According to custom, when a girl gets married, her parents will tell her how to be humble and gentle, and take care of the household chores. Shen Ying held her daughter's hand and said softly, "Take good care of yourself. Nothing in the world is more important than yourself."
After saying this, she tilted her head slightly to look at the Prince of Chen. Seeing that he did not look unhappy, she bowed to him and said, "Thank you... Your Highness."
"Please rest assured, mother-in-law, I will definitely take care of Jiuzhu." Prince Chen secretly held Jiuzhu's hand under his sleeve and smiled at her: "As long as I am here, I will not let anyone bully her."
"Okay." Shen Ying pretended not to see the two people holding hands, bent down to pick up the cake on the table, picked it up with chopsticks and put it to Jiuzhu's mouth: "May your future life be like this dessert, sweet and carefree."
After Jiuzhu swallowed her snack, the official from the Ministry of Rites announced loudly: "The bride is getting ready!"
When Prince Chen saw Ming Jiyuan bending over and squatting in front of Jiuzhu, he stepped forward and said, "Brother, let me carry you."
Ming Cunfu could no longer bear it and stepped forward to stop Prince Chen: "Your Highness, I really can't let you do this."
Seeing that the Ming family was so determined to oppose it, Prince Chen gave up with regret: "Okay."
The eight ladies and the wives of the rich had nothing to say. They turned their heads away silently, pretending that they had not seen anything. How could they follow the bride to perform rituals at the prince's wedding?
The eight ladies often deal with the world of fame and fortune, and they know more about the affairs of the royal family than the wives of Quanfu. Since Su was canonized as the empress, many people began to suspect that His Majesty would soon canonize Prince Chen as the crown prince.
A prince who has a great chance of becoming the crown prince would rather risk being impeached by civil officials for not following traditional etiquette and insist on welcoming his bride in person, and even call on several other princes to help. How caring is this?
They looked at Miss Ming who was carried on her brother's back. It was said outside that Queen Su was extremely satisfied with Princess Chen. They thought it was just a polite remark, but they didn't expect that Queen Su was willing to let her son do this.
After a woman gets married, getting along with her mother-in-law is a difficult problem. Miss Ming is very lucky to be liked by her mother-in-law, who is the queen.
Prince Huai followed behind him with his hands behind his back, trying hard to put on a loving smile like an elder brother towards his younger brother.
"Things are a bit troublesome." Prince An looked sad and walked with heavy steps: "If the princess knew that my fifth brother went to the Ming family to pick up the bride in person, she would definitely quarrel with me for a long time after returning."
Prince Huai clicked his tongue and said, "If she dares to make a noise, you can go to sleep in the concubine's room. As your father's child, how can you be afraid of a woman?"
Prince An just smiled and didn't say anything. He was not afraid of women, but he was afraid of his own princess.
"Big brother, there is no concubine in the second brother's room." Prince Jing reminded in a low voice: "The second brother is... afraid of his wife."
"Don't, don't talk nonsense. I'm not afraid of concubines. I just don't want to take concubines." Prince An quickly denied it and changed the subject, saying, "The bride is about to leave the main gate. Let's hurry up and go to her."
"Since he won't take a concubine, will Lu Zhaoyi allow him to have only a concubine in his backyard?" Prince Jing murmured in a low voice, then turned to Prince Huai and said, "Lu Zhaoyi has a really good temper."
Prince Huai had no impression of Lu Zhaoyi, he only remembered that she was a quiet woman with a pretty appearance. She was originally a second-class maid serving the Queen Mother. One day, when my father went to pay respects to the Queen Mother, the Queen Mother gave Lu Zhaoyi to my father.
When he was a child, he heard people say that Lu Zhaoyi was a spy placed by the Empress Dowager to be close to his father, so she was never favored by his father.
In fact, since my father ascended the throne, he has favored Empress Su alone, and there is no difference between other concubines and Lu Zhaoyi.
