Chapter 70 Wedding
On the 22nd day of the first lunar month, just a few days after the Lantern Festival, another grand event happened in Chang'an City.

The saint married his daughter.

Li Yuanhui, the son of Li Yuan, Duke of Tang, married Princess Jinyang.

When the auspicious time came, Li Yuanhui wore red and decorated with colorful ribbons, rode a tall horse and led the wedding procession to the Daming Palace in the northeast corner of Chang'an to welcome the bride.

In front of the Daming Palace, the princess's tent had already been built in accordance with etiquette and regulations.

Li Yuanhui was wearing a red dress with a big red flower on his chest, and he was very nervous. The male guests following him, including Du Bing, Yu Zhongheng, Wei Guangxia, Pei Xingfang, etc., were quite impressive and arrogant at first.

But when they arrived at the gate of Daming Palace, they could no longer laugh.

A bunch of princesses and royal family women were waiting there with big sticks in their hands, and the male guests could only protect the groom Li Yuanhui all the way through the palace gate, and each of them was hit several times with the sticks.

This step is called "blocking the car", which means to kill the groom's prestige first.

After passing the "killing stick" at the door, there are still several levels to go.

Guessing riddles and pitching pots. Fortunately, Li Yuanhui had foreseen this and had practiced pitching pots intensively in the past few days. Combined with his existing foundation in horse riding and archery, he got a good start in the pitching pot and hit eight arrows in a row.

As for guessing riddles, there were a few men in the team who were quite clever and they managed to pass it successfully in the end.

This was just a formality, a lively occasion. When Li Yuanhui saw this scene, he remembered how miserable he was as the best man when a buddy got married in his previous life. He was jealous and drank alcohol. But now that he got married, it seemed to be going smoothly.
After overcoming all obstacles along the way, the wedding party finally arrived at the princess' tent in front of the Daming Palace.

The person in charge of presiding over the wedding was Prince of Qi Murong Ju, and the sage, the queen, and all the kings of the royal family were present.

The bride Murong Jiayin was wearing a green silk wedding dress, covering her face with a round fan in her hand, and sitting on the couch.

Here we have to mention the origin of the term "princess". In the Western Zhou Dynasty, when the emperor married his daughter, it was impossible for him to preside over the wedding himself. Instead, the wedding would be presided over by the elders of the same surname, so she was called "princess".

When Li Yuanhui saw this scene, he was still a little nervous, or it could be said that he was quite nervous.

After the ceremony, Murong Ying came over and patted him on the shoulder. Without saying much, he just told him like an ordinary father: "My daughter is now in your hands. You must treat Jialuo well in the future."

"The minister obeys the order."

Afterwards, Murong Jiayin got on the carriage. Li Yuanhui personally drove the carriage a few times, then handed it over to the waiter and got on his horse again.

We came all the way to Danfeng Gate, which is also the place where the princess’ wedding is held.

The two men got off the carriage, holding the red silk together, and walked slowly to the ceremonial platform. Palace servants on both sides threw corn and red beans.

Li Yuanhui and Murong Jiayin came to the center of the platform and knelt facing each other.

The bride Murong Jiayin slowly put down the round fan that was covering her face, revealing her stunning face.

Her hair was arranged into a curly bun, and her hair was lazily combed, as ethereal as a cicada's wing. Her exquisitely carved face, rosy cheeks, and misty eyes were all very attractive.

She was slender and graceful, with a tall figure, and wearing a phoenix crown and green clothes, she looked like an immortal beauty that was superior to all living beings, hard to reach and lofty.

For a moment, Li Yuanhui looked at her in a daze, and only came back to his senses when he was about to start the ritual of washing his hands.

The ritual of Woxian is washing hands, which also has its own rules. You cannot pour water directly into the basin, but must use "living water" and pour water from top to bottom using a special container. Two people then catch the water in mid-air to wash their hands.

Then comes the ceremony of eating together, which means that the newlyweds eat from the same set of tableware, to show that the couple have become one family.

Then comes the most important ceremony of worshipping in the hall. The ancients regarded heaven, earth and parents as the most important, so they must worship heaven, earth and parents during weddings.

However, because Princess Jinyang was of noble status, she only needed to bow.

After the ceremony, the eunuchs announced the imperial decree, including one for Princess Jinyang to open a government office and one for conferring the title of Duke of Fuma on Li Yuanhui.

