Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Ten miles of red makeup, the whole world celebrates.

More than half a month later, the Ming Dynasty ushered in the emperor's wedding.

After a nationwide audition and a three-person competition, the current emperor Hongzhi finally decided on the final candidate for the queen.

After the process of asking for horoscopes, collecting levies and sending betrothal gifts, announcing dates and setting auspicious dates, as well as offering sacrifices to the ancestral temple and offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, the wedding was held on September 22nd.

The splendid Forbidden City was decorated with lights and colorful decorations, and the entire palace was filled with a festive atmosphere. In particular, the Fengtian Hall was set up with a throne, and there were preparations, festivals, and books, as well as celebration gifts sent by local officials and envoys.

The sun is shining, it’s a rare autumn day.

"I hereby select Chang Yourong, the daughter of Chang Fu, the governor of the military government, as the queen, and order the ministers to observe the rules and honor her with honors and honors!"

The chief and deputy envoys set out from Fengtian Gate to make and organize cases, walked out of the Forbidden City through the Meridian Gate, and then went to Fengtian Gate to place the plans and cases in the colorful bowl.

As the palace music played, the envoys and deputy envoys took off their court uniforms and rode on horseback. They led the drum music to welcome the procession, which set off from Daming Gate and headed towards Yongfang Temple in Dashi.

The streets along the way have already been decorated with lights and colorful decorations, and every household has posted happy words as if it were a festival. West Chang'an Street has also been paved with a long red carpet.

"The Queen takes a carriage and enters the palace!"

The chief and deputy envoys quickly welcomed the queen out of Chang's Mansion, and then there was a great ceremony and music.

The eunuchs in auspicious clothes led the way, with the ceremonial guard in front, the phoenix in the middle, the chief and deputy wedding envoys accompanying them, and a group of eunuchs and maidens following neatly behind.

"It's too far away and you can't see the queen clearly?"

"Our new queen looks stunning!"

"I met my cousin during the draft, and I guessed it must be her!"

"My distant aunt also said at the time that as long as there is no inside story about this draft, the queen must be named Chang!"

…

Many people in the capital came wearing new clothes to watch and witness this rare grand ceremony. Although they were blocked by the people from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division, their gossipy hearts could not be stopped.

Even today, there is no way to escape the law of "judgment by appearance". Among the women gathered from all over the world, there really is such a beauty that is rare to see in a hundred years.

It's not that the people in the capital realized it later. Even the people who had to guess Jieyuan in the Shuntian Township Examination had naturally already started to "vote" for the queen, and Chang Yourong has always been at the top of the list.

It turned out that the people's eyes were sharp, and Chang Yourong, whom they admired, was really elected as the queen.

Today is a holiday for all government offices in the city, so civil and military officials in court uniforms are waiting in front of Chengtian Gate on the east and west sides to welcome them.

"I only have the duties of heaven and earth. The Qian Yuan must be in harmony with the Kun. The king and the queen will manage the teachings of yin and yang, and the governance of the country is based on the family... I hereby send a special envoy to hold the festival, and I will make you the queen with a gold book and a gold treasure. The leader of the Qiu Festival, the mother's letter to the Xia Dynasty... The way of running a country is based on the integrity of the family. The relationship between husband and wife is the meaning of the universe. Qinzai."

The new empress Chang Yourong was formally consecrated before the case of this sect. Under the witness of all civil and military officials, a female official put a crown of nine dragons and four phoenixes on Chang Yourong's head.

At this moment, she officially became the Empress of Ming Dynasty and the first empress of Hongzhi.

"I respectfully send the Queen to the palace, a thousand years old, a thousand years old, a thousand years old!" When the civil and military officials saw Feng Jia heading to the Forbidden City, they immediately saluted politely.

Feng Jia arrived in front of the Meridian Gate. At this time, the main entrance of the Meridian Gate had been opened, and a seemingly endless royal road appeared in front of him. Go straight in from the central gate of the Meridian Gate, pass through the Jinshui Bridge in the center, and then go straight to Fengtian Hall.

"Queen, please come out."

A young girl with a peerless face, her eyes like autumn water looked up at the long royal road in front of her, symbolizing wealth and power.

This royal road can only be walked by the emperor, and the queen can only walk it once during her wedding. Today she will get the honor that all women in the world dream of.

Chang Yourong was wearing a pair of red embroidered phoenix shoes, a set of dark blue phoenix-patterned Zhai clothes, a crown of nine dragons and four phoenixes on his head, and a jade belt hanging jade pendants around his waist. He was walking steadily along the palace road in compliance with etiquette. .

Starting from the draft at the beginning of the year, she went through six rounds of screening before entering the Forbidden City as one of the three hundred show girls. After another round of competition, she finally became one of the three queen candidates.

