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墨書 Inktalez
This time is different from before; the news of her upcoming marriage must have been exaggerated by Dong Dong long ago.
She shot a glare at Dong Dong and turned to sneak a peek at Zhong Xue. He appeared calm, not seeming particularly angry. If it weren't for the fact that he had just hit her with his chopsticks a bit too forcefully, he looked even gentler than usual.
Zhong Xue seemed oblivious to her presence, methodically picking at his food. After about half an hour, once he had eaten his fill, he finally lifted his gaze to her.
San Chun looked at him pitifully, trying to soften him with her gentle eyes, but it seemed to have little effect.
She had no choice but to change her expression and smiled playfully, "Lord Jun, are you done eating?"
Zhong Xue nodded, set down his chopsticks, and cast a faint glance in her direction.
She stuck out her tongue. "You're not angry?"
How could he not be angry? Zhong Xue snorted and stood up. "Pack your things today; someone will come to pick you up tomorrow at noon."
She pretended to be surprised. "Are you leaving?"
He gritted his teeth. "You're the one leaving."
San Chun sighed. "This is Yan Country."
"Don't worry; with me here, you'll definitely leave safely."
San Chun was at a loss for words; that wasn't what she was worried about.
She realized that his calm demeanor meant he had already made plans. On the day of their wedding, if the bride was absent, what kind of marriage would that be?
She had no doubt he could take her away, but she didn't want to go with him...
This Lord Jun was unpredictable and ruthless; he might like her now, but who knew when he would stop?
Biting her teeth, she was unwilling to follow him, but looking at his deep expression, she dared not speak out and could only sigh, pretending to be obedient.
By the time Zhong Xue left, it was already late at night. It was truly unfortunate that he had left a table full of dishes untouched for her. She had originally wanted to eat something, but the kitchen was already closed, so she had no choice but to lie in bed with an empty stomach.
In the middle of the night, she suddenly woke up, feeling even hungrier. She got up and slowly walked along the path lined with blooming plum blossoms, occasionally reaching up to pluck a few white plum blossoms from the tree to chew on. The light sweet taste was nice, but it did nothing to quell her hunger.
In the night sky, the moon was dim and the stars sparse; everything around was silent, and it seemed that everyone in the mansion had fallen into a deep sleep.
She pondered whether to call a maid or simply risk burning down the kitchen by trying to cook something herself.
Just as she hesitated, she suddenly noticed shadows on the roof that seemed to hide someone. Looking around, she realized that many unidentified people had appeared in the mansion without her noticing. There were too many of them—some in the trees, some on the roof, and others crowded into corners; even the plum tree was filled with people. These individuals wore different outfits and had various appearances; they did not seem to know each other and were likely not from the same group.
It seemed these people did not expect anyone to come out suddenly; some stared at her with wide eyes, some turned their heads pretending not to see her, while others looked up as if admiring the moon.
She had no idea who had sent these people; judging by their demeanor, they likely bore no ill will.
After thinking for a moment, she waved at one of them perched on a tree who was looking at her with two bright black eyes.
The person looked extremely surprised and did not dare to speak, communicating with their companions through hand signals. One of them made a "cut down" gesture towards him, probably indicating for him to come down.
With a distressed expression, he jumped down from the tree and bowed to San Chun. "Greetings, Miss."
San Chun asked, "Who sent you?"
He waved his hand to indicate he could not say.
San Chun was too lazy to ask further and simply said, "I'm hungry; go get something to eat."
The boy's face grew even more distressed. Where could he find food in the middle of the night? Their orders were to protect Ju Mansion's safety, especially this young lady; it wasn't their job to handle cooking!
He waved his hand again but received a glare from San Chun and could only nod slightly.
Where can I find something to eat at this late hour?
He jumped out of the yard and soon returned with a large lump of clay. When he peeled off the clay skin, it revealed a fragrant chicken inside. The tender white meat had grease dripping down.
San Chun was overjoyed and asked him, "Where did you get this?"
The boy shook his head vigorously, unwilling to tell her how he had seen a few beggars roasting a clay chicken in an empty lot and had snatched it from them.
After eating half, she gave the other half to the boy who had been staring at her eagerly. She was afraid that if she ate too much, she wouldn't be able to digest it.
The boy didn't hold back either and quickly finished it, looking like he hadn't eaten anything.
After they were full, they burped and went back to sleep. Just as she left, those who had been quiet suddenly started fighting. They were not one group but several groups.
Qi originally wanted to send some people to protect her secretly, but when he arrived at Ju Mansion, he realized he was late, and many advantageous positions had already been occupied.
The various groups didn't recognize each other, and just as they were about to start fighting, San Chun appeared. For a moment, everyone hesitated to act impulsively, waiting for her to leave before they would surely clash.
San Chun slept soundly through the night. When she woke up the next morning and came out, those hidden in the mansion had already disappeared. Instead, there were many soldiers surrounding the gates, tightly guarding the front and back doors.
From their attire, it was clear these soldiers were palace guards sent by Qi. So where did those people from last night come from? Was it Zhong Xue or Qing?
