Chapter 439: Chapter 439
On the twelfth of the twelfth lunar month, the entire capital city was celebrating.
Today was the wedding day of the second, third, and fourth princes in the Imperial Palace. The whole capital was under tight security, and street vendors were not allowed to set up stalls on the routes taken by the wedding procession, to prevent any blockages and accidents. The source of this content ɪs noveⅼfire.net
While the city was under lockdown, the nobility in the capital were discussing which mansion to visit first for the wedding banquet, or whether to split up and attend separately.
Song Zhiyu and Niu Pan’er were originally invited as well, but Niu Pan’er injured her leg and had difficulty moving, so she did not attend. As for Song Ci, he used the excuse of staying in the mansion to take care of the Commandery Princess, as she had caught a slight illness, and thus he did not attend either.
Thus, the Prince Dingbei’s Mansion only sent a steward with a generous gift, while the young couple obediently stayed in the mansion—making babies.
Indeed, taking advantage of Niu Pan’er’s injury and the resulting long vacation, they had the time to both recuperate and diligently try to conceive.
Song Ci was quite pleased.
The young couple knew exactly what to do at any given time.
The Song Mansion, however, divided into several groups to attend the banquets.
Song Ci took his young daughter-in-law, Madam Lu, to the Fourth Prince Mansion, while Madam went to the Third Prince Mansion. Song Zhiyuan went in shifts, starting from the second, to the third, and then the fourth.
Rotating in this manner, many people in the capital who didn’t want to offend any of the princes did the same. As for other families, they went to whichever prince they favored.
The royal wedding was a grand event, incomparable to those of ordinary nobility.
Moreover, when the princes got married, they didn’t have to personally fetch their brides; they let the wedding procession bring them, and they waited in their mansions for the bride to arrive and conduct the wedding ceremony.
"The bride is truly pitiful," Song Ci quietly remarked.
In a lifetime, one only marries once, yet their husband doesn’t personally come to greet them. Wouldn’t they feel disappointed? Naturally, they would.
But this is the Imperial Family, a realm above all others.
Unless you encounter a prince who truly loves you, which seems unlikely as the princes are too exalted.
As the princes didn’t personally fetch their brides, it became a time for the Prince Consorts to display and compare their dowries.
In terms of noble status, none could compare to Fan Minyi from the Prime Minister’s Mansion, with a dowry of 128 sedan chairs, each carrying exquisite and grand items, fully packed into the boxes.
Li Qian from the Chief of Staff’s house had a slightly lesser dowry. Though she also had 128 sedan chairs, upon comparison, the content revealed a lack of foundation.
Most surprising was Second Prince Consort Li Qingqiu. Although only a governor’s daughter, her mother came from an imperial merchant background, immensely wealthy. Her dowry of 128 sedan chairs might not match the Fan family’s wealth in foundation, but the silver at the bottom amounted to a full 100,000 taels.
Truly deserving of the term ’immensely wealthy,’ Song Ci felt envious.
The display of the Prince Consorts’ dowries sparked much commentary.
The Third Prince, Chu Hongzheng, upon hearing the rumors, felt awful.
His wife’s background was considered decent, but her dowry was less than the Third Prince’s, and even less than that poor fellow the Second Prince’s?
Gosh, the Second Prince got the credit for receiving foreign envoys first, and now he has a wealthy Prince Consort. Is this his rise?
Most delighted was the Second Prince, Chu Hongkun, who was truly surprised. He had initially felt he was a cheap prince from a pit, paired with an unhelpful Yue family. Unexpectedly, his father-in-law and mother-in-law were generous with their investment, providing such a plentiful dowry, which made the money handy.
What, the Prince Consort’s dowry is hard to spend?
Pshaw, what does ’husband and wife are one’ mean? It means no distinction between you and me. Besides, don’t you wish to climb higher and become the most honored one? If yes, then be quick to spend money and win people over.
A royal wedding is like a battle of the immortals, as mortals marvel at the glittering wealth.