Chapter 14 The Grand Wedding
Jialuo was stunned. She thought that perhaps her mother had been sick back then, but now that she had recovered, she felt guilty towards her, the daughter her mother had never breastfed.
Thinking of this, Jialuo couldn't help but feel sorry for the woman in front of her.
In fact, she is only in her thirties now, but her eldest child is already over twenty, and she has many grandchildren.
I've been sick for so long, yet I've always been heartbroken because I can't breastfeed her.
“Mother, you carried me for ten months and risked your life to give birth to me, giving me such a precious life.”
"Later, you took my hand and showed me the most beautiful scenery in the world."
“You are the origin of my life. You gave me Abu, who is as tall and loving as a mountain, Eji, who is as gentle and kind as a river, and my sisters and brothers who are always by my side.”
“I have always been grateful to you. It’s not that you never nurtured me; on the contrary, you have been nurturing me all the time.”
"The grace you have bestowed upon me is a debt I can never repay in my lifetime."
The woman's eyelashes fluttered, and her eyes trembled.
The emotions seemed uncontrollable, yet carried a strong sense of regret.
Something else seemed to surface in her eyes.
The expression in his eyes made Jialu feel a little strange, but before she could see it clearly, she did.
The woman seemed a little uncomfortable and turned her head slightly, wiping the corner of her eye with a handkerchief.
Looking up again, she had regained her smile, turned to look at the phoenix robe in front of her, and said with a smile, "Now that you, Xinsa, have grown up, you will marry someone and become someone else's mother."
"Today, your mother is watching you get married in your new clothes."
"You will grow up in a place where your mother cannot see you. When you become a mother, you may be able to better understand your mother's heart."
Jialuo: "..."
She didn't answer, and as for being a mother or anything like that, she didn't actually intend to become one.
Jialuo took her mother's hand and said with a smile, "Mother, please comb your daughter's hair."
Outside, there was joy and noise, but inside the house, it was unusually quiet.
In the glass mirror, Jialuo saw her mother's serene face.
She herself was gradually styled into the hairstyle of a Manchu empress.
At this moment, she felt completely at peace.
Strangely, there was neither the joy of getting married nor the curiosity about the grand wedding of the Manchu emperor and empress.
She just looked at the woman in the mirror, and at her own face.
As the sunlight slowly set, this extremely important wedding for the Qing Dynasty began.
Unlike the lively scenes that Jialuo had seen on television in her previous life, her wedding was solemn, dignified, and quiet.
She was helped out of the palace. According to the regulations of the Qing Dynasty, the Empress was not allowed to meet with her family members during the Emperor and Empress's wedding.
However, because she had been ill for some time, the Empress Dowager specially ordered Eji and Abu to stay until after the wedding.
But at this moment, only her mother was by her side. Her mother personally put the veil on her head and took her hand as they walked out of the palace.
The palace maids and eunuchs at the door stood with their heads bowed, their expressions tense yet quiet.
Only Agate and Jade stood before the phoenix carriage, their faces downcast yet revealing joy, their lips brimming with happiness.
But Galo couldn't see it; everything around her remained quiet.
Before boarding the phoenix carriage, Jialuo turned her head once more, only to see the dress of her mother beside her.
"Mother, your daughter is gone."
In the flickering candlelight, the woman said gently with a smile, "Go on, Mother will watch over you here."
The palace, illuminated by candlelight, appeared both majestic and serene.
Even though there were palace maids and eunuchs standing guard all the way, and even though there were palace maids and eunuchs kneeling all the way, saying "Long live the Empress!"
Jialuo felt uneasy. She quietly lifted her veil, only to find an alleyway that seemed to have no end, and the walls around her, red as blood in the candlelight.
A thousand miles of red silk, ten thousand miles of candlelight.
Seeing this only made her more uneasy, so Jialuo put down her veil and sat quietly.
Until she heard the Emperor striding in, surrounded by a crowd, at the Taihe Gate.
Jialu quietly lifted a corner of her veil.
Through the curtains of the imperial carriage, she saw the magnificent palace behind him, the endless candlelight, and the silks hanging throughout the Forbidden City seemed to come alive in that instant.
This brought Jialuo's somewhat dazed thoughts back to her body.
Today, the Emperor and she wore the same wedding robes, their postures upright and their demeanor outstanding.
However, his face did not show a smile; instead, it had a cold weariness.
Jialuo watched him walk towards her with that expression.
She thought that perhaps her face also looked weary, only less indifferent.
She quickly and discreetly lowered the veil she had lifted a little further, wondering if she had misread it.
The master of ceremonies reminded them that it was time to disembark from the phoenix carriage.
Jialuo, supported by Agate's hand, stepped down from the phoenix carriage, slowly stepped forward, and bowed to the Emperor.
"Jialuo greets His Majesty."
In her slightly shaky vision, a pair of bright red shoes walked up to her, followed by a pair of hands reaching out to her.
"Your Majesty, you may rise."
These hands, like their owner, are long and slender with distinct joints, like jade that has been kept in a treasure chest for a long time, noble yet devoid of any warmth.
Jialuo slowly placed her hand in the man's palm. The moment their hands touched, Jialuo felt a warmth that did not belong to her own body temperature.
This made Galo very uncomfortable.
She straightened up and naturally lowered her hands, trying to separate their hands.
But someone was faster than her, letting go of her hand directly.
On the surface, everything seemed normal, and no one sensed the coldness between the emperor and her.
Jialuo let out a silent sigh, forgetting that the emperor in front of her didn't actually like her either.
What followed was another grand and elaborate ceremony carried out by the master of ceremonies.
At dawn, Jialuo, carrying the treasure bottle filled with various pearls, gold, silver, rice, and small ruyi scepters that she had received from the Daqing Gate, crossed the saddle on the threshold of the Kunning Palace and entered her destination.
