Masquerade in Bridal Attire and Marry the Prince

70. Falling Flowers Festival

Translator: Antonia

Dongxiang took a lingering glance at the dress. He had seen the other day that His Highness obviously also liked that dress very much. However, if Her Highness didn’t want to wear that, he could do nothing to it. He picked another normal-looking dress from the wardrobe, helped Du Chuxuan get changed and then summoned maidservants in to do his makeup.

When everything was done properly, it was already noon and Yuxing Tianrui had returned from the morning session. The task of receiving the envoy was designated to the eldest prince, because it would somewhat demean Yuxing Tianrui the Crown Prince, the last thing that the Emperor would like to see.

Seeing Du Chuxuan was ready, Yuxing Tianrui nodded. They weren’t in a hurry to set off. The banquet of the Falling Flowers Festival only started in the afternoon, and they were in the palace, near to the banquet venue, so they wouldn’t be late to set off later.

The two spent some more time in the room, Yuxing Tianrui reading today’s memorials while Du Chuxuan having many food prepared by Dongxiang and feeding himself full before they left for the banquet.

When they arrived, there were already ladies and madams in the garden. Male and female guests were separated, so upon entering the garden, Yuxing Tianrui was ushered to the male part, while Du Chuxuan followed a maidservant holding a lantern to the pond where female guests hung out.

On account of his noble identity as the Crown Princess and that many ladies were still coveting the position of His Highness’s concubine, many ladies and madams, seeing him coming in, hurriedly flooded to him, saying auspicious words of blessing in an extremely ingratiating fashion.

For the first time, Du Chuxuan knew that there were so many things about him to be praised. Even though he knew these people didn’t mean it, after rounds of flattery, he had a special feeling.

Soon later, Biluo, a close maid of the Empress came to Du Chuxuan. To receive the Turkic envoy, there were much to get prepared, and the Empress found the work overwhelming and asked Du Chuxuan to give her a hand.

Certainly, Du Chuxuan was willing to rid of the evil claws of these people and quickly excused himself and followed Biluo to the Empress. After finishing all the work, he felt like a preserved salty fish that couldn’t stir. Luckily, it wasn’t his sister, or she would long be devastated.

When it started, Du Chuxuan followed the Empress in the banquet hall and paced in a graceful manner to Yuxing Tianrui to take a seat next to him. This time, he and Yuxing Tianrui sat to the Emperor’s left, and the right seats were saved for the Turkic envoy as a courtesy of respect.

Next to them were the eldest and third princes, and then people of the three major families, dukes and marquises. Du Chuxuan swept his glance over Duke Ningyuan, who didn’t seem very anxious with Shan Zhongli grounded at home. Supposedly, he had already figured a way to get Shan Zhongli out.

“His Majesty has long heard that Shenglan is a country of courtesy, so this time he ordered me to come to escort a princess on the wedding parade back to our country and make friendship between our countries.” The speaker standing up was Xingta Lishan, a Turkic official, a person said to be eloquent and knowledgeable about Shenlan culture.

The Emperor sat in the main seat and nodded, “We’ve been neighboring countries, and as long as we show friendliness to each other, our people can lead a peaceful life forever.” He said unhurriedly, not in a hurry to mention the prince. To him, even though Shenglan hadn’t won an absolute victory, it hadn’t lost either.

There was no change in Xingta Lishan’s expression. He didn’t suppose that the Emperor of Shenglan would receive him too warmly as the war had ended so lately. He looked away and saw the eldest prince on the first glance, bowing and speaking after he was permitted, “I’ve been here for some time and didn’t see your distinguished princesses. I’m wondering—”

The Emperor didn’t have many children, altogether five even to include the third prince. The two princesses weren’t given birth to by the Empress but were brought up by her with Yuxing Tianrui since their childhood. Of course, Yuxing Tianrui didn’t want his sisters to jump into the fire pit and looked sulky at once.

“You never specified which prince would marry our princess, the eldest or the second. With this attitude, how could we rest assured to give you our princess?” The Emperor meant this, but the words were said by the third prince, a straightforward young boy, which made the air less intense.

The Emperor gave the third prince an approving glance, satisfied with his remark, and proceeded, “Don’t let the marriage bother you. Today, it’s the Falling Flowers Festival, and we throw a party to entertain you. Anyway, you’ll be staying here for some days, and we can discuss the details later.”

This was an order to stop the subject. Since the Emperor said so, the Turkic envoy couldn’t disobey to hurt his face and had to sit down with his sullen face.

Du Chuxuan had been watching them and was finally relieved when he discovered that Ashina Yi wasn’t among the Turks. If his shidi really came, for a time he didn’t know whether it was a good thing to let him marry Miss. Zhao.

After several rounds of toasts, the Empress ordered the ladies to start the performance they prepared. It was a tradition for the Falling Flowers Festival. Usually in Shenglan on this day, the summer flowers fell completely, and on this day in the middle of the year, it symbolized that women would find their true love.

Therefore, even if the Turkic envoys didn’t come, the ladies would go all out in their performance to attract the attention of the men they liked.

As the Empress announced the commencement, a crispy voice rang immediately, “This year, Zhao Zheng, the eldest lady of the Zhao family, is willing to bring a nice opening.”

Hearing that, the other ladies were all discouraged. That was Miss. Zhao, a lady of many accomplishments, not to mention that merely her identity was enough to daunt the others to take a shot.

The Empress agreed, and seeing Zhao Zheng showed up with her pretty face, was quite delighted, “Your Majesty, the ladies are fully charged this year. If they perform well, you have to reward them!”

Hearing that, the Emperor laughed, “A good advice of you. I agree. Any lady with excellent performance will be greatly rewarded!”

At the words, the ladies only wished to dash to the Emperor and start performing right away. Luckily, they remembered etiquettes, but the air was already warmed up.