"Kowtow to the gods."

"Kowtow to each other," instructed the presiding official in a drawling voice.

"LONG LIVE THE EMPEROR! LONG LIVE THE EMPRESS!"

As a pleasantly warm breeze blew by, the broad hem of the robes of the two of them fluttered rubbing against each other. They kowtowed at the same time to pay their respects to the gods before all officials present got on their knees to kowtow to the two of them. Thus, they officially got married at this grand ceremony, and from this moment on, the whole world would know them to be the emperor and the empress of the Great Wen.

After the two of them straightened their backs, Ling Zhang inwardly heaved a long sigh of relief in spite of himself, as though something weighing down his heart had just been removed. Arms hanging naturally, their hands were clasped together. Yuwen Tong's palm was so hot that Ling Zhang felt as though his palm would melt in the heat.

"You may rise."

The officials of all ranks and descriptions were given the permission to stand up. After rising to their feet, many of them looked up in the direction of the altar, on which stood the emperor and the empress, the former handsome and imposing, the latter elegant and graceful. The dragon and the phoenix embroidered on their scarlet wedding robes with gold thread were so vivid as though they were about to fly, and they seemed to be inseparable, on the robes or in the sky – if they could really get there.

There was a very long congratulatory speech. Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong stood on the altar shoulder to shoulder for a very long time before they descended it and made towards the Infinite Fortune Palace hand in hand.

The large crowd of officials chorused in a drawling voice, "Have a safe trip, Your Majesty, Your Highness."

On hearing the enormous sound wave from behind, Ling Zhang came to a clearer realization of the change in his identity.

The two of them walked back to the Infinite Fortune Palace hand in hand. They were supposed to drink "cross-cupped wine" from one another's cups in the imperial bedchamber.

The wedding robes had so many layers and were so heavy that Ling Zhang found his back was wet with sweat when he walked through the front gates of the Infinite Fortune Palace. Fortunately, after the "cross-cupped wine", the wedding would conclude and then he could change into lighter clothes.

He raised his hand and stroked Yuwen Tong's back only to find that it was just as sweaty as his own.

Though the weather was nice this day, it was inevitable that the two of them had broken out in a sweat, given the long duration of the wedding.

Yuwen Tong flung out a hand backward and grabbed Ling Zhang's hand which was "caressing" his back. "I'll let you stroke me later."

One more stroke from Ling Zhang and he might lose control of himself.

Reading between the lines, Ling Zhang slid him a sideways glance. It was just a stroke. Why was Yuwen Tong being so dramatic about it?

At this time a shower of petals floated from mid-air. After entering the Infinite Fortune Palace, they found that the road ahead was carpeted in petals.

Ling Zhang looked up at the falling petals and then down at those veiling the road, faintly surprised. Why couldn't he recall including this part in the wedding plan?

"Why am I seeing petals?"

Yuwen Tong replied smugly, "It was me who had them prepare this. They picked these flowers early this morning. What do you think of it?"

Ling Zhang caught a falling petal. The air was filled with the scent of flowers, but the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. "Where did you have them pluck these flowers from?"

Was it the imperial garden, by any chance? He could tell at a glance these flowers were not common, and there wasn't another place he could think of that these flowers might be from apart from the imperial garden.

If it was really the imperial garden... The very thought of this gave Ling Zhang a momentary blackout. Had the imperial garden been reduced to a bleak landscape?

"They're from that imperial park outside the city," explained Yuwen Tong.

It was not until after hearing this reply that Ling Zhang could breathe normally again. Fortunately Yuwen Tong hadn't been so stupid as to have his men pluck flowers from the imperial garden. "Why did you suddenly..."

Before Ling Zhang could finish his sentence, something occurred to him, rendering him unable to continue. It didn't take a genius to guess why Yuwen Tong had had them do this.

"This is indeed beautiful. It just strikes me as a little wasteful."

Yuwen Tong said, "Those plants will blossom again, but we won't have another wedding for the rest of our lives. As long as you like it, it'll be worth it."

Ling Zhang tossed him a casual glance. If truth be told, he didn't really feel unhappy. Instead, he found this quite... interesting.

"Originally I'd planned to have them decorate the balustrades from the altar to this palace with colorful satin ribbons, thinking it'd be more festive."

