These items were simply too adorable, utterly irresistible.
Even after they were carried far away, some covetous kids still squeezed through the crowd and clung closely behind, much to the distress of their parents.
If it weren't for the guards from the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion maintaining order, the whole street would have been in chaos.
After those novel items, only some delicate jewelry and silk fabrics remained.
People felt that the dowry from the Bai Mansion seemed endless, carried in load after load.
And every single item was so rare that it made countless young masters from wealthy families in Yongding City green with envy.
Especially those young gentlemen who had participated in Bai Zheng's matchmaking banquet. They all gritted their teeth in frustration. If they had just tried a bit harder back then, all these rare treasures would have been theirs today.
How could they have let the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion take such a huge advantage!
Now, they wanted these wonderful things but didn't even know where to buy them.
They could only sigh in despair looking at the loads.
Undoubtedly, this day was the liveliest in Yongding City in the past decade.
To watch the dowry from the Bai Mansion, Yongding Street was packed. So many people were squeezed that their feet left the ground and they were practically hung ten steps away.
The teahouses on both sides of the main street were also full. People were scrambling to lean out of the windows, watching those rare and precious items being carried with much fanfare from the Bai Mansion all the way into the grand entrance of the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion.
Bai Zheng sat in the bridal sedan chair, only hearing the exclamations outside getting louder and louder.
The smile on her lips grew wider and wider.
Although she couldn't clearly hear what was being said outside, she could estimate from the reactions of the crowd that the desired effect had been achieved.
As Bai Zheng was secretly delighted, after a long time of the outside fanfare, the sedan chair finally stopped.
After a while, there was a soft "bang", as if the person was afraid of startling the person inside the sedan chair. The sedan door was gently kicked open. In an even more jubilant cheer, the red silk was handed in again.
"Zheng'er, we're home."
Feng Linyuan's gentle voice came, warming Bai Zheng's heart.
Home.
From now on, the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion would be her home.
Bai Zheng couldn't lift her bridal veil to see what the joyous Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion looked like today, but she could tell from the surrounding sounds after getting off the sedan chair that the mansion was extremely lively today.
Bai Zheng held the red silk, looking at the ground, and was carefully pulled forward by Feng Linyuan. She stepped over the brazier, crushed the tiles, and walked into the grand entrance of the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion.
The Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion, which hadn't had any guests for a full six years, was filled with guests today.
Due to the special status of the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion in the Great Zhou, not only all the important court officials were present, but also envoys from the Western Liang, Southern Shu, and neighboring small countries had traveled thousands of miles to attend the ceremony.
In addition, because of Feng Linche's surname "Feng" and the generation name "Lin", Emperor Feng Linche, accompanied by Empress Chu, stepped into the mansion with a smiling face. Almost all the princes and princesses of the royal family came to attend the ceremony.
Since there were so many guests today, to prevent a recurrence of the incident where Liufeng's paw was poisoned last time, Feng Linyuan personally locked Liufeng in the room before going to the Bai Mansion to fetch the bride. He didn't let it come out to accompany him.
He didn't want any ill - intentioned people to find another chance to harm it.
After all, Feng Linyuan wouldn't allow any accidents on this wedding day.
Liufeng watched as its master left with light steps. It seemed to sense the joyful aura on its master, so it wagged its tail and comfortably lay beside the couch waiting for Feng Linyuan to come back.
But half a day passed. It only heard that its usually quiet home suddenly became noisy, but its master never came back.
Liufeng got anxious. It nudged the door and found it tightly locked. It barked a few times, but none of the familiar faces usually around paid any attention to it. Immediately, it anxiously paced around, looking for a chance to get out.
It wasn't the fault of the people in the mansion.
Today, some of them had followed Feng Linyuan to the Bai Mansion to fetch the bride, and the others were bustling around in the front yard of the mansion. They had no time to think about the usually well - behaved Liufeng.
"Your Majesty, Empress, the newlyweds are here."
The butler rushed in excitedly to report. The guests in the hall immediately fell silent. Some young princes curiously craned their necks towards the door, eager to catch a first glimpse of the newlyweds.
Feng Linche looked at the eager crowd and smiled, "Is it the auspicious time?"
"Yes, yes." The butler quickly replied, "We brought our new mistress into the mansion's entrance right on the auspicious time."
Feng Linche nodded and said with satisfaction, "The Marquis's Mansion really does things thoroughly. Since that's the case—"
His solemn gaze swept across the crowd. He cleared his throat and said loudly, "Let the wedding ceremony begin!"
Feng Linche and his entourage were already sitting in the main hall of the Marquis's Mansion. Now, as soon as they heard that the wedding ceremony was about to start, everyone crowded in.
Today, the main hall, which usually looked simple and grand, was filled with a festive red color. Red candles burned brightly, happy characters were posted everywhere, and lanterns were hung high, making everyone's face look joyful.
Feng Linche and Empress Chu sat high on the main seats. On the central table were the memorial tablets of the old Marquis of Dingyuan and the late Marquis's wife. On the left side were all the important court officials and foreign envoys, and on the right side were the royal family members.
As the step - mother and the only person from the harem who had come out of the palace, Empress Chu was responsible for taking care of every prince and princess who had come out with her.
At this moment, she had just withdrawn her gaze from looking outside the door and habitually glanced at the young princes and princesses.
Suddenly, her brows frowned, and she whispered,
"Where's the Ninth Prince?"
The youngest Ninth Prince was at the most mischievous age. Empress Chu originally didn't want to bring him.
But he had just gotten separated in the snow on Longshan for a while before. Then he had witnessed the fire at the Grand Commandant's Mansion with his own eyes. At such a young age, he had caught a cold and been frightened. He had been bed - ridden for a whole month after returning to the palace before he could get up.
Now that he had finally regained some energy, as soon as he heard that his siblings could go out of the palace, he had clamored to come out with his elder brothers to "watch the bride".
Feng Linche had always doted on this youngest son, so he immediately agreed.
Among the young princes and princesses, Empress Chu was most worried about this Ninth Prince. She had taken the strictest care of him all the way here.
But who would have thought that just after they had entered the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion for a short while, the boy was gone?
Empress Chu was a bit anxious. Even though the Marquis of Dingyuan's Mansion was as well - guarded as an iron bucket and was even more difficult to break into than the palace, today was no ordinary day. There were too many people coming and going. If the Ninth Prince disappeared, it might be dangerous.
"I'll go out and look for him right away."
The female official beside Empress Chu quickly withdrew and started searching for the boy all over the mansion.
The anxiety on Empress Chu's face flashed by. When facing the crowd, she quickly regained her smile, but it didn't reach her eyes.
From time to time, her eyes would still sweep towards the empty seat in the corner where the Ninth Prince should have been sitting.
Where on earth had he run off to?