There were two types of marriages in Tianning's imperial clan. One was a matter of national importance, such as the emperor appointing an empress, the heir apparent choosing a legal consort, or a political marriage representing the country. The other type was a family affair within the imperial clan. There weren't any grand ceremonies, but only a wedding with the elders as witnesses.
By the time Han Yunxi and Long Fei Ye arrived at the Eastern Palace, Emperor Tianhui, the empress dowager, and Qinwang Rong were already there.
Although they were part of the imperial clan, they still had to pay respects to their elders.
The crown prince was the heir apparent, but not the monarch himself. Long Fei Ye and Qinwang Rong could still claim to be his elders before him.
Emperor Tianhui and the empress dowager sat at the head of the table, with Qinwang Rong on their left and Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi on their right.
Han Yunxi could sense the killing intent in Emperor Tianhui and the empress dowager's eyes as soon as she entered the room.
Who wouldn't be angry at the charity auction? Who wouldn't feel pained?
Han Yunxi understood their feelings and avoided their gazes. For the sake of money, she wouldn't bicker with them!
They'd fought in the shadows and fought in the open, but they hadn't torn off all pretenses of cordiality yet. A monarch was a monarch, and a subject was a subject.
After making their bows, Emperor Tianhui invited them to take a seat.
Han Yunxi assumed that they'd sit for awhile, but they'd barely sat down when the bridal procession returned.
So fast, could it be that Long Tianmo had run back?
Was he impatient or impatient?
No matter whether Long Tianmo was impatient or impatient, Mu Liuyue was on the verge of tears in her sedan chair. The bumpy ride almost made her throw up!
There wasn't a single piece of betrothal money in sight. She forced herself to endure for the sake of the bigger picture.
She was already gloomy that the grand ceremony had been reduced to a mere wedding, but she did her best to endure.
But why was even the bridal procession so simple and crude?
She sat in the sedan chair all the way to the palace, sneaking peeks outside at first. The more she looked, the more stifled she felt. But as the sedan chair bearers sped up, she didn't even have a chance to feel stifled.
What if she fell off the sedan chair? In any case, she had brought the support of General Mu's Mansion to Long Tianmo. This would be of great benefit to him when he fought for the throne in the future. It might even help him stabilize the throne. Couldn't he show a bit of tenderness to the fairer sex?
She did not know where the joy of getting married had gone. She only had resentment in her heart.
She didn't even know that all of this was done by Han Yunxi. They could only bitterly complain about why there had to be a famine, and why His Highness Duke of Qin was holding a charity auction at this time. The crown prince clearly didn't have that much money, so why was he showing off?!
Han Yunxi had taken the initiative to send herself to him. She could even cause a sensation in the entire capital!
Before getting off the sedan, Mu Liuyue reluctantly put on the red veil. She thought that after getting off the sedan, Long Tianmo would hold her hand, but who knew that Long Tianmo would walk in front of her, and the one holding her hand was the matchmaker.
Fine, although her heart was stifled, she was still well-behaved. After all, everything would be different once she entered the palace.
Although she'd heard of the wedding ceremonies in the palace, there were still some parts she wasn't familiar with. She could only listen to the matchmaker.
The matchmaker recited a bunch of auspicious words before leading her to the crown prince's side.
Mu Liuyue silently mused that everything was already so simple. Shouldn't a wedding ceremony be grander? But who knew that the wedding ceremony was just a simple ceremony of paying respects to the parents, heaven and earth, and husband and wife.
With the matchmaker's help, she and Long Tianmo paid respects to Emperor Tianhui, the empress dowager, the world, and finally each other.
"The ceremony is complete!"
Mu Liuyue's heart practically died at the matchmaker's shout. She was utterly disappointed!
Once the ceremony was complete, they should be sent to the bridal chamber.
But Tianning's imperial family had an extra rule in their wedding customs, and that was to invite tea and pay respects. Just like Han Yunxi had done before, she had to wake up the next morning to invite tea and pay respects to Grand Concubine Yi. She had to enter the palace to invite tea and pay respects to the empress dowager.
For Mu Liuyue, as the crown prince's consort, she only needed to see the empress dowager and emperor tomorrow. But today, she had to invite tea to all the elders present, which could count as her status as an imperial family's daughter-in-law being acknowledged by them.
Mu Liuyue was already weak and listless. Like a rag doll, she allowed the matchmaker to fiddle with her. She followed Long Tianmo in serving tea, paying respects, and drinking tea.
She followed Long Tianmo in calling Emperor Tianhui "imperial father," the empress dowager "imperial grandmother," and Qinwang Rong "grand imperial uncle."
After paying respects to Qinwang Rong, the matchmaker led her to Long Fei Ye and Han Yunxi.
Mu Liuyue was already in a bad mood. When she heard Long Tianmo call out "Imperial Uncle Qin," she felt unwell all over! Her heart hurt so much that it was difficult to breathe!
Imperial Uncle Qin, he's here too.
The man she'd yearned for for so many years, the man she wanted to marry, had become her uncle one day.
Was there anything more tragic than this?
There was!
When Long Tianmo called out "Imperial Aunt," the absent-minded Mu Liuyue immediately perked up. She almost lifted the red veil.
She finally realized that Han Yunxi was her aunt! Long Tianmo had already finished serving tea, but Mu Liuyue was still standing in place.
A few days ago, she'd said in the alley that she'd never call Han Yunxi "imperial aunt," but today …
How could the bride be in a situation like this? She'd make a fool of herself.
The matchmaker stealthily tugged at Mu Liuyue's robes before she recovered her senses.
