NOVPUBChen Xi wore a pure black silk robe embroidered with golden thread, his head adorned with an imperial crown as he rode in his carriage, moving slowly towards Fan Liang’s location. This attire was merely the standard dress for a marquis. According to the wedding tradition, he should have worn the costumes of a feudal lord, but in Chen Xi’s opinion, it was better to wear the marquis robes stitched by Chen Lan than the feudal lord robes given by Li Que and Guo Si.
"Zichuan, congratulations." The winter sun shone warmly upon him, and he was surrounded by familiar and unfamiliar faces offering their congratulations. Chen Xi was completely immersed in their well-wishes, with nothing to do but express his endless gratitude.
"Eh, what is this?" As Chen Xi passed through the central area and was about to turn into an alley, a peach descended from the sky and landed in Gan Ning’s hand. This single peach, as if heralding what was to come, made everyone look up to see many more peaches falling from the sky.
"Hahaha, Peaches of Immortality!" Gan Ning burst out laughing, leaping into the air and catching several peaches in his hands at once.
"How could I let Xingba have all the glory!" Seeing Gan Ning leap into the air, Taishi Ci’s initial shock vanished, and he jumped up, reaching for the peaches. Then, whether it was Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, or Hua Xiong, Xu Chu, or even the men from Wuu Anguo and Dian Wei, anyone with strength took to the air, vying for the peaches falling from above.
In the blink of an eye, the peaches that had dropped from the heavens were all snatched up. Holding the downy Peaches of Immortality, everyone who caught one paused, wondering how to deal with this divine omen.
Before they could decide what to do, a shower of peach blossoms began to flutter down like a rain of flowers.
"Good omens!" Someone exclaimed loudly, causing everyone to pause. Then, waves of congratulatory voices for Liu Bei followed, and even Chen Xi, who was dressed in his robes, offered his congratulations to Liu Bei.
The envoys from the visiting feudal lords were all stunned by this spectacle, especially Chen Qun, who had been watching Liu Bei closely since the first peach fell. From Liu Bei’s shocked and anxious expression, he concluded that this auspicious sign wasn’t concocted by Liu Bei, especially since Dian Wei also managed to catch three Peaches of Immortality, which astonished Chen Qun even more.
As the peach blossoms settled, Chen Qun became numb with disbelief, feeling the genuine shower of blossoms fall upon him. Even without reaching out, he could tell the peach blossoms were real. When Dian Wei stuffed a peach into his hand and began to eat it himself, Chen Qun was utterly convinced of their authenticity, a true miraculous rain of blossoms.
"Congratulations to my lord, best wishes to my lord," Gan Ning laughed as he handed his peach to Liu Bei, while the others did likewise, except for Dian Wei who had already eaten more than half of his.
"Why aren’t you eating?" Noticing that everyone was watching him eat the peach, Dian Wei looked around curiously and asked.
Everyone was at a loss for words, but Liu Bei had finally come to his senses and laughed, "Since the auspicious sign from heaven is given, it is not said that it must be a gift just for me, Liu Xuande. Thus, I will share it with all of you and eat together!" 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
Liu Bei’s words left Ju Shou and Chen Qun momentarily stunned, then they heard the surrounding crowd loudly acclaiming "Lord Xuande’s benevolence," and they couldn’t help but silently admire him. Indeed, Liu Xuande, who rose from humble beginnings, had a presence unmatched by ordinary men.
Chen Xi swallowed the piece of peach in his mouth and then listened to the crowd around him relish their thin slices of peach, proclaiming the immortal family’s Peaches of Immortality to be exceedingly sweet. Chen Xi couldn’t help but smirk to himself. Never mind the thin slice, even if they had a whole one, they wouldn’t taste the purported extreme sweetness of the peach flesh. Didn’t he know what he and Qu Qi had grown?
After consuming the "immortal peaches," the atmosphere at the venue became even more enthusiastic. The attention of the surrounding commoners also shifted from Chen Xi to Liu Bei, showering him with unabated praise. Meanwhile, Liu Bei, still clueless about the auspicious sign’s origin, was simply reacting instinctively to the adoration of the crowd.
[Hehehe, Lord Xuande truly has no idea about the auspicious sign, so Chen Qun, Ju Shou, and Chen Deng, there’s no use trying to discern anything from his expression.]
