I woke up as the Villainous Empress

It was the tradition of the royal palace that the Empress comes to the entrance gate along with all the court ladies and concubines of His Majesty to welcome the new bride who is soon going to tie the knot with the Crown Prince and become the Crown Princess of the Empire.

The concubines were carrying bamboo woven baskets that were filled with flowers to shower on the bride to welcome her and the court ladies were carrying small jars of scented water to drizzle on the bride’s family.

Meanwhile, some court ladies were carrying food trays to welcome the family and guests of the bride with drinks and refreshments since they have come a long way.

Along with the court ladies and concubines, there was a group of few men standing with them as well. They had Chinese drums hanging from their necks and were beating the drums in an exciting rhythm to welcome the new bride.

Some were holding other musical instruments to welcome the new bride in a magnificent and musical way.

” Is everyone here to welcome the bride?” One of the concubines who were standing in the middle of the group asked while looking around to make sure that everyone must be standing in waiting to welcome the bride’s family.

“The carriage of the bride is going to arrive soon. Where is Her Majesty? Shouldn’t she be standing here with us to welcome the new bride?” One of the concubines who were standing in the front line looked around and asked when she failed to find the Empress standing among them.

” Someone already went to inform her that the bride’s carriage will be arriving soon. If she hasn’t come to welcome her yet, I assume that she will not be coming to welcome the new bride. Is she not delighted with this marriage alliance?” The concubine standing next to her wondered.

.....

” How can that be possible? Isn’t the Empress related to Minister Yang? I had heard that they belong to the same clan and she was the one who put a good word for Yang Ning to His Majesty. How can she not be pleased by this marriage alliance?” The concubine raised a question.

While everyone was wondering why Her Majesty wasn’t present to welcome the new bride, one of the court ladies caught the glimpse of the carriage approaching the royal palace and shouted loudly to alert everyone, ” The bride’s carriage is here. I can see their caravan approaching!”

...

Yang Ning’s carriage stopped in front of the royal palace with the servants and maids of the Yang Household walking in front and side of the carriage, leading the way. The bride’s wooden litter chair was decorated with flowers and red silk curtains.

When they reached their destination, the carriage stopped in front of the royal palace and the man servants who were carrying the poles of the carriage on their shoulders put it on the ground carefully.

Chang Ah’s carriage which was following Yang Ning’s carriage from behind was also put down on the ground with care. Meanwhile, Yang Luoyang who was riding his horse, also came to a halt when all the carriages stopped one by one upon reaching the royal palace.

The men who were holding the drums started to beat them faster and louder to announce the arrival of the new bride. The court ladies started to chant ceremonial folk songs to give a warm and hearty welcome to the bride’s family.

Yang Ning was in her carriage and was wearing a red see-through veil that has golden thread embroidery adorning it and using it to cover her face according to the tradition.

She groaned tiredly as her neck was feeling sore from sitting in the compact carriage for quite a while.

The distance between Yang Household and the royal palace was not long enough for her body to feel sore. However, since it was the wedding caravan, the servants were taking their sweet time moving forward and were singing folk songs on the way and beating the Chinese drums to announce that the bride’s carriage was moving towards the royal palace for the royal wedding.

It was quite a show.

At first, she was exhilarated to see so much excitement in the eyes of the people and was amazed by the festival-like wedding processions.

However, after a while, she started to feel exhausted from sitting inside the cramped carriage for a long time and her whole body started to feel sore. Her ears were now numb due to the loud musical band that was playing along the slowly moving caravan.

Just like the royal palace, they have also prepared a musical band to walk along with the bride’s caravan.

___

When the carriage finally stopped in front of the royal palace, Yang Ning let out a sigh of relief. She wanted to get out of the carriage hurriedly and stretch her body.

However, rather than pushing the curtain aside, Yu Ling covered the carriage door completely, so that no one could peek inside the carriage and catch a glimpse of the bride before all the formalities.

“Please let me out. I want to pee!” Yang Ning cried in agony when Yu Ling stopped her from stepping out and asked her to stay in for a while more.

Yu Ling didn’t heed Yang Ning’s cries as she stood next to the carriage and waited for Chang Ah and Yang Luoyang to walk to the front to meet the ladies who were waiting to welcome them.

Chang Ah got out of her carriage with the help of Xing Bao and walked to the front gate of the palace along with Yang Luoyang and greeted the concubines and court ladies who were standing there to welcome the bride and the bride’s family.

The concubines showered them with flowers and the court ladies drizzled the scented water on them to wish them good luck and prosperity.

Yang Luoyang’s expression turned gloomy when he noticed the absence of the Empress to welcome him here. She is the mother of the Crown Prince, how can she not come outside to welcome the bride?

Everyone started to talk about this matter and started to whisper about the new bride who is not favored by the Empress.

“Erm....Her Majesty was not feeling well. That is why she couldn’t come here to welcome the bride and is resting in her chamber. You can meet her at the tea ceremony later.” One of the Concubines spoke up when she noticed the embarrassed and troubled expressions on Yang Luoyang’s face.

“It’s alright. Her Majesty’s health is more important.” Yang Luoyang faked a smile but from inside, his heart was burning.

How can she not come outside to welcome them and humiliate him like this? Did she suddenly have issues about their alliance?

Weren’t they on the same side from the start? He wants to gain more power and wants a monarch who will listen to his words like his puppet and never stop him from doing whatever he wants in the facade of working as the Finance Minister, meanwhile, she wishes for the doom of Zheng Liang.

Since Zheng Liang, the crown prince and the future Emperor didn’t wish to follow his orders and had a rebellious mindset, he joined hands with the Empress to reduce his power as much as they could.

He would have never sided with the Empress even though they belonged to the same clan if Zheng Liang was the type to follow his commands and listen to him well. If he had done that, he would have supported instead to become the Emperor.

However, rather than being a prince who follows whatever he says blindly and is too lady to use his brain, he turned out to be the smart and intelligent crown prince who takes his responsibilities seriously and works hard.

Maybe that was one of the reasons why His Majesty chose him to become the Crown Prince and succeed the crown in the future as the Emperor because he has also seen the burning passion inside Zheng Liang and the zeal to serve the country with utmost sincerity.

That’s why he fixed Yang Ning’s marriage with Zheng Liang to get regular updates on his actions. So that he will always be one step ahead of him in every single thing and will never get caught.

Now only if Yang Ning does her part right, no one can stop him from achieving whatever he wants in his life.

.....

After welcoming the bride’s family, it was time for the bride to step out of the carriage and enter the royal palace where the wedding ceremony will take place.

” Lady Yu Ling, why are you standing with the bride’s group? You should be standing here with us to welcome the new bride.” One of the court ladies shouted to get the attention of Yu Ling who was standing next to Yang Ning’s carriage.

She is Head of the Court Ladies of the palace, she should be welcoming the bride with them and not stand with the bride’s group instead.

Yu Ling smiled to see her fellow court ladies teasing her and shouted back at them, ” Today I am here as the bride’s handmaiden and not as the Head of the Court Ladies of the royal palace.”

” So I will be judging the preparations that you made to welcome us, the bride’s side. It will be your practical examination to evaluate your work.” She said, at which all the court ladies groaned in disbelief.

How can she take their examination on a happy occasion like today?

Yu Ling chuckled to see their reactions and was pleased by the impact of her words.