Chapter 646: You Didn’t Go Weak at the Knees?
At the far end of the road, guards had already appeared carrying wedding chests engraved with the motif of dragons and phoenixes bringing auspicious harmony. At once, the common people began whispering among themselves.
“Have you heard? They say Princess Wenxian’s dowry chests were specially commissioned by Grand Princess Yide.”
“I know about that. I heard the original dowry chests were too small.”
“I wonder how many dowry trays Princess Wenxian has altogether?”
“Well, isn’t this the perfect chance? Count them yourself.”
Quite a few people watched with great care, their eyes full of excitement. Princess Wenxian’s wedding had already become the grand spectacle of the capital. To have a chance to witness it up close was something one could boast of for years, so naturally, everyone was paying extraordinary attention.
Tray after tray of dowry was borne swiftly toward Yue Wang’s residence. The onlookers noticed that the guards were moving with unusual speed, and many could not help wondering about it. A dowry display was meant, after all, to be displayed. So why did these men seem as if they were racing the hour? But then, seeing the line of dowry-bearers stretch on and on without end, realization dawned in many hearts: this must be for fear that displaying the dowry too long would delay the auspicious hour.
Many young ladies and young masters from the great families had also come out to watch Princess Wenxian’s wedding. Seeing tray after tray piled high with goods, more than a few young ladies’ eyes reddened with envy. For a woman to establish herself securely in her husband’s household, what mattered above all was family standing and support—and dowry accounted for a great part of that. The richer the dowry, the straighter a woman could stand in her marital home. Judging by the scale of Princess Wenxian’s dowry, perhaps not even the Empress could match it.
At first, the common people counted with enthusiasm. Later, however, they could only feel dazzled. There had already passed twenty or thirty trays of jewelry, hair ornaments, fine silks, and brocades alone. The larger furnishings, it was said, had already been delivered ahead of time to Yue Wang’s residence. At the end came roof tiles symbolizing houses and landholdings, and even these filled several great chests.
Some who were better informed began speaking up.
“Have you heard? An imperial estate west of the city outskirts has been assigned under Princess Wenxian’s name.”
“The imperial estate west of the outskirts? That’s at least a thousand qing of good farmland, isn’t it? His Majesty truly dotes on Princess Wenxian.”
“But do you know why His Majesty assigned that estate to the Princess?”
“Why?”
“I knew you wouldn’t guess. That estate was given as Princess Wenxian’s rouge-and-powder land.”
“Rouge-and-powder land?”
As the name suggested, it meant the harvest from the land was to be turned into silver for rouge, powder, and adornment.
The crowd could not help exclaiming in amazement.
“With over a thousand qing of fertile land, that’s enough to bury a person in rouge and powder, isn’t it?”
Inside Yue Wang’s residence, Grandpa Cheng was facing matters as if confronting a great enemy. On ordinary days, he found the residence so vast that every place felt empty. But now, he felt there was not even room to set down a foot.
Yu Heng directed the guards as they carried the dowry in and stored it away. When it became clear that even two storerooms could not contain it all, he first had them place the remaining items in other rooms that had been emptied out in haste. But in the end, even those temporary rooms were filled to bursting, and he had no choice but to go find Grandpa Cheng.
“Grandpa Cheng, there’s no more room in the storerooms. What should we do about this...?”
“How many trays of dowry still haven’t been brought in?”
“Another forty or fifty trays.”
“Put them in the training ground for now. Then call all the guards here to keep watch. These are all Her Highness the Princess Consort’s dowry. Not a single thread can be allowed to go wrong. Tell them all to sharpen their eyes. If even one copper coin goes missing, I’ll settle accounts with them properly.”
“Yes.”
Mu Yunyao and Yue Wang were deeply devoted to one another, and the two of them had busied themselves with the wedding preparations, leaving only the matter of the dowry overlooked. It was not until yesterday, when the dowry list was delivered to Yue Wang’s residence, that they finally realized something was wrong.
How was it that the dowry list was so astonishingly long?
