Chapter 130: Wedding Banquet
They were all her favorite foods—undoubtedly prepared and set aside for her by Gu Tingxiao.
This man had truly thought of every single detail, quietly arranging everything just to wait for her arrival. This constant, unspoken devotion filled her with a deep sense of security.
Wanyan ate two pieces of the cake and had just finished a cup of water when a soft knock echoed at the door. She quickly slipped back over to the bed and sat down, smoothing her dress to look as dignified and composed as possible.
“Third sister-in-law? It’s Eldest Sister-in-law.”
The woman knocking was Liang Nazhen, the wife of Tingxiao’s eldest brother, Gu Tingye. She possessed an incredibly elegant, refined aura and carried herself with the poise of an intellectual. She currently served as a section chief within the municipal Education Bureau.
In her hands, she carried a covered tray of hot food that Mother Gu and Gu Tingxiao had specifically salvaged from the banquet for Wanyan. Standing right beside her was a striking, stylish woman—Wang Chunmei, the wife of the fourth brother, Gu Tinghao. She worked as the director of the finance department at the Capital Textile Factory.
“Please come in,” Wanyan called out. Her heart fluttered with a trace of nerves. She didn’t understand the temperaments of her sisters-in-law yet, so she could only sit obediently and wait.
Liang Nazhen and Wang Chunmei stepped into the room. The moment they crossed the threshold, Wang Chunmei’s eyes began scanning the perimeter, her gaze casually drifting over to scrutinize Wanyan.
“Third sister-in-law, come and eat something to fill your stomach,” Liang Nazhen said with a gentle smile, placing the heavy tray onto the writing desk.
Wanyan immediately stood up to greet them. “Thank you, Sister-in-law.”
Liang Nazhen walked over, warmly taking her hands. She hadn’t crossed paths with this new bride before today, but her initial impression was exceptionally favorable. Wanyan was breathtakingly beautiful and spoke with a soft, melodic tone; she seemed incredibly easy to get along with.
“Why stand on ceremony with me? We are going to be one family from now on,” Liang Nazhen chided softly. “Here, I brought a small wedding gift for you. I hope it suits your taste.”
Though she framed it as a wedding gift, Wanyan knew it was traditionally a formal token to mark their very first meeting. Liang Nazhen unzipped the tote bag hanging from her forearm, extracting a vibrant red dress. The silhouette was wonderfully classic and minimalist, free of any loud patterns, featuring a tailored drawstring that cinched at the waist and a hemline that fell gracefully just below the knees.
While the cut was simple and elegant, the crimson hue was remarkably striking, and it was obvious the high-grade fabric had been sourced through specialized connections. Recognizing the immense thoughtfulness her eldest sister-in-law had poured into the gesture, Wanyan didn’t play modest and gracefully accepted the offering.
“It’s absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much, Sister-in-law.”
Seeing the genuine appreciation in the girl’s eyes, Liang Nazhen let out a quiet sigh of relief, having privately worried the city bride might look down on her selection. “I’m so glad you truly like it.”
“I adore it,” Wanyan smiled. “I’ve actually been hunting for a tailored dress with this exact clean, simple aesthetic.”
Liang Nazhen laughed, her spirits instantly lifting. Even if Wanyan was merely deploying polite tact to grant her face, who wouldn’t be charmed by such sweet, perceptive praise?
Meanwhile, after finishing her silent calculation of the room’s inventory, Wang Chunmei stepped forward, a smooth smile plastered on her features as she pulled a small jar from her coat pocket.
“Third sister-in-law, I wasn’t entirely certain what your preferences were,” she noted smoothly. “The young women here in the capital are absolutely obsessed with this brand of vanishing cream. Please don’t look down on a meager offering.”
Wanyan maintained a perfectly pleasant smile, deliberately ignoring the underlying scrutiny. From the exact second Wang Chunmei had walked through the door, her eyes had been measuring the quality of the furniture. Wanyan knew precisely what the woman was doing: she was assessing whether the Gu patriarchs were showing unfair favoritism to the third branch. However, since they were merely in the opening stages of their relationship and Wang Chunmei hadn’t actively violated her boundaries, Wanyan remained perfectly cordial.
She accepted the jar with a polite nod. “Thank you, Fourth Sister-in-law.”
Wang Chunmei offered a satisfied nod. This vanishing cream wasn’t a cheap token; it cost well over a yuan on the open market.
Beside them, Liang Nazhen’s brow furrowed slightly as she observed the exchange. Hadn’t the fourth brother explicitly mentioned to the family that his wife intended to present Wanyan with a brand-new pair of premium leather shoes? How on earth had a pair of leather shoes suddenly shrunk down into a common jar of vanishing cream?
Nevertheless, Liang Nazhen kept her thoughts to herself. This was a private domestic affair belonging to the fourth brother’s household; as the eldest sister-in-law, she had zero right to police their accounting.
“This dressing table is absolutely magnificent,” Wang Chunmei remarked, her fingers brushing the polished wood of the vanity as a wave of envy tightened her chest. When she had wed into the compound, the Gu family hadn’t provided a piece of furniture nearly this lavish for her quarters. “Sister-in-law, did Mother-in-law source this piece for you?”