Chen Xi smiled as he continued towards Fan Liang’s direction. With so many witnesses to the auspicious sign, whether you believe it or not, his subjects would certainly believe it, and even some families who were devout believers in ghostly deities would have no choice but to reflect on this event.
"General Zhao, are you sure there’s no problem having scattered them around?" Qu Qi asked Zhao Yun curiously. It seemed challenging to drop these things without being noticed, to aim precisely, and to avoid damage, which required considerable control.
"No problem," Zhao Yun shook his head and said, "As long as it’s in the direction you mentioned, not a single one is out of the specified area, and none are damaged."
"So be it," Qu Qi said with a slight smile. "Let’s go attend Zichuan’s wedding banquet; we’ve done everything we should have."
"Hanmou, does what we’re doing have any meaning?" Zhao Yun asked as he hurried to catch up, completely failing to understand the significance of their actions.
"It does, ’Divine right of kings,’" Qu Qi said with a cold laugh. "But then again, who knows what ’heaven’ is? If there’s a chance to borrow the power of heaven, why not use it?"
Zhao Yun fell silent. He could already imagine the chaos his belongings would cause when thrown, but, being a man of tight lips, because he had promised Chen Xi, he wouldn’t tell anyone the nature of this affair.
After taking Fan Jian and Chen Lan back from Fan Liang, Chen Xi looked at their blooming faces and silently reached out his hands, grasping both, leading one on the left and one on the right out of the Fan Family home and then lifting them into his carriage.
Fan Jian on the left, Chen Xi in the middle, Chen Lan on the right, they calmly entered the Chen Family’s main hall. Chen Qun stepped forward and began to recite, "The peach tree is young and elegant, brilliant are its flowers. This maiden is going to her future home, and fit is she for her household..."
Chen Xi listened, feeling sleepy, as Chen Qun finally finished reciting that first stage of verse, which then just became background music.
"Bride and groom, please perform the washing of hands." An old woman from the Chen Family, dressed in a dark silk robe, carried a golden basin filled with water and placed it in front of the three.
Chen Xi washed his hands in the clear water and then dried them with a towel. Once again, he took Fan Jian and Chen Lan by the hands, just as Chen Qun’s background music shifted to another poem.
"Sit facing each other, share the same food." Mi Zhu smiled at Chen Xi and then ordered the prearranged seats and food table to be brought forward.
Chen Xi ladled out food from a prepared cauldron for Fan Jian and Chen Lan. Then, the three of them ate their portions separately.
"Jian’er, eat quickly," Chen Xi whispered to Fan Jian, who was nibbling her food, "If you don’t eat now, you’ll be hungry later!" Naturally, ancient weddings began in the evening; they hadn’t eaten lunch, and it’d be surprising if Chen Xi wasn’t famished by Shen Hour after all the commotion.
But this was merely a ritual. Indeed, they had hardly taken a few bites when someone took away the food table, and Chen Qun’s song changed again.
"Drink up..." Mi Zhu laughed as he passed Chen Xi two gourds tied with red rope. The wine vat was brought forward, the gourds split in half, first handed to Fan Jian for each to drink a ladle of bitter wine, and then the other half to Chen Lan for another ladle of bitter wine, leaving Chen Xi with a face as sour as a bitter melon.
To know this meant to share joys and hardships as a couple. The bitterer the wine, the sweeter the union was supposed to be, and right now, Chen Xi felt the bitterness in his heart.
He carefully removed the tassels and ornaments next to the ears of Fan Jian and Chen Lan, then raised his hands to show them off to all present. At this point, they were officially considered husband and wives.
Using a small knife, they each cut a small lock of hair. Chen Xi did not divide his into two but instead tied the locks from Chen Lan and Fan Jian with his own using a red rope.
"The ceremony is complete!" Mi Zhu cheered. (There was no tradition of bowing at the altar in Zhou Rites.)
"Congratulations, congratulations!" Then the crowd, originally standing in restrained rows, crowded in, surrounding Chen Xi, while Chen Lan and Fan Jian had already been taken to their respective rooms. Everything here would be handled by Chen Xi. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian [qidian.com]. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
