Chapter 47

After the veil had been placed, bai zhi helped feng jiu up and settled her down in the seat at the head of the room between all the family members. A few moments later, they heard the sound of the arriving wedding procession. With each passing moment, they could feel the tremendous strength of the entourage's combined aura.


Zhe yan watched feng jiu, twiddling her thumbs rapidly in anxiety. He chuckled as he sat beside her.


"impatient to see your groom, xaio jiu?" He asked, with amusement dripping from his voice. He saw her nod before she spoke, "I am, but..." he understood the excitement in her voice as he completed her sentence. "but you want to see what he will do to cross the hurdles more." Fervently, she nodded her veiled head which sent zhe yan through another bout of chuckles.


Since, feng jiu couldn't see anything except her hands, feet and floor, she waited for zhe yan's chuckles to subside. She wanted to ask him for help in seeing what was happening outside. Not one to disappoint, zhe yan handed her a small mirror as she heard him speak, "here, you can see what is happening right now, on this. Visualize the place you want to see and it will appear on the mirror. Keep this as my wedding gift to you." She nodded her head in gratitude before she visualized the path that led to the fox den.


While donghua was going through the hurdles outside, feng jiu saw and heard every word he spoke on the mirror in her hands. With every sentence, it became more and more difficult for her to control her tears. In the middle of the first hurdle, she even had to place a locking spell on her eyes to prevent herself from tearing up. And it wasn't just feng jiu that got emotional at donghua's words. The whole family heard what was happening outside. Everyone was moved as they watched him clear the first hurdle. Then bai qian disappeared from their side to present him with his second hurdle.


Outside the fox den, after bai qian had finished speaking, she stood guarding the gate, waiting silently. The requirement that bai qian had presented to get through the last hurdle, made everyone sweat in distress. The reason being high goddess bai qian was a known cynic, famous for her skeptical and untrusting nature. The world's only high goddess had always demanded balance in all things and was extremely distrustful of people's intentions. This demand of bai qian has thrown even ye hua for a loop. He knew, from experience, that convincing bai qian of something was a dreadful and fatal task. This stemmed from the fact that ye hua, himself had to die for bai qian to believe that he truly loved her. So, he dreaded as to what dijun will have to do in order to fulfill his requirement. He stepped forward and was about to question bai qian on her demands when dijun raised a hand, motioning for him to stop.


Being fully honest with himself, dong hua acquiesced that he had not seen this one coming but judging from the general distrustful nature of bai qian, he thought, he should have foreseen a probability like this. But nevertheless, after living for so many millennias dong hua had become a master in the art of adaptation. He reached into his sleeve to take out something, as he spoke, "I agree with your statement that for us to stand here today, xaio bai has had to sacrifice too many times to count and that is something which I carry with a heavy burden on my heart. The little thing that I am about to show you, was originally meant as a wedding gift for xaio bai and not one to be shared with others. But since the situation demands for it, I am willing to display it now in answer to your requirement."


Dong hua then opened his hand before bai qian. In his hand rested a delicate little glazed ring, with a red phoenix flower at the top. Though the ring was beautiful, bai qian was unimpressed. She looked up at donghua with a single arched eyebrow. Dong hua let out a small dry chuckle before he tossed the ring in the air above them. Flying through the air, the ring glowed as it transformed into what seemed to be, the half of an anatomical heart. Suspended in the air, inside a bright azure blue shield, bai qian gas0ped, unable to believe the truth in front of her. Dong hua offered her more clarity, as he explained, "a long time back, xaio bai told me that the only thing she asked of me was my heart and my love. Since she already has both, I decided to fulfill the first part of her wish literally. I believe this was also the answer you were looking for."


After he completed his explanation, he retrieved the ring and put it back inside his sleeve before facing bai qian again. He observed as all the misgivings bai qian had against him disappeared from her eyes and the high goddess looked back at him with the same respect and deference he was used to from others but was hard-fought yet truly deserved from her.


Stepping aside and opening the gate of the fox den, bai qian bowed deeply as she said, "my lord, xaio jiu has been waiting for you, for too long now. We welcome you into our humble abode. Please proceed inside."


Dong hua gave a quick appreciative nod to her before he stepped inside alone. He knew the bai family would be waiting inside the great hall. 


Sauntering inside the great hall, he saw bai zhi and bai yi standing near the entrance, welcoming him. With a proud, regal nod bai zhi stated, "you did good." His sentence though was completed by zhe yan at the back. "but you took too long. Your bride was getting anxious over here."


