Those who came to the Xie family to offer their congratulations included not only the princes and nobles of the capital, but also the emperor himself.
He arrived even earlier than his own daughter's wedding day.
Madam Xie felt that Gu Jiangli was pregnant and should not be overworked, so she simplified the complicated wedding process as much as possible.
The Xie family invited their guests to dine.
Gu Jiangli simply followed Xie Shiyan in performing a traditional bowing ceremony, which was considered the ceremony complete.
Now that everyone knows that Gu Jiangli is pregnant, the guests who came to the banquet did not find anything wrong with these simple procedures.
Almost all the guests were all smiles at the wedding.
The Xie family seemed rather unhappy.
The elderly men from the collateral branch all looked sullen.
The situation was even more obvious with General Xie and Lady Liu.
The guests who came to offer toasts said many words of congratulations, but General Xie remained cold and aloof.
Anyone could see that General Xie was not satisfied with this marriage.
Liu was far from satisfied with the marriage; she was still grieving the loss of her younger brother and couldn't move on.
Everyone in the capital was saying that Liu Baoxuan, who almost became the emperor's son-in-law, had died under a willow tree by the river.
The person committed suicide by crashing his head into a willow tree and dying instantly.
No one from the Xie family helped collect the body.
The Liu family also does not have an ancestral hall.
Only Liu and General Xie could arrange a burial site for him.
Because it interfered with Xie Shiyan's wedding, they didn't even hold the simplest funeral; they just took the body away and buried it.
After this incident, it's no wonder that Liu was not happy.
Who could be happy in this situation?
By the time Gu Jiangli heard about this, Liu Baoxuan had already been buried.
Liu and General Xie quietly took care of the matter without ever making a fuss.
From then on, Liu's attitude towards her changed very significantly.
In the past, Liu would have to pretend to be a good person in front of Xie Shiyan and play the role of a scheming woman in front of General Xie.
But now, she's too lazy to pretend anymore.
The final step in the wedding ceremony required Gu Jiangli to serve tea to the Xie family elders and the emperor.
Gu Jiangli handed the hot tea in his hand to Liu.
After taking a sip, Liu handed the drink heavily to Gu Jiangli.
The spilled tea directly soaked the fabric of Gu Jiangli's sleeves.
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry. I've been worrying a lot lately, and I didn't hold the teacup properly, so I spilled your expensive wedding dress. I hope Jiang Li won't be angry with me."
Liu apologized, but there was no remorse in her eyes.
His face was haggard, but his sharp gaze was particularly striking.
Gu Jiangli's lips curled up slightly, her expression hidden by the veil.
What is Liu thinking?
Did they really expect Gu Jiangli to swallow this bitter pill in front of so many people?
That won't do.
She doesn't like to be taken advantage of.
Her hand trembled, and the teacup fell to the ground, hitting Liu's foot.
Liu exclaimed "Oh dear!" because her shoes and socks were soaked with the remaining tea.
Gu Jiangli apologized, saying, "Oh dear, I'm so sorry. It's our wedding day, and I didn't sleep well last night. I've been doing so many prayers today, and I'm quite heavy-hearted, so I didn't hold the tea cup properly. I hope my wife won't be angry?"
Liu's lips twitched, but she didn't say anything.
Gu Jiangli continued, "Since Madam hasn't said anything, that means she's not angry anymore. Then I'll go and pay my respects to the Emperor."
Before Liu could speak, the maid led her to the emperor.
A bowl of hot tea is offered with both hands.
"Your Majesty, in principle, I should offer my respects to you first today. However, you said that when it comes to marriage, the first to be honored should be the family, so I offered my respects to the Xie family first."
"Your Majesty is very generous, please have some tea."
The emperor reached out and took it, then took a small sip.
Gu Jiangli asked in a low voice, "I wonder how the princess is doing lately?"
The emperor put down his teacup and replied, "You seem to care a lot about the princess."
Gu Jiangli smiled and said, "His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, and the Princess is the Son of Heaven's daughter. Everyone in the world should care about them. In addition, the Princess was humiliated at the Xie residence before, so I am worried..."
"You think she was insulted?" The emperor's voice turned cold.
Gu Jiangli smiled and said frankly, "It seems that the princess has indeed suffered some grievances and has lost all hope in the Xie family. Otherwise, she would definitely be present at my wedding with Shi Yan today."
The emperor could not see her expression, but could only gaze at her veil, and said:
“She was unwell. Otherwise, she would have attended her brother Ayan’s wedding banquet no matter what.”
The two smiled and said nothing more.
The wedding is over.
Xie Shiyan led Gu Jiangli back to the bridal chamber in the back.
Gu Jiangli asked:
What do you think?
Xie Shiyan replied, "The Emperor didn't tell the truth. If Jinghe really still had feelings for me, she would definitely have come to my wedding banquet. Her absence proves that she has given up on me."
Gu Jiangli raised an eyebrow. "Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?"
Xie Shiyan sneered: "It's a good thing that an annoying person has chosen to stop bothering me."
Gu Jiangli pouted, "But if a woman who deeply loves you changes her mind, she might very well turn her love into hatred."
"You mean, if my Xie family were to suffer misfortune, she might be able to help?"
Gu Jiangli nodded, agreeing with Xie Shiyan's guess.
She told Xie Shiyan everything that Madam Xie had told her that day, without reservation.
Xie Shiyan showed no tension or fear in the face of the impending massacre of the Xie family.
On the contrary, he was looking forward to it.
Compared to the Xie family's enemies, he, a member of the Xie family, seemed to want to see the day the Xie family was wiped out even more.
Gu Jiangli's vision, which had been obscured by the red veil, suddenly became clear. It turned out that Xie Shiyan had already lifted her red veil.
"What are you doing? It's not time to lift the veil yet!"
They hadn't even reached the room yet, so how could they have overturned this thing halfway there?
Xie Shiyan looked at the red veil in his hand and smiled contemptuously, "You clearly don't like this thing either, so what's wrong with lifting it sooner?"
His arrogant gaze showed no respect for these rules of etiquette whatsoever.
In the Northern Qi Dynasty, Xie Shiyan was probably the most unruly person.
"How do you know I don't like it?" Gu Jiangli retorted.
Xie Shiyan's gaze deepened and darkened. "I can't see the road ahead, nor can I see the people in front of me. I need someone to guide me in everything, and I have to be extremely cautious with every step..."
He paused, then continued, "You always like to make your own decisions. Do you really enjoy being led around like this?"
Gu Jiangli couldn't help but sigh. Although Xie Shiyan appeared cold and arrogant on the surface, he actually understood her quite well.
"You understand me quite well."
Xie Shiyan stopped in his tracks, staring at Gu Jiangli for a long time without looking away.
“It’s not that I understand you,” he said, “it’s that you never hide your thoughts from me. Anyone else could understand you.”
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