TGP Chapter 36.2: Getting Married

“He would protect her, Her Imperial Highness — his Grand Princess.”

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It seemed nearly all the civil and military officials of the imperial court were here today. Su Rongqing, who had been invited as Pei Wenxuan’s bridegroom attendant, was well-acquainted with everyone in the imperial court. On top of that, there was also Li Chuan, so no one dared to make things difficult for Pei Wenxuan, nor did they intentionally force him to drink. However, there were too many people. Su Rongqing and Li Chuan drank until they dropped, leaving just Pei Wenxuan to offer toasts one by one, down to the very last table.

He still intended to take it easy at first. Though no one urged him to drink as soon as Su Rongqing and Li Chuan left, he didn’t know what to do whenever someone came up to him and presented their well wishes for him and Li Rong, so he would finish the cup of wine without the slightest bit of perfunctory action.

No matter how much he drank, it wasn’t immediately obvious whether he was drunk or not. He always had a smile on his face and leisurely expressions, so it would appear as if there was nothing wrong with him. After a round of toasts, everyone had to express their amazement of Pei Wenxuan’s superior alcohol tolerance. Pei Wenxuan knew that he was slightly drunk, but it should not be a big deal. After greeting all the guests, he went to meet up with Li Chuan and Su Rongqing, who were resting off to the side. Su Rongqing had slowly managed to recover a bit, but Li Chuan was still holding his head, looking somewhat unwell. Pei Wenxuan looked at the two of them and couldn’t help but say: “You two should go and rest. I will head back first.”

Su Rongqing nodded and waved his hand but said nothing. Pei Wenxuan hesitated for a moment then bowed: “Many thanks to Brother Su for today.”

“Just go.”

Su Rongqing finally spoke up and only said: “Just don’t let the beautiful lady down.”

Pei Wenxuan let out a laugh: “Just don’t take me as someone who will let others down either.”

Su Rongqing looked up in slight confusion when he heard this. Pei Wenxuan saluted, then he turned around and said to Li Chuan: “Your Highness, this humble official shall take his leave.”

“You have to be good to my sister,” Li Chuan said in a hoarse voice, “I only have one big sister, so you have to be good to her, got that?”

Even if he knew it was just drunk talk from Li Chuan when he heard it, Pei Wenxuan brought his hands up in front of him to salute and solemnly said: “This humble official will accept the order..”

Li Chuan was feeling a little unwell, so he turned his head and dismissively waved his hand, signaling for Pei Wenxuan to quickly be on his way.

Pei Wenxuan followed the servants that were leading the way with lanterns out to the rear courtyard. He was actually quite familiar with the Princess’s mansion, but everyone treated it like it was his first time here and guided him with utmost care and caution, which he also found a little new and novel.

When he arrived at the doors, he saw Jing Lan and Jing Mei standing guard at the doors. When they looked up and saw him coming, both of them pursed their lips and smiled. This scene overlapped with that of the previous life, and Pei Wenxuan couldn’t help but fall into a trance.

The maid next to him softly called out: “Prince Consort?”

Pei Wenxuan snapped out of his absentmindedness and nodded: “Announce it.”

“Your Highness,” Jing Lan turned her head, “The Prince Consort is here.”

“You may enter.”

Li Rong’s voice came from inside the room. Pei Wenxuan didn’t know why, but when he heard Li Rong’s voice, he suddenly got a little nervous.

Jing Lan opened the doors and let Pei Wenxuan go in. Afterwards, a procession of people followed in, carrying many trays as they lined up on the side one by one.

Pei Wenxuan was led to where Li Rong was. He looked at the young woman in front of him and saw that she was wearing different wedding robes from the previous life. The original peony robes had changed into phoenix robes. For a moment, this change made him feel that this was not a reenactment of events, but a completely different wedding. Since it was similar and yet not quite like as he remembered, Pei Wenxuan suddenly had some hopes and looked at Li Rong, involuntarily a little absentminded.

Everyone smiled and glanced at one another. A maid brought over the first tray with pen, ink and paper and presented it to Pei Wenxuan. 

“Prince Consort,” Jing Lan respectfully said, “Please compose a poem for the fan.”

Hearing this, Pei Wenxuan came back to his senses. Li Rong lifted up the fan and indifferently said: “Write well. If it’s not well-written, I will make good on my word.”

Upon hearing these words, the girls in the room burst into peals of laughter. Pei Wenxuan was a little helpless as he took the brush into his hand. He hesitated for a few moments before lowering the brush to write.

Half awake, half drunk in a dream of half of a lifetime,

The moon is bright, the heart is clear, this time it is clear.

If the beautiful lady were to turn back halfway,

Mount Cang shall not age, and I shall not leave.

Pei Wenxuan originally wanted to write something at random, but after putting it down on paper, it was beyond his control now. Having written this, the maid beside him came to take it, but Pei Wenxuan subconsciously put his hand on the paper. The maid looked up in confusion: “Prince Consort?”

Pei Wenxuaan stiffened and did not move. He felt a little embarrassed because it was as if someone could peer into his heart, though he felt his actions at this time were even more embarrassing.

