27 THE SURPRISE
After the guests were all gone, everywhere was tidied up by picking up litter.
King Dingbang got into his room looking tired. The first thing he took off was his crown, and then dropped it with his royal staff on the mirror stand before his hand bracelets. The person who was lying down on the bed caught his attention. It was the queen.
King Dingbang majestically walked up to the bed and stood by. He stood with his hands akimbo as he stared at queen Mei on the bed. King Dingbang stood silently for a few minutes before he extended his hand to touch her. He placed his hand on her cheeks and the hotness in it almost burned his hand. Queen Mei's body was hot as if she were brought out from a cooking pot.
"My Lady, are you okay?" King Dingbang asked in a romantic voice, but the queen didn't reply.
She has bitterly wept in the room alone. Queen Mei preferred to be far away from the kingdom and not to listen to the noise coming out of the hall. The more she hears the sounds of music, the more she gets annoyed, and it triggers her to weep more tears. She knew when the ceremony started and when it ended.
Hmm, king Dingbang sighed and said, "you don't need to worry yourself, she's going to be fine. Moreover, Shu will always be there for her. So, why bother yourself?"
King Dingbang spoke, but the queen never showed any sign of replying. The only reply king Dingbang was getting from her was, 'sniff. She was sniffing because she was tired of crying, and she almost lost her voice. He sat on the bed and took her right hand and placed it on his palms and cared for it. King Dingbang gently rubbed her hand and asked, "Do you need some medicine?"
Queen Mei shook her head as she let out a cough.
"What's the problem?" King Dingbang asked again, and queen Mei glared at him, which made him take his gaze away from her.
Queen Mei took her hand from his and placed it on the bed as she lay on it.
Hmm, king Dingbang sighed and relaxed his hands on his thighs.
"I know it's all my fault. I apologize for not attending your daughter's wedding ceremony. You and I have talked about this thing, so why worry? You were okay when I left this room, only to come back and see you in this condition. It makes me worried about you. You might end up hurting yourself if you continue thinking about this thing. She has gone to a new home and there's nothing we can do about it now. The only thing we need to do is to pray for peace to reign in their family." King Dingbang tried to encourage her, but queen Mei was pretending as if she weren't hearing him, and decided to give her dumb ears.
The room went silent for a moment. When king Dingbang couldn't take the silence any longer, he climbed the bed and started to kiss queen Mei, but she wasn't in the mood to have any affairs with him. So, she tried to push him away. King Dingbang, on the other hand, was only trying to be romantic so that he could calm her down. Even though he was stressed out, he still wanted to please her.
He was attempting to make a change now, unlike before, when he wasn't concerned with what will happen to her after he has decided.
When king Dingbang saw that she wasn't giving him the chance to pleasure her, he let go of her as he climbed down the bed. He took off his royal tunic and entered the bathroom to take his bath. Within minutes, he was done. King Dingbang took a towel that was on a hanger in the bathroom and cleaned his body before he dashed out of the bathroom. The towel was tied around his waist as he stood in front of his wardrobe. He took hold of the wardrobe door handle. A knock came from the door, and he paused for a while and asked, "who is there?"
"Your Majesty, your dinner and Her Majesty's dinner are ready." A maiden responded from outside.
"Okay, you can go." King Dingbang said.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The maiden replied and left.
After wearing his nightgown, he walked up to the queen. King Dingbang gently cared for her cheeks and said,``'' let's go for dinner."
King Dingbang only said that, but he wasn't aware that she hadn't eaten anything since morning. Queen Mei was seriously hungry, but due to what she was battling with, hunger wasn't her problem. This is the right time she will need to eat food to have the strength to do whatsoever she wants to do. She wouldn't want to keep on being moody.
Queen Mei finally gave in to king Dingbang's request. He took her and supported her to get up from the bed. Her eyes were red, and king Dingbang wasn't happy to see those reddish eyes.
"This shows that she has cried all day." King Dingbang thought to himself.
Queen Mei brought her legs to the ground. Her gown that was still widespread on the bed was taken down by king Dingbang. He held the queen's waist and lifted her to stand on her feet.
"I would like to wash my face." Queen Mei muttered.
"As you wish, My Lady." King Dingbang responded with a smile.
He led her to the bathroom. King Dingbang didn't allow queen Mei to wash her face by herself, instead, he helped her in washing her face for a few seconds. Thereafter, he helped her to get out of the bathroom.
Queen Mei placed her left hand on king Dingbang's neck as they walked out of the room. What the servants will say about her wasn't their problem. They knew that there must be people that will always say what doesn't concern them.
On getting to the dining room, the guards began to whisper to themselves. Some were asking, "is the queen sick?" While others were wondering why she didn't come out for the ceremony, when
She was in the palace.
Prince Gen was riding home with his bride. Since they left the Neville kingdom, none of them said a word to anyone. They were both silents as if it were a bad thing for one to get married. Prince Gen was trying his best to smile at her, but all in vain as she continued to look away, pretending not to see the smiling face he was wearing. They were silent all through the journey until they got home.
"Welcome to your new home." Prince Gen said as he dropped from the caravan. He turned around to the other side and held her right hand. Princess Fen used her left hand to raise her gown a bit. She dropped from the caravan, and she was amazed by what she saw. The maidens and the palace guards were dressed uniformly. They all bowed down at once and welcomed her to the kingdom.
Unaware of prince Gen, the palace servants that were unable to go to the wedding ceremony, have arranged a small feast to celebrate the couple. Commander Bingwen led them to a hall that had been decorated. It was like the wedding ceremony was just beginning.
"Who brought the idea of this?" Prince Gen asked with surprise.
"Him," commander Bingwen said as he bowed and stretched his hand towards a door. Prince Gen and princess Fen turned around and the person they saw coming out of the door happens to be the prince of Luna. Prince Liang.
Prince Gen burst into laughter and moved toward prince Liang. He opened his arms widely and hugged prince Liang.
"Brother," prince Gen called as they embraced each other so tight.
Princess Fen was happy to see such a surprise. Even though she didn't know who prince Liang was, she was glad deep inside of her. Her sadness has been replaced by happiness.
On turning around, prince Gen saw princess Fen smiling. He was shocked from head to toe. This is someone who has been moody since the commencement of their wedding ceremony.
Leaving his friend, prince Gen walked up to where she was standing and stared into her eyes, but she never stopped smiling, instead, she looked back at him before taking her gaze away.
"I love you." Prince Gen said, and Princess Fen replied, "I love you too."
After saying this, princess Fen sighted Shu standing by the hall door side. Shu smiled at her, and princess Fen smiled back.