Chapter 24: 24. Wedding

The marriage of royalty is a grand event.

Everything had to be worked on perfectly, making sure that there was nothing that was wrong. If there was even the slightest bit of mistake, the one who made the mistake might even lose their lives.

This was the reason why everyone was afraid.

They were afraid of offending the one they should never offend in their entire life.

Feng Ning only knew that she had to wake up early to do her makeup. Even though she was still sleepy, her maidservants were already busy to dress her up. From head to toe, Feng Ning felt that her entire body was tortured.

‘Marriage is such a tiring event….’

It was no wonder that people only wanted to get married one time. Just the preparation alone was already very torturing.

“Are you ready?” Princess Lin Xie Ya looked at her daughter, who was already dressed carefully and nodded. Even though she didn’t really care about this daughter of hers, there was no way she would let her daughter tarnish the Imperial Family’s name.

Feng Ning curtsied when she saw her mother.

“Wear the veil and go walk out. The joy matron will take you to the carriage.”

“Mhm.”

As Feng Ning draped the veil, she realized that she still could see outside. However, it was very blurry as the veil blocked almost everything. She didn’t say anything and followed her maidservant’s guide outside.

Even though Feng Ning couldn’t see anything, she could hear the cheering from outside. There was also a carriage that would bring her to the new residence led by Prince Lin Zi Xuan.

She couldn’t see him.

But she knew that it was him who led the carriage since it was the rules.

“Please be careful. There are steps here.”

Feng Ning nodded. Since she couldn’t speak, she only followed the guide of the joy matron carefully. Entering the carriage, she sat quietly. The carriage was exquisite, but it didn’t change the fact that the road was slightly rocky.

She felt that there were too many bumps.

‘I miss car…’

At the very least, the condition of the chair would be much better than this hard chair below her. Thankfully, the distance was not that far.

Soon, the door opened and Feng Ning climbed on the person’s back.

“Wife, please be careful.”

Hearing this low voice, Feng Ning came to a realization that the person who carried her was not the joy matron but Lin Zi Xuan. She lightly tapped the man’s shoulder to indicate that she heard his voice.

Other women, when facing with such a kind gesture, would probably be head over heels. After all, the custom usually only required the joy matron to be the one to carry her to the residence from the carriage.

But Feng Ning had lived another life.

And she had seen his eyes before.

She knew that this was nothing more than an act done by this prince. This was so that he would be the one in control of the public opinion if she treated him badly. Such a considerate man, any other women would have already swoon over him.

Considerate, huh?

If a considerate and kind man could have that kind of eyes, Feng Ning would rather believe the world was coming to an end.

As they entered the residence, Lin Zi Xuan put Feng Ning down. The joy matron then used ribbon to tie their hand so that Lin Zi Xuan could guide her to the main hall where the three bows would be performed.

Feng Ning followed slowly, silent all the way in.

When they reached the main hall, the ceremony truly began. Three bows. First bow, bow to the Heaven. Second bow, bow to the parents. Third bow, bow to each other.

After it was done, Feng Ning was guided to the bridal chamber.

She would have to wait here.

‘I wonder how many hours he would spend drinking.’

Feng Ning yawned when everyone had left. She was sleepy since the maidservants had woken her up at such ungodly hour. The ceremony was also very tiring since she couldn’t see anything.

All that she could see was this red color.

“Your Highness, how about if I prepare a bowl of porridge while you’re waiting?” Xiao Lu asked considerately.

Feng Ning nodded.

She hadn’t eaten anything from morning. It had truly torture both her mind and body. At the same time, Feng Ning swore that she didn’t want to go through this thing a second time.

Her body wouldn’t be able to withstand it.

Before long, Xiao Lu had returned and handed her a small bowl of porridge. It was not much, but at the very least, her stomach wouldn’t be empty.

Once it was done, Feng Ning continued to sit there, waiting for Lin Zi Xuan to return. She didn’t know when he would come back, but she knew that he would at least come back because he wouldn’t want to have a bad reputation.

Meanwhile, Lin Zi Xuan was busy drinking. There were a lot of people who were toasting him, saying that they wouldn’t let him off before he become completely drunk. It took him some time before he could pretend that he was drunk.

You are reading story The Quiet Empress at novel35.com

Naturally, he didn’t want to be completely drunk.

It didn’t take long for him to be released by the others and return to the bridal chamber while accompanied by the joy matron.

