The Slender Waist-Chapter 227 - 162: The Grand Wedding Ceremony

The Wedding Matron did not come alone; she brought quite a number of helpers, seemingly summoning everyone in Bingzhou City who was in this line of work. Pei Jue must have promised her some good benefits as she started to joyously decorate the room the moment she stepped in, with great dedication.

Feng Yun hadn’t expected such a development, caught off guard.

Suddenly the house became lively, with groups of women coming and going. Feng Yun couldn’t tell who was who. Some were there to help her change into wedding clothes and shoes, while others wanted her to choose jewelry and look at flower hairpins. Make-up artists asked which rouge and powder she preferred, and congratulations were incessantly given...

The customary Six Rites of Marriage were impossible now.

However, the bridal chamber was being decorated, with red silk and red carpets spread all over the Camp Villa, drawing countless onlookers despite the modest scale.

The tense atmosphere of war was momentarily diluted by the wedding.

When it finally came down to it, Feng Yun had no chance to object. At first, she dealt with it with a feigned interest, but as time passed, fatigue made her start to believe that she was really about to be married.

Pei Wangzhi!

He had caused her no small amount of trouble.

The Wedding Matron bustled about inside and out, instructing her and the maidservants on the specific customs of a grand wedding. Feng Yun listened until she tired, feeling dazed for a time...

In her previous life, Pei Jue had not married her.

The man she had married was Xiao Cheng.

Under her elder brother’s interference, both the wedding and the investiture ceremonies were extremely grand.

Her elder brother’s ’Ten Miles of Red Makeup’ and ’Guests Filling the Doors’ were indeed present, but no matter how lively the wedding banquet was, in the end, it was also just a performance.

It seemed no different from what was happening before her eyes.

If there had to be a comparison, this one was even more ridiculous and childlike.

Nevertheless, under such circumstances, Pei Jue managed to arrange a twelve-bearer bridal gift. This made Feng Yun very suspicious that it might just be filled with rocks, so she went as far as to open it for inspection.

There was a White Jade Golden Cup, fabrics, gold, and silver; not a single rock.

The list of gifts lay on a red silk tray, everything matched perfectly.

"One can see that the groom has really put thought into this."

The Wedding Matron said gleefully.

Feng Yun remained silent.

Although it was all arranged by Tan Dajin, to procure these things in war-time Bingzhou City within just three days indeed required a lot of dedication...

Feng Yun felt a sense of unease.

The wedding attire laid out in the bridal chamber was in her size, the headdress, and accessories bright and eye-catching, with tall red candles set in their holders.

Tables were set up in the garden, and the kitchen was ready for the wedding banquet. Tan Dajin even managed to get a pig, several sheep, some beef, and wine. Such lavish food, unseen by many since coming to Bingzhou City, ignited cheers from time to time...

All of it felt a bit like a dream.

Everything went far beyond Feng Yun’s expectations.

But Pei Jue had made it clear to her beforehand that this was only to force Xiao Cheng out of Hengqu Pass; these two days, he had been busy arranging defenses, and he himself hadn’t spent much thought on the wedding. Feng Yun didn’t want to back out suddenly and hinder him...

It just made her feel a bit restless.

What if Xiao Cheng didn’t come to attack the city?

Would the grand wedding still go on?

Listening to the Wedding Matron’s laughter-filled voice, Feng Yun grew so bored that she flipped through the small booklet Puyang Jiu had given her.

She didn’t know why she wanted to read it.

Perhaps it was because brides were traditionally instructed by their mothers about the matters of the bridal chamber before getting married, and she suddenly remembered her mother.

Today was the wedding date set by Pei Jue, and it was also the Winter Solstice.

In the past, when her mother was still alive, on such a day, the family would make dumplings and rice balls, which her mother said were a premonition for family harmony and happiness. It was a necessity every year. The maids and servant women would gather together, eating dumplings, then warming themselves around a stove to brew tea, laughing, and jesting.

After her mother passed away, the Winter Solstice lost its joy.

And this Winter Solstice was destined to be different.

Feng Yun’s eyes welled up with warmth as she buried her face in the pillow, overcome with emotion.

"A bride weeps as she goes out. Young lady, you must cry out..."

When she married Xiao Cheng, the Wedding Matron had said she should weep for her marriage, but Feng Yun did not cry, not a single tear, because her mother was gone, the Chen Family wasn’t worth crying for, and Feng Jingteng wasn’t, either.

No one from the Feng Family made her feel the reluctance of leaving home on her wedding day.

Shortly after, the Wedding Matron came to urge her again.

Her voice was sharp and cajoling, as she called out for Xiaoman.

"What are you doing, little maid? Why haven’t you served your mistress to take her bath and change her clothes? The time is not early, she needs to start dressing up. Soon the bridal sedan chair will come to pick her up..."

The bridal sedan chair would depart from the Camp Villa, be carried around Bingzhou City, and then return here. Wasn’t this just like child’s play?

Feng Yun could only laugh and cry about it as she let them make arrangements.

She bathed and dressed like a puppet, letting people position her in front of the dressing table.

Once in her wedding attire, with the headdress on, she looked at her reflection in the mirror and could hardly recognize herself.