When he was young and full of vigor, he asked his mother why his father favored Su and Yun Duqing alone. His mother did not answer him, but just looked at him quietly. It was not until he no longer had the courage to continue asking that his mother said a few words to him.
【Love between men and women is not important, but those who hold power have the right to choose whatever they like.】
"Brother? Brother?"
Prince Jing saw Prince Huai was in a daze and reminded him quietly: "The bride will soon be getting on the sedan chair."
Prince Huai came to his senses and looked at the sedan chair at the door. He felt sour in his heart again. When Yun Duqing married the princess, he used a sedan chair that could carry twelve people, but when he married the princess, he used a sedan chair that could carry eight people.
They are all princes, but there is a big difference between them.
Ming Jiyuan carried Jiuzhu on his back and placed her carefully in the sedan chair. He took the jade ruyi from the lady's hand and placed it on his sister's knees.
"Brother." Jiuzhu secretly took off the round fan covering her face and winked at Ming Jiyuan: "Don't be sad, and don't worry about me. Come over here and I'll tell you something in private."
Ming Jiyuan didn't care what others thought of him. He bent down without thinking and leaned his head towards Jiuzhu.
"Go back and tell Dad and Mom that Jiuzhu didn't leave our home, she just brought back a prince."
Ming Jiyuan's pupils trembled, and there was a bit more unspoken admiration in his eyes when he looked at his sister.
"Brother understands." Ming Jiyuan took a deep breath and said, "Sister, you must remember to take good care of yourself."
"Yeah." Jiuzhu nodded.
"Master Ming, the auspicious time has arrived. It's time to get up." The lady gritted her teeth and walked to Ming Jiyuan's side and reminded him in a low voice.
Ming Jiyuan took one last look at his sister, slowly lowered the curtain, and turned to look at Prince Chen.
After bowing to his uncle, Chen Chao turned around and rode on the horse with a big red flower tied to it, and said loudly, "Get up."
He turned his head and glanced at his three brothers following behind him.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the three princes maintained their stiff smiles and shouted loudly: "Move up!"
Prince Huai: "The flowers blossom into twin lotus flowers of wealth and splendor."
Prince An: "The house is filled with joy and happiness."
King Jing: "Dragons and phoenixes fly and the zithers sing."
"Get up."
The twelve strong men steadily lifted the dragon and phoenix sedan chair. The sound of firecrackers rang out, as if the whole capital city was bustling with activity.
The Ming family stood at the gate. Ming Jingzhou was holding a basin of water in his hand, but he couldn't splash it out.
"What do you mean by married daughter is like spilled water?" He made up his mind and turned his body to the side, splashing water on his own door: "My daughter, Ming Jingzhou, is still my daughter even if she is married."
"Father, Third Uncle hasn't cried yet, why are you crying?" Ming Cunfu turned around and saw his father secretly wiping his tears. He quickly took out his handkerchief and whispered to comfort him, "So many people are watching us."
"You don't understand." Ming Jinghai's eyes were filled with tears. "In three generations of our Ming family, we only had one daughter, Zhuzhu, and she was married off to a member of the royal family. It makes me sad to see this."
Ming Cunfu looked around and made sure no one was paying attention to this place before he spoke: "My son thinks that His Royal Highness Prince Chen is a very good person. Not only did he come to our Ming family to pick up the bride in person, he also asked other princes to be best men. This shows that he loves Chong Jiuzhu very much."
"He loves Chongjiuzhu, that's as it should be." Every elder sees his own daughter as a jade cabbage and other people's sons as pigs trying to get the cabbage.
"But I don't think I saw the Fourth Prince." Ming Cunfu asked in a low voice, "Could it be that the Fourth Prince is resentful of you and Uncle San for exposing what the Zheng family and the Zheng clan did, so he doesn't want to come?"
"We should think positively." Ming Jinghai wiped the tears from his eyes: "Maybe the Fourth Prince's hip injury hasn't healed yet, so he can't ride a horse?"
Ming Cunfu: “…”
This might not be a good thing for the Fourth Prince, right?
