Chapter 30

The news of Prince Yan’s wedding shocked everyone in society. That day, almost everyone in the capital turned up and crowded along the road to watch Prince Yan’s wedding procession.

The elite soldiers escorted the bride while the armoured troops cleared the path. This extravagant way of marrying a wife was definitely very unique. Those who were watching talked ardently and excitedly about Prince Yan’s military might. They talked about this and that, casually chatting for a long time, when they suddenly realized something. Why hadn’t the new Prince Yan Consort’s wedding procession finished yet?

Red silk hung on every rosewood box, the lacquer uniform and shiny. The porters were all strong and sturdy men, but it was still a laborious task to walk while carrying the boxes. The wedding procession passed by the main street, but it’s end remained elusive. The onlookers spent a long time stretching their necks and looking around, but they still couldn’t find it’s end.

Ten miles of dowry; ten miles was clearly not enough.

Lin Wei Xi sat motionlessly on the marriage sedan, and even though no one could see her, her back was ramrod straight. After an unknown amount of time, the sedan slowed down. She continued to sit still, and it wasn’t long before a whoosh came from outside, followed by the sound of three arrows uniformly nailing themselves into the sedan door one after another. After the arrow shooting ceremony, the matron of honour’s happy voice rang out next to the sedan, “it’s now auspicious for the bride to get off the sedan. May the bride step down.”

Lin Wei Xi stepped out of the sedan with the support of the crowd. When the bride appeared, the Prince Yan Residence’s guests instantly erupted into noise. After that, she followed the matron of honour’s guidance, stepping over the brazier, stepping over the horse saddle as she entered the threshold of the residence, and the ceremony for worshipping heaven and earth◇. Although this was her wedding, her participation in it was minimal. She felt like a puppet from start to finish, following other people’s instructions.

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It was only after she finally sat on the bed in the bridal chambers that the accompanying  maids and female officials secretly let out a sigh of relief. After she entered the wedding room, the wedding ceremony was basically completed. Even if an accident occurred, the guests wouldn’t be able to see it.

Wan Xing and Wan Yue secretly relaxed, but Lin Wei Xi was unusually nervous. She’d been covered by a red veil for the entire day, so she hadn’t seen Prince Yan yet. But when she thought of what was going to happen next, her palms broke out in a nervous sweat.

During the three days of the wedding, there was no distinction between seniority, and for the masses who had nothing better to do, disturbing the bridal chamber was their favourite activity. There were people who’d long since been causing a disturbance in the residence so they could see the bride, and for the first time, Lin Wei Xi was concerned about her appearance. Her makeup was a bit thick today, her face instead covered by powder and rouge. It made her look especially delicate and pale. But all bridal makeup was like this and she couldn’t do anything about it.

Just as she was letting her imagination run wild, a black pair of cloud patterned boots appeared in her line of sight. His gait was unhurried even at a time like this. Lin Wei Xi even suspected that every step Gu Hui Yan took was the same distance apart.

A red steel rod raised a tassel, and the veil followed, lifting up. Lin Wei Xi’s vision brightened.

She reflectively looked at the source of light. She raised her head and happened to meet Gu Hui Yan’s gaze. This was her first time seeing him wear warm coloured clothes. The red clothes contrasting against him made his complexion warm as jade and his usual oppressiveness that chased everyone away had also diminished by a lot. His facial features were actually very beautiful, with a heroic and graceful bearing, a tall straight nose, and high cheekbones. When he focused his attention on someone, his eyes were so black and clear that one could drown them.

Lin Wei Xi suddenly had an untimely thought that after knowing each other for so long, this was the first time that Prince Yan was looking at her carefully. She couldn’t tell what she was feeling. The two of them glanced at each other and quietly looked away, pretending to bashfully lower their heads.

Nobody noticed that invisible exchange between the two of them. Those who were here to watch were still absorbed in their astonishment at Lin Wei Xi’s appearance, “Some time ago, I heard that the Prince Yan Consort is a beauty. After seeing her today, I realize that my entire life has been for nothing. There actually exists such a beautiful person in this world.”