In addition to being a husband and wife, the husband and the princess also have a superior-subordinate relationship. The husband's lieutenant is also an official of the princess's mansion, a third-rank official, which is not a low position.

As a father, Li Yuan was very pleased to see his youngest legitimate son getting married. He watched his son take his bride to the princess's mansion after the ceremony.

The wedding still includes the ceremonies of drinking the same cup of wine and tying the hair, and the banquet for guests is also held in the princess's residence.

Li Yuanhui mounted his horse again, with the Jinwu Guards leading the way in front and the princess's guard behind him. The long street was filled with people from Chang'an who liked to watch the fun.

"Li Silang is so handsome, no wonder he was able to marry the princess of the Saint's family."

"What are you talking about? Li Silang was able to marry the princess because he is handsome and his father is the Duke of Tang." "Come on, Li Silang captured and killed the Yang Xun brothers on the battlefield."

Such a grand event would naturally become the talk of the people of Chang'an.

It normally would only take a few moments to walk from Danfeng Gate to Yuanjiafang at a gallop, but today it took more than half an hour.

After they entered the bridal chamber and sat on the couch, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

There is no need to lift the veil at this time. When at Danfeng Gate, "Queshan" is equivalent to lifting the veil.

Li Yuanhui looked at Murong Jiayin, who had become his wife.

Murong Jiayin happened to turn her head to look at him at this time. They smiled at each other, but neither knew what to say.

When the couple were alone, he was undoubtedly a little nervous.

Murong Jiayin was even more so. Her ears turned red when she thought about what might happen in a while.

Li Yuanhui couldn't help but feel a little funny when he saw this scene. What's the point of being nervous? They are a legal couple.
But it’s not suitable to do anything now, because it’s just past dusk and there are guests everywhere outside. As the groom, I still have to show up.

"I'll go to the front hall and entertain the guests."

“Hmm.”

Murong Jiayin suddenly laughed out loud, then covered her mouth again, because Li Yuanhui bumped into her when he turned around without opening the door.

But she soon realized that laughing like that wasn't a good idea, so she immediately covered her mouth and stopped talking, waving at him to go away.

Li Yuanhui fled from the bridal chamber and came to the front hall.

The wedding banquet was in full swing. Li Yuanhui's colleagues in the Xiaoguo Army, Li's brothers, his mother's family, the Dou clan, his grandmother, the Dugu clan, and other relatives and old friends gathered together.

When they saw him, the groom, they naturally poured him wine.

Fortunately, the alcohol content of the wine was low at that time, and Li Yuanhui could barely hold it over.

After playing around for a while, I returned to the new house feeling a little dizzy.

At this time, Murong Jiayin had taken off her heavy and gorgeous wedding dress and changed into a red palace dress, sitting on the edge of the bed, bored.

Seeing the drunken groom, she showed a reproachful expression. Before Li Yuanhui could say anything, Princess Huayang Murong Lan, Murong Jiayin's elder sister, walked into the bridal chamber with several maids carrying utensils.

She was in charge of the last etiquette of the wedding: "Invite the princess and the prince consort to drink the wedding wine. From now on, we will share the joys and sorrows, the high and low, and be connected with each other, and never leave each other."

The heqin wine is the same as the wedding wine, but with a different drinking vessel. The "heqin" here is a ladle, commonly known as a gourd. During the wedding, the ladle is split into two halves and the handles are connected with a string. The bride and groom each hold a ladle to drink, symbolizing that the two are now connected as one.

Li Yuanhui and Murong Jiayin looked at each other, each took a sip, rinsed their mouths, and spit the wine into the container.

Then came the hair-tying ceremony, where they cut a small lock of each other’s hair, tied them together, put them in a sachet, and kept them away.

After all the ceremonies were completed, Princess Huayang smiled and said, "I wish the bride and groom a happy and blessed baby soon."

"Thank you, Your Highness."

After Li Yuanhui sent his aunt out, he closed the door, turned around and looked at the incredibly beautiful face under the candlelight, and suddenly felt dazed.

He came to ancient times and became a child of a noble family. By chance, he made outstanding contributions on the battlefield and was promoted to a high position.

Now he has married a real princess.

So what about the future? How far can I go?

Make full preparations to save your life, and wait for the day when your family becomes your country to become a leisurely prince.

Or, while saving your life, do you want to experience the grandeur of this era firsthand?

Forget it, don't think about this.

Spring nights are worth thousands of dollars.

(End of this chapter)