Chapter 94
King Jing calculated the time it would take for Xiaoyu to transform. Although they were going around the town, the wedding carriage still sped up when there were fewer people.
The coachman of the wedding carriage had received a unique task. He had to be quick on the day of the wedding without disturbing the King and Princess Consort. The coachman was also an old member of the Jing Imperial Residence. In order to celebrate the King’s difficult marriage with Princess Consort, he went all out and trained for a month.
The guards of the King’s residence were in charge of guarding along the way to prevent emotional people from getting too close. The wedding carriage returned safely to the King’s residence, and then it was time for the wedding ceremony.
The Emperor was too far away to attend Prince Jing’s wedding. However, the Emperor’s love for giving out gifts was undeniable. Wang Xi had been reading the list of gifts for an hour, but he still hadn’t finished reading it. The line of people from the Imperial City lined up from the wedding hall to the outside of the manor.
There weren’t many guests who were invited to the wedding hall for a drink. King Jing didn’t like too many people, but this was his wedding with Xiaoyu. King Jing didn’t want the wedding hall to be empty, so he ordered the mayor to bring some respected local elders to attend the wedding as distinguished guests. Aunt Xu, who had a good relationship with Li Yu, was also invited. Although most of the guests were not officials or nobles, they received a lot of blessings.
At the head of the wedding hall, the Emperor’s decree and Empress Xiaohui’s memorial tablet were placed in front of the parents.
The emcee received King Jing’s signal and was about to sing when a fast horse arrived. Ye Qinghuan dismounted from his horse and excitedly ran into the wedding hall.
Duke Chengen’s residence knew that King Jing was getting married, so they sent people to congratulate him no matter what. Heir Ye volunteered to come because he missed his cousin, whom he hadn’t seen for almost a year.
“Tianchi, it’s finally my turn to congratulate you on your wedding!”
Ye Qinghuan smiled and patted King Jing’s shoulder.
King Jing didn’t slap his hand away. Instead, he gently curved his lips and asked Wang Xi to bring over a glass of wine. He drank with Ye Qinghuan.
Ye Qinghuan downed a cup of wine at the wedding. It was as if he had opened up a chatterbox. Moreover, Ye Qinghuan already had a lot to say.
When King Jing had left the Imperial City, he had sent a letter to Duke Chengen’s Mansion, telling them to remain calm and observe the situation. They were not allowed to plead with the Emperor on their own, nor were they allowed to privately send messages to the western border. After King Jing left, other than the old Duke of Chengen, Ye Qian, who could sit still, the others were all worried about King Jing. Over the past year, King Jing had encountered bandits and a plague of locusts at the western border. The Emperor had even given King Jing’s original position in the Ministry of Works to the Sixth Prince. Ye Qinghuan almost couldn’t hold it in any longer and wanted to beg the Emperor to allow King Jing to return to the Imperial City.
Fortunately, old Duke Chengen managed to persuade him to believe in King Jing. The old Duke Chengen could see clearly that King Jing was in an extremely difficult situation. If the Duke Chengen Mansion stepped in, not only would they not be able to help King Jing, but they would also make King Jing’s previous efforts go to waste. Ye Qinghuan could only continue to wait.
This wait lasted until King Jing requested for Li Yu’s title and the Emperor agreed to King Jing’s marriage. Ye Qinghuan still followed old Duke Chengen’s instructions and didn’t say much. Ye Qinghuan had seen Sir Li before. Not only had he seen him, but the entire Duke Chengen’s Mansion was very fond of Sir Li and felt that this marriage was very compatible. However, it was an indisputable fact that Sir Li was a man. What would happen to King Jing’s children in the future?
As tight-lipped as Ye Qian was, he didn’t tell Ye Qinghuan that Li Yu had already given birth to four young masters for King Jing. Having children was no longer a problem. Therefore, Ye Qinghuan really wanted to comfort King Jing at this time.
“Don’t worry, there will always be a way to solve the problem of having children.” Ye Qinghuan pulled King Jing to one side and said softly, “Originally, I shouldn’t have said this to you and spoil your mood. However, my father and mother have both thought about you in private. If you have children, Sir Li won’t be blamed in the future. If you don’t want to let Sir Li down, you can still look for a suitable one from the imperial clan.”
King Jing raised his brows and put down his wine cup. He shook his head in refusal.
Ye Qinghuan, “…”
Ye Qinghuan thought that he understood King Jing quite well and probed, “You … don’t tell me you don’t like other people’s bloodlines?”
