Chapter 648: Disrupting the Wedding
The people were still busy offering their blessings, and when that especially resounding cry of “May you soon be blessed with a child!” rang out, they could not help but laugh in good humor.
Beneath her bridal veil, Mu Yunyao’s face flushed red. Yet Yue Wang, riding at the very front, could not help turning his head and smiling as he gave a nod toward the direction from which the shout had come.
The people froze for a moment, and then their cheering only grew louder.
Though Mu Yunyao’s formal rank was that of a Princess, over these past years, she had worked with painstaking care, and her name was held in enormous esteem among the common people. Thanks to Ni Yun Fang and Bu Xian Lou, which had from time to time distributed porridge to the needy, the people always felt an unusual closeness when speaking of her. There was hardly any sense of distance at all.
And now, seeing Yue Wang smile because of a single shouted blessing from among them, they felt him draw closer to them as well.
Mu Yunyao could not help curving her lips. In her heart, there was a little helplessness and yet much sweetness as well.
Amid the cheers of the people, the wedding procession arrived before Yue Wang’s residence. Yue Wang dismounted, bent down, and at once lifted Mu Yunyao out of the sedan.
The full-blessing matrons hurried forward to stop him.
“Your Highness Yue Wang, now that the bride has arrived at her husband’s household, the new bride need only step down from the sedan and walk in on her own.”
Beneath the veil, Mu Yunyao’s smile deepened still further. Earlier, Yue Wang had repeatedly assured her, with utmost confidence, that he had already familiarized himself with the entire wedding ritual. He had told her many times that if she grew nervous and forgot the rules, she needed only to follow his lead and entrust everything to him without worry.
But seeing how nervous he was now, it seemed she truly could not leave everything in his hands after all.
By now, Yue Wang had already gathered Mu Yunyao into his arms. Thinking of his conduct ever since the wedding began, he simply ceased bothering over the rules and carried her straight into the residence.
All around them, the guests’ discussion swelled, yet Yue Wang paid it not the slightest mind. Holding Mu Yunyao firmly, he strode through the front hall and into the main ceremonial hall.
The full-blessing matrons hurried after them, and for a time, the whole residence was filled with noise and festivity.
Then the eunuch’s announcement rang out:
“His Majesty arrives! Grand Princess Yide arrives!”
The guests hastily rose to pay their respects. Once the formalities were complete, the auspicious hour had already come.
The Emperor looked at Ning Junyue and Mu Yunyao standing side by side in the great hall, and his eyes shone with delight.
“The auspicious hour has come. Perform the rites and be wed.”
The master of ceremonies called out the formal words of blessing in a clear voice. Standing at Yue Wang’s side, Mu Yunyao held the red silk that symbolized a marriage bond stretching for a thousand li. In her heart, there was only peace and quiet contentment.
“Bow to Heaven and Earth—”
Following the guiding pressure of the full-blessing matron’s hand, Mu Yunyao turned and bowed toward Heaven and Earth. The sweetness in her heart deepened. From this day onward, she and Yue Wang would share the rest of their lives together. Whether in hardship or joy, in glory or in decline, they would pass through it all hand in hand.
Yue Wang helped Mu Yunyao back up. Then, following the master of ceremonies’ voice, he turned toward the Emperor, Grand Princess Yide, and Lady Huiyi and bowed with deep sincerity. He had lost many things in this life. From the resentment and bitterness of the beginning to the peace and contentment of now, he felt only gratitude that Heaven had not treated him too poorly. Though it had taken his mother from him in childhood and burdened his early years with misfortune, it had also given him the best girl in all the world.
The ceremonial officer’s voice rose higher, full of festivity.
“Husband and wife shall bow to one another—”
Joy flashed thickly through Yue Wang’s eyes. Once this rite was complete, he and Yunyao would be husband and wife. From then on, he could openly and rightfully treasure her in his palms. Merely thinking that from now onward he would be able to call himself Yunyao’s husband made the corners of his lips lift. Wave after wave of joy rose within him, filling his heart until there was room for nothing else.
Yet just as the two were about to complete the rite, a commotion suddenly broke out outside.
