Chapter 528: Chapter 433: The Ceremony is Complete

The resounding sound of gongs, drums, and suonas echoed throughout the Imperial City.

Along the main avenue of the Zhou Imperial City, commoners craned their necks to watch the bridal procession.

At the very front of the procession, Xiao Mo rode forward on a large, red horse.

In the Zhou Kingdom, the customs for welcoming a bride were largely the same as for common households. However, the wedding ceremony that followed inside the Imperial Palace had its own set of imperial rules.

Therefore, even as the Emperor, Xiao Mo had to ride a horse to welcome his brides.

For the vast majority of the people in the Zhou Imperial City, this might be the only chance in their lives to see their Emperor with their own eyes.

"So that’s His Majesty?"

"His Majesty is so handsome."

"Who said His Majesty was six feet tall and two hundred pounds? He’s clearly so good-looking."

"Yeah, I think he’s handsome too. He looks just like a scholar from the Confucian School."

"But I think he looks more like a General who’s seen battle."

"I wish I could marry His Majesty, too."

"What are you all talking about? Be careful what you say! Be careful!"

"Stop gossiping about His Majesty! Aren’t you afraid of getting your heads chopped off?"

Many young women, seeing Xiao Mo in his wedding attire, had eyes filled with adoration.

In their minds, they had always imagined the current Emperor to be a pot-bellied man.

They never expected him to be so handsome.

Besides the women, many scholars were also surprised.

After all, they had long heard that His Majesty was obsessed with Cultivation, and even that he spent his days in a drunken stupor, dallying with Palace Maids.

But judging by His Majesty’s noble bearing and vibrant expression alone, he didn’t look like someone lost to wine and women at all...

Just as the bridal procession was gradually leaving the Imperial Palace, the retinue from Lingxin Palace arrived at Lion Bridge Village and the Qin Kingdom’s Envoy’s Mansion.

Led by a Female Official from Lingxin Palace, the two women entered their sedan chairs and departed for Zhou Mountain at the same time.

This mountain, located in the outskirts of the Zhou Kingdom, was the origin of the kingdom’s draconic ley line.

The founding ancestor of the Zhou Kingdom had emerged from this very mountain, building a great dynasty with his own two hands.

The mountain’s importance to the Zhou Kingdom was self-evident.

Normally, the groom was supposed to go to the brides’ homes to welcome them.

But because the two Consorts held equal status, visiting one before the other would be improper and cause gossip.

Therefore, the Ministry of Rites and Lingxin Palace, following ancient rites, established a new procedure: have the two Imperial Consorts, Yan Ruxue and Qin Siyao, wait at the foot of Zhou Mountain.

His Majesty would also travel to Zhou Mountain to welcome both Imperial Consorts simultaneously.

Afterward, His Majesty only needed to lead the two Imperial Consorts in a circle around Zhou Mountain and finally offer a stick of incense.

This would serve as an announcement to heaven, earth, and the ancestors, thus completing the bridal welcome.

This way, no one would be offended.

An hour later, the Imperial Palace’s bridal procession arrived at the foot of the mountain.

Two sedan chairs were already waiting there for Xiao Mo’s arrival.

Xiao Mo dismounted and walked to the space between the two sedan chairs.

Following the procedure that everyone had long since committed to memory, Madam Yan stepped forward, gently lifted the curtain of a sedan chair, and led her daughter out with a red silk ribbon.

And since Qin Mujiu’s relatives were all in the Qin Kingdom and had not come to Zhou, Empress Dowager Yan was the one to lead Qin Mujiu out of her sedan chair.

"Your Majesty, I entrust my Ruxue to you now," Madam Yan said to Xiao Mo, holding back her tears.

"Your Majesty, Mujiu has come from the Qin Kingdom to the Zhou Kingdom. This foreign land will now be her home. You must treat her well," Empress Dowager Yan also advised.

"Please rest assured." Xiao Mo bowed with his hands clasped. "Whether it is Ruxue or Mujiu, I will treat them with a true heart and never let them down."

Although there was nothing wrong with the words themselves, when Xiao Mo said "treat them with a true heart and never let them down" to two different women, it felt a little strange.

Madam Yan and Empress Dowager Yan placed the red silk ribbons they were holding into Xiao Mo’s hands.

Xiao Mo held one red silk ribbon in his left hand and the other in his right.

The ribbons in the two women’s hands were like threads of fate, both pointing toward him.

Xiao Mo looked up at his two wives.

Even though they were both wearing red wedding veils, Xiao Mo could still vaguely sense their shy, head-bowed postures.

’Are these my wives now?’

The thought suddenly surfaced in Xiao Mo’s mind.

In his heart, Xiao Mo had always felt that marriage was a distant affair for him.

Perhaps it was because he wasn’t fully prepared to be responsible for another woman, or maybe he worried about whether he could take good care of a partner.

Because of this, Xiao Mo had always felt a faint sense of fear about it.

But now that it was actually happening, it seemed that getting married wasn’t so frightening after all.

"Your Majesty, it is time to pay respects to Zhou Mountain."

The Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Yan Zhen, stepped forward and said softly to Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo nodded and, holding his two Consorts’ hands, led them in a circle around the base of Zhou Mountain.

After completing one circle around the foot of Zhou Mountain, Xiao Mo led the two Consorts back to their starting point, where the Ministry of Rites had already set up an altar.

Xiao Mo and the two Consorts lit three sticks of incense. He stood at the front, with Yan Ruxue and Qin Siyao standing behind him on his left and right.

"Bow!"

Amidst the ceremonial hymns, Xiao Mo, Qin Siyao, and Yan Ruxue bowed together to pay homage to Zhou Mountain.

The very moment the three of them straightened up, a ray of multicolored light rose from the peak of Zhou Mountain and connected to the Zhou Royal Palace. It looked like a rainbow after the rain, but many times more beautiful.

Immediately after, the sound of a dragon’s roar that pierced the heavens echoed for hundreds of miles.

Hundreds of birds circled ceaselessly in the sky, their joyful chirping filling the air.

The people in the city saw the iridescent light and exclaimed that it was an auspicious omen, their hearts filled with both amazement and immense joy.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.