It was equally lively inside Muyun Pass.
Red silks were tied up throughout the entire pass, including the city gates and towers, and various colored lights were hung. Emperor Jiang had a heart attack in the spring and was too sick to travel. He sent Liu Gong and several officials from the Ministry of Rites half a month in advance to come over, bring everyone from the Ministry of Rites, and a group of elderly people from the palace to take care of the wedding arrangements. Empress Yan and the Empress Dowager were afraid that there might not be enough manpower in the pass, so they specially sent Ji An, Gao Gong, and a group of palace attendants from the opposite bank. Jimo Qingyu also rushed over three days ago with his eldest disciple Zhao Yan. Yun Hao, the Guozhu of the Yun Kingdom, and Luo Changqing, the Guozhu of the Luo Kingdom, also arrived at the pass with congratulations gifts.
Many important officials also came to the Jiang Empire to attend the Crown Prince’s wedding ceremony.
Fan Zhou and several other advisors were so busy that they couldn’t even touch the ground. In the days leading up to the wedding, they had to welcome guests from all over the world almost every day, register gift lists, and arrange their accommodations.
Luo Fengjun also came to the pass with Luo Changqing, mainly responsible for teaching the palace attendants to play auspicious songs suitable for wedding ceremonies. During this period, Luo Fengjun consciously broke through the bottleneck and made rapid progress in his music skills. He specially composed the new song ‘Congratulate the Newlyweds’ as a wedding gift for Jiang Yun and Sui Heng.
Since the ‘Introduction of Wutong’, Luo Fengjun has not composed a new song for several years. The musicians all over the world never expected that the first song written after years of silence would be a newlywed song.
Luo Fengjun was not someone who compromised for power. He used to be a pawn in the Sui capital, the high-ranking officials in the Sui capital paid him a lot of money to invite him into the palace to play, but he mercilessly rejected them. Everyone couldn’t help but marvel, “How come I’ve never heard that the Crown Prince of Jiang and the Crown Prince of Luo have this kind of friendship…”
“His Highness Rongyu’s reputation spread throughout the world, he built a platform to avenge injustice, took the initiative to open the gate of Muyun Pass, and ceased hostilities with Jiangbei, winning all the strategists and advisors’ hearts. It is understandable that Luo Fengjun was impressed by His Highness Rongyu’s unparalleled demeanor.”
Of course, Crown Prince Luo himself won’t admit this. He just held the zither and said to Jiang Yun, “It’s just something I made casually when I have nothing to, so I’m just going to give it to you guys, by the way.”
“Of course, it’s mainly for you. That reckless man may not be able to appreciate it.”
Jiang Yun expressed his gratitude, his eyes curled, and he said, “Gu afraid that Gu was the only person in the world to be able to receive a new song from the Prince of Music. It’s truly an honor.”
“Gu also thanks the Crown Prince on his behalf.”
Jiang Yun was surprised by Luo Fengjun’s recent remarkable progress in music proficiency.
Luo Fengjun showed a rare smile and said, “Speaking of which, it was you who woke me up. I focused solely on my skills, neglecting the fact that music comes from the five senses and should come from my heart rather than just being limited to finger and playing techniques. If I can’t break through this point, even if I play ‘Feng Qiu Huang’ a thousand or ten thousand times, I still won’t be able to understand the true meaning of it and play the real ‘Feng Qiu Huang’. I should have my own ‘Feng Qiu Huang’, rather than blindly imitating other people’s famous songs.”
Jiang Yun felt genuinely happy for him.
“Then Gu will consider this song ‘Congratulate the Newlywed’ as the Crown Prince’s first ‘Feng Qiu Huang’.”
In the meantime, Luo Fengjun has been sitting inside the pass, teaching the officials of the Ministry of Rites who are responsible for the wedding music to play this song. Luo Fengjun has strict requirements and amazing hearing. Even if there is a half beat missed or a slight deviation in the pitch of a certain note, he can immediately recognize it and ask everyone to play it again and practice repeatedly. The members of the Ministry of Rites were tormented to the point of suffering, feeling that when they first entered the Ministry of Rites, their music skills in the entrance examination were not so strict. A newlywed song was as difficult as a palace examination. They only knew that the rumored Prince of Music was a music enthusiast, but they did not expect his obsession to be this bad.
An official from the Ministry of Rites couldn’t bear it and politely asked Luo Fengjun if he could loosen it a little, in exchange, the Crown Prince Luo gave him a contemptuous look. The official from the Ministry of Rites felt as if he had insulted the word “musical” from that glance. His face was embarrassed, and he dared not mention it again. He could only practice twice as much.
Jiang Yun, on the other hand, became the least busy one, thanks to the rare leisure time on the eve of his wedding. Finally, he outlined the final stroke on the blueprint of the new capital.
Jimo Qingyu looked at the towering city on the paper, which had a faint glimpse of the future. He stroked his beard and smiled, saying, “With this new capital, the unification of the north and south is just around the corner.”
Ji An and Gao Gong mainly revolved around Xiao Jiang Nuo.
