Chapter 703: Ceremony

That night, Lang Sheng lost his status as a legendary wizard. A great sage no longer, Sage and Zhu Jiao donned a far simpler set of clothing than the day before. He donned a red tang suit which was actually quite casual with only a couple layers, while Zhu Jiao’s dress was a cheongsam, or qipao, with high slits on either side. After Zhu Jiao donned that qipao, he ended up immediately taking it back off her and delaying the start of their day.

The morning was dedicated to introductions. Zhu Jiao was supposed to meet everyone on Sage’s side, especially since she was now Lang Jiao. They ran into the three Tiankong brothers, the groomsmen, and then Lang Jiao’s four friends, her bridesmaids. They laughed and teased the newlyweds and soon more and more people gathered back within the giant chamber from the day before. The gatecrashing event had introduced the men and women to each other so they had been talking a bit after the wedding ceremony the day before. Traditionally, now that she had officially become his wife, Lang Jiao should now be taken to meet everyone in his family, but that was a very short list. She already knew all of the Tiankong siblings, and the Lang Clan was already wiped out.

Even so, there should still be a wedding banquet held at the groom’s home and the afternoon was dedicated to it. Most of the Zhu Clan members that had come the day before had already left, as they had to hold their own wedding banquet during the evening. They were faced with a busy day full of celebrating. It would be an exhausting affair except that there just weren’t many people at their own feast, mainly their closest friends, which meant they could have an intimate celebration before having to attend a large formal party with all the important folks of the city coming to pay their respects to the Zhu Clan.

“Is your whole body hairless?”

One of the bridesmaids asked Tujiu with a coquettish gleam in her eyes. The brute laughed and leaned towards the woman with interest and they started bantering. One of the others was teasing Juzui about what he can do with his large mouth and dance moves, while the other two were being chased around by Jiyao.

“Poor things, they don’t realize that Zhu Clan women can only flirt, I hope they don’t get their hopes up.”

Sage chuckled at Jiao’s observation, “You don’t need to worry too much, they know these women aren’t Demonic Birds, so they are likely only having some fun.”

“That’s right, don’t worry Sister. I’ve taught them well. The Tiankong Clan needs strong beast blood, not weak human lines.”

Ruanfu spoke up with a matter of fact intensity, and the European looking young man on her arm nodded his head. As usual, Wanqian Lei was quite meek and gentle with Ruanfu around, saying little and just admiring her. Such constant devotion was somewhat sickening for some, but Sage preferred it, since when she wasn’t around he was fiercely vain and constantly preening, showing off his blond locks and blue eyes. Sage still regretted not forcing his look to be different when he gave him his first Human Seal. It was far too late now as Lei was already used to this look and all the attention it got him.

The wedding banquet in the afternoon was basically just a large family dinner and passed without any further fanfare. Sage made time to pour tea and light incense for a specific ancestral tablet, the one for his Uncle Zhang. The only person in the Lang Clan he had ever felt any connection to. Even the Lang Shen before Sage had taken over had barely any memory of his parents, as they’d died when he was of a very young age. They were ‘serving the clan’, but given how shady the leaders of the Lang Clan were, there was no telling if they were purposely sent to their death, sacrificed for benefits, victims of an accident, or merely loyal clan members doing their duty. With it happening so long ago and the whole clan wiped out, there was no way for Sage to track down such information even if he was intent on doing so.

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Similarly, Jiao poured tea and made offerings for her Uncle Wei. While he wasn’t really her uncle, he had been her bodyguard and butler since she was a small child and had died protecting her years ago.

Then they all changed into another set of far less ceremonial clothing than the night before. They were still extremely elaborately decorated, but there were far less accessories and layers required. Sage and Jiao had another tang suit and cheongsam on respectively, but they had three different layers or embroidered designs upon them, one of the same red as the cloth, layered with gold and with tiny red symbols inlaid upon the decorative golden animals. They arrived at the Zhu Clan using the same exquisite peony Steam Coach that they’d used the day before. This time with the petals retracted so they were exposed from the waist up during the trip over. The others coming along with them had flagpoles attached to the saddles of their Demonic Beasts, flying long red silk ribbons from them and turning their trip over into another spectacle in the light of sunset.

The event was set to start along with the fall of night, and the Zhu Clan was no stranger to holding wedding banquets. As a Clan who specialized in making marriages for benefit, they had an amazing set of large open walled buildings with an enchanting water garden connecting them. Each of these buildings had a slightly different theme and were placed like islands between a fairy-tale atmosphere of mirrored silvery water, giant brilliant green lily pads and lotus flowers, and cranes dancing in the moonlight with fireflies.

Despite holding so many weddings in this area, the Zhu Clan always managed to find a way to make each and every one of them feel unique and different from the rest. For this wedding, the Lang Clan had very few in attendance, and on the Zhu Clan side, Zhu Jiao had lost their trust. She was a promising talent when she was young, but she refused to follow their strict training regimens over and over again. Eventually, they stopped giving her chances and she was chosen to fulfill an agreement from long ago. For the higher ups of the Zhu Clan they were merely selling off a failed investment for pennies on the dollar.

Yet, even with all of this in mind, that didn’t stop them from making Zhu Jiao’s wedding banquet into a spectacle. There weren’t many people in the Lang Clan to attend and there weren’t many in the Zhu Clan who wanted to attend, but didn’t that just mean there was lots of room to work with?

The Zhu Clan used this wedding not to honor the family they were marrying into, or to show off their own wealth like when a man was marrying into their family. Instead, they used this as an advertisement of their skills. Many rich and influential figures were invited from the neighboring cities and provinces, hundreds of them coming to make better relations with the Zhu Clan and hoping to snatch some for themselves.

In the central pavilion area, the main wedding banquet was being held. Massive tables with many times more food than these guests could ever eat. Each of the dishes were prepared by true Chefs, using imported Demonic Beast materials from far off places. The guest’s eyes went wide from the sight of so many unusual delicacies and delicious treats.

On the adjoining pavilions, separated by a short stroll over one of the many picturesque bridges over the water, they would enter an entertainment venue. Some of them had elaborate stage shows, others had beautiful Zhu Clan members singing solo, or in groups while others had dancers in a dozen variations of style and composition. There were even a few of the islands dedicated to those with rougher tastes with sporting events and sparring matching being held. In short, this wedding banquet was more like an impromptu fair or festival, showing off the splendor and grandeur of the Zhu Clan as well as their ability to plan and execute such festivities.

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