In the procession of flower sedan chairs, musicians dressed in red played music and attracted countless people to watch.
"The groom is so handsome."
"Did you see the dragon-patterned crown with pearls that the groom is wearing? Only princes and grandchildren of the emperor would dare to wear such a crown."
"Wow, no wonder there are red lanterns hanging on both sides of the main road. The bride must be very beautiful."
"Why do you say that?"
"Three months ago, a prince also got married, but the wedding was not this grand."
"How can those princes compare to this one? This one is the Prince of Chen, who is both civil and military. See the three handsome young men following behind him? They are all the Prince of Chen's brothers."
"It turns out that the story of the overbearing prince and the pretty county lady is true..." A big sister carrying a vegetable basket looked at the sedan chair with excitement, her voice trembling: "The storyteller said that the overbearing prince once swore to the pretty county lady that he would marry her with the most grand wedding in the city, and he did it!"
The book reader closest to her argued: "Stories are just telling stories, and those are all fake."
"If it's fake, then how did this grand wedding come about?" The eldest sister rolled her eyes at the scholar: "You treacherous and mean-spirited scholars, how can you understand the overbearing prince's infatuation with the county lord, humph!"
She twisted her waist and chased after the sedan chair, mingling with other women, boasting about this wedding that was the envy of countless women.
"I think you are just being sour here because you don't want to spend money on your wife." Another girl said in a sarcastic tone, "Are you jealous that the prince got the top spot in the exam and you didn't?"
Scholar: “…”
What kind of nonsense is this?
He wanted to retort, but seeing the fierce gazes of the girls around him, he was afraid that he would be surrounded and beaten, so he could only leave in shame.
He just felt a bit of inexplicable resentment towards Prince Chen and Princess Chen. He wanted to see what expressions these women would have when Prince Chen took a concubine.
The sedan chair was about to arrive at Suzaku Gate, but the elders of the royal family were still arguing about which gate the sedan chair should enter.
"Although Prince Chen is the legitimate son, he is only a prince. It is an exception for him to marry in the palace. How can he allow the princess' sedan chair to pass through the main gate?"
"Since he is the legitimate son, it doesn't matter if he passes through the main gate of Suzaku..."
"Bah! I think you just want to please Empress Su, so you ignore the rules of our ancestors!"
"Stop arguing, the sedan has arrived."
Before the elders could react, they saw a line of dragon guards approaching the Zhongzheng Gate, standing on both sides and kneeling on one knee.
"Congratulations to Prince Chen on his wedding. His Majesty has ordered that the Zhongzheng Gate be opened!"
The elders who had been arguing fiercely just now were suddenly dumbfounded. They had never expected that the emperor, who was usually respectful and kind to them, would ignore their opinions and use such a strong attitude to force the Dragon Guard to open the Zhongzheng Gate.
After glancing at the swords on the dragon guards' waists, the elders shut up knowingly.
They are all old guys who have survived two dynasties and still managed to keep their status and lives. Their greatest advantage is not that they have royal blood flowing in their veins, but that they know the current affairs.
Your Majesty, as the master of this palace, does not mind Princess Chen's sedan chair being carried in through the central gate, so what else should they mind?
The Zhongzheng Gate slowly opened in front of everyone.
The smile on Prince Huai's face suddenly became uglier than crying.
Zhongzheng Gate!
The only one who could enter through the Zhongzheng Gate was the Empress!
Father dotes on his fifth brother, to this extent? He gritted his teeth, and when he raised his head, he tried to make the smile on his face look bright and natural.
He is not sour, not at all.
Prince An breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Zhongzheng Gate opening before him. He finally thought of a way to coax the princess.
If the princess asked him why he did not go to her parents' home to welcome the bridal sedan in person, he would say that his fifth brother's wedding was an exception and that everything was done at the emperor's will.
No matter how the prince personally welcomed the bride, or how heavy the dowry was, or how heavy the bridal sedan chair was, none of them could compare to the grandeur of the bridal sedan chair passing through the main gate of Suzaku.
