107 Volume 4: The Wedding: End of Volume

Inside the Palace proper, the grounds and buildings were heavily decorated in gold and blues, flowers, stars, and any other adornments that could be found were put up. Two great canvases with long tassels on the corners were held up with gold poles in the middle of the main garden of the Palace. Underneath the canvases were table and chairs, laden with food and drink. The Tree Spirit musicians that had originally been with the processions had somehow gotten themselves in a corner and were already playing festive music for the arriving guests.

The tables and chairs sat facing each other, with one side for the groom and the other side for the bride. At the front was a table just for the newly wed couple.

Everyone got comfortable then Jin stood up. In his hand was a wine cup, which he raised, "Blessing to the Jingling Family. Fortune to my daughter-in-law. Honor to her future, which twines with our own."

Everyone did as he did, raising their wine cups and drinking after he'd finished speaking. Except the children, who were given sweet juice as a replacement.

Zufu stood and raised his wine cup to toast, saying solemnly, "Blessing to the Huang Family. Fortune to my son-in-law. Honor to his future, which twines with our own."

Again, everyone toasted with Zufu and drank as he did.

This was the last of the prepared speeches. They could now eat and drink at their leisure. But, as was tradition, anyone could stand up and continue toasting if they like.

Immediately Lu Shao stood up with his wine cup held high. "To my Big Bro, honor and glory! May he have enough children to satisfy both his wife and our Mother!"

This caused a burst of laughter from the crowd.

Yan Li grinned, drinking his wine along with his younger brother. When he'd finished he said, "Mother doesn't need to worry about me, it's you two she needs to do something about!"

Lu Shao widened his eyes and looked innocent, "What are you even saying? Aren't there two perfectly eligible bachelor brothers ahead me? Those are who Mother has gotta worry about."

Shi Ji glowered at both of them. He consoled himself with the fact that once Shan Hui came back, they'd pick on him less for being single. The fact that Shan Hui would occasionally take potshots at his singleness, he refused to acknowledge.

Wu Tengfei then stood up, chortling happily, and raised his cup. "May the happy couple live a thousand years, giving birth to many sons--"

"I don't want more sons!" Mei Hua instantly rebuked him in good humor.

"Hiya, don't be so picky!" Pei Zhi flung back at her, "Would you rather no grandchildren at all?"

"Bah! Fine, fine, I'll accept it then!"

With that, Wu Tengfei drank his cup and everyone followed.

"Um, um," A teenage boy stood from the bride's procession, looking shy as he lifted his juice cup. "To Mother, may her marriage be eternally harmonious and joy find her every day. To Father--"

Before finished, a girl of similar age stood up with her juice cup high. With a stiff smile in place, she added, "To our new Father, welcome! We children all eagerly and very very patiently awaited our Father's arrival, and now welcome him as Master of our Manor! We know that he'll definitely absolutely keep his promises of loyalty and love to our Mother, and to us children he'll keep his word and be patient and kind."

The teenage boy lowered his cup and groaned, "Younger Sister don't--"

"What? I didn't say anything bad!" She immediately drank her juice and sat down, glaring frostily at Yan Li. "Unless he didn't mean any of it."

Jia Ying frowned at the girl's behavior, "He Bao…"

Yan Li reached over and grabbed his wife's hand, squeezing it gently. He replied seriously to his now-daughter, "Little Bao, I know you're resentful of how long I made your Mother wait and thus distrustful of me. Though us Princes aren't perfect, we do keep our word."

Hu Bao crossed her arms over her chest and snorted, face purposefully turned away from him. Seeing her angry response, he scratched his nose and felt a little helpless.

"If that is not enough for you, then be assured by this at least: if I waver in the slightest towards your Mother or you children, your Grandmother will find me and beat me to a pulp. Then, most likely, my Ol--Father will find me and beat me to a stain on the ground for seriously upsetting Mother twice in a row." He chuckled weakly. "If my own honorable word isn't enough reason for you to trust me, at least believe I have a strong desire to live with all my limbs attached."

Mei Hua smacked her hand on the table, "Right! Little Girl, rest assured, my son won't do you or your Mother wrong anymore. He may have been an idiot in the past, but I already knocked the worst of it out of him! What's more, in this family, children are precious. He won't dare mistreat you! Right, Husband?"

Jin, who was peacefully drinking thinking he'd done his part and could now relax, was startled at suddenly being included. He blinked once in surprise before nodding solemnly. "What my Mountain Flower says is absolutely right."

He Bao may have resented Yan Li something fierce, but she wasn't stupid. Not only was her new Father giving her a lot of face at his own expense, even roping the Queen Consort in on tearing his face apart, the Fairy Emperor himself had agreed. Anytime the Fairy Emperor weighed in, a person could be absolutely assured the Princes would follow through.

She stood up and gave a deep bow with cupped hands in front to both Yan Li and the Imperial couple.

"This child apologizes for disrespecting her Father, Queen Consort Mother, and Fairy Emperor. Please punish this child."

"Just call me Grandma." Mei Hua muttered helplessly.

Yan Li waved his hand, "No need to be polite between family. And isn't it your Mother's wedding? If I dared punish you, wouldn't she beat me with her own two hands?" He grinned, saying teasingly, "Or is that your goal?"

