Chapter 386 The Wedding Procession
In the end, Qi Jun stopped worrying about whether his face looked tired and haggard and unsightly. The auspicious hour was approaching, and he had to set off to welcome his empress.
Qi Yuxuan changed into her wedding dress and waited quietly at the Grand Princess's residence, with two maids beside her, their heads bowed in obedience.
Of the maids she brought to the palace this time, she only planned to take Lanxin and Bihui with her.
Qin Yuan was betrothed to a servant in the gatehouse a year and a half ago, before her mother assigned her to serve her. However, she had been serving her for the past year and a half and hadn't had time to think about marriage.
A few months ago, the marriage alliance was confirmed. Qin Yuan was worried that she would not know many people in Yue Kingdom, so she volunteered to break off the engagement with her fiancé and planned to go to Yue Kingdom with her.
Qi Yuxuan only learned recently that Qin Yuan's fiancé had declared he would never marry and that he would go to Yue Kingdom to find Qin Yuan once he had enough money. This moved her deeply, and she decided to let Qin Yuan stay in the Grand Princess's residence so that it would be convenient for her to get married and start a family, without having to be separated from her husband.
Cheng Yan, on the other hand, requested to stay at the Grand Princess's residence because her mother was seriously ill and the doctor said she probably didn't have many years left to live. She could visit and take care of her mother from time to time. If she entered the palace and wanted to leave, the procedures would be complicated and it would also attract gossip.
The two maids hadn't been with Qi Yuxuan for long, but they were both incredibly reluctant to part with her.
There are good and bad servants, and naturally there are also masters. In their eyes, Princess Chang Le was the most kind and intelligent master.
They both grew up in the Grand Princess's mansion, interacting with powerful and influential people, and were used to hearing gossip among the maids.
Other noble ladies of similar age are either viciously addicted to treating people like livestock and abusing and beating them, foolishly selfish in making servants take the blame and be punished for their mistakes, or, more often than not, cold-hearted and ruthless in achieving their goals by any means necessary.
Fortunately, Princess Chang Le did not have any of those bad habits of being harsh on her servants; on the contrary, she treated them with genuine kindness and affection.
Now that Princess Chang Le is about to enter the palace and become the Empress, who wouldn't be scrambling to serve her?
However, she still seriously asked for their opinions, without assuming that they would disregard their husbands and families outside the palace in pursuit of fame and fortune.
Qin Yuan and Cheng Yan had received their money and were supposed to leave yesterday, but since it was their wedding day, they came early to help with the preparations. Once everything was ready, the two bid farewell to the princess and planned to follow the emperor and empress's entourage around the city to see her off.
Soon, festive music filled the air outside. Even through the thin wall, it was hard for Qi Yuxuan not to notice.
She held a fan in her hand, her palms sweating profusely.
This wasn't the first time she'd encountered such a situation; she'd experienced it before during a political marriage. So why was she still getting nervous?
Bihui peeked out of the slightly ajar window, but there was no one outside. It was clear that they were just playing music, and no one had come yet.
She took two careful steps, quickly picked up the pastries from the table, and handed them to the princess, urging, "Princess, are you really not going to eat anything? It might take some time, and if you get hungry in the phoenix carriage, there won't be anything to eat..."
Lanxin had already tried to persuade her, but the princess said she was very uneasy, couldn't eat anything, and was worried about not being able to change her clothes properly. She hadn't touched any of the food that the Grand Princess had prepared in the kitchen that morning.
The wedding procession is about to arrive, so if we don't eat now, we really won't have a chance to eat at all.
Qi Yuxuan held the wedding fan in one hand, while using the other hand to wipe the sweat from her palms with her sleeve, looking absent-minded: "No, I don't want to eat. Let's talk about it after we enter the palace."
“But once you enter the palace, you still have to perform sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, and… where will you find the time to eat? It’s so uncomfortable to be hungry, Princess. Couldn’t you at least eat a piece or two?” Bi Sui was still worried.
Everyone sees the new empress looking glamorous and beautiful today, but only those who serve her closely know how difficult this day will be.
The servants didn't care, since the common people wouldn't look at them anyway, and no one would care if they did something wrong. On the other hand, the princess had spent the whole day under the watchful eyes of those people, and she had to be very proper in her words and actions, not making the slightest mistake. Just thinking about it was exhausting.
Qi Yuxuan still had no appetite. She had figured out a pattern: her premonitions were always very accurate. Her unease must be because something bad was about to happen.
She began to meticulously analyze the situation, envisioning all the things that would happen that day, trying to figure out where things might go wrong.
After the imperial carriage and entourage arrived to escort her away from the Grand Princess's residence, she and Emperor Qi Jun would walk together from west to east around the inner city of the capital, receiving the adoration and worship of the city's inhabitants, before entering the palace to offer sacrifices to Heaven and their ancestors...
If she were someone who intended to sabotage things in secret, she would definitely avoid the heavily guarded Grand Princess's residence and the Imperial Palace, and choose to act during the parade.
However, what she could think of, others might not be unaware of: the risks of ambushes along the way were definitely no less than those set up at the Grand Princess's residence and the Imperial Palace.
With a heart pounding with anxiety, footsteps finally came from outside the door.
Since the emperor and empress were of the same clan, the procedure of performing the three kneelings and nine kowtows in the maternal family ancestral hall was omitted. Hearing the chanting of the master of ceremonies outside, Qi Yuxuan was helped out of the house by two maids, her face covered by a ceremonial fan.
The official's voice sounded somewhat familiar. She stepped over the threshold and cautiously peered through the bridal fan.
It was Xie Tingzhou!
He was dressed in official robes, his gaze fixed respectfully on the ground in front of him, his handsome and upright face showing only reverence and obedience.
Qi Yuxuan was somewhat surprised. Xie Tingzhou was a member of the Hanlin Academy, so why was he also taking on the work of the Ministry of Rites? But surprise aside, she quickly looked away and was helped step by step towards the gate of the Grand Princess's residence.
Therefore, no one noticed that Lord Xie, who had been "borrowed" by the emperor to the Ministry of Rites to be in charge of the wedding ceremony for the emperor and empress, looked at the future empress's back with complicated eyes.
Originally, this task had been assigned to another official, but two days ago, after he exchanged pleasantries with Princess Chang Le at the entrance of Hanyuan Hall, he received an imperial decree from His Majesty to replace him in less than an hour.
Xie Tingzhou wouldn't believe it if someone said that His Majesty made the decision on the spur of the moment because of their words.
Sure enough, nothing that happened around Princess Chang Le could escape His Majesty's eyes. Xie Tingzhou smiled bitterly to himself, but on the surface he became even more humble, polite and respectful, trying his best not to let anyone see anything unusual.
As soon as they came out of the main gate of the mansion, the long street was completely blocked by the emperor and empress's entourage.
One hundred and twenty guards carried the Qi Kingdom's dragon flag and golden scepter, with 16 each of nine-phoenix curved umbrellas and red square umbrellas leading the way. In the very center was an eight-bearer golden-topped phoenix palanquin.
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