According to local customs, when a girl gets married, her parents will tell her how to be humble, submissive, and take care of household chores as a wife of another man. 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 turned 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 on the sedan chair!"
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, Prince Chen gave up with regret: "Okay."
The eight ladies of noble birth and the wives of all the blessed ladies were speechless. They turned their heads away silently, pretending that they saw nothing. How could they follow the bride to perform the ceremony at the prince's wedding?
The eight ladies often deal in the world of fame and fortune and know more about royal affairs than the ladies of Quanfu. Ever since Su was canonized, many people began to suspect that His Majesty would soon enthrone 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 personally welcoming the bride, and even calls 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 Empress Su was extremely satisfied with Princess Chen. They thought it was just a polite remark, but they didn't expect that Empress Su was willing to let her son do this.
After a woman gets married, getting along with her mother-in-law becomes a problem. Miss Ming is very lucky to be liked by her mother-in-law who is the queen.
King 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 distressed 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."
King Huai sighed 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 laughed dryly and did not respond. He was not afraid of women, but he was afraid of his own princess.
"Big brother, the second brother has no concubines in his room." Prince Jing reminded in a low voice: "The second brother is...henpecked."
"Don't, don't talk nonsense. I'm not henpecked. I just don't want to take a concubine." Prince An quickly denied it and changed the subject, saying, "The bride is about to leave the main gate. Let's catch up."
"If he doesn't take a concubine, will Consort Lu allow him to have only one concubine in his backyard?" Prince Jing murmured in a low voice, then turned to Prince Huai and said, "Consort Lu has a really good temper."
King Huai had no impression of Concubine Lu. He only remembered that she was a quiet woman with a pretty appearance. She was originally a second-class maid serving the Empress Dowager. One day, when my father went to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager gave Lu Zhaoyi to my father.
When he was a child, he heard people say that Concubine Lu 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 only favored Empress Su, and there is no difference between other concubines and Concubine Lu.
When he was young and energetic, 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 ask further that his mother said a few words to him.
[Love between men and women is not important, but those who have 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 get on the sedan chair."
King Huai came back to his senses and looked at the sedan chair at the door. He felt sour in his heart again. Yun Duqing married the princess in a sedan chair carried by twelve people, but when he married the princess, he used a sedan chair carried by eight people.
They are all princes, but there is a big difference between them.
Ming Jiyuan carried Jiuzhu on his back and carefully placed her in the bridal sedan. 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 that covered 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 another 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 move the sedan." The lady gritted her teeth and walked to Ming Jiyuan and reminded him in a low voice.
Ming Jiyuan took one last look at his sister, slowly lowered the curtain of the sedan chair, and turned to look at Prince Chen.
After bowing to his uncle, Chen Wangchao turned over and rode on the horse with a big red flower tied to it, and shouted, "Lift the sedan chair."
He turned his head and glanced at his three brothers following behind him.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the three princes maintained a stiff smile and shouted loudly: "Lift the sedan chair!"
King Huai: "The flowers blossom and the lotus stalks blossom in prosperity."
Prince An: "The house is filled with joy and happiness."
Prince Jing: "Dragons and phoenixes are flying, and harps and zithers are playing."
"Lift the sedan."
The twelve strong men lifted the dragon and phoenix sedan steadily, and the sound of firecrackers rang out, as if the whole capital city was bustling with activity.
The Ming family stood at the gate, and Ming Jingzhou was holding a basin of water in his hand, but he couldn't pour it out.
"What do you mean by married daughter is like spilled water!" He made up his mind, turned his body sideways, and splashed the 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 his head and saw his father secretly wiping his tears. He quickly took out his handkerchief and whispered to comfort him: "So many people are watching."
"You don't understand." Ming Jinghai's eyes were filled with tears. "In three generations of our Ming family, we only have one daughter, Zhuzhu, and she was married off to a member of the royal family. I feel sad when I see this."
Ming Cunfu looked around and made sure no one noticed this before he spoke: "My son thinks that His Royal Highness Prince Chen is very nice. Not only did he come to our Ming family to welcome the bride, he also asked other princes to be best men. It 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 eating cabbages.
"But I don't seem to have seen 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 Zheng clan did, so he is unwilling to come?"