Now she has been elected as the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, and her family members have also been awarded titles in her honor. The whole family has even moved from Yunnan to the capital to start a new life.

Everything was like a dream.

As Fengtian Palace got closer and closer, she felt an inexplicable sense of tension, and the beads on the Nine Dragons and Four Phoenixes swayed accordingly. These shining strings of pearls are all South Sea pearls collected from Tokyo Bay this year, and they make a crisp sound when struck.

The platform base of Fengtian Hall is eight meters high. Although there are palace maids supporting him, when I see the emperor standing on the top, there is an invisible pressure.

Chang Yourong was caught in the dilemma of having to maintain his posture while not keeping His Majesty waiting for too long. If he had to speed up, he would inevitably make mistakes.

"You can walk slower!" Zhu Youtang, who was wearing Yanfu, had already walked down the east side of Danxia to the first step, and stretched out a hand to support Chang Yourong, who was about to trip.

Chang Yourong raised his feet too low and almost fell down. He couldn't help but feel slightly moved. Seeing such a considerate emperor right in front of him was like a dream coming one after another.

"Queen!"

"My concubine is here!"

"Just think that today is bitter first and then sweet!"

Zhu Youtang looked at the Fengtian Palace in front of him and said something puzzling to the queen.

The emperor's wedding is very festive, but also very complicated.

Zhu Youtang changed into a brand-new Gongmian suit, and took the queen to the Fengxian Hall to visit the family temple and comfort her ancestors.

Today's wedding has many special features. For example, the queen can come in along the royal road, and this time she can follow Zhu Youtang into the Fengxian Hall to pay homage to her ancestors.

Even if it is an imperial wedding, the bride and groom will wear traditional clothes like ordinary people.

It's just that the emperor and the queen did not come to the church to get married. The two parties held a marriage ceremony, which is commonly known as drinking a cup of wine.

The couple sat opposite each other, and the female deacon held up a large plate filled with vegetables and placed it between them. Then the female officer used four pure gold wine glasses to pour wine for the emperor and empress, called Jinzun wine.

During this ceremony, a total of three glasses of wine are consumed, which is quite complicated. After each glass of wine, a few bites of vegetables and staple food will be eaten.

The bride pours a glass of wine and hands it to the groom. The groom takes a sip and hands it to the bride, who drinks it all in one gulp.

The groom pours a glass of wine and gives it to the bride. The bride takes a sip and gives it back to the groom, who drinks it all in one gulp.

When it came to the last third glass of wine, the emperor and the empress each poured wine for each other, and then saluted each other. This time they wanted to finish the ceremony with a few more bites of food.

It's just that the emperor and the empress are not ordinary people after all. They will have their own confidants.

It is recorded in the history books that those who call the emperor's followers cook the queen's food, and those who call the emperor's followers cook the emperor's food. To put it simply, the emperor's maid must eat the queen's leftovers, and the queen's maids must eat the emperor's leftovers.

Zhu Youtang felt weird about this "sharing food" arrangement, but he couldn't interfere too much.

In fact, this arrangement is equivalent to raising the queen's status. At least it can make people around her remember who is the queen. People like Guo Yong, Liu Jin and others around her can recognize Chang Yourong's identity as mistress Chang Yourong.

Similarly, the people around the queen must also understand whose emperor's food he is eating, so they must also be loyal to the emperor Hongzhi.

After the marriage ceremony is over, the groom's clothes and the bride's clothes will be changed and back to ordinary clothes.

According to convention, the location of the emperor's wedding bridal chamber was arranged in Kunning Palace.

The main color of the bridal chamber is red, with red happy characters and couplets posted on the door, a Baizi curtain hung on the bed, a Baizi quilt spread on the bed, and a bright red curtain embroidered with dragon and phoenix double happiness hanging above the bed.

The door of Kunning Palace is closed, this is an extraordinary wedding night.

Although Zhu Youtang was a little tired, when he saw the peerless beauty sitting on the edge of the wedding bed, his fatigue disappeared inexplicably, and instead he felt a sense of expectation that all the hardships would be rewarded.

At this moment, Chang Yourong had already changed into the regular clothes worn by the queen, and her well-proportioned identity was displayed, but she wore a bright red hijab on her head.

Seeing Chang Yourong clenching his hands nervously, Zhu Youtang couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly. He reached out and picked up a weighing rod on the table, then came to the bed and gently picked up the red hijab.

The red wax is light and the beauty is picturesque.

Chang Yourong has exquisite facial features and a relatively tall figure. She has a natural aura of a queen, especially her beautiful and majestic eyebrows.

If a woman is like a flower, then at this moment, Chang Youyong has ushered in the best season, is blooming at her most glorious side, and looks like the most beautiful bride since the dawn of time.

