Chapter 119 On the wedding day, the prince rides a horse
The wedding procession has arrived.
"Let's go."
Xie Yao took a round fan embroidered with gold peonies from the dressing table and gently covered her face with it. She was helped up by Rendong and Sang Ruo and walked forward.
This wedding dress is made of the finest brocade. When she walks, the brocade shimmers, as if clouds are draped over her body, yet not too heavy.
As for the phoenix crown, it is inlaid with countless pearls and gems, and the phoenix wings with red gold branches are stacked, as if golden light is flowing among the black hair.
Before walking out of the house, Xie Yao gave Qiliang a look.
Qiliang lowered his head slightly and blended into the crowd of servants.
At this moment, the main hall of the Bo Mansion was already full of guests.
The Xie and Xiao families held countless banquets today. Together, they probably invited all the civil and military officials. However, most of the important people went to the Xiao family for the banquet. Those who came to the Xie family were of slightly lower status, but the number of people was no less than that of the Winter Solstice Banquet.
"It's said that the second young lady of the Wenchang Marquis's Mansion grew up on the border and doesn't know etiquette. I'm afraid she'll make a fool of herself again later."
"Hush, keep your voice down. She's a fierce woman from the Strong Women's Camp. Now that she's in the good graces of Her Royal Highness the Princess, you don't dare mess with her."
"A wild girl who grew up on the border and a prince with disabled legs, they are a perfect match..."
"I heard that Second Miss Xie is not favored by Marquis Wenchang. The Xie family has been in trouble recently. I'm afraid it's all related to her return to the capital."
Before he finished speaking, Xie Yao came out.
Everyone suddenly fell silent and opened their eyes wide.
The second young lady of the Xie family stood with her back straight, her steps gracefully and calmly, without a trace of timidity. Even though the phoenix crown on her head was so heavy, she did not lower her head at all.
As she passed through one threshold after another, the tassels on her phoenix crown did not tremble.
The guests who had been talking about it just now looked at each other in amazement.
How could this be considered a lack of etiquette? She was clearly more dignified and graceful than the noble ladies of the capital!
Looking at the fiery red wedding dress, she looked like a phoenix in the sky, and as bright and gorgeous as a splendid peony.
"elder sister."
When she reached the door, Xie Yan, who was wearing a royal blue brocade robe with cloud patterns, came to her side and called out.
Although Xie Yao covered her face with a round fan, it did not completely block her sight. When she saw him, she nodded slightly.
Xie Yan turned his head and stared at her, his eyes revealing reluctance and complexity.
My sister is so beautiful today.
He followed Xie Yao, and glanced at the guests who had just gossiped, with a hint of cruel coldness in his eyes.
He remembered everything that someone said bad about Xie Yao just now.
Later, he would add some ingredients to the food for those people.
Outside the main gate of the Bo's mansion, Xie Chengliang, the youngest son of the second branch of the Xie family, dressed in red, led two servants and lit six strings of big red firecrackers with incense.
As the sound of gongs, drums and music came from far away, the onlookers covered their ears excitedly and talked loudly.
"These firecrackers have been going on for a full quarter of an hour!"
"Here they come! The royal wedding procession is coming! Wow, why are there so many soldiers?"
"The grand ceremony when the Prince of Jingbei's palace came to deliver the betrothal gift a few days ago was truly astonishing. I heard there were eighty boxes of betrothal gifts, blocking the entire Tangliu Alley. It was even the Minister of Rites, Lord He, who personally came to perform the enthronement ceremony!"
"What's the point of such a grand ceremony? The groom is a cripple. Does he have to come to pick up the bride in a wheelchair?"
A rough man spoke in a loud voice. As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of firecrackers stopped and everyone around him fell silent.
He sighed again hurriedly, "Thinking back to the past, how majestic the King of Jingbei was. He defeated the Western Rong royal court and made them bow down to him. When he returned to the capital to receive his reward, he was so heroic. It's a pity that now... Alas..."
Someone else said, "No matter what, Second Miss Xie is still better than the Xie family's concubine who was hanging out with Marquis Anping in the temple before getting married."
"Such a stunning beauty is paired with a disabled person. Who is more pitiful?"
When Xie Zhi was mentioned, everyone looked strange.
They are all neighbors. No matter how good Xie Zhi's reputation was in the past, it is now as bad.
"This second young lady of the Marquis's Mansion is truly pitiful. At only eight or nine years old, she was sent to the Strong Women's Camp by the Marquis of Wenchang to serve as a Boy Scout, causing quite a stir in the city. After finally returning to the capital, she was married off to the Prince of Jingbei."
"Keep your voice down, we are at the gate of the Duke's Mansion after all."
