Chapter 3: An Empty Bridal Chamber

Luckily, she would be leaving tomorrow, otherwise, not being the original owner of this body, she truly would not know how to maintain relationships with her family.

She disliked such things anyway, and with that time, she would rather carve a few more pieces of jade.

Wei Lan simply lay down on the bed to rest.

That afternoon at mealtime, the atmosphere at the table was oppressively heavy, something Wei Lan disliked, so she returned to her room early to rest.

As the Hour of Yin was about to end, footsteps came from outside the outer courtyard, and from the sound of it, someone seemed to be approaching.

Wei Lan propped herself up, rubbed her eyes, and looked outside, only to see that the sky was still dark, meaning it was probably only around four in the morning.

Before long, there was a knock at the door.

“Master Consort, it is time to rise, we will be departing shortly, and the wedding procession is already waiting outside.”

“Alright.”

Wei Lan got up, put on her outer dress, and went to open the door, and when she did, she saw many maidservants standing outside, each holding a wooden tray with various items placed upon them.

The elderly matron at the front smiled at Wei Lan and said, “Master Consort, we will come in to assist you with dressing and grooming.”

Wei Lan nodded at her.

“Thank you for the trouble.”

The matron ushered the others inside, first helping Wei Lan into a bright red wedding gown, then proceeding with her hair and makeup, placing several gold hairpins into the bun atop Wei Lan’s head, and finally instructing someone to cover Wei Lan’s head with a red bridal veil.

Because this was a uxorilocal marriage, Wei Lan would be carried in a sedan chair to the Lu residence.

As dawn began to break, several maidservants supported Wei Lan as they walked outside, and Zhao Xinlan watched her enter the sedan chair while crying, “Xiao Lan, once you’re at the Lu residence, make sure you take good care of yourself.”

“I know.”

Wei Lan replied calmly, her tone devoid of emotion.

She was soon helped into the sedan chair, the wedding procession began its lively music, firecrackers were set off at the courtyard entrance, and the streets became bustling with noise and excitement.

Wei Lan sat upright inside the sedan chair, lost in thought.

In her previous life, she had no interest whatsoever in romance, devoting herself entirely to jade carving, and she had never imagined that right after transmigrating, she would end up getting married.

The hand resting on Wei Lan’s knee tightened slightly.

She was not mentally prepared and had no idea how to get along with a wife, especially since this was her first time having one.

Thinking of Lu Zijin’s status, Wei Lan felt it would be wiser to be sensible and keep her distance from the female lead as much as possible.

Ideally, Lu Zijin would treat her as mere decoration, and the two of them would not need to meet at all, which Wei Lan felt would be the most ideal arrangement.

But who knew what would happen.

Now that she had married into the family and was living off them, whatever Lu Zijin said would go.

By the time Wei Lan snapped out of her thoughts, the wedding procession had already arrived at the gates of the Lu residence.

Lu Zijin stood there wearing a bright red wedding dress, her face veiled with a thin layer of red gauze, and when the sedan chair came to a stop, she slowly descended the steps of the Lu residence, walked over, and lifted the curtain of the sedan chair with her hand.

Wei Lan naturally heard the movement, and as the light inside the sedan chair suddenly brightened, a clean, slender, pale hand extended toward her.

“Take my hand, I will help you inside.”

The voice carried a hint of coolness, yet it was pleasant to the ear.

Wei Lan recognized Lu Zijin’s voice, placed her hand into hers, and upon contact, she only felt an icy chill.

Lu Zijin led her forward by the hand, and Wei Lan obediently followed behind her into the residence.

Under normal circumstances, a Qianyuan would marry a Kunze, but since she was marrying in, the ceremony was naturally reversed.

As they walked inward, there was a gaze within the crowd fixed firmly on the hands that Wei Lan and Lu Zijin held together.

Because of the veil, Wei Lan could not see the path clearly and could only grip Lu Zijin’s hand more tightly.

When the two reached the main hall, only a single elder in charge of the Lu clan sat in the seat of honor, as Wei Lan’s parents had no right to sit there due to her status as a live-in spouse.

Soon, as the wedding officiant called out the rites, Wei Lan moved mechanically, coordinating her actions with Lu Zijin’s.

Throughout the ceremony, that resentful gaze remained locked onto Wei Lan, and Chen Zhou’s fist hanging at his side clenched so tightly it was on the verge of breaking.

Back when Lu Zijin’s elder brother was still alive, both families had intended to arrange a marriage between Chen Zhou and Lu Zijin, but after her brother’s death, the matter was shelved.

Now, for the sake of protecting the Lu family’s assets, Lu Zijin had actually lowered herself to marry a useless person like Wei Lan.

Even knowing that Lu Zijin felt nothing for Wei Lan, Chen Zhou was still consumed by jealousy.

If he had obtained Lu Zijin, the Lu family’s assets would have been his as well, yet now all the benefits had been taken by that worthless Wei Lan.

On Wei Lan’s side, once the wife-and-wife bow was completed, Lu Zijin took her hand and led her toward the rear hall.

The two did not exchange a single word along the way, and only upon reaching the bedroom entrance did Lu Zijin speak.

“Watch the step, rest inside for now, I will come later, I have left maidservants outside the door, call them if you need anything.”

“Alright.”

Wei Lan nodded, and once inside the room, Lu Zijin released her hand, looked at Wei Lan with an indifferent expression, and had the maidservants help her sit on the bed.

