The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 410: Wedding (VIII)

October 16th is a good day for marriage and sacrifices.

There were still two hours before dawn, and it was still the darkest time before dawn. The empress had already gotten up early, and several holy maidens, such as Fanyintian and Guangmutian, were busy surrounding her like butterflies.

Changing clothes, dressing up, and tying up hair. The empress's face actually didn't need much makeup to be radiant, but they still insisted on using their skillful hands to fully reveal the empress's beauty that had been hidden for more than a decade.

In the bronze mirror, a beautiful face gradually emerged. Big eyes, fair skin, beautiful nose, cherry lips, and long black hair. The multi-layered flower hairpin and wide-sleeved skirt as a base could not cover the full chest. Fortunately, she had to wear a wide-sleeved long gown embroidered with Zhai bird patterns. Once she put on the auspicious dress, she looked more elegant and noble.

The beauty in the mirror was unparalleled. Several holy maidens who had been busy for a long time stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the master they had served for many years.

The empress also opened her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror.

The woman was as white as jade and as beautiful as an angel. Her auspicious dress was brightly colored and intricately embroidered, with a hint of Tang Dynasty style, but much more restrained than the real Tang Dynasty palace dress. She sat very upright, with sharp shoulders and a long neck. She was born with a noble and dignified temperament, and she was high and mighty and could not be desecrated.

She couldn't help but be stunned. Fanyintian and others stood on her left and right, looking at her. There was a bit of awe in their delighted eyes. This awe was different from the awe she had felt when facing the empress or King Qi in the past. It was a state of mind that suddenly arose inexplicably.

The empress is still the same empress, her appearance, which has been beautiful for more than twenty years, remains the same, but today she has an indescribable sense of majesty, a kind of feminine charm and dignity.

"The empress is so beautiful..." Fanyintian said enviously, his tone was very moving, while Guangmutian and Yangyantian also wore very festive dresses. At this time, they were also like Fanyintian, feeling sincerely happy and full of emotion.

Qian Wu was also nearby, but she just sat there and watched. She held up her face and thought absentmindedly for a while. The custom of Luohua Cave had been passed down for hundreds of years. The lifelong wish of every generation of Luohua Cave girls seemed to be to be married by the cave god, and now this thing was happening right before her eyes.

She stood up and walked to the table filled with all kinds of pearls and jades, and opened a wide and thick brocade box. Inside was a set of nine flower hairpins custom-made by the Ministry of Rites. This number was already the second-class grade. The highest-class empress had twelve hairpins.

Qian Wu's identity today is the female historian representing Xiao Yan. At this time, she is responsible for dressing the empress's hair with flower hairpins, pearls and jade. After finishing all these somewhat trivial things, the sky has already brightened, and the empress straightens her wide sleeves and leaves the dressing table.

There were not many maids in this room, only Qianwu and a few others. At this time, the three women, Fanyintian, Guangmutian and Duowentian, looked at the empress wearing embroidered shoes, and their eyes turned red to varying degrees. Guangmutian, who was holding a round fan in both hands, choked up a little.

"Why are you crying?" The empress looked at them with a smile.

"We are happy." Guangmutian wiped the tears from her eyes, very carefully, fearing that her makeup would be ruined. At the same time, she burst into laughter: "The Empress finally waited for her beloved, and I can't help crying with joy."

The empress couldn't help but smile when she heard this. The auspicious dress she was wearing was actually very heavy because the material was very solid and complicated. The complicated layering style, exquisite embroidery and headdress made her movements look very slow. She reached out and gently stroked the corner of Guangmutian's eyes, and said softly, "I've made you suffer over the years."

The three holy ladies were moved again, but they were happy after all. They said some auspicious words. Fanyintian was still laughing: "You are still calling her "Empress", you should call her "Queen" now."

Qian Wu only found all of this novel. She didn't quite understand the etiquette system of the Central Plains and found it very complicated, but she also sincerely felt that all of this was actually very interesting and seemed particularly important.

At this time, the empress suddenly walked towards her, took Qian Wu's hand and looked at it for a while, then took out an exquisitely carved gold bracelet from her jade-like wrist and put it on her.

Qian Wu was a little surprised, but she didn't feel embarrassed. She was just simply surprised. She glanced at the three women of Fanyintian and said in a deep voice: "This was specially made for the princess by Alang..."

"Then it's mine, isn't it?" The empress smiled and said softly, "I know everything about you and the king. You followed him to the Central Plains alone, thousands of miles away, and you were devoted to him instead of yourself. I can't help but express my gratitude. This bracelet is my gift to you. When the king sees the bracelet, he will understand everything... He will give you a clear status."

"..." Qian Wu was speechless for a long time. He just looked carefully at the gold bracelet on his wrist and said, "Thank you. It looks great."

This Qianwu... Guangmutian and Yangyantian looked at each other, and then immediately avoided each other. If they were wearing that bracelet, they would probably express their gratitude with joy.

The time was almost up, and a woman came in and said that the groom's wedding procession had already set out.

Fanyintian wasted no time and quickly dressed up, binding her chest and putting on a mask, and in the blink of an eye she became "Li Maozhen".

