The first year of Zhengde, on the eighth day of the sixth lunar month.

This day is Zhu Houzhao's wedding day.

The Forbidden City was busy. After the steps of Nacai, asking for names, Najib, Nazheng, and asking for appointments, we finally ushered in the last step of the emperor's wedding, that is, welcoming the bride.

According to convention, Zhu Houzhao does not need to go to the father-in-law's office to welcome the bride in person, and related matters will be completed by the special envoy.

The envoy of the wedding was Gao Feng, the eunuch who had been coordinating and co-organizing the emperor's wedding, and the deputy envoy was Dai Yi, the eunuch of the Sili Supervisor.

These two people are considered old people in the palace and are deeply trusted by Queen Mother Zhang.

Logically speaking, Zhu Houzhao should have gotten up very early to prepare that day, but he still spent the night in the leopard room last night and did not return to the palace until dawn.

When he returned to the Ganqing Palace, officials from the Qintianjian and Honglu Temple had been waiting there for a long time. Zhu Houzhao widened his eyes and was confused. After Liu Jin reminded him, he realized that it was his wedding day.

"What's going on? Just asking me to come back, I won't remind me that it's this day...what do you mean?"

Zhu Houzhao was very dissatisfied with Liu Jin, but no matter how much he complained, the etiquette he should have had to be followed. Since a person has returned to the palace and is too late to escape, it is better to put on his dress and prepare to attend the wedding.

When the attendant changed Zhu Houzhao's wedding dress, Zhu Houzhao seemed impatient and twisted her body from time to time without cooperating at all.

Liu Jin couldn't help but remind him: "Your Majesty, you should dress up quickly, and then go and pay tribute to the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager!"

Zhu Houzhao shouted angrily: "I know, you have a lot to do. I'll teach you a good lesson when I look back."

As threatening words were spoken, Zhu Houzhao was dressed neatly, and then led the people from the Imperial Heavenly Prison, the Honglu Temple and the Inner Prison to meet Empress Dowager Wang and Empress Dowager Zhang.

At this time, the Empress Dowager Wang and Empress Dowager Zhang were waiting for the emperor to arrive in the main hall of the Ming Dynasty Palace, namely Fengtian Hall.

The noble ministers invited to attend the emperor's wedding ceremony have gathered together. The military officials gathered in the Wuying Hall, while the civil servants were in the Wenhua Hall, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

As soon as Zhu Houzhao came out of the Ganqing Palace, the ministers had learned the news and began to gather from the second floor of Wen and Wu to the square in front of Fengtian Hall under the guidance of the eunuch.

When Zhu Houzhao walked to the back door of Fengtian Hall, the rituals and music in front had already started.

Zhu Houzhao was already very sleepy. When she heard this sound, she couldn't help but feel annoyed and said to Liu Jin next to her: "Can you ask someone to stop the music?"

Liu Jin quickly explained: "Your Majesty, this is the rules and etiquette of the day of the wedding, and it is inevitable!"

Zhu Houzhao first looked at the situation in Fengtian Hall, and then stepped into the hall gate with a dark face. At this time, there were no signs of noble ministers in the hall. Except for the Empress Dowager Wang and Empress Dowager Zhang, there were only eunuchs and palace maids.

Empress Dowager Zhang has been waiting anxiously because she didn't know when her son would arrive, and she was very worried that her son would delay the auspicious time of her wedding because she was greedy for playing.

When she saw Zhu Houzhao, Empress Dowager Zhang finally breathed a sigh of relief and greeted her with Empress Dowager Wang.

Zhu Houzhao was very tired and bowed to the two listlessly.

The Empress Dowager Wang said: "What the Ai family should not come today is the place where the emperor is promoted to the throne. The Empress Dowager, this matter will be left to you. The Ai family is going to go back to meditate and recite scriptures."

At this time, the Empress Dowager Wang looked uncontested. She had been the queen and the empress dowager, and she was very familiar with the etiquette of wedding reception. Originally, the Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager only needed to wait for the emperor to pay their respects in Yongning Palace, Yongshou Palace and other places, and did not need to come to Fengtian Palace.

