Chapter 458 - 253: The Little Easterners’ Gift
Lu Yuan ordered the servants to load the gifts onto the carriage.
Gu Ziye was also ready. She wore a long, form-fitting red dress of brushed fabric that perfectly outlined her figure.
Her usual pigtails were gone. Her glossy, jet-black hair was coiled into an updo, with side-swept bangs framing her forehead.
With her hands held primly, Gu Ziye took delicate steps out to the Mansion Gate.
Lu Yuan, his back to the Mansion Gate, heard a sweet, charming voice behind him.
"Husband, I’m ready!"
Lu Yuan turned and exclaimed, "It’s like you’ve gone from a young maiden to a mature woman overnight."
"What are you talking about? Just tell me if I look pretty or not!" Gu Ziye couldn’t keep up her act and stomped her foot.
Lu Yuan walked to the steps and helped Yue’Er down. "To be honest," he said, "I still prefer your usual playful, lively self."
"You should have said so earlier!" Gu Ziye pouted. "I went and got up super early just to put this whole getup together."
’A mature woman?’
’Lu Yuan wasn’t lacking for those. When it came to maturity, there was Aunt Zhao and Aunt Song at the Zhao Mansion in Taiping City.’
’No matter how Gu Ziye dressed up, at eighteen, she couldn’t possibly compare with those two.’
Su Liyan came out as well, walking down the steps of the Mansion Gate and approaching them.
"Today is Yue’Er’s homecoming visit. Is everything more or less ready?"
Lu Yuan nodded gratefully. "Thanks to everything you’ve prepared these last two days, it’s all loaded up. We really couldn’t have gone empty-handed for this homecoming visit."
Gu Ziye bowed. "Thank you for all your trouble, Sister. I’m sorry to have bothered you."
Su Liyan helped Gu Ziye up with both hands. "We’re sisters here. There’s no need for such formalities. And that red dress is lovely on you."
Gu Ziye pinched the hem of her skirt, giving it a little lift as she twirled. "It is, isn’t it?" she said. "It was made by the Needlework Bureau. When I go for my visit today, I’ll have them make a few for you, too, Sister."
"Oh no, I couldn’t. That’s far too much trouble!" Su Liyan immediately declined.
Gu Ziye, however, went right ahead and started sizing up Su Liyan’s proportions and height with her hands. "It’s no trouble at all," she said. "As long as the people at the Needlework Bureau have the measurements, they can whip something up in a few days."
Seeing that Yue’Er had already started taking her measurements, Su Liyan didn’t protest any further.
"One handspan, two handspans, three handspans..."
The more Gu Ziye measured, the more crushed she felt. ’Good heavens,’ she thought, ’what kind of goddess has a body like this?!’
Gu Ziye had always thought her own figure was top-tier, but next to Su Liyan, it was nothing special.
Su Liyan’s proportions were perfect. On a scale of one to a hundred, she’d be a ninety-nine.
After calmly finishing the measurements, Gu Ziye exchanged a few brief words and climbed into the carriage, looking thoroughly dejected.
Lu Yuan told Su Liyan to wait for him at the mansion, promising to return early after accompanying Yue’Er on her homecoming visit.
Lu Yuan climbed into the carriage, joining Yue’Er in the cabin.
The convoy of carriages hadn’t been moving for long when Lu Yuan sensed something was off. Yue’Er had been perfectly fine just a moment ago, so why did she seem so unhappy now?
Just as Lu Yuan was about to ask, Gu Ziye stomped her foot on the carriage floor and glared at him. "Husband," she declared, "I want those measurements too."
Gu Ziye gestured by drawing circles over her chest.
Lu Yuan understood instantly and burst out laughing. "And how are we supposed to manage that?" he asked.
She gave her own chest a squeeze. "I want to drink Snow Clam Soup!"
"That’s for helping mothers produce milk."
"I don’t care! I want to drink it!"
"Alright, alright. I’ll make another trip to Buxian Mountain later."
...
In what felt like no time at all, the carriage carrying Lu Yuan and Gu Ziye arrived at the Imperial City Gate.
Gu Ziye merely had to lift the carriage curtain for the gate guards to let them pass.
Lu Yuan and Gu Ziye didn’t find the Emperor in the inner palace, so they went to see Empress Ma instead.
They learned from Empress Ma that envoys from Wa Country had apparently arrived, so His Majesty the Emperor was in the great hall.
"Wa Country? Envoys?" Lu Yuan asked. "The same Wa Country that lost its Eight-Headed Serpent last year?"
Gu Ziye had of course heard about it. Back then, the Eight-Headed Serpent had been reduced to a single tail, which was then cut off in a rather pathetic fashion.
Gu Ziye chimed in, "That’s right. It was the Little Easterners holding a jar and saying something about the Eight-Headed Serpent."
Seeing the couple chatting back and forth, their eyes only for each other, Empress Ma’s heart swelled with joy. As a mother-in-law, she was truly pleased.
’His Majesty the Emperor had not made a mistake in arranging this marriage.’
A eunuch shuffled silently to the entrance of the Empress’s chambers. Bowing low, he announced, "Your Majesty, the Empress. I relay a verbal decree from His Majesty the Emperor: The Prince Consort and Princess Yue Ning are summoned to the great hall."
"Me? And my husband?" Gu Ziye asked, pointing to herself for confirmation.
’Since when can a princess enter the great hall? I thought the women of the inner palace weren’t supposed to meddle in state affairs.’
Empress Ma heard this and said, "You two should go. I hope His Majesty the Emperor isn’t up to some new mischief."
Only Empress Ma would dare say such a thing. From anyone else, it would be an act of gross disrespect, punishable by the execution of three branches of their family.
Lu Yuan and Gu Ziye bowed in unison. "Your Majesty, we will head there at once!"
’The more she saw of this Prince Consort, the more she approved.’ "Go on, then," she said.
Led by the eunuch, Lu Yuan and Gu Ziye made their way to the great hall.
’The morning court session should have ended long ago.’
The moment Lu Yuan stepped into the great hall, he saw that all the civil and martial officials were present. Not one had left.
In the center of the hall stood three short men. Judging by their hunched backs, I didn’t even have to guess—they were the Little Easterners from Wa Country.
When Emperor Gu Yuanzhang saw Lu Yuan and Gu Ziye arrive, his tightly knit brow relaxed slightly.
"Your subject greets His Majesty the Emperor," Lu Yuan said, performing a deep bow.
Still in her red dress, not having had time to change, Gu Ziye bowed with clasped hands. "Greetings, Father Emperor!"
"You may rise," the Emperor said with a wave of his hand.
The man in the middle of the three short figures turned to face Lu Yuan and Gu Ziye. In broken, heavily accented speech, he said, "Greetings, Prince Consort. Greetings, Pig-cess!"