The Husband Games

A New Sister

*****The picture above shows what the Second Prince's wife's hanfu looks like.

Smiling to myself, I watched as my brother sat down with ease with a satisfied smile on his face. Even though he did such a small gesture, it would have a huge impact on the officials if they did not quickly react to the princes bow. 

Once my brother was settled back into his seat, the gift giving started to slowly pick up pace. Looking around, I saw that all my brothers had a slight smile on their face. I guess everyone was amused with the stunt my older brother played. 

Well except my father and his wife consort. Although, I noticed a slight smile graced her beautiful and youthful appearance. The third prince, however, went back to fiddling with his tea bored now that nothing exciting will take place. I can just tell that he would rather be doing training at the camp at the moment instead of a stuffy banquet filled with wealthy families.

Since it is custom to give presents to the newlyweds, I decided to join in on the fun too. I have been preparing to give my gift to my new sister for a while now. 

I decided to wait until everyone has shown their gift to the new couple before presenting my gift. A couple of years ago when the Crown Prince married his wife, I gave her a jade bracelet with pale blue beads in the shape of a flower. 

Everyone complimented me on finding such rare and beautiful blue jades. So this year, I decided to ask the same craftsman to make a bracelet with a lavender jade made into a flower. I have a dark green jade bracelet where the beads are in the shape of a lotus flower too.

I thought it would be very nice to share something with my brothers wives that represent my care for them since I don't have any sisters of my own. It is also rare to have a close relationship with the wives of princes so I treasure them as my own sisters. So after some time pondering over what to give, I decided to continue on the tradition of giving a jade bracelet to Consort Wu too.

Minister Ban was the last person to give a gift to the Crown Prince and I was mildly surprised by the gift he gave. It was a beautiful set of jade earrings for the Princess Consort Wu. I never would have thought that he would spend so much money on accessories but I guess it was a vain attempt of gaining favor with the second prince. 

Seeing that he couldn't get his granddaughter to be a concubine for the Crown Prince he instead tried to gain favor with the second prince. It is a never ending cycle that I am grateful for not needing to worry about it. I guess my second brother will also have a lot of ladies trying to gain favor with him. 

I mean it is not uncommon for a high ranking official or a nobleman to have more than one wife but my first and second brothers are different. I don't think they would ever have a concubine as they both care for their wives deeply. They also know the cost to having a harem and the disasters it can bring. 

However, I have a feeling my fourth brother will have at least two wives. It's just a hunch though. Once Minister Ban's servant exited the main hall, I decided it was about time for me to present my gift. 

So I slowly stood up waiting for the attention to fall on me. My brothers looked at me with questioning eyes because they did not know that I would present a gift in front of everyone. Only my Second brother knew I was giving a gift because I asked him what his wife's favorite color was.

Once all the attention was on me I walked toward my second brother and curtsied towards the royal couple before gesturing to my maid. Whispers circled around the room as my maid held a intricately designed jade box in front of her. 

The box wasn't big, just the size of a palm so a single jade bracelet could fit inside of it. Everyone gasped in amazement as their eyes laid on the beautiful jade box. The box was a white jade box with carvings of a bird nestled in vines. 

Once everyone examined the jade box for a couple of seconds, I gently opened up the jade top and pulled out a beautiful lavender colored jade bracelet. The bracelet was carved to look like flowers.

The lady's in the banquet hall looked on at the jade bracelet in awe and jealousy as the bracelet was presented to the Second Prince's Consort. Since they have never seen a piece of jewelry so unique and beautiful at the same time. Everyone slowly noticed how the jade bracelet perfectly matched the intricate designs of Consort Wu's dress. 

My brother smiled and gave me a nod, to thank me for giving his wife such a wonderful present. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed that my other brothers looked in amazement at the bracelet. 

Probably wondering how I could have acquired such a beautiful piece of jewelry. Not that they know much about accessories. After handing the bracelet over to the Consort, I watched as her eyes lit up in awe as she daintily put the bracelet on her delicate wrist. 

Showing the beautiful jade bracelet to her husband, the Consort showed off the jade to the guests in the banquet. She then thanked the Princess for giving her such a wonderful present which she will cherish.

Once I got back to my seat, the banquet slowly came to an end. The Emperor gave his last speech to thank everyone for coming to celebrate the 2nd Prince and his Consort's wedding. 

 Everyone bowed to the Emperor and his Consort as they gracefully left the banquet hall. Which in turn, gave cue for everyone to take their leave.

As everyone started to disperse and say their goodbyes, I got up from my spot and flattened the wrinkles out of my dress that had accumulated from sitting for a long time. Standing tall as a bamboo shoot, I rested my hands over my stomach and scanned the crowd for my Second brother's wife.

 Unsure of what to do, I stood in the same spot contemplating if I should go and greet sister Wu. In a split second, I made up my mind and decided to greet and congratulate her on their marriage.