After all, she is the person the empress trusts the most in these years, and her temperament can also imitate the empress to about 50% of the same level. However, in fact, this is just a formality today. No one will really go into it, and some people who know the truth will not point it out.

"The time has come, the time has come..."

Everyone seemed to be in an uproar immediately, but the empress calmly picked up the large fan to cover her face, and was supported by Guangmutian, Yangyantian and the designated number of maids in palace dress as she left the boudoir.

The outside world had already received the message. The 'brother' who left first took the empress to the ancestral temple in the Prince Wei's Mansion where the ancestral tablets were enshrined, while the relatives and guests followed behind with their bodies bowed. The scene was actually very solemn, and there was no music.

The sacrifice was started by her elder brother holding incense, and all the relatives and guests watched the ceremony outside the temple. The empress just continued to offer tribute, burn incense, and kowtow slowly, while her elder brother read the sacrificial text and burned the tablets.

Naturally, marriages between common people do not have these complicated rituals, but this is a marriage of alliance, and the one who comes to marry is the King of Qin!
It is said that originally it would have sufficed to send an envoy group to pick up the bride, but the King of Qin decided to come in person to welcome the bride. Half a month ago, the betrothal gifts from the Qin Palace arrived in Fengxiang, with hundreds of carriages and horses transporting gold, silver, silk, and various ceremonial objects. The betrothal gifts were as high as a generous two million strings of cash!

Who in Fengxiang would dare to neglect such an event of such staggering scale? With the status of King Qin, Qi State should have obediently presented the empress to him, but he actually came to marry her in person. What a reward this was! The empress's relatives were even more powerful.

Indeed, even in the past, the empress's relatives had a high status, but Qi State was only a small regime after all, with only a few hundred thousand people. How could it be compared with the King of Qin, who controlled two-thirds of the world? If the King of Qin were to ascend the throne in the future, the entire clan would become foreign relatives because of the empress.

Not to mention the extremely complicated retro ritual system, even if this ritual system required slaughtering two tribesmen on the spot for sacrifice, no one would say anything. Instead, they would think it was reasonable and logical. Who asked everyone to take such a big advantage?
After burning incense, the empress knelt on the cushion and closed her eyes to meditate for a while before she straightened her wide sleeves. She stood up with the help of Guangmutian and Yangyantian. She handed the round fan to the two of them and put on a veil hat. At this time, the so-called brother had already stepped out of the ancestral temple.

She was noble, graceful, and dignified. Even though no one could see her face clearly, she still had a bearing of her own, especially at this moment when she was wearing a bright red wedding dress.

So the relatives and guests all bowed down. This was not an ordinary marriage, nor was it an ordinary marriage of a noble family's daughter. The guests who came were not really just guests who could talk to the host on an equal footing.

The empress saw the big scene and just asked someone to help her brother up, while the others just knelt. She then naturally said some words of warning to everyone, such as assisting her brother wholeheartedly and being loyal to the court, etc., her voice was very gentle and pleasant.

A large group of people held their breath and listened, as if they were devoutly paying homage to the most noble woman in the world. The empress finished her speech quickly, and the huge crowd thanked her and stood up.

Guangmutian and Yangyantian led the maids in palace dress to help the empress go out. There was a procession of ceremonial guards with round fans surrounding them, and a red carpet was laid on the ground, leading directly to the boudoir.

At this time, the band began to play festive music, and the scene suddenly seemed less solemn. Suddenly, a faint voice was heard from the crowd outside, first "The King of Qin is coming!" and then slowly turned into "The groom is coming... The groom is coming!"

At this moment, the empress, who had been calm until now, felt her ears getting hot and her heartbeat inexplicably quickened, as if she felt the shyness of getting married.

Among the crowd leaving the temple, there was a girl with plain looks but a nice figure. She looked at the crowd that was beginning to get restless, and the bride who was dressed in a bright red wedding dress and looked radiant, and she felt very complicated.

She felt that she should leave, but when she heard the excited shouts of "The groom is here!" outside, she followed the crowd out of the temple gate and stood in front of a green pavilion in front of the boudoir to watch the ceremony. There were also special people leading them out of the small door of the green pavilion and back from the main gate, and they made a round like this.

The gate of the palace had been wide open for a long time, and the front yard was full of people. At the ceremonial gate, a group of the empress's relatives and friends, both men and women, but mostly women, were blocking the way. Women and young girls were guarding the door, and outside the gate, a large group of carriages and horses with colorful silk lanterns had stopped. A large-scale wedding procession was coming in with one person, and they had already started a conversation with the people at the door.

The girl mixed in the crowd and looked out. She actually found that the relatives and friends who were blocking the door were quite nervous. At the same time, she heard someone whispering, "Is the King of Qin going to block the door too?"

The person who answered him was a little vague, but just said: "The King of Qin should give money for opening the door... After all, it's for fun."

Unexpectedly, soon, I heard a noisy conversation outside, then it was quiet for a moment, and then a hearty laugh was heard.

"Well, everyone, please listen carefully..."

