In the winter of Yonghe 19th Year, Cold Night Empire, located on the northern slope of Qilian Mountains, finally submitted a book of peace to Dark Night Empire, the most powerful empire on this continent, on a snowy day. In that silent night, Cold Night Empire issued an imperial edict in order to protect the peace of the country and the people from suffering, and conferred the t.i.tle of the Princess Wude on the eldest Princess Mu Qianhua who would go to Dark Night Empire with the imperial edict to marry the General Pingyan, the second Prince Dongfang Lingyun of the Dark Night Empire in exchange for peace between the two empires.
In the early morning of the winter solstice, the pro-marriage team left their hometown. The wedding carriage, accompanied by 64 people, slowly disappeared at the foot of the Qilian Mountains like the brightest fire in the snow.
On the tower of the Cold Night Empire stood a man, and his golden purple brocade robe embroidered with dragons was covered with fine frost and snow, rustling in the breeze and looking depressed and dismal. He remained silent, just looking at the horses and carriage that were drifting away, as if he had lost his soul.
From then on, he knew clearly that he would never see her again and never speak with her affectionately. All this was due to what he had done.
Behind him came the voice of a woman with a slight depression, “It is cold. Take care. As a princess, Qianhua has the responsibility to maintain diplomatic relations with other empires. Today, the marriage proves your sincerity of seeking peace with the Dark Night Empire. You are the emperor of Cold Night Empire, not just Princess Wude’s elder brother. This is the only choice you can make.”
The Emperor Mu Ditian looked back at the woman behind him. Although she was in her forties, time did not leave too many traces on her face, and she still looked attractive and gorgeous. The pearls, jade and hairpins she wore set off her n.o.bility magnificently and ceremoniously. She looked in the direction of the Dark Night Empire, and her look was as cold as frost which left deepest impression on Mu Qianhua.
He lowered his head slightly and said submissively, “Yes, mom.”
Then, he pa.s.sed by her and went down the tower.
“Are you going to return back to palace?”
Mu Ditian stopped and looked in the direction of the Qingyang Palace. He said wistfully, “My sister said that she kept some Chinese flowering crabapple in the courtyard. Now, she is married to the General Pingyan in such a snowy day. I will always take good care of what she leaves behind.”
He did not look back, but asked calmly, “Mom, is there a moment when you don’t want Qianhua to go for this marriage?”
After a long silence, the elegant woman finally opened her mouth before Mu Ditian set off, “I have no other choice, either. There are too many things that need our decision in this world. Your Majesty, this is our destiny and also the fate of Wude.”
She said this resolutely and decisively.
"I see," laughed Mu Ditian with bitterness. He had no idea if the princess in the phoenix marriage was weeping helplessly or not.
But he found himself a brother completely of no help to her…
Right outside the red marriage was a girl named Qingying in black, whose face was half covered by a silver-foil mask, long hair rolled up, with a long sword by her waist. Her oppressive aura stopped others from facing up to her.
Knock…
It sounded like tapping at the plank of the carriage where dead silence had prevailed for half a day, which, however, gave Qingying a relief. As the companion of the princess as early as she could remember, she knew the princess very well, who was anything but a silent girl.
"What can I do for you, your highness?" asked Qingying as she leaned towards the wedding carriage.
A vague voice came out.
"What did you say?" she asked again since she did not get it clearly.
Outside the thick curtain of the carriage, she surely couldn"t get a clear answer from the princess. Not giving it a second, she ignored the etiquette and broke into the carriage to see what happened. What she saw was really incredible: the beautiful princess, with bright eyes and delicate skin, was holding a bronze stove to warm herself, and leaning against the wooden carriage, covered by melon peel and fruit crumbs. The carriage was in a mess.
Qingying would not have been able to keep calm now if she hadn"t known the princess.
"I didn"t hear what you said clearly, your highness," she said, trying to call up enough patience and suppress the urge to correct her manners.
"Oh, I didn"t want to make a noise, but it"s really urgent and can"t be delayed," said the princess, Mu Qianhua, as she raised her eyes.
Qingying, stunned for a moment, replied, "Just tell me what to do, your highness, I"ll do my best to get it done."
"No more sunflower seeds are in the carriage. Go and get some for me," murmured Mu Qianhua.
"…" Qingying could feel her lips terribly trembling.
"Moreover, go to find General Han. I guess my brother must have handed him some snacks for me, keeping my mother in the dark about it," continued Mu Qianhua. She did not give a look at Qingying who was about to collapse. In fact, she could not see her face even if she raised her head.
Qingying, taking a deep breath, replied, "You have a good appet.i.te, your highness... Don"t you feel sad since we are leaving home for a peace marriage?"