Ling Zhang immediately looked at him at these words. "What? Colorful satin ribbons? From the altar all the way to this palace?"

Ling Zhang really felt lucky that Yuwen Tong hadn't actually done that. He couldn't imagine what he would've had to face up to on this day had Yuwen Tong put that plan into action. The mere thought of it made his eyes sting! Besides, it'd take a lot of satin to make that happen, which would definitely cost a lot of money.

Yuwen Tong glanced at him. "I knew you wouldn't like it, so I didn't do it."

In the sight of Yuwen Tong who always preferred things to be simple and direct, there was nothing wrong with making the wedding festive and joyous. Wouldn't some satin ribbons brighten this place up?

The corners of Ling Zhang's lips twitched. He found that if he was not in the palace or stopped keeping watch on Yuwen Tong, the latter might really give him some "pleasant" surprises.

While talking, the two of them had walked into the imperial bedchamber.

The couple of cousins of Yuwen Tong's who were close to him, including Yuwen Feng, had been following in their wake and heard all those "gossip" and "non-mainstream aesthetic opinions", their foreheads wet with sweat, believing that they'd better finish the ceremony of "cross-cupped wine" for these two high-maintenance guys as soon as possible and then get out of this place.

Yuwen Tong was unaware of the unfavorable comments the couple of cousins of his were secretly making on his aesthetic standards. After entering the imperial bedchamber, he and Ling Zhang sat down opposite each other beside a table on which were two cups of wine.

Before the ceremony of "cross-cupped wine", there was also a long congratulatory speech, which was made by Yuwen Feng. And then one after another, Yuwen Tong's cousins walked up and offered their congratulations to the newly-weds. As they talked, Yuwen Tong sat watching them. Every one of them was rewarded at the end of his speech. Those whose speeches were not long enough or not good enough got only one gold ingot each, while those whose speeches pleased Yuwen Tong each got a wad of signed checks.

At first Yuwen Jin, who'd always been straightforward, didn't realize what was going on. On top of that, he'd never liked studying and thus had little learning, so he cast around desperately for flowery language, but all he came up with was just a couple of hackneyed idioms like "a harmonious union lasting a hundred years", "grow old together" etc. When Yuwen Tong handed a gold ingot to him with an unimpressed face, Yuwen Jin was speechless with depression, feeling that Yuwen Tong was discriminating against him.

It was not until Yuwen Han standing beside him gave him a nudge in the ribs and whispered a lot of words in his ear that he came to himself, immediately stepped up and unctuously recited in one breath what Yuwen Han had just told him. Motivated by his desire for reward, Yuwen Jin punched above his weight and actually repeated those sentences verbatim, which astonished Ling Zhang.

"... I wish you health and longevity, Brother Zhang. I wish you infinite good fortune, cousin. I wish you two a happy lifelong marriage!"

After finishing the long speech, Yuwen Jin inhaled deeply and looked at Yuwen Tong with expectant eyes.

Yuwen Tong looked back at him, gave a little sneer and then handed him a more decent reward.

Yuwen Jin quickly took it, let out a cheer and thanked his cousin for the reward, disregarding the sneer.

Ling Zhang sitting on the side lightly shook his head, feeling rather embarrassed for Yuwen Jin.

After the couple of cousins of Yuwen Tong's finished speaking, it was Ling Maomao's turn. The little boy, who had been forced into memorizing a long text by his father before coming to the palace, walked up to Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong and started reciting it earnestly as though reciting a lesson in front of his teacher.

Secretly amused, Ling Zhang looked at him. When the boy finished, he gave him a casket, telling him to hold it in his arms.

Ling Maomao curiously took the casket and wanted to ask Ling Zhang about the contents of it, but then he realized this was not the right time, so he forbore from doing that, thanked his brother and then walked back to his original position, casket in arms.

Ji Xiaocong, who had followed Ling Maomao into the bedchamber, also offered his congratulations to the newly-weds in a babyish voice, which sounded interesting and amusing and sent everybody into fits of laughter.

Because of Ji Xiaocong's ability to make Ling Zhang laugh so much, Yuwen Tong generously gave the boy a handsome reward and specially had someone hold it for him, instructing the man to take it back for the boy.

The imperial bedchamber was filled with uproar. The babble of voices was so loud that it nearly lifted the roof. Yuwen Feng had a hard job quieting them before he started to preside over the ceremony of "cross-cupped wine" for Ling Zhang and Yuwen Tong in a serious manner.

