Chapter 54 - Life Was Good.
Time passed quickly and it was already the day of Jiang FuYuan’s long awaited marriage. It was actually the first time Yan Luan had saw such a grand occasion, because in the previous timeline, Yuan Jun had merely named Chu YunShang as an imperial concubine, and he had been poisoned before she was named the queen.
She was really happy that her childhood friend was finally able to walk a new path.
The naming of the imperial queen is a huge country matter, hence only people of high statuses were invited. Fortunately, as the royal aunt of the country, Princess YongKang and her family had secured an invitation, though Yan Jing, having taken up an official position in court, had followed Liang Wang instead to greet the emissaries of their neighboring countries.
Emperor QiLing was dressed in the official golden emperor attire, which showcased an embroidery consisting of nine entwining golden five-clawed dragons. He stood at the head of the crowd, before entering the main gate of the palace while the celebratory music blared through the entire city.
After that, it was the imperial queen’s turn to enter, but unlike the usual marriage procedure one would see, which consists of covering the bride’s head with a red cloth and dressed in a red wedding gown from head to toe, a queen’s marriage was very much different.
The sixteen year old Jiang FuYuan was dressed in the official queen’s attire, which bears the image of a golden Phoenix, and the makeup she wore was sharp and mature, together with the Phoenix coronet she wore on her head, she looked absolutely magnificent, and at this moment, not a single person would disagree that she was the perfect queen.
The Queen’s walk, like the Emperor before her, was absolutely slow-paced, and she was surrounded by two handmaidens on each of her sides that assisted to her needs.
And as she walked past Yan Luan, her sharp gaze turned into a cheeky wink, but it was hidden so quickly that only Yan Luan noticed it, causing her to giggle instinctively.
But her soft giggle caught the attention of her second brother, which had squeezed her wrist softly in reminder, as this was country-level event, and that everyone wore the same professional and serious expression, which was why if any were to find out that Yan Luan had giggled, it would be treated as disrespect for the royalty.
Knowing that, Yan Luan quickly halted herself and kept still as the event continued.
It was not a joke when they told her that the queen’s wedding was a big event, as the prayers being read by the monks had been on-going for at least two hours, and Yan Luan, which was fully dressed in the bothersome official WengZhu attire, was almost shaking as she felt the heavy weight of her coronet crushed upon her, but fortunately, Yan Dao’s huge figure stood behind her as he secretly kept her steady.
“Bear with it a little longer, it’ll be over soon.” He whispered softly into her ears, but his words caught the attention of Princess YongKang, whose eyes softened significantly at her harmonious children.
Meanwhile, Yan Luan reached up to wipe off the sweat from her forehead while she blushed at his words, as those were the words she had heard many times during their sibling bonding sessions..
After what felt like forever, the ceremony was finally over! It was now time for the Emperor and his Queen to stroll through the city, and every one who attended the ceremony was required to accompany them, though Yan Luan, having stood under the heat in her heavy attire the entire day, was so weak that even her legs were shaking.
But thankfully, Yan Dao was there to help her get onto one of the carriage, before ordering her handmaiden to prepare her a cup of cold tea.
The path of the stroll had been planned beforehand, and as the newlyweds’ royal carriage passed through the streets, the citizens, which were all prostrating on both sides of the street, screamed and chanted words of blessings.
Their carriage were merely a few carriages away from the Emperor’s, as their mother was the royal aunt, allowing Yan Luan to feel the entirety of the festival, and as she stared at the flower petals on the ground, which lead straight to the palace, it felt almost as if she was the one going through the ceremony.
After the stroll, which would allow the citizens to recognize the Queen, she was to stand beside her husband at court to accept the mass kowtow and greetings of the court.
Music started blaring through the ChaoTian Bi and dancers entered the hall, as it was finally time for the feast.
Yan Luan was seated next to her mother on one of the raised stage, while the Queen Dowager Chu rested on the Phoenix’s chair while chatting enthusiastically with her mother.
She looked exceptionally happy today.
Yan Luan quickly ate some fruits to stop the rumbling of her stomach, before calling upon one of the palace’s servants to lead her to a guest room, as she wished to change out of the attire as soon as possible.
The experienced palace servant assisted her in changing, before dressing her in a pale blue gown and replacing her coronet with a pearl hairpin after changing her hairdo perfectly.
“Fuhh, I can finally breath..”
She hope she would never have to attend another ceremony such as this one, especially under the August’s scorching sun.