He didn’t move, and the maid didn’t dare to move either. Li Rong saw that the person beside her hadn’t moved and directly asked: “Has the poem been written?”

“Your Highness, it has been written.”

The maid replied as she brought her eyes up to Pei Wenxuan and cautiously asked: “Prince Consort?”

Pei Wenxuan was somewhat at a loss of what to do and could only withdraw his hand. Li Rong already knew that he had finished writing, so it would seem like he put in too much effort if he were to rewrite it.

It was just that the poems on fans usually praised a young lady’s beauty, and he always felt a bit too embarrassed when it came to pledging undying love.

Especially the ‘half awake, half drunk in a dream of half a lifetime’ that he had written earlier. When Li Rong saw it, would she think he was hinting at their previous life?

The more Pei Wenxuan thought, the more flustered he became. He didn’t dare to think too much of it and pretended to be calm as he waited for Li Rong to accept the poem. Li Rong held her fan in one hand and read the poem with the other. Pei Wenxuan rarely wrote poems like this, considering how it differed from his usual style, but for some reason, after she had looked at it for a while, she was moved by some parts in a way that she couldn’t quite put to words.

Perhaps it was the ‘half awake, half drunk in a dream of half a lifetime’ part that resonated with her.

Or maybe it was the phrase, ‘Mount Cang shall not age, and I shall not leave,’ that made her yearn for a bitmore.

Li Rong calmed down and smiled: “It’s actually not bad.”

With that said, Li Rong slowly put down the round fan before her.

The first thing to be revealed were her eyes. She had a pair of clever and beautiful eyes that resembled an ink painting on paper of phoenix eyes and a hint of a smile.

That smile was different from their previous life. In the previous life, the moment she looked at him had been full of shyness and fondness, but now she looked at him like she was looking at an old acquaintance with a hint of playful teasing.

Then, there was her tall and straight nose, thin lips tinged with color, and the distinct lines of her entire face that bore a noble air and majestic beauty that left Pei Wenxuan staring in awe for a while.

The maid beside him wanted to laugh, but she didn’t dare laugh. Li Rong looked at Pei Wenxuan for a long time without saying anything, then she couldn’t help but laugh: “Is the Prince Consort satisfied?”

“Satisfied.” Pei Wenxuan subconsciously blurted out, having just returned to his senses.

The people around him suddenly burst into laughter. Li Rong picked up a handful of peanuts scattered on the bed and threw them at him, laughing as she said: “How dare you! Daring to speak to Bengong like this?”

Pei Wenxuan heard the smile in her voice and slowly recovered. He hastily said: “I was wrong.”

Having said that, Pei Wenxuan smiled and saluted, “I hope the princess will forgive me.”

“I don’t feel like saying anything more to you.”

Li Rong gave him an angry look and got up. A maid brought up another tray, and Li Rong took a cup of wine from there and lifted her chin in Pei Wenxuan’s direction. Pei Wenxuan lowered his head and chuckled as he walked over and picked up the other cup of wine. The two of them intertwined their arms in front of everyone and raised the cup to their lips.

Pei Wenxuan looked up and glanced at Li Rong, who was just inches away from him. Li Rong saw him looking at her and raised her eyebrows: “What are you looking at me for?”

“The beautiful lady is offering wine,” Pei Wenxuan let out a soft chuckle, “Is there a reason to not look at the beautiful lady?”

“Then, how about a few more cups of wine?” Li Rong smiled and asked once again, “Let me give you the whole jar, how about it?”

“That’s alright,” Pei Wenxuan hastily said, “One cup is enough.”

After that, the two of them finished the wine in one fell swoop.

In the next part that followed, some auspicious words were spoken, and at last, the whole ceremony was completed, and everyone began to withdraw.

As soon as everyone withdrew, the two of them immediately lost all of their strength. Li Rong’s whole body went soft as she sat down right down at one end of the bed, leaning against the bed railing as she groaned: “I’m so tired.”

Pei Wenxuan joined her and leaned against the other end of the bed, sighing as he said: “Me too.”

The two remained silent. After a while, Li Rong couldn’t help but ask: “Why didn’t they help me remove my phoenix crown and take off these clothes so that I can go to sleep?”

“This is probably something the husband should do.”

Pei Wenxuan blurted out. Li Rong couldn’t help but look over after hearing this.

Pei Wenxuan sensed Li Rong’s gaze on him and turned his head to look. Once they were face to face, Pei Wenxuan suddenly had a bad premonition: “What do you want to do?”

“Do you know how much my phoenix crown weighs?”

“Do you know,” Pei Wenxuan lifted his hand and pointed to his own coronet, “Just how much weight I have on my head?”

“Is it as heavy as me?”

Pei Wenxuan was silent after Li Rong’s rhetorical question. Li Rong leaned against the bed railing and beckoned him over: “Hurry up, come and take this off.”

“Oh Heavens.”

Pei Wenxuan let out a mournful groan of suffering, but nevertheless, he resigned to his fate. After all, they didn’t want to call people in to help them remove their crowns and clothes right now.