"Being sad is one thing, while eating is another thing," commented Mu Qianhua, holding up her head and earnestly flipping through the book in her hand. "After all, we are going to cement the alliance between the two countries. All the ministers joyfully saw us off for peace. If I bath my face with tears all the way, I will get sallow when we arrive at the Dark Night Empire. They will think we lack sincerity. That"s not smart."
Qingying could hardly find any words to respond.
Mu Qianhua leisurely leafed through the book as if she were studying some philosophical cla.s.sics attentively. Then, she said, “My brother and mom are unwilling to let me go to that remote place. To relieve their stress and concern, I have to take good care of myself first. What do you think?”
"You are right, my highness," replied Qingying. She raised her eyes and looked at the book in princess’s hand. For ten years, it was the first time for her to see the princess study a book so attentively. So, she felt an upsurge of emotion and asked, "My highness, this book... "
"My sister-in-law gave it to me before I left and told me to read it thoroughly before arriving at Dark Night Empire. I read it all day long, but there are still many puzzles and questions. Qingying, come and have a look.”
“It is likely because the empress is worried that the princess would lead to trouble in Dark Night Empire, so she gave the princess a cla.s.sic such as Disciplines for Women, hoping the princess can be a good wife,” Qingying thought.
However, she was stunned as she came up and took a look at the first page of the book, which turned out to be a book about marriage and s.e.x life.
Judging from the neat handwriting on the book cover, it was a book written by the empress of Cold Night Empire. In other words, this secret script was compiled by empress Murong Jiangshan herself.
Mu Qianhua flipped through the book page after page, saying, "The paintings in this book are pretty good with appropriate use of color, smooth lines and vivid expression. There are even explanatory notes... Her painting skill is really better than before.”
Taking a look at the exquisite paintings, Qingying could hardly hold her breath as usual and stepped out in a great fl.u.s.ter, saying, "I will take some sunflower seeds for you.”
After Qingying getting out of the wedding carriage, Mu Qianhua revealed a sly smile as she saw her maid flush so lovely…
It took about half a month for Mu Qianhua and her guardians to reach Dark Night Empire.
Although the marriage is proposed by Cold Night Empire, the city gate of the Dark Night Empire had been opened before the arrival of the princess to show their sincerity to forge good relations with Cold Night Empire. All the court officials and generals knelt down along the both sides of the gate to show their respect for the princess though some of them were not agreeable to the marriage. The emperor of Dark Night Empire, Dongfang Zhentian, had already issued an edict to hang up red lanterns all over the city to welcome the Princess Royal and prepare for the marriage.
After going through the busy streets decorated by red lanterns and ribbons, Princess Royal and the escorting team arrived at the mansion of General Pingyan. It was rather weird that there was no trace of celebration and decoration. Clearly, they had not made any preparation for the arrival of princess.
Qingying was also at a loss, so she asked the escorting men to stop and went to knock at the door herself.
It was a butler who opened the gate, and he looked at Qingying, half of whose face was covered by the mask, as if he didn’t know why the girl came to this mansion.
"Excuse me, Princess Wude from Cold Night Empire arrives. Where is General Pingyan now? Why is the mansion so quiet?" Qingying asked, and she had a strong sense of foreboding.
The butler looked at wedding retinue and said in a quivering voice, ”You’d better go. The General instructed me to tell you to go back to where you come from”.
“What?” Qingying said in great rage. “What on earth is on your General’s mind? You see, our Princess Royal from afar is to marry him. What’s the point of your general?”
“He intends to cancel the marriage, doesn’t he?” With that, the curtain of wedding carriage was lifted suddenly. Then, there came a charming young lady in her wedding dress, whose dazzling beauty stunned the butler who spent quite a while coming to himself from that shock of beauty.
“Your highness, stay in the carriage! You know it’s ominous for a bride to step out!” Qingying tried to stop her. “What is auspicious or ominous? It is a really ill omen to be flatly refused on the exact wedding day.” Walking up to the butler, the princess smiled at him and said, ”It is your General who wants us to go back, isn’t it?”
“Yeeees,” finally with half step back, he replied, “it is.”
“Seriously?” her eyes narrowed.
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“The General never ...jokes,” the butler stammered though she wore a gorgeous smile.
“You do believe the marriage is out of my willingness, don’t you?” Mu Qianhua added, with a handful of sunflower seeds, “It is said that General Pingyan of Dark Night Empire has been long engaged in wars and he must have a war-stricken face, scaring the h.e.l.l out of me! Well, now it seems lucky for me to have an unharmed escape. You know what, when I was young, a fortuneteller predicted that I would always be in great blessing.
Hearing this, the loyal butler refuted, “Whaat! Our General is the most handsome man in Dark Night Empire, whose wooers is innumerable. A mere shout here will attract a flood of wooers. No more word to stain the reputation of our General unfairly.
With a bright smile, the princess said, “Wow, so impressive! Just give a cry and let me see how big the flood is!”