But Empress Dowager Zhang didn't care about that much. Although Zhu Houzhao was about to marry the queen, she still regarded herself as the lord of the six palaces and wanted to show her majesty.

...

...

The Empress Dowager Wang took off and returned to Yongning Palace, and the wedding ceremony officially began.

On the temporary desk set up in Fengtian Hall, there are special envoy letters, golden books and golden treasure seals needed to welcome the queen.

In principle, these things should be handed over by Zhu Houzhao to the Minister of Rites, and then handed over by the Minister of Rites to the Special Envoy to take them to the Queen's house. However, Zhu Houzhao was too tired and too lazy to move. When she waved her hand, Liu Jin immediately stepped forward and held the things in her hand.

Zhu Houzhao nodded slightly, then walked outside the main entrance of Fengtian Palace.

Then the Zhonghe Shao music started, and Zhu Houshi shone out of Fengtian Hall amid the drum music, and stood above Danbi.

At this time, his Dharma Carriage Lu Book, which was the ceremonial guard of the imperial carriage, stopped on the Dan Palace, while the civil and military ministers stood in the square of His Majesty Dan, lined up neatly.

Zhu Houzhao looked down and was about to walk down the steps of Danbi when Liu Jin next to him quickly reminded: "Your Majesty, pay attention to etiquette."

Zhu Houzhao took back the steps he took. Soon, Zhonghe Shao Music stopped and the scene fell into silence.

Zhu Houzhao was about to say a few words when the sound of firecrackers came.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao was light and her mind was in chaos because she lacked sleep. She suddenly heard the deafening "crackling" sound, and she almost jumped up. When she realized that the ministers below were paying attention to him, she quickly stood up, but she still covered her ears with one hand. It felt that after a long time, the three firecrackers were finally set off.

Zhu Houzhao cursed and was very dissatisfied with this cumbersome etiquette.

The music of Danbi was played, and amid the melodious instrumental music, the nobles, civil servants and military generals began to bow and worship.

After the ceremony, Zhou Jing, the Minister of Rites, came to Danbi. Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, meaning that Liu Jin gave the ceremonies, book, treasure and other things to Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing knelt down and bowed, took the golden book and the golden treasure, and read the golden book of the enthroned queen on the spot.

Because there is still a distance from the top of the Danbi to the bottom, the wind is relatively strong, and the content read by the Zhou Jing is basically unaware of the civil and military officials arranged below.

But this is just a ceremony, and the ministers present knew what it was.

After the golden book was read, Zhou Jing, the Minister of Rites, handed over the golden book, Jinbao and the envoy's secret letter to Gao Feng, the envoy who was welcoming the bride, and he retreated aside.

The princes and ministers knelt down and saluted.

Zhu Houzhao didn't care about these etiquettes at all. He looked for Shen Xi's figure among the crowd below and wanted to ask how the Xuanfu was doing. However, due to the special circumstances on this day, the ministers all attended the meeting in big red court uniforms, as if they were carved from a mold. In addition, he was mentally weak and his eyesight was reduced. After watching for a long time, he couldn't find where Shen Xi was.

Seeing Zhu Houzhao's eyes wandering around the ministers below, Liu Jin didn't know what the little emperor was thinking at this time, so he quickly reminded: "Your Majesty, it's time for you to go back to the Qianqing Palace to wait for the empress to enter the palace."

"Um."

Zhu Houzhao nodded.

When he took a step towards the imperial carriage, the music started again, and this time he changed from Danbi to Zhonghe Shao music.

As the music was playing, Zhu Houzhao got on the imperial carriage. As soon as the man sat down, he couldn't help but yawn a few times, tears were everywhere in his eyes, and then he felt tired and quickly closed his eyes. A snoring sounded between his nose, allowing the imperial carriage to sway towards the Qianqing Palace.

...

...

Zhu Houzhao left, but the etiquette at Fengtian Palace had not been completed yet.

The embassy Gao Feng and Dai Yi waited until the arrival of Dingji in the Imperial Heavenly Prison, and then respectfully placed the golden book and gold treasure in the "Long Pavilion"... The so-called "Long Pavilion" is a sedan chair representing the emperor's imperial carriage. All the envoys actually escorted the sedan chair to the queen's house to pick up people.

