There's a Lump in My Tail

Epilogue

The Wedding of The Crown Prince of the Celestial Heavens to the Princess of Qing Qiu was the largest spectacle the world had ever seen.  Wedding banners adorned the Realms across the world and every World Leader was in attendance, including a rare visit by the Demons and Ghosts who made a grand entrance by wearing full battle gear just to make the Celstials squirm before moving back to maintain a low profile.  And joining them, were the Realms Princesses who were not looking overly enthusiastic in being there, but being the worlds future leaders, they did their best to maintain the smiles while their silk gowns and over made faces, somberly moved through the main corridors in search of wine to dull their disappointment in losing the most eligible bachelor in the world, and all to a Princess none had ever met, but hated anyway.

Only the arrival of the entire Fox Clan saw the party kick off with a roar before the blushing bride had even arrived.  The wine was flowing, the music was in full swing, Haodes laughter brought even more noise when the Leaders joined him in a dance that stretched the full length of the wedding carpet wich according to him was good luck, the laughter would infuse the thick rich material and when she walked towards her groom, it would ensure her future among them would a happy one.

But the grand spectacle erupted with the arrival of the bride.  Beyond the gates of the Celestial Palace, the fireworks could be seen lighting up the already lit skies, only once the brides palanquin was sighted, then the Heavenly bugles boomed across the vast divide.  The noise was deafening, and for those not lucky enough to receive an invitation, it was obvious by the noise, that the Princess had finally arrived.

In fact, beyond the borders, the Realms folk were holding their own celebrations, so adding to the noise with their fireworks meant any words were completely drowned out.  

Looking on, Le Xu felt it was such a shame that the bride could not see anything, because no sooner were the bugles ringing out, then a selection of Lord Puas Celestial Dragons and Phoenixes also took to the skies with their screeching and fire lightening.

In all, the spectacle was a sight to behold, no one was immune to the emotional turmoil that the sound evoked from every corner of the Celestial Heavens, and none more than Ye Hua, who stood proudly at the altar waiting for the brides family to come into view while images of the past few weeks stole his attention and turned his stomach upside down.

Even though he had instigated the mischief that saw him dressed from head to foot in vermillion red, the memory of a short nap under a large peach tree that led to a lump in her tail had his emotions rising as the noise reached a crescendo.  Tipping his head back to watch as Lord Puas beasts wove a fire lightening path through hundreds of fireworks that were exploding around them, he could not stop the tears from gathering as he imagined the look on her face when Zhe Yan told her that she had to come back to the tree naked if she was to get rid of the lump.

And it was a silly tree lump that had him standing there thinking he must look like a fool with tears in his eyes and stupid grin on his face.   But no sooner had the dragons lowered themselves to form a guard of honour for the brides procession, then Haode was racing towards him along with his parents and over a hundred maids who quickly lined themselves up against both sides of the carpet to toss peach blossom at her feet when she passed by.

The headress that hung low about his face and shoulders suddenly began to feel heavy as a sea of forest green and yellow came into view along with the Palanquin which stood over 2 meters tall.  The oranately carved golden roof was all he could see of her because her entire family surrounded it while Di Jun led the procession having been the one sent to collect her.  In fact, his purple robe stood out even more among the colours of the Fox Clan and though all eyes were on their approach, Ye Huas were beginning to mist over.