Chapter 470: Welcoming the Empress, Unable to Wait

Ji Qingwu pulled her leg back and said, "Your Majesty, my parents are still at home waiting for me."

Zhao Mingyan wrapped an arm firmly around her waist. "I’ll let you go back in a little while."

Ji Qingwu didn’t object further. She missed Yuan Heng and Jiu Jiu terribly, and the thought of seeing her two children first was thrilling.

They soon arrived at Zhaoyang Hall.

Ji Qingwu gazed at the familiar palace, looking all around as she stepped out of the carriage, but there was no sign of the two children.

"Where are Yuan Heng and Jiu Jiu?" Ji Qingwu asked anxiously.

Just then, Little Dongzi came out of the hall and immediately knelt. "This servant greets Your Majesty and the Empress."

Ji Qingwu raised an eyebrow slightly. ’Why is he already calling me Empress?’ But since no one else was around, she didn’t stop him.

Zhao Mingyan said, "Rise. Is everything ready?"

Little Dongzi replied, "As per Your Majesty’s command, it was all prepared this morning."

With that, he trotted over and pushed open the hall doors. Ji Qingwu followed the Emperor inside.

Ji Qingwu froze at the entrance, unable to take a step. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go in, but there was simply no room to walk.

The spacious main hall was almost completely filled with sandalwood chests and boxes.

Little Dongzi respectfully presented a register to Ji Qingwu.

"Empress, please take a look."

Ji Qingwu glanced at the Emperor. He nodded, so she took the register and examined it closely, only to discover it was the list of betrothal gifts for the Empress, prepared by the Imperial Household—a full five hundred and seventy-five items.

An Empress’s trousseau was no ordinary matter. The imperial crown and beads and imperial robes alone numbered over a hundred items, to say nothing of the jewelry and other accessories.

Just by reading the long names of the items, Ji Qingwu knew each one was a priceless treasure.

She took a breath and lifted the red silk cloth covering a tray on the table. Before her lay a brilliant red phoenix robe. A phoenix with outspread wings was embroidered in gold thread, its feathers layered like clouds, the garment adorned with pearls, jade, and tassels.

Judging by the embroidery alone, it could not have been prepared in just a month or two.

Ji Qingwu turned to look at him, her eyes glistening. "Your Majesty, when on earth was all this prepared?"

A smile touched Zhao Mingyan’s lips. He didn’t answer, saying only, "I’ll have Little Dongzi escort you home for now. We will see each other again tomorrow."

Completely bewildered, Ji Qingwu returned home.

But this was no ordinary trip home.

Ji Qingwu returned in a palanquin with a golden roof and bright yellow curtains—an imperial carriage that only the Emperor and Empress were permitted to use.

Little Dongzi walked beside her palanquin, followed by two rows of imperial guards.

The moment Ji Qingwu arrived at her home’s entrance, even before she could alight, she heard voices raised in a formal welcome.

"We respectfully welcome the Empress!"

Ji Qingwu froze, then quickly stepped down from the palanquin.

Seeing the entire Ji Family kneeling on the ground—even Old Mrs. Ji—she said in astonishment, "Father, Mother, please get up!"

Although her becoming Empress was a certainty, and Ji Qingwu wasn’t opposed to it, wasn’t performing such a grand ceremony now a bit excessive?

The two little ones were even kneeling properly in the middle of the crowd.

Ji Qingwu said, "Everyone, rise. What is all this?"

The crowd shouted in unison, "Thank you, Empress!"

Jiu Jiu pulled her hand free from Nanny Li’s grasp and immediately rushed over, hugging Ji Qingwu and crying, "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

Ji Qingwu smiled and kissed her cheek. "Mama’s here."

Having spent so much time with Jiu Jiu recently, Yuan Heng’s disposition had become less reserved. Seeing the person he had missed so dearly, he quickly walked forward and took Ji Qingwu’s hand.

The little boy looked up at her and called, "Mother Empress."

Ji Qingwu squeezed his small hand. "I missed you very much, too."