""Urging to put on makeup and blocking the door"

The red door closes and then opens again, and the people laugh and ask for poems. The morning sun shines on the carved beams, and the lotus flowers open the jade box. My hair is not yet done with makeup, but my eyebrows are waiting for Xiao Lang. I call my little name through the window, don’t wait for the moon to flow westward.

The crowd was silent at first, and then suddenly burst into cheers.

This so-called door blocking is called "urging makeup", which originated in the Northern Dynasties and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. It is a necessary procedure for door blocking in weddings, and requires improvisation to show talent. However, you can also use the door opening money to bribe relatives and friends who block the door. Both are acceptable and are used to liven up the atmosphere.

According to everyone's idea, it would be fine if the King of Qin spent some money, and no one dared to stop him. Unexpectedly, the King of Qin actually composed a poem on the spot to urge the girls to get ready, and it was very cooperative, popular yet elegant, and he seemed to be particularly anxious.

This is much more interesting than the opening money, and it also shows the groom's sincerity.

Hearing this, the girl felt even more bitter. She couldn't help but look back and saw that the empress, who had taken off her veil and was covering her face with a round fan, seemed to sway a little, while Guangmutian and Yangyantian on her left and right had their eyes curved with smiles.

But she turned back immediately, because she saw the crowd parted, and a group of people in official robes and brocade clothes came in, escorting a young man. He had his hair tied up, a crown, and a scarlet wedding dress, and he was holding a wild goose in his hand, and he walked straight in with big strides.

Although everyone had been told in advance that they had to be silent during the wedding reception, it was too quiet at this moment. Some people were still bowing to the young man, and everyone looked very serious.

Xiao Yan seemed particularly handsome today. He was tall and straight, his skin was not particularly white, but he looked particularly refreshing. The bright red robe he wore made him look even neater, and he had a heroic temperament. The live goose in his hands was also very well behaved, and it was pleasing to the eye no matter how you looked at it.

If we exaggerate a little, such an appearance would seem to make people see not a handsome young man, but a moving ancestral temple, walking ritual vessels, and a living picture of mountains, rivers, and the country.

"Li Maozhen" looked a little nervous. He walked over to Xiao Yan and bowed. Xiao Yan, who was holding the wild goose, just supported him with one hand and called him "brother" with a smile.

The girl stared at Xiao Yan intently, watching him place the wild goose with its legs tied on the table in front of Qinglu, then took a red silk from Qianwu and pulled up the empress on the other side of the red silk.

The rising sun shines on the vast courtyard like a huge spotlight, with bright light and magnificent scenery. In the Qinglu, a woman wearing a long-sleeved gown embroidered with a bird pattern stands straight with her shoulders and back, and has a graceful and noble temperament. Although she holds a round fan, her eyes seem to be able to see through it and see the face of the young man opposite her holding a red silk ribbon. He is also wearing a bright red wedding dress and has a smiling face.

No one urged them, so the scene paused briefly at this moment, as if it was a picture, frozen in this era, as if it were eternal.

The girls in the crowd stared at this scene in amazement.

In the Qinglu, the two first worshipped the gods of heaven and earth, and their ancestors, and then the husband and wife worshipped each other. Han Yanhui, who was in charge of the ceremony, had a red face and was excited. He chanted in a long voice beside him: "Bow... bow again, the ceremony is over!"

The crowd remained silent, but it was obvious that everyone was very happy. After all, not everyone could witness the King of Qin's ceremony. Although the Eastern Capital Bianliang must be the highlight, such as the worship of ancestral temples and the country, the marriage in Fengxiang was indeed a formal one.

Finally, a special person will cut a small strand of hair from each party, roll it into a "boundary bun", put it into a brocade bag, and tie it up with silk threads to show their eternal love.

Marrying each other in a formal ceremony and becoming husband and wife.

So, Xiao Yan walked out holding the empress's hand. The latter was still holding the fan, but this time she didn't need anyone's support. The two walked side by side along the carpet until they came to the grand wedding carriage outside the mansion gate. Xiao Yan climbed onto the Bohai wild horse with red flowers on it and rode around the carriage three times, which meant to drive away evil spirits and pray for blessings.

At this time, the empress was helped onto the carriage by Guangmutian and Yangyantian, and all the relatives, guests, and ministers bowed and bid farewell to her.

Xiao Yan laughed loudly while riding on his horse, and took out a handful of copper coins from his bosom and scattered them to everyone. Gong Yangzuo led more Ye Bushou and carried a large basket to scatter money, from the palace all the way out of the south gate of Fengxiang. The money was in a string of ten cents, tied with colorful strips, with "Long life and wealth" written on it. They scattered the money all the way out of the city, attracting thousands of people.

The newlyweds were escorted away by a large procession of carriages and horses, but the people present still had to continue the banquet and so on. Everyone was in high spirits. Some people gave wedding money scattered by the King of Qin himself, and they put it in their arms as if it were a treasure, and showed off to others.

This short and solemn ceremony was extremely boring to the girl. She stood outside the courtyard gate, watching the carriages and horses go far away, and only the ceremonial guards and floats could be seen, and finally she uttered a sound.

"It's nothing good."

(End of this chapter)