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Sedan Chair All the way to the palace gate, Yun Zhu quietly asked, "Princess, are we going to find the Prince or..."
"Let's go find the Prince. It's about time," Xiao Yao replied expressionlessly. Yun Zhu glanced at her; after all the back and forth, it was indeed about time. After entering the palace gate, they headed straight for He Yu at the Ceremony Hall.
Once inside the palace, there were no more Sedan Chairs to sit in. Although as the most favored wife of The First Non-Surname King of the Capital, she naturally had the privilege of being carried, Xiao Yao decided to walk since there was still some time.
Not long after, she spotted Zhao Hezhong approaching. It seemed that He Yu had anticipated that she would arrive around this time, so he had sent Zhao Hezhong to greet her. Thinking of this made Xiao Yao unable to suppress a smile; truly, there was nothing more beautiful than a meeting of minds.
As Zhao Hezhong stepped forward and greeted her, he said, "The Prince figured you would be arriving soon and sent me to check. As expected, the Prince is indeed insightful!"
Hearing this, Xiao Yao smiled and nodded, then asked, "Is the Prince still busy?"
"Oh, almost done," Zhao Hezhong immediately replied to Xiao Yao. "The wedding procession just entered the palace gates; things are also nearly ready on the Crown Prince's side. The Prince is already waiting at the Hall of Preserving Harmony, and I will take you there now."
"Let's go." After all, a wedding should be a joyous occasion.
With that thought, Xiao Yao's smile deepened. With Zhao Hezhong leading the way, they took a quick shortcut. Upon reaching the entrance of the Hall of Preserving Harmony, she saw He Yu standing there. Looking around to ensure no one was watching, Xiao Yao made an ungraceful dash and leaped into He Yu's arms so quickly that neither Yun Zhu nor Zhao Hezhong had time to react.
By the time they realized that such behavior was inappropriate for a princess, she was already securely in the Prince's embrace.
...
He Yu wrapped his arms around her but scolded her nonetheless, "Didn't I tell you not to run around? You're pregnant; don't you know that?"
Xiao Yao pouted. "You just came over to scold me."
"...I was reminding you," He Yu said helplessly. "It's still out of concern for you. If anything happens to the baby, I bet you would be the most heartbroken one."
"Uh..." His words struck right at Xiao Yao's fragile heart. She had been sulking with her head held high in a proud manner but quickly wilted at his statement. She fiddled with the buttons on He Yu's clothes and said softly, "Okay, I was wrong. Will you forgive me?"
Originally, He Yu wanted her to remember this lesson, but as soon as he spoke those words, he regretted being too harsh. Seeing Xiao Yao looking so wronged and submissive brought back memories that had long been buried deep within him.
He pulled Xiao Yao into his arms. "I'm sorry, I was too harsh, wasn't I?"
"Not really," Xiao Yao sniffed, "I was just not paying attention. I'll be more careful in the future; I'll be considerate."
"Mm," He Yu nodded, smiling, "It's okay. I was too harsh with my words; I was just worried about you."
"I know, I know you care about me," Xiao Yao nodded vigorously.
Standing behind them, Yun Zhu and Zhao Hezhong watched their affectionate master and felt somewhat speechless. Even at a time like this, they were still comforting each other. The Crown Prince's wedding was about to start! However, their words took on a different tone. Zhao Hezhong smiled and said, "Look at how loving our Lord and Lady are."
"Of course! The Lord cherishes the Lady to the core, and the Lady supports the Lord. It's wonderful to see such love," Yun Zhu said earnestly, her face full of blessings.
Zhao Hezhong nodded seriously, "Exactly! This way, we servants can have good days too."
After enough of their affectionate banter, they finally held hands and walked outside. Xiao Yao was being dragged along by He Yu, looking around. "Hey? Weren't we just at the entrance of the Hall of Preserving Harmony?"
"That was the entrance, but it was a side door that usually doesn't see much traffic," He Yu explained leisurely.
No wonder she hadn't seen anyone earlier; they had been at a side door. "So where are we going now?"
"To the altar," He Yu replied. "The Crown Prince's Wedding needs to be announced with a ritual first, then we'll go to the Hall of Preserving Harmony for the ceremony, and finally have a banquet at the Eastern Palace."
"Ah?" Xiao Yao had been to the palace a few times and remembered the general locations of several landmark buildings. She calculated in her mind, "How far do we have to walk…"
The palace was so large that moving from one place to another would take at least a quarter of an hour. Attending a wedding banquet would mean spending an hour just moving between venues?! Xiao Yao suddenly felt like lying down on the ground and playing dead.