As long as he pushed everything to his father, the princess would not send him to lie down in the study.
Prince Chen glanced at the wide-open Zhongzheng Gate, turned his head to look at the sedan chair, touched the horse, and rode its hooves into the Zhongzheng Gate.
"Congratulations to the prince and princess on their wedding!"
The Imperial Guards, Dragon Guards, and Golden Armor Guards knelt down in unison and said, "May the prince and princess live happily together forever."
Behind the Zhongzheng Gate is a red carpet that stretches as far as the eye can see.
Petals fell from the palace wall, and a few of them secretly fell into the flower carriage. Jiuzhu lowered her head to pick up the petals that fell on her body, and found that these flowers were not seasonal flowers.
She had heard from her brother that some families would spend a lot of money to build greenhouses and cultivate new flower varieties in order to keep their flowers blooming all year round, which cost a huge amount of money.
How much money did His Majesty and His Majesty spend on her wedding with His Highness?
Picking up the round fan to shield her face, she lifted the window curtain a little and peeked outside secretly.
On both sides of the palace path, palace maids and eunuchs holding lanterns with the word "happiness" on them stood every few steps. Countless petals were flying in the sky, red gauze was entangled, and there were waves of joy. Everything seemed like a dream.
The sedan chair passed through one door after another. As the night grew darker, the wedding lanterns in the hands of the palace maids and eunuchs formed a long dragon, illuminating the entire palace with brilliant lights.
"Get off the carriage!"
The Prince dismounted from his horse and walked to the door of the carriage.
"Your Highness, please knock on the sedan chair with your feet."
Knocking on the door with feet indicates that after marriage men are superior and women are inferior, and the husband is the sky of the wife.
The prince raised his foot, but then put it back down. He bent down, and in the astonished eyes of the ladies, he gently knocked on the sedan chair three times with his knuckles: "Ming Xiaozhu, I welcome you in."
When he opened the curtain, he saw Jiuzhu's smiling eyes exposed outside the round fan.
He smiled, stretched out one hand in front of her, and took the Ruyi off her knee with the other hand: "Come, follow me."
Jiuju put her hand in his palm.
"The bride alights from her sedan chair, and drums and music welcome her."
The bright red carpet is so soft that walking on it feels like walking in the clouds.
"The newlyweds are blessed with red, and auspicious clouds surround the house."
Someone stuffed a red silk into Jiuzhu's hand. She lowered her head to look at the big red embroidery ball in the middle of the red silk and secretly glanced at Prince Chen.
"Don't be nervous." Prince Chen whispered in her ear, "You are my princess now. No one dares to disrespect you."
"Your Highness, I'm not nervous." Jiuzhu pinched Hongyi tightly: "I'm just curious about what you look like now, Your Highness."
"Do I look good today?" Prince Chen gently squeezed her hand.
"Looks good." Jiuzhu added, "Your Highness looks good every day."
"The newlyweds marry and their marriage is a lasting blessing."
After entering the gate of Qilin Palace, Prince Chen looked at the brazier placed in front of the two of them, bent down, picked up Jiuzhu horizontally, and stepped over the brazier.
The eight ladies who were accompanying the two of them: "..."
The brazier is not something that men should cross.
Forget it, forget it. Ever since Prince Chen insisted on going to the Ming family to pick up the bride, everything has gone haywire.
Before Jiuzhu could react, she was picked up and put down by the Prince. She wanted to look back, but she remembered the rule that brides cannot look back on their wedding day, so she had to resist the urge to look back: "Your Highness, what was on the ground just now?"
"Nothing." Prince Chen bent down and adjusted the hem of Jiuzhu's wedding dress: "Anyway, you came over with me."
"Oh." Jiuzhu followed Prince Chen and walked forward, stepped onto the red carpet, and walked into the main hall of Qilin Palace, which was already full of guests.
All the noble people in the court are here, the only ones missing are Jiuzhu's family members.
The sound of firecrackers rang out one after another. Jiuzhu saw the emperor and the empress sitting at the top. Most of the guests standing on both sides bowed and saluted her and the prince.
