Chapter 2245: Chapter 2153: The Grand Wedding 2

The wedding and crowning ceremony are on the same day, so the entire palace is incredibly busy.

The crowning ceremony is complicated, with a plethora of rituals to undergo before the grand ceremony begins, followed by sacrifices to heaven and basking in the reverent gaze of the populace.

The whole process takes nearly a day, and Lu Hualiang also needs to hold a wedding for Xia Weibao, making time extremely tight.

The Ministry of Rites eliminated the excess and directly held the wedding in the Golden Luán Hall, then began the crowning process.

Early in the morning, Xia Weibao was dragged out of bed, hardly able to open her eyes due to exhaustion.

Sitting in front of the dressing mirror, she was half-asleep, her head nodding as if it might fall.

The palace maid quickly supported her and helped her dress and apply makeup.

The imperial wedding was such a grand occasion, the makeup elaborate and exquisite, hair adorned with the beaded crown, and head crowned with the phoenix crown.

Cheeks tinted with rouge and lips highlighted with vermilion, her fiery wedding dress had golden threads outlining a splendid phoenix.

After two shichen of preparation, she was finally ready for the empress’s wedding ensemble, with Xia Weibao almost rolling her eyes from exhaustion.

Lu Hualiang originally intended to have her paraded through the streets, allowing everyone to worship along the way, but time was too tight, and if there was a procession, it would certainly miss the auspicious time.

Thus, the ceremony had to be held within the palace.

For today’s wedding, every corner of the palace was renovated, adorned with cheerful, large red lanterns, and even the leaves in the Imperial Garden appeared freshly washed.

Golden threads traced a red carpet stretching from the Palace Gate to the entrance of the Golden Luán Grand Hall, with guards clad in dark red standing on either side, exuding authority.

The double-color columns of the Golden Luan Hall, with golden dragons and phoenixes, appeared ready to soar into the sky, the dragon and phoenix auspiciously corresponding to each other, lifelike.

Their fierce postures conveyed festivity.

Xia Weibao, in her fiery wedding dress, stood at the Palace Gate entrance, looking towards the end of the red carpet. This path was too long to seem real; only a vague red silhouette could be seen standing there.

Majestic in appearance, sovereign over all.

Her lips slowly curled into a smile, knowing that at the end of the red carpet, he was waiting for her.

All she had to do was traverse this long gold-threaded red carpet, and she would be by his side.

"The time has come, sound the music."

The voice of the Ritual Officer echoed across the land, and in an instant, fireworks exploded and cannon fire boomed.

A hundred instruments played, drums thunderously shaking the skies.

Flowers of celebration fluttered in the air, descending upon the gold-threaded red carpet.

The civil and military officials on either side knelt and shouted, "Her Majesty the Empress, may she live long, long, long."

"Her Majesty the Empress, may she live long, long, long."

"Her Majesty the Empress, may she live long, long, long."

"..."

Amidst the chorus of kneeling shouts, Xia Weibao raised her head, straightened her chest, and stepped onto the gold-threaded red carpet.

This was the road of the Empress, symbolizing the pinnacle of worldly power and sovereignty.

Second only to one, above all else.

The long wedding gown dragged over the red carpet, chronicling each step she took towards him.

In front of the Golden Luán Grand Hall stood a grand staircase of ninety-nine white jade steps, solemnly rising and falling, as she walked step by step upwards, closing the distance between them with each step.

Lu Hualiang, clad in a red and gold-threaded festive robe, with a white jade dragon crown, stood at the hall entrance, watching his empress walk step by step towards him.

The eyes, once full of authority, now brimmed only with tenderness.

They were finally wed.

Before Xia Weibao could ascend the ninety-nine white jade steps completely, he couldn’t wait and eagerly walked down to personally greet his empress.

The Ritual Officer beside him wanted to voice an objection, as it did not conform to protocol.

But the words caught in his throat and went unspoken; the whole world belonged to His Majesty, whatever he decreed was protocol.

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