Pei Zhi changed into some light clothes, while Chunhua looked at what she had received that day.

"Princess, these are gifts from the Xie family."

Pei Zhi opened the box, inside was a bracelet. Pei Zhi took it out and examined it in her hand.

Wow, this is really beautiful.

Pei Zhi handed it to Chunhua: "It looks nice. You can wear it."

Without a second thought, Chunhua immediately knelt on the ground. "Princess, please forgive me. I was merely amazed and dared not have any wild ideas."

Pei Zhi took Chunhua's hand and placed it in Chunhua's palm, saying, "I don't usually like these things, you can keep them."

Chunhua mustered her courage and looked up at Pei Zhi. Seeing that the princess wasn't joking with her, Chunhua finally dared to accept the item.

"This servant will keep it close to my body."

"There are too many people and too many eyes in the palace. When you marry me, you can wear it outside."

When Pei Zhi's marriage was mentioned, Chunhua's eyes welled up with tears again.

"Princess, you have no idea how nasty the rumors have been going on in the palace these past few days."

Pei Zhi asked curiously, "Oh, tell me about it."

Actually, Pei Zhi knew without even thinking what everyone would say.

Because of his painting skills, Pei Zhi has been visiting Emperor Pei several times these days.

Many people assumed that Pei Zhi's husband was not from a powerful or wealthy family.

It won't be too bad.

No one expected that Emperor Pei would marry off Princess Pei Zhi to a merchant family.

Even if they were imperial merchants, they were still just businessmen.

"Those palace servants all say that His Majesty married the princess into the Qin family for the Qin family's wealth."

Pei Zhi nodded. "Perhaps that's how it is."

Emperor Pei even told Pei Zhi that the Qin family was truly as wealthy as a country.

Since no one from the Qin family had entered the court as an official, and Emperor Pei wanted to use the Qin family for his own purposes, he had no choice but to find a princess to marry into the family.

Those princesses who had their mothers protecting them naturally did not want to.

"Princess, how can you still laugh?"

Seeing that Pei Zhi could still smile, Chunhua's tone became even more mournful.

"If I don't laugh, can I cry?" Pei Zhi comforted her, "Since the marriage is arranged, just wait to get married."

Seeing that the princess could be so open-minded, Chunhua could only sigh softly and continue sorting the gifts.

"Princess, this is a gift from the Qin family."

Pei Zhi was curious about what gifts her future husband's family would prepare for her.

Pei Zhi opened the box and was immediately stung so badly that she squinted her eyes.

Chunhua stared, her mouth agape, also startled by the gift in the box.

"Princess, the Qin family is really rich."

Pei Zhi picked up the hairpin from the box and nodded in agreement.

The Qin family gifted her a set of gold jewelry, which Pei Zhi found quite heavy in her hands.

This gift is really too practical.

However, this gift is also very much in line with the Qin family's status.

Chunhua reached out and touched the hairpin: "Wow, it's real gold!"

Pei Zhi closed the box and put the item away. "Let's put it in the box. I guess I won't have a chance to wear it."

Pei Zhi really couldn't imagine what it would look like if she wore such a heavy and flamboyant thing on her head one day.

She probably will never wear it in her life.

Chunhua nodded repeatedly and picked up the box with some difficulty.

Before they knew it, it was Pei Zhi's wedding day.

After all, it was a marriage bestowed by Emperor Pei, and the Empress allowed Pei Zhi to marry within the Changqiu Palace.

On that day, a large wedding procession arrived.

Pei Zhi's elder brother, the Fifth Prince, still did not attend.

Yan Xinyue did come, and even gave Pei Zhi a set of jewelry and said a few auspicious words.

Pei Zhi glanced at Yan Xinyue's pale face and roughly knew that Yan Xinyue's days in Pei Yuance's backyard were not easy.

Before she got married, Yan Xinyue was the only daughter of the Yan family.

After marrying Pei Yuance, she'll have to contend with a bunch of women in the back courtyard, even if it's just a matter of time.

The concubine who entered the household on the same day as her was the niece of the Empress's family.

Pei Zhi only heard that on the day of Pei Yuance's wedding, he went to the concubine's room and left Yan Xinyue waiting in the bridal chamber.

When Pei Zhi was covered with a handkerchief, she was also thinking about how she should deal with the situation if her husband had too many people in his harem.

The marriage was arranged by Emperor Pei, who also provided Pei Zhi with a dowry.

Emperor Pei took the lead, and the Empress added some as well.

Emperor Pei had a former official's residence found in the capital and slightly renovated to serve as the princess's residence.

However, according to the rules passed down from our ancestors, a princess must stay at her husband's home for a month before she can return to her own residence.

Granny Quanfu helped Pei Zhi into the bridal sedan chair, where the Qin family's wedding party was already waiting outside the palace gates.

After the bridal sedan chair was lifted, the Empress asked, "Has the Fifth Prince not arrived yet?"

The old woman shook her head. "Should I send someone to call them?"

"Never mind." The Empress covered her mouth with a handkerchief and yawned.

“They are siblings. Even the fifth prince is unwilling to give Princess Chang Le face. It’s no use for me to force him.”

Chang Le was Pei Zhi's title, bestowed by the Empress.

"To be honest, the Fifth Prince is too short-sighted. He should at least come to see his own sister off on her wedding."

"Hmph." The Empress snorted lightly. "Fifth Prince, you're just too short-sighted. You think Chang Le won't be able to help you in the future, so you're not even willing to pretend anymore."

The old woman helped the Empress up. "Yes, in principle, this marriage was chosen by His Majesty. The Fifth Prince should have come out of respect for His Majesty."

"He's a shameless person, and I'm too lazy to remind him."

Pei Yuanze is not the Empress's biological son, so naturally the Empress is unwilling to go to great lengths to help him.

Following behind the bridal sedan chair were Pei Zhi's personal maids and some other palace servants.

Pei Zhi's dowry was delivered to the princess's residence three days before the wedding banquet.

When the Qin family first proposed marriage, they sent 188 loads of betrothal gifts, which was a great honor for Pei Zhi.

The betrothal gifts were delivered to Changqiu Palace, filling the courtyard to the brim.

The Empress glanced at the betrothal gifts; most of them were gold and silver jewelry, banknotes, land deeds, shops, and other valuable items.

Unlike those aristocratic families who would offer betrothal gifts such as treasured books, rare editions, or ancient paintings, this was different.

The Empress looked down on these things, but accepted a few items and had the palace servants add a few treasured antiques to them, all of which were to be included as Pei Zhi's dowry.

They arrived at the Qin residence amidst the music and fanfare.

Pei Zhi was carried into the house, stepped over the brazier, and bowed to heaven and earth.

Pei Zhi was a princess, so she naturally didn't need to kneel down to pay respects to her parents-in-law. She only bowed to heaven and earth with Qin Xiangyang.

After paying respects to heaven and earth, they were led to the bridal chamber.

Pei Zhi was of noble status, and no one came to make a ruckus during their wedding night.

The Qin family's relatives stood respectfully inside the house, occasionally letting out some laughter.

Qin Xiangyang accepted the congratulatory title and lifted Pei Zhi's veil.

As soon as the veil fell to the ground, gasps of surprise rang out from inside the room.

"The princess is so beautiful."

"Big brother is so lucky."

Pei Zhi also raised her head and looked at her husband whom she had never met before.