Xie Yao heard various voices, some mocking, some regretful, and most of them were waiting to see the joke.
She stood on the steps, thinking about her past life.
When she married Lu Shenyan, most of the ridicule was directed at her, but she didn't care.
This time, more people pitied and ridiculed Xiao Yizi, but she felt a strange displeasure in her heart.
A gust of wind blew by, dispersing the white smoke from the firecrackers.
The discussion among the crowd also stopped abruptly.
The wedding procession appeared. At the front were two snow-white horses tied with red silk, leading the way, followed by a team of royal guards wearing red and colorful ribbons.
But King Jingbei was not sitting in a wheelchair, nor in a carriage!
He rode on a black horse with a golden saddle and bridle, his figure as straight as a pine tree.
Xie Yao tightened her grip on the round fan, and a sudden warmth welled up in her heart.
Xiao Yizi was wearing a bright red wedding gown embroidered with a golden python, a jade belt around his waist, a golden crown on his black hair, his peach blossom eyes holding a faint and bewitching smile, and the corners of his lips raised as he looked at his princess.
He said that when marrying a wife, one must ride a horse.
The sunlight filtered through the mist, dispelling the bone-chilling coldness from Xiao Yizi's body and giving him a golden look.
"That, that's the King of Jingbei? He's so handsome!"
"How can King Jingbei ride on a horse? Isn't his leg disabled?"
"My legs are disabled, but my waist is not. I can sit in a wheelchair and can ride a horse. But I can't move my legs, so riding a horse must be very uncomfortable."
Xie Yao tilted her fan slightly and looked at the figure on horseback.
She remembered that day and asked: "Can the prince ride a horse?"
The prince only answered her with "OK".
It turns out that this is the meaning of the word.
Behind King Jingbei, the grand wedding procession finally began to unfold.
A large sedan chair carried by thirty-two people appeared in the center of the procession.
The sedan chair was carved with auspicious patterns of singing phoenixes and blooming peonies. The four corners were wrapped with red silk and hung with gilded bells inlaid with oriental pearls. It was extremely luxurious.
On both sides of the sedan chair were three hundred royal guards wearing long swords and marching in unison, followed by a group of musicians and maids who were escorting the bride.
Just these sword-wielding guards made the team stretch as far as the eye could see, even more so than when the betrothal gifts were delivered a few days ago.
Xie Mingan had been waiting at the door for a long time, accompanied by Mr. Xie and two elders of the Xie family.
Even Madam Xie changed into the phoenix robe of a noble lady and was supported by servants.
The old lady's face was full of wrinkles from smiling, and it seemed that she had completely forgotten the miserable look she had shown when she fell into the water a few days ago.
Xu Susu stood behind the crowd, wearing bright clothes, a rare sight, with tears in her eyes.
Because King Jingbei was of noble status and had health problems, the Xie family naturally could not sit in the hall like ordinary families and wait for the groom to pay his respects to them.
At this time, the prince rode his horse to the door of the Earl's house.
Bai Zhu and Bai Mi, dressed in red brocade robes, stepped forward quickly, bent their knees on the left and right, and grabbed the prince's arm.
The black horse under his crotch also bent its two front hooves very cleverly and leaned forward as a whole.
The prince stroked the black horse's mane, and with the help of the guards, he followed the direction of the black horse and got off the horse almost like an ordinary person.
A servant had already pushed a luxurious large wheelchair hung with red silk, brocade, pearls and gems, which looked particularly festive and noble today, and was waiting nearby.
Xiao Yizi sat down, straight and calm.
Bai Mi breathed a sigh of relief.
Only personal guards like him knew that ever since the day when Miss Xie II asked Prince Jingbei if he could ride a horse, the prince had been practicing riding every day at the stables since returning home, and had also trained his former military warhorse "Xuan Ting" to work with him.
After countless times of running-in, I can be so calm and steady in front of everyone today.
Originally, Bai Su was heartbroken when she saw the prince getting on and off the horse again and again, and even falling off the horse and getting injured.
But gradually, he saw the light in the prince's eyes when he was riding a horse, and thought of the lifeless Jingbei Palace in the past two years, he suddenly felt... the prince seemed to be alive again.
Bai Mi looked at Xie Yao quietly. He knew that all this was because of Second Miss Xie.
"Your Highness, please come in."
Xie Ming'an had a smile on his face, but when he saw Xiao Yizi really riding a horse, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Then, he couldn't help but feel excited again.
Although Xiao Yizi is disabled and a prince, today is his wedding with Xie Yan after all. In front of so many guests, he should give face to his father-in-law and pay his respects.
Besides, he dismounted on purpose.
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