Transmigration: The Fate of the Villainess

184 Zhen shall bestow on you the marriage with her Part I

“So, are these the royal issues that have to be dealt with in the last few days?”

“Correct.”

“Such a serious matter. And I’m only kept in the dark here.”

“Zhen wants you to rest.”

“’Your Majesty’ is most gracious.”

“Don’t mention it, ‘Empress.’”

Bai Yu clicked her tongue in frustration.

“In a time like this, you should smile for our people.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Bai Yu said through gritted teeth to the man next to her while at the same time smiling at the citizens on both sides of the road. Still, no one was brave enough to lift their faces to look at the ‘mother of the nation.’

.....

The new emperor, who had finished the coronation ceremony a few shichen ago, laughed softly at his empress consort, who was smiling with still stormy eyes. His amusement doubled at the realization that she could not turn to glare at him because of the weight of the phoenix crown that surpassed all headpieces she had ever worn. Laughter escaped Ouyang Feilong, making the twelve strings of the east pearl on his emperor hat sway.

“May the emperor live and reign for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years.”

“May the empress live and reign for a thousand years, a thousand years, thousands of thousands of years.”

No matter where her and Ouyang Feilong’s palanquin passed, the voices of the people showering them with blessings were heard throughout the street. Bai Yu showed a slight smile as she accepted blessings from the people of Da Yang who had been waiting to pay respect to the new ‘emperor’ and ‘empress’ of Da Yang.

Three days after Commander General Ouyang Feilong married Miss Bai Yu, he brought her to visit her family. Then, on the same day, the court officials issued a petition for Ouyang Feilong to ascend the throne. On the fourth day of Bai Yu’s marriage, she was woken up before the break of dawn to dress up and prepare herself for the coronation ceremony, all while still confused.

Even when she met Ouyang Feilong, they still could not have a conversation. The complicated processes of the ceremony were so overwhelming that they gave her a headache. Fortunately, there was a senior royal maid who helped guide her through every step of the coronation. It was until she, the empress, and Ouyang Feilong, the emperor, sat on the palanquin that was going to be paraded for the citizens to see that Bai Yu could finally have a chance to talk to her husband, who had prepared everything without telling her a word of it.

Bai Yu gripped her golden robe tightly. He was playing too much!

“Zhen doesn’t want you to be stressed by the complicated ceremony, so zhen decided to tell you today rather than from the start.” When he saw that it was time for the explanation, Ouyang Feilong stopped playing with his empress and started explaining the reason behind his action.

“Your Majesty isn’t afraid that I might embarrass the both of us?” Her tone became much softer. If Bai Yu had known about the ceremony in advance, then she, as the soon-to-be empress, had to remember everything before the coronation could take place. Ouyang Feilong understood that she was not from this era, and so he had chosen to let her know about the rules and rituals today while having someone to guide her throughout the ceremony. He determined that it would be better than making her force herself to memorize every step needed. All that she had been through was exhausting enough, so he did not wish to burden her anymore.

“You’re as adaptable as ever, my empress.”

“Your Majesty can just say that I’m good at pretending.” Bai Yu rolled her eyes. “And what is it with the rumor that Your Majesty is head over heels for me?”

“Zhen only dislikes false rumors.”

In truth, Ouyang Feilong should have sat on the throne on the first day he married her. Instead, he waited for three days, giving her a chance to go back to visit the Bai family before allowing the courtiers to issue the petition. If she became empress first, it would be much harder to follow Da Yang’s tradition of married women returning to visit their former families. Instead, if she was still Rui Wang Fei, she could go to Bai Mansion and have Ouyang Feilong accompany her too. This was a clear demonstration of how much the new emperor cared for his empress.

The legend of Bai Yu and Ouyang Mingxian’s love saw a sharp drop in popularity and was then replaced by the new story where Bai Yu was the heroine and Ouyang Feilong the hero. And when they saw that the emperor had a smile on his face every time he talked to the empress, the new love story was further solidified among the masses.

“Take Empress to rest. Zhen does not allow anyone to disturb Zhen’s empress.”

That night, Bai Yu and Ouyang Feilong had to attend a banquet. Obviously, she had used up all her energy over the past few days, so Ouyang Feilong gave an order himself, forbidding anyone from bothering her.

When ‘anyone’ heard his words, ‘they’ felt jealousy rising in their hearts. Bai Yu had married into the palace for four days, yet Ouyang Feilong never gave them, his women, an opportunity to greet the new first consort. Though the status had now changed from first consort to empress and from second consort to emperor’s consort, Ouyang Feilong still did not let them come near that Bai woman at all.

And there was not even once where Ouyang Feilong spent the night with them. Other women in the inner court had to suppress their jealousy and turned to dress up in order to steal a glance from the emperor. The chance to live a life of luxury had come. They would not let Empress Bai hog all the favors for herself!

“Bengong will take a nap for a while,” Bai Yu said to four royal maids who had come to help take off her heavy clothes after the palanquin had stopped in front of a palace.

It was surrounded by plum blossom trees, with the blossoms falling and fluttering in the wind. Within a few days, Ouyang Feilong had perfectly prepared everything for her.

“We shall take our leave, Your Majesty.” Four royal maids left silently after they had finished arranging the place for Bai Yu’s afternoon nap. Because of the weighty clothing and accessories, Bai Yu did not notice other nearby palaces nor take an interest in the decorations outside of the plum blossom garden.

Tiredness quickly eased her into slumber, not realizing how she was deepening the jealousy among the women of the inner court with a rumor started by the royal maids.

They said the emperor went to the empress’ palace within less than half a shichen after they parted and stayed there until night fell before leaving to prepare himself for the banquet.

Bai Yu did not know whether she was too tired or if the warmth of Ouyang Feilong’s was too comfortable and made her oversleep. She had to get up to dress herself for the banquet in a hurry, all because a certain dragon let her sleep for too long.

Though they both held the highest status, they still should not have let others wait. Bai Yu guessed that people must be talking about Ouyang Feilong’s coming to her palace, and so she felt she must be punctual. She did not want her husband to be gossiped about as an emperor who was in the palm of a woman’s hand, although the subject himself liked that rumor.

There were many times she had an opportunity to attend a palace banquet. Her seat would normally be near the Xu family and the Yue family. However, this time was completely different. Tonight, Bai Yu was on the right side of Ouyang Feilong, who was in the most honored seat. The seat to his left, saved for his mother, who had lived through two reigns, was empty.