Not only did he not think highly of him, King Jing nodded.
Ye Qinghuan said, “If you really don’t like them, then what about me?”
Ye Qinghuan scratched his head and said, “This is my own idea. The Princess is pregnant, so I should be able to try to persuade her to let you adopt her second son … Don’t misunderstand, I don’t want to do this either. If it doesn’t work, then that’s for the best.”
Ye Qinghuan’s tone towards the end was rather tragic, as if he couldn’t bear to part with his flesh and blood.
King Jing, “…”
King Jing didn’t know how Ye Qinghuan had gone astray and coughed softly. When Wang Xi heard it, she immediately brought the wet nurse over to carry the children.
“Your Highness, the little masters are crying so badly that I had no choice but to bring them to the wedding hall …”
Wang Xi didn’t dare to say that the wet nurse had only left for a short while, but three of the four little masters were already lying on their stomachs, unable to get up. Their tears almost flooded the room, and the wet nurse couldn’t coax them. Wang Xi thought that the wedding hall was lively and perhaps the little masters would like it, so she took the initiative to bring the children over. Who knew that they would be even more unwilling to leave when they saw King Jing and the Princess Consort. It must be because the little masters wanted to see their father get married.
King Jing also wanted to see his sons, so he motioned for Ye Qinghuan to come over and take a look.
Ye Qinghuan was confused. He saw four little babies wrapped in gold, gold and silver, silver and black swaddling clothes respectively. They were held in the arms of Wang Xi and a woman.
Who was this? What did this have to do with King Jing? Ye Qinghuan couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
Wang Xi said with a face full of smiles, “The little masters insisted on dressing like this. The wet nurse wanted to change them into something more festive, but they didn’t want to. They cried whenever they moved.”
King Jing nodded and didn’t blame her. Wang Xi didn’t know, but he knew that the swaddling clothes were the same color as the baby fish.
King Jing took Si Bao from the wet nurse’s hands and patted it on the back skillfully.
Ye Qinghuan’s eyes almost flew out of their sockets. He couldn’t help but ask, “Wang Xi, who are these babies?”
Why did Wang Xi call them “little masters”? Moreover, King Jing … was holding them so skillfully?!
Wang Xi patted his head in realization and said, “Lord Heir, I’m sorry. I was so happy that I forgot to introduce them to you. These are His Highness’s children, Li … Princess Consort gave birth to His Highness.”
Li Yu could give birth to children??
Ye Qinghuan was thunderstruck. He slowly turned his head and stared at the proud King Jing.
Wang Xi’s words shocked him too much. Ye Qinghuan needed time to react.
Li Yu gave birth to four children for King Jing?
Could a man also get pregnant?!
Wang Xi had no choice but to roughly explain to Lord Heir Ye, who was about to faint. Although Eunuch Wang was also very dizzy during the whole process, with His Highness personally watching over him, the gynecologist, the other doctors, and the four little masters as witnesses, he dared to swear to God that it couldn’t be fake.
Ye Qinghuan could also tell that three of the children looked very much like King Jing when he was young. The other child, who was being held by King Jing, looked very much like Li Yu.
If it was fake, how could it be so real?
… Wait, Ye Qinghuan suddenly realized that King Jing, who he thought didn’t have any children, actually had four healthy sons.
And he, whose wife was still pregnant, had lost again.
King Jing understood that Ye Qinghuan mentioned adoption for his sake and didn’t mean to offend him. King Jing wasn’t angry. He just thought that Ye Qinghuan was standing there stupidly and was in the way. After being respectful for a while, he told Lord Heir Ye to go away.
There wasn’t much time left. They had to perform the ceremony as soon as possible. They couldn’t miss the auspicious hour.
King Jing gave the emcee a look, and the emcee immediately began to sing the lyrics.
Li Yu, who was wearing a pearl crown, didn’t know what to do when he saw the dangling pearl hair ornament in front of him. King Jing quickly walked to his side.
“Your Highness.” Li Yu smiled and called out.
King Jing couldn’t smile enough today. He reached out and wrapped his warm palm around Li Yu’s hand.
As long as this hand was held, the clamor in the hall became quiet and peaceful.
Li Yu caught a glimpse of a brazier out of the corner of his eye. What’s going on? Is the princess consort going to jump into the brazier too?
He was worried that he was clumsy. Would he kick over the brazier or burn the expensive wedding dress? It didn’t seem very auspicious.
King Jing took advantage of his hesitation and gently lifted him up. Li Yu suddenly felt that his feet were in the air, and his mind went blank for a moment.