Pei Wenxuan summoned the last bit of his strength and reached up over his head to remove his coronet first and took off his heavy outer robe. Afterwards, he climbed onto the bed and knelt behind Li Rong and began to remove the phoenix crown for her.

It wasn’t the first time that he had done it. He vaguely remembered some steps from the last time he did it, yawning as he began to take it off.

Li Rong felt him struggling with the phoenix crown behind her and tried to hold onto her last bit of sanity, managing to call out to him with some difficulty: “Pei Wenxuan.”

“Hm?”

“Why did you let Su Rongqing come and escort me?”

“Can we leave this question for tomorrow?”

Pei Wenxuan removed Li Rong’s phoenix crown and got off the bed and put the various hair clips and hairpins all down on the table.

Li Rong leaned against the bed as she looked at Pei Wenxuan, who was walking back over and seemed mentally and physically exhausted: “Pei Wenxuan.”

Pei Wenxuan hadn’t sat down on the bed yet and only gave a monosyllabic reply, “Hm?”

“I still have to take my clothes off.”

“You want me to take off your clothes too?” Pei Wenxuan turned around with a bitter face, “Can’t you take it off yourself?”

“I’m just so exhausted.”

Li Rong turned to look at him: “Besides, you said it yourself. This is something the husband must do.”

Pei Wenxuan choked up. Seeing Li Rong staring at him with a sad, pitiful look in her eyes, Pei Wenxuan sighed and could only say: “Stand up.”

Li Rong pushed herself up onto her feet and stood up. Pei Wenxuan helped her take off her waistband first, then gathered all the clothes into his arms and took them over all at once, leaving just a single layer on.

Li Rong felt that she was freed in an instant and fell straight down onto the bed.

Pei Wenxuan was still holding the pile of clothes when he looked over and saw that Li Rong had already crawled into bed on her own. He felt even more tired than he ever had before and couldn’t help but ask: “You’re sleeping in the bed, so where am I sleeping?”

“Sleep wherever you want to sleep.”

Li Rong got under the blankets: “Bengong wants to rest.”

He also wanted to rest!!

The thought of having to make his bed on the floor made Pei Wenxuan despair.

He took a deep breath to ease away his frustration. After putting Li Rong’s clothes down and arranging them, he turned around and opened the wardrobe. Li Rong heard the noise when Pei Wenxuan opened the wardrobe and thought to herself for a bit before poking her head out of the blankets. She looked over at Pei Wenxuan and said: “How about sleeping together?”

Pei Wenxuan stiffened and stuttered: “No…that wouldn’t be good.”

Li Rong thought about it some more. She didn’t bother with these things, but Pei Wenxuan was still quite prudent when it came to such matters. Now that they had come to the agreement that they would just be allies, Pei Wenxuan will certainly defend himself to the end like jade. Even if her intention was just to divide up half the bed with him, Pei Wenxuan might feel like sharing a bed with her was enough to taint his chastity.

So Li Rong decided to respect his decisions and only said: “Oh, I’ll sleep first then.”

With that said, Li Rong closed her eyes and fell asleep. She was really sleepy and just too exhausted.

Pei Wenxuan turned away with his back to Li Rong. He was a little surprised, was this over now?

Li Rong stopped trying to convince him?

Actually, he still…still…really wanted to sleep on the bed.

He was really too tired right now. He didn’t want to sleep on the floor at all, and he could guarantee that he would not lay a single finger on Li Rong and never cross the dividing line.

Li Rong’s steady breathing quickly reached his ears. Pei Wenxuan hesitated for a moment, then he made an important decision.

He decided to go to bed.

Even if Li Rong kicked him down, he would still sleep on the bed.

After making this decision, he immediately felt much more at ease. He hugged the blanket and happily returned to the bed.

The bed was quite big, and Li Rong had curled up against the innermost part, her entire body wrapped up in blankets. That small person lost her usual pride and ostentatious ways and looked pitiful and cute instead.

An unknown feeling of tenderness slowly spread across Pei Wenxuan’s heart. He laid out the blanket near the very edge of the bed then laid down and fell asleep under the blanket.

There was a large gap between them. He was on the outermost end of the bed, and it seemed like he kept her separated from all the wind and rain, giving her a little world of her own.

For a moment, there was suddenly an unspeakable sense of sweetness and pride that he himself was not consciously aware of.

He felt like he was protecting her.

Her Imperial Highness — his Grand Princess.

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The author has something to say: 

【Mini Theater】

Q: What would you view this theatrical play?

Li Rong: Helpless and tragic, everyone is stuck on the spider web and unable to take a single step.

Su Rongqing: Conspiracies in the shadows and conspiracies in plain sight alike in a bloody sea of hatred.

Pei Wenxuan: ??? I…I thought this was supposed to be a sweet story? Aren’t we here to fall in love?

Every single person in the entire story casts him a look of utter shock.

Pei Wenxuan: …I’m sorry, I’m so sorry for bothering you.

Pei Wenxuan — a man with the power to change the structure of the entire novel all on his own.

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Autumn: This is the end of the mini-marathon. Poetry is hard.

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