Feng Ning heard the door open and there was steps coming inside. She raised her head slightly, but the veil still covered her face, so she couldn’t see the other party even if she wanted to.

“Your Highness Prince Lin Zi Xuan, please take off the veil.” The joy matron bowed.

Lin Zi Xuan looked at Feng Ning in front of him and took off the veil with one swift motion. His eyes looked carefully at the young woman he hadn’t seen for many years. The last time he saw Feng Ning was when the latter was 6 years old.

By now, Feng Ning had grown up.

Her features had become defined, one that of a charming young woman. Her eyelashes fluttered as she tried to get used with the light. Her red lips pursed slightly because she was a bit surprised.

At this moment, Feng Ning also saw Lin Zi Xuan. He had grown taller compared to the last time she saw him. His experience at the battlefield allowed him to grow stronger, allowing him to give off the strong aura.

His eyes were also looking back at her.

The two of them might be getting married today, but it was also the second time they had met each other. The first time, one of them was nothing more than a little kid and the other one was a teenager.

Now, they were both adults.

(A/N: women turn adult when they’re 15 while men turned adult when they’re 20 in accordance to the custom of that time)

The joy matron smiled when she saw it. “Congratulation Your Highness Prince Lin Zi Xuan, Congratulation Princess Xing. Good wishes for Your Highness Prince Lin Zi Xuan and Princess Xing to live until hair turned white and blessed with children.”

Prince Lin Zi Xuan nodded. After saying a few more blessing words, the joy matron then left accompanied by the other maidservants.

Only the two of them were left.

Prince Lin Zi Xuan took the cup of wine. “Ning’er, this is the wine to celebrate our big day.”

Feng Ning smiled and took the wine. Their fingers brushed against each other as Feng Ning took the cup. She silently drank the wine along with Prince Lin Zi Xuan.

The two of them felt awkward near each other.

Prince Lin Zi Xuan knew that Feng Ning couldn’t speak, so he looked carefully at his wife. He noticed the phoenix crown on Feng Ning’s head and said in a low voice, “Ben Wang will take off the phoenix crown first, alright.”

Feng Ning nodded lightly.

As Prince Lin Zi Xuan took it off, she felt a considerable weight had been lifted off her shoulder. That accessory was so d*** heavy. She felt that her head would snap off her shoulder after wearing it for a long time.

If she was not part of the Imperial Family, there was really no need to wear such extravagant accessory.

“This is of considerable weight.” Prince Lin Zi Xuan naturally could lift the crown easily. But thinking of the delicate girl in front of him had to wear it all day, he could guess that it wasn’t easy for her.

He moved behind Feng Ning and took off the rest of the accessories. Thankfully, her maidservants had made it easier. Probably, that was to make sure that her husband would be able to take off the accessory without much difficulties.

If he couldn’t take it off, wouldn’t he be embarrassed?

“So easy?” Prince Lin Zi Xuan muttered under his breath.

Feng Ning couldn’t answer, so she turned around to look at the man behind her carefully. She extended her hand and took his left hand before writing on top of it.

“Thank you.”

“There’s no need to so polite between us.” Prince Lin Zi Xuan smiled faintly. He could see the way Feng Ning treated herself in front of him was very courteous and careful.

They were both strangers for now.

But they would spend the rest of their lives together with each other. How tiring would it be if they had to stay so polite to each other?

Prince Lin Zi Xuan had spent most of his life at the frontline where he would be fighting almost all the time. There was no way he would like to stick to so many rules when he was in his private time.

“Okay.” Feng Ning wrote on Lin Zi Xuan’s palm once more.

“Call me Zi Xuan from now.”

The custom actually didn’t allow Feng Ning to be that discourteous even if she is a princess. After all, a man’s status was still far higher than that of a female. Normally, she would have to call him courteously.

But since he asked, she would do it.

“Zi Xuan.” Feng Ning wrote slowly.

This motion might be normal for Feng Ning who had done this so many times with Xiao Yu, but it was new for Lin Zi Xuan. He felt rather ticklish in his hand when Feng Ning was writing on his palm, especially when he saw her wrote his name.

His eyes were looking at Feng Ning carefully as he pulled the curtain.

Feng Ning saw his motion and knew what would happen soon. She gripped her hand, but she looked at the man in front of her.

He’s now her husband.

It should be a normal thing to do.