This night, Xing Nong went to bed early, went to bed at 11:00 p.m., and got up at 1:00 p.m., then took a bath and changed clothes...
It was not until the morning when the palace gates were opened and the huge wedding procession left the palace and headed to Han Garden to pick up the bride.
Although it was still dark at this time, every household in the Forbidden City had lit oil lamps, big red lanterns were hung in front of their doors, and the entire street was brightly lit.
When Chu Tiankuo arrived at Hanyuan, he was stopped outside the gate by several princes of Jin State.
The Crown Prince of Jin looked at him and said: "If you want to marry my sister, you must pass our test!"
Chu Tiankuo smiled confidently: "Please ask the questions, brother!"
So Chu Tiankuo wrote a letter of commitment, composed love poems, played the song "The Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix", composed couplets, danced with swords, and finally met his Crown Princess.
In the early morning light, after Xingnong and Chu Tiankuo bid farewell to Gu, they were carried to the Flower Bridge by the Crown Prince of Jin. She held an apple in one hand and a mini jade ruyi in the other, and sat on the Flower Bridge, walking around the entire imperial city facing the rising sun. She accepted the congratulations of the people before entering the palace that represented the supreme power, and then performed a series of wedding ceremonies.
Although Xingnong felt that such a complicated ceremony was a bit redundant, she was still pious and dignified, and completed each step carefully together with Chu Tiankuo.
The two of them had been offering sacrifices to the heaven for quite some time, and the long dowry procession was still moving forward, starting from Xing Garden, bypassing every street in the imperial city, entering the palace gate, and occupying every street in the imperial city.
Looking from a high place, the dowry was carried out from Han Garden and entered the palace gate, like ants moving house, endless.
The common people were talking about it: "This is not ten miles of red dowry, this is a hundred miles of red dowry! We have seen royal families get married in the capital, and no nobleman's dowry can be as much as the Crown Princess's."
"I heard that the Crown Princess had many people in Jin State giving her dowry, and we also had many people in Chu State giving her dowry, so how could the dowry be small?"
"Not only that, the Crown Princess is the only princess of Jin. Jin is so rich, how can she not have a large dowry? Look at the tiles tied to that box, I can't even count them."
The custom here is that one tile represents a shop or a house.
…
Xingnong could not hear the people's discussions, as she was worshiping heaven and earth with Chu Tiankuo at the moment.
Next there are sacrifices to heaven, sacrifices to ancestors, enthronement, etc. It is even more complicated than during the Jin Dynasty.
I was busy until the afternoon when there was only one last step left: accepting the worship and congratulations of the ministers, then sending her to the bridal chamber and the palace banquet beginning.
Before receiving the court's worship, Xingnong had to change into another set of formal attire.
Today, she had to change clothes after each ceremony. Xingnong remembered that she had changed eight sets of clothes and headdresses. The time just for changing clothes and dressing up took an hour in total, which made her lose her temper!
There were rules for how to put on clothes, such as which one to put on first and which one to put on later. You couldn't make any mistakes, and you had to keep saying nice things before putting on anything. Therefore, other palace maids couldn't serve her, and the palace maids from the Shangyi Bureau had to serve her.
At this moment, she was being changed by a palace maid from the Clothing Bureau, wearing a bright red palace dress of the Crown Princess with a pattern of "Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix".
The difference between the palace dress of the Crown Princess of Chu and the phoenix robe of the Queen is that the phoenix robe of the Queen is embroidered with white birds facing dragons and phoenixes.
The Crown Princess only has a phoenix, not a dragon.
However, these dresses were layered and even more complicated than the wedding dresses she had worn in Jin State before, which simply made her amazed!
Xingnong couldn't help but think: Such a complicated outfit, Chu Tiankuo doesn't know how to take it off tonight, right
But one advantage is that it is a little lighter and thinner, so it is not that hot, but the weather is also a lot cooler now.
"Is this the last dress you're going to change into today?" Xing Nong couldn't help but ask.
The maid said respectfully, "This is the ninth dress, Crown Princess. There are nine in total, which symbolizes longevity. Because of this, each dress is made particularly long. But I think the Crown Princess's dress this time is very beautiful, with layers upon layers, and looks as prosperous as a brocade!"
I didn’t say “finally” because the last two words are taboo.
What she didn’t say was that the dress was beautiful, but it was too flowy and light, and not substantial enough!
When the ladies in the clothing bureau were sewing, they would say every day that it was too light, too light! The palace rules stipulated that the heavier the palace clothes of the empress and the crown princess, the better, as it represented weight and solemnity!
Being elegant will lose your solemnity!
However, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince specifically instructed that all clothes and jewelry should be light, and they dared not disobey, so they could only pile them up in layers and in a complicated way to show solemnity and weight. Moreover, their female officials said that they must say "layered and intricate" to show the meaning.
The corners of Xingnong's mouth twitched. It was again layered and splendid, with flowers blooming everywhere. The palace maids would repeat it every time she put on a set of clothes. Her ears were callused from listening to it.
After finally changing into the Crown Princess's palace dress, Xingnong walked out and found Chu Tiankuo already dressed and waiting in the outer room.
He glanced at Xing Nong. The Crown Princess's palace dress made her look even more graceful and elegant.
He held out his hand to her, "Let's go! After receiving the ministers' greetings, you can rest soon."
Xingnong placed her hand on his long and broad palm.
The two walked out side by side, and the palace maid behind them helped Xingnong hold up her long skirt.
The skirt is 9.9 meters long, which means long-lasting.
Chu Tiankuo helped Xingnong onto the prince's wedding sedan chair, and the palace maid placed the skirt at Xingnong's feet, piling it into a pile!
The two of them came to the hall in the wedding sedan chair.
Chu Tiankuo got off the car and helped Xingnong get off the wedding sedan.
The two walked hand in hand to the high platform of the hall.
At this time, the ceremonial officer shouted: "Crown Prince, the Crown Princess is here!"
The ministers knelt down and said, "Welcome the Crown Prince and Crown Princess! Long live the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, long live the Crown Prince, long live the Crown Princess, long live the Crown Princess!"
Chu Tiankuo and Xingnong stood on the high platform, looking at the ministers kneeling below.
Chu Tiankuo saw the strange yet familiar figures kneeling in the front, his body stiffened, and he unconsciously tightened his grip on Xingnong's hand. He couldn't help but turn his head to look at the emperor and empress sitting on the dragon throne, both of them were smiling.
Chu Tiankuo feels
Xing Nong couldn't help but glance at him, then followed his line of sight and found that there were several more officials.
She was surprised: Who is that
At this time, the ceremonial officer of the Imperial Observatory began to read out some ceremonial words, which were nothing more than "In compliance with the Will of Heaven", "Chu Tiankuo and Xingnong became the Crown Prince and Crown Princess", and how they should set an example for all officials and people in the future, and how the State of Chu would prosper under their example.
When he finally finished reading, all the officials bowed again and said some words of blessing.
By this time Chu Tiankuo had recovered as normal. He couldn't help being excited, but on the surface he remained calm and said, "Stand up!"
The wedding was completed, which was considered the canonization ceremony of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess. So far, Chu Tiankuo and Xingnong officially became the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, and were recorded in the royal jade book.