was the sound of his noticeably heated breathing...

Sometimes dozing with lowered eyes, sometimes enjoying flowers and playing with birds, or the couple boating among lotus ponds, amusing themselves with koi...

The next morning, looking at the quite obvious bite mark on his shoulder, An Ning somewhat awkwardly buried herself deeper under the covers. Moments later, under his faintly amused gaze, she unceremoniously glared back...

A beauty's feigned anger always particularly enchants the heart. Moments later, the person before her leaned down slightly, gazing steadily at her, using the same slightly hoarse voice as yesterday:

As for household management? Knowing her granddaughter's "capabilities" and temperament, long before the wedding, aside from generous dowry additions, the grandmother had personally taken charge, preparing all accompanying stewards and managers—each meticulously selected, along with their deeds of ownership, all handed over to her granddaughter.

With this team and resources, it could be said that unless one was utterly foolish, there would never be shortages later. Besides, as an official's daughter, An Ning had learned these things earlier.

Moreover, the mansion didn't have many people, the management team was mature, and there was very little requiring An Ning's attention.

Social etiquette? Given the mansion's current status, there were almost none requiring special attention.

In the greenhouse filled with various flowers, An Ning happily picked the most vibrant bloom, planning to use it for flower arrangement later...

Indeed, if you choose well, you'll decisively have no worries!

Looking at her granddaughter who showed no signs of maturity and still appeared innocent and charming,

At the dining table, Old Lady Yang again took a deep breath of immortal air. She seemed to want to say something, but after pausing her gaze on her grandson-in-law who was gently and skillfully serving her granddaughter, she remained silent for a moment and ultimately swallowed her words.

Each scene was brilliant and intense to the extreme, at first glance full of rampant vitality.

Her gaze circled between the strikingly similar appearances of mother and daughter and their equally natural mannerisms.

Only after these people had completely disappeared from view did Old Lady Yang finally can't help but sigh heavily.