Chapter 2348 - 2081: The Wedding Ceremony

Not long after Chen Xi and the others entered the venue, Liu Bei also arrived with congratulatory gifts and documents. At this point, it could be said that everyone under Liu Bei’s rule was present, though those who couldn’t attend still sent gifts.

Of course, Zhao Yun, who was recently almost too poor to eat, looked at Taishi Ci with eyes full of excitement. A gold statue as tall as a person—Zhao Yun felt fortunate that he was sturdier and taller than Fa Zheng. He was in great need of such a sincere gift right now.

"Ping’er, what are you doing?" Zhang Fei asked with confusion, watching Guan Ping on the side, who was continually gathering the Heaven and Earth Essence.

"Tell my father to come," Guan Ping said expressionlessly.

"Where’s Second Brother?" Zhang Fei asked loudly and excitedly.

Just as Zhang Fei was asking, a faint purple-blue starlight suddenly appeared on Guan Ping, forming a vague image behind him that gradually materialized, and then Guan Yu’s will descended, conveying an inexplicable pressure to everyone present.

Guan Yu, dressed in a purple robe, slowly appeared behind Guan Ping, stroked his beard, and squinted at Fa Zheng, who had just entered. First, he bowed to Liu Bei, saying, "Elder Brother, forgive me for not being able to salute properly."

Liu Bei looked at Guan Yu with surprise, originally thinking Guan Yu wouldn’t be able to come this time. Unexpectedly, Guan Yu had used some unknown method to appear. "No need, no need. Today is Xiaoo Zhi’s wedding banquet, he is the main character."

"Xiaoo Zhi, I can’t come from Yuzhou in person, so I came temporarily and couldn’t bring you a gift. I can only wish you many sons soon." Guan Yu rarely spoke such a long sentence, leaving Zhang Fei and the others dumbfounded. This was not an image but Guan Yu himself descending directly.

"Second Brother, is it really you?" Zhang Fei looked at Guan Yu incredulously.

"Don’t touch." Guan Yu, with a hint of joy, said to Zhang Fei, but his face remained somewhat stiff. However, Guan Yu always had this expression, with nothing much to say.

"Uh." Zhang Fei was startled and quickly withdrew his hand.

Perhaps seeing that everyone was curious, Guan Yu briefly explained how he did it, and everyone looked at Guan Yu with admiration.

"However, after getting familiar with this, I guess I can engage in some battles next time." Guan Yu stroked his beard and said with some pride.

Fa Zheng didn’t mind that Guan Yu didn’t bring anything, as Guan Ping had already brought the gifts, and Guan Yu’s presence exceeded Fa Zheng’s expectations.

Everyone was quite excited, but it was, after all, Fa Zheng’s wedding banquet, so even with much to say, they refrained from speaking. After a brief uproar, they entered the solemn phase of the wedding ceremony.

"Is this the surprise you mentioned?" Taishi Ci transmitted his voice to Guan Ping.

"No, during the parade, Uncle, you will see it." Guan Ping said with a smile. After Guan Yu’s divine will crossed a certain boundary, he suddenly became one stage stronger.

"Hey, after the wedding banquet, I have an announcement to make." Taishi Ci said with a smile. In Fusang, they could bestow Inner Qi, which was a very important matter.

Once everyone was seated, Fa Zheng had already donned a wide-sleeved robe with black patterns, while Jiangg Ying, wearing a dark-colored robe with golden patterns, slowly entered, accompanied by the sounds of various musical instruments. Fa Zheng, with a faint smile, stepped forward slowly.

As the chimes echoed and faded, the praises of "Peach blossom blossoming, dazzling its splendor. The girl returns home, fitting for her family..." began to be transmitted by Lord Pang De, the lead officiant clad in straight-cut robes, holding a scroll.

Originally, Liu Bei wanted to perform this role, but he was too young. According to Han Etiquette, the lead officiant of weddings must be an elder, and there was no one over fifty under Liu Bei’s governance. They had to choose Lord Pang De. If they had found someone like Zhao Qi or Sima Jun, both over ninety, it would be even better. But to have fame and be old enough, there wasn’t anyone like that in Ye City.

During this period, Chen Xi and others also followed in reciting congratulatory words. The elders led with one sentence, and those behind could follow with ten. However, at such times, there was some disorder, with some saying it faster than others.

The Han Dynasty wedding wasn’t complicated nor noisy, but when it came to the elder’s praises and blessings, from the Emperor to common folk, it was always like this.

Technically, this actually contradicted the "evening conduct etiquette." But during this phase of blessings, it was always like this. Due to the spread of sound to the front and back, and with so many people, even thousands sometimes, the range was vast.

In future generations, such a scale would require special tools and organization to achieve uniform sound. Naturally, the Han Dynasty wedding expectedly relaxed the requirements for this part of the praises.

Amidst the relatively uniform blessings and praises, Fa Zheng and Jiangg Ying began the ritual washing and took their seats. Beside them, dishes of cooked fish, pork, and rabbit were slowly brought out by the officiant and cut into pieces by attendants, each piece served with accompaniments to the couple.

Fa Zheng and Jiangg Ying quietly ate these dishes. The so-called wedding customs, "The bride arrives, the groom bows to her to enter together, eats from the same tray, drinks wedding wine, thus symbolizing oneness of rank and intimacy," speaks of this.

