Chapter 357: Chapter 353: You Made the Right Choice Marrying Me Alone

To confer the title of Crown Princess Consort involves a complex and lengthy process.

Announcing it to the world now is only considered the first step in the entire process.

The next step is to appoint the emissary.

“How about letting Prince Su be the emissary?” Li Mu asked.

Tang Xiaobai: …

“Shall we just follow the customary rites for appointing a Crown Princess Consort?” Tang Xiaobai was both helpless and found it a bit amusing.

Prince Su is a prince of the first rank.

According to tradition, the emissary for conferring the title of Empress is the Grand Commandant, also of the first rank.

Don’t think that she couldn’t see through the little ancestor’s secret competitive spirit.

“Then… Duke Yi?”

Duke, of the first rank.

“Alright.” Tang Xiaobai nodded with a smile.

The Crown Prince promptly bowed his head to write down Duke Yi’s name, then said, “How about using the Minister of the Ministry of Rites as the Vice Envoy?”

The Vice Envoy for conferring the title of Empress is the Minister of the Ministry of Rites; this time, the Crown Prince wisely took one step down.

“Do you want to personally select the Palace Attendant for the conferral day?”

Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but say, “Do you want me to arrange the marriage for myself?”

Li Mu quickly put down his pen to explain, “I just want everything to be to your liking.”

Tang Xiaobai was torn between tears and laughter, “Am I that picky? These are all minor details; we don’t need to invest too much thought into them; there will be people to handle it.”

Li Mu was displeased, “Our own wedding, you think it doesn’t deserve much thought?”

Tang Xiaobai was amused, holding the little ancestor’s pretty face, with a tender tone said: “Ah! I didn’t mean that, I meant there are too many details, we can’t possibly cover them all, just focus on the important ones!”

“Then what do you think is important?” The little ancestor was still slightly cold.

Asking this, as if evaluating her performance to decide whether to forgive her slip of the tongue.

Tang Xiaobai giggled and held his arm, saying, “Shall we discuss the betrothal gifts?”

Li Mu frowned slightly, “All expenses for the marriage rituals have a fixed amount,” then his tone shifted, “but I can add in addition—” thought for a moment, “adding another three hundred and sixty escorts, is that enough?”

Tang Xiaobai burst into laughter, “Do you plan to empty out the Eastern Palace?”

Tang Xiaobai knew the Eastern Palace’s resources like the back of his hand.

In the early days, the little ancestor didn’t have much wealth, even during the Hedong drought, he donated quite a lot.

It wasn’t until after joining the military that he made some profit from warfare, but that was used in maintaining the troops.

The assets of the Eastern Palace were not even comparable to Duke Yan Mansion!

Three hundred and sixty escorts could indeed empty the Eastern Palace.

“Emptying it is no big deal, after all, it’s for you.” He lowered his head to look at the young girl nestling closely by his side, the light in his eyes soft and gentle.

Tang Xiaobai clung tighter to his arm, “If it’s emptied, wouldn’t life be hard when I marry over?”

The boy’s lips curved into a gentle arc, “The Crown Princess Consort gets the dowry arranged by the Ministry of Rites, after which, I will rely on the Crown Princess Consort to support me.”

Tang Xiaobai looked up at him for a moment, then smiled, “Alright, I’ll support you!”

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the light in his eyes intensify, and then suddenly she was lifted off her feet.

“Ah—don’t, don’t…” Tang Xiaobai hurriedly hugged his neck.

They were originally sitting side by side, but with his embrace, she was now sitting on his lap.

Due to the cold weather, their meeting place had shifted from the back mountain of Wulou Temple to a meditation room.

Of course, there was no third person in the meditation room, but this position, Tang Xiaobai still felt a bit embarrassed, struggling to get down: “Let’s just talk, no need for this or that…”

Li Mu pressed her down so she wouldn’t move, “This way, it’s convenient for talking.”

“How is it inconvenient to talk otherwise?” The little girl blushed and gave him a glare.