"We should think positively." Ming Jinghai wiped away 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 bridal sedan procession, 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 on it that the groom is wearing? Only the 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 basket of vegetables 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 scholar 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 unfaithful scholars, how can you understand the infatuation of the overbearing prince for the county lady, humph!"
She twisted her waist and chased after the sedan chair, gathered together with other women, and boasted about this wedding that was the envy of countless women.
"I think you are just being jealous because you don't want to spend money on your wife." Another girl said sarcastically, "Are you jealous that the prince passed the imperial examination and you didn't pass?"
Scholar: “…”
What kind of messed up rumors are these?
He wanted to retort, but seeing the fierce gazes of the girls around him, he was afraid of being beaten up, 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 bridal sedan was about to arrive at Suzaku Gate, but the elders of the royal family were still arguing about which gate the sedan 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's sedan chair to pass through the Zhongzheng 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 Queen Su, so you ignore the ancestral rules!"
"Stop arguing, the bridal 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 His Majesty, who was usually respectful and kind to them, would ignore their opinions and use such a strong attitude to order the Dragon Guards to open the Zhongzheng Gate.
Glancing at the swords on the dragon guards' waists, the elders wisely shut their mouths.
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 how to adapt to the times.
Your Majesty, as the master of this palace, does not mind Princess Chen's sedan chair being carried in through the main gate, so what else should they mind?
The Zhongzheng Gate slowly opened in front of everyone's eyes.
The smile on King Huai's face suddenly became uglier than crying.
Zhongzheng Gate!
The only one who could be carried in through the Zhongzheng Gate was the Queen!
My father dotes on my fifth brother to this extent? He gritted his teeth and tried to make the smile on his face look bright and natural when he raised his head.
He is not sour, not at all.
When Prince An saw the Zhongzheng Gate open before him, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had 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 everything was done by his father.
No matter whether the prince personally came to welcome the bride, or whether there were 108 bearers of dowry or 12 bearers of the bridal sedan, none of them could compare to the sight of the bridal sedan passing through the main gate of Suzaku.
As long as he put all the blame on 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 the horse's hooves stepped 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, "I wish the prince and princess will live happily together until the end of their lives."
Behind the Zhongzheng Gate is a red carpet that stretches as far as the eye can see.
Flower petals fluttered down from the palace walls, and a few of them secretly fell into the sedan chair. Jiuzhu bent down to pick up the petals that had fallen on her body, and found that these flowers were not in season.
She had heard from her brother that some families would spend a lot of money to build greenhouses and cultivate new flower species in order to keep their flowers blooming all year round, which cost countless amounts of money.
How much money did His Majesty and His Majesty spend on her wedding with His Highness?
Picking up the round fan to cover her face, she lifted the curtain of the sedan chair a little and looked outside secretly.
On both sides of the palace road, palace maids and eunuchs holding lanterns with the word "happiness" standing every few steps. Countless petals were flying in the sky, red gauze was lingering, and there were waves of joy. Everything seemed like a dream.
The bridal sedan passed through one gate 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 sedan!"
Prince Chen dismounted from his horse and walked to the door of the sedan chair.
"Your Highness, please tap the sedan chair with your foot."
Knocking on the sedan door with feet indicates that after marriage men are superior and women are inferior, and the husband is the sky of the wife.
Prince Chen raised his foot, but put it back. 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 of the sedan chair, 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 descends from her sedan chair, and drums and music welcome her."
The bright red carpet is very soft. Walking on it feels like walking in the clouds.
"The newlyweds hold red ribbons, and auspicious clouds surround the gate."
Someone stuffed a piece of red silk into Jiuzhu's hands. She lowered her head to look at the big red hydrangea 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 tightly grasped the red silk: "I'm just curious about what you look like now, Your Highness."
"Do I look good today?" Prince Chen gently squeezed her hand.
"It looks good." Jiuzhu added, "Your Highness looks good every day."
"The newlyweds marry and their marriage is forever."
Stepping into 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 been messed up.
Before Jiuzhu could react, she was picked up and put down by the Prince of Chen. She wanted to look back, but she remembered the rule that the bride should not look back on her 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 can cross over with me."
"Oh." Jiuzhu followed Prince Chen and continued walking forward, stepping on the red carpet up the stairs and 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.
