Chapter 234: Chapter 233: Bridal Makeup
The Ye family dined at ho that evening; they didn’t go to the ancestral hall but instead had the workers bring the food from the canteen to set up a al at ho.
The workers also dined at the ancestral hall. However, the household did not join them there for a special reason—Ye Shuzhen was not yet married; it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to eat alone at ho, nor was it convenient for her to go to the ancestral hall. Tonight was their family’s last reunion dinner before the new bride’s wedding.
Ye Shuzhen was filled with both anticipation for her marriage and a certain yearning, her heart aflutter with joy and a touch of worry.
Her bridal gown was already embroidered and stored away in a chest, along with so of her own lingerie and the clothes and shoes she would wear after her wedding.
She had also made clothes for her future husband, undergarnts, tailored to his asurents.
She knew her handiwork couldn’t compare to others, like the people from the embroidery workshop; she had heard that the clothes her husband-to-be wore were made by the Tang Family’s Embroidery Workshop, perhaps as part of the benefits the Tang Family provided to workers and key employees.
Tomorrow is her wedding day, and the dowry her family had bought for her had already been transported back ho.
There were several newly made quilts, practical furniture such as a dressing table, dining table, sofa, stools, and chests.
The bespoke jewelry and other items were ready, and gifts from relatives that had been brought over would also be given away when she married.
As a “Miss,” Ye Shuzhen would, by all rights, have bridesmaids accompanying her, and sisters from the village would be by her side today and tomorrow.
Perhaps due to her difficult nature—although her family was well-regarded—no sisters had co to visit this afternoon.
This was also because she commonly hadn’t associated much with the village girls close to her age.
On the rare occasions when girls did visit, she would treat them with disdainful eyes and a haughty attitude. The village girls had their own pride; faced with her condescension and unpleasant tone of voice, often uttering cutting remarks, they gradually stopped coming to play with her, leaving her to wander around with her niece.
When Ye Shuying and Ye Shuzhi got married, other village girls ca for a visit and brought purse gifts to congratulate them.
But for Ye Shuzhen, only her two elder sisters visited during the day.
After dinner, Ye Shuzhen took a bath. Then, at her room window, she quietly gazed at the starry sky—a sky with both a moon and stars.
Whether too excited or ponderous, she sat by the window for a long ti, reluctant to go to sleep.
As dawn broke, Ye Shuzhen, accustod to sleeping in, was awakened early by soone knocking on her door—it was ti for soone to help her dress and get ready.
One of the long-term workers had brought her bathwater steeped with leaves that looked like lemon and polo leaves.
Ye Shuzhen used to follow her niece in bathing with water steeped in fresh flowers, but now she was confronted with water steeped in leaves. The water was still scalding in the sumr heat, and her expression betrayed a hint of disdain.
However, she had seen the bathwater for both her elder sisters before their weddings, and it was also made with leaves.
This was the custom around here. After the workers brought the leaf-infused water into the bathroom, she would mix in cold water and prepare to change into new undergarnts.
After the bath with the leaf-infused water, she felt even hotter than before the bath, sweating profusely from her forehead and all over her body.
She couldn’t afford to care about that now; people in her room were urging her to co out. Quanfuren was there to do her hair and makeup—a full array of finery. She felt like the resplendently adorned person in the mirror was soone else entirely.
Just after she had finished dressing up, her nieces all ca to see her, but Ye Shuzhen paid them no mind.
A maid brought her sothing to eat, and it wasn’t watery porridge or powder; it was pastries. She was told to eat now and drink only a little water, for once the bridegroom’s sedan chair arrived, she couldn’t stop, nor could she find a place to relieve herself midway.
Ye Shiqi and her four elder sisters entered their young aunt’s room, which was rely a display of concern for a relative. In reality, children like them were extrely curious about the bride’s attire, especially the girls, who thought that the bride’s attire was the most beautiful.
When Ye Shiqi saw Ye Shuzhen, who was already fully dressed, she noticed the red wedding gown and shoes; everything was red.
The jewelry on her head, the dazzling gold ant to signify wealth: a gold necklace around her neck, gold bracelets on her wrists, gold rings, gold earrings.
The makeup artist’s skills weren’t great; in that era, lipstick didn’t exist, so they used red paper to dye the lips.
Her face was painted with rouge and powder, like a monkey’s buttocks, hardly beautiful—coarse, in fact. Thankfully, it was that season, or else the heat would cause the makeup to co off, which would be a nuisance.
Perhaps it was only Ye Shiqi who thought this way; when her four elder sisters saw their young aunt’s makeup, they thought it was pretty well done.
“How do I look in my makeup?” Ye Shuzhen asked, puffing with pride.
“Young Aunt, you look truly beautiful,” Ye Fengqi said first, the quickest to respond.
“Of course, I bought the best rouge and powder from the finest shop in the county. This was a gift from my fiancé,” she boasted.
Flushed with praise, Ye Shuzhen bead, subtly flaunting the affection of her future husband through her words.
“The groom is really good to our young aunt,” Ye Luoqi, who was already ten, said. She vaguely understood a bit about ancient people: girls matured early, and so her age were already betrothed.
Given that she had an elder aunt still at ho, even if suitors ca knocking, her family wouldn’t consent.
Moreover, there was a persistent little boy who often claid he was her betrothed. This boy was none other than Gou Dan. She had beco less inclined to venture out, unless it was to the estate.
As a teenager, Gou Dan always seized opportunities to approach her, even taking up work on their estate. He had grown quite tall, and although not much educated, he was well-built. However, his relentless pursuit never earned Ye Luoqi’s affection.
This could very well be ‘the dragon courts with sincerity, the maiden remains indifferent.’ Ye Luoqi wasn’t vindictive; she just didn’t like Gou Dan much, partly due to his pestering. And she could never forget that day when her mother was about to give birth.
Her mother had been stung by a hornet while carrying a mountain of herbs, along with a nine-month pregnant belly. Gou Dan, along with so other boys, threw stones at her mother.
That day her mother nearly died. Though it wasn’t entirely Gou Dan’s fault, Ye Luoqi couldn’t help but despise such a troublemaker, and now that her family was wealthy, her parents would never betroth her to a village boy.
“Of course, I am beautiful, more so than any of you—with your thin figures, tsk tsk!”
Ye Shuzhen said this with little confidence. Whether it was genetics or sothing else, although the three sisters and their brother had the sa parents, the sisters took after their mother’s round-faced and pudgy physique.
Her brother, however, resembled their father—tall and handso. The daughters of her brother and his wife looked different from the sisters.
They had slender figures and fair complexions, a distinct genetic trait. Ten-year-old Ye Luoqi, although not fully developed, was already quite tall, perhaps even taller than her aunt.
To make herself appear not so short, Ye Shuzhen had put lifts inside the embroidered shoes she made for herself.
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