Holding the wine cup, Ling Zhang felt his cheeks flushing and burning from the joking crowd. Wine up in hand, Yuwen Tong stared fixedly at him.

At this time, a cough was heard.

Seeing the two of them were looking at each other motionlessly with wine cups in their hands, Yuwen Feng had no choice but to cue them.

It was only then that Ling Zhang jerked out of his trance. Face suffused with color, he crossed arms with Yuwen Tong, leaned over and then the two of them gulped down their wine.

While they were drinking, Yuwen Tong's eyes seemed to bore into Ling Zhang. What with that gaze, Ling Zhang was still in a daze when he finished his wine, and he maintained that posture for a long moment.

"Ahem, now that you've finished your wine, you may take a break."

Yuwen Feng, worrying that their arms would feel sore if they maintained the posture for too long, kindly reminded them.

Ling Zhang was jogged back to his senses. As he realized that he had once again been sent into a daze by Yuwen Tong's gaze, the blush on his face spread all the way down to his neck and he hastily withdrew his arm.

Yuwen Tong felt faintly regretful, his eyes casually flashing at Yuwen Feng.

Yuwen Feng noticed it and inwardly rolled his eyes upwards. 'In a few moments you two will get to do whatever you want. Is it really necessary to be so touchy-feely at this moment? Everybody present is watching,' he thought.

But there was nothing he could do about it, given that his cousin was now the emperor. Having no alternative, he began to shoo the crowd out of the bedchamber.

"All right, everybody, let's give the newly-weds some privacy. It's time for us to go back to the hall."

"Hang on. My cousin and Brother Zhang haven't kissed yet," said Yuwen Jin aloud.

The moment he finished his sentence, Yuwen Han and a couple of others took up the chant. All of them were along for the ride and would like to bring the occasion to a new level. Moreover, this was a celebratory occasion.

Kiss? Ling Zhang twisted his head aside to look at Yuwen Jin, feeling that this guy had grown quite some balls.

However, Yuwen Tong's eyes lit up. Probably because this suggestion of Yuwen Jin's struck him as not bad, he stared unblinkingly at Ling Zhang.

His gaze gave Ling Zhang the willies, so the latter glared at him, as though saying "You don't seriously want us to kiss in the presence of so many people, do you?"

Yuwen Tong lifted his eyebrows, as though replying "Why not?"

Ling Zhang, "..."

And then Yuwen Tong suddenly leaned over, blocking Ling Zhang's view with his chest. The next moment, Ling Zhang felt something warm on the corner of his mouth and knew that he was kissed.

"Wow! Way to go, cousin. Do it again! Do it again!" chortled Yuwen Jin happily, jumping up.

Looking at Ling Zhang who was dazed from the kiss and looked adorable, Yuwen Tong was itching to do what newly-weds were supposed to do in the nuptial chamber. He turned his head to look at Yuwen Jin and said, "Okay, that's enough. Stop being the third wheel. Go and do what you've got to do."

Unconvinced, Yuwen Jin urged the crowd to take up the chant but was stopped and forcibly removed from the bedchamber by Yuwen Han and a couple of others.

'This is no joking matter. Yuwen Jin really needs to know where the limit is. Can't he see that His Majesty is quite horny and could barely subdue his desire?' thought Yuwen Han.

Yuwen Jin was dragged out of the bedchamber. The others, very sensibly, also took their leave, carrying Ling Maomao and Ji Xiaocong away for good measure.

Soon the imperial bedchamber quieted down. Ling Zhang threw a glance at the color of the sky outside the window and thought, 'Surely Yuwen Tong wouldn't really want to do something at this hour?'

The two of them were the only ones in the imperial bedchamber now. Yuwen Feng and the others had considerately closed the front gates when they left. Nobody would come here to disturb them at this point in time. Yuwen Tong would be a complete fool if he didn't take advantage of this opportunity to do what he wanted.

He rose to his feet, walked up to Ling Zhang, stooped down and cleanly scooped him up.

When Yuwen Tong leaned over, the smell of him quickly enveloped Ling Zhang, flooding into his nostrils, briefly rendering him dizzy. Before he could figure out why Yuwen Tong suddenly leaned over him, he was picked up.

