Chapter 300 Qing'an Marriage (Part 2)

The most time-consuming thing during the wedding was to welcome the bride. Chang'an was vast and it took more than two hours to walk along the way. It was already evening when it arrived at Gao Lishi's Mansion. At this time, the Gao Mansion was full of guests, bustling traffic, and firecrackers. A large group of children ran and laughed and followed the sedan chair to please the money.

"Falling in the sedan chair!" The host shouted loudly, and the sedan chair landed steadily in the middle of the mansion.

"The newcomer got out of the sedan chair!"

The curtain was lifted, and two dowry maids helped the bride out and handed it over to the bridesmaids. The bride was like a lotus blowing in the wind, swaying in a variety of shapes.

Five or six maids had already covered the bride with round fans, covering the bride's face. When the bride entered the door, the atmosphere of the man's house reached a climax. Mingyue slowly stepped over the brazier and a small basket filled with date pears, and finally entered the man's house with the support of the bridesmaid. Gao Lishi's wife personally took Mingyue into the inner room. After the newlyweds entered the door, they had to rest for half an hour, and then they would be married.

This waiting time is relatively relaxed and free, and the guests chat together.

There were nearly a thousand guests today. In addition to high-ranking officials and their families, there were also many famous wealthy merchants in Chang'an, Wang Yuanbao, Yang Chongwen, Guo Wanjin, Xing Jun and others, as well as more than a dozen leaders of the Yinlong Society, and even the special envoy of the Prince of Great Food Mansour was invited to attend. He sat in the VIP seat and was leisurely eating various fruits and vegetables. He was extremely interested in weddings in the East.

In addition, four or five hundred people from the female family came to the house. In addition to the Dugu family and Pei family, there are also the Changsun family, Lu family and other Guanlong families who have strong relationships with the Dugu family and have in-laws. Fortunately, the main hall of the Gaolishi Mansion is particularly wide and is enough to accommodate more than 3,000 people. Therefore, although there are many guests, it does not seem crowded.

The witness today was originally the right prime minister Li Linfu, but his illness worsened and he could not come, so he had to change his life. At the invitation of Li Qing'an, the former Minister of Rites Pei Kuan came to testify for him. Speaking of which, Pei Kuan was also a bit of in-law relationship with Li Qing'an. Dugu Mingyue's grandfather, former prime minister Pei Yaoqing, was Pei Kuan's clan brother.

At this moment, Pei Kuan was sitting with Gao Lishi and chatting. Pei Kuan was also one of the supporters of the Eastern Palace Party. However, in the past two years since he retired from office, he no longer cared about the affairs in the court, but focused on Buddhist practice. However, this is not that he is really not interested in the affairs in the court. To a large extent, he suffered repeated setbacks and was discouraged.

However, these days, as Emperor Changsun entered the Eastern Palace with a high profile, Pei Kuan's already silent heart recovered slightly, but he was already 72 years old, and it was impossible for him to return to his career. He is now more concerned about the future of his descendants, especially his Changsun Pei Yu. He heard Li Qing'an say that he had sent a faraway Byzantium and has returned to Anxi.

After years of experience, Pei Kuan hopes that his eldest grandson can return to Chang'an as soon as possible, and Li Qing'an also promised to recommend Pei Yu to the court as an official within two years.

For the future of his eldest grandson and because of the marriage between Li Qing'an and the Pei family, Pei Kuan was also particularly concerned about Li Qing'an's future.

"Mr. Gao, Li Qing'an's marriage to Mingyue this time will have a great impact on his future!"

Gao Lishi smiled and said, "Old Pei Ge, where do you start?"

"Gao Man is pretending to be confused!"

Pei Kuan smiled and said, "Li Qing'an joined the army since the Tianbao year and became the governor of Anxi in just six years. Although the promotion speed is not as fast as Yang Guozhong, it is extremely rare in the military. However, he rose too quickly and seemed to be inconsistent and had no foundation. However, he married the daughter of the Dugu family and Pei Yaoqing's granddaughter. This is very beneficial to his connections and the support of the Central Plains clans. So I said that he used to be a steep and steep lonely peak, but now he has gradually begun to develop into the majestic and thick mountains."

