Chapter 385 Cosmetics

Her face was kind and gentle, but her eyes were bright and piercing. When she first saw Qi Yuxuan's appearance, her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

“Yu Xuan…”

She approached, helped her daughter, who was carrying luggage, to her feet, and then pressed her back down in front of the bronze mirror. "Sit down, sit down, let your mother comb your hair!"

The Grand Princess washed her hands, picked up the bridal comb from the side, stood behind Qi Yuxuan, looked at her small face reflected in the bronze mirror, and said with a smile, "Mother thought she would never see you get married again."

Although she was smiling, there were tears glistening in her eyes.

During the last marriage alliance, she sent Meng Xian to Kuncheng, thinking that she would never have the chance to see her daughter again. However, fate brought her daughter to her side.

She finally believed why Abbot Shikong had said she was destined to have a daughter. This was a child she had personally chosen, and although the process would be full of twists and turns, the child would truly accompany her to the end.

"One comb to the end, two combs and your hair is white and level with your eyebrows, three combs and your children and grandchildren are everywhere..."

As the hair-combing song came to an end, Qi Yuxuan's eyes also became a little moist.

But she wasn't sad or upset. It was just going from the Grand Princess's residence to the palace. Besides, the palace used to be where her mother lived. From now on, the mother and daughter could meet often for meals or even stay together. It wasn't a separation, but just becoming closer people.

"Look, look how beautiful my daughter is! Isn't she going to make that brat Qi Jun completely infatuated?!" After a moment of sentimentality, the Grand Princess revealed her true colors.

She began to criticize men without restraint: "My goodness, men are all blinded by lust... If all else fails, apply more lip rouge later, and make that silly boy Qi Jun vomit and have diarrhea, so he'll know the saying 'lust is a knife above one's head'..."

"Mother!" Qi Yuxuan couldn't help but interrupt her, "Don't say such things, there are too many people here..."

The two ladies-in-waiting and a group of maids standing to the side had already lowered their heads, pretending not to exist.

It wasn't that they dared not offer advice, but rather that their princess was simply like that. Ever since she became the Grand Princess, whose seniority was even higher than the emperor's, she had become even more willful.

"Yes, yes, Yuxuan, you're right." The Grand Princess muttered, "Oh dear, I feel like I'm getting old, and I can't keep things to myself. I just say whatever's on my mind. It's really not good. What if he finds out and blames me? He's the emperor now, and his power is growing stronger."

Qi Yuxuan: "..."

The Grand Princess symbolically combed her hair, then put down the comb. While giving the phoenix crown and jewelry a final check, she smugly whispered, "However, there are advantages to marrying into the family. Yuan Yuan and I can finally drink to our hearts' content. Let's see if you can still interfere..."

Ever since Qi Yuxuan took charge of the Grand Princess and forbade her from drinking day and night, Nie Youran found it boring and rarely came to the manor.

If you come here, Qi Yuxuan will control you and forbid you from drinking, so it's better not to come at all.

Nie Youran, who had no children, no husband, was unusually allowed to drink only a little and not drink at all by her best friend's daughter. She got completely drunk, but she couldn't refute the advice given by the imperial physicians. She could only avoid Qi Yuxuan whenever she saw her.

"Mother!" Qi Yuxuan could no longer bear it and simply laid her cards on the table: "I have bribed the steward of the Nie family. The amount of wine purchased each month is fixed. I also have spies around you in the mansion. If I find out that you two are not restrained and are drinking recklessly, hmph."

She didn't say what would happen, but the Grand Princess stiffened: "I know, I know, I'm a grown woman now, not a child..."

Qi Yuxuan: "I think my mother is becoming more and more like a child. The other day, the kitchen staff complained to me that my mother ate ice cream late at night and threatened the cook not to tell me."

"Oh dear, today is your big day, don't be angry about this. At worst, I'll just stop eating ice cream in the winter. Quickly, help the princess with her makeup! I'll go out and see if everything else at the manor is taken care of." The Grand Princess said as she moved out.

The person had left, but the voice could still be faintly heard from outside: "Cook Li really went to complain? I'm going to fine him his entire month's salary!"

Qi Yuxuan's gaze returned to the bronze mirror in front of her, and she smiled helplessly.

Actually, she wasn't really angry. Indulging in alcohol and cold drinks was harmless. Seeing her mother gradually come back to life, instead of being like she was two years ago, seemingly gentle and unrestrained but actually stagnant, made her very happy.

Chang Le Palace.

Qi Jun didn't sleep a wink last night, even opening his eyes repeatedly as he counted the auspicious cloud patterns on the canopy above his head, his mind filled with anticipation for his wedding today.

He was still imagining what Qi Yuxuan would do throughout the day.

She must have gotten up very early, washed her face, dressed herself, changed into her wedding attire, and then rode in an eight-bearer phoenix palanquin, accompanied by the imperial entourage, to circle the city with her, receiving the adoration of the people. Afterwards, she would enter the palace to offer sacrifices to Heaven and Earth and to her ancestors...

Then comes the wedding night, the sharing of nuptial wine, the eating of "children's cakes," and then—

Feeling the changes in his body, Qi Jun sighed.

He is a normal man who has had these reactions from time to time since he was thirteen. He has tried to control them and suppress them so that they do not affect his mind, but in the end, it often backfires. The more he tries to suppress them, the less he can suppress them.

Unable to suppress it any longer, he simply stopped caring and let it react in various ways.

Later, after consulting with the imperial physician and confirming that there was only one solution, he started practicing martial arts every morning. When he was so tired that he couldn't even lift a finger, he naturally stopped paying attention to the changes in his body.

Today, he is getting married to the woman he loves.

He still felt that none of this was real.

Just two years ago, he only thought of Qi Yuxuan as a girl with a tragic fate who was pitiful and deserving of his help, but who did not need his assistance. Of course, the few times he took care of her were only because of his aunt.

After changing into a bright red wedding dress, Qi Jun stood in front of a bronze mirror as tall as a person and suddenly began to examine his own appearance.

Sun Miao stood to the side, looking at the emperor with suspicion and uncertainty, then at the bronze mirror. Something seemed amiss. "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"

Qi Jun raised his hand and touched his cheek, looking at his tired eyes from not having slept all night. He asked somewhat anxiously, "Sun Miao, do you think I should put on some makeup? Don't I look a bit haggard?"

"Huh?" Sun Miao was almost speechless with astonishment. He had only ever heard of women applying makeup, let alone His Majesty being the emperor. Why would he need to use his appearance to please others?!

However, he dared not tell the truth and could only laugh awkwardly, saying, "Your Majesty is overthinking it. You are as handsome and valiant as a dragon and as majestic as a phoenix. You don't need those things to adorn yourself; you are already as handsome as a god descended from heaven!"

That's the truth, not him flattering.

Even when the emperor was still the crown prince, countless noble ladies in the capital secretly fell in love with him because of his handsome face.