38 - Wedding Preparation

Chapter 38 – Wedding Preparation

Upon hearing that the Lord Governor had arrived, Old Master Shangguan hurriedly ordered the servants to open the door, and together with his two sons, they went out to welcome Lord Di.

Except for Shangguan Yan, this is the first time that the Shangguan Family had seen Di Jing. It was said that he is an upright and selfless man, strictly impartial and incorruptible, one of the Emperor’s most trusted courtiers and even the Four Great Constables are at his disposal.

Di Jing’s entourage rode arrived at the main entrance of the Shangguan Mansion with the guards in front clearing the way. The guards were well-trained and rode in neat rows. Just by looking at the majestic scene, it made people in awe.

After the carriage stopped, a guard stepped forward and lifted the curtain. When the man inside got down from the carriage, everyone finally saw the true face of Lord Di.

He was dressed in a set of dark blue robes with his hair tied up into a bun with a crown on his head and had a jade belt around his waist. His face showed three points of elegance, seven points of handsomeness, and there was a majestic chilling sternness between his eyebrows.

Not to mention Pan Zeming could not compare to him, even the handsome and dashing Ninth Prince did not possess such a demeanor.

After mingling around the business arena for many years, Old Master Shangguan had met countless senior officials and with a glance, he could see that this Lord Di is not a simple man. Although he is young, if he had not been in officialdom for many years, he could not have such a calm and restrained demeanor.

This is an awe-inspiring young man!

Old Master Shangguan secretly praised in his heart. As he stepped forward and was about to lead the family members and servants to greet Di Jing, unexpectedly, Di Jing made a move first to greet him by kneeling on one knee and bowing respectfully.

“This Son-in-law greets Father-in-law and Mother-in-law.”

Old Master Shangguan was totally shocked. He did not expect that this Lord Di would give them such a great face as soon as they met. In front of everyone, the dignified Second-Ranked Official actually bowed down in front of them……the two elders of the family.

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“No, no! My Lord, this is absolutely forbidden! How will this old man dare to accept such a great ceremonial greeting?” Old Master Shangguan quickly stepped forward to help him up.

This kneeling gesture was not a trivial matter. It was not just a simple gesture of greeting the Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, it also expressed another meaning. It looked like Yan’er is extremely important in Lord Di’s heart and Lord Di himself also attached great importance to this marriage.

The meaning that he wanted to express is very obvious. If anyone wants to make things difficult for the Shangguan Family in the future, it would be best to consider him, Lord Di’s power, and should not act rashly.

Old Master Shangguan and Di Jing’s eyes met as they faced each other. In this short time, when their gazes met, their thoughts were made clear. Old Master Shangguan understood him. His worries instantly vanished and a smile appeared on his face.

“My Son-in-law, you are very courteous. Since we are one family, you don’t have to be so polite in the future.”

“This is the first time that this Son-in-law is meeting Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, so how can this be done carelessly? This ceremonial greeting must be done and in addition, this Son-in-law had also brought some gifts. Father-in-law and Mother-in-law, please accept the gifts as they are an expression of this Son-in-law’s thoughts.”

Old Master Shangguan nodded. “Alright, alright…….” He repeated his answer which showed that he was very satisfied with this son-in-law.

Then the Eldest Master and Second Master of the Shangguan Family who were standing at the side, hurried forward to greet Di Jing as well.

After exchanging greetings with the two people, Di Jing turned around and ordered his servants to carry the gifts into the house.

At this moment, Shangguan Yan was in the rear courtyard talking to the sisters and learned about Di Jing’s arrival from the maid. At the same time, the maid also told them about how Di Jing performed a ceremonial greeting to Old Master and Old Madam. She also reported what Di Jing said to the two elders to her Young Miss and the rest of the sisters without missing out a word. Especially when it came to describing the appearance of the future Fifth Guye* , the maid was full of praises. After listening to her, everyone was so curious that they wanted to go to the reception hall to take a look.

(Guye is the title of a son-in-law in the wife’s family and it is only used by the wife’s family.)

Shangguan Yan was surprised but the feeling was more of happiness. Unexpectedly, he gave a lot of face to the Shangguan Family, and it meant incomparable respect and love for her.

Since the marriage had already been announced to the world and even if she wants to renege on this matter, she can’t.

However, she found that she had no intention to renege and she was actually looking forward to it. She had lived for twenty years and now only did she start to experience the feeling of a girl waiting to get married.

Under her sisters-in-law and sisters’ blessings and teasing smiles, she showed the shy smile of a girl.

