Consort of a Thousand Faces

CHAPTER 414 (1): THE DAY OF THE WEDDING

Translation: Rakumon

At this moment, a palace maid arrived outside of the inner chamber with a water basin. “Prince Hao, the water is here.”

Pei Qianhao replied, “Bring it in.”

Obeying his order, the palace maid entered with her head lowered, setting the basin on the rack before withdrawing.

“This Prince will go out while you rinse your face.” This time, Pei Qianhao didn’t remain to watch her freshen up.

Su Xi-er then went to pick up the handkerchief hung on the basin after he had left.

In the main antechamber of the side hall, Pei Qianhao summoned Yuchi Mo. “Thoroughly investigate Su Xi-er’s background.”

Yuchi Mo looked at Pei Qianhao’s solemn expression. What happened? Why does he suddenly want to investigate Princess Consort Hao’s background? Not only is it recorded in the registry at the Imperial Household Department, Commander Wu even personally made a trip to Su Xi-er’s hometown to verify all of the information.

Why does he want to investigate again? Could something have happened?

“Get to it as soon as possible.” Pei Qianhao’s expression was grave as the image of the Purple Mandarin Duck flower resurfaced in his mind.

“Prince Hao, a thorough investigation had already been conducted. Princess Consort Hao’s parents have both passed away, and she has very few remaining family members. I’m afraid that even if we look again, the results will be the same.” Yuchi Mo seriously replied. If there’s a problem, it would have been discovered the last time we checked.

Pei Qianhao lowered his voice, and his gaze deepened. “Perhaps that isn’t her real birthplace, or perhaps the ones who died weren’t her biological parents.”

His shocking words caused Yuchi Mo’s eyes to widen his eyes. This means that they could possibly have been her adoptive parents? If that’s the case, Princess Consort Hao’s background...

“Quickly get to it.”

Hearing Pei Qianhao’s explanation, Yuchi Mo no longer hesitated. “This subordinate obeys the order.” He immediately left the side hall, secretly gathering a group of personal guards and heading for Su Xi-er’s hometown without even stopping to rest.

The atmosphere in Beimin’s imperial palace varied wildly over the next few days, unpredictably shifting from calm and festive to dark and anxious. All the households in the capital had hung red silk at their doors.

The monarchs of the various nations also arrived one after another, and were all staying in the posthouse. Pei Qianhao also set up banquets to welcome them, making Beimin’s liveliness during this period of time surpass that of any other major festivals or occasion.

The commoners had been eagerly awaiting the day of the wedding, and on the day of the celebration, many of them were already playing self-composed festive tunes on their own gongs and drums. The scene in Beimin’s capital was as lively as could be!

All the commoners had woken up early, starting to gather about 500 metres away from the palace gate, all the way to the street where the Prince Hao Residence was located.

Some of the Imperial Army guards, the capital’s bailiff runners, the Prince Hao Residence’s guards, and some of the soldiers from the barracks were stationed along the streets to maintain order.

The Emperor, Pei Zheng, Grand Tutor Kong, monarchs from the various nations, as well as the court ministers had all turned up. However, there was one person who was very obviously missing, and that was none other than Xie Yun. He was still 30 kilometres away from the capital at the moment, tied down by another important matter.

As for Pei Yaran, her position had been temporarily taken over by Consort Dowager Guo in her absence. The latter couldn’t help but feel sorrowful when she saw that both her son and the Eldest Imperial Prince had yet to return.

However, Consort Dowager Guo understood that she had to keep the bigger picture in mind with such an important event, even if she missed her son.

After Su Xi-er woke up at 5 am, a palace maid who was highly skilled in cosmetics arrived at her door, sent by Consort Dowager Guo. An hour later, Su Xi-er almost couldn’t recognise herself after her makeup was finished.