The wedding clothes made her appearance quite grand, the clinking of her decorations with each step accentuated her already slender figure, making her extraordinarily attractive and causing a stunned silence before someone finally spoke up in praise.

"The bride is so charming."

"The Great General is so fortunate."

Feng Yun looked into the copper mirror...

The woman inside was smiling at her.

It was her.

Yet it also seemed to be Feng Yun from her previous life, whispering softly.

"I hope to grow old with my husband, to be together until our hair turns white,"

A shadow appeared in the mirror, revealing his handsome and aloof face. Holding a golden scale in hand, he lifted the bridal veil and said in a low voice, "Good."

Feng Yun closed her eyes. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

If a foolish person doesn’t wake up, then they’re simply asking for it. There would be no spouse with whom to grow old; only one’s own hands can support oneself until the end.

This wedding was merely Pei Jue’s stratagem.

Just a stratagem, a stratagem, and one must not lose oneself in delusions...

Perhaps it was because Feng Yun was too composed; her lack of expression throughout caused those who had been laughing and talking to quiet down somewhat. The joyous atmosphere in the room diminished, and Feng Yun soon settled into a calm state.

In the afternoon, the sky was overcast, as if it were about to rain.

The music of flutes and drums announcing the arrival of the wedding procession sounded from outside the villa.

With music and festivity, a procession of twelve palanquins bearing dowry drew countless onlookers.

"Why are they fetching the bride at this hour?"

"Indeed! Isn’t it too early?"

A wedding, a wedding, is meant to be held at dusk.

Some questioned within the crowd, and others chimed in response.

"Perhaps the Great General is impatient, eager to embrace his beauty soon."

"With so much blood on the Great General’s hands, by dusk, he might be afraid of being haunted by vengeful spirits..."

In Bingzhou City, shrouded by the shadow of war, this wedding was abrupt and peculiar.

Everyone privately marveled at it, but no one dared to step forward and question it.

The big red bridal sedan, carried by eight people, settled in front of the door.

"Please, bride, ascend the sedan chair!"

Feng Yun had waited too long.

The phoenix crown on her head was so heavy it almost bent her neck, and she had to exert herself to keep her shoulders back. In her elaborate bridal gown with its thick covering, she was bundled into the palanquin like a captive.

Amid the sounds of celebration and the clamor, she was like a marionette, doing whatever the Wedding Matron instructed—lifted up in a daze, carried through the overflowing streets, and then brought back to the Camp Villa.

"Has the groom arrived?"

Pei Jue did not come to "fetch the bride." It was only when the palanquin was set down at the door again that in the midst of all the attention, did he belatedly arrive.

Naturally, the crowd buzzed with speculation.

A groom who doesn’t fetch his bride surely doesn’t value her enough. But how could one say he didn’t value her if the Great General, in spite of being incredibly busy, had changed into wedding attire and personally attended his own wedding banquet?

The least concerned of all was Feng Yun.

She only wished to put an end to this torment as soon as possible.

Wedding Matron: "Groom, come, take hold of the handkerchief."

A big red silk handkerchief was divided into two parts, one for each to hold, entering the door amidst the crowd, the ritual was frustratingly simple.

"Prepare to bow to the hall," the Wedding Matron said.

Feng Yun couldn’t see the hall of matrimony, being led around in circles, she felt a bit dizzy.

Throughout it all, she did not hear Pei Jue speak.

Pei Jue must be the most silent "bridegroom" in the world.

Wherever he was, a chill would condense, no one dared to approach him with jokes on his wedding day, nor did anyone heckle, hence the wedding atmosphere was very peculiar.

Suddenly, Feng Yun felt as if the wedding ceremony was not so different from a funeral procession.

"Bow to heaven and earth," the Wedding Matron’s voice reached her ears.

Feng Yun hesitated for a moment, and the end of the handkerchief received a tug; the emotion from the other end seemed to remind her not to ruin his big day.

Beneath the bridal veil, she saw the man’s shoes slowly shifting, and so she moved along, gently bending in a bow—

Before she could raise her head, a rush of footsteps reached her ears.

The sounds of weapons and armor clashing were distinct, easy to distinguish.

Since weapons are a major taboo, none who came to the wedding, including Pei Jue himself, wore swords.

Therefore, the sound of the newcomer sharply struck a nerve amongst those present.

Suddenly, the surrounding area fell silent.

"Great General, urgent military report—"

It was Shi Yin, his voice grave and resonant, tinged with an inexplicable killing intent and an undeniable excitement, "The Qi Army has begun their siege."

Those few words, like a giant stone thrown into a lake,

created a metaphorical explosion amidst the onlooking crowd.

"They’re besieging us! They’re besieging us."

"The Qi Army is attacking the city!"

Feng Yun’s heart quivered involuntarily.

It was over.

She held her breath tightly...

Everyone was waiting for Pei Jue to speak.

In an instant that seemed both fleeting and eternal, Feng Yun finally heard his voice, devoid of any emotion, calm and steady, like the silent, gliding talons of a hawk across water.

"Isn’t it time for the couple to bow to each other?"