Guests were not allowed to record or take photos at the wedding ceremony of Queen Yuezhao and the Regent, so it was held in a simple yet grand manner.
To say it is simple means that the ceremony does not take place outside the Halloween Palace at all. To say it is grand, anyone who is allowed to watch the ceremony is a king in the eyes of ordinary people.
In front of the Daiwaden of the All Saints Palace, Lu Ming also put on traditional Japanese clothing, wearing a tall black hat that symbolized the regent. The queen wore a "white wedding dress", which is a snow-white kimono. All the accessories are also white, symbolizing the purity of the bride. In addition to the "white wedding dress", there is a very colorful Japanese queen's dress. There are eighteen layers of clothes of different sizes inside and outside, plus the tall queen's crown. At this moment, Queen Yuezhao looks majestic and gorgeous.
The bride and groom worshipped heaven and earth in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony and drank wedding wine.
In this regard, the traditional customs of the Japanese and Central Asian people are not much different.
Watching the ceremony in front of the palace were the main members of the royal family, including Queen Yuezhao’s uncle and two aunts, as well as her cousins.
There was Prime Minister Ashikaga and all the cabinet ministers.
Local lords or lord representatives.
There were fourteen Japanese generals standing upright, namely the commanders of fourteen divisions.
Riku Yoshimitsu, Minister of the Air Force Department of the Central Defense Army of Japan, is also known as Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the son of former Prime Minister Ashikaga and the father of Ashikaga Erika.
Its Air Force Department has forty attack aircraft, and all of its equipment, from pilot training to technical support, comes from the Principality of Montenegro.
Several more tycoons were invited. They had different expressions, but those who were invited were naturally the heads of the richest families in the southern region of Japan.
There is also Du Cunzhao, Consul General of the Principality of Montenegro in Japan, and Lieutenant General Gao Qingshan, Commander of the Principality of Montenegro’s Xianquan Military Base.
Xianquan Military Base is home to an infantry division of the Principality and the 1st Aviation Regiment of the 2nd Division of the Principality's Air Force. This aviation regiment is a fighter regiment with forty air-to-air fighters. It can cooperate with the Japanese Air Force in combat, escort it against possible air threats, and easily shoot down Japanese attack aircraft fleets.
Amid the solemn music of the royal guard, Lu Ming and Queen Yuezhao got on the carriage and set off on the "Road of the Sacred Vow", which is actually a section of road from the Hall of Supreme Harmony to the Jiutian Dazhao Shrine, located inside the Wansheng Palace. The road is paved with white jade rock, with white jade railings on both sides and flowers scattered along the way.
Hundreds of male and female flower girls gave their best wishes in their tender voices.
In front of the shrine, the owner, who was the royal maid and saint who served the Nine-Sky Great Light and was the great-aunt of Queen Yuezhao in terms of seniority, an old lady dressed in snow-white clothes, murmured strange words to pray for the queen and the regent, and then announced that the two were officially married with the sacred blessing of the Nine-Sky Great Light, and their offspring would inherit the bloodline of the gods.
In this way, the most important part of the ceremony was completed, and the rest was relatively easy. It was similar to the folk customs, and the following ceremonies were conducted in the presence of friends and relatives, with various traditional musical instruments, dance performances, etc. Finally, the Queen and the Regent made a brief appearance at the banquet to entertain friends and relatives, and then returned to the Yeyu Palace, commonly known as the Living Palace.
…
Inside the Yeyu Palace, Queen Yuezhao, who was kneeling in the palace, was wearing a phoenix crown and a red veil.
It is obvious that Yuezhao will eventually use the Middle-earth ritual to complete this marriage with the Prince of Black Mountain Castle seamlessly.
Lu Ming was not informed in advance, as it was also a surprise for her "husband".
On the left and right of Queen Yuezhao, there was a beautiful female official each wearing a dark purple kimono, a beautiful bun and a black gauze hat. Lu Ming knew them both, Jinguji Heiji and Takeuchi Mie.
At this time, both women placed their palms on the ground, resting their foreheads on their palms, and said in unison: "The Court Lady Jinguji Hyoji (Takeuchi Mie) bows to His Majesty the Regent!"
In order to marry Queen Yuezhao, Lu Ming had to learn a little about the Japanese royal family.
The so-called Shangshi in the royal palace is the highest-ranking female official. She can be regarded as the king's secretary-general. She is mainly responsible for managing the affairs of the Internal Affairs Bureau, the management of sacred artifacts, requests for and rewards and punishments for harem affairs, the management of harem ladies and officials' wives, and the transmission of the king's edicts.
