69: Flowers may not always be beautiful, and the moon may not always be full...

The wedding ceremony, even for princes and princesses within the Imperial Palace, ultimately boiled down to bowing to Heaven and Earth, bowing to parents, and bowing between husband and wife.

Of course, the situation here was somewhat special, but that didn't matter. Only after Eunuch Fang loudly announced, "Ceremony complete!" did Mo Yingqi finally feel his heart settle.

"Today, the Legitimate Princess is getting married. The Empress and I are holding a banquet in the palace to entertain all you beloved officials." The Emperor stood up, a look of relief on his face. "I won't have the Princess's Consort entertain you all; the young couple still needs to return to their residence for the rites. Yongfu and Yongze will represent the Empress and me in hosting you all properly!"

The two princes, who usually dreaded trouble, were now grinning from ear to ear. The surrounding officials were puzzled; with a princess getting married... why were the two princes smiling like that?

But no one noticed that the two brothers standing at the front, who appeared so happy, were actually whispering to each other in voices only they could hear.

"Hardships have ended, and sweetness begins, Big Brother..." Yongze couldn't help but let out a long sigh. "We'll deal with future matters later. With our Brother-in-law here, we can at least catch a break for a while!"

"If I were you, I wouldn't be able to smile..." Yongfu looked smiling on the surface, but his eyes held an indescribable worry. "Dealing with those two ancestors was already exhausting enough. Although we've found a Brother-in-law and he can keep their madness in check... the problem is, even with his title, Brother-in-law still works at the Pacification Bureau. Since they are female, it's inconvenient for them to go there. Tell me... who has to deal with this mess in the end?"

"Sigh, do I have time to worry about that now? I'll take any relief I can get!" Yongze understood his brother's concerns. "The Emperor still cares about us. Now that Brother-in-law has a title, he's no longer just a small Captain. Our pressure will be reduced quite a bit, won't it?"

"Don't try to flatter us; he cares about us, indeed..." Yongfu glanced at his younger brother as if looking at a total fool. "He's just afraid the Censor Officials and the court officials won't be convinced. Otherwise, let alone a Duke, I fear our father would even be willing to grant a title of Prince to someone of a different surname!"

"That's easy to say, Big Brother. Once you ascend the throne, won't you promote Brother-in-law's title?"

"Of course I will, he's our family's great benefactor... Wait, Second Brother, are you crazy? Even now, you're trying to trap me into talking about inheriting the throne?"

"Big Brother, with our relationship, you actually suspect your younger brother of plotting against you?"

"Get lost! I've never trusted you when it comes to this!"

The two brothers bickered quietly, and naturally, no one noticed. Even though they were cursing each other, their expressions showed no flaws.

After the ceremony, Mo Yingqi, Luo Yongan, and Luo Yongning left, surrounded by Ying Hong and the maids dressed in red. Mo Yingqi didn't even have time to say goodbye to Lu Qianyuan and Tang Jingzhong before boarding the carriage.

The two brothers looked at each other, feeling awkward. Just then, Fang Wenbo appeared beside them and patted them on the shoulder. "Alright, stop staring blankly. The food from the Imperial Kitchen and the wine stored in the palace aren't things you can eat and drink every day."

"Commander Qianhu, should Tang Jingzhong and I just leave?" Lu Qianyuan looked at the Imperial Relatives and civil and military officials heading toward the banquet. "It's really a bit awkward for us to go over there..."

"Don't worry, you two are the only friends and family on the Princess's Consort's side. Besides, just keep your heads down, eat, and drink—you can do that, right?" Fang Wenbo gave him a thump. "Let's go. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility. If I can't handle it... someone higher up will!"

Mo Yingqi actually wanted to attend the palace banquet. After all, he hadn't eaten anything since this morning, and he heard that The Emperor had been extremely attentive to this wedding feast, with the spread prepared quite luxuriously.

"Is Yingqi thinking about eating the banquet in the palace?" Luo Yongan slowly lowered her round fan and smiled, taking a box of snacks from a hidden compartment in the carriage. "Don't worry, the chefs at our Princesss Residence aren't bad. It's just that Father and Mother said since we are newlyweds, there are some rites to perform back at the residence. They already had Steward Zheng go back to arrange everything, and the dishes are already prepared."

"Alright, you little glutton, have some snacks first?" Luo Yongning smiled and opened the box for him. "But it's true, we've been up since early morning preparing, from paying respects to the ancestral tablets to getting dressed up—it's worn both me and my sister out."

"I'm also grateful that The Emperor and Empress didn't mind and simplified many steps." Mo Yingqi said with emotion while eating the snacks. "I specifically looked at some classic books in the study two days ago; I didn't expect a wedding in the palace to have even more rites than an ordinary family..."

In truth, it wasn't that The Emperor didn't care about etiquette. For instance, regarding the banquet, Mo Yingqi, as the Princess's Consort and a newly ennobled Marquis, should have been there to host the guests.

But what could he do? Could The Emperor not know what his own daughters were like? These things were all superficial to them. Although they had probably already given themselves to him over the past two days... that didn't stop them from being eager on their wedding day to take the husband they had worked so hard to get and return to the residence to be sweet and loving.

So what else could The Emperor do? He just had to go along with it. Fortunately, no one cared about these things. Two princesses were getting married at once; there was no precedent for this in any code of etiquette, so naturally, whatever The Emperor arranged, the palace would follow.

Besides, when it comes to rites and etiquette, everyone prefers to save trouble if they can. Arranging it this way made everyone happy, so why not?

As for whether the Censorate would cause trouble... who cared what they thought? The wedding was done, and the title of Marquis was granted. The Censorate didn't have the nerve to make an issue out of this anymore.

"Sigh, but at least everything is finally resolved."

Luo Yongan leaned gently against Mo Yingqi's shoulder, even taking care to check that her phoenix crown wouldn't touch him before she leaned in.

"From now on, Yingqi is our legitimate husband. This is wonderful..." Luo Yongning was more direct. Ignoring the fact that they were still in the carriage, she gently kissed his face. "But all of this is worth it. Yingqi... please don't leave us again, okay?"

"Um, it seems like originally it was you two who... fine, I understand."

Mo Yingqi actually wanted to retort, but every time he brought it up, the sisters would instantly turn red-eyed, tears streaming down, looking at him pitifully.

That would be one thing, but ever since they had consummated their marriage, the sisters had leveled up. Whenever this was mentioned, not only would they look at him with aggrieved expressions, but they would also start undressing, muttering, "Yingqi, don't blame us. If you have anger in your heart, let it out. Once you let it out, you'll feel comfortable, and you won't be angry with us anymore, okay?"

No matter how much anger he had, it couldn't withstand being extinguished like that!

"That's right, I knew it. How could Yingqi really be angry with us?" Luo Yongan instantly transformed back into the gentle big sister. "Now, we can finally say that the flowers are fine and the moon is full; we've achieved our heart's desire..."

Flowers may not always be fine, and the moon has its phases of waxing and waning, but Yingqi, you are ours forever and ever...

Naturally, Luo Yongan wouldn't say this out loud, not to mention that Mo Yingqi still didn't know that the "Love Follows" within him... was likely unsolvable from this moment on.