As Dong hua turned towards the booming voice of zhe yan, his eyes got fixed on the arresting view presented in front of him. Dressed in a stunning red wedding ensemble with a veil covering her face, feng jiu was escorted towards him by zhe yan and bai zhen on each side. The trio stopped a few steps before dijun. Meanwhile, he spoke in her mind, "you missed me, my little fox?"


She answered in a small, dulcet voice, "extremely, dijun."


"good. Now, let's get married."


Outside, the wedding procession waited with bated breaths. A little while later, they watched as dong hua emerged from the fox den with the fox emperor bai zhi and the fox king bai yi at his side. Behind them, came medicine god, zhe yan and fox king, bai zhen escorting out the bride, the queen, bai feng jiu. Gradually, the whole bai family filed outside while an ornate carriage was brought to the door. The wooden carriage was intricately carved and embellished with red jade. Zhe yan and bai zhen helped feng jiu inside the carriage, making sure the curtains were fully closed after her.


With the bride sitting inside the carriage, everyone waited for dong hua's command. Not one to be rushed, dong hua proceeded at his own pace. He summoned si ming as he waited beside feng jiu's carriage. Si ming stepped forward, bowed and waited for his orders. He watched donghua raise his hand, palm up in the air and materialize a tray covered in red velvet with a crystallized white and blue slab standing on top of it. The whole gathering's eyes were on stalks as they noticed the symbol engraved on top of it. Though no one has seen bihai cangling, they all had heard stories about its holy greatness and splendor. The floating island symbol and the crystallized nature of the slab indicated only one thing that this slab came from the holy blue sea. The possibility that this slab could be the part of the alleged rock that dijun came from, boggled their minds even more. Before anyone could conjure up the strength to ask, he directed to commence the march.


The three brothers of bai yi and bai qian's husband ye hua, collectively as feng jiu's four doting uncles, grabbed each of the four handles of the carriage and pulled it up on their shoulders. With the bride's husband to be and father on either side of her carriage, the whole procession fell into line for their march up to the wedding venue, the tao zhu mountain valley.


Tao zhu mountains were the consecrated ranges for the nine tailed foxes of qingqui. These extensively shielded and inaccessible, holy mountains were held to be the source of the nine tailed fox clan's enormous power and qingqui's perpetual prosperity. It was true that they were indeed the secret to their prosperity. Qingqui has always been the producer of the finest silk and the purest jade in all the realms which consequently, were the most expensive and highest demanded commodities all over. The trade of only these two fine products had over-filled the qingqui coffers so much that bai zhi had had a dozen more coffers built just to keep the with the incoming riches. The fact only a handful of people were privy to was that these two precious elements were procured from the inexhaustible and ceaseless bounties of the crowning peaks of the qingqui's eastern lands, the tao zhu mountains. This was the reason why, just like feng jiu's, every royal wedding of qingqui had been held in the valleys of the blessed tao zhu mountains.


On their way to the valley, the combined wedding procession was arranged so perfectly that it left nothing to chance. Zhonglin had worked tirelessly to attain this proper coordination and maintain the events joviality. Exactly as per his planning, bringing up the rear were the nobility and courtiers of qinqui along with the nobility from donghua's entourage. Ahead of them were donghua's proud generals that only deemed to walk behind their sole master and his bride. So, leading the generals was feng jiu's carriage with donghua, bai zhi, bai yi, zhe yan, mo yuan and lian song each side. Ahead of them was si ming carrying the slab from bihai cangling and Zhong lin at his side to ensure the star lord didn't trip on his way. At the front, leading the entire wedding procession were the females of the bai family. Even among them, it was feng jiu's grandmother that walked at the head with a burning lantern.


It was not the lantern but the flame inside it, that was of significance here. The qingqui laws state that the ruler of the lands as the sole provider and nurturer of its people was never to kneel. By kneeling, the rulers undermine the trust and respect the people has put into them. This law was thus accommodated into the wedding traditions of the rulers. According to qingqui rituals, the wedding happens not by knelling to heavens, ancestors and spouse but by combining the ancestral flame with yours and merging it with your spouses. The merging of the flames symbolizes the oneness of the souls, the blessing of the ancestors and the purity of the bond. The qingqui customs dictate that the brighter and lighter the flame, the purer the love is. So, this flame that feng jiu's was carrying inside the ancestral lantern was a tiny amalgamation of the whole bai clans power and held the utmost importance in this wedding.

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