Standing in the bridal chamber were the female members of the imperial family and a few boys from the imperial family who relied on their youth to boldly stay behind to see the bride. As for the others, even if they had the interest, they didn’t have the courage.

For a while, the women praised her endlessly. The boys returned to their senses, sighing with envy. Sure enough, the wife that Prince Yan was bringing in could be lacking in other areas, but wouldn’t be lacking in terms of appearance. It really pissed them off when they thought about it. Before they could even see the beauty, she’d long since been swiped up.

The new Princess Consort was the subject of envy and shock from the people around them, and Prince Yan also seemed very satisfied with her. The matron of honour was delighted and immediately walked over with liquor in her hand, a stream of auspicious words spilling from her lips. Gu Hui Yan sat next to Lin Wei Xi and took the lead, picking up the glass of wine. Lin Wei Xi followed his lead and picked the other cup. She was no stranger to this ceremony of sharing of the nuptial cup as she knew it by heart, but she glanced furtively at Prince Yan, her hand that held the wine glass hesitated.

Of course, even though she thought that she’d hidden her gaze, he still noticed. He felt so helpless. She’d been so gutsy back in the fifth month when she dared to come to him and recommend herself for marriage. Now she looked like a little white rabbit. Gu Hui Yan made a move first and moved his wrist into position, and Lin Wei Xi conveniently followed his lead. The two were almost nose to nose as they drank the wine. She looked through the wine glass and saw that their sleeves were overlapping on top of each other. Her wedding gown was extremely luxurious and the sleeves were very wide. Its elaborate and delicate embroidery now covered Gu Hui Yan’s dignified coiling black dragon pattern, the contrast unexpectedly bringing out a different kind of aesthetic.

Lin Wei Xi’s focus was on Gu Hui Yan’s sleeves, and she choked on the wine when she wasn’t paying attention. Fortunately, the wine glass was tiny, and the wine wasn’t strong. She coughed lightly, quickly enduring the burn at the back of her throat while tightly gritting her teeth, and refused to violate etiquette on such an important day.

The wedding dress was wide, so Lin Wei Xi’s movements weren’t obvious under the cover of her dress. But even if she could hide it from others, she couldn’t hide it from the person next to her.

Gu Hui Yan glanced at Lin Wei Xi as she sat there awkwardly, not even daring to look in his direction. Fortunately, he merely looked at her before turning his gaze away as if nothing had happened. She sighed in relief and sadly thought that it was over. Prince Yan must think that she was a fool.

Many of the teenagers cheered loudly as the two of them drank the wine while hooking their wrists. It was a rare opportunity to heckle their Uncle Prince Yan, and this was their only chance. The Ladies covered their lips and smiled. The matron of honour took advantage of the atmosphere in the room to happily walk over and sprinkle fruit onto the bridal chamber. She tossed the fruits while throwing out auspicious words like throwing away money.

The fruits fell from above with an indescribable grandness. An old woman wasn’t paying attention and smashed a longan on Lin Wei Xi’s forehead. Although the longan was small, it still hurt when it was thrown at her like this. She maintained her smile, but the corner of her mouth twitched imperceptibly.

Gu Hui Yan’s expression didn’t change, but he immediately glanced at the old woman. The old woman was initially smiling, but her hand trembled under his gaze, her heart beating like a drum. When she tossed the fruit again, she didn’t dare to use too much force and sprinkled it towards empty space.

Many of the boys hadn’t satisfied their craving for trouble and wanted to create more. At that moment, Gu Ming Da walked to the door and silently stopped on the other side of the threshold. Although he didn’t say a word, everyone in the room instantly knew that something had happened outside. Gu Hui Yan stood up with his usual expression and said, “Ladies, please be at ease and just enjoy yourselves. Serve the Princess Consort well.”

His last sentence was directed at the servants in the room. The servant girls lowered their heads and promised. Gu Hui Yan nodded to several senior Princesses and Princess Consorts before walking out. As soon as he stepped out of the room, Gu Ming Da immediately followed him silently and stepped next to him, whispering something.