Since the Emperor had ordered that the marriage must be completed before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and there were only one and a half months left, thus, the two families began to prepare for the marriage earnestly.

After considering that Di Jing’s parents had passed away and there were no elders in his family, the Emperor nominated the Prime Minister, Lord Luo, who was half a century old to assist with this matter. It was a first-class honor and it could be seen that the Emperor attached great importance to Di Jing.

In addition to this, Ling Wangfei and Ling Wang’s Yimei , Hua Qianqian also separately sent generous gifts.

Suddenly, the Shangguan Family became a hot target to associate with. There was an endless stream of people who came bearing gifts and offering congratulations. The Shangguan Mansion became very busy and preparations for the marriage were in full swing.

Since Shangguan Yan is currently waiting to get married, it was inconvenient for her to visit her shops and show her face. Therefore, the shopkeepers from the shops had to report to her in the Shangguan Mansion.

On this day, the carriage of Ling Wang Mansion arrived at Shangguan Mansion and informed them that Ling Wangfei wanted to invite Shangguan Yan to Ling Wang Mansion as a guest. Ling Wangfei wanted to have a private talk with Shangguan Yan before her wedding. When Shangguan Yan saw that the person who came to pick her up was Hua Qianqian, she went with her gladly.

In the carriage, Hua Qianqian could not wait to say to her Eldest Senior Sister. “Guess who is here!”

Shangguan Yan looked at the delicate happy expression and the bright eyes of her Junior Sister. “Is Wuhuan here?”

“ Ai. ……this is not fun. Why can’t Eldest Senior Sister make a few more guesses?”

“Besides Wuhuan who else we haven’t seen for a long time and who else can make you so happy like this?

Hua Qianqian winked mischievously at her. “Of course, there is someone else.”

Shangguan Yan was in doubt. This time she indeed had to think for a while but could not figure out who else could be there.

The carriage drove towards the north of the city and after entering Ling Wang Mansion, Bai Yuxiao’s personal maid, Shuang’er, led them to the main courtyard.

Unable to hold back her eagerness, Bai Yuxiao had long stood at the entrance of the courtyard to wait. When she saw her Eldest Senior Sister approaching, she immediately stepped forward to hold her arm in happiness.

“Eldest Senior Sister! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time! Hurry, come in!”

Although Bai Yuxiao was the Ling Wangfei , when she saw her Eldest Senior Sister, her noble demeanor was instantly thrown aside and like a little girl, she hurriedly pulled her Eldest Senior Sister into the house.

Shangguan Yan allowed her Junior Sister to pull her along and could not hold back her smile. As soon as she entered the house and before she could even speak, she saw a familiar person sitting inside the house.

Shangguan Yan’s eyes widened in disbelief and her eye-rims immediately turned red as she exclaimed in surprise. “Master!”

The person sitting inside was Master Jing Zhuang who taught martial arts to the sisters.

When Master Jing Zhuang was young, she was an extraordinary woman with high martial arts skills in Jianghu . Later when she became tired of the disputes in Jianghu, she shaved her head to become a nun and retreated into the mountains to live a secluded life.

In her life, she had only accepted four disciples and Shangguan Yan was her first disciple.

Master Jing Zhuang usually travels around the world and whenever she comes to the imperial capital, she would stay in Ning’an Temple then send letters through someone to inform the four sisters. It was only that Master Jing Zhuang had gone to the north a year ago and only returned to the imperial capital now.

“Master, where have you been? It was difficult to find you.” Shangguan Yan knelt in front of Master Jing Zhuang acting like a little girl. Her beautiful eyes were gleaming with tears but her face was full of smiles.

Master Jing Zhuang lovingly helped her eldest disciple to stand up and pulled her to sit down on a chair at the side.

“Master’s home is the four seas*. I went to the north to enjoy the scenery and also to meet some old friends. Unfortunately, I missed the marriage banquet of Wuhuan, so this time I don’t want to miss yours as well.”

(Home is the four seas means everywhere in the world is one’s home. People who live this kind of life usually have no desires in the world without relatives or responsibilities and move from place to place.)

Hua Qianqian joked from the side. “Eldest Senior Sister never thought of this, did you? We finally got in touch with Master and Master rushed back to attend your wedding banquet!”

Shangguan Yan hurriedly thanked the two Junior Sisters and then suddenly remembered that she did not see her Second Junior Sister. “ Yi? Where is Wuhuan?”

“I’m here.” A beauty lifted the bead curtains and walked out.

It was Gong Wuhuan.