Even by counting the gift chests haphazardly, he already had a slight headache. Almost all of the households' messengers delivering gifts stated that their masters 'would not miss the nuptial of the century' . As his guest list was getting more dense by each passing day and weeks, he knew that there was no getting out of his wedding celebration completely sober.
Suddenly, he felt slight phantom-ache in his liver.
"There will be a lot of drinking later today... ", he sighed inwardly.
"Could you not accept it on this Prince's behalf?", he would accept messengers from people who were of higher status, but normally, his attendants would be more than enough to represent him.
The eunuch bowed deeper as he maintained his posture,
"These two gentlemen have traveled from the Northern Plains, on behalf of," he paused, "King JingHan."
-----------------
After being pulled into a hug - two hugs, to be precise - by two sturdy-looking Jing warriors, Zhang GuoFu cupped his fists and bowed slightly as his gratitude.
"The Jing people truly love skinship...," he mused.
With them, they had brought a decent-sized wooden box, almost a size of a dining table. The box was not decorated with any elaborate engravings nor designed intricately, but the workmanship was fine. Every surface and corner of the box had been planed and finished, polished to almost reflecting lustrous shine on the natural timber grains.
Both parties exchanged pleasantries, the Jing messengers - fortunately - spoke decent Zhang Empire's language. However. despite imploring for the two men to stay to celebrate, at his own estate as esteemed guests, both warriors were adamant to return straight away to the Northern Plains,
"On behalf of our King, we congratulate the Yong Prince on the nuptial. Unfortunately, there are still many matters to be done; therefore, we are unable to celebrate."
"Yong wang, Prince Zhang GuoFu, you are our King's cousin. You are his brother, therefore, you are always a brother to all of Jing."
One of the warriors then handed a small red lacquered box - slightly smaller than a jewelry box - with a paper scroll on top of it,
"The letter is from our King."
After both men took their leave, Zhang GuoFu looked at the sky outside and decided that there was still a bit of time before he had to depart to the Ji clan's house.
He opened the chest of gifts.
Zhang GuoFu almost balked when he saw the exotic things inside the box.
Even the servants who were in the same room took a few steps back, some with horrified expressions.
He let out a small chuckle. He had no doubt that his maternal cousin would not bear any ill-will whatsoever, but the choices of gifts were peculiar, to say the least.
He unfolded the paper scroll and sat on one of the chairs in the living room, the opened chest still on the floor barely a feet away from him. He started to read them silently,
[Dear cousin brother,]
Zhang GuoFu frowned. The penmanship of the writer was fine and elegant, clearly un-befitting of JingHan's character.
It was ladylike, small characters with smooth flow and strokes that would normally more well-known to have been penned by noble ladies. Not only that, the Da Lang characters used were flawless.
YOU ARE READING
One Lifetime Is Never Enough
Historical FictionShe thought she was going to die. She did. But the next time she opened her eyes , she found out that she was living a whole new life, as a little girl who was going to enter a noble household as a maid. However, a true pearl can never hide its lus...
1.89 Yong Prince
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