Shortly after noon, the fleet set sail again. There were many reefs along the coast, so the fleet made a turn toward the deep sea and bypassed the reefs in this area.
Our journey is to the sea of stars...
Watching the ship sailing into the deep blue sea against the wind, this line flashed through Zhu Ping'an's mind for some reason.
During the day, he talked about "Zhu Xian", tasted the various delicacies carefully prepared by the Li family chef, and occasionally quarreled with the scheming Li Shu. The leisurely days passed slowly.
That afternoon, the pattern of blue sky and blue sea was finally broken. A few dark clouds floated in the sky, slowly covering the sun. After a few clouds passed, the sun appeared again. It seemed that the dark clouds were playing a game of hide-and-seek with the sun, and gradually they became addicted to it.
The color of the sky gradually changed from dark blue to light gray, and the sun became dimmer and dimmer.
The wind gradually picked up...
Zhu Ping'an lay on the bow of the boat holding a plate, eating the fried squid snacks made by the Li family chef. He felt the slowly rising sea breeze, his eyes fixed on the place where the sea and the sky met, and his thoughts gradually drifted to Xiahe Village.
The dull and generous father, the fierce and careful mother, and the eldest brother
I miss home...
While Zhu Ping'an was enjoying the sea breeze at the bow of the ship, Li Shu was clumsily embroidering a mandarin duck pillowcase in the luxurious cabin boudoir. Her slender hands held the embroidery needle and she was embroidering very seriously. However, not every effort is rewarded equally.
There was a pair of cute mandarin ducks in front of Li Shu, and then two fat ducks appeared on the pillowcase in her hand...
"Miss, it's getting dark, please take a rest." The little maidservant felt so distressed when she saw her mistress embroidering in the dim cabin.
"It's getting dark. I can't see clearly."
After hearing what the maid Baozi said, Li Shu stopped what she was doing, looked out the window, and pouted her lips in sudden realization.
"Yes, miss." The chubby little maid nodded vigorously.
"Then go and light the lamp and draw, quickly." Li Shu urged.
"But Miss, you should take a rest. You haven't had a good rest for several days." The little maid's eyes were red. "Getting up so early in the morning to go to the kitchen, and embroidering during lunch break, even if I am made of iron, I can't stand it, Miss."
"Stop talking nonsense, why don't you go and light the lamp?" Li Shu said coquettishly. She raised the embroidery needle in her hand, "If you keep talking nonsense, I will embroider a little turtle on your face."
"Miss~~" The chubby little maid covered her face and looked at Li Shu aggrievedly, remembering the time when the young lady drew a turtle on her face. Then, after being glared at by Li Shu, she reluctantly went to light the lamp.
Baozi, the maid, brought a wooden octagonal palace lantern inlaid with jade. She opened the lampshade, blew the tinder to light the wick, then covered the lampshade and placed it on the table in front of Li Shu. The room instantly became brighter. Li Shu nodded with satisfaction and started embroidering again.
"Miss, we have so many embroiderers in our house. It would be great if you could let them do the embroidery. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time to keep them." The chubby little maid pouted.
"What do you know? This is a pillowcase used for a wedding. Of course I have to embroider it myself." Li Shu rolled her eyes and continued to embroider her own mandarin ducks (fat ducks). This embroidery was done stitch by stitch. I don't want the stinky toad to smell the scent left by another woman when he sleeps, even if it's embroidered by an embroiderer!
"Let's take a break, miss. You haven't had a rest for a long time." The chubby little maid had always wanted Li Shu to take a rest. Her young lady had gotten up early today and hadn't had a rest yet. It hurt her heart to see it.
"Dad and Zhu Ping'an's family have already set a date. You know how tight the time is. Zhu Ping'an's family is pushing for it, so I went back this time to catch up with the date." When she said this, Li Shu's pretty face flushed and her voice was filled with complaints. However, her dark eyes were bright and full of the longing of a little girl.
"Yes, the master sent a letter." The little maidservant also blushed. The young lady only arranged for her, a maidservant who came with the dowry, to be a concubine.
"Miss, the letter that your son-in-law's family asked him to send to our house has not been shown to your son-in-law yet." The little maid reminded her.
"Oh, I didn't know where I put the letter, and I couldn't find it when I came. Anyway, he will know when he gets home. There's no need to tell him." Li Shu was immersed in the ocean of embroidery. She shook her head slightly. The needle in her hand guided the colorful threads onto the pillowcase, and the fat duck on it became more and more colorful.
Hmm, the chubby little maid nodded, holding her cheek and watching her mistress embroidering.
When the master sent the letter, the son-in-law had not yet had his holiday. The letter from the son-in-law's family was also sent by someone in the mansion. The letter talked about the marriage of the young lady and the son-in-law. It seemed that Mrs. Zhu Chen had found many fortune tellers at home, and they all said that the son-in-law and the young lady were a match made in heaven, that the young lady would bring good luck to her husband, and that the son-in-law would be promoted and rich in the future. They all said that the sooner the son-in-law got married, the better it would be.
Among them, a famous Taoist priest looked at the birth dates of the young lady and the son-in-law and said that the young lady had the appearance of a flying phoenix, and that the son-in-law had the appearance of a koi carp, but when he met the young lady, he turned into a dragon. The carp jumps over the dragon gate and turns into a dragon. He said it was a good marriage that was cultivated for eight generations. This Taoist priest was the most famous Taoist priest in the entire Anqing Prefecture. He only told fortunes once a month. If Mrs. Zhu Chen had not happened to pass by Xiahe Village and borrowed a sip of water from Zhu Ping'an's house, she would not have had the opportunity to ask him to tell fortunes.
It was this Taoist priest who said that they had to get married before May, saying that the weather would warm up in April and the fish would flow upstream, which was the time for the carp to leap over the dragon gate. He also said that May was an evil month, and that in May, five poisonous insects, namely snakes, scorpions, centipedes, geckos, and toads, would become active, and ghosts and monsters would run rampant, and diseases would spread, poison gas would spread everywhere, and the whole environment would not be conducive for the carp to leap over the dragon gate.
It is also said that May is the day when the "fetal god" inspects the human world. The fetal god is in charge of nurturing the baby until its safe birth. In May, the fetal god will stay on the bed in every home. If you get married in May, you will conflict with the fetal god, and the fetal god will not give you a healthy and smart baby.
The Taoist calculated an auspicious day, which was April 28th, avoiding the conflicting dates of the young lady and her husband's birth dates, and figured out the most suitable day of the year.
Other fortune tellers also say that May is an unlucky month and not suitable for marriage.
Anyway, Mrs. Zhu Chen found a fortune teller and went to temples and Taoist temples to look at people's birth charts. They all said that they had to get married before May.
Therefore, Mrs. Zhu Chen urged him to go back and get married, and the date was set for April 28. I heard that the son-in-law's family was ready, the new house was packed, everything was ready, and even the relatives were notified.
The master arranged for us to take the boat back just in time, so we would have a few days to spare when we got home. (To be continued.)