Chapter 121 Part 1

Outside the Taiji Hall, where Princess Shouchang had once held her wedding, a dazzling display of gilded and silver-plated ceremonial banners adorned with precious pearls and emerald feathers shimmered under the sunlight. Beside them, officials from the Ministry of Imperial Clan, the Ministry of Rites, and the Honglu Temple stood in formal procession, accompanied by numerous ceremonial attendants and masters of rites participating in today’s grand wedding rituals.

With solemn and festive expressions on their faces, they were waiting for Princess Funing to appear.

Half a month ago, Prince Chengping of the grassland, who had come to the capital at the beginning of the year, suddenly received an urgent message from his royal court.

His father, the old Khan who had been loyal to the holy dynasty all his life, was critically ill and might not survived, so he urgently summoned the prince to return north.

The old Khan was old and weak, and his condition was deteriorating. Now, with such news arriving, though His Majesty had yet to recover from the pain of being forced into abdication and losing his son, he still summoned his strength and personally attended to the matter with the assistance of the princess. From the envoy, it was learned that the only thing the old Khan wanted on his sickbed was to hope that the tribe would get the honor of marriage granted by the holy dynasty. The emperor was deeply moved, many court officials also submitted memorials to the princess, advocating for granting the marriage as a means to display the dynasty’s virtue and consolidate the northern frontier. The proposal was relayed through the princess and ultimately approved by the emperor. As for the choice of the princess to be bestowed in marriage, there was no dispute—it was unanimously decided upon Lu Wenjun.

Her noble lineage spoke for itself. Looking at the whole court, apart from the emperor’s direct descendant Princess Shouchang, she could be said to be one of the most noble ladies with a suitable status. Moreover, despite the Grand Princess’s efforts to suppress the incident, rumors of her private meeting with Ashina had inevitably spread. It was now widely known that the two had already been in a relationship. The imperial edict conferring her as a princess was soon delivered to the Lu family. Given that the prince could not wait until the longevity celebrations to return home, the wedding ceremony could only be simple. Today, she would be sent off from the capital, and upon reaching Beiting, a grand wedding ceremony would be held under the auspices of the imperial wedding envoy.

At the auspicious time, Lu Wenjun, the newly enthroned Princess Funing, appeared amid the orderly greetings of the officials outside the palace. Accompanied by a group of attendants and female officials, she walked out of the wedding hall, got on the wedding sedan chair, and came to the Danfeng Gate, the main gate of the palace.

According to the words of those great Confucian officials, as a gesture of inheriting the Holy Dynasty’s formal attire traditions and demonstrating reverence for its teachings, Chengping was dressed in the ceremonial wedding attire of a Holy Dynasty groom, even though he was soon to depart the capital and return to his homeland. His appearance was strong and distinctly handsome, with a purple robe, a golden crown, and a jade belt around his waist.

Although the wedding dress of a man from the Holy Dynasty could not conceal his strong and robust figure, it nonetheless lent him an air of effortless grace, a refinement he did not often display. From a distance, he looked exactly like a bridegroom from the Holy Dynasty.

He stood motionless among the crowd of participants outside the palace gate, staring straight ahead without blinking. The wedding sedan slowly stopped behind the palace gate, and as the ceremonial officer announced, he stepped forward and gently lifted the sedan curtain.

It was not until this moment that the two met again since the incident at Qingyue Tower.

Lu Wenjun was wearing resplendent ceremonial robes, her jade-hued brows and vermilion lips exquisitely defined. A delicate veil of embroidered gold leaf partially coverd her face, which was as luminous and delicate as snow-carved jade.

She was already a charming beauty, and with such makeup, she was truly breathtaking and unparalleled in beauty.

She raised her head, and for a moment her eyes met the eyes of the young man who lifted the curtain to show his face. But after a brief eye contact, her eyelashes trembled slightly as if she was frightened and shy. She lowered her eyes and then lowered her head deeply. Half of her delicate face was covered and could not be seen.

In a corner of Chengping’s eyes, a few bright lights flickered because of this glimpse. But just as quickly, it dimmed and was extinguished, leaving no trace behind. He smiled appropriately, and his gaze lowered with practiced composure. Following the ceremonial official’s guidance, he extended his arm through his sleeve, taking the person out of the sedan chair, before escorting her onto a perfumed carriage of seven fragrances. Then, he mounted his horse. With his own attendants at his side, along with the grand entourage bestowed by the Holy Dynasty as part of her dowry, he led the procession from east to west. Passing through the prosperous Chengtianmen Street, they finally reached Kaiyuan Gate at the northwestern edge of Chang’an—where, beyond those towering walls, Lu Wenjun was taken from the city at last.