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 bent down to salute her and the prince.
The ceremonial officer stood up and read a long article full of praise.
The main idea is to praise her, and to praise her and His Highness as a perfect match, and to wish them a long-lasting love.
After the ceremonial officer who had finished reading the article left, 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 of them flipped through several books just for a certain sentence.
"Bow down."
"Bow to heaven and earth."
"Bow to your parents."
Jiuzhu turned around and knelt down towards Emperor Longfeng and Empress Su.
Several princes looked at Prince Chen and Princess Chen who were kneeling before their father with mixed feelings. They got married in the palace. Not only could their mother not leave the palace, but when they paid their respects to their parents, they could only kneel down and kowtow to the private imperial seal that represented their father.
Yun Yanze glanced at his three brothers who came in with Yun Duqing and concealed the doubts in his heart.
Why did the three of them come to the wedding hall together? And they came so late, but the emperor didn't seem to be unhappy at all.
This feeling of being kept in the dark and being 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 their clasped hands.
"Husband and wife bow to each other."
Jiuzhu and King Chen turned sideways at the same time, looked into each other's eyes, and laughed at the same time.
Prince Chen couldn't see the corners of Jiuzhu's mouth turning up, 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, and could not 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 took her hand as they walked towards the back hall.
Emperor Longfeng knew that with him and Mei Dai present, the guests present did not dare to laugh loudly. As for weddings, they 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." King Huai responded hastily, and his fake smile was more sincere.
In such situations, the emperor still trusts his son the most.
Empress Su nodded slightly to King Huai and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
"Mother, your words are too sincere. As an elder brother, it is my duty to help my younger brother entertain the guests." King 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 disrespectfully.
"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: "Eat something first."
"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 they get married, the bride will be the head of the family.
The first lady glanced at the charming and 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 take the bride's blessing fan first."
Jiuzhu held the fan handle with his right hand, supported the fan with his left hand, and put the fan into the hands of Prince Chen.
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 his head: "Master said that alcohol hurts the mind and should not be drunk."
Prince Chen chuckled and intertwined his arms with hers: "I'm sorry to have to ask you 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 was really bitter.
"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 honor and wives of married women could not wait to leave. This wedding had been too much trouble, and they could not bear the various unexpected actions of the prince.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu pointed at the heavy dragon and phoenix wedding crown on her head and said, "Help me take this off quickly. My neck hurts."
"Wait a minute." Prince Chen stood up, walked behind Jiuzhu, and looked at the dragon and phoenix crown for a long time before he figured out how to take it off.
"It's quite heavy." Putting the dragon and phoenix crown on the table, the prince asked the eunuch to change the table to fresh hot dishes: "Eat something first."
The room was somewhat quiet, Jiuzhu looked at him with watery 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 going to go out and entertain the guests?"
"I'll be back soon." 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 the food. Prince Chen scooped a bowl of porridge for her. He waited until she finished the porridge without getting up and leaving the room.
Only after the eunuch in charge of ceremonies urged him several times did he ruffle Jiuzhu's hair and say, "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.
He crushed a walnut with his bare hands, took out the walnut kernel and put it into his mouth. Jiuzhu continued to rummage around on the bed out of curiosity and found a few books under the pillow.
Book?
Jiuzhu picked up the book, took a look at it, and threw it aside without much interest. She sat cross-legged on the quilt, crushed all the walnuts one by one, took out the walnut kernels and put them together.
As soon as Prince Chen went out, everyone surrounded him enthusiastically. Especially those royal playboys who used to follow behind the Prince of Chen. They held their wine glasses and came up to the Prince of Chen 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 never thought that famous ancient books would be so expensive. In order to buy these things, we brothers have emptied our pockets." The royal dandies felt more bitter than coptis chinensis. The books that gave them a headache just by looking at them were actually more expensive than crickets and fighting cocks.
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 cockfighting.
There were a few brave ones who wanted to make trouble in the bridal chamber, but were ruthlessly rejected by King Chen.
"My princess is timid and thin-skinned. You should speak more 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 walk around outside once and then go back, and he would never walk around twice. Prince Chen hastily toasted everyone and walked towards the backyard.
Everyone knew that today was the wedding night, and no one was tactless enough 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 comic books here."
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