The two never expected that the young gentleman who was once brought back to the private courtyard by their Highness would be the esteemed Crown Prince of Jiang. Upon arriving at the pass, they first went to visit Jiang Yun, delivered the gifts prepared by Empress Yan and the Empress Dowager, and began to play with Xiao Jiang Nuo.
The Empress Dowager and Empress Yan prepared many small items for the little one. Although the little dumpling was much more mentally mature than a baby of the same age, but he was still a young child and loved to play. When he saw a box full of rare objects, his eyes lit up, and he even threw his rare crystal ball aside. But the little one has a scale in his heart, and even when he sleeps, he still has to hold the crystal ball. Except for Jiang Yun, no one else is allowed to touch it. The little dumpling is as adorable as a snowball and intelligent. Ji An couldn’t help but say, “I don’t know how happy the Empress Dowager and Empress will be when they meet Xiao Huangsun.”
On the day before the wedding, Muyun Pass welcomed a special guest.
Fan Zhou has always been responsible for guest reception matters. When he heard the report from the guard, he suspected that he had heard wrong: “From Dongzhou?”
Dongzhou was the original capital of Qi, and as far as Fan Zhou can remember, his Highness had no friendship with the Qi Kingdom. Qi, on the other hand, belongs to the northern part of the river and has no state affairs with the Jiang Empire.
Fan Zhou dared not be careless and, together with Yun Huai, personally went to the city gate to check the situation. In the pass, there is a young Young Master dressed in snowy fox fur riding on a horse, followed only by a few guards and two carriages filled with gifts.
“This humble is Qi Ziqi, from Marquis Duan’s Mansion in Dongzhou. This humble was specially ordered by the elders to come and congratulate His Highness on his grand wedding.”
The young Young Master on the horse introduced himself.
Fan Zhou was even more surprised, but he remembered that when he was in the Qi capital before, His Highness risked his life to rescue Marquis Duan from the fire. Suddenly, he faintly realized that His Highness might have had some unknown dealings with Marquis Duan Mansion in Dongzhou.
He has always been thorough and proper in his work, he won’t ask anything he shouldn’t. He hurriedly invited Qi Ziqi to enter the pass and rest.
Qi Ziqi hesitated for a moment and only asked people to unload the gift, saying, “There are still some matters at home, so it won’t be convenient to stay for a long time…”
“Since you’re here, just have a glass of wedding wine before going back.”
A clear and mellow voice came.
Qi Ziqi was taken aback and looked up. He saw Jiang Yun, who appeared at an unknown time.
Jiang Yun still wore a green robe, standing gracefully in the pass, his eyes bright and moist, and the corners of his mouth lit up, just like when they first met, looking at him with a warm smile.
Qi Ziqi’s eyes heated up for a while, then he nodded and said, “Alright.”
Fan Zhou quickly asked people to tidy up another properly arranged guest room.
The day before the wedding, Jiang Yun had some rare insomnia. He was lying on his bed, thinking wildly about his thoughts. Suddenly, he heard the sound of wings fluttering outside the window. When he opened the window, he saw a gyrfalcon falling outside.
Jiang Yun’s eyes curled, “Did he send you over?”
The gyrfalcon proudly raised his head.
Jiang Yun took the letter down from the eagle’s claws and routinely fed some dried meat to the hard-working messenger. He returned to his bed and opened the letter, which only had two lines: “Wait for Gu, don’t miss Gu too much, and can’t fall asleep.”
Jiang Yun couldn’t help but raise the corners of his mouth.
He got out of bed and went to the table, picked up a brush, and replied with a line: Stinky, I didn’t miss you.
The next morning, before dawn, the sound of drums and music on the surface of the Yellow River shook the entire Muyun Pass. “It’s coming, it’s coming! The procession welcoming the bride is coming!” Hundreds of people crowded the shore to cheer.
Jiang Yun changed into a big wedding attire and stood on the top of the city gate, followed by the guards in the pass and advisors led by Fan Zhou and Yun Huai, gazing at the vast welcoming procession on the river in the distance. Xiao Jiang Nuo also changed into a festive red robe, like a lucky kid, held up by Gongsun Yang, excitedly gazing at the endless boats densely packed on the river.
From dawn to dusk, scattered lights lit up on the surface of the Yellow River, and a long fleet of ships, like a dazzling Milky Way, spread out on top of the Yellow River. After a day and night’s journey, they finally slowly docked.
Sui Heng, dressed in a red wedding dress, was handsome and majestic, towering like a god. Surrounded by a group of generals from the Qinglang Battalion and their subordinate countries’ Guozhu, walking towards the towering Muyun Pass at dusk.
On the tower above the city gate, a joyful and lingering wedding song resounded.
Sui Heng looked up at Jiang Yun, who was also dressed in red and standing on the city gate tower. With a smile on his lips, he slowly kneeled down in public.
“The firewood I tied, three stars in the sky.”
“Today, Sui Jichu married Jiang Rongyu with the promise of the future world.”
“To cherish and never betray each other in this lifetime.”
T/N: congratulations to my two babies on their wedding <3 please forgive me if SH’s vows don’t make sense or is inaccurate TT I’ve tried my best haha