Gao Lishi laughed and said, "Old Pei Ge is right, but Li Qing'an cannot rely solely on his wife's family. He also needs to give back his wife's family, so that it is convenient for both sides."

Pei Kuan said that, and Li Qing'an also wanted to train more young children in the Pei family. He was not easy to speak, so he hoped Gao Lishi to persuade Li Qing'an. Seeing that Gao Lishi understood what he meant, he laughed unconsciously, "Your Majesty is understanding!"

At this time, the sound of a cloud board knocking faintly came from the lobby, which reminded that the auspicious time had arrived. The guests stood up one after another and rushed towards the front of the lobby. A clearing space was already placed in front of the lobby, with a thick Persian carpet on the front wall, and a big red "四" character was posted in the middle, and a row of soft couches were placed below. The elders had already taken their seats. Li Qing'an had no parents on the man, so Gao Lishi and his wife were temporarily replaced. The parents of the woman were Dugu Haoran and his wife and uncle Pei Min, and Pei Kuan was also present as witnesses.

The two sides were full of relatives and friends. Sixteen maids held the knots of unison and various things of literary decree. At this time, the emcee shouted: "The good time is here, please invite new people!"

Three princes on the left accompanied the groom Li Qing'an and walked out slowly. Three bridesmaids on the right supported the bride Dugu Mingyue. At this time, Mingyue no longer covered her face. Her head was covered with pearls and green faces, her eyes were like varnish, and her eyes were like vague paint. Her snow-skinned appearance was particularly beautiful and charming, which attracted the guests' surprise.

At this moment, the butler suddenly ran to Gao Lishi and whispered nervously, and Gao Lishi stood up.

"Mr. Gao, what happened?" Pei Kuan asked strangely.

Gao Lishi's expression was a little weird, and he said nervously: "Master, the Imperial Concubine and the Crown Lord are all here."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone outside shouted, "The Lord is here! The Imperial Concubine is here! Your Highness Crown Prince is here!"

There was an uproar in the lobby. The emperor actually came to attend Li Qing'an's wedding in person. This was too great. The ministers and their families dodged to both sides and made a way. The Emperor of Tang Li Longji and Concubine Yang walked in surrounded by dozens of palace maids and eunuchs, while the crown prince Li Yu followed behind.

The ministers saluted together, "See Your Majesty!"

Li Longji was wearing a regular dress and a veil hat today, which was very simple. He waved his hand and smiled: "I am here to congratulate the general on his wedding ceremony. Like you all, you can't be overwhelmed by the host."

Gao Lishi hurriedly came up and said nervously: "Why didn't your Majesty say it earlier when he is coming? Old minister is ready!"

Before he knew it, Gao Lishi had changed his claim to Li Longji from "old slave" to "old minister". Although it was only a word difference, the meaning was completely different, indicating that he had left Li Longji's confidant position. In this, he was tactful, but he was more or less dissatisfied with Li Longji.

Li Longji also changed his name to Gao Lishi, and he smiled and said, "I'm really not hiding it from Mr. Gao. I was not feeling well and didn't want to come, but the imperial concubine insisted on coming, so I had to accompany the imperial concubine."

At this time, Dugu Haoran also hurriedly ran up and said very moved: "Your Majesty actually came to see the little girl's wedding. I am so grateful! I am so grateful!"

He was moved, but he was also guilty. Since Li Longji met him last time, he had never met him again. That kind of thing could only be understood, not spoken, and he was unable to meet Li Longji's request. The anxiety in his heart was conceivable.

Li Longji glanced at him, and a hint of undetectable anger flashed in his eyes. He turned to laugh and said, "Dugu Aiqing married his daughter today, and I want to congratulate you too!"