The number of Shangshi was set at two, and they were usually unmarried daughters of important ministers or married wives of meritorious officials, but they could also often be the king's concubines. It was a position of extremely high honor.
Originally, Yuezhao's father only married a queen and was willing to abolish the system of concubines and female officials, but he fell seriously ill and died before he could officially issue an edict.
Unexpectedly, Yuezhao appointed two eunuchs.
Jinguji Heiji whispered, "Your Highness, I just found out about this today, and I haven't had time to report it to Your Highness yet."
Lu Ming nodded slightly. It was obvious that Jinguji Heiji was a cover, and the person Yue Zhao really wanted to summon into the palace to be her assistant was Takeuchi Mihui.
Takeuchi Mie fits the profile of "the married wife of a meritorious official" in the candidate pool of court ladies.
Her husband, Yoichi Takeuchi, is the mayor of Kyoto and a member of the cabinet.
To be honest, this couple is quite remarkable. They are old acquaintances of mine.
When he was traveling in Yoshida's territory as Lu's representative, Takeuchi Yoichi was just the mayor of the small city of Nayama, and he recommended his wife Takeuchi Mie to him to serve as his translator for a short period of time.
Of course, I definitely don’t need an interpreter now. Since I often go to Japan, I have worked hard to learn Japanese.
Takeuchi Yoichi was not promoted by himself, Du Cunzhao valued him very much, and somehow, he became a confidant of Prime Minister Ashikaga. This shows that he really has extraordinary talents.
It is remarkable that he entered the cabinet at such a young age and served as the mayor of Kyoto.
His wife was no less capable than Yuezhao. She became Yuezhao's confidant and was appointed as one of the two eunuchs. Naturally, she was the contact person Yuezhao needed for external communications. Even when he was doing something without telling him, he needed Takeuchi Mihui to connect with the outside world.
Lu Ming's mind raced, his face remained expressionless, and he smiled, "Very good."
"My husband, I am going to grant you two ladies-in-waiting the rank of Second Class. What do you think?" Yuezhao asked softly.
Lu Ming smiled and said, "The bride who is covered with a red veil is not allowed to speak before I lift the veil."
Yue Zhao remained silent.
Lu Ming looked at Jinguji Heiji, then at Takeuchi Mihui, and said with a smile: "From now on, the public will call you Jinguji Erwei Bureau Master and Takeuchi Erwei Bureau Master. It should be the same as before, but you are on the same level as the Prime Minister."
Jinguji Heiji and Takeuchi Mikado knelt on the ground, not saying a word.
Lu Ming sneered in his heart. Yuezhao's father had already stopped granting female officials ranks because under the cabinet system, such ranks were meaningless.
Now Yuezhao has restored it, and he has his own deeper thoughts.
She took two steps forward and gently lifted the red veil worn by Yue Zhao, and a delicate face as beautiful as snow appeared before her eyes.
"Your Majesty, please come into the night palace." Takeuchi Mie said softly.
Lu Ming's east dormitory has been surrounded by yellow curtains.
Yuezhao entered the bridal chamber first. After the maid undressed her, Lu Ming was allowed to enter. He also undressed himself down to his most intimate underwear. The two of them lay flat. An old woman came, covered them with a quilt, and then left.
The old woman was a commoner who was chosen because she had many children and grandchildren, and her husband was still alive. She had a lot of children and grandchildren, none of whom died young. She was considered a particularly blessed person, and she covered the newly married queen and her husband with a quilt for hundreds of children and thousands of grandchildren, which was also a great honor for her.
After the old woman left, two attendants, Jinguji Heiji and Takeuchi Mie, presented the queen with small night cakes that were the same age as her and then left. The queen and the regent would eat these night cakes for dinner for the next three days.
After the grille door was closed, I heard Jinguji Heiji and Takeuchi Mie quietly say goodbye and the sound of their footsteps faded away.
There was a dim red candle in the dormitory, but no one spoke.
Lu Ming glanced at Yue Zhao standing beside him. From her shoulders exposed under the quilt, it was obvious that she was wearing a thin kimono underwear, a snow-white undergarment, which made her pretty face even more charming.
She closed her eyes lightly, her long black eyelashes blinking, looking very uneasy and as if she was prepared to endure something.
Lu Ming turned his head, closed his eyes and said, "I'm tired these days, let's go to sleep." He decided to go back to Shengjing to talk to his real family.
Yue Zhao was stunned and turned to look over. It seemed that Lu Ming fell asleep very quickly.