The advantage of the audition is that the most beautiful women in the country will be sent here. All they need to do is wash off the dirt on their bodies, and they will become the stunning queens in the world.

"The beauty conceals the present and the past, and the lotus embarrasses the beautiful face!"

When Zhu Youtang saw the beautiful queen in front of him, he couldn't help but praise her.

Different from Fan Jinling's charm, Qingyue's intelligence and generosity, and Bei Fei's liveliness and cheerfulness, the queen in front of her seemed to be the most colorful peony flower, possessing a naturally noble temperament.

In fact, although Chang Yourong is considered a "folk girl", there was a woman in her family who was honored as a queen, and she was even more so after her contribution to the founding of the country.

It's just that the glory of the ancestors can be traced back to decades ago, but now Chang Yourong only thinks that she is an ordinary woman. Now when she heard the emperor's praise, she immediately blushed with embarrassment.

Zhu Youtang noticed that the Xi quilt was sprinkled with red dates, longan and other symbolic objects, so he grabbed a few red dates and said: "Queen, you weren't full just now, were you?"

After all, etiquette is etiquette. This process focuses on the rigor of etiquette. It is impossible to feed you until you are full during the ceremony.

Chang Yourong nodded first, then shook his head.

Zhu Youtang picked up a red date and put it into his mouth, and then joked directly: "You can't be mute anymore?"

"I'm nervous!" Chang Yourong responded in a crisp voice, appearing to be honest.

Zhu Youtang generously handed over two red dates: "You must be hungry to feel nervous. Eat something to fill your stomach and you won't be nervous!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the gift!" Chang Yourong knew it was not because he was nervous, but he still took the red dates to express his gratitude.

Zhu Youtang found that the woman in front of him was very good-looking, and continued to eat a red date, then asked with interest: "Why don't you eat it? Why are you nervous?"

"I have become your Majesty's queen and the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. I am afraid that I will not do well, and I am also afraid that if I do something wrong, your majesty will not like it!" Chang Yourong hesitated for a moment, then put aside the worries in his heart at this moment. speak out.

Zhu Youtang spit out the red date core in his mouth and said very seriously: "I am actually happy, but also a little worried! This harem is really too deserted on weekdays. After I returned to the palace, I could only stay in the dry house every night. Qing Palace, now you can come to Kunning Palace to stay for a while. It’s just that I’m afraid that after you come in, the harem will suddenly become restless. If I have to worry about state affairs and have to deal with the affairs of the harem, I will be really worried!”

"I must manage the harem well, and I will not let His Majesty worry!" Chang Yourong also wanted to be a good helper, and promised seriously.

A bitter look appeared on Zhu Youtang's face, and he looked into Chang Yourong's eyes: "Queen, do you still remember the last question I gave you three?"

"Remember, His Majesty asked the three of us to use all the available power around us to move the stone away from the lake? I did it!" Chang Yourong met Zhu Youtang's eyes and responded seriously.

Zhu Youtang threw away the remaining red dates and suddenly turned around and threw Chang Yourong's fragrant body on the bed: "If you don't mention this, a spring snack is worth a thousand pieces of gold!"

Their eyes met each other, full of tenderness.

Zhu Youtang felt like he got what he wanted at this moment. Although he didn't complete the last question very well, all the candlelight girls were eliminated, and then he undoubtedly chose a queen that was very satisfactory to him.

Tonight at least, that option seems sensible.

"One more thing?" Chang Yourong's heart was beating loudly as he was suddenly knocked down, but he suddenly remembered the unfinished business.

Zhu Youtang was suddenly confused and looked puzzled: "What's the matter?"

"What did your Majesty mean when he said in front of the Fengtian Palace that it will be bitter first and then sweet?"

"I... will let you know!"

The corners of Zhu Youtang's mouth raised slightly, thinking that today's busy schedule was just for this moment, wasn't it?

In the huge Kunning Palace, the red light of Daxi swayed with a touch of softness, and an unharmonious scene was playing out in the small world on the bed.

Autumn is here, will spring come again?

Life is very strange, but after breaking it, I seem to have a completely new understanding of the world.

Chang Yourong actually didn't quite understand why His Majesty would choose her whose family status was in decline, but she was already in this position, so she would work hard to be a good wife.

After all, she and him were really connected.

The spring night was restless, and a funny smile appeared on Chang Yourong's beautiful face, and she even took the initiative to hug Zhu Youtang tightly.

The wedding ceremony is actually planned for the next five days.

It's just that the current empire is different from the previous dynasties. It has broken the usual pattern of sharing the blessings of peace with its neighbors through tolerance. The Ming Dynasty took the initiative to provoke the southwest war.