Beneath her bridal veil, the smile on Mu Yunyao’s lips gradually vanished, and a chill entered her eyes.
The Emperor frowned.
“What is the meaning of this?”
Li De hurried inside.
“Reporting to Your Majesty: the Beijiang Princess and her envoys have arrived. They are demanding that Princess Wenxian return the Beijiang prince, Helian Yizhi.”
“The Beijiang prince, Helian Yizhi?”
Even as he spoke, the Beijiang Princess and her envoys had already forced their way inside.
“Helian Liluo greets Your Majesty. Today is the wedding day of Yue Wang and Princess Wenxian. By all reason, I ought not to have come to disturb it. But the matter concerns too much, and so I had no choice but to come.”
The Beijiang envoys immediately began speaking over one another.
“Our Beijiang prince, Helian Yizhi, has been imprisoned by Princess Wenxian! He remains trapped within the Dali dynasty. We ask that Your Majesty give us an explanation!”
“This time, Beijiang came in full sincerity and even sent a princess for a marriage alliance, yet Princess Wenxian has deceived and manipulated our royal blood in secret. This is contempt of the highest order toward Beijiang!”
On Helian Liluo’s face, there was open grief.
“Your Majesty, Helian Yizhi is my sixth brother. Ever since he was injured protecting my royal brother and then disappeared, all my elder brothers have labored to find him. Who would have thought that he had in fact been forced to remain at Princess Wenxian’s side? Princess, now that you already know my sixth brother’s identity, how can you still keep him held against his will?”
The smile disappeared from Yue Wang’s face. Watching the Beijiang Princess and her envoys twist the relationship between Mu Yunyao and Liu Liang with such brazen force, anger slowly rose in his heart.
Mu Yunyao lifted a hand to raise her veil, smiling faintly, though her gaze was exceedingly cold. Just as she was about to speak, Yue Wang caught her fingers.
“Yunyao, a bride must not casually lift her veil. That is something this husband of yours ought to do.”
As he spoke, he lowered the veil back into place.
Then he turned to look at the Beijiang party. The force of his presence was overwhelming.
“Princess Helian, honored envoys of Beijiang—by coming to disrupt my wedding, do you mean to declare war on me on behalf of Beijiang?”
That he had no wish to contend for imperial power did not mean he feared trouble. He had spent so long making his arrangements. If Beijiang wished to serve as a whetstone, then he did not mind taking the measure of their cavalry.
Helian Liluo’s pupils contracted sharply.
“I only came to find my sixth brother...”
A trace of a cold smile touched Yue Wang’s lips.
“You may look for him whenever you like. But Yunyao and I will have this wedding only once. Whoever dares disrupt it—I shall make sure that person never knows peace again. What does Princess Helian think of that?”
Helian Liluo knitted her brows. She had intended to follow the plan and ruin this wedding. But when her gaze met Yue Wang’s, the ice-cold force within them struck her like a blow. She felt waves of chill pour through her heart, almost freezing the blood in her veins. Her beautiful face paled, and though her lips moved, no sound came out.
Yue Wang withdrew his gaze and pressed down the ice raging within himself. Then he turned to the stunned ceremonial officer.
“What rite comes next?”
One of the Beijiang envoys was unwilling to let matters rest.
“Yue Wang, our Beijiang Sixth Prince—”
Yue Wang merely lifted a hand.
At once, Yu Heng and Yu Yi strode forward, kicked the speaking envoy clear off his feet, knocked him unconscious, and had him thrown straight out of the hall.
Helian Liluo abruptly stopped breathing.
“Your Highness Yue Wang—what is the meaning of this?”
Yue Wang’s voice turned colder still.
“Princess Helian ought to feel grateful that today is my wedding day, when bloodshed is inauspicious. Otherwise, that man would not merely have been knocked unconscious—he would have been cut down where he stood.”
Once he had spoken, Yue Wang looked again at the still-frozen ceremonial officer. His brows drew together sharply.
The man shuddered violently and at last came back to himself.
“Husband and wife bow to one another!”
Yue Wang took hold of the red silk, and in the blink of an eye, his tone turned gentle again.
“Yunyao, let us first complete the wedding.”
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