Although the anger in Li Longji's eyes flashed, he was still caught by Li Qing'an, who had extremely keen eyes. He immediately became alert. Li Longji had no intention of giving up on Mingyue at all. He was still waiting for the opportunity to start. Yes, he is the emperor of the Nine Five. How could he give up on a woman he could not get?

At this time, Li Longji had already looked at him, and Li Qing'an bowed to him, and he could not leave at this time. Li Longji smiled and nodded slightly to him to blessing him, but his ostentatiously could not help but pass by Mingyue again, and smiled at Pei Kuan again with guilt, and Pei Kuan hurriedly greeted him.

Yang Guifei was as careful as she found that there was a knot of unity around Li Qing'an and Mingyue. She was going to have a wedding ceremony. She knew that the time for wedding ceremony was very important, so she hurriedly said to Li Longji: "Your Majesty, let them worship first, don't waste the time."

Li Longji glanced at Mingyue and nodded, "Let the newcomers celebrate!"

The wedding ceremony continued, Li Longji and Yang Guifei sat down in the VIP seat. He looked at Dugu Mingyue with complicated eyes. Such a beautiful woman was actually relieved by Li Qing. He secretly hated her. If it weren't for his reputation, would it be his turn to Li Qing'an?

At this moment, Li Longji secretly made up his mind to get Dugu Mingyue no matter what.

The first step in the wedding ceremony is to drink Hei Ye wine, which is a bit like today's jungle wine, but the significance is very far-reaching. After drinking Hei Ye wine, you will always be a husband and wife. The custom of the Tang Dynasty was not to use wine glasses, but to make wine glasses made of bitter melon, and the bride and groom each drank half of them.

This is the matter of the elders of the man. Gao Lishi stood up and said to the two: "Today is the day for you two to have a happy joy. From now on, you will live a simple life together. I hope you two can respect each other and give in to each other, and have a harmonious family and everything will be prosperous. This is an unbreakable truth. You must remember this sentence."

Seeing that both of them nodded, Gao Lishi smiled and said, "Drinking Heyi wine is the rule before the church. OK, the auspicious time for the church is coming soon, let's start!"

Mingyue picked up the bitter melon wine glass, drank half of the wine, and handed it to Li Qing'an shyly. Li Qing'an smiled slightly, took the wine glass and drank it all.

It was already dark, and the sound of firecrackers and drum music sounded again outside. This was auspicious time for the wedding ceremony. Two girls, Rushi and Mingzhu, walked over with red belts, holding the concentric knot. Mingyue was as careful as her hair. She originally arranged for the poetic and picturesque sisters to hold the concentric knot. The twin sisters who looked exactly the same may have a more dramatic effect, but Mingyue also knew that this pair of rare twin sisters would inevitably be jealous of some people and put pressure on Li Qing'an, such as sitting in the VIP seat, the current emperor with a cold look.

So at the last moment, Mingyue changed her mind and asked her sister Mingzhu to appear instead of Ruhua. This was when Mrs. Pei stood up and handed one end of the brocade knot to her son-in-law, that is, she formally handed her daughter to him and the other end to her daughter.

The two stood side by side, and the middle hall was already filled with guests, mostly important guests and elders of the Dugu family.

"The witness gave a speech!" the emcee shouted,

Pei Kuan coughed, stood up, and said slowly with a smile: "I cherish this beautiful scenery. When the flowers and the moon are full, Anxi Li family Qing'an Jun welcomes his wife, Dugu family bright moon in Chang'an. I announce in the name of witnesses that the two of them will become one of the same hearts from now on, and the couple will be in love and grow old together."

After the witness said that, the emcee shouted: "The auspicious time is here, the newcomer will come to the church! Just pay homage to heaven and earth."

The two of them slowly came to the outside world, knelt on the mat beside them, and bowed to the sky outside the lobby.

"Two visits to the high hall!"