"Longting" represents the king.

The guard of honor and drum band had been waiting for a long time, and the people from Honglu Temple would also accompany them all the way, and the Imperial Guards, Jinyiwei and Yulin Guards would accompany them to protect them.

Gao Feng and Dai Yi walked down from Danbi, and the wedding sent Gao Feng to live in the middle, followed by Dai Yi, the Minister of Honglu Temple, Shaoqing and others.

The group came down from above and walked along the imperial road in the middle. The nobles and ministers present bowed to the "Longting".

The envoy left Fengtian Gate and crossed Jinshui Bridge. In front of him was the Meridian Gate.

At this time, the phoenix and ceremonial guards that welcomed the queen were already waiting outside the Meridian Gate on the south bank of Jinshui Bridge.

The envoy team joined forces to welcome the queen's phoenix, and then someone carried the gifts given to the father-in-law's house. A group of four or five hundred people went to the queen's house in a mighty manner.

At this time, the new queen Xia’s daughter was waiting for the arrival of the embroidery envoy in the backyard of her temporary home in the capital.

The father-in-law Xia Ru was from the south. When he arrived in the capital, the court arranged a place for him to stay... To facilitate the wedding, Xia Ru's home was on East Chang'an Street, not very far from Daming Gate.

Xia Ru's family almost didn't sleep all night last night. After several days of preparation, all the etiquette for marrying a daughter was prepared. Early that morning, Xia Ru's family gathered at the gate, waiting for the arrival of the envoy to welcome the bride.

The father-in-law's mansion became a place for people in the capital to watch, but with the Shuntian Prefecture Office and the Imperial Army soldiers blocked it, the people could not get close to the gate within twenty feet of the mansion.

It was not until the Si hour that the bride-welcome came with the sound of drums, music, and beating.

Xia Ru led his family to kneel down to welcome the "Longting" and the envoys.

Gao Feng got off the horse, walked to Xia Guohou, and read the contents of the golden book in public.

When the Xia family heard that the Queen was enthroned was indeed the Xia girl, they felt relieved. In the past, the situation of temporarily changing the candidate for the queen occasionally occurred, and it was difficult for the big stone to fall into the ground until the end.

"Birdmaster Xia, please get up!"

Gao Feng smiled and went to support each other.

Xia Ru stood up with Gao Feng's support, smiled, and quickly asked someone to come over to arrange the wedding envoy.

Amid the drums and music, "Longting" and Fengyu were carried into the front yard of the father-in-law's mansion. First, the sedan chair servant of the Honglu Temple was carried, and after the front yard, it was changed from the internal supervisor to be carried.

The phoenix carriage was carried into the embroidery building in the backyard of the father-in-law's mansion, and according to the "auspicious position" selected before the Imperial Heavenly Prison, put down the imperial carriage, and when the auspicious time came, Gao Feng and the female official went up to welcome the queen down the embroidery building.

Until the auspicious time, the Empress Xia, under the help of the female official, walked down the embroidery building.

Xia was wearing a phoenix crown and a red robe. When he arrived in front of the "Dragon Pavilion", Gao Feng, as an envoy of the emperor, read out the gold book and handed over the gold book and the treasure seal to Xia.

Holding the golden book and gold treasure that belonged to his identity, Xia climbed onto the Fengyu, then promoted the chariot and started his journey, and came out of the father-in-law's mansion.

Fengyu left the father-in-law's mansion, and the banquet in the father-in-law's mansion officially began. The palace would not hold banquets for civil and military officials on that day, but only the father-in-law's mansion had a banquet.

...

...

The emperor's wedding ceremony continued.

But for Shen Xi, this wedding has nothing to do with him.

He showed his face at the palace in the morning, followed the ministers to bow to him, and then returned to the Ministry of War to do his own business.

As ministers, they are not qualified to enter the palace for a banquet. Instead, Chen Xi's wife and I need to enter the palace that day because they are both maids of imperial edicts and second-rank edicts. Now they enter the palace to show their identities.

Chen Xi returned to the Ministry of War. As soon as the man sat down in his office, Xie Qian came hurriedly.
To be continued...