The moment Qi Tianyu issued those orders, men stepped forward to restrain the sedan’s destroyers.
“This sedan is useless!” one of the restrained men cried. “The elder daughter refuses to marry you and has forced her younger sister to take her place. However, the younger sister isn’t willing to marry you either.”
“That’s right! First Daughter Qin doesn’t want to marry you, and her sister won’t take her place! Please give up, Master Qi!” another man cried.
“Destroy the sedan so our eldest miss won’t have to marry him!” yet another man cried, his voice even louder.
Outraged, Qi Tianyu grabbed a man who was still trying to hit the sedan with his broom.
“Even the younger sister doesn’t want to marry me? Does she think this marriage is such a joke that she can just decide not to marry me?”
The man he’d grabbed was Wang Feng, Nanny Yu’s son. He burst out laughing.
“Isn’t it strange, Master Qi? You were supposed to marry the elder sister, but here you are, blaming the younger sister. Are you sure you understand what you’re getting into here?”
Wang Feng pushed Qi Tianyu away and waved his hands, gesturing for the men with him to retreat. They dispersed into the crowd, leaving only the broken sedan, scattered across the ground.
“Qin Wanru… what tricks are you playing now…” Qi Tianyu ground his teeth. He was no longer concerned with the broken sedan. Instead, he stormed the rest of the way up the steps and into the mansion. He braced himself to confront Qin Wanru who was, in his mind, the mastermind of all this.
Not far away from the mansion, a young man watched the proceedings from a second story window. He was wrapped in an elegant purple robe, lips so pale he looked fragile and sickly. Still, his features were handsome enough to make many girls blush and set their hearts pounding.
At the moment, he leaned against the window watching the dramatic scene play out below. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a closer look. The corners of his lips turned up a bit.
“Master, shall we go home? The wind is getting stronger,” the guard behind him said cautiously, glancing out the window.
“A little wind won’t hurt me. Don’t be so spineless!” said the man with a smile. His voice was elegant and gentle, even if his words weren’t.
“But… Master, you mustn’t catch a chill. It will strain your body,” the guard said worriedly.
“Forget it. The exciting part is over. Let’s go,” the handsome man said with a sigh, looking disappointed. When he turned, he found himself smiling mischievously. This was the first time he’d seen a bridal sedan beaten apart on the wedding day. It seemed his trip to Jiangzhou would not be entirely boring.
It was this sort of boredom that could drive people to do unspeakable things…
After a few moments alone, Qing Yue, breathing hard hard, returned to Qin Wanru.
”Is Grandma on her way?” Qin Wanru asked calmly.
“Old Grandma Qin is rushing over now that she’s heard about the chaos you created outside!” Qin Yue said, still gasping. She’d hurried over to warn Qin Wanru.
“Then let’s hurry up as well!” Qin Wanru said with an evil smile.
As expected, Qin Yuru had also rushed over to check on her when she realized something was wrong.
“Quick, tidy me up a bit! I need to tell Grandma something urgent!”
“You can’t let Grandma Qin see you looking like this. Second Miss, you need to get dressed or you won’t make it to the bridal sedan chair in time!” a woman said, hurrying into the room. This was Nanny Fang. She stretched out her arm, showing off the fine red wedding dress and hoping the sight would tempt Qin Wanru into getting ready. “Have a look, Second Miss. This is the wedding dress that you sister prepared for you. Isn’t it beautiful? You should try it on!”Qin Wanru looked at Nanny Fang, then the dress in her hands, and sneered.“Second Miss… is something wrong?” Nanny Fang stammered.The normally sweet and naive young lady seemed to have bloodlust in her eyes. Nanny Fang felt like that icy, black glare could see her soul.“Qing Yue, hurry up!” Qin Wanru ordered coldly, ignoring Nanny Fang.Qing Yue rushed over, taking a comb off the dressing table. She arranged Qin Wanru’s hair in double ringed buns suitable for a girl of her age.“Second Mi
“Second Miss,” Qing Yue screamed. She ran to Qin Wanru’s side.A crowd of people stood at the door, including Grandma Qin and her servants. They saw Qin Wanru lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Grandma Qin’s face changed from scolding to horror.“Hurry! Somebody get a doctor!” she screamed.The servant girls rushed to obey as Grandma Qin picked up her half dead granddaughter.“Zhuozhuo! Zhuozhuo, what happened?” she asked, voice trembling on the edge of tears.Zhuozhuo was Qin Wanru’s nickname, but nobody called it with love like Old Grandma Qin.“Grandma, big sister wants me to marry brother Qi, but… but I don’t want to marry him! She won’t let me just… I don’t want to marry him! Please don’t let her kill me…” Qin Wanru said, words broken and faint. Her hands went slack and she lost consciousness.It was a risky move, letting herself get injured so severely, but Grandma Qin would remember her tantrum when she insisted on the marriage. W
