Blossoms of Love

Chapter 18: Weddings and Dragons

It seemed to Song Mengyao that no matter how long ago he closed his eyes, they had opened again far too soon. However, despite the ache behind them, he rose from his bed and began to prepare himself for the long day ahead.

He glanced out of the window with a satisfied smile as he tied his hair for the snow had settled over the final hours of the night. Only the smallest flakes continued to drift through the air, floating down to join the sparkling white blanket that covered the grass.

It was the perfect day for a wedding. A beautiful day.

"Song Yun!" Gleefully, Jiaying called to her brother the instant she spotted him coming from his bedchambers, almost as if she had been waiting excitedly for him to arise.

"You look beautiful, sister."

He joined her with a smile, complimenting her appearance because she truly did look beautiful. Her hair, which had clearly taken a number of hours to perfect, was tied up into one large bun and accompanied by those white ribbons she usually wore. Although the style was much more formal than what she was used to. Her dress was brand new. Made especially for the occasion of her brother's wedding. It was white with pretty green swirls dancing through in the prettiest of patterns.

"I am always beautiful," Jiaying jested before scowling at her brother with an outstretched finger pointed toward his face, "You are late. Mother sent me to come get you. You are lucky you came out before I barged in to wake you."

The prince sighed as they began walking, knowing that he had indeed woken up later than he was supposed to.

"You stayed up too late playing music again, and do not pretend that you did not. I heard you playing until late into the night!"

"I did not intend to; I just had a lot on my mind."

Jiaying shook her head and rolled her eyes with a sigh. "I know, you have been like this for months."

Song Mengyao turned to his sister with furrowed brows, silently asking her what she meant.

"Ever since Master Yin left you have been detached. Too busy with your head in books to even have a proper conversation with your dear sister. And now that they are talking about an engagement—"

"Engagement?" He cut her off, jumping in to ask another question as this was the first he had heard of any engagement.

"Of course, you have not heard yet because you were too busy sleeping! Some of the guests have arrived already. Lady Yin is meeting with Mother and Father as we speak. She is suggesting a partnership between you and her daughter, Meixiu."

Upon his sister's explanation, Song Mengyao felt a sudden wave of emotion wash over him, although he could not quite make sense of what that emotion meant. It was not quite displeasure, as he was very fond of Meixiu. That fondness, however, was akin to how he felt about his own sister. Trying to imagine Meixiu as his future wife was almost as difficult as trying to count every star in the night sky.

As Jiaying dragged him through the palace, Song Mengyao caught a glimpse of the servants busy at work. They ran around outside in the snow to prepare everything for the ceremony, rushing about as though their lives depended on it. Of course, the guests were all inside the banquet hall as it was certainly much too cold to spend the entire day outside in the winter frost.

Guests were still arriving, but the banquet hall was already crowded and lively. People were talking about all kinds of things: when the next spirit hunt would be; discussing the collection of fine wines the Song Clan had amassed for the occasion; but the hottest topic of the day was the sheer quantity of monsters and demons that had been encountered on the road.