Without uttering a word, Ling Zhang wrapped his arms around Yuwen Tong's neck.

"The next step is to consummate our marriage," said Yuwen Tong after planting a large kiss on him. They had finished the wedding ceremony and drunk "cross-cupped wine" from each other's wine cups, which meant that Ling Zhang was now his marriage partner.

"Wait. There are so many officials and foreign guests out there. Is it really okay to just leave them there?" asked Ling Zhang, hastening to grab Yuwen Tong's shoulder, looking nervously at him.

"Yuwen Feng will make arrangements for these after-wedding matters to be handled," replied Yuwen Tong, carrying him towards the bed. After they walked through the valance, it floated down automatically.

Ling Zhang sensed Yuwen Tong's determination. Recalling the wedding plan, he realized that they indeed didn't have to be out there at this moment. The officials and other guests needed to transfer to another location, and the banquet was scheduled for nightfall. In a word, it was all abustle and astir outside, but he and Yuwen Tong didn't have to concern themselves with any of it.

This also meant that he really had no excuse to...ahem...to refuse.

Ling Zhang's eyes seemed to be avoiding something but also seemed to be smiling. Yuwen Tong noticed this, came to a halt and gazed down at him. He didn't kiss Ling Zhang, merely staring at him. As though finding Ling Zhang's eyes exceptionally enthralling, he just watched, stationary.

Ling Zhang silently looked back at him, his eyes gazing into the depths of Yuwen Tong's where fire was dancing. Fascinated by it unawares, he involuntarily raised his hand to stroke it.

But his hand was intercepted before it could touch Yuwen Tong's eyes, and with that Ling Zhang found that Yuwen Tong had carried him to the bed and was putting him down.

After grasping his hand, Yuwen Tong bent from the waist, kissed him hard, took a deep breath and then said, "There's no hurry. We've still got something else to do."

Ling Zhang looked at him bewilderedly. What else did they have to do?

Yuwen Tong slightly raised his upper body, widening the gap between them, then reached out his hands and unbuttoned Ling Zhang's coat. He didn't remove it, just letting it lie beneath Ling Zhang. Then his hands moved towards Ling Zhang's belt.

The cummerbund was undone and laid flat on the two sides instead of being removed from beneath Ling Zhang.

Yuwen Tong was doing it very slowly with the air of someone unwrapping their present with great care. There was manifest desire in his eyes that he couldn't disguise, but his movements were meticulous and totally unhurried, though the craving in his eyes was intensifying as Ling Zhang's robes were taken off one after another.

The two of them had had sexual contact several times, so Ling Zhang shouldn't be feeling shy, but somehow at this time he was quite bashful and flustered... The red valance in the imperial bedchamber was hanging there soundlessly. One of the windows of the outer hall was ajar, and a breeze was blowing in through the crack, gently fluttering the valance, the red ripples of which seemed to be tickling Ling Zhang's heart repeatedly, turning him on.

There were also scarlet wedding candles in the bedchamber, which were made of a kind of special spice provided by the Fangcun Kingdom as part of the tribute and could last two days and two nights. Ling Zhang was unable to see any of the candle flames from his position, but he was feeling the heat from them, which seemed to be baking him, as though the candles were burning in his heart.

What he wanted the most to avert his gaze from was Yuwen Tong's eyes. The expression and desire in that pair of eyes was projected squarely onto him, as though the owner of them could lose control of himself at any moment. Ling Zhang, in an almost subconscious way, gripped his robes which had been unbuttoned but not taken away and were still beneath his body.

However, this movement of his immediately arrested Yuwen Tong's attention. His eyes which originally had had some self-restraint in them seemed to get out of control in that instant, staring feverishly at Ling Zhang's hands grasping his robes.

His fair-skinned wrists, long fingers and slender frost-colored arms were revealing graceful skin texture from the effort of gripping his robes. His knuckles were so white they were dazzling Yuwen Tong, showing the sharpest possible contrast with the bright red robes and bedding, which was a fatal attraction.

Ling Zhang was unaware of any of it. He just sensed something faintly subdued, tense and out of the ordinary in the mood as he looked at Yuwen Tong's eyes which were staring at his arm. He automatically tightened his grip on his robes, creasing them, as though a blossom had just been conjured up beneath each of his hands.