Chapter 286: The red makeup is dazzling, and the heart is hidden
Overnight, the west courtyard of Prince Rong's mansion was adorned with red silk and lanterns, a festive atmosphere. Vermilion "囍" characters covered the columns and window frames, and mandarin ducks embroidered with gold thread shone brightly in the morning light. Little Swallow, in the east courtyard, could hear the music emanating from beyond the moonlit gate, like countless needles pricking her eardrums.
She was wearing a plain stone-blue cheongsam and clutching a half-embroidered handkerchief. The stitches were so crooked that she nearly pricked her fingertips several times. Little Dengzi came in with breakfast and saw her staring out the window in a daze. He whispered, "Princess, would you like some breakfast? The kitchen has cooked your favorite lotus seed soup."
Xiaoyanzi didn't turn around, and said in a muffled voice, "I can't eat." Her eyes fell on the glaring red in the west courtyard, and a self-deprecating smile curled up at the corner of her mouth. "Don't you think this palace is too funny? It was so quiet a few days ago, how come it suddenly..."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps. Yongqi was wearing a brand new royal blue uniform with an intricate python pattern embroidered on the collar. It was clearly well-groomed, but his furrowed brow betrayed his true feelings. He walked over to Xiaoyanzi and saw that the handkerchief in her hand was deformed from being gripped. He reached out to take it, but she yanked it back.
"Are you ready?" Xiaoyanzi looked up at him, a look of inexplicable grievance and stubbornness in her eyes. "Are you going to be the groom, Your Highness Prince Rong?"
Yongqi's Adam's apple rolled, and his voice was low and hoarse: "Xiaoyanzi, don't be like this."
"What's wrong with me?" Xiaoyanzi stood up, crumpling her handkerchief into a ball. "I should be happy! Congratulations, Yongqi, on marrying another beautiful concubine. The Empress Dowager will be satisfied now. You finally have hope for an heir to the royal family!" As she spoke, her eyes became red, but she kept her head tilted back to prevent the tears from falling.
"Little Swallow!" Yong Qi grabbed her wrist with some force. "In my heart, you've always been the only princess! This wedding is just a temporary solution to appease the Empress Dowager!"
"Deal with it?" Xiaoyanzi shook off his hand and took a step back. "Deal with it with a wedding? Yongqi, do you know that once you put on your red makeup and lift your veil, there's no going back!" She pointed in the direction of the west courtyard, her voice tinged with tears. "There's music and dancing over there, it's so lively! Go quickly, don't make your new wife wait anxiously!"
Yongqi looked at her red eyes, his heart aching as if being cut by a knife. He wanted to explain, but found that any words seemed pale and powerless. He knew that no matter what he said, the damage caused to Xiaoyanzi by this wedding was already there.
At this moment, the emcee in the west courtyard sang a high-pitched greeting, and a faint voice could be heard saying, "Groom, please change your clothes." Little Zhuozi was so anxious that he kept pacing around at the door, wanting to come in several times but not daring to.
Yongqi took a deep breath and took one last look at Xiaoyanzi, his eyes full of guilt and reluctance: "Wait for me to come back." After that, he turned around and strode out of the east courtyard. His royal blue figure disappeared behind the moon gate, leaving behind a gust of wind with the scent of osmanthus.
Little Swallow watched his back disappear, unable to hold back any longer. Tears fell onto her handkerchief with a plop, leaving a small dark stain. Little Bug opened his mouth to comfort her, but Little Mosquito tugged at his sleeve – at a time like this, any comfort was unnecessary.
The red makeup in the west courtyard is becoming more and more dazzling.
Yongqi changed into a bright red wedding dress and stood in the corridor, watching the busy crowd before him, feeling a sense of trance. Chen Zhihua, wearing a wedding dress embroidered with phoenixes and a red veil, was supported by the bridesmaid as she walked out of the room step by step. Her footsteps were light, but they seemed to tread on Yongqi's heart.
"Your Highness, please take the bride to the sedan chair and go to the ancestral hall for worship." The bridesmaid said with a smile, her voice full of flattery.
Yongqi didn't move, his eyes subconsciously glancing towards the east courtyard. It was quiet there, as if isolated from the festive atmosphere, it had become another world. He reached out his hand, and when his fingertips touched Chen Zhihua's slightly cool fingertips, he flinched as if burned, but finally held on stiffly.
Under the red veil, Chen Zhihua's lips curled up into a barely perceptible smile. She could sense Yongqi's resistance, but she didn't care - as long as she entered the Rong Prince's mansion, as long as she became a legitimate concubine, there were still many days to come.
The sound of wind and percussion music began again, even louder than before. The procession slowly made its way toward the ancestral hall, its red silk fluttering in the wind like a serpentine blood snake. Little Swallow, perched on the windowsill in the east courtyard, watched the red figures retreat into the distance, her handkerchief clutched so tightly it nearly broke.
She suddenly stood up and said to Xiao Dengzi, "Prepare the horses. I want to go out for a walk."
"Princess, going out at this time..." Little Dengzi was a little hesitant.
"Just prepare it when I tell you to!" Xiaoyanzi's voice was filled with unquestionable determination. "I'm suffocating in this palace!"
Xiao Dengzi didn't dare to persuade her any further and hurried down to saddle the horse. Xiaoyanzi changed into riding clothes that made it easier to move around, and tied her hair up high, revealing her smooth forehead. She walked into the courtyard, watching the faint sound of firecrackers coming from the west courtyard. She jumped on the horse, pulled the reins, and the black horse let out a long neigh, carrying her out of the gate of Prince Rong's mansion.
The wind whistled in her ears, leaving the clamorous music far behind. Little Swallow slumped over the horse's back, tears blown away by the wind, yet a sense of relief welled up in her heart. She didn't know where to go, but she knew she didn't want to stay in that palace filled with the scent of red makeup.
In the ancestral hall of Prince Rong's mansion, Yongqi and Chen Zhihua bowed before their ancestral tablets. "First, bow to Heaven and Earth—" "Second, bow to parents—" "Husband and wife bow to each other—" Each recitation struck Yongqi's heart like a hammer. He gazed at the woman covered in a red veil, but the image that emerged in his mind was Xiaoyanzi's figure riding away on horseback, her red eyes etched in her eyes.
The wedding finally took place. The red makeup was dazzling, the thoughts were hidden, and in the courtyard of Prince Rong's mansion, the storm had just begun.
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