They turned around again, knelt down to the elders in front of them, kowtowed to thank Mrs. Pei for raising her kindness, and couldn't help but burst into tears.

"Honey husband and wife!"

The two knelt face to face with the guidance of the maid and the bridesmaid, kowtowed deeply to each other, and then they officially became husband and wife.

"The bride is sent into the bridal chamber!"

The sound of firecrackers and drum music sounded again, Mingyue and the bridesmaids were sent to the bridal chamber, and the wedding banquet in Gaofu outside officially began. Li Qing'an could not leave, so he had to drink a circle of wine to thank the guests, so that he could enter the bridal chamber.

Li Qing'an walked to Li Longji with a glass of wine. This is his leader, so of course he must respect the leader first.

"Thank you for coming to my wedding. I wish you good health and happiness!"

This is a good thing, but Li Qing'an said it with a hint of advice. If you want to be healthy, you must avoid touching women and be pure and have few desires.

Li Longji also raised his glass and laughed: "Today is General Li's happy day. You must stop drunk. Come on! Have the first drink first."

Yang Guifei next to her frowned slightly and said with a smile: "Your Majesty is confused. Today is a beautiful scene. The wedding night is in the bridal chamber. General Li is drunk, so the bride is not happy."

"Oh! Look at me so confused, OK! Just drink one drink!"

Li Qingan nodded and smiled at Yang Guifei, drank the wine all over, and Li Longji also drank it. He put down his glass and said, "Okay, I'm going back."

"Master, the Empress returns to the palace!"

Everyone stood up and saluted, and Li Longji walked away surrounded by guards and palace servants.

A lively urged drinks to drink again in the lobby, "General, I'll toast you, no! It should be a princess."

The bridal chamber is in Furong Tower, quite far from the lobby. There are more than a dozen maids standing downstairs. The bridal chamber is on the third floor, divided into two rooms inside and outside, with gauze curtains in the middle, all of which are decorated in a beautiful and festive manner, covered with the characters of 四 and the pictures of white and fat and cute hundred sons. In the inner room, a pair of big red candles shine suddenly.

In the room was a huge wooden couch, occupying half of the room. A pink hibiscus warm tent hung high, and the curtain was their soft and warm love nest.

Mingyue sat in front of the bed, feeling happy and nervous. She was happy that she finally married her beloved lover. Her marriage was bumpy all the way and finally achieved a happy ending. At the most important moment in her life, the wedding night.

But this special night also made her nervous. Last night, her mother had already told her what was going to happen tonight. Mingyue was sweet and shy in her heart, and she was full of expectations.

"The groom is here!"

The maid's voice sounded downstairs, Mingyue shouted in her lower voice, her heart pounding, and heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs.

‘Have he drunk too much? His footsteps are so heavy, are he very tired? He rode his horse for a day today and never stopped.’

Mingyue was thinking a lot in her mind. At this moment, two dowry maids heard the voices of them: "Hello, son-in-law!"

"Yeah! OK! Uh... You don't need to serve tonight. I'm better than you in your girls. You are tired, so go back early to rest!"

"Son-in-law, let's sleep in the outer room tonight!"

"This was arranged by that bastard! How can you sleep in the outer room?"

"This was arranged by the lady, saying that you will get up at night and need to be served."

"Oh! It was your wife's arrangement. Actually, there is no need. That... is inconvenient. Do you understand?"

"But Madam?"

At this time, the bright moon in the house spoke, "Qiuye, Chunshui, please go to another house to sleep! Now the son-in-law is the decision of the family."

"Yes! Girl."

The two maids closed the door and went out. Li Qing'an picked up the curtain and entered the inner room, and smiled and said, "Have you checked the cabinets and wooden boxes?"

Mingyue's face turned red involuntarily, she lowered her head and whispered: "I have found it all, except Mingzhu hiding in the cabinet, there is no one else."

"That little girl, are you still reluctant to part with your sister at this time?" Li Qingan said with a smile.
To be continued...