After eating, it signifies the acknowledgement of unity as husband and wife, with equal respect. When Chen Xi married, Fan Jian ate, but Chen Lan actually did not, which is a significant reason Chen Lan called Fan Jian "Elder Sister."

After all, many things Chen Xi could change, but many detailed aspects reflected through events were almost impossible to alter.

As the cup was presented, those like Chen Xi who were already married all wore smiles. After all, according to ancient customs, the wine for the wedding ceremony was definitely bitter, and a particularly terrible kind of bitter.

Sure enough, when Fa Zheng and Jiangg Ying exchanged cups, the moment Fa Zheng poured the wine into his mouth, he almost spat it out.

At that moment, Fa Yan, Liu Bei, and Chen Xi were all watching Fa Zheng. Fa Zheng stiffened his neck and with difficulty swallowed the wine. Back then, Chen Xi nearly spat it out too, but Fan Jian was right in front of him, drinking while watching him.

Which made Chen Xi very curious to this day, whether the wedding wine for women was sweet. However, according to the ancient customs, that’s unlikely; at most, it’s not as bitter, since the custom emphasizes sharing both sweet and bitter experiences.

After that, there wasn’t much to watch. As per Han etiquette, Fa Zheng escorted Jiangg Ying back to the inner residence, changed his clothes, and came out again. At this point, formality was not really stressed, so naturally, everyone was waiting to drink Fa Zheng under the table.

"Xiaoo Zhi, any thoughts?" Chen Xi asked Fa Zheng, who had changed into a black robe and come out alone.

"Too bitter!" Fa Zheng commented with a bitter expression, "Was your wine this bitter too back then?"

"All just as bitter. I almost spat it out back then, but my wife was right next to me watching." Chen Xi said depressively.

"Same here, my wife was also watching me." A warm smile appeared on Fa Zheng’s face.

"Drop the bitterness, cheers~" Zhang Fei raised a wine jar towards Fa Zheng.

"Cheers, cheers, cheers!" Yu Jin, Hua Xiong, Taishi Ci, Mann Chong, and others surrounded Fa Zheng, all holding wine bowls or jars.

"Drink~" Fa Zheng said with heroic spirit, yet barely lasted a quarter hour before he rolled under the table, then clumsily crawled out with a silly smile.

"I can’t remember for the life of me how I handled the drinking back in the day." Chen Xi looked painfully at Fa Zheng struggling to crawl out, remembering how he handled his own situation back then.

"But never mind how I handled it back then; today I’m going to make it worth it!" Chen Xi laughed uproariously, holding a wine jar and heading towards Fa Zheng, who was painstakingly crawling out, caring little for decorum.

"Xiaoo Zhi, will you have another drink with each of us or let us tell others you’re trying to sneak off?" Guo Jia, Jia Xu, Li Youu, and Chen Xi suddenly appeared around Fa Zheng, trapping him in the middle.

"Xiaoo Zhi, we’ll block these four scoundrels for you. Will you block drinks for us later in return?" Lub Su transmitted his voice to Fa Zheng, who was pretending to be dead on the ground, proposing to form a defensive alliance.

"Alright." One word proved Fa Zheng’s current resolve.

"What’s the point in bullying someone who’s already drunk?" Lub Su said jokingly as he approached, with Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun behind him, each carrying a wine jar, exuding a certain pressure as they walked over.

"Thud!" The wine jar carried by Zhang Fei hit the ground; Chen Xi felt as if the four of them almost jumped from the shock.

"This isn’t fun anymore!" Chen Xi resentfully glanced at Fa Zheng pretending to be dead on the ground, then at Lub Su, saying his own experience of being unknowingly drunk back then was much worse than Fa Zheng’s current conscious state.

"First, knock down those four slackers!" Clearly, Lub Su, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun had a clear alliance. Seeing this, not helping Fa Zheng today might mean suffering a worse fate than Fa Zheng later.

At Lub Su’s command, Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, carrying wine jars, came over and blocked these four guys.

"What do we do?" Chen Xi asked with a scared expression.

"Think we don’t have anyone on our side?" Guo Jia flicked his head, "Where are they?"

"These four guys are all getting married. Let’s take them down this round!" Chen Xi called out to Xuu Chu, Ma Chao, Taishi Ci, Hua Xiong, and others, and with a bang, a larger group of people surrounded Lub Su and his cohort.

"Stop, think it through. If you take us down this turn, you’ll need even more drinks when you get married later." Lub Su expressed deep sorrow, looking at Ma Chao, Guan Ping, Lul Xun, and the other unmarried ones as if they were fools.

Immediately, this group hesitated, realizing that taking them down today meant Fa Zheng’s miserable ordeal might inevitably happen to them in the future.

"Start with Zhang Yide!" Ma Chao shouted out, figuring that during his wedding, Liu Bei’s side would likely just send some gifts but not actually come. So today, getting Zhang Fei drunk, and then again during his wedding, seemed like a good move.

"Start with Ma Mengqi!" Zhang Fei wasn’t foolish either, instantly understanding Ma Chao’s intentions, and pulled out a wine jar from the side, lunging directly for Ma Chao.

Chaos ensued on the scene, and it was unclear how many kicks Fa Zheng took. Anyway, Chen Xi drank himself into oblivion and never knew who sent him back in the end.