He Yu knew what she was thinking and turned back to pat her head. "It's fine; if we really can't walk by then, we can call for a palanquin."
"That wouldn't be good." Xiao Yao understood that He Yu was indulging her by saying that. In reality, in such situations where many people were walking on foot, it would be unreasonable for her to use a palanquin. Was his status greater than anyone else's? That was impossible.
She would never act so willfully; that would clearly be causing trouble for her Lord. If it left a bad impression on the Emperor, what would they do then?
"Don't worry," He Yu said nonchalantly, turning to comfort her. "Xuanping Wang is just an arrogant and self-satisfied person. The more he acts like this, the happier the Emperor will probably be."
Xiao Yao was stunned for a moment and turned to look at He Yu.
The man's profile had a hint of ruggedness that was not visible from the front. From the front, his narrow eyes always seemed filled with unruliness and arrogance. Perhaps this side of him was only shown to those closest to him, Xiao Yao thought.
Not hearing Xiao Yao's response, He Yu turned his head in confusion and happened to meet her gaze. He clearly caught the look of concern in her eyes, which stirred something in his heart. However, he still pretended to be indifferent, lifting his head and smiling, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
Xiao Yao silently shook her head and simply said, "It must have been tough all these years."
Upon hearing this, He Yu raised his head, realizing that compared to many sweet words, this was the one that struck the deepest. Finally, someone understood the hardships and joys he had endured over the years. For a grown man to almost cry over a single sentence seemed too weak. He could only lift his head, clear his throat, and manage to speak in a relatively normal tone, "It's nothing; I've gotten used to it."
However, Xiao Yao still detected a hint of choked emotion in his voice. As they walked along the palace path, with palace attendants coming and going and occasionally encountering some officials, Xiao Yao knew she couldn't hug He Yu in public. She could only place her other hand over the one he was holding. He Yu turned to look at her as she flashed a big smile. "If you ever feel unhappy in the future, you can talk to me. Although I may not understand everything, it will definitely feel better to let it out."
Quietly observing this woman before him, he realized that he had sought her out several years earlier than in his previous life because he wanted to be part of her life sooner. Thinking back on how he had acted in his past life made him realize how he had missed out on such a wonderful woman and their child.
With this thought, He Yu's hand couldn't help but tremble. Xiao Yao noticed his state and asked, "Are you... okay?"
He Yu suddenly snapped back from his memories and quickly composed himself. "Oh, I'm fine."
"Then you haven't answered me about what you're thinking," Xiao Yao asked curiously with wide eyes.
"It's nothing," He Yu smiled as he tucked a loose strand of hair behind Xiao Yao's ear gently, his voice warm enough to drown anyone in comfort. "Alright, if I ever feel unhappy in the future, I'll talk to you."
"Mm, sounds good," Xiao Yao nodded happily.
She was He Yu's wife; sharing his joys and sorrows was only natural. Xiao Yao didn't think about anything else—did it really need any reason?
As they got closer to the altar, more people filled the path, and He Yu frequently greeted various individuals.
Xiao Yao leaned beside He Yu and looked at the towering altar while asking, "Can we go into the altar later?"
"Of course not," He Yu explained to her, "only members of the Royal Family can enter the altar. We can just observe from outside."
"Oh, that's good," Xiao Yao said, feeling relieved.
"What's wrong? Aren't you curious about what's inside? Don't you want to take a look?" He Yu stroked his chin and smiled.
"What's there to see?" Xiao Yao rolled her eyes. "Isn't it just the ancestral hall used by the royal family to worship the Ancestral Tablet? It's just a bit more grand, what's so interesting about that?"
That's exactly how Xiao Yao understood it. He Yu was beside her, laughing so hard he almost doubled over. "If the Emperor heard you say that, he would have died of anger several times over."
"Well, if he dies of anger, he can always come back to life. It's no big deal," Xiao Yao said after a moment, delivering this cold joke.
He Yu had just managed to compose himself when he heard Xiao Yao's cold joke again and couldn't help but laugh for a while. With a smile, he reached out to stroke her hair, thinking that she truly lived in a different world; her thoughts were so different from others.
"Don't move! It takes forever to comb this messy hair! If it gets tangled, you'll help me comb it!" Xiao Yao dodged He Yu's hand and said with wide eyes.
He Yu was taken aback for a moment, then revealed a gentle yet blissful smile. "Okay, I'll help you comb your hair." (To be continued)
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