The people exclaimed in surprise, "The Marquis of Nanyang is marrying off his daughter, and the dowry is so lavish! It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it's a ten-mile-long procession of red bridal procession!" They thought to themselves that the Marquis of Nanyang was, after all, a member of the former imperial family, with a rich and profound background.
"Oh, that's because you didn't see the betrothal gifts from Prince Lu. They're much more than this. This Miss Qi is truly blessed."
Another person said, "A wedding of this scale was last seen decades ago. I remember it was also from the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. The heir of that mansion, who is now the Duke of Zhenguo, was getting married. He married into the Lin family of Jiangnan. The Lin family is a powerful and influential family in Jiangnan. They had a grand wedding procession of ten miles of red bridal procession."
Just as the people were filled with envy, a wedding sedan chair was suddenly carried in from the opposite direction.
The sedan chair was almost identical in style and decoration to the one Qi Wanting was riding in, and it was also carried by eight people.
The already narrow streets suddenly became crowded.
The person opposite them was clearly unwilling to give way, and they came straight towards Lu Yucheng and his group with music and fanfare.
Some commoners couldn't stand it anymore and shouted, "Hey, whose wedding are you having? This is the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo, Mr. Lu. Please make way and let them pass first."
The groom opposite was very displeased upon hearing this: "Why should we give way? Just because he is the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo, does that give him the right to bully others with his power? I've heard that the old Duke and the Duke of Zhenguo have always served the people and never oppressed them. How come his son is now using his ancestors' achievements to bully us common folk?"
"Heh, those who know are aware that the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion is getting married, but those who don't might think that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, relying on its great merit in guarding the southern border, can look down on everyone in Shengjing, right under the emperor's nose, and act arrogantly."
"No wonder some people say that half of the entire Great Zhou Dynasty belongs to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion. That's absolutely true! And today he's marrying a member of the former royal family. Tsk tsk..."
These words were quite harsh, practically accusing the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion of colluding with remnants of the previous dynasty to plot a rebellion.
Lu Yucheng frowned slightly as he rode away.
The people were outraged on his behalf, wondering who this person was and how he could speak so recklessly, it was simply too much.
"Hey, how dare you talk like that? How can you spout such nonsense?"
"That's right, today is also your own wedding day, why don't you know how to bring good luck instead of spouting nonsense?"
"In my opinion, his marriage proposal is a sham; he's probably just trying to sabotage things."
The group following Lu Yucheng to welcome his bride were mostly soldiers who had come from the southern border with his father. They had always respected the Duke of Zhenguo and were extremely supportive of this young general.
They were all straightforward and loyal to their country, so they couldn't stand others slandering the Duke of Zhenguo and the young general.
Upon hearing the words of the person opposite them, they were all furious, clenching their fists and staring intently at the person who was looking at them with such a provocative expression.
"Young General, this man has gone too far! Let me go and teach him a lesson!"
"Yes, young general, this cannot be tolerated!"
Inside the sedan chair, Qi Wanting lifted one of the curtains and whispered to her maid, "Sihua, go and tell Prince Lu that we'll let them pass first. Don't get upset over people who aren't your business."
The maid Si Hua hurried to Lu Yucheng to convey Qi Wanting's message.
Lu Yucheng glanced back at the sedan chair, whose curtains had already been drawn.
On this joyous day, Lu Yucheng did not want to cause any trouble. He waved to stop his subordinates who were eager to stand up for him, and told his troops to move aside and let the other side pass first.
The groom opposite was surprised that the dignified Prince Lu was not angry at all for being humiliated like this. He immediately felt bored and waved his hand to get his wedding procession moving.
As the two sedan chairs passed each other, suddenly someone threw a string of firecrackers down from above, which crackled and popped in the crowd.
Immediately, the people who had been watching the commotion were terrified and scattered in all directions.
There were so many people that the sedan chair bearers from both sides were quickly scattered and disorganized.
Lu Yucheng was startled and quickly dismounted, rushing towards the bridal sedan chair to prevent Qi Wanting inside from being frightened. However, there were too many frightened people, and he was blocked a few meters away from the sedan chair, unable to get close.
Lu Yucheng finally managed to squeeze through the crowd to the front of the bridal sedan chair, only to find that several sedan chair bearers had been pushed aside, and the sedan chair was swaying as if it were about to be overturned by the crowd.
Lu Yucheng quickly steadied the sedan chair and asked the person inside gently, "Wanwan, how are you?"
"It's nothing." The voice inside the sedan chair was muffled, as if someone was covering their mouth and nose with a handkerchief.
"It's good that nothing happened."
There was only one string of firecrackers, which was thrown into the crowd and went off before the crowd quieted down.
Seeing that no one was injured, the two grooms each ordered their own sedan chair bearers to carry the wedding sedan chairs, and the wedding processions, accompanied by music and fanfare, headed to their respective residences.
This little incident didn't delay things by much; about half an hour later, the bridal sedan arrived at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.
Red silk fluttered everywhere in the Zhenguo Duke's Mansion, and the interior was decorated with red silk brocade. Red silk flowers hung high on the eaves, corners, lamp stands, and osmanthus trees, creating a festive and magnificent scene.
One end of the bright red ribbon was held by Lu Yucheng, and the other end was held in the bride's hand.
They bowed to heaven and earth, then to their parents, and finally to each other before being led to their bridal chamber. Everything went very smoothly.
At the wedding banquet, most of the court officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty were present, and more than forty tables were set up.
Congratulations poured in, making the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion extremely lively.
Zhu Chen seemed somewhat depressed, having no appetite for the meal. His eyes were lowered, as if he were recalling six years ago when he, like Lu Yucheng today, was full of pride and had won the heart of his beloved.
During those five months in Mucheng, he missed her every day. When he longed for her to the bone, he wished he could abandon everything in Mucheng just to come back and spend some time with her.
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