The ceremonial officer stepped forward and read a long speech of praise.
The central idea is to praise her and how she and His Highness are a perfect match, and to wish them a long-lasting love.
After the ceremonial officer left after reading the article, Prince Chen whispered in Jiuzhu's ear, "This article was written by my father and mother personally."
Jiuzhu blinked. Really?
Prince Chen nodded.
He saw with his own eyes that the two people flipped through several books just for a certain sentence.
"Bow."
"Bow to heaven and earth."
"Bow to your parents."
Jiuzhu turned around and knelt down towards Emperor Longfeng and Queen Su.
The princes looked at the Prince and Princess kneeling before their father, and their emotions were mixed. They were getting married in the palace, and not only could their mother not leave the palace, but when they paid respects to their parents, they could only kneel before the personal seal that represented their father.
Yun Yanze glanced at his three brothers who came in with Yun Duqing and concealed his doubts.
Why did the three of them come to the wedding hall together? Moreover, they came so late, and the emperor didn't seem unhappy at all.
This feeling of being kept in the dark and being the only one excluded is not a happy one. He lowered his eyelids and looked coldly at the smiling Yun Duqing. After seeing him helping Ming Jiuzhu to get up, his eyes fell on the two people's clasped hands.
"The couple bows to each other."
Jiuzhu and King Chen turned sideways at the same time, looked into each other's eyes, and smiled at the same time.
Prince Chen couldn't see the corners of Jiuzhu's mouth raised, but he knew she was smiling because her eyes were so bright and beautiful.
He raised his hands, placed his left hand on top of his right hand, raised them above his eyebrows, and bowed down.
The tops of their heads touched, and Prince Chen chuckled. He held the dragon and phoenix crown on Jiuzhu's head and helped her stand up.
Emperor Longfeng and Empress Su looked at the lovers who were secretly glancing at each other, unable to hide the smiles on their faces.
Liu Zhongbao took a step forward and announced with a smile in his voice: "Send the newlyweds to the bridal chamber."
Prince Chen took Jiuzhu to pay respects to his father, the emperor and his mother, and then held her hand and walked towards the back hall.
Emperor Longfeng knew that with him and Mei Dai present, the guests would not dare to laugh loudly. After all, a wedding should be lively to bring good luck.
"I and the Queen will return to the palace first." Emperor Longfeng looked at Prince Huai and said, "Boss, you are the eldest brother. You and the officials from the Ministry of Rites should entertain the guests well."
"Your son obeys your command." Prince Huai responded hastily, and his fake smile was more sincere.
In this situation, the emperor still trusted his son the most.
Empress Su nodded slightly to Prince Huai and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
"Mother, your words are too serious. As an elder brother, it is my duty to help my younger brother entertain the guests." Prince Huai bowed respectfully, not daring to show the slightest disrespect.
He could be impolite in front of his father, but he dared not treat Empress Su with disrespect.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu and Prince Chen walked around several corridors before finally arriving at their wedding room: "Qilin Palace is so big."
"Are you tired?" Prince Chen helped her sit down and said, "Eat something first to fill your stomach."
"Your Highness." The eight ladies and the wives of the rich finally couldn't stand it anymore: "You haven't drunk the wedding wine yet."
Well, let the bride sit down first after entering the door. According to folk customs, this is a sign that after the two get married, the bride will be the head of the family.
The first lady took a look at the lovely Princess Chen. She didn't look like a woman with a strong personality at all, which showed that the folk customs were not correct.
"Your Highness, please accept the bride's blessing fan first."
Jiuzhu held the fan handle with his right hand and supported the fan with his left hand, then placed the fan in Prince Chen's hand.
Under the candlelight, people are more beautiful than flowers.
The Prince put the fan into the wooden box, took two cups of wine from the lady, and handed one to Jiuzhu: "Have you ever drunk wine before?"
"No." Jiuzhu shook her head: "Master said that alcohol harms the soul and should not be consumed."
