Chapter 5 The Ceremony Begins

In the great hall of the underground royal palace, many ministers and high-ranking generals had arrived early, waiting for this grand occasion.

"Why isn't there even any food today?" Zhanya pursed her lips and complained.

Goshuya raised the wine glass in his hand and said to Zhanya, "This wine is as bland as water; do you still expect to have fresh melons and fruits to eat?"

Zhanya glanced toward the inner hall and sneered, "He claims how much he loves this younger sister and has found her a good match, but in my view, he simply can't wait for Leia to leave!"

Goshuya let out a cold snort and said, "Doesn't the Prime Minister always play the peacemaker? Why is he expressing opposition so openly today? Could it be because the Queen withheld your vegetables and grain this time?"

Zhanya did not speak, only glaring fiercely in the direction from which the two Queens were approaching.

Leia looked exceptionally beautiful today. A white, floor-length gauze dress perfectly revealed her exquisite and graceful figure. Although the lighting was dim, her fair skin made her look remarkably radiant and moving. Women of the neighboring realms were naturally endowed with charming features, and combined with her upbringing in the royal family since childhood, Leia appeared all the more poised and graceful.

"Her Royal Highness, you look so pretty today! You're even prettier than the swallows next door!" The little boy from the Shi family tilted his head and praised Leia.

Leia smiled, squatted down, reached out to stroke the little boy's cheek, and asked with concern, "Little Ke, is your mother feeling better? Thanks to running into her that day, otherwise your mother couldn't have been saved!"

The little boy called Little Ke lifted his pretty face and said with a smile, "Thank you, Your Royal Highness. The last bit of dry fiber left by my father that day had already been eaten. Mother said the grain should have been delivered to our house long ago, but for some reason it never arrived. I was too weak from hunger at the time, so Mother jumped into the big pot herself to dehydrate."

Tears swirled in Leia's eyes, but she tried her utmost to hold them back from falling. After all, she had nothing left to touch up her makeup with, and she did not want to meet her fiancé with a streaked face.

"I only went over when I heard Mrs. Xu shouting. The fire was already burning so fiercely; if I had gone any later, that pot of water would have boiled, and your mother would have remained dry fiber forever."

Leia tilted her head back and finished these words.

Little Ke tilted his head, touched Leia's neck with his tiny hand, and said, "Princess, why are you sad? Mother said that turning into dry fiber was so I could have something to eat; as long as I can live, she will be very happy. Just like Father back then, who also turned into dry fiber for me and Mother. Are you sad because you're hungry? Don't cry, I'll turn into dry fiber so you can boil me and eat!"

That's it! Leia thought to herself. Instantly, the tears she had imprisoned in her eyes poured down from the corners like a flash flood. Instead, Leia felt a sense of relief; she simply lowered her head and let the tears flow to her heart's content.

"Little Ke! Sister is not hungry! Sister is marrying this complete stranger today precisely so that in the future, all ordinary people like you and your mother will never again need to boil yourselves to feed the ones you love most."

Little Ke clearly did not understand what the pretty sister who was crying her eyes out meant, but he still obediently nodded.

Leia wiped the tears from her face, shook a handful of grain in her hand, and said to Little Ke, "Good boy, Little Ke! You'll help Sister carry her train today. If you do it well, I'll give you a big bag of grain as a reward, and you can take it back to help your mother build up her strength."

When Little Ke heard there was food to take back, his eyes instantly lit up. He raised his tiny fist high and said, "I will definitely help Princess Sister carry her train well." The seriousness on his tender face brought an involuntary smile to Leia's lips.

At that moment, music began to play, and everyone immediately stood at attention. Queens Gaona and Ligen were seen walking gracefully toward the crowd in gorgeous dresses, accompanied by Yu Changsheng, who wore formal ceremonial attire, followed by a guard of honor from the Cloud-Top Heavenly Palace.

"The distinguished guests from the Cloud Palace and Their Majesties the Queens have arrived!" announced the master of ceremonies, drawing out the final syllable.

Gaona and Ligen wore smiles as they introduced something to Yu Changsheng, their faces beaming like flowers, covering their mouths as they leaned back and forth, appearing thoroughly delighted.

"Looking at the two of them, you'd think they were desperate to marry themselves off!" Zhanya muttered.

"What's the background of that boy from the Cloud Palace?" Goshuya asked, boredly swirling the wine in his cup.

"I heard he's the nephew of the White Tiger Palace Master; his background is no small matter!" Zhanya said.

"Mm! I can tell. Look at the soldiers in the guard of honor behind him—every single one of them is poised and extraordinary. I bet they are all cultivation-level masters! What a grand spectacle!" Goshuya said with deep envy.

He drained the wine—or rather, water—in his cup in one gulp, and said to Zhanya beside him, "You say that as a general of the entire neighboring realm, what kind of good-for-nothings do I have under my command? If I could have an army like that, I would surely conquer all before us and expand our territory for the kingdom."

"Forget it! It's already hard enough for our generations to eke out enough to eat. Those three omens of doom hovering over our heads might destroy us at any moment. Hey, look! Princess Leia and that boy from the Cloud Palace actually look quite well-matched standing together!" Zhanya remarked.

Goshuya glanced at the ceremony unfolding ahead, sighed, and said, "Now that the Princess is going to such a distant place, I wonder if the people of the Cloud Palace will bully her. I really worry for her!"

"Bullying is unlikely, but given the Princess's temperament, I'm afraid she will bring trouble upon herself! Did you know? A while ago, she tried to persuade me to support her plan to migrate to the Cloud Palace, saying that if it succeeded, we would never have to fear sudden natural disasters again. Tell me, isn't that sheer wishful thinking?" Zhanya said, watching the two exchanging tokens ahead.

"You can't put it that way! After all, this idea is much more reliable than our Queens' earthly paradise. Up until now, no one has ever laid eyes on that so-called earthly paradise, wouldn't you say?" Goshuya turned his head and asked Zhanya.

"I can't manage that much! I'm already getting old, and in two years I'll be due for retirement. Once retired, I'll be forcibly dehydrated into a pile of dry fiber. Whether it's going to the Cloud-Top Heavenly Palace or the earthly paradise, it has nothing to do with an old man like me." Seeing that the ceremony was coming to an end, Zhanya finished the last drops of wine and water in his cup, set it down, and left the grand hall.

Just as Gaona announced that the ceremony had successfully concluded, a guard hurried over to her side and whispered a few words in her ear. Gaona's expression changed drastically, and she asked in bewilderment, "Left? So soon?"