Before returning to the Imperial College, Hua Qingcheng locked the tigress in the large iron cage that Su Mulihan had given her, and asked Feng Cailan to send the tiger to the Bixiao Palace on the eastern outskirts of the city.
This Bixiao Palace was the temporary residence built by the Emperor for Feng Lingyan. It was located twenty miles east of the capital of Laifeng State. Seventeen years ago, Dayuan presented two celestial horses as tribute to Empress Nalan Yunzhi. The Emperor even gifted one of these celestial horses to Feng Lingyan, and it was still well-maintained in Bixia Palace.
At Feng Cailan's suggestion, Hua Qingcheng made the decision to keep the tigress in Bixia Palace. Firstly, the palace was far from the center of the capital, preventing the tiger from suddenly going berserk and attacking people. Secondly, the palace's spacious location, nestled near mountains and rivers, would better preserve the beast's wildness and make it a more suitable place for raising tigers. Thirdly, it would also allow the tigress and Hongfu and her daughter to get along better.
After arranging a place for the tigress, Hua Qingcheng took Wu Chen back to the Imperial College to study.
…
October 28th is an auspicious day for marriage.
Although it was just a princess marrying a concubine, because Wuchen held the title of "Prince Helun" of Zhaoyang Kingdom, in order to show Laifeng Kingdom's attention to Zhaoyang Kingdom, Empress Nalan Yunzhi still asked the Ministry of Rites to adopt a compromise method: to arrange a folk marriage ceremony for him and Hua Qingcheng.
At four quarters past the hour of Mao, Wu Chen, who was sleeping soundly in the inn in the city, was awakened by a servant and began to undress and take a bath under the help of the palace servants.
Since today was his wedding day, Wu Chen, who always liked to sleep in, was in a rare good temper when his sweet dreams were disturbed and did not get angry, allowing the palace servants to toss and dress him.
At 1:00 PM, after bathing, the palace maids preparing to comb Wuchen's hair and put on makeup were stunned. Prince Helun had no hair, so how could he have a combed hair? Furthermore, the groom from this male-dominated nation was so handsome, so suave, and so romantic that adding makeup to him would seem superfluous.
"Alright, alright, don't frown at me... don't frown at me, just smile! Smile happily!"
Wu Chen tugged at the face of the temple servant who was in charge of dressing up, forcing him to force a smile. Today was his and his sister's wedding day, and she was looking at him with a sad face, was she trying to bring bad luck to him?
At two quarters past noon, the palace servants brought breakfast to Wu Chen.
After being told that he would be busy all day and would not have anything to eat until the evening, Wu Chen, who was prepared for a rainy day, ate seven bowls of rice, two more than usual, which made the palace servants serving him twitch their lips slightly.
Fortunately, Her Royal Highness is from a wealthy family. Otherwise, marrying such a "wide-mouthed lion" back home would probably bring the roof down with him...
At three quarters past noon, the palace servants began to change Wuchen's clothes.
At four o'clock in the morning, Wu Chen, wearing a bright red top scholar's robe, a big red cross flower on his body, and a top scholar's hat with flowers on his head, was already sitting in the room, waiting for his bride Hua Qingcheng to come and pick him up.
Upon learning that the bride wouldn't arrive until 9:00 PM, Wu Chen was completely speechless. So why were they waking him up so early? But since today was a beautiful day, he endured it.
Thinking that there was still half an hour left, the extremely bored Wu Chen got up from the bed, went to the table and began to open the gifts given to him by Mu Lige and others.
Wu Chen's unruly behavior made the palace maids beside him want to say something but hesitated several times. However, due to the huge pressure from the other party, they did not dare to say anything more.
Looking at the gifts on the table, Wu Chen only picked out the ones given by Mu Lige and others and opened them to examine them.
The gift Mu Lige gave was in a square brocade box. Curious Wu Chen opened it layer by layer and found that it was actually a small wooden sword.
Recalling his childhood, when Mu Lige came to play with him at Tianlong Temple, Wu Chen had always coveted a small wooden sword made for Mu Lige by Crown Prince Su Mu Tiansheng. Though the materials were inexpensive, it was carved by Crown Prince Su Mu himself, piece by piece. The gift was small, but the sentiment was profound, and young Wu Chen was filled with envy.
He gently pulled out the small wooden sword from the brocade box. It was made of high-quality materials and exquisitely crafted. Although it wasn't the same sword he had back then, Mu Lige had always remembered it and had personally carved one for him. Looking at the words "For my brother Li Zhen" engraved on the sword, Wuchen's eyes welled up, and he suddenly felt the sword weigh a thousand pounds.
"Thank you, brother!"
Wu Chen held the small wooden sword in his hand, and the tears in his eyes finally couldn't help but fall.
The second gift Wu Chen opened was from Situ Ye. Looking at the square brocade box, Wu Chen's beautiful eyes, beneath his slanted brows, seemed to be filled with doubt. Recalling the fight they had had when they first met, Wu Chen suddenly became curious. He wondered what this fool had given him...
After removing the exquisite wrapping paper, a thick booklet with the words "house rules" written on it immediately caught Wu Chen's eye.
Wu Chen: ...
Resisting the urge to crush the booklet into dust with one palm, Wu Chen finally opened the "House Rules" and read it carefully, driven by curiosity.
House rule number one: The wife is always right.
House Rule No. 2: If the wife is wrong, then you must be wrong.
House Rule Number Three: If you're not seeing things wrong, then you're thinking wrong.
House Rule No. 4: If you are not wrong, as long as the wife does not admit her mistake, then she is not wrong.
House Rule No. 5: If the wife is not wrong and you still say she is wrong, then it is your fault.
House Rule No. 6: If the wife is truly wrong, please refer to Rule No. 1.
When Wu Chen was about to turn the page, he found that except for the four words "The future is promising" written on the second page, the pages below were all blank.
"Okay! In consideration of these four words, I...this prince accepts this gift." Wu Chen raised the corner of his mouth and said proudly.
The clever Wu Chen replaced the word "wife" with "good sister", and then looked back at the "house rules", and suddenly he felt much more pleasing to the eye.
The third gift was from Han Yichen, a small brocade box. The first time they met, they were fighting, so Wu Chen felt it was understandable that this guy was stingy.
However, when Wu Chen opened the brocade box and saw a golden pill inside, he was stunned. Because there was a note next to it with three words written on it: Marrow Cleansing Pill.
His brother got pregnant because he ate this thing?
Wu Chen pinched the pill in his hand, thinking back to his own "tragic" experience as a pregnant man, unable to eat or do anything. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes. However, when the image of Hua Qingcheng's smiling eyes emerged in Wu Chen's mind, he finally put the pill into his mouth...
Rather than letting his "good sister" change her physique to give birth to a child for both of them, the hardships of pregnancy and childbirth should be borne by him as the older brother...
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