By the time the canonization ceremony was over, it was already past noon. The queen's work was over, but the emperor's work was still going on.
The empress bestowed awards on civil and military ministers. As an emperor, he had to show his appreciation.
But because the Queen had already awarded the reward, Zhu Youxiao was not too generous. He mainly awarded the reward to some of the main planners and executors of today's wedding.
Most of these people were eunuchs and maids from the Six Bureaus and One Division of the palace, and the guards responsible for the guard of honor and bodyguards were also rewarded with some silver coins.
But for the officials of the Ministry of Rites and other officials who also contributed equally, Zhu Youxiao only gave them a verbal commendation.
The emperor is different from the empress. The empress needs to maintain her image and maintain her posture. Of course, she cannot be stingy in such a situation, otherwise she will be criticized for gossiping behind her back, which is extremely detrimental to her reputation.
Zhu Youxiao is different. It is natural for his ministers to do things for him. Whether to reward them or not can completely depend on their own mood.
Moreover, the emperor and the empress are one and the same, so it only takes one person to do this kind of thing, and the empress' reward is enough to shut their mouths.
Besides, all the things the queen used to award rewards came from internal funds. It was all her own money. He didn't open a bank. How could he get so much money to reward them? He also expected to fatten up these officials.
, make money from them.
After everything was done, Zhu Youxiao hosted a banquet for all the officials in Wuying Hall. If it weren't for the etiquette and rules of his ancestors, as well as his reputation, he wouldn't be willing to invite him to dinner. A banquet of this size requires a lot.
money.
There is no need for Zhu Youxiao to go to such a scene. These officials can leave the palace on their own after eating.
…
When Zhu Youxiao walked to the harem, he saw the eye-catching Kunning Palace at a glance. Inside the Kunning Palace, which was decorated with lights and colorful decorations, the queen was sitting on the couch, waiting for the emperor's arrival.
As soon as Zhu Youxiao entered the door, he saw his wife. Zhang Yan quickly stood up and saluted:
"I respectfully wish your majesty to have your blessings!"
Zhu Youxiao stepped forward, held her hands in his palms, and said softly:
"Queen, there is no need to perform such a complicated ceremony. There is no difference between us!"
When I chose the concubine that day, I just looked at it briefly and didn't look carefully. Now that the two of them were in close contact, Zhu Youxiao could finally see clearly.
He couldn't help but sigh, she was indeed a woman who had made a name for herself based on her own conditions. The name of this Queen was truly well-deserved. After all, Zhu Youxiao had been the emperor for more than half a year. He had seen a lot of this beauty, and now he was obsessed with it.
Zhang Yan secretly raised her head and glanced at Zhu Youxiao. When she saw the emperor looking at her blankly, her face immediately turned red with embarrassment, but she did not resist.
An elderly female officer next to her whispered:
"Your Majesty? Your Majesty?"
Zhu Youxiao reacted immediately and let go of the queen's hand. He also realized that he had lost his temper, but he had nothing to be embarrassed about. He asked his wife to see what was wrong.
Although he didn't care, Zhang Yan was not as shameless as him. At this time, her head was lowered, and she didn't dare to look at the emperor standing in front of her, with her hands hidden in her sleeves.
Seeing her like this, Zhu Youxiao pretended to cough twice to relieve his embarrassment.
"Well, tell me what's going on!"
The female officer also secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This disturbed His Majesty's mood. If she really had to blame him, she couldn't bear it.
But there is no way, who told her to do this?
"Your Majesty and the Queen are going to the Fengxian Hall to offer sacrifices to all previous emperors!"
"After the sacrifice is over, Your Majesty will have dinner with the Queen and drink with each other!"
Then, under the guidance of this female official, the emperor and the queen arranged their clothes, and a group of palace maids followed behind them holding sacrifices.
Zhu Youxiao was really speechless at this time. Getting married in ancient times was really troublesome, and there were too many etiquette procedures.
By the time the ancestor worship was completed in the Fengxian Hall, it was almost dark.
After returning to Kunning Palace, the emperor and the empress had to change their clothes again. They had to change their crown clothes into formal clothes. Then they sat down at the dining table and drank a glass of wine first.
After drinking a glass of wine, the two of them would first take a chopstick of appetizers into the house, and then after drinking one or two glasses of wine, the palace maid would remove the side dishes from the table and replace them with staple food.
Next is the real meal time. After the two of them are full, they have to drink another glass of wine, and then the palace maid will remove the staple food and replace it with side dishes and fruits.
The two of them still need to use a few chopsticks to symbolically eat. After putting down their chopsticks, the etiquette process is basically over.
Then the two of them have to change their clothes again, from formal clothes to regular clothes, and they also have to do a more interesting activity before the wedding.
The eunuchs and maids of the Qianqing Palace had to eat up the queen's leftovers, and the eunuchs and maids of the Kunning Palace had to finish the emperor's leftovers, while the emperor and the queen watched from the side.
After both parties have finished eating the dishes on their plates, everyone in the palace must pay their respects to the emperor and empress, and then exit the palace one by one.
The wedding on the first day was over, and then the emperor and the empress were free to do whatever they wanted.
After the eunuch and the maid left, Zhang Yan stood up and saluted Zhu Youxiao and said:
"I, my concubine, will take off your clothes and rest at your Majesty's service!"
The voice was very low, and Zhu Youxiao couldn't really hear it clearly if he didn't listen carefully. He looked at his wife with a smile and said:
"I am such an adult, how can I not even take off a piece of clothing?"
After saying this, he picked up Zhang Yan and carried her to the bed.
The emperor's palace was originally in the Qianqing Palace, but because Kunning Palace was the main palace for the wedding, Zhu Youxiao slept in the Kunning Palace.
On the second day of the wedding, the emperor and the empress had to dress up and go to Cining Palace to pay their respects to Concubine Liu, and they had to stay in Cining Palace for at least an hour before leaving.
On the third day of the wedding, the emperor had to put on his royal robes, while the queen still wore her formal dress and went to Cining Palace to pay her respects to the concubine again. This time it was much more troublesome. The queen had to pay eight obeisances to the concubine, but the emperor did not.
On the fourth day, the emperor will wear his royal robes and go to the Huagai Hall. On this day, the Zhu family's royal family members will pay eight obeisances to the emperor here. The officials in charge of the wedding will also enter the palace and kneel down to the emperor five times.
Then the emperor will move from the Huagai Hall to the Huangji Hall, where all civil and military officials will meet the emperor, present their wedding congratulations to the emperor, and then perform a grand celebration ceremony.
On the fifth day, the emperor and the empress should perform a "washing ceremony", which simply means taking a bath together. The empress should serve the emperor to bathe, and then have a meal together.
From the moment the emperor and empress put down their chopsticks, this magnificent wedding officially came to an end.
During the five days of the emperor's wedding, Zhu Youxiao didn't need to go to work. Of course, he didn't have the energy to go to work. Just these ceremonial procedures had already exhausted him.
The officials also had two days off, the second and third days of the wedding. After meeting the emperor on the fourth day, they would return to work.
Zhu Youxiao stayed in Kunning Palace for four days, and on the fifth day he finally returned to Qianqing Palace.
With so many major national affairs still waiting for his approval and decision, he cannot fall into the land of gentleness.