Although puzzled, San Chun realized that with this arrangement, it would be difficult for Zhong Xue to take her away. Understanding this connection made her feel relieved rather than sad; instead, she felt grateful for Qi's foresight.
As she guessed correctly, the following days passed peacefully without incident.
Before long, it was the day of the Betrothal.
On this day, the wedding ceremony followed the three letters and six rites outlined in Zhou Li: Betrothal, Asking for Names, Receiving Good Omens, Receiving Engagement Gifts, Requesting Dates, and Welcoming the Bride. These six main steps are also known as the Marriage Six Rites. This repetitive process is meant to "unite two families in harmony, serving both the ancestral temple above and continuing future generations below."
On this day, San Chun had to stay home obediently while the king chose an auspicious date to hold the Betrothal ceremony. The Betrothal ceremony involved Yan Wang officially sending a matchmaker to Queen's residence.
Of course, being a Matchmaker is not something that can be done casually; at least, one must have a noble status. This time, it was Chen Xiong again, who felt quite helpless about it. Being both a matchmaker and involved in the Betrothal made him feel like a servant.
After the matchmaking was completed, the bride's family had to show gratitude to the matchmaker. This included treating him to a meal and giving him a small gift. The gift Chen Xiong received was a large bag of tea leaves.
In fact, weddings are quite costly affairs. As a king, even if he wanted to marry multiple times, it wasn't something that could be done lightly; it required a significant amount of money. The Ju Mansion also held a Betrothal banquet, where Qi ordered preparations for the feast, which was sent from the palace to thank the Queen's father for raising such a wonderful daughter.
On the day of the wedding procession, Zhong Xue did not appear, which made San Chun even more anxious. She feared that he was hiding in the shadows plotting something.
Today marked "Snow," one of the twenty-four solar terms of the year, which was considered an auspicious day. In Daliang City during Winter Day, despite the biting cold wind, the enthusiasm for celebrating weddings could not be dampened. Long before this day, the Ju Mansion had already been decorated with lights and colorful banners; the bright red decorations brought warmth to this winter and attracted countless envious gazes.
According to Zhou Li, as the king, Qi would never personally go to welcome the bride; instead, he would have her family send her off in a grand manner.
Early in the morning, San Chun got up to dress up. She adorned herself with gold and silver jewelry until her neck hurt. She climbed into a ceremonial carriage, and under the sunlight, its bright red color shone brilliantly.
The ceremonial carriage had to circle around Daliang City before entering the palace, receiving greetings from all the citizens along the way.
Halfway through their journey, an incident occurred. The horse pulling the carriage suddenly went wild for some unknown reason and bolted forward uncontrollably. In an instant, the wedding procession scattered; most of those holding weapons were untrained, and those behind them were caught off guard and couldn't stop the carriage in time.
Two steeds raced down the street with the carriage in tow. San Chun was terrified and gripped tightly onto the side rails to avoid being thrown off. Suddenly, both horses stumbled and knelt on the ground, coming to a stop. However, the carriage could not halt in time; after a violent jolt, it crashed into a wall and fell apart upon hitting the ground.
Fortunately, San Chun was agile enough to jump out of the carriage just as it hit the wall; otherwise, her body would have ended up like that carriage—broken and battered. Even so, when she landed on the ground after rolling over, she was dazed from the fall and vomited everything she had eaten that morning.
Dizzy and unsteady on her feet, she stood up only to feel a wave of vertigo wash over her. Just then, a hand suddenly steadied her. As she turned to thank her helper, she saw a figure dressed in black with their face covered and bright eyes shining with intensity. She sighed involuntarily, "I knew it was you."
"Good that you know."
The person in black struck her shoulder with their palm; her already dizzy head spun completely into unconsciousness.
After the chaos, Yan Kingdom's future Queen went missing, causing an uproar throughout Daliang City. Main Street was heavily guarded. When San Chun woke up, she found herself lying in a carriage heading out of town. Looking at her hands revealed they were not bound nor was her mouth gagged. She glanced at the still-masked figure beside her and murmured, "Aren't you afraid I’ll scream?"
The masked person shot her a glance and replied coldly, "Scream if you want."
She felt embarrassed to call out after he said that. Lifting the curtain of the carriage to peek outside, she saw they were stuck at the city gate, waiting for a check to leave the city.
With his obvious appearance as a bandit, did he really think he could get out of the city?
She shook her head, "Qing, you too..."
The masked man suddenly shot her a fierce glance, "What did you say?"
The intensity in his eyes made her shiver, "Qing, you..."
The masked man pulled down his mask, "Now see who I am?"
With a loud slap, San Chun could feel her heart drop into an ice cellar. It was Zhong Xue, it was actually Zhong Xue!
Perhaps she should have guessed it was him; it was just that his eye-rolling expression resembled Qing so much that she misinterpreted it for a moment. If she had known earlier, she would have shouted out loud. Now that she wanted to shout, seeing his expression that looked like he wanted to strangle her made her swallow the words back. It would be fine if it fell into Qing's hands, but escaping from him would not be easy.
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