“I will leave first.”

After saying that, Lu Zijin did not look at Wei Lan again and stepped out of the bedroom, as she had many matters to attend to starting from yesterday and no time to linger here.

Once everyone had left, Wei Lan lifted the bridal veil directly, as covering her head with that thing was far too suffocating.

The wedding attire was heavy, so Wei Lan casually removed the outer gown, took off all the hairpins from her head, lay down on the bed on her own, and soon fell asleep.

Having woken up too early that morning, Wei Lan felt she had not slept enough, and it was not until noon, when hunger set in, that she woke up.

She propped herself up and walked briskly toward the door, and when Wei Lan opened it, she indeed saw two young maidservants standing outside.

Seeing that Wei Lan had lifted her veil, the maidservant was startled.

“Master Consort, why did you lift the veil?”

“Mmm, go prepare some food, I’m hungry.”

Wei Lan replied calmly, and the maidservant hurried off to make arrangements.

Before long, the food was delivered, consisting of several simple stir-fried dishes, rice, and even wine.

Wei Lan was starving and sat down to eat by herself, and after finishing, a maidservant came in to clear the dishes.

She paced around the room a few times with nothing to do, then opened the door and asked the two maidservants to fetch her a few history books of the Great Zhou to read.

The two maidservants did not dare delay and quickly brought several books from the study.

Wei Lan leaned against the bed and flipped through them.

Since she was here, she naturally needed some understanding of Great Zhou history, and although the books were written in traditional characters, Wei Lan had been involved in jade carving in her previous life and was highly sensitive to script, so traditional characters posed no difficulty for her at all.

As night approached, the maidservants lit the lamps in the room and delivered dinner once more.

After eating, Wei Lan simply went back to bed to continue sleeping.

She was awakened by the sound of the door being pushed open, accompanied by a maidservant’s sharp voice.

“Miss, look at her, she’s far too unruly, people from small households are just like this, she actually went to sleep on her own.”

Yunxiang’s shrill voice rang out.

Wei Lan propped herself up and looked toward Lu Zijin, still somewhat groggy.

“I saw that you hadn’t returned, so I went to sleep.”

Lu Zijin frowned slightly.

By rights, Wei Lan should have been sitting by the bed waiting for her to lift the veil, but since this marriage was merely a temporary expedient, Lu Zijin did not particularly care whether the veil was lifted or not, though Wei Lan’s lack of decorum still displeased her.

“All of you go out, I have something to say to the Master Consort in private.”

Lu Zijin instructed the three maidservants beside her.

Yunxiang glared at Wei Lan unwillingly.

“Miss, but—”

Lu Zijin cast her a cold look, and Yunxiang immediately shut her mouth.

“Yes, this servant will leave at once.”

After the three maidservants withdrew, Lu Zijin removed the red gauze from her face and looked at Wei Lan coldly.

“You are now the Master Consort of the Lu residence, how you behaved before is none of my concern, but from now on, think of the Lu family before you act, and do not do anything that brings shame to the Lu family, understand?”

Wei Lan’s gaze lingered on Lu Zijin’s face.

As expected of the female lead, she really was beautiful.

She replied reflexively, “Understood.”

Lu Zijin naturally noticed Wei Lan’s gaze and said coldly, “You are nothing more than decoration that I married into this residence, and decoration should be aware of its place, do not meddle in matters that do not concern you, and the Lu family’s business is certainly not something you are qualified to interfere in.”

Wei Lan nodded.

She had been mentally prepared for this long ago, and she had no interest in the Lu family’s business anyway.

Seeing her nod, Lu Zijin gave a slight nod in return and continued.

“Also, my marriage to you is merely a temporary measure, do not harbor inappropriate thoughts toward me.”

Wei Lan nodded openly.

She had no interest in romance at all, and with that time, she would rather carve a few more pieces of jade.

“I understand everything, I will cooperate properly.”

Wei Lan stretched lazily and sat up from the bed.

Lu Zijin glanced at her and said, “This is my bedroom, I will have someone escort you to where you will be staying, and remember, do not come here to disturb me unless necessary.”

Wei Lan looked at Lu Zijin.

With such a beautiful face, how could her words be so cold, but as someone living off others, she naturally went along with Lu Zijin’s words.

“Alright, I’ve memorized everything.”

As she spoke, Lu Zijin had been observing Wei Lan’s expression, which remained calm from beginning to end, so calm it could even be called utterly unperturbed.

Wei Lan climbed out of bed, put on her shoes, and said to Lu Zijin, “Madam, then I’ll be leaving now?”

Seeing that she was reasonably sensible, Lu Zijin nodded at her.

“Go.”

She then called out toward the door.

“Qingzhi, escort the Master Consort over.”

“Yes, Miss.”

A respectful voice quickly answered from outside.

Wei Lan straightened her clothes, and just as she was about to step away, she looked at the several gold hairpins on the table.

“Can I have those?”

Lu Zijin frowned and looked at the hairpins on the table, pinched the bridge of her nose, and waved her hand at Wei Lan.

“Take them.”

“Thank you, Madam.”

Wei Lan sweetly expressed her thanks and casually gathered the four gold hairpins into her hand.

A smile spread across her face, because with these hairpins, even if she sold them later, she could fetch quite a bit of silver, enough to buy jade carving materials.

Seeing her money-grubbing expression, Lu Zijin could not help but twitch the corner of her mouth, left with nothing but speechlessness.