Deafening gongs, drums, and suonas rang throughout the Imperial Capital.
Along both sides of the Zhou Kingdom Imperial Capital's main avenue, the common people craned their necks to watch the wedding procession.
At the very front of the procession, Xiao Mo rode forward on a chestnut horse.
In the Zhou Kingdom, the customs for fetching a bride were largely the same as those of ordinary households, but once inside the palace, the wedding proceedings followed the imperial family's own rules.
Thus, even as the Emperor, Xiao Mo had to ride out to fetch his brides.
For the vast majority of the people in the Zhou Kingdom Imperial Capital, this might be their only chance in their entire lives to see their Emperor with their own eyes.
"Is that His Majesty?"
"His Majesty is so handsome."
"Who said His Majesty was six feet tall and weighed two hundred jin? He's clearly so handsome."
"Yes, I think His Majesty is very handsome too. He looks like a Confucian scholar."
"But I think His Majesty looks more like a general who's fought on the battlefield."
"I wish I could marry His Majesty too."
"What are you all saying? Mind your words, mind your words!"
"Stop discussing His Majesty! Aren't you afraid of losing your heads?"
Many women gazed at Xiao Mo in his groom's attire, their eyes rippling with blossoming affection.
They had always imagined the reigning Emperor as a potbellied man.
They had never expected him to be so handsome.
Besides the women, many scholars were surprised as well.
After all, they had long heard that His Majesty was obsessed with cultivation, and had even heard that he spent his days in a drunken stupor atop palace maids' bellies.
Yet judging solely by His Majesty's bearing and vibrant expression, he hardly seemed