This time He Bao had the grace to look embarrassed. "I wouldn't dare, I was just being respectful!"

Lu Shao spoke up, saying cheekily, "Look here, Little Niece, no one in this family has ever been respectful to their father. So you just go ahead and bully him as much as you like!"

"You brat!" Both Yan Li and Jin said in unison, their expressions matching perfectly. Meanwhile, He Bao had sat back down in her seat and started blushing furiously.

"What?! It's true!" Lu Shao continued talking as if two of the most powerful people on the mountain weren't glaring daggers at him. "But just listen to this Uncle's advice, don't push things too far. You can bully your Father, but never your Mother. If your Mother gets angry with you for bullying your Father, what will you do then? So always give your Father some face to keep his spirits up, and if you're going to bully him, do it so that he has a way to save face in front of your Mother."

Mei Hua rolled her eyes and shook her head. Her sons were incorrigible! But if things went well, they'd all be fathers some day and have all their children treat them the way they had treated Jin. Then, they'd really know regret and she definitely wouldn't not feel any pity for them!

"Y-yes, Uncle!" He Bao squeaked out, fervently wishing she hadn't spoken. She'd been so angry at Yin Li, she'd been ignoring everyone else, even Lu Shao. Now she couldn't help but notice him.

She was really regretting her temper, ah!

Even though she'd lived in the Palace since she was a very small child, and understood the Fourth Prince's temperament better than most, that didn't stop her from having a small crush on him. She never felt bad about it, since you'd be hard pressed to find anyone her age that didn't have a small crush on him. It was normal. Perfectly normal. That's what she told herself every time her heart fluttered at the sight of him.

Now she was related to him. Uncle and Niece. She was both delighted and vexed at the sudden relationship. She had the best excuse in the world to get closer to him, but that excuse meant there'd never be any chance of the relationship going further. Her feelings were extremely mixed about the whole thing, even now.

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But one thing was sure: she didn't want to look stupid! She didn't want to look like a stubborn pouty child! And that's what she'd just done! If there was a bottomless hole, she'd like to find it and fall into it.

While He Bao was busy wishing she could disappear, the flow of conversation had returned to normal. Everyone kept eating, drinking, and making random congratulatory toasts. Dusk seemed to fall quickly and lanterns were lit one by one to give the wedding party light. When most of the food had been eaten and the wine jugs were starting to empty, Ye stood up and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Guests of honor, it's now time for the Bride to bid farewell as she prepares for her first night as a married woman. Everyone, please, bow to the Bride!"

As he spoke, everyone stood up and bowed towards the Bride.

"Third Princess, may your night be harmonious and your future filled with many sons!"

Jia Ying started at being called Third Princess and then blushed furiously at the crowd's congratulations before hastily making her retreat. Nurse Zumu and several Fairy Nannies went with her, chuckling as they did.

Once they were gone, Ye looked towards the children left behind. Some of them had puckered faces, like they'd eaten something sour, others were blushing, and others were smiling happy.

He clapped his hands, "Alright children, it's time for you to go to bed."

Every child immediately objected. Despite having been told in advance this was going to happen, they absolutely didn't want to go yet.

"What are you complaining about?" He folded his hands over his chest and cocked his head. "Aren't you staying at this Grand Uncle's place? Has this Uncle ever let you down?"

This, they hadn't been told, only that they'd be staying with someone from their paternal side of the family. The youngest among them got very excited. Lin Ye was never boring to be around. He always had the best stories to tell and the best pranks to play.

The older ones just shrugged in resignation. Anywhere was better than at home. Who wanted to be there tonight? Just the thought of it made a shudder run down their spines.

With that, Ye took his leave of the guests and guided a large group of children to his courtyard.

As he left, Mei Hua tried counting how many children there were, something she'd been trying to do off and on all day. But, once again, there were too many people in the way and her view was blocked. If only Jia Ying had formally introduced them earlier she wouldn't have to try being sneaky like this. That girl was definitely too cautious and polite!

She huffed slightly but tried to stay optimistic. She was almost certain there were more girls than boys in that group.

From there, fairy servants came out with more wine. For most of the family and guests, it was just regular wine. For Jin and Yan Li, they got what was left of the Blue Flower wine. As the Emperor, even if Jin wasn't the "man of the hour", he still got the best the fairies had to offer. He couldn't get drunk off it, but it always felt cold going down, giving him a refreshed feeling. Yan Li, however, had his guard down completely and got tipsy as the fairy servant kept filling up his cup again and again.

Just before Yan Li was at a point of being too drunk, Doctor Zufu stood up and said, "Honored Guests, it's now time to bid farewell to the Groom so he can go greet his Wife.Please bow to the Groom!"

They all stood up, in various states of sobriety, and bowed.

"May Third Prince and Third Princess be eternally harmonious!"

Yan Li stood up and swayed slightly. He then turned on his heel and almost fell over, only just catching himself.

Clearing his throat, he straightened his back.

And immediately ran off.

Family and guests were taken aback for a moment, only to hear a Yan Li yell faintly "She's all mine now!" followed by a loud cheer. Silence descended the on everyone for a moment before they all burst out laughing.