Whistle! Whistle!
Chirp! Chirp!
A young man clad in white stood by a small bridge by the lake and a tree. The young man stood by the lake as his clothes rustled, and his hair danced along with the flowing breeze of the wind.
He took a flute out of his belt and began to play a soft tune. He took a step forward, and another as he stood on a small boat.
The small boat began to drift from the bridge, as the young man continued playing his tune. The tune he played enabled one who listened, to picture a young man entering a foreign land to fend for themselves.
As the story continued, the young man grew older and his fame started to spread.
Eventually, his name was known all across the land, and on his deathbed, millions of people paid him their respects, while his children kneeled beside his bed.
When his tune ended, the young man found that he had drifted back to the bridge. He got up onto the bridge and started to walk back to his room. Inside his room, two beautiful maidens could be seen together.
One wore a maids gown, while the other wore a crimson red gown with a golden phoenix sewn onto it. Her lips were red with lipstick, while a minimal amount of makeup could be traced on her exquisite face.
The young woman in red was clearly wearing a wedding dress. The two young women began to leave the room as the young man returned.
"I'll see you later." the young man said.
"En." the woman in red replied as she left the room.
The young man changed his white clothes into a red one. It was clearly a gown for men who were about to get married.
His gown has a golden dragon sewn on the back, while the front was plain red. He also changed his hair tie into a red one, which matched his clothes. When he finished changing, he heard the door being knocked on softly.
Knock. Knock.
The young man opened the door and saw a familiar old man waiting by the door. Behind him, a few men in similar but more simple clothes bowed their heads when the young man opened the door.
"We have come to pick you up, your majesty." the leading old man spoke with his head bowed and his hands cuffed.
"Are the preparations complete, Prime minister?" the young man asked.
"Yes, they have been completed. The guests are only waiting on your majesty. They have brought many gifts for your wedding." the Prime minister replied.
"I see, let's not keep them waiting then." the young man spoke as he closed the door and followed behind the ministers.
In another room that was incredibly large, many tables filled with the finest of foods, wine, and guests could be seen and heard. Many of them were famous enough that they had received personal invitations to the wedding.
The guests had also brought along one or two people to come along and enjoy the banquet with them, while others had brought guards along.
The atmosphere was cheerful as the sound of laughter and music could be heard. In the middle of the room, many women dressed in revealing clothes danced along with the music in order to entertain the guests.
In a certain corner of the room, a middle-aged man spoke to another middle-aged man nearby.
"I wonder who this new Prince Consort to be is? I heard that nobody besides the empress and the ministers know his identity. Could it be a famous youth like Guo Jinyou?" he said.
"I don't think so. if it were somebody we knew then his identity would've been revealed. I heard that the empress had fallen in love at first sight and immediately made him her Prince Consort on the spot." the other man replied.
"Is that so? My informants didn't mention that, I should retrain them." the man frowned.
"Whoever it is, I hope they are worthy of the empress who is also one of the world's most prominent cultivators."
"Hah! There are hardly any youth's on the entire continent who have potential close to her highness'. Even that Ping Xuefeng is close. Unfortunately, he already has someone he loves and isn't interested in the empress."
"Otherwise, they would be a match made in heaven." the man who frowned continued.
"You're right, well there's no point in trying to guess at this point. Let's just enjoy the wine." the other man laughed as the two men drank their wine.
**********
Through the very kingdom of Ying was bustling in celebration. The news of the empress' royal wedding was spread a week before the actual wedding. The streets were decorated in red, shops were selling things cheap, while people who were normally in conflict drank wine with each other.
The children ran around holding paper windmills while singing a song that had been taught to them by their parents.
*********
In the bustling and rowdy banquet of guests, the Prime minister appeared. The guests all became quiet.
"The time has come, everyone please welcome the empress!" the Prime minister said using his Divine will to speak.
The ministers who were also among the crowd, as well as the guests all, stood up in unison. The door was opened by two men in armor. As the door opened completely, a young woman wearing a red dress and a red veil walked inside.
Behind her, her maid Yang Xinyue wearing a new set of clothes followed her step by step. Their long gowns dragged along the floor as they passed through the center of the room.
"Your majesty!" the ministers all said in unison.
Bing Yi Jian walked to the very top of the staircase and stood to the right. Yang Xinyue stood on the side, while the guests all turned their attention to the Prime minister.
"Please welcome Prince Consort Dong Yi!" the Prime minister said.
The crowd began to talk to each other using their Divine will. Many of them wondered who the new Prince Consort who would be the husband of the Empress of Ying would be. None of them had ever heard the name Dong Yi and couldn't match his name with anyone they had heard of either.
The same door that Bing Yi Jian had just come through was opened once again. Wu Dong Yi in his red gown took a step forward.
His appearance wasn't anything special, but he was a little handsome depending on the person who looked at him.
He didn't pay attention to the guests as he walked through and arrived up the staircase beside Bing Yi Jian.
The husband and wife pair stood side by side. The wedding ceremony would now officially begin.
The Prime minister stood in the middle, in front of the pair and began reading from a scroll. After he finished reading it, Wu Dong Yi and Bing Yi Jian turned to face each other.
