44. Wedding

◎One hand◎

Chapter 44

As the days of waiting to get married passed, she felt neither excited nor nervous, nor worried or anxious, but simply calmly accepted the outcome she had brought about.

Marrying Ji Ci is necessary for the mission, to obtain a long-term antidote, and secondly to seek shelter.

She accepted that she was such a selfish person and could only try her best to compensate this person who looked cold on the outside but was gentle on the inside in her future life.

She learned everything very quickly and well, except embroidery, so her purse and handkerchiefs were always blank.

But now it was her wedding after all, so during her stay at the Duke of Anguo's mansion, she still worked hard to embroider a purse with a mandarin duck playing in the water.

The Lantern Festival was a major event in Shengjing City, with its vibrant lights and endless bustle. Jiang Qiuye, who had initially been feeling somewhat discouraged, finally went out at Qiu Ying's gracious invitation.

The streets were crowded with pedestrians and vendors, so Jiang Qiuye asked Qiu Ying to walk on the inside of the street where there were fewer people and no chance of collision.

It had just snowed during the day, but fortunately the snow on the roads had been cleared for the Lantern Festival.

Qiu Ying wanted to light lanterns, so they went to the river, each bought a lantern, and wrote a wish on it.

Jiang Qiuye noticed that Qiu Ying only wanted to protect the health of the baby in her belly and had no other requests.

But Jiang Qiuye didn't write anything. He just lit an empty lamp and watched the two small lights flashing and gradually flowing into the river with the waves.

"Do you really not regret keeping this child?" Jiang Qiuye asked as he looked at the sea of ​​lights in the distance.

"I have no idea."

Turning to look at Qiu Ying, he saw that she seemed to have grown up overnight after making the decision.

Qiu Ying touched her belly, her eyes soft as she spoke, "Actually, at first, I was resistant to this unexpected child. She was proof of my shame and stupidity. Even though you warned me about Huo Heng, I still clung to my luck and placed my trust in him. No, it was more because of his family background."

"She's the nephew of the Queen. I never imagined they could fall so easily. I used to think marriage was truly the most important thing for a woman. It wasn't until I was about to abort this baby that I suddenly felt the reluctance to let go. I've finally become just an ordinary mother."

Jiang Qiuye remained silent, as if she sensed Qiu Ying had become stronger. Although Qiu Ying was a concubine's daughter, she had been pampered since childhood, so her mind was simpler than hers, and she was more easily gullible.

This cheap sister is so stupid.

As the two were walking back to the Anguo Mansion, they suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves in the middle of the road, followed by a loud shout: "Prince Qi has arrived!"

"Prince Qi has arrived!"

The crowd on the main road retreated to avoid the wide main road. Jiang Qiuye's heart tightened, and he immediately followed suit and stepped aside.

A moment later, Ji Ci came riding in from a distance. He was wearing soft armor and had a cold and sharp demeanor, very different from his usual self. Following behind him was a small group of light cavalry, heading towards the palace.

This was the first time I had seen him in three months, since the last time we met at the King of Wei's coronation ceremony. His face seemed a little thinner, perhaps because he hadn't eaten well.

She came back to her senses and saw Qiu Ying staring at her strangely. She couldn't help but raise her fingers and scratch her cheek, avoiding Qiu Ying's gaze. "Let's go, let's go back."

…

A celebration banquet was held in the imperial palace, not only for the Lantern Festival, but also to celebrate the suppression of the rebellion of Zhuo Jun Wang in the southeast. Three months ago, Zhuo Jun Wang suddenly launched an uprising with 150,000 troops, starting from Quzhou and capturing Xingyan City and three other cities.

The emperor appointed Zhou Chenghu as General Yongwei and sent him to quell the rebellion, but he fell into a trap and was trapped in Hulu Valley, where he was attacked from both sides.

