1076: Chapter 1078: Coronation and Grand Wedding (5) 1076: Chapter 1078: Coronation and Grand Wedding (5) Zheng An Gate had arrived, and the Dragon Carriage ca to a halt as the sounds of silk and bamboo rose.
Nangong Yi covered Cai Wei’s head again and whispered, “Soon we will step down to receive the greetings of the ministers; you need not be nervous, just hold my hand.”
Under the head covering, Cai Wei smiled radiantly.
She certainly wouldn’t be nervous; not just before these few ministers, but even in the face of thousands of troops, she wouldn’t feel tense at all.
However, it was a rare thing for a man to show such empathy, so she agreed readily and said, “Understood.”
The solemn music eventually stopped, and outside the Dragon Carriage, Yang Yong’s chanting started: “The Emperor, Empress Dowager, please arrive.”
The eunuchs’ voices also followed: “The Emperor, Empress Dowager have arrived, ministers present greetings.”
Outside Zheng An Gate, officials of second rank and above were standing.
Hearing the eunuchs’ command, they all knelt on the green bricks, facing the direction of the Dragon Carriage and loudly kowtowed: “Your servants congratulate the Emperor, Empress Dowager, wishing the Emperor and Empress Dowager a hundred years of blissful union, may Your Majesty’s reign be prolonged!”
Nangong Yi took Cai Wei’s hand and slowly descended from the Dragon Drive, stepping onto the white jade steps.
Under the noonday sun, the couple, standing tall and straight, made all else in the world lose its luster.
Although the Empress was covered with the Rosy Clouds, her exquisite figure, standing by the towering Emperor, matched him so well.
The shades of bright yellow and deep red were dazzling, releasing a captivating brilliance.
“All ministers rise!”
Nangong Yi said in a deep voice, his tone filled with the inherent steadiness and authority of a ruler!
“Thank you, Emperor, thank you, Empress Dowager!”
At the auspicious mont, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory’s chief historian loudly began: “Gift presentation—”
As his words fell, Pri Minister Ning and General Li, together, presented a three-foot-tall red coral ornant, one of the Seven Treasures of Buddhism, known for its evil-warding and noble properties, symbolizing auspiciousness and dignity, a gift painstakingly acquired by the ministers from a rchant at sea.
In the Great Jin Nation, it had always been customary for officials to present gifts to the Empress.
Thus, from the day the Emperor declared his ascension to the throne on the fifteenth of August, the ministers had been searching for and purchasing such goods.
They couldn’t even find coral of such fine quality and size within the palace, so indeed, the gift they offered was of great value!
Huan Qiu stepped forward, instructing several eunuchs to carry down the coral.
Cai Wei said, “Thank you all, ministers, for your efforts!”
“Serving the Empress Dowager wholeheartedly is our duty, we dare not claim any rit!”
The ministers replied with a bow.
Among these people, of course, was Master Li Kaifeng, who aspired to see his daughter in the position that Cai Wei now occupied.
Today, soone else had taken this spot; he could not be content.
To not reveal his emotions, he kept his head down from beginning to end, never looking at the Emperor or the Empress.
After the ministers had presented their greetings and gifts, Nangong Yi took Cai Wei back to the Dragon Carriage to pay homage to the Retired Emperor.
“Your servants send off the Emperor, send off the Empress Dowager!”
The ministers knelt down again.
Cai Wei breathed a sigh of relief; the sooner it ended, the better, her neck was almost bent from the weight of the heavy Phoenix Crown.
At this mont, if she weren’t holding an apple in one hand and being held by Nangong Yi with the other, she would have liked to rub her neck.
Her neck would surely be stiff tomorrow, and she was so hungry.
It was already afternoon and she had not had a drop to drink.
Oh, this torturous wedding!
Nangong Yi held Cai Wei’s hand and descended the white jade steps, reentered the Dragon Carriage, passed through Zheng An Gate, and headed for Qixia Palace where the Retired Emperor resided.
The Retired Emperor, now obsessed with cultivating immortality, spent all day inside Qixia Palace, hardly willing to et anyone.
He had ignored both the son’s ascension and the grand wedding.
When they went to pay their respects, he avoided them, sending only Zhu Zhong out, who rewarded them with a ‘Send children to Guanyin’ statue, before dismissing them.
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