Li Mu hugged her waist, resting his head on her shoulder, softly said: “I’ve seen more people and spoken more words recently, my throat feels uncomfortable…”

The girl’s round eyes shone with doubt, then she softly snorted, but didn’t dispute him.

“Everything else is okay to discuss, but what about the geese?” she changed the subject.

In the six marriage rituals, five times require geese.

Geese are migratory birds, where can you find geese in this season?

“Do we have to wait until spring to present betrothal gifts?”

“No need,” Li Mu said, “Last autumn, I already hunted ten pairs of geese and had people raise them well.”

Tang Xiaobai couldn’t help but laugh, “Why did you hunt ten pairs? Planning to marry two?”

“Just you!” He tightened his grip on her waist, “Better prepared than lacking.”

Tang Xiaobai hugged his neck and laughed nonstop.

The laughter gradually ceased, she lowered her head, resting her forehead against his.

Because she was sitting on his lap, her line of sight was slightly higher than his.

He slightly tilted his face upwards, unreservedly in her view.

Once a face more delicate than a girl’s was now showing sharp contours, a handsome straight nose, a strong yet not overly harsh jawline.

There was a youthful vigor between his eyebrows and eyes, and a decisiveness from battlefield experiences.

The boy in her heart was outstanding.

This outstanding boy, gazing intently at her, showed a rarely revealed clarity and tenderness.

In the past, she often saw pursuit and possession in his eyes, but now there was more tolerance.

Tang Xiaobai suddenly felt a surge of tenderness flowing in her heart, entrancedly kissed the tip of his nose.

As he tried to chase her lips, with her index finger holding down his lips, she smiled softly, murmured, “The Crown Prince sure has good taste, marrying just me was right!”

Her dowry is unique in the world!

…

In the sixteenth year of Taixing, on the fifth day of the first lunar month, the emissary for Crown Prince’s wedding was appointed, conducting the rituals of presenting gifts and asking for the name.

The “six marriage rituals,” the first five procedures did not involve the persons getting married.

Therefore, when the emissary arrived at Duke Yan Mansion, Tang Xiaobai had no role.

Now she was hiding in a corner peeking, forcefully adding a role for herself.

She usually doesn’t like challenging the rules of the ancients, but this is her wedding; she can’t participate in the whole process, and didn’t get to spectate either?

At this time, the host and the emissary were separated by a door, with a servant delivering messages.

The host, of course, was her father Tang Shigong.

The emissary consisted of a main and a vice envoy.

The main envoy was Duke Yi, Pei Zuan, Pei Xuan’s grandfather.

Pei Zuan was already over seventy years old and no longer held a position in the court.

This time, the Crown Prince forcefully pulled him out to support his wedding.

When Mr. Pei extended his aged hands to receive the geese handed by the Vice Envoy, Tang Xiaobai watched with bated breath.

The geese were, of course, all tied up, but after all, they were live birds and struggled even when tied.

Peeking alongside her, Tao Zi was also worried, “What if Duke Yi doesn’t catch—”

“Gah—”

The honk of a goose.

According to Murphy’s Law, if something has the possibility of going wrong, then it will happen.

Before Tao Zi could finish speaking, one of the geese suddenly broke free, soaring straight into the sky.

Tang Xiaobai’s first reaction was to cover Tao Zi’s mouth to stop her from screaming.

At the same time, from the servants standing by in Duke Yan Mansion, a shadow darted out swiftly like an eagle or hawk, effortlessly grabbing the neck of the escaping goose.

Tang Xiaobai felt Tao Zi stopped shouting, then loosened her grip, whispered, “Today, the Crown Prince especially had Mo Huan to oversee everything!”

The little ancestor was overly meticulous, even drafting plans for contingencies like escaping geese.

After Mo Huan recaptured the goose, he swiftly took out a red string seemingly prepared long ago, tied it proficiently, and respectfully handed it back to old Duke Yi.

Duke Yi squinted at him with senile eyes without saying anything, took the goose, and continued with the procedure as if nothing happened.

As Mo Huan was retreating, he glanced at the Vice Envoy.

…

“So it was the Vice Envoy who released that goose?” Tang Xiaobai asked.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep