Chapter 48

Wei Li Lian
Princess Elora
Her Highness Wei

First bow: wife and husband bow to each other.

Second bow: wife and husband bow to their parents.

Third bow: wife and husband bow to the Heavens.

The wedding rites ended after Li Lian and Yuwen Hong did their three bows. Officially, she was his wife and he was her husband. They would spend the rest of their lives together, sharing their burdens and the good times the Heavens willed upon them.

"Congratulations, Your Highness!" Dao and Mistress Han shouted among the crowd that lined her pathway. They were the invited guests―kings' consorts, officials' consorts, renowned women of status from all over Nevoria―who were performing the rice toss for the bride.

The rice toss was a symbolic wish to the just-married couple for a life of prosperity and fruitfulness. As a blessing, the guests showered Li Lian and Yuwen Hong as they walked down the aisle from the wedding rites.

Yuwen Hong had parted with Li Lian as they had to go to their own palaces to change their robes. Women had filtered alongside the path to her palace and men had filtered by Yuwen Hong's.

When she passed by Mistress Han and Dao, she touched their hands in thanks. She would have loved to stay and speak, but there would be no privacy to chat, alongside the time.

"That is my daughter in law!" Grand Consort Shu shouted, standing by the entrance into the Phoenix Palace. "You look beautiful, Daughter-in-law!"

"Thank you, Your Highness."

"We are now family, it is right to consider you my daughter." Grand Consort Shu chucked two handfuls of rice over Li Lian, who had her eyes blinking rapidly and tearing. "The more rice, the more children!"

The women surrounding Grand Consort Shu laughed in agreement and started chatting away, stealing the emperor's mother's attention with their conversation.

Li Lian and her entourage took it as an opportunity to sneak into her palace and ascend onto the platform. If she kept at it, she would be delayed from changing into her official gown to attend the next ceremony.

Although she was Yuwen Hong's wife, she was not yet officiated to be the empress. The crowning was at sunset and it was already the hour of the ram (1pm to 3pm), which meant she had not much time left.

"Your Highness." Tender fingers stopped Li Lian.

She turned to face Noble Consort Qi.

"May we exchange a few words privately?" Noble Consort Qi's head tilted to the entourage following Li Lian, an indication that she wanted them to leave.

"Can it not wait? I do not have the time, I must change."

"It will take a few minutes."

"I do not think―"

"I promise, just a few minutes."

Li Lian exhaled. "All right, just a few minutes. Follow me."

Noble Consort Qi followed Li Lian into the Dressing Quarters.

"Give us a few minutes of privacy," Li Lian instructed Ai and her attendants, who came earlier to prepare her robes.

They obeyed by leaving and sliding the door closed.

Li Lian tiredly sat on the chair before the huge copper mirror that reflected her image, while Noble Consort Qi stood by the door, with the stature of a guarded mother hen.

"Make it fast," Li Lian started taking off her hair pins. The jewellery used when wearing the official garments was not allowed to have decorative engravings on it. They would have to adorn her into a different set for her official outfit.

"Make it fast, Noble Consort Qi," Li Lian repeated when a minute passed in silence, "my attendants are waiting."

The fact that if things were different, the empress-to-be would be Noble Consort Qi, twisted Li Lian's stomach.

"Li Lian, you know I am not evil," Noble Consort Qi blurted, unexpectedly. Her voice was soft and fragile, the same way she carried herself. Even now, Noble Consort Qi would tug on anyone's heart with her aura of vulnerability; she made anyone want to save and protect her.

"Is this to do with your unfortunate circumstance?" Unfortunate was not the right word. Noble Consort Qi knew this would befall her, yet continued.

"Yes." Noble Consort Qi walked to the window and looked up at the sky. The blue robes that pinned her body reminded Li Lian of the clouds on a warm day.

"Then can we talk about this later?" She really could not afford the conversation at the moment.

"Even I would have loved to wait. I am aware this is not the time, but His Majesty has pushed me to the cliff end because it's either I jump into the sea or die."

"Well, my apologies, I cannot do anything for you."

'There, there, Li Lian. You are being too harsh,' she thought.

"You can if you put your mind to it. The emperor has all the admiration for you."

Li Lian laughed to herself. There could be all the admiration in the world from Yuwen Hong, yet nothing was that easy with him.

"I know who you truly are," Noble Consort Qi scoffed, "Princess Le-anne."

Li Lian stilled.

"My condolences about your brother."

Li Lian painfully twisted the pin in her hand and let it dig into her palm.

On her wedding! The woman was coming for her on one of the most important days in her life! What could be more evil than that?

"You know too?" Li Lian took a wet cloth and leisurely wiped off her makeup.

"Too? I am not the only one?"

"Vultures are everywhere and the palace walls have ears."

"I did not overhear it in the palace," Noble Consort Qi nervously looked outside again. "Let us not go in circles. My time is running out."

"And so is mine," Li Lian irritably reminded her.

"Call the emperor. Request that he come to you, and ask him to pardon I and Eunuch Lin."

"That plan of yours is futile."

"Get the emperor to pardon us and I will never bring this up again."

Li Lian rolled her eyes. "If the emperor would listen to me, I would do it."

"Stop playing with me."

"If I could not save my brother, you think I can save anyone else?"

"You and your brother are traitors to the nation, while I and Eunuch Lin aren't. His Majesty has no emotional connection to our case. Ask for our pardon and I will not speak of your real identity ever again."

Doesn't infidelity against the emperor make someone a traitor as well?

"Now, now, Noble Consort Qi. You are getting greedy," Li Lian clipped.

"Li Lian!" Noble Consort Qi burst into anger. "I'm not here to play games!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice in front of me!" Li Lian shouted back through gritted teeth.

Noble Consort Qi hit her chest anxiously and took deep breaths to calm down.

"They are sending Eunuch Lin into exile, and once he leaves, I will not get to see him ever again." Noble Consort Qi motioned to the window. "They will leave in a few minutes, that is why I do not have the time. You know what it means to be sentenced to exile. It is death in itself. The road there is strenuous and he will be expected to walk that long distance, being pulled like an animal by people riding horses." Her voice became frantic. "He will not survive it, and even if he does, they are supposed to kill him after a full moon in exile!"

"Whether he will die in the forest or on some land, nothing changes, I cannot help you."

Noble Consort Qi growled in agitation.

"I knew she would be difficult for no reason," she said almost to herself. "This Li Lian." She used her hands to aggressively rub her face, ruining her well kept makeup.

Despite the situation, if there had to be a puppy using its paws to rub its face, Noble Consort Qi would be the exact image.

The Chihuahua breed, yes, that was Noble Consort Qi. Cute and lovely, yet so vicious in its attempt to go against the enemy.

Li Lian could not find the brawn to hate her. If she was in the same position, she would have done the same. However, the idea that Yuwen Hong could find out the truth on their wedding day dissipated all feelings of forgiveness towards her.

"Senior Court Lady!" Li Lian called for Ai.

Noble consort Qi gasped, scared of having someone included in the matter.

"Your Highness called for me?" It did not take Ai a while to rush in.

"Yes, Ai." Li Lian watched Qi fiddle with her fingers. "What is His Majesty doing?"

"Answering to Her Highness. His Majesty is now in the Hall of Festival and has already changed into his official robes. He is set to have lunch with his officials and royal guests."

"Have they started having lunch?"

"This servant is not sure."

"Find out what is happening. Send someone, quick!"

Li Lian was not yet sure what she was going to do next because if she was to try to fool Yuwen Hong, would he believe her? Though it could be taken into account that recently he wasn't that suspicious of her―well he avoided being suspicious of her.

Yuwen Hong had a questioning mind and exercised wisdom, she had to be dunce if she thought all this time she lied through her teeth, he was not aware of it.

When Ai left, Li Lian took her hairpin and stood.

There is a difference between the bamboo and the grass. The bamboo cannot survive the storm because it is hard and inflexible to change when it faces its enemy, while the grass is willing to band and be tossed back and forth; just so as to survive until the enemy leave.

Li Lian was the grass. The storm had come, she had to adjust to the situation.

Quickly, before Noble Consort Qi could catch on, Li Lian took her by the hand and twirled her around. Hand pinned to the back, she locked Noble Consort Qi and restricted movement.

"What are you..." The sharp golden hairpin that pointed at Noble Consort Qi's neck silenced her.

She muttered multiple syllables before she could form a coherent sentence. "Li Lian, the emperor is in the Hall of Festival with all his kings and officials of the Nevorian empire. After eating, they will pull out the scrolls to discuss issues of the empire."

"Get to the point, you are talking a lot."

"The scrolls... They have the truth about who you really are, each one of them. Everything is detailed in the scrolls."

Noble consort Qi had planted the truth about her in the scrolls that were about to be presented to the emperor and all his subjects of status?

"What details do they have?"

"The evidence: a painting found in the archives of Huticah, stating that you are Princess Le-anne. Testimonials from your "so-called" parents, the Wei clan your father bribed to pretend you were one of their own, and so on."

Noble Consort Qi had been understated. It was a big mistake Li Lian was going to pay for.

"Now that the King of Huticah passed on, nobody cares about the secrets, Li Lian. Many are willing to talk as long as you have gold to give them. They do not care." Noble Consort Qi nervously laughed. "Becoming a murderer just to hide the truth, is it worth it?"

Li Lian dropped the pin which panged against the floor.

Noble Consort Qi breathed a sigh of relief, however that came too soon because Li Lian reached into her wide sleeves and pulled out a sharp jaded knife. She effortlessly resumed the position of pinning Noble Consort Qi, difference being her pointing a knife this time.

"Yes. It is worth it. I will give my life to stay by Yuwen Hong's side if I had to." He was her only family. "I have kept this knife with me all day for people like you, might as well put it to use."

Noble Consort Qi began trembling to no end. The severity of the situation had just registered.

"If you kill me... no one will be able to stop my people from giving out the incriminating scrolls... You kill me, the truth will come out... Don't be stupid."

If she spared Noble Consort Qi and called for the emperor, the scrolls without the exposing information would be given out. Noble Consort Qi was willing to do that in exchange for saving her lover.

"How bad, Noble Consort Qi. I'm stupid, though. Stupid enough to silence people like you."

Author's Note

I was laughing because most of you said you will not relax until you know that the wedding is over. You know me too much, but let's be honest, I'm such a generous author. You got your happy ever after chapter and I got my gruesome chapter. Everyone won.