In a flash, he was placed on the ground, and the brazier was already behind him.
Li Yu’s face was as red as clouds. Even the pearl hair ornament couldn’t hide his embarrassment. King Jing actually carried him over the brazier in front of everyone.
King Jing really knew how to do this. The guests couldn’t help but laugh. Ye Qinghuan laughed the loudest. The matron of honor behind him also blushed.
It was finally time to perform the ceremony.
Li Yu stood beside King Jing. The two of them bowed to heaven and earth and their parents together, full of sincerity.
Finally, they bowed deeply to each other.
In fact, when King Jing signed the marriage contract with him, they were already husband and wife. This wedding was more like a declaration to the world.
It was a declaration that from now on, you only belong to me, and I only belong to you.
King Jing asked Wang Xi to entertain the guests, and he accompanied Li Yu back to the bridal chamber.
He had already developed a habit of glancing at the silver funnel from time to time. The time limit for Xiaoyu’s transformation was almost up. He had to guard him. On this big day, he couldn’t let him panic even a little.
The irrelevant people were all cleared out. King Jing used the wedding scale to remove the pearl hair ornament on Li Yu’s forehead. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and then they both smiled at the same time.
King Jing’s hand reached for his sleeve. Li Yu looked at him expectantly, guessing what kind of paper he would take out this time. It could also be a unique gift for the wedding.
However, King Jing didn’t take out anything special from his sleeve. Instead, he took out a long, round box from behind his sleeve.
King Jing opened the box. There was a scroll painting in the box.
Li Yu unrolled the scroll painting under his gaze. It turned out to be a painting of a school of fish drawn by King Jing. There were a total of six lifelike fish in the painting, two big and four small. The big one had a silver base with a hint of gold. It was Li Yu’s body. The small ones were gold, silver, gold mixed with silver, and black. It was easy to tell that they were four small fish.
But something wasn’t right. Li Yu counted again and again. Including the small fish, there should be five. Who was the other big black fish in the painting?
Li Yu pondered for a long time. It wasn’t until he caught a glimpse of King Jing’s black robe under his wedding dress that Li Yu realized that King Jing had drawn himself as the big black fish. The school of fish was clearly a family of fish.
Li Yu especially liked this majestic big black fish. After looking at it for a long time, he reluctantly put the painting away and replied, “Thank you, Your Highness, for your gift.”
After giving the wedding gift, King Jing still used the pair of jade cups that they had shared on the day of the wedding to fill them with green plum wine.
This time, Li Yu was the first to drink. He mischievously pounced on him and gave him a drink.
The silver hourglass slowly spat out grains of sand. The two of them rolled on the wedding bed, entangled with each other.
Just as they were getting heated, the untimely sound of a baby crying came from next door.
Li Yu and King Jing were speechless.
The two of them stopped and looked at each other for a moment.
Li Yu was still gasping for breath. He pitifully begged, “Your, Your Highness, the children …”
This was the inconvenience of being a father. He couldn’t just care about himself and ignore the children.
King Jing accepted his fate and calmed his breathing. He went next door and carried the children over.
Da Bao, Er Bao, San Bao, and Si Bao were crying so hard that their little faces were scrunched up. They were finally brought to the wedding hall to watch the fun, but their father didn’t notice them. After a while, the two fathers disappeared, and the nanny quickly brought them back. Da Bao, who claimed to be the most sensible, was about to explode in anger when he didn’t hug and comfort them.
As soon as King Jing’s father appeared, the other children immediately stopped crying. Si Bao, who had cried too much and couldn’t stop, accidentally burped.
King Jing shook his head. He carried two children with one hand and carried all of them to the bridal chamber.
The children finally saw their father on the wedding bed. They all clung to him, wanting to sleep with him.
Li Yu, who was once again surrounded by them, was speechless.
Li Yu felt that he had made a stupid mistake. His good wedding night was ruined just like that. He was about to apologize to King Jing when King Jing lay down, winked at him, and pulled him into his arms.
As such, even though they were surrounded by the children, the two of them didn’t separate.
“Your Highness, am I too heavy?”
Li Yu rested his head on his shoulder for a while, afraid that he would crush the people below.
King Jing shook his head and turned the children’s faces to the other side. He wrapped his arms around Li Yu’s waist and kissed him again and again when Li Yu was still chattering.
Li Yu had to stop talking because the children were right beside him. He couldn’t make any strange sounds. The two of them pressed against each other and kissed intermittently, full of love.