Once he left, be it the guests or the maids, everyone in the room involuntarily let out a sigh of relief. Without Prince Yan here, the Ladies and Madams spoke more freely, and the number of people who came to tease the bride suddenly increased.

The traditional marriage ceremony was completed. Lin Wei Xi would be the Prince Yan Consort from then on. Although she was still a bride, the current situation didn’t allow her to be shy. She adjusted herself a little and tried to adapt to the situation. She got up from the bed, a perfect smile on her face, modestly and good-naturedly greeting the Ladies. As long as everything went well, these Ladies would be Lin Wei Xi’s main social circle in the future. This was her first appearance as the Prince Yan Consort, but she couldn’t allow others to look down on her.

The only thing Lin Wei Xi was proud of in her previous life was that she was a model of a noble lady. She naturally and relaxedly stood while entertaining the guests. Even when she was teased, she merely smiled shyly, and didn’t show the displeasure or anger of a mean-spirited person. These Ladies internally assessed her, and their smiles became more earnest.

Those few boys from the imperial family had long since left without a trace. No one knew if they’d left by themselves or been sent away by Prince Yan’s people, but all who remained were the Ladies and Madams who lived in the lap of luxury. Why would they be so noisy? Everyone had a few good laughs. After fulfilling their wish to see Lin Wei Xi blush, they tactfully bid farewell in succession and left to participate in the feast outside.

Today was Lin Wei Xi’s wedding, and according to custom, it was inauspicious to meet one’s mother-in-law. Although it was normal for the mother-in-law to avoid the new daughter-in-law who had just entered the household, this was the opposite for the Prince Yan Residence. Firstly, Lin Wei Xi was the bride, and secondly, she was the stepmother. Be it social custom or seniority, Lin Wei Xi had no reason to avoid Gao Ran. So she went about her business as usual, while Gao Ran had to hide in her room all day, unable to come out and provoke Lin Wei Xi.

The clamouring of gongs and drums sounded from outside, but Gao Ran had to hide in her room by herself while restraining her feelings of being wronged. She had to appear deeply grateful and willing to do anything, otherwise she’d be disrespecting her mother-in-law. Perhaps only Gao Ran herself knew the taste of this feeling.

Lin Wei Xi was also very happy that a slut like Gao Ran wouldn’t show up on her big day. In her previous life, she had to endure Gao Ran hanging around in front of her on her wedding day. Not only that, she had to act out a role as affectionate sisters with Gao Ran, not to mention how fed up she was with the act. However, only a year later, Lin Wei Xi had a legitimate reason to make Gao Ran avoid her. Furthermore, in the future, she could “teach” Gao Ran about how to conduct herself without holding back. Just thinking about it made her delighted.

All the strangers had left the room. Wan Yue walked towards Lin Wei Xi and asked quietly, “Miss, do you want to remove the phoenix crown?”

Lin Wei Xi nodded. She had long since wanted to get rid of this beautiful burden on her head. Unexpectedly, the Princess Consort’s phoenix crown was much heavier than the Shizi Fei’s. She sat down in front of the dressing table, and Wan Yue came to carefully remove the phoenix crown. As she assisted Wan Yue, Wan Xing excitedly nudged Wan Yue’s elbow, winked, and said, “what do you mean Miss? We should address her as Princess Consort!”

Lin Wei Xi watched their interaction through the mirror and angrily glared at them. Wan Xing wasn’t scared, and continued to smile happily as she removed the complicated hairpin from Lin Wei Xi’s hair, nimbly storing it in the jewellery box.

After releasing her hair, Lin Wei Xi felt very relieved. Getting married was truly physically demanding. What’s more, her physical strength wasn’t very good. Wan Yue was in the middle of talking to Lin Wei Xi when an old granny suddenly walked in holding a serving tray in her hands and gave Lin Wei Xi a Wanfu salute, “Princess Consort, the hangover soup you ordered.”

She stared blankly for a moment, turning around to look at Wan Xing and Wan Yue, “When did you call for a hangover soup?”

