Along the way, Fang Yun's Official Seal kept receiving messages, but he did not open them, intending to wait until after the wedding.
Behind Fang Yun, besides the ceremonial officials and guards sent by the imperial household, followed a great many members of the Fang Household and his friends. His friends from the Sacred Ruins, in particular, were all there, discussing devious tricks for the wedding-chamber revelry. By the end of their discussion, they realized Fang Yun's standing was too high. If their antics went too far, those old fellows in the Ritual Hall would surely reprimand and punish them. They might as well abandon the idea.
The members of the Fang Household from Ji County were especially delighted, their faces glowing. Several clan elders had lost every last tooth, yet they kept saying, "Glory to our ancestors," their wrinkled faces blooming into smiles like flowers.
As the bridegroom, Fang Yun rode a Dragon Horse throughout the journey, while Ao Huang hovered in the air in his true Dragon King form, over twenty zhang long, lending the bridal procession even greater grandeur.
When they reached Black Tortoise Avenue, with only a short distance left before the palace gates, Fang Yun's expression changed slightly. He tilted his head to listen, looking puzzled, then soon returned to normal without dwelling on it.
Several zhang behind Fang Yun, his friends from the Sacred Ruins gathered together. Their faces still wore smiles, but cold glints flashed in their eyes from time to time. Apart from a few words whispered at the beginning, they had all switched to secret voice transmissions.
"The Lei Family has some nerve!"
"It would be one thing if their patriarch, Lei Ao, had merely confessed his guilt and killed himself, but the Lei Family actually set up a mourning hall