“No,” Wanyan replied smoothly. “Tingxiao actually commissioned a master carpenter to build it customized for me.”
Wang Chunmei’s smile turned thoroughly stiff. A surge of resentment rippled through her; why on earth wasn’t her own husband this attentive or resourceful?
“Is that so? It really is beautiful…” she forced out. “I’ll have to find a craftsman to build one for our room down the line.”
Wanyan merely offered a pleasant nod, remaining silent. If the woman wanted to source a vanity, she was welcome to do so; furniture was just material property, not her personal concern.
“Alright, hurry up and eat while the food is piping hot,” Liang Nazhen interjected warmly, steering the conversation away from the tension. “Your third brother will absolutely lose his mind out there if he thinks you’re starving in here!”
She recalled how Gu Tingxiao had covertly cornered her earlier, frantically begging her to assemble a pristine plate for his bride and explicitly warning her that Wanyan couldn’t tolerate fatty cuts of meat. Seeing that stoic, unyielding soldier look so wild with anxiety over a simple dinner delivery had been thoroughly amusing. She had never witnessed her third brother display such a frantic, protective side; usually, he navigated the compound with a terrifying, icy glare. To see him crack that frozen facade was a true miracle.
Wanyan’s cheeks flushed a delicate pink at her sister-in-law’s teasing. She sat down at the writing desk, uncovering the tray. The bowl was packed with pristine white rice, topped with premium, lean cuts of slow-braised pork, tender ribs, flaky fish, and a generous helping of savory, spicy chicken, flanked by a steaming bowl of fresh cabbage soup.
“Sister-in-law, Fourth Sister-in-law, won’t you join me and have a few bites?” Wanyan invited politely.
Wang Chunmei subconsciously swallowed. She had been breaking her back helping the kitchen staff all morning, and seeing the premium, elite cuts of meat glistening on the plate made her mouth water. The absolute finest portions of the feast had been carved off and whisked directly to Wanyan before the guests outside had even touched their chopsticks; she desperately wanted a taste.
“No, thank you, dear,” Liang Nazhen declined firmly, reaching out to catch Wang Chunmei’s arm just as the woman looked ready to cede to her appetite. “The banquet tables outside are already being served. Our singular priority was ensuring you weren’t left waiting.” She gave the fourth sister-in-law a pointed look. How entirely thoughtless can a person be, trying to pick at a bride’s private wedding dinner?
“Once you’ve finished, just leave the tray on the desk. I’ll drop by to collect it later,” Liang Nazhen added smoothly, turning to pull the reluctant Wang Chunmei out of the room.
The moment the door latched shut, Wanyan raised an eyebrow. It was painfully obvious that the fourth brother’s wife was going to be a source of domestic friction and calculation down the line. Fortunately, Wanyan would be relocating to the northern military base in a matter of weeks; since they wouldn’t be sharing a roof for long, maintaining a polite, superficial facade would be more than enough to handle her.
Once she finished her dinner, Wanyan neatly wiped her mouth, retrieved a book from her wooden trunk, and settled back onto the bed. The formal banquet outside had barely kicked into gear, meaning she would likely be marooned in the suite for several hours. Reading was the perfect avenue to kill the time.
Out in the main courtyard, the Sheng family had officially arrived at the heart of the celebration. The moment Old Master Gu spotted them navigating the lane, he bellowed a greeting, waving them over to anchor the prestigious head table.
“In-law! Over here!” the old patriarch cheered, grabbing Grandpa Sheng by the arm the second he was within reach. “Come, let me introduce you to a few old iron-blooded comrades of mine. These men know exactly what it means to bleed on a battlefield!”
Before Grandpa Sheng could even process the greeting, he was swept into a circle of rugged, white-haired veterans. Old Master Gu lacked any refined social diplomacy; his lifelong social network consisted entirely of old soldiers who had survived the founding wars. These men operated with absolute transparency, possessing zero patience for corporate games or polite flattery. The absolute best way to define their philosophy was a simple rule: Say exactly what you mean, and spit it out without dancing around the point.
The atmosphere across the twenty banqueting tables was incredibly boisterous, the air thick with laughter as the guests relentlessly toasted Gu Tingxiao, celebrating the fact that the compound’s ultimate bachelor had finally been captured.
The wedding guests exchanged a series of knowing, mischievous glances. United in a unspoken mission, the officers began systematically forcing the groom to down as much premium liquor as his frame could tolerate.
“Come on! Let’s raise a glass to celebrate our old bachelor finally finding his mind! Cheers!”
“Comrade Gu Tingxiao, a milestone like this demands at least three consecutive penalty cups, don’t you think?”
“Exactly! Three cups straight down, no stopping!”
Gu Tingxiao didn’t utter a single complaint. Without a trace of hesitation, he raised his glass and drained three consecutive cups of high-proof white liquor, triggering a thunderous round of applause from the surrounding tables.
“A magnificent display! Completely fearless!”
“Incredibly crisp! As expected of our elite military line—pure talent!”
