Chapter Fifty: The Wedding Night

The auspicious hour arrived. One hour passed, then two…

Half the night had gone by, yet there was still no sign of anyone coming. The Noble Lady Jade grew impatient. “How strange. So much time has passed, and the Emperor still hasn’t come?”

The longer she thought about it, the more frustrated she became. Shifting uncomfortably, she felt as though she’d sat so long that her very bones ached.

Just as her irritation was about to boil over, a faint commotion sounded outside the door.

Jun Yeli walked in, wine jug in hand, his face slightly flushed. He swayed as he moved, as though he were a willow catkin drifting on the wind.

“Where is my beauty? Today is such a joyous day—why aren’t you coming out to greet your emperor?”

His drunkenness was disarming, leaving one at a loss for words.

The Noble Lady Jade was momentarily speechless. “You haven’t even lifted the wedding veil—how am I supposed to serve you? Has His Majesty drunk several jugs tonight? Is he really so happy?”

But then again, to marry a beauty like herself was a blessing hard-won over several lifetimes.

Clenching her teeth, seeing how Jun Yeli had drunk himself into confusion, the Noble Lady Jade decided she could wait no longer. She kept the red veil over her head and, guided by the blur of her vision, walked toward the Emperor, gently taking his hand and speaking softly, “Your Majesty, why have you drunk so much? Come, sit by the bed—you’re supposed to lift the veil!”

Dragged to the bedside, Jun Yeli gazed at her, a playful glint in his unfocused eyes. “You’re still wearing that veil—are you that unsightly? And yet they call you a beauty!”

“This…” The Noble Lady Jade bit back a surge of anger, forcing a strained smile. “Your Majesty, the veil is for you to lift. From today, you are my husband.”

“Nonsense. You’re just ugly and afraid to show your face, so you hide under that red veil. It’s all the same with the lights out, anyway!” The Emperor, in his drunken stupor, started to rise but seemed to lose all sense of direction.

The Noble Lady Jade was so mortified she nearly wished to punch him awake. “So this is the legendary Emperor of Fengling—how licentious and absurd, to speak such crude words!”

Lights out, all the same—what was that supposed to mean?

Taking a deep breath, she suppressed her nameless anger and managed a strained smile, deciding to lift the veil herself.

After all, if neither of them said anything, who would know by morning? She was already married and titled—a fact witnessed by all.

With a sweeping gesture, she threw off the red veil. Suddenly the world opened up before her. Across the room, Jun Yeli sat drinking, popping grapes into his mouth, utterly at ease.

His profile in the dim lamplight seemed gilded, so beautiful it almost took her breath away—she feared that even a whisper might startle this ethereal man away.

“I hadn’t looked closely when he stood far off before, but now that I’m near—I never imagined he’d be so surpassingly handsome…”

On reflection, a beauty matched with such a man—perhaps she hadn’t lost out at all. Now, she had climbed the dragon and perched beside the phoenix, becoming the Emperor’s favored companion!

Jade Dew felt her mood lift, her lips curving in a smile. Emboldened, she sashayed toward Jun Yeli, almost impatient, like a newlywed groom.

“Your Majesty, a night like this is worth a thousand pieces of gold. Food and wine can hardly satisfy you—why don’t I help you undress?”

As she spoke, her slender fingers traced down his chest toward his sash.

But at that very instant, Jun Yeli suddenly grabbed her arm and flung her aside, his drunken face flushed with annoyance. “Why are you touching me? Don’t you know men and women shouldn’t touch?”

He had even abandoned his imperial tone, clearly too drunk to know himself.

Jade Dew’s face darkened, yet she refused to give up. After all, he was the highest in the land—she could only accept it for now. She tried again, but met with the same result, and could not help but feel vexed.

“Your Majesty, do you remember today is our wedding night? You’re not pretending to be drunk, are you?”

That couldn’t be; with a beauty before him, what man could resist?

At her words, Jun Yeli seemed to awaken. The wine jug slipped from his hand, spilling its contents and filling the air with a heady scent.

Jade Dew sighed, while Jun Yeli nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes, today is our wedding night—we should sleep, sleep!”

With that, Jun Yeli finally moved of his own accord, gripping Jade Dew’s shoulders so tightly that it hurt. Suddenly, he lifted her, and the two of them soared up onto the roof beam.

“Your Majesty, is there some mistake? Why have you brought me up here?” Seeing how high they were above the floor, Jade Dew’s heart nearly leapt from her chest. She swallowed hard, too scared to move.

“What is there to fear? Of course we must sleep together on our wedding night. Or are you unwilling to serve your emperor?”

Was this a question of serving or not? This was a question of life and death!

“Your Majesty, can we go down and sleep? There’s a bed below!”

“No!”

With that, Jun Yeli threw one leg over the beam, propped his hands under his head as a pillow, closed his eyes, and soon a gentle snore floated through the air.

Jade Dew was left utterly dumbfounded, curled up in a ball, hardly daring to breathe. “How did he get so drunk? He’s going to be the death of me…”

She could almost feel a chill wind seeping in from outside.

Elsewhere, Hua Rong couldn’t sleep because of a careless remark, and her mind wandered endlessly. “I wonder how His Majesty is now? He must be very pleased, served by such a beautiful woman…”

The more she thought, the more vexed she became. She didn’t even care for him, so why let her thoughts wander so?

“Why am I thinking about this? What does it matter to me? I should be glad if the Emperor is so besotted with that woman that he forgets about me. Then I could live peacefully in the palace for the rest of my life.”

Yet though she told herself so, her heart still felt oddly unsettled.

That night, countless consorts tossed and turned, unable to sleep, tormented by the arrival of a new beauty.

Come morning, as was customary when a new consort entered the inner palace, all were expected to pay their respects.

“I want to see exactly how that vixen served the Emperor last night!” Lady Jia ground her teeth. After years of struggle to earn her position, a newcomer had stepped in effortlessly. How could she possibly accept it?