Fortunately, the Prince of Qi led 20,000 troops and attacked Dianzhou. This area was under the jurisdiction of the Shangguan family, the maternal family of Prince Zhuojun's wife. Prince Zhuojun was forced to withdraw his troops to rescue Dianzhou. This strategy of "encircling Wei to save Zhao" relieved General Yongwei's predicament. The two armies later merged and took advantage of the situation to capture Quzhou, Prince Zhuojun's fiefdom, and captured the rebel alive.

Today, we will lead the army back to Shengjing from Quzhou.

During the banquet, the emperor laughed heartily and said, "With General Yongwei and Prince Qi, I feel very relieved. Fortunately, Prince Zhuojun's rebellion has been quelled, otherwise Prince Qi would not have been able to make it to his wedding the day after tomorrow."

"Exactly one month later, I will behead the entire clan of King Zhuojun in the vegetable market to strengthen the prestige of the Great Jin and to celebrate the marriage of Prince Qi."

Ji Ci smiled slightly, drank the wine, and said: "This time, it was thanks to General Yongwei that he cut off the leg of Zhuo Jun's horse with a single blow, causing him to break his bones. This made it easy to capture him. In terms of merit, this king cannot compare to General Yongwei."

Zhou Chenghu drank the toast and said with a smile, "Your Highness Prince Qi is a master of military tactics, and his archery skills are even better than mine."

He shook his head. "Fortunately, this battle ended quickly. I didn't even know that Prince Qi's wedding was coming up soon. It almost delayed him. Really..."

I just returned to Shengjing and got married two days later, although it was a bit rushed. Fortunately, the Ministry of Rites had been handling the preparations for the wedding, so everything was ready.

"General, don't worry. Military and national affairs come first."

"Okay! Then I will take this opportunity today to congratulate Prince Qi on his wedding."

Seeing this, the people around also congratulated him.

"I heard that the daughter of Duke Anguo is as beautiful as a fairy. Your Highness is truly blessed."

Ji Ci smiled slightly and did not answer anyone. He just drank the wine silently, rubbing his fingers gently under the table.

The news of Prince Zhuojun's rebellion had already spread back to Shengjing, but the news of Prince Qi leading the troops did not spread until the second day after he returned to the city. The people were in an uproar, and the news spread that Prince Qi had won many battles and made great military achievements.

…

Two days later, it was an auspicious day predicted by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory.

Jiang Qiuye was woken up early in the morning by Jinhong and a group of maids. They all jokingly bathed her, dressed her, and put her in wedding clothes. This was her second time wearing wedding clothes, but it was completely different from the first time.

In addition to the fact that the dress made by the princess was more luxurious than before, her mood also seemed different.

Imperial weddings didn't involve personally welcoming the bride, as the ceremony was fraught with complex rituals. Donning the heavy phoenix crown and veil, she was then guided through the wedding process by officials from the Ministry of Rites. After bidding farewell to the Duke of Anguo, she boarded a red sedan chair and, along with her red makeup, was carried to Prince Qi's residence.

The palace, which was deserted in the past, is now very lively. The previously deserted courtyard has been simply renovated, with red silk and lanterns hung everywhere and firecrackers crackling.

After Jiang Qiuye was helped out of the sedan chair by the matchmaker, she suddenly smelled a faint scent of bergamot, which seemed very familiar.

Covered by the veil, she couldn't see the other person, so she could only lower her head. She saw a pair of red boots with gold thread approaching, and then a hand was stretched out to support her.

Looking at that hand, Jiang Qiuye suddenly remembered that his first impression of Zhang Liang was a hand.

Unlike the weathered hands of the general, Ji Ci's fingers were distinct and slender. She gently placed her hands on his, and did not feel the uncomfortable sense of aggression like Zhang Liang did before, but felt extremely safe.

It gave her the illusion that she might really spend her life with him in the future.

They were led steadily into the palace. Since the late emperor had passed away many years ago, today it was Imperial Tutor Tang who would sit in the hall and accept the two men's greetings.

His face was full of smiles. Although he felt sorry that Susu could not become his wife, he was still moved and happy to see his most outstanding student getting married.

After the wedding ceremony, Jiang Qiuye was led by everyone to the bedroom in the main courtyard which served as the wedding room.