Wan Yue was also dumbfounded, “this slave never requested it from the kitchen.”

The kitchen granny also found it odd, “wasn’t it Princess Consort who sent Commander Gu to the kitchen to request for hot soup?”

Gu Ming Da? Everyone in the room was baffled, but Lin Wei Xi understood it at once. She coughed awkwardly, and said quickly, “I had someone request for it. Put it down. All of you have worked hard today. Wan Xing.”

Wan Xing understood and gave the servant a tip. All who had served in the Princess Consort’s bridal chamber that day were rewarded with money. The granny originally thought that she wouldn’t get to experience the festive atmosphere while working in the kitchen, but who would’ve guessed that luck would appear out of thin air. The granny secretly squeezed her purse and her smile grew wider, “thank you Princess Consort! This servant prays that the Prince and Princess Consort will grow old together and quickly have a son. This servant is clumsy with words and is only able to say this. I hope the Princess Consort doesn’t dislike it.”

Lin Wei Xi smiled, and Wan Xing teased the granny as she sent her out. After she left, Wan Yue asked curiously, “Miss, when did you have Commander Gu send for the soup from the kitchen?”

Lin Wei Xi also didn’t expect that Gu Hui Yan would notice this kind of detail when he stood so far above her. She’d choked when they drank the nuptial wine, and he must’ve assumed that she wasn’t used to drinking alcohol, so he sent Gu Ming Da to the kitchen to prepare hot soup. She smiled in embarrassment and quickly changed the subject, “It’s getting late, and I don’t know when Prince Yan will return. Go check on the hot water. I want to take a bath.”

Wan Yue obediently left to turn on the water in the bathroom and Lin Wei Xi softly let out a sigh of relief. Taking advantage of this time, she listened to the reason for Gu Hui Yan’s early departure from her dowry maid. It turned out that a reward had arrived from the palace. The Emperor regretted not being able to attend his Uncle Prince Yan’s wedding in person, so he dispatched Chief of Security Feng to send a generous gift and attend the feast on his behalf. The Emperor had specially given Prince Yan a congratulatory wedding gift, and when the Empress Dowager learned about it, she also prepared one and had Chief of Security Feng present both gifts simultaneously.

Gu Hui Yan had left earlier to greet Chief of Security Feng. Furthermore, Grand Secretary Zhang had also visited the Residence today. The three Regent Ministers appointed by the previous Emperor himself had all gathered today.

While Emperor Mu Zong was on his deathbed, he entrusted his only son to Prince Yan Gu Hui Yan, Grand Secretary Zhang Xiao Lian and Supervisor Feng Cheng, all of whom he’d appointed as Regent Ministers to assist the young Emperor. Gu Hui Yan was a first-rank Prince of the imperial family who held massive military power and stood matchless within the army. Zhang Xiao Lian was the Grand Secretary and the main pillar of support for the civilian court. Feng Cheng was a palace eunuch and the chief of the Shadow Guards.

The imperial clan, the civil servants, and the palace eunuchs; these three powers formed checks and balances on each other. It could be seen that although Emperor Mu Zong was blinded by Bugui Fei, he was very clear-headed when it came to his own country. When Lin Wei Xi heard this, she felt that it was very miraculous. Grand Secretary Zhang, His Highness Prince Yan, and Chief of Secretary Eunuch Feng all stood above tens of thousands of people. These people had only existed in major political events and legends. But now, these three legendary figures were actually walking on the same land as her and one of them was even her husband.

Lin Wei Xi thought about it for a while before shaking the thoughts out of her head. They were worlds apart from her; she didn’t understand them and it wasn’t her place to care. She ought not to worry about it.

She went to take a bath after removing her makeup. After that, she spent a lot of time and effort applying perfume and tidying her hair. After she finished struggling with it, she waited for a long time but wasn’t able to see Gu Hui Yan return. In the end, she almost fell asleep leaning against the bedpost. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps and greetings came from outside, and Lin Wei Xi woke with a start.

A tall and slender figure could be seen slowly walking towards the inner room through the screen.