Chapter 387 Parading Through the Streets
Qi Jun was sitting upright when he saw the master of ceremonies leading his empress out. Ignoring Sun Miao's advice, he got off the carriage and wanted to personally greet her.
Qi Yuxuan also secretly saw him.
He wore a bright red wedding dress. Such a gaudy color seemed to suit him perfectly, making his red lips and white teeth stand out. The marks from the wind and sun had been smoothed over in the past few days, and he seemed to have become that handsome and extraordinary prince again... no, now he was the emperor.
The Grand Princess and Lady Nie stood to the side, watching the young emperor and empress, unable to stop wiping away tears.
Logically, the Empress's family members should kneel and bow at this time. After the palace servants escort the Empress into the phoenix palanquin and close the curtain, they should remain prostrate on the ground until the procession has completely left the street before they can stand up.
But since the Empress's maternal family consisted of the Grand Princess, the Emperor's own aunt, the Emperor had long since granted her permission not to kneel and to speak while standing.
Qi Yuxuan stood at the door, listening to Xie Tingzhou recite the long string of congratulatory words steadily, while glancing at her mother and Nie Niangzi out of the corner of her eye.
Why did their voices sound so excited and joyful?!
Nie Youran thought she was lowering her voice as she said, "That's great! Your daughter is finally married! I'll go get a couple of good drinks later, and we'll celebrate properly!"
The Grand Princess nodded hurriedly: "Actually, once she's on her imperial carriage, there's nothing for us to do. My household happens to have some that we brought from the Western Regions..."
"..." Qi Yuxuan's lips twitched, she looked away, and suddenly met Qi Jun's eyes.
The anticipation, the burning heat, seemed to melt her away. Qi Yuxuan shuddered in fright and quickly lowered her eyes, not daring to meet his gaze.
He's a reckless person, and he doesn't even try to restrain himself at a time like this.
After Xie Tingzhou finished reading, seeing Qi Yuxuan being led by the emperor's hand and the two boarding the imperial palanquin together, he said in a deep voice:
"The virtue of the earth is received by Heaven, and the imperial carriage sets off—"
Eight strong and sturdy guards carried the phoenix palanquin to its feet. Qi Yuxuan saw Aunt Meng personally holding a silver basin and splashing water onto the tightly closed gate of the Grand Princess's residence. She then took one last look at her mother and Lady Nie, who were still immersed in the joy of finally getting drunk today, before turning her gaze away and intending to tell Qi Jun about her unease.
Shops along the way were adorned with festive red silks, and the people prostrated themselves, unable to look up. Only boys and girls under the age of ten stood on both sides of the road, holding fruit platters.
Lanxin, Bihui, and others, along with a dozen palace servants, scattered gold melon seeds and coral beads on both sides of the procession, filling the air with laughter and respectful congratulations.
With such a loud voice, Qi Yuxuan couldn't say anything even if she wanted to. If she had to shout, others would definitely hear her, so it was better not to say anything at all.
It's unclear how Qi Jun sensed her hesitation through the fan, but he subtly slipped his hand from under his right sleeve to her left and took her hand in his.
Qi Jun's right hand had been injured before and it took a long time to recover. Because he had been resting and hadn't worked, most of the calluses on his right hand had faded. Now, holding his empress's soft and boneless hand, he wasn't worried that the calluses would hurt her.
However, simply playing with it in his hands wasn't enough; Qi Jun couldn't resist squeezing it hard.
"..." Qi Yuxuan glared at him and saw the emperor who was rubbing her left hand. He was sitting upright with a dignified and majestic expression. Outsiders would really think he was a gentleman.
"Hmph." A slight sound escaped from her nose.
Even though the area outside the phoenix carriage was filled with overwhelming music and voices, Qi Jun still managed to hear that soft, coquettish voice.
The phoenix palanquin was open on all sides, so he couldn't make his movements too obvious. With just a slight twitch of his fingers, he easily pried open the empress's deliberately clenched fist.
His neatly trimmed fingertips brushed against her sensitive palm, moving upwards until they pressed against her curled hand, filling the last gap and interlocking their fingers completely.
With her palms pressed tightly together, rubbing against each other as the palanquin swayed, Qi Yuxuan's ears burned terribly, and her heart pounded like a drum, almost drowning out the sounds outside.
One hour ago.
There was no curfew in the capital of Qi. Wei Qingqing had left the Xiao residence the night before and waited at the back gate for most of the night. As dawn approached, she still hadn't seen the woman in green come over.
"What's going on? They didn't even tell me they weren't coming!" She stamped her feet in the cold, and seeing that the end of the long street was still deserted, she decided not to wait any longer and headed home; it was too cold outside.
Wei Qingqing turned around and was about to squeeze through the small door when a hand landed on her shoulder!
"Hiss—" She suppressed the scream that was about to come out and turned around shakily.
Thank goodness, it's the person she's been waiting for!
"Why are you walking so quietly?! You know you can scare people to death, right?!" Wei Qingqing said angrily. "Didn't we agree to come at midnight? It's almost dawn now, and you..."
"You're injured?!" Her eyes widened as she belatedly realized what was happening before her.
The moonlight was cool and clear. In the darkness, a dark mark spread across the woman's abdomen, and a faint smell of rust filled the air.
The woman in green covered the dark area with her hand, her eyes sharp as arrows: "Stop talking nonsense. You did what I asked you to do as promised, and you'll get your share of the rewards!"
"Remember! You must incite the people's emotions and make them unite to condemn Princess Chang Le for her premarital indiscretion and for being unworthy of being the Empress of Qi!"
"Huh? Me?" Wei Qingqing pointed to herself, looking incredulous. "Wasn't it just about spreading this news? I can't do anything like inciting emotions to attack the princess!"
She only agreed to the deal to save her own life, not because she really wanted to separate the male and female leads! She knew her own limitations and was definitely not cut out to be a troublemaker. Now things are really messed up.
"You, you'd better teach me, where and how to say it, really..."
The woman in green stared at her, as if trying to determine whether she genuinely didn't know what to do or was making excuses.
The next moment, she said, "Avoid Zhuque Street, Yangliu Lane... anywhere is fine, as long as there are enough people."
After saying that, the figure in cyan immediately turned and left, disappearing from Wei Qingqing's sight in just a few steps.
Wei Qingqing stood there, her brows furrowed in distress.
Back in the room, Xiao He was terrified to see her emerge unharmed. "Good girl, where have you been? You scared me half to death! Are you alright?!"
Wei Qingqing shook her head absentmindedly, sat down at the table, poured herself a cup of tea, pondered, and asked, "What is the usual route for the imperial wedding procession?"
She felt that something was off about the locations the other person mentioned.
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