Mu Yunyao herself had been stunned when she saw it. Only after asking did she learn that Grand Princess Yide had specially prepared it for her, nearly emptying out her own storerooms in the process.
And that was not all. His Majesty and Noble Consort Qi had taken the lead, and the other imperial consorts had each expressed their goodwill as well. Add to that Grand Princess Yide’s exalted status, which meant no one else could send light gifts, and then the congratulatory presents gathered from the various Ni Yun Fangs and Bu Xian Lou establishments across different regions—when all of it was added together, it was almost enough to drown Yue Wang’s residence whole.
Grandpa Cheng had only just finished arranging the dowry when someone at the side came hurrying over to urge him on.
“Grandpa Cheng, some of the congratulatory gifts sent from Jingling City are meant to be brought into the residence. Please make space for them quickly.”
Before the items had even been fully sorted out, someone else was already rushing over to say the auspicious hour was nearly upon them and that it was time to hurry to the palace to receive the bride. In his haste, Grandpa Cheng grabbed Yu Yi by the arm.
“Keep an eye on this and get everything arranged. I’m going with Wang Ye to fetch the bride.”
Yu Yi was adjusting the new clothes he had changed into. “Grandpa Cheng, let me go instead. I’ve already changed clothes. They were only just finished after so many days—I’d be sorry not to wear them out at least once.”
“I had the clothes for this day’s bride procession made eight years ago. If I don’t wear them out for a turn today, wouldn’t that be an even greater pity?”
Yu Yi nearly choked. “How old was Wang Ye eight years ago?”
Just how many years had Grandpa Cheng been waiting for a Princess Consort?
“Wang Ye is twenty-three now. You tell me how old he was eight years ago.”
Grandpa Cheng looked at Yu Yi with utter disdain.
“With a brain like yours, I can’t let you go fetch the bride. Wouldn’t that disgrace Wang Ye?”
As Grandpa Cheng looked at the mountain-like pile of dowry, the Princess Consort’s status rose higher and higher in his heart. They said money could make ghosts turn millstones. Just looking at the dowry of his own Princess Consort, and then thinking of all the silver Wang Ye owed her, it felt as if his master could toil like an ox or horse for lifetimes and still never finish repaying it. Ah, it truly was enough to worry a man to death.
Guests had already gathered in the front courtyard. Yue Wang, dressed in his wedding robes, felt the beating in his chest quicken again and again. Though he had checked himself countless times already, he still worried that something about his appearance might be amiss.
Yu Wang had arrived at Yue Wang’s residence early. Seeing Yue Wang in such a state, he burst out laughing.
“Fourth Brother, don’t be nervous. It’s only a wedding—just a ceremony.”
Yue Wang smoothed down his robes, which were already without a single crease, then turned to look at Yu Wang, whose face was full of teasing.
“Second Brother, when you married, I seem to recall you even put your shoes on the wrong feet.”
“Who said that? It was the shoes that didn’t fit properly. I was careless for a moment...”
“When you were waiting outside the Min family residence, your legs were shaking.”
“That was because I was cold—you didn’t know—”
“You were married in the seventh month. It was probably the hottest time of the year.”
“The wedding robes were heavy! They made my legs unable to bear it...”
“Second Brother, are you in weak health?”
“You’re the weak one. Your second brother here is vigorous as a dragon and fierce as a tiger. You—” He coughed twice. “Fourth Brother, the auspicious hour has arrived. You should go fetch the bride.”
At once, Yue Wang no longer cared to keep exposing Yu Wang’s weaknesses. He straightened his robes one last time, then left the residence, mounted his horse, and under the escort of the assembled crowd, rode toward the imperial palace.
The full-blessing matrons helped Mu Yunyao settle her wedding robes properly, then carefully adjusted the pendants weighing down the hem of her skirt before retreating respectfully to one side and bowing.
“Your Highness is the most beautiful bride this servant has ever seen.”
Xu Yanhan stepped forward and symbolically adjusted Mu Yunyao’s headdress.
“Yao’er, the auspicious hour is almost here. After you are married, you must respect your husband and honor your elders...”
She had spoken only two sentences before her throat tightened and her voice began to catch.
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