CH 65.2

Chapter 65.2 – Getting Married

27th of October, a suitable date for marriage.

By the end of October, there had been a couple light snowfalls in the capital, but today was a rare sunny day.

The sky was clear and blue, clearing the haze from the many days when snow fell before. It made people’s heart feel lighter.

The Lu Mansion was busy from early in the morning. When a princess got married, she would leave the palace, but not go directly to the princess’s mansion. The first day of the wedding would still be held at the Prince Consort’s house, and the couple would only go to the princess’s mansion after the wedding.

Of course, if the Prince Consort didn’t suit the princess’s wish, it was common to get rejected after the marriage, so often there would be a prince consort’s mansion next to the princess’s mansion. However, this is a story for another time.

For Qi Yang and Lu Qipei, of course there was no use for that kind of place. Even the Emperor didn’t think about building a prince consort’s mansion when he saw how eager his daughter was to get married.

On this day, the Lu Family made a lot of preparations to welcome the princess in marriage. The officials from the Ministry of Rites came early in the morning to make the final inspection and adjustments. As the party concerned here, Lu Qipei was caught by a Ministry of Rite’s official and made to listen to a lot of instructions.

Lu Qipei listened patiently, as she kept smiling like a spring breeze. Although the official had told her about the wedding process more than once, and she had already experienced it once in her previous life and still remembered it vividly, there was still an unstoppable joy in her heart.

After a long time, the serious official finally finished repeating the wedding process for the last time. When he looked up, he saw Lu Qipei’s beaming face, and his serious brows couldn’t help but relax. He bowed his hands in salute, and finally smiled while saying something less annoying, “I respectfully wish Prince Consort and the Princess a lifetime of happy marriage and bond of heart.”

This was the first wedding blessing Lu Qipei received. She smiled back and said, “Thank you for the kind words, Milord.”

After the congratulation, everyone was still busy. A little while later, guests started coming to the door, and an endless stream of congratulations started.

The auspicious time finally came in the middle of the afternoon, and Lu Qipei went out with the welcoming team prepared by the Ministry of Rites. The drums and trumpets went all the way to the royal palace, and the road was filled with people watching from the sides.

They arrived in front of the palace without any accidents. The wedding procession stopped in front of the palace gates, and Lu Qipei got off her horse and went inside the palace with the officials.

They didn’t go to Jingchen Hall or Xuanshi Hall. The Princess was being married off from the Empress’s Changqiu Palace. Although Changqiu Palace had currently been vacant for many years, Qi Yang still waited there fully dressed, waiting for her Prince Consort to pick her up.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for Lu Qipei to pick her up. Although there was no one to block the door in the palace, there was the Emperor, the biggest obstacle himself, sitting guard. Lu Qipei was caught and given a ‘beating’ again. Finally, as the auspicious hour approached, the Emperor sighed and said, “Qipei, I will hand over my daughter to you today. You must remember to love her and respect her, and never bully or humiliate her!”

Hearing this final sentence, Lu Qipei, who had been bowing her head listening to the lecture for a long time, was almost moved to tears. She quickly bowed in salute and said, “Don’t worry, Your Majesty. The world will be the witness for my sincerity for the Princess.”

Hearing this, the Emperor finally let her go, still feeling a bit melancholic as he looked at the youth’s back.

When Lu Qipei left the main hall, she breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was winter, she felt that her back and her palms were full of sweat. Things really were different. She also married the Princess in her previous life, but the Emperor never rambled on like this.

Fortunately, after passing this stage, there would be no more obstacles.

Sure enough, Lu Qipei finally met Qi Yang in the back hall. Her Royal Highness The Princess, dressed in auspicious attire, had a dignified demeanor. The makeup on her face made her baby face look thirty percent more beautiful.

When princesses got married, they do not have the custom of covering their face, so the two of them saw each other just as Lu Qipei entered the back hall.

As soon as Qi Yang saw Lu Qipei, her tense face immediately relaxed, and her lips curled to show a dazzling smile. Her gaze was soft and filled with tenderness.

Lu Qipei was momentarily dazed. Although this was their second marriage, the mood was very different. In her previous life, she married the princess in her brother’s stead. She was very nervous, so how could she had been in the mood to see the little princess’s makeup? Not to mention that when she brought Qi Yang back to the mansion, she purposely drank two extra cups at the banquet, and went through the wedding festivities while drunk.

Looking back at it now, it was such a pity. Fortunately, they had the chance to do it over…

Seeing Lu Qipei just stare at the princess and not return to her sense for a long time, Zhi Ting couldn’t help but cough and remind her, “Prince Consort, the auspicious time is coming. It’s time for you to welcome the princess to the mansion and do the ceremony.”

Lu Qipei abruptly returned to her sense, feeling a little embarrassed that she had to be reminded. Finally, she closed her lips and smiled shyly, then stepped forward.

After escorting the princess out of the palace, Lu Qipei rode her horse beside Qi Yang’s carriage. The youth in red looked handsome, and she looked back from time to time. Although she couldn’t see anything through the curtain, the smile on her face didn’t diminish.

Just before dusk, the couple returned to Lu Mansion accompanied by joyful music.

When marrying off his daughter, the Emperor couldn’t go there in person. Most of the time, an elder of the clan would preside over the wedding. Lu Qipei happened to have no elders, so unsurprisingly, the wedding was presided by a respected elder from the royal family.

Soon, the auspicious time came. Surrounded by everyone, the Princess and Prince Consort stepped into the wedding hall, and made the three bows1 under the elder’s presiding.

After the ceremony was completed, they stood up and raised their heads, and their eyes naturally fell onto each other.

There was a slight smile in their face and a deep attachment in their eyes that was only known to the two of them.

But they only had a moment to look at each other before the couple was surrounded by everyone and sent to the wedding chamber. There were a lot of people who came to join in the excitement, and after they finished all the wedding procedures, Lu Qipei was quickly pulled away.

At the wedding banquet, the groom would certainly be forced to drink a lot of alcohol, and there were a lot of princes and princesses who came today!

Lu Qipei was a bit worried until she took the first sip from the wine cup – it wasn’t very tasty, in fact, it was just a glass of water!

Author notes:

Qi Yang (overbearingly): The drunken Prince Consort is only for me to see!