Seeing Chen Xiaobei take the silk, the little maid continued, "Brother Xiaobei, you hand the other end to your sister-in-law, you pull from the front, and she follows you into the mansion."
Chen Xiaobei nodded and directly took the silk into the sedan chair.
"Rumei, we'll use this to walk in later."
Hearing Chen Xiaobei's words, Liu Rumei lifted her veil herself, looked at the length of silk, and smiled sweetly.
"This is easy. Later, I'll pull the silk, and you hold the other end. We'll go in."
Then she listened to the noisy sounds outside. "Don't forget to distribute some dried fruits to these onlookers."
"Also, send someone to spread a few words among these commoners, saying that Fang Zheng voluntarily offered to rent out the former Prime Minister's mansion to you."
"Remember to say that Fang Zheng took money, understand?"
Hearing this, Chen Xiaobei was stunned. He hesitated and said, "Wouldn't this tarnish the former Prime Minister's reputation?"
Liu Rumei looked at him. "That's exactly what we want to do. If the Emperor hears that the former Prime Minister took money, he might just laugh it off. But if the Emperor knows that the former Prime Minister let you use it for free, he'll likely overthink things. He might not do anything to you then, but the punishment might fall on the former Prime Minister."
Only then did Chen Xiaobei suddenly realize, nodding repeatedly. "That makes sense. The Emperor can't be reasoned with now. Anything is possible. We must be cautious."
Chen Xiaobei put down the silk, turned around, and exited the sedan chair. He first called Yang Chun over and whispered something to him.
Yang Chun immediately turned and went to the side of several subordinates who were watching the excitement.
After all, they had never participated in a wedding before and didn't know what to do next, so most of the time they could only watch.
Of course, watching the excitement was one thing, but spreading rumors was a trivial matter for the Vermilion Bird Gang.
Several people mingled with the crowd, and one of them deliberately shook his head and sighed, "Alas, who would have thought that Old Prime Minister Fang Zheng would come to this point."
"What's wrong, brother? Wasn't the old Prime Minister demoted and sent back to his hometown?"
"Yes, he went home, and this mansion became vacant. I heard that Chen Xiaobei is staying here for two days to marry Liu Rumei and has to give the Fang family two hundred taels of silver."
"What? Two hundred taels of silver just to stay for two days? That's too expensive!"
"Hey, what do you know? This is called putting on airs. Think about it, a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Even if Liu Rumei is not as good as she used to be, Liu Xiangnan was a protector of the nation. Can Chen Xiaobei, a nobody from the mountains, really take the daughter of a protector to an inn?"
"Oh, oh, oh, if you say that, then these two hundred taels of silver are a bit of a daylight robbery!"
"That's true. But think about it, Fang Zheng has returned to his hometown, and the court naturally hasn't sealed his position. He must be short of money. Two hundred taels of silver can feed his whole family for a year, right?"
"That's true. I didn't expect this old man Fang to be so good at business, just as he was a good Prime Minister."
As they spoke, the two burst into laughter. Their voices were loud enough for everyone around to hear.
Soon, the news spread. Of course, the common people were happy to hear such news. While spreading various rumors, they watched Chen Xiaobei pull Liu Rumei out of the sedan chair by the red silk.
Seeing the bride appear, the crowd cheered again. As planned, someone soon came to distribute dried fruits to the onlookers to share in the joy.
In front of outsiders, Chen Xiaobei and Liu Rumei acted like a normal wedding procession, nothing out of the ordinary. After entering the mansion, Liu Rumei lifted a corner of her veil, estimating that the commoners outside could no longer see. "Brother Xiaobei, did you arrange what I told you to do?"
Hearing the question, Chen Xiaobei, who was walking in front, turned to see Liu Rumei lifting her veil and quickly waved his hand, saying, "Quickly put it down, quickly put it down! I said it's unlucky to lift the veil before the ceremony!"
The maid Xiaoqing next to them also quickly stepped forward to put down the veil.
Liu Rumei said nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? It's said that success depends on oneself. As long as we two work together, life will naturally be good."
Chen Xiaobei secretly admired Liu Rumei for her words.
These words were so true. Without effort, nothing would improve.
But he still had to be careful when necessary, at least to have a good omen.
Thinking of this, Chen Xiaobei whispered again, "Then we still need to be mindful. After all, we have to consider others."
Chen Xiaobei led Liu Rumei all the way to the reception hall.
The reason they chose to have the wedding ceremony here was that it was the most spacious.
In the center, a square table was laden with offerings.
Above it was a statue, but Chen Xiaobei couldn't tell which deity it was. Beside the statue were two candle holders with bright red candles, which was already a very festive decoration.
There was a chair on each side of the square table.
Chen Xiaobei had no parents, Liu Rumei's father became a monk, and her mother was also gone.
But if the chairs were empty, it would look bad. So, Yang Chun was chosen as Chen Xiaobei's elder brother, and Liu Yuanwen as Liu Rumei's family member, to sit in the front chairs.
After Chen Xiaobei took his place, Xiaoqing helped Liu Rumei to stand beside Chen Xiaobei.
Soon, someone loudly shouted, "First bow to heaven and earth."
Although Chen Xiaobei had never experienced this kind of ceremony, he had watched enough TV dramas in his previous life. Ancient people in TV dramas always performed their wedding ceremonies like this. He imitated them and bowed to the statue.
Liu Rumei also completed the salute with Xiaoqing's help.
Logically, the second bow should be to the elders.
But it was clearly inappropriate to shout this at this moment. The master of ceremonies also kept up with the times, shouting loudly, "Second bow to the elder brother."
Chen Xiaobei and Liu Rumei bowed again. Yang Chun was overjoyed, but Liu Yuanwen on the other side looked visibly disappointed. After all, such a ceremony was too perfunctory for the daughter of a former marquis.
Next was the most important third bow. The village guards, Liu family members, and guests who came to the banquet watched the most important bow from afar.
Chen Xiaobei and Liu Rumei stood facing each other.
"Husband and wife bow to each other."
As soon as these words were spoken, Liu Rumei bowed without waiting for Xiaoqing's help. This bow contained all sorts of emotions, including gratitude to Chen Xiaobei, her true feelings, and a touch of melancholy.
Chen Xiaobei also felt a bit of regret at this moment. No matter what, this was an important moment in his life, but he could never see his parents from his previous life.