She knew that the person standing in front of her was Ji Ci, who was about to lift her veil. She suddenly felt nervous, as if in a dream.

Ji Ci took the scale rod from the matchmaker and lifted the veil. As the object blocking her view was removed, Jiang Qiuye raised her head tremblingly and met the eyes of the man in front of her.

A light snow fell outside the window. Inside the room, the red curtains were fragrant, and the candlelight flickered. His fingers trembled slightly. She was wearing makeup today, her red lips appearing especially gorgeous, her eyes, like blossoms of love, slightly raised, like the shimmer of spring water, melting the ice and snow of winter. With her slender and graceful figure, she must be a flower goddess.

Everyone in the room took a deep breath upon seeing the bride's appearance. The legendary daughter of the Duke of Anguo was indeed incredibly beautiful. No wonder Prince Qi didn't care that she was a widow and wanted to marry her.

Jiang Qiuye was also captivated by the appearance of the man before her. She had seen him in his white robe, so elegant and graceful, and she remembered how he looked so free and unrestrained on horseback yesterday. Today, in his crimson robe and jade belt, he looked even more handsome and elegant.

Ji Ci still had no expression on his face. He gently put down the scale and sat down beside the bed. He drank the wedding wine with Jiang Qiuye and ate millet. After that, the matchmaker picked out a strand of their hair, cut it off, tied it into a knot, and put it into her purse.

After all this was over, he left the bridal chamber amid the crowd's clamor to attend the banquet with the guests.

The originally bustling bridal chamber suddenly became quiet, with only Jinhong and Mingyue as companions. Jiang Qiuye felt a little uncomfortable under the pressure of the phoenix crown and twisted her neck.

Mingyue never expected that the girl she used to serve would actually become the princess of a county, and she herself would be transferred to the main courtyard to serve.

"Princess, would you like to bathe and change first? Or would you like to have some food first?"

"Take a bath."

After saying that, Jinhong and Mingyue stepped forward, took off the phoenix crown on Jiang Qiuye's head, removed all the jewelry, and took off her heavy clothes.

The hot water was already prepared, and she stepped into the tub. The fatigue of the whole day finally dissipated, and she sighed softly in comfort. Mingyue looked at Jiang Qiuye's porcelain-like skin and soft and plump figure. Not to mention men, even women would want to pinch her.

"The Princess is so beautiful. I believe the Prince will dote on her tonight." Mingyue couldn't help but say as she scattered flower petals.

Jiang Qiuye, who had never been shy, blushed unconsciously after hearing this. She suddenly felt nervous and hid in the bathtub, with the water covering her chin.

She said coquettishly, "Don't talk nonsense."

After a bath, Mingyue dried her and changed her into a red silk nightgown. After drying her hair, she waited for Jiang Qiuye to sit back on the bed before leaving and closing the door.

After a busy day, my stomach, which was not hungry at first, suddenly felt a little sour, but I didn’t want to call Jinhong and Mingyue in again.

Suddenly, I felt a bulge under the quilt. Remembering that there was a lot of food under it when we got married, I didn't hesitate and just opened it. Sure enough, there were dates, longans, and peanuts spread out on the bed.

How uncomfortable would it be to just sleep directly?

She never understood such formalities, so she ate the dates one by one and pushed the remaining ones she didn't want to eat aside.

After waiting for a long time, I finally heard footsteps coming from the door and a voice of "Prince".

Jiang Qiuye's heart tightened and he immediately sat back on the edge of the bed, his heart pounding.

The door to the bridal chamber was pushed open. Ji Ci seemed to have drunk a lot of wine, and even his steps were a little unsteady. After the door closed, he bumped into the screen headfirst.

"Husband." Jiang Qiuye was startled and hurried forward to support him. He shook his head and became a little more sober. Finally, she took him to the bed.

After Ji Ci sat on the bed, he politely separated her with his hands, took off his outer robe and boots without looking at her.

The candles in the bridal chamber were still burning. After a moment's silence, he stood up and walked towards the clean room, saying, "I will go take a bath. Princess, please rest first."

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