“I want the engagement nullified. This wasn’t my idea. Big Sister talked me into it. She couldn’t take it when I backed out of her plan at the last minute, so she had Nanny Fang attack me with a pair of scissors! Is she trying to force me to marry him no matter what?” Qin Wanru asked. She pushed Qin Yuru’s hang away and ran into Qing Yue’s arms where she could hide her cold eyes.Hearing that, all the people watching felt the blood drain from their faces. Qin Wanru was still at the age where she spoke her thoughts openly, so it felt reasonable for her to say something so bold. They all turned to look at Qin Yuru.Qin Yuru stepped back, face falling.“W-what did you say, Second Sister?” Qin Yuru blurted, pointing at her sister with a trembling hand. She felt her panic rising.“What are you saying, Wanru? You forced your sister to let you marry him. How can you say she forced you into it? As for the injury, it’s just an accident! You never change. You always bl
The Qin Mansion was relatively small, so it did not take long for Qin Wanru to lead the group to Qin Yuru's room. When she saw Qin Wanru about to let them through the door, Qin Yuru lost her nerve. Casting her other concerns aside, she walked up to Qin Wanru and put out her arms out to block her."What do you plan to do in my room, Second Sister?" said Qin Yuru and she glared fiercely at Qin Wanru, her face drained of color."Not much. I just want to look at the letters our cousin wrote you!" replied Qin Wanru calmly, staring back at Qin Yuru."Letters... what letter?" Qin Yuru was so terrified that she almost bit her tongue. She had no idea how Qin Wanru had found out about the letter.When Madam Di had first begun trying to set up the match with Duke Yong’s family, Qin Yuru had started corresponding with Di Yan. Their letters expressed their mutual commitment to make their relationship work. It was, in fact, Di Yan who had urged his mother to agree to their
Inside, Qin Yuru sat paralyzed on the floor, overcome by shock. She stared blankly at Qi Tianyu, who forced his way in by kicking down the door, shaking like a leaf. She looked so frail and pathetic.On any other day, Qi Tianyu would be pained to see Qin Yuru in such a state. At this moment, however, Qi Tianyu's eyes were filled with violence.He snatched the rosewood box from Qin Yuru's hand, opening it without hesitation. He pulled out the letter and a quick glance told him what Qin Wanru had said was true."Alright, the Qi family is not worthy of you. If we are not worthy, you could have just broken off the engagement amicably..." Qi Tianyu scoffed. He looked ready to slash the delicate Qin Yuru into a thousand pieces."Brother Tianyu, it's not what you think..." Qin Yuru said, panicked. She reached out her hand to touch his leg and began to weep.Consumed with rage, Qi Tianyu kicked Qin Yuru away. He thought of the years he’d spent dreaming of their
The engagement between the two families was broken. The eldest daughter of the Ningyuan army general did not guard her chastity. She had such a malicious heart that, pregnant with another man’s child, she devised an evil plan for her younger sister to take her place in marriage.The news snowballed as it spread.Within half a day's time, the entire city of Jiangzhou was talking about it. In a matter of hours, the eldest Miss Qin despised, universally agreed to be the most shameful girl they’d ever heard of. Some even weaved her story into a ballads. When the news reached Qin Huaiyong, he quickly sent men to suppress the rumor, but it was impossible to completely stop people from talking. The Qi family was secretly protecting and spreading the story. By now, the news had even spread far beyond Jiangzhou...The Ningyuan army general was furious. Qin Yuru wailed and cried and even tried to commit suicide. She had shaken the foundation of her entire household.
Chu Liuchen was the crown prince when the late emperor was still alive. He was only a few months old when his uncle usurped the throne and scraped his status as the crown prince. He became Prince Chen, half locked up under house arrest in the South Court in the palace. This was why he was also known as the Crown Prince of South Court.She remembered hearing about him in her previous life. Some said he was a handsome, distinguished gentleman. Other claimed he was a sly and bloodthirsty man. Either way, Qin Wanru didn’t see it as any of her business who he was. She’d only seen him once from far off.Back then, he was the high and mighty crown prince, looking down at her like she was some kind of lowly creature.Right now, on the other hand, she had no choice but to face up to this younger version of Prince Chen.She wanted to keep her distance from him as much as possible, but she couldn’t help but perk at the chance to be recognized by somebody so powerful.
By the time Qin Wanru regained consciousness, it was evening. An old woman bent over the lamp, holding scissors to cut the wick.This was her grandmother, the only member of her family who doted on her. The bandages on her arm had been rewrapped."Are you feeling better, Grandma?" she said, almost in a whisper. Old grandma looked up and saw that Qin Wanru had opened her eyes, her face brightened immediately and she got up to walk toward Wanru, and with a gentle voice, she said, “Zhuozhuo, you're finally awake. Quick, will someone prepare her dinner?"Qing Yue emerged from behind the screen and came up to Qin Wanru help her sit up on her bed and slipped a cushion behind her for support. Her injured arm seemed to have been re-bandaged and so she could not see any blood soaking through the gauze, and it was not hurting as much as before.Another maid came into the room to place a bowl of porridge and some dishes in front of Qin Wanru.Qin Wanru was indeed