On the way back to the hall, Yan Luan’s luck was surprisingly awful as she ran into Chu YunShang and Princess Hanna.
She had heard news that Queen Dowager Chu had finally decided to marry this princess to Chu Meng, and the bad tempered princess had been spending her days straightening her useless and lazy fiancée.
“Yo, it’s a surprise meeting you here, MiYang WengZhu, you look extremely well and comfortable, I wonder if your conscience had been well too?” Chu YunShang arrogantly blocked her way after sending Princess Hanna away.
Yan Luan had no idea what she meant, but she was not in the mood for a fight, so she sent the palace servant to block Chu YunShang instead and walked away nonchalantly.
“Just you wait! I won’t let you go so easily!” Chu YunShang’s hateful words still echoed through the air even though she had already left that area.
The palace was filled with people, hence the rumors spread easily, but Chu YunShang was no where to be seen. It was after she returned home later on that her handmaidens told her about how Chu YunShang had been grounded by the Queen dowager.
“Though that wine won’t make you drunk, you shouldn’t drink so much. This soup is good, Ah Luan should drink more of this.” Yan Jing, who had finally returned from his official work, said gently as he pushed a bowl of soup towards her after watching her drink three full cups of wine in a row.
Meanwhile, Yan Dao nodded in agreement before replacing the wine cup on her hand with a jade spoon, while resisting the urge to personally feed her the soup himself, “Drink quickly, stop staring around.”
Yan Luan nodded slightly before lowering her head as she landed her gaze on the appetizing looking soup, though it was really difficult to focus as the cold and gloomy stare had not moved away from her since she had re-entered the hall, and it was really ruining her appetite.
In less than two months, Wang AnZhi had recovered and had began socializing with the high society, but his gloomy demeanor had worsened significantly as compared to last time, and his gaze were cold and expressionless as he had glued his gaze onto her the entire night.
It was terrifying and she could feel her goosebumps permanently running up her arms.
And obviously, her brothers had noticed it too, as Yan Dao was fuming with anger as he glared at the man, who had tried to hurt his precious sister, with a cold gaze filled to the brim with a murderous intent.
The days after the event was quiet and peaceful, and as things began to slow down, her brothers had been spending a lot of time with her because they weren’t as busy as before, even sending their mother a request to allow them to go on a trip to Yan Luan’s territory.
As the country’s only WengZhu, Yan Luan’s territory was extremely huge and, coincidentally, extremely far away from the city.
“The sceneries here are so beautiful, I almost wish to stay here forever.” She sighed as she rested her head against the window of the carriage while enjoying the clean nature view of this era. Her heavy heart, too, was beginning to lighten up as they moved further away from the city.
“We can always go on trips like this more often if Ah Luan enjoys it.” As his second brother was wrecking his mind to decide where to place his chess piece, Yan Jing answered his sister gently before wrapping his arms over her waist and pulling her into his arms.
“Second brother, I think the sky will turn dark by the time you decide where to move your piece.” Yan Luan giggled as she teased her second brother cheekily while he grind his teeth furiously, but he had to admit that his could never compare to Yan Jing in chess.
“Hmph, could it be that you’ve gone too long without some love that you forgot to respect your elders?” His lips curved up into a handsome grin as he landed his gaze upon her unbuttoned collar.
Though summer had passed into fall, Yan Luan still preferred the light fitting dresses, as it was much more cooling under the hot sun, but when Yan Jing had pulled her into an embrace previously, her clothes had somehow shifted and her huge bunnies looked as if they would bounce out any time soon.
(TNote: yes, she did not wear a cloth bra because it was ‘hot’ ufufufu ?(? ? ?ω? ? ?)? )
She wrapped her arms around her half-exposed breasts, which were still filled with various love bites, while her pink beans were still somewhat solid.
“Ah Luan will finally be fourteen in another month, and it seems that these bunnies had grown significantly through the years~ I’m sure it would be very difficult to hide your wonderful size in the future if we continue to massage them daily.” Yan Jing grinned in satisfaction as he pulled her hands away from her chest and sticking his huge palm into her clothes before grabbing onto one of her huge bunnies.
It was extremely soft and her skin was still smooth after all these time, and it felt extremely relaxing to grope while he allowed his mind to relax.
(TNote: HUH?! Somehow this reminds me of stress balls ????)
“En~ Don’t pinch.”
The brothers had, in fact, spent their days enjoying the beautiful scenery outside and inside the traveling carriage, and life felt extremely perfect.