Wu Dong Yi slowly took the veil off and handed it to Yang Xinyue.
Both of them held cups of wine in their hands.
"One to your parents." the Prime minister said.
Both Wu Dong Yi and Bing Yi Jian turned to face the crowd and drank in unison.
"One to the Heaven and Earth."
The pair who had their cups replaced pour the contents onto the ground.
"One to the nation."
The pair drank the final cup before facing the crowd.
The crowd began clapping as they finished. The Prime minister went down and sat in his seat, while Bing Yi Jian and Wu Dong Yi sat in their seats side-by-side.
"Congratulations your majesty." the ministers said as they sat down.
"Thank you." Bing Yi Jian replied.
"Your majesty, may I ask how you had met?" a man wearing an expensive-looking gown spoke in his seat.
"I see you are here, the second prince of Ding, Ding Huan." Bing Yi Jian replied.
"Of course, your majesty is being wed, how can I as a prince of a nation not celebrate with your majesty?" Ding Huan said.
"As for how we met, I'm sure that you have heard some rumors. It is indeed as the rumors have said, I had fallen in love at first sight." Bing Yi Jian answered his question without changing her expression.
"Ooo!!!" the crowd was bustling in cheers.
Wu Dong Yi looked at Ding Huan. The man who seemed to be in his late twenties, while wearing expensive clothing was quite good looking. He could sense a strong aura behind his smiling face.
"General Gongsun, has brother Zhong arrived in time?" Bing Yi Jian asked.
The old general who had mentioned that his grandson was arriving cuffed his hands.
"Your majesty, he has sent me a message saying that he will be arriving here shortly." General Gongsun replied respectfully.
Suddenly, at the entrance, a shadow of someone coming closer could be seen. Wu Dong Yi could tell that the young man was handsome. His power also seemed to be much stronger than his own power.
Of course, since he had just entered the Martial Path, Wu Dong Yi is only on the same level as little kids. It had been some time since he had entered the Body Tempering realm since he trained in the pagoda every day since then, his cultivation had been elated greatly.
With his talent as well as the help of the pagoda, Wu Dong Yi who was at the doorstep of the Body Tempering realm just a couple weeks ago, is now at the peak of the realm.
With just a small push, he would be at the Qi Condensation stage. By then, he would be able to use Qi in his attacks.
Even though he was at this stage, Wu Dong Yi decided to stay in this realm to consolidate his foundation to the highest possible point.
He knew that it wouldn't take long even if he were to slack off in his cultivation. Before him, a young man in armor walked through the corridor and bowed on one knee.
"Gongsun Zhong greets your majesty the empress and the prince consort." Gongsun Zhong spoke. Even though he didn't speak loud, since the hall was silent, his voice could be heard clearly.
"Rise brother Zhong." Bing Yi Jian replied.
"Congratulations on your royal wedding forgive me for arriving late." Gongsun Zhong said as he stood up.
"No matters, you have been protecting the borders between the states, it was good that you would make time to return for my wedding." Bing Yi Jian spoke.
Since Wu Dong Yi didn't know the young man who didn't seem to be much older than himself, he didn't say anything and simply watched the scene unfold.
Gongsun Zhong quickly found his grandfather and sat behind him.
"Your majesty, I heard that consort Dong Yi is proficient in instruments. May I dare ask him to play a tune for us?" one of the guests asked.
"It seems you are well informed, Lu Yimu, as expected of the continents number one merchant."
"Since you have asked, it would be unpolite of me to reject." Wu Dong Yi spoke for the first time since the beginning of the banquet.
"Please." Lu Yimu said.
Wu Dong Yi stood up and placed a cushion on the ground. He sat down cross-legged and summoned the guqin he received from the royal treasury.
His slender fingers were placed on the strings as he began to play. His playing induced various feelings in the hearts of the many guests that attended.
Waves of emotion that came from Spiritual Qi could be sensed in the room, his playing ended after a while, as if it had ended in just a moment of time.
When his playing finished, Wu Dong Yi got back in his seat.
"Fantastic, your majesty is talented indeed." Lu Yimu laughed.
The crowd too agreed with him.
While Wu Dong Yi was playing, Bing Yi Jian supported him with her own Spiritual Qi since he wasn't able to do it himself. It was what caused the rippling effect on the hearts of all the guests in the room.
"Let the banquet begin!" the Prime minister said using his Divine will across the entire kingdom. The citizens below the palace heard his voice and began celebrating more so than they had throughout the morning.
**************
After the wedding, Wu Dong Yi and Bing Yi Jian returned to their room. They changed after having a bath, then had dinner along with Yang Xinyue.
"You invited quite a lot of guests." Wu Dong Yi said.
Bing Yi Jian nodded.
"How do you feel?" she asked him.
"I'm fine," he replied.
After dinner, Wu Dong Yi sat on his bed and started cultivating throughout the night. For cultivators such as Bing Yi Jian and Yang Xinyue, they would absorb the energy of Heaven and Earth automatically and convert it into Spiritual Qi, hence they did not need to cultivate as Wu Dong Yi does.
When morning came, Wu Dong Yi opened his eyes and got dressed as he held a scroll in his hand and walked outside his room.