East Warm Pavilion.
She had never been here before, and now, with her head covered by a veil, her gaze was fixed solely on the small patch of land in front of her.
Even so, she still felt the crampedness of the room.
The palaces of the Qing Dynasty were not spacious, especially since the royal family was very particular about concentrating energy, so both their sleeping quarters and beds were rather narrow.
The same applies to the Winter Warm Pavilion.
She was helped to sit on the bed by Agate, and the boy also sat on the bed.
Before Jialuo could react, the boy had already used the embroidered stick to lift her veil.
The sudden halo of light made her squint for a moment, and when she opened her eyes again, she saw the man's indifferent gaze.
Anyone would be unhappy to see a pair of cold eyes at this moment.
Even though Galo knew that he didn't want to marry her.
After all, wasn't she innocent too?
As the two remained silent and coldly facing each other, a female official from the Imperial Household Department stepped forward and offered them steamed buns symbolizing offspring.
Jialuo waited for Fulin to pick up a piece before she also picked one up.
You put a warm dumpling in your mouth, carefully bite it open, but the filling inside is raw.
At that moment, she heard the lady-in-waiting ask in a low voice, "May I ask Your Majesty and Empress, are you going to have a child?"
Jialu instinctively answered, "Raw."
But the emperor on the other side spoke up: "It's cooked."
The female official was stunned; she was clearly frightened by the emperor's answer.
But since she was a lady-in-waiting chosen for the emperor and empress's wedding, she immediately acted as if nothing had happened, bowing and saying auspicious words.
Fu Lin raised his hand, and all the palace maids and eunuchs standing in the room withdrew.
This most distinguished couple in the world will remain in the East Warm Pavilion.
Jialuo did not turn around to look directly at the Emperor; she simply stared quietly at the burning candles on the table in front of her.
There was at least half a person's width between them, so that Jialuo could not feel the man's warmth, but she would not forget the presence of the person beside her.
The candlelight flickered, filling the room with joy. The "double happiness" character pasted on the window shone brightly in the candlelight, as if sprinkled with gold dust.
Then she looked at the nuptial wine on the table.
Logically speaking, the marriage is only formally established after drinking the nuptial wine.
But the man next to her clearly didn't want to drink this glass of wine.
Jialuo wouldn't want to make a fool of herself, but she also wouldn't take the initiative to talk to men.
Just as she was drifting off to sleep, the man beside her finally spoke.
"The Empress has just recovered from a long illness, and she is so tired today. She should rest early."
His voice wasn't exactly cold, but it wasn't warm either.
After speaking, without waiting for Jialuo's reply, he got up on his own, walked to the coat rack, and prepared to take off his clothes.
Jialuo subconsciously got up, but for a moment she didn't know what to do.
She stared intently as the man removed his robes, leaving him in only a bright yellow undershirt.
Jialuo abruptly turned her gaze away, even turning her entire body around, controlling the twitching at the corners of her mouth, and pretended to be thirsty as she poured a glass of warm water from the table.
The scene she had just witnessed was still etched in her mind.
The boy's thin body could be vaguely seen beneath his yellow shirt.
This immediately reminded her that Fulin was only a fourteen-year-old boy at the moment.
If we include her age from her previous life, she is now almost thirty years old.
This immediately filled her with a sense of absurdity, a feeling that was both funny and absurd.
"What are you doing?"
A slightly suspicious voice came from behind.
Jialuo picked up the water, her smile fading, and turned to face the boy once more.
"Your Majesty, I am a little thirsty."
The boy was now wearing soft shoes, but his overall appearance remained as luxurious and precious as gold and jade.
Undeniably, the young man before him possessed a supreme aura, the regal bearing befitting a monarch under divine right of kings.
Would you like some too?
Jialu asked upon hearing the voice.
"No need."
The boy sat boldly on the bed, gazing intently at Jialuo.
But at this moment, Jialuo was no longer so nervous and helpless.
She drank three cups of warm tea before placing the teacups on the table.
"I do not favor you."
The boy suddenly spoke.
Jialuo paused, then turned to look at the boy.
Her heart remained calm. After a moment's hesitation, she finally spoke, "I understand."
"Then why did you marry me?"
Fu Lin raised an eyebrow slightly and asked.
Jialuo pursed her lips, took two steps forward, and sat down on the embroidered stool.
Their gazes shifted, and Jialuo slightly raised her head to look at the boy.
"The Emperor is the Son of Heaven, and he owns the entire world, including Khorchin."
"The Khorchin tribes submitted to the emperor, and women from the Borjigit clan became queens; this is the tradition."
“My entire Borjigit clan is loyal to the court. My presence here represents the loyalty of my tribe.”
"Now that I am Empress, it is the greatest honor bestowed upon the Borjigit clan by the Qing Dynasty."
"The Emperor marrying me is a matter of national policy."
"So even though you don't like me, you will still marry me, and even though I know you don't like me, I am still willing to marry you."
Her tone was calm, but it was full of sincerity.
The boy's expression, which had initially been slightly mocking, gradually turned indifferent.
Jialuo did not stop there. After a moment's thought, she continued, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I am telling you this today only to show the loyalty of the Borjigit clan and to show that I understand my position. I will certainly behave properly as an empress and will not have any other thoughts."
After speaking, she stood up, bowed to the young man before her, and said, "Your Majesty, I beg you to see my heart."
The room fell silent once again.
The boy's aura grew increasingly somber, and after a long while, a cold snort rang out.
"Borjigit, I have heard that your maiden name is Xinsairi, which means new life."
"But you seem unusually mature to me, always talking about the Borjigit clan and the rules of the Empress."
"Could it be that your Borjigit clan has been raising you as an empress since your birth?"
A note from the author:
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