Chapter 5 The Ritual Begins

Inside the grand hall of the subterranean palace, numerous ministers and high-ranking generals had arrived early, waiting in anticipation of this momentous occasion.

"Why is there not even any food today?" Zhanya muttered, curling her lips in complaint.

Goshuya raised his goblet and said to Zhanya, "The wine is as watery as can be. Do you really expect to find fresh melons and fruits?"

Glancing toward the inner hall, Zhanya sneered, "They claim to love this younger sister so dearly and have found her such a fine match, but if you ask me, they are simply eager to be rid of Leia as soon as possible!"

Goshuya let out a cold hum. "Has not the Prime Minister always been one to smooth things over? Why openly express opposition today? Could it be because Her Majesty docked your vegetable and grain rations?"

Zhanya remained silent, her gaze fixed with venomous hostility in the direction from which the two Queens were expected to arrive.

Today, Leia looked exceptionally breathtaking. A white, floor-length tulle gown draped effortlessly over her exquisite figure, revealing every curve. Though the lighting was dim, her fair skin radiated an ethereal, captivating glow. The women of the Border Realm were naturally endowed with delicate beauty, and paired with her lifelong royal upbringing, Leia carried herself with a grace that was entirely effortless.

"Your Highness, you look so extraordinarily lovely today! You are even prettier than the swallows in the neighboring realm!" A young boy from the Shi family tilted his head back, gazing up at her in admiration.

Leia smiled, kneeling down to gently cup the boy's cheek. With tender concern, she asked, "Little Ke, is your mother feeling any better? If I hadn't happened to cross paths with her that day, there would have been no saving her!"

The boy, known as Little Ke, tilted his handsome face and smiled brightly. "Thank you, Your Highness. The last bit of dried fiber left by my father had already been eaten that day. Mother said the grain rations should have been delivered to our home long ago, but for some reason, they never arrived. I was too weak from hunger, so Mother simply jumped into the large pot to dehydrate herself."

Tears welled up in Leia's eyes, but she fought desperately to hold them back. After all, she had no cosmetics left to retouch her makeup, and she refused to face her betrothed with a streaked and tear-stained face.

"I only came over because I heard Mrs. Xu calling out. The fire was already burning so fiercely—had I arrived even a moment later, the water in that pot would have boiled, and your mother would have remained mere dried fiber forever."

Leia tilted her head back and finished these words.

Little Ke tilted his head, reaching out with his small hand to stroke Leia's neck. "Why are you sad, Your Highness? Mother said that becoming dried fiber was so she could give me food; as long as I can survive, she will be happy. Just like Father did back then—he turned into dried fiber for me and Mother, too. Are you sad because you are hungry? Don't cry, I can turn into dried fiber and let you boil me to eat!"

That did it! Leia thought. The tears she had imprisoned behind her eyelids instantly breached their dams, cascading down her cheeks like a sudden flash flood. Yet, feeling strangely liberated, Leia simply lowered her head and let the tears flow to her heart's content.

"Little Ke! Sister is not hungry! Sister is marrying someone she doesn't even know today precisely so that in the future, all ordinary people like you and your mother will no longer need to boil themselves to feed the ones they love most."

Little Ke clearly did not understand what the tear-soaked, beautiful sister before him meant, but he nodded obediently all the same.

Wiping the tears from her face, Leia shook a small pouch of grain in her hand and said to Little Ke, "Be a good boy, Little Ke! Today, you shall carry Sister's train. If you do a good job, I will give you a large bag of grain as your reward, and you can take it back to help your mother regain her strength."

Upon hearing that there was food to bring home, Little Ke's eyes instantly lit up. He raised his tiny fists high and declared, "I will surely help Princess Sister carry her train properly!" The solemn earnestness on his childish face brought an involuntary, gentle smile to Leia's lips.

At that moment, music swelled through the hall, and the crowd instantly fell silent. Queens Gaona and Ligen strode gracefully toward the crowd, clad in magnificent, ornate gowns. Walking beside them was Yu Changsheng, draped in elaborate ceremonial attire, followed closely by a phalanx of honor guards from the Cloud Peak Palace.

"The distinguished guests from the Cloud Palace and Their Majesties have arrived!" the master of ceremonies announced, drawing out the final syllables in a prolonged, theatrical tone.

Gaona and Ligen wore bright smiles as they conversed with Yu Changsheng, pointing things out and laughing so joyfully that they covered their mouths and leaned back and forth.

"Look at the two of them," Zhanya muttered under her breath, "as if they were the ones getting married!"

"Who is this young fellow from the Cloud Palace, anyway?" Goshuya asked, listlessly swirling the contents of his goblet.

"Word has it he is the nephew of the White Tiger Palace Master. His background is far from ordinary!" Zhanya replied.

"Ah, I see! Just look at the soldiers in the honor guard behind him—each one composed, imposing, and exuding an extraordinary aura. I wouldn't be surprised if they are all immortals of a high rank! What a grand spectacle," Goshuya said, consumed with envy.

He drained his cup in a single gulp—whether it contained wine or mere water—and turned to Zhanya. "Tell me, as the general of the entire Border Realm, what sort of pathetic wretches do I have under my command? If I possessed an army like that, I would surely conquer all before us and expand our kingdom's borders."

"Oh, give it a rest!" Zhanya retorted. "It is already a miracle that our generations have managed to scrape by with enough to fill our bellies, especially with those three banes hanging over our heads, ready to destroy us at any moment. But look! Princess Leia and that young man from the Cloud Palace actually look quite well-matched standing together."

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

"Bully her? Unlikely. But knowing the Princess's temperament, she will probably manage to stir up trouble for herself! Did you know? Not long ago, she tried to persuade me to support her emigration plan to the Cloud Palace, claiming that if it succeeded, we would no longer need to fear sudden natural disasters. Can you imagine? Such sheer fantasy!" Zhanya said, watching the couple exchange tokens of betrothal.

"You cannot dismiss it so easily! After all, that idea is far more reliable than our Queens' so-called 'earthly paradise.' Up until now, not a single soul has ever laid eyes on this legendary paradise, have they?" Goshuya turned to ask Zhanya.

"Well, I can no longer concern myself with such matters! I am getting old, and in two years I am due for retirement. Once retired, I shall be forcibly dehydrated into a pile of dried fiber. Whether they go to the Cloud Peak Palace or the earthly paradise, it will make no difference to an old man like me." Seeing that the ceremony was drawing to a close, Zhanya finished the last drop of liquid in her cup, set it down, and left the grand hall.

Just as Gaona triumphantly announced the successful conclusion of the ceremony, a guard hurried up to her, whispering urgently in her ear. Gaona's expression changed dramatically as she asked in utter disbelief, "Left? So soon?"