Prince Chen chuckled and entwined his arms with hers: "I'm sorry that you have to drink a glass for me today."
After drinking a glass of warm wine, red clouds quickly crept up Jiuzhu's cheeks. She frowned. The wine tasted really bad.
"Your master is right. Alcohol hurts people." Prince Chen took the wine glass from her fingertips and said, "From now on, we won't drink anymore."
He raised his hand, signaling the ladies and Mrs. Quanfu to leave.
The ladies of state and wives of married women could not wait to leave. This wedding was too much trouble, and they could not bear the various unexpected actions of the prince.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu pointed to the heavy dragon and phoenix wedding crown on her head and said, "Help me take it off quickly. My neck hurts."
"Wait a minute." Prince Chen stood up, walked behind Jiuzhu, and examined the Dragon and Phoenix Crown for a long time before he figured out how to take it off.
"It's quite heavy." After placing the dragon and phoenix crown on the table, the Prince asked the eunuch to change the table to a fresh hot dish: "Eat something first."
The room was somewhat quiet. Jiuzhu looked at him with moist eyes: "Your Highness."
"Hmm?" Prince Chen picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and put it in the bowl in front of her: "What's wrong?"
"I feel a little dizzy." Jiuzhu held her chin with one hand, "Your Highness, are you still going out to entertain the guests?"
"I'll be back soon after I go out for a walk." He reached out and touched her cheek, which was a little hot. He smiled and said, "Your alcohol tolerance is so poor?"
"My mind is clear, but I feel a little dizzy." Jiuzhu picked up the bowl to eat. Prince Chen scooped a bowl of porridge for her. After she finished the porridge, she did not get up and leave the room.
Only after the eunuch urged him several times did he ruffle Jiuzhu's hair and said, "Go sit on the bed and rest first. I'll be back soon. There are palace maids and eunuchs waiting outside the door. Call them if you need anything."
"Oh." Jiuzhu nodded in a daze. After Prince Chen left, she stood up and sat down on the bed, and found something under the quilt.
When I lifted the quilt, I saw longan, red dates, peanuts and walnuts.
Jiuzhu crushed a walnut with his bare hands, took out the walnut kernel and put it into his mouth. He curiously continued to turn over the bed and found a few books under the pillow.
Book?
Jiuzhu picked up the book, glanced at it, and threw it aside without much interest. She sat cross-legged on the quilt, crushed all the walnuts, took out the kernels and put them together.
As soon as the Prince of Chen left, everyone gathered around him enthusiastically. Especially those royal playboys who used to follow the Prince of Chen, they came up to him with wine glasses in hand and said, "Please rest assured, Your Highness, we have prepared everything you asked us to do and will send it over in the next few days."
Prince Chen looked at them silently, thinking carefully about what he had told them.
"I just didn't expect that famous ancient books would be so expensive. In order to buy these things, our brothers' wallets have been emptied." The royal dandies felt more bitter than Huang Lian. The books that gave people a headache just by looking at them were actually more expensive than crickets fighting chickens.
It's hard to be a good person.
"Yes." Prince Chen nodded mysteriously: "Very good."
Anyway, it's better to talk about buying books in front of him than talking about fighting chickens.
There were a few brave ones who wanted to make trouble in the bridal chamber, but they were ruthlessly rejected by Prince Chen.
"My princess is timid and thin-skinned. You should speak politely in front of her in the future and don't scare her."
Do the royal dandies dare to refuse this request?
They didn't dare and could only agree with a bitter face.
But what is the standard for being more polite?
He said he would only wander around once and then go back, and he was determined not to wander around twice. The King of Chen hastily toasted everyone and walked towards the backyard.
Everyone knew that today was the wedding night, and no one was so ignorant as to stop it.
When he opened the door, Prince Chen saw Jiuzhu crushing a walnut with two fingers.
"Your Highness, you're back?" Jiuzhu remembered the book she had thrown aside, and she lay on the bed and picked it up: "Your Highness, there are picture books here."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