The Grand Princess stood alone behind the threshold of the palace, with one hand wrapped in a handkerchief and the other holding the door, her eyes full of worry as she followed the figure of the wedding sedan chair as it went away. Even after she could no longer see anything, she was still reluctant to leave.

A month ago, after her daughter returned home from Qingyue Tower, the grand princess’ world was completely thrown into chaos. No matter how much she threatened or persuaded, Lu Wenjun stubbornly insisted that she had taken advantage of her visit to the Forbidden Garden to secretly meet Chengping on her own accord, and after secretly picking her up, the two had stayed in Qingyue Tower without separating even for a moment. Even with grand princess’s power, there was no way to silence every whisper behind closed doors. In her initial fury, she had even considered having that Hu guy killed outright to sever her daughter’s foolish infatuation. Compared to the inevitable heartbreak and betrayal awaiting her in the future, what did a temporary stain on her reputation matter? Once the storm passed, with her daughter’s status, there would be no shortage of fine suitors. It was her husband who stopped her. Forced to calm down, she considered what that Hu guy’s identity truly meant. Only then, with gritted teeth and deep unwillingness, did she reluctantly endure the humiliation. She resolved that even if he took this chance to request an imperial marriage decree, she would oppose it to the end—even if it meant defying the emperor’s will. Yet fate had its own designs, and beyond all calculations, the unexpected still had come to pass.

Xuyu walked behind her.

“Don’t worry, Aunt. I will definitely protect Wenjun and bring her back to you unharmed.”

She looked at the grand princess’ back, spoke softly, and then kneel down.

The grand princess immediately wiped her eyes and turned around. Seeing Xuyu kneeling down to kowtow to her, she hurriedly grabbed her arm to stop her.

“Please.” Xuyu said, taking the grand princess’ hand away and insisting on kneeling to express her gratitude.

“This bow is not only to express my respect and gratitude to Aunt and Wenjun, but also to thank you two on behalf of the people of Chang’an and all under heaven. Had it not been for Wenjun’s fearless resolve, her willingness to risk herself for the greater good; had it not been for Aunt’s deep understanding of righteousness, for your willingness to entrust Wenjun to such danger rather than blame me for it—how could we have had this chance to eradicate treachery and rid the Holy Dynasty of its hidden threats? This bow is insignificant, merely what I should do. Apart from this, I have no other way to express my gratitude. Aunt, please accept it.”

The grand princess looked at her kneeling solemnly before her, and her eyes couldn’t help but feel warm again.

Although she was extremely nervous and agreed to the matter with some reluctance, the grand princess was indeed not blindly arrogant, nor was she an ignorant person.

This matter was not only of great importance, but also because her daughter had made the mistake first, and she was in a situation where she could not back down. How could she not understand that when the princess came to her and told her about this matter, there was actually no room for refusal.

Reaching out her hand again and helping the person up from the ground, the grand princess calmed down and said, “I believe you. Wenjun was ignorant before and was deceived by that evil-minded Hu guy. She was bewitched and made a grave mistake. This is what she should do. Moreover, if this time I can make her see the true face of that Hu bastard and come back to live a peaceful life, I would only be grateful to you. You should also be careful. Come back soon!”

Lu Wenjun was suddenly added into her plan, which was something she had never considered at the start.

Agreeing to send her beloved daughter into the tiger’s mouth as bait was a heart-wrenching thing for a mother.

Similarly, for Xuyu herself, making the decision to let Lu Wenjun take the risk was a very difficult thing.

After Ashina submitted a petition to the emperor requesting a marriage, she stayed up all night and weighed the pros and cons repeatedly before making this selfish decision, which was not only cold-blooded but also extremely dangerous for Lu Wenjun.

It was also at the moment when she was exhausted after making the decision, standing alone in the empty and deep hall, waiting for the first light of dawn to break through the ornate windows—that she realized, with absolute clarity, that once entangled in court affairs, once she became a decision-maker or executor of power, she could never again think as she once had. Nor could she ever act solely according to her personal likes or dislikes.

She had once firmly believed that claiming to have no choice was merely an excuse used by those who made mistakes.

But on that winter morning, when even the charcoal stove could not completely dispel the chill as she waited for dawn, as she attempted to reassess—through this newfound lens—the one matter that had once troubled her most, that was the emperor’s failure to avenge her mother immediately, she suddenly felt… something shifted within her.

As Prince Ding, her father was never worthy of being forgiven.

But as the emperor, this might be the most reasonable decision he could make at the time.

Xuyu nodded: “Then I’ll go. Aunt, please wait for the news.”

After dark that day, she quietly left the city accompanied by a group of people and followed the procession heading west during the day.

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