Chapter 360 Zhao Hede 21
With the emperor's authorization, the scale of this wedding exceeded that of all previous weddings of emperors and empresses, once again proclaiming to the entire Chang'an how much he valued Zhao Hede.
But of course, a wedding of the highest standard would be accompanied by the highest level of etiquette. And the etiquette and rules of Chinese culture... those who understand will understand.
Even someone with good physical strength like Zhao Hede was exhausted. She was woken up before dawn to dress up. With heavy hair accessories and complicated queen's court dress, she felt like a puppet.
Fortunately, she has experience in being a queen and holding a wedding while pregnant.
Finally, she finished the whole day's journey safely. When Liu Ao led her into the Pepper Room, she simply leaned on his shoulder.
Liu Ao naturally reached out to hold her waist, asked the palace people to step back, and sat on the couch with this octopus.
Seeing that she was about to fall headfirst to the ground, Liu Ao propped up her shoulders with amusement: "Are you so sleepy?"
"Your Majesty, you are well aware that Hede must sleep for four hours a day. Besides, I don't know if I've been too tired lately, but even five hours a day isn't enough. And I've been busy all day with such a heavy head on my shoulders. I'm really exhausted."
As Zhao Hede spoke, she pulled Liu Ao's hands over and held her cheeks with one on each side. Then she relaxed her head, and Liu Ao, who was caught off guard, almost let go.
"Your Majesty, please help me. My neck can't hold it any longer."
Liu Ao held the beautiful woman's head in his hands, feeling neither happy nor angry. He looked at her speechlessly as she squinted her eyes, and was actually planning to fall asleep like that.
He quickly dragged Hede up and pulled her to sit in front of the dressing table, coaxing her gently, "Hold on for a moment. I'll have someone come in and untie your hair. Otherwise, if you sleep like this, your neck will be uncomfortable tomorrow."
Hede nodded obediently, but she was still drowsy and looked like she hadn't woken up yet. Liu Ao doubted whether she had heard what he said.
She had no choice but to call for help, one to help hold Hede's head while the other took off all the jewels and jade from her hair. Fortunately, the palace maids were quick and efficient, and they finished the job in no time.
Yu Kezi brought a group of palace maids into the hall at the right time and helped the two of them wash up.
When Liu Ao entered the bedroom, Hede had already covered herself with a floral quilt with auspicious patterns of dragons and phoenixes, and was leaning on the pillow inside, fast asleep.
"Hede, Hede, what virtue have you possessed that I cannot possibly do anything to you?"
Liu Ao pinched the tip of her nose fiercely, and he found it amusing to see her previously peaceful face gradually wrinkle. He was silently making trouble, pinching her cheeks and scratching her chin, until Hede was so annoyed that she put a hand on his chin and turned her head away angrily, giving him a displeased slap on the back of her head.
Liu Ao was overjoyed. He pulled Hede to face him, then kissed her smooth and round forehead, and contentedly hugged his new bride to go to Zhougong.
Life after marriage was much the same as before. For Hede, managing the Yongxiang was not difficult at all. After four lifetimes of managing the harem, she was familiar with these tasks. Apart from the initial need to understand the rules and regulations, she had sorted out these seemingly confusing matters in less than a month.
She would spend half an hour every day on government affairs, and spend the rest of the day eating, drinking, and having fun with the emperor, living a carefree life that made people jealous.
Wang Zhengjun, who had originally thought that Zhao would be busy with palace affairs after becoming the empress and would no longer be able to hang out with the emperor every day, and that she would be able to discipline her legitimately, was now at a loss.
She was used to being tolerant, so even when she was dissatisfied with the Queen's exclusive favor, she kept silent. She even said nothing when the Emperor stopped coming to pay her respects, and simply put the blame on Zhao Hede, then hid in her palace, becoming invisible.
Zhao Hede was too lazy to pay attention to these things. Taking advantage of the fact that the Wang family wanted to keep a low profile during this period, and Wang Yin's health was not good, the Wang family's focus was now on Wang Yin's health and the next successor.
While instructing her brother Zhao Ke to continue to follow the path of a straightforward and loyal military general, she directly and proactively asked the emperor to allow her to lead troops to the border.
At the same time, he instructed his younger brother Zhao Qin to take over the Chang'an connections left by his brother, take the route of a civil official who was both square on the outside and round on the inside, and quietly become an inconspicuous minor official in the court.
At the same time, he ordered Fan Gongren to continue to keep in touch with Chunyu Chang, not forgetting to provoke his jealousy and dissatisfaction with Wang Mang, and then plant the seeds of hatred in his heart.
By the time these nails were buried, more than a month had passed. She was three months pregnant and her belly was slightly bulging, but her waist was still slender, and she looked like she had gained a little weight.
She had her period for the first two months, but not this month. Coincidentally, the Empress Dowager had passed away, so she planned to wait until the funeral to have her period, so she could rest.
So she started to give hints little by little these days. She felt a little dizzy, always complained of being tired, and her tastes became more and more picky and weird.
Logically, Wang Zhengjun had given birth to the child, but Zhao Hede deliberately showed a little bit of deliberateness in front of the Empress Dowager, making her mistakenly believe that she didn't even want to take care of the funeral ceremony of the Grand Empress Dowager and was only concerned with flattering the emperor.
Empress Dowager Feng Yuan of Zhongshan, who came to pay her respects, also felt that her daughter-in-law was not an easy person to deal with. When she heard her friend vaguely reveal about the embarrassing situation, she became furious.
She had been accustomed to the comforts of her fiefdom over the years, and her personality had become even more lively and straightforward than when she was young and had not yet been favored by the emperor. Seeing that the queen was not obedient, she jumped up and down and wanted to discipline her on behalf of Wang Zhengjun.
However, the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun only gave a few words of advice. The people around her had long been accustomed to her temper, and no one took her words seriously.
Seeing that the Empress had to leave on time again, Feng Yuan could no longer bear it. She simply went to find the Emperor and asked him face to face why he had not paid his respects to the Empress Dowager since his marriage.
Liu Ao actually felt closer to this stepmother than his biological mother. Hearing this, he didn't get angry, but instead bowed awkwardly: "I've been busy with government affairs lately and neglected my mother. It's all my fault."
"Has the Emperor finished his political affairs? I wonder if he will be free to come visit us two old people tomorrow?"
"What are you talking about, mother? Since the two Queen Mothers have summoned me, I will naturally be free tomorrow."
"Well, don't forget to bring your newly married queen tomorrow. I haven't taken a close look at her yet." Feng Yuan didn't care whether the emperor was really busy or just pretending. Seeing that her goal was achieved, she turned around and left. She had already thought of a hundred ways to deal with Queen Zhao.
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