Yuan Heng’s dark eyes lit up. She knew just how much he had missed her.

Holding both of their small hands, Ji Qingwu took a deep breath and said softly, "From now on, we won’t be separated again."

She led the two children to the entrance, where Ji Bo Lian and Mrs. Qiao stood. They hadn’t seen their Xiao Wu in a long time, but her new status prevented them from approaching her with their usual intimacy.

Ever since Old Madam Ji learned that the Emperor intended to make Ji Qingwu his Empress, her illness had improved considerably, and her spirits had lifted immensely.

Ji Bo Lian clasped his hands in a formal salute. "Empress, you must be weary from your journey. Please, go inside and rest."

Seeing Mr. Ji treat her with such formality, Mrs. Qiao also refrained from her usual warm embrace.

Ji Qingwu frowned. "Father, Mother, what are you doing? Only we know of His Majesty’s intentions. There’s no need for all this ceremony."

Old Madam Ji said in surprise, "You don’t know?"

"Know what?"

Old Madam Ji smiled fondly. "Yesterday, the Central Secretariat issued the imperial edict installing the Empress. Now, even the children in the streets know that Beili has an Empress, and that she is from our own Ji Family."

Ji Qingwu’s eyes widened. ’Yesterday? Wasn’t that while we were still on the road?’

Considering the time it took for news to travel from the Northern Border back to Lin’an, Emperor Wu Su must have started arranging all this the moment he returned to his military camp.

But after an imperial edict is issued, the Emperor and the future Empress are not supposed to meet again before the wedding.

’Then what did he mean by "see you tomorrow"?’

Mrs. Qiao’s eyes grew red, her voice a mixture of bittersweet sorrow and emotion. "Empress, the grand wedding ceremony is tomorrow. Please begin your preparations."

The Beili Emperor and Empress were to be wed.

Everyone could see the Emperor’s impatience.

After all, Emperor Wu Su was to welcome the Empress into the palace on the second day after his return from the campaign.

And yet, every aspect of the wedding ceremony was perfectly prepared, leaving no room for criticism.

What shocked the realm was not only that the Empress hailed from the Ji Family, but that the little prince in the palace was also Ji Qingwu’s son. Moreover, there was another royal heir—a Princess.

Thus, Ji Qingwu once again became the talk of Lin’an City. This time, however, the whispers were of admiration and envy. Even if a few noble ladies from prominent families were sour with jealousy, they did not dare voice their feelings.

She was, after all, the Empress of Beili. Who would dare show disrespect?

The lights in Wutong Garden burned all night.

The last time she was married, she had been unconscious, muddle-headedly sent off to the Wei Family. Ji Qingwu hadn’t had a chance to experience what getting married truly felt like.

Now, even though she didn’t have much time, it was enough for her to savor the experience.

A bubbly feeling of excitement welled up in her chest.

Ji Qingwu couldn’t sleep, nor did she want to. She simply gazed at the phoenix crown and wedding robe displayed in her room.

"Lan Zhi..."

Between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., Aunt Fanghua arrived, leading the wedding grandma and a retinue of attendants, and knocked on the door of Wutong Garden.

When they entered, they found the bride already seated at her vanity, fully dressed and adorned, looking at them with a radiant smile.

Ji Qingwu wore the Nine Phoenix Pearl Crown, its gold filigree holding round, lustrous East Pearls in place. Jeweled tassels dangled over her forehead like scattered starlight.

The brocade of her wedding robe was as resplendent as celestial clouds, with embroidered luan birds carrying peonies in their beaks layered across the magnificent fabric.

The wedding grandma, a woman of complete fortune invited from the State Duke Mansion, was momentarily dazzled by the bride’s radiance.

Fanghua said, "Empress, this is the Second Madam of the State Duke Mansion."

Ji Qingwu rose to her feet, moving with light, elegant steps. As she walked, the "hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix" pattern at the hem of her phoenix robe seemed to bloom in sequence. Her graceful and majestic aura was so commanding that it made even the brilliance of her jewels seem to dim in comparison.

She nodded. "I am in your care."