"The crown prince consort offers tea to Imperial Aunt!" The bridal handkerchief was still smiling professionally as she handed the tea to Mu Liuyue.
Mu Liuyue tightly clenched her teeth. For a moment, she regretted marrying him.
She handed over the tea with both hands. "Imperial Aunt, have some tea."
"Ai …"
Han Yunxi's reply was very sweet and meaningful. She could imagine Mu Liuyue's expression under the red veil.
This stinky girl should've learned her lesson today.
Han Yunxi took the teacup and drank it all. Then she took out a red envelope and handed it over. "Liuyue, have a child soon."
It had to be said that Han Yunxi was really too vicious. The words "have a child soon" were very meaningful.
Based on Long Tianmo's personality and his behavior today, he definitely wouldn't touch Mu Liuyue. Even if he did, Mu Liuyue would be pregnant. Based on the current situation, there were many people in the Imperial Harem who didn't want Mu Liuyue to have children.
The empress dowager looked at Han Yunxi and rejoiced. Fortunately, this woman was from the Duke of Qin's Mansion and not the Imperial Harem.
With Mu Liuyue's brain, she didn't understand the meaning of the words "Han Yunxi". She had suffered enough today!
Sob sob, she wanted to go home …
After the tea ceremony, everything was finally over.
The matchmaker sent Mu Liuyue away, followed by Long Tianmo. When he reached the door, he couldn't help but look back. He saw Han Yunxi sitting there calmly, dressed in pure white, with a smile in her beautiful eyes, languid and sly.
Mountains have trees, trees have branches. Don't you know that the heart is pleased with Yunyun? The falling flowers have already danced before the wind, while the flowing water still flows east … Han Yunxi, how wonderful would it be if you wore the phoenix coronet today?
After the newlyweds were sent off, everyone else remained seated.
"General Mu only has this one daughter, and Young General Mu only has this one little sister. Zhen has long wanted to betroth her to the crown prince. Muhou, when Liuyue enters the palace in the future, you have to protect her well. Don't let her suffer any grievances. "
Emperor Tianhui seemed to be chatting idly with the empress dowager, but his words were meant for Long Fei Ye to hear.
In other words, General Mu wouldn't dare to do anything with Mu Liuyue in his hands. Even if he wasn't truly loyal to him, he wouldn't favor Long Fei Ye, either.
This was indeed a huge threat to Long Fei Ye, but Long Fei Ye simply drank his tea. No one could see the depths of his eyes.
Han Yunxi didn't speak, but secretly found it funny. Emperor Tianhui's skin was really too thick. Mu Liuyue had already suffered grievances before she even married into the family, all right?
"That's natural. Liuyue has the best relationship with Changping. If only Changping was here, how wonderful would that be! " As the empress dowager spoke, she tugged at her handkerchief and began to grieve. Still, she glanced at Han Yunxi and said, "Don't say it, don't say it. If Liuyue heard, she'd be hurt too."
Han Yunxi only pretended not to see, but the empress dowager added, "Liuyue is the same as Changping in my heart. If anyone dares to bully her in the future, I won't let them off easily!"
Han Yunxi thought to herself. Is she saying this for me to hear? But I've already bullied her!
While Han Yunxi was secretly rejoicing, Emperor Tianhui suddenly stabbed Long Fei Ye in the back.
"Duke of Qin," he said, "You've donated a large sum of money to the Duke of Qin's charity auction. Such concern for the famine victims is a great fortune. Zhen discussed it with a few officials yesterday and decided to send you to the disaster areas to preside over the relief efforts. How's that? "
At these words, Long Fei Ye froze in his hands, clearly surprised as well.
However, he quickly replied with a single word, "Okay."
Han Yunxi knitted her brows, surprised that he'd agreed so easily.
If it weren't for those corrupt officials, there wouldn't be any benefits to preside over the relief efforts.
Tianning's current famine was extremely severe. Even if Long Fei Ye had the skills to track down the imperial court's embezzled relief grain, he still had no way to reverse the situation.
In the past, the relief efforts could last for a year or half a year, but this time the famine had spread far and wide. Moreover, it was already winter.
There wasn't enough grain to begin with. The imperial court's grain, Long Fei Ye's own personal supplies, and the various prefectures and counties' donations would only last for a month.
In ancient times, things like grain needed time, climate, and manpower to grow. Winter was approaching, so how were they supposed to grow grain in such a short time?!
If Long Fei Ye didn't handle such a thorny task well, then Emperor Tianhui would have a reason to make things difficult for him. More importantly, the people would lose faith in the Duke of Qin as well.
In any case, this was a huge, deep hole.
Abominable!
Han Yunxi cursed in her heart. If Emperor Tianhui had paid attention to the famine earlier and sent relief to the victims in time while investigating the corrupt officials, things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand now.
He'd actually pushed all the blame onto Long Fei Ye's shoulders. Why didn't he just toss the crown to Long Fei Ye as well?
It was obvious that Emperor Tianhui didn't expect Long Fei Ye to agree so quickly. Still, it didn't matter if Long Fei Ye didn't agree. The charity auction had already pushed the Duke of Qin's estate to the heart of the struggle. He had plenty of ways to pressure Long Fei Ye into agreeing.
"Duke of Qin, Zhen is handing over the lives of the common people to you," Emperor Tianhui's earnest and earnest words made Han Yunxi feel nauseous.
She knew that Emperor Tianhui wouldn't miss this chance even if the charity auction hadn't happened.
Long Fei Ye was very calm. He didn't even reply, only nodded his head.
Han Yunxi was puzzled. Did this guy make preparations long ago?
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