Chapter 223 Coming-of-Age Ceremony

Three days later, Princess Chang Le's coming-of-age ceremony took place.

Almost every prominent family in the capital sent someone to attend the ceremony.

Firstly, it was to give face to the Eldest Princess and Princess Chang Le, and secondly... to reward Princess Chang Le for her commendable performance as the temporary governor of Longxi, the Emperor and Empress sent the Crown Prince to add gifts.

The Crown Prince will turn nineteen in July, and in another six months he will be of legal age. But so far, the Eastern Palace has not even had a Crown Princess, a concubine, or a concubine of high rank, let alone two maids.

Families with daughters of marriageable age are all eagerly waiting to put their daughters into the family, even if it's just as a concubine. Once the eldest son, who is also the little grandson of the emperor, is born, how can they not gain status through their son?

However, in the past six months, the Crown Prince has become increasingly engrossed in managing state affairs. Not only has he agreed to select concubines to fill the Eastern Palace, but he has also stopped going out to banquets and have fun as before. Naturally, the aristocratic families, who have been craning their necks, have turned their attention to Princess Chang Le's coming-of-age ceremony today.

So, what was originally just a banquet hosted by Princess Chang Le was a dazzling display of beauty from all the young ladies, whose clothes and accessories were either expensive or fashionable, making it hard to look away.

The Crown Prince arrived with gifts, but after presenting them, he did not leave. He stood among the guests, looking gently at the young girl in plain clothes in front of him as she was having her hairpin ceremony.

Noble ladies from prominent families occasionally tried to approach the Crown Prince to strike up a conversation, but as soon as they got close to him, before they could even open their mouths, they were swept aside by Sun Miao, and their steps froze on the spot.

"Since you, like the Crown Prince, have come to celebrate the Princess's coming-of-age ceremony, please refrain from wandering around since the ceremony is not yet complete."

The noble ladies blushed with embarrassment, knowing that what they had done was indeed impolite, and in the end, none of them dared to go and chat with the Crown Prince before the ceremony was over.

"On an auspicious day in the month, I will start to wear clothes of the Canadian yuan. I will abandon my young ambitions and introduce my clothes to the scenery!"

The eldest princess picked up the gold hairpin with ruyi pattern and peony carving on the table and carefully and slowly threaded it through the girl's hair.

All eyes turned once again to today's protagonist—Princess Chang Le.

She was clearly only wearing the simple dress she wore when she first came of age, her face was unadorned, her eyebrows were thick and dark, her eyes were clearer and brighter than a peeled lychee, her cheeks were snow-white, her hair was black, and her lips were red and her teeth were white.

No one knows when it started, but this little girl who was once famous in the capital has grown into such a stunning beauty, even more beautiful than the most beautiful woman in the capital back then.

For a moment, the guests were all mesmerized. Several ladies who had originally planned to bring their daughters to show their faces to the Crown Prince today began to have other plans. They had not only daughters waiting to be married, but also quite a few sons waiting to be married.

I wonder if the eldest princess is willing to marry off her daughter so soon? Or will she want to find a son-in-law to live with her?

The royal family is different from ordinary families. It's one thing for a princess to marry a prince consort, but a prince consort is much freer. A princess with no power lives worse than a young lady from an ordinary family, so she naturally can't make any demands on her prince consort. But this Princess Chang Le, who is registered under the name of the eldest princess, is different. If she really has the idea of ​​finding a husband, would they be willing to send their sons here?

Thinking of this, a group of ladies began to back down again. In their view, daughters could rise in rank through pregnancy, but sons... if they were to be rejected by the princess, the whole capital would laugh their heads off.

Lost in thought, Princess Chang Le came out after changing her clothes.

At the beginning of the hour of Si (9-11 AM), Princess Chang Le emerged from the east side hall, wearing a pomegranate-red robe with gold pheasant patterns on the wide sleeves, which once again caused a gasp of surprise.

The master of ceremonies sang in the second tone:

"On this auspicious month and time, you should adorn your clothes, show respect for your dignity, and cultivate your virtue!"

After the hairpin and three hairpins were finished, the coming-of-age ceremony was considered complete. The group of noble ladies, with mixed feelings, watched as a princess, whose appearance and demeanor were several times better than their own, came of age. Just as they were about to follow the crown prince, they found that he had already disappeared without a trace.

Where is His Highness the Crown Prince?

Sun Miao was stopped by several girls dressed in their finest attire.

He looked troubled: "This servant is looking for it too. If any of you ladies find it, please let this servant know..."

Seeing the girls leave in a huff, Sun Miao then flicked his whisk and happily went to the back to receive his reward and drink.

After the coming-of-age ceremony, the guests could stroll around the garden if they wanted, or leave early if they wished. Qi Yuxuan's courtyard, however, was bustling with activity.

Without the guests, whether sincere or not, the courtyard was now only occupied by her close friends of similar age. Several young girls gathered around the stove, warming wine, listening intently as Qi Yuxuan, sitting cross-legged in the center, recounted her thrilling and dangerous escape from death in Lancheng.

Lanxin, Bihui, and a few others brought over a pile of cleaned and roasted chestnuts and peanuts from the kitchen, keeping them warm over the charcoal fire with a small iron mesh, filling the room with a sweet aroma.

Zhao Mei was engrossed in listening, and when she saw Qi Yuxuan finish her wine as she spoke, she instinctively reached for the jar to refill it for her.

Qi Minying glanced at the cup casually and saw the date written in charcoal. She recognized the handwriting as that of her elder brother, the Crown Prince, and was so startled that she slapped her forehead.

"Don't pour it for her! This is wine that my brother buried, it's really potent! I once secretly took a bite and got so drunk that I was dizzy and couldn't recover for a long time!"

I was so engrossed in listening that I didn't notice that Sister Yuxuan had also brought out and drunk the jar of wine that she had stolen together!

But as soon as she picked up the wine jar, she knew something terrible was about to happen.

Qi Yuxuan drank most of the small jar of wine, which contained about three catties of liquor!

Seeing that Qi Yuxuan, though seated, had already started slurring her words and her hazy, drunken eyes looked at everyone with deep affection, her friends exchanged glances, realizing something was wrong.

Since the main characters had all been accidentally drunk, there was no need to continue the conversation. So the girls agreed to chat again tomorrow when the people had sobered up.

The weather was sunny in the morning, but it started snowing again in the afternoon. Taking advantage of the light snowfall, the girls didn't ask Qi Yuxuan's maids to see them off. They waved to the maids to hurry back and serve their princess some hangover soup—so that the princess wouldn't be angry when she saw the little drunkards.

The courtyard fell silent, with only the soft sound of snow falling outside the window.

Qi Yuxuan was served and had her hands and face wiped. Several maids tried to coax her to sleep, but she refused. She just sat alone on the Luohan bed with thick cushions, wrapped in a thin quilt, leaning against the window, staring blankly at Bai Xue in a daze.

As they stared, a figure in black suddenly appeared amidst the white expanse outside. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and was as handsome as a jade tree in the wind. Only when he got closer could one see that his face was also handsome, with a face like jade, sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes.

Although the ground was covered in snow, which would make it difficult for ordinary people to walk steadily, he walked firmly and steadily, and at a considerable speed.

Before Qi Jun even got close, he smelled the aroma of wine wafting from the wide-open window, and his brows immediately furrowed.

Firstly, because the young girl had drunk so much wine; secondly, because the aroma of the wine was so familiar, clearly the same jars he had personally buried in the Eastern Palace.