Chengping, Fan Yiguang and other noble sons from various guards who usually played together, as well as Lu Wenzhong from the Princess's residence and their peers from the Cui family, dozens of people, all riding horses and wearing fine clothes, had been waiting outside the gate of Yongningfang. Seeing Pei Xiaoyuan riding out from afar, Chengping was the first to spur his horse to meet him, took a look at him, smiled and punched him in the chest as usual.
"What a good prince consort! You are the most romantic and carefree person in Chang'an today! I asked you to run away yesterday, and I got myself drunk. I just woke up this morning with such a headache that I almost couldn't cheer you on!"
The rest of the people also rushed forward, some congratulated, some joked, and were in high spirits, which caused the residents who were watching near the gate to also get excited and shout "Prince Consort" to Pei Xiaoyuan.
Pei Xiaoyuan calmly avoided Chengping's punch, responded to the crowd, and then smiled and clasped his fists to thank the people around him. Then he rode through the street surrounded by people, and arrived in front of the palace while being watched and pointed at by people on both sides of the street.
Today's officials are waiting here. Pei Xiaoyuan dismounted and was led into the palace by the messenger. However, he could not go to meet the princess immediately. He first came to the East Pavilion of Xuanzheng Hall to be formally conferred the title of the imperial son-in-law. The envoys and hundreds of officials who participated in the ceremony had gathered here. Fu Baolang presented the imperial edict and the imperial seal and placed them on the table. Pei Xiaoyuan followed the etiquette, like a puppet, bowed again and again under the announcement of the ceremonial officer, and finally knelt on the ground, raised his arms, took the imperial edict and the imperial seal, and finally, kowtowed again to express his gratitude.
After all this lengthy ceremony, he was finally officially conferred the title of Imperial Concubine's Commandant. It was already dusk. In the deepening twilight, countless palace lanterns and court torches were lit one after another, the flames like long dragons, stretching endlessly, illuminating the inside and outside of the palace as bright as day.
After a short rest and tidying up, the bell rang in the palace, announcing the auspicious time for the wedding.
Pei Xiaoyuan was led to the wedding hall, Taiji Hall. The ladies of the inner court, headed by the eldest princess, the crown princess, and the women of the Ning Wangfu, as well as the palace ladies who participated in today's wedding, had gathered. The ladies dressed according to their own tastes, with their hair full of gold and green, gathered according to their positions in a royal tent set up under the steps outside the hall, waiting for the princess's procession to come out and participate in the wedding.
The princess is currently in the inner hall, paying her farewell greetings and receiving admonitions. The prince consort is not allowed to enter for the time being. He has to wait until the bell rings and the ceremonial officer comes to announce him before he can come and pick her up.
According to current wedding customs, the women of the bride's family will never let the groom take the bride away easily. They will definitely stop him and tease him. The higher the family status, the bigger the scene will be, and beatings are common. In addition to adding to the festive atmosphere, it is also to let the groom learn how powerful the bride's family is so that he will not dare to look down on the bride in the future.
Although it was a palace wedding today, it was not free from customs. When the noble ladies saw that Pei was led by a group of ceremonial officials and stopped at the steps of the palace, standing upright and not looking sideways, they wanted to tease him. They exchanged glances with each other and took this rare opportunity to surround him with smiles, competing to make fun of him.
Some asked him to write a poem on the spot to urge him to get ready. Some asked people to bring a liter of rice prepared in advance and sprinkle a few red beans in it to test his eyesight and ask him to pick them out on the spot, otherwise he would be forced to drink wine. There was also one who was usually very aggressive and ordered the strong women to bring sticks to stop the prince consort, unless he fought back.
These noble ladies and their strong maids were different from the men outside. Since they had set up a stick formation, they couldn't touch them with even a finger. They might really be stopped and couldn't get in.