After the wedding banquet, when Shen Wan met Xie Jingyan, the first thing she asked him was, "How could the Empress Dowager have betrothed Princess Yong'an to Young Master Cui?"

Unfortunately, Xie Jingyan didn't know either and couldn't answer Shen Wan's question.

The two rode in a carriage back to the Ling Prince's residence. Just as they reached the second gate, Chen Feng's voice came from behind them, "Master."

Xie Jingyan stopped in his tracks, and Chen Feng caught up in a few steps, saying, "We found out. It was Princess Cheng who asked the Empress Dowager to betroth Princess Yong'an to Young Master Cui. The Empress Dowager felt that it was better for the Emperor to bestow the marriage upon her than to issue an imperial decree, so she went to the Emperor instead."

After going around in circles, it turned out to be Princess Cheng's idea.

Shen Wan asked, "Would King Cheng agree?"

Chen Feng replied, "Prince Cheng was unaware of this. When I inquired with Eunuch Yuan, Prince Cheng was taking the imperial decree of marriage to the Emperor to have it revoked..."

It was the Empress Dowager who approached the Emperor, and it was also what Princess Cheng wanted. More importantly, the imperial decree for the marriage had already been issued, and the whole capital knew about it. Not only would the Emperor not agree to Princess Cheng's request, but even the Empress Dowager would not agree.

Unexpectedly, Princess Cheng bypassed Prince Cheng and went directly to the Empress Dowager to handle this matter, and she actually succeeded.

Shen Wan grew increasingly curious about what had happened that day when Princess Cheng followed Prince Cheng into Changchun Palace, that made Prince Cheng so willing to kill his own bedmate...

General Cui is the elder brother of the wife of Marquis Xuanping. In the eyes of all the civil and military officials, he is tacitly considered to be on the side of Marquis Xuanping. However, Princess Cheng married her daughter, Princess Yong'an, to the eldest son of Cui. For some reason, Princess Cheng's actions gave Shen Wan a vague feeling that Prince Cheng would be in trouble and would fall into Xie Jingyan's hands. Princess Cheng was afraid that Prince Cheng would implicate Princess Yong'an, so she took precautions in advance and married Princess Yong'an into their camp.

Moreover, the people weren't chosen randomly.

General Cui's rank was not high, only a fourth-rank official. He was just a marginal figure in the succession struggle. General Cui would not know what Xie Jingyan was planning to do. Naturally, Prince Cheng would not use Princess Yong'an to gather information. As long as Princess Yong'an did not scheme against them, even if Prince Cheng committed heinous crimes, they would not blame Princess Yong'an.

Princess Consort Cheng knew perfectly well that Prince Cheng wanted her dead, and had even tried to kill her, yet she still went behind Prince Cheng's back to the Empress Dowager to arrange a marriage for Princess Yong'an that Prince Cheng would not agree to. By provoking Prince Cheng in this way, she was undoubtedly courting death.

Shen Wan didn't have much contact with Princess Yong'an and Young Master Cui, but Princess Yong'an marrying Young Master Cui was far better than being married off to a distant place by the Empress Dowager in her previous life.

...

The following day was the day Lu Cheng was to marry Yun Rui.

Shen Wan did not attend the wedding banquet at the Xuanping Marquis's residence; Xie Jingyan went alone.

Lu Cheng's injuries hadn't fully healed, so he couldn't personally go to the Yun family to marry Yun Rui. Instead of using his several adult cousins, he asked his thirteen-year-old cousin to go in his place to greet the bride.

Lu Cheng came to the wedding ceremony by himself, and he also drank the wedding wine by himself. Of course, he didn't drink wine, but water.

Even water, they didn't dare let him drink too much because of his injury.

Lu Cheng was extremely frustrated.

When others get married, they get drunk; when he gets married, he can't even get a full meal of water. Could things get any worse?

The wedding night goes without saying, it can be summed up in two words—

Frustrating.

After lifting the veil and drinking the nuptial wine, he wanted to take a good look at the wife he had finally managed to marry, but then he was led to the study.

He knew he couldn't consummate the marriage until he recovered from his injury, but even if he didn't consummate the marriage, couldn't he still sleep in the bridal chamber?

Lu Cheng was indignant and protested, but the nanny shut him down with one sentence: "Is the young master sure he can control himself?"

Lu Cheng, "..."

Are you sure?

I'm not entirely sure either.

How would he know if he hasn't tried?

Lu Cheng's ears turned bright red. The old woman said, "The young master's wife has already been married, so a few more days won't make a difference. Your health is the most important thing."

Not only did they take him to the study, but they also prevented him from going back, so they sent people to guard the door.

Did you think that just guarding the door would be enough?

Lu Cheng went to open the window.

Goodness.

There were also guards outside the window.

The princes of Yanping and their companions were sitting in the trees, laughing so hard they were almost falling over.

Lu Cheng gritted his teeth and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Tang Ze said, "I originally wanted to make a ruckus in your wedding night, but obviously I can't."

The Prince of Yanping laughed and said, "Knowing that you'll be sleeping in the study tonight, and that you probably won't be able to concentrate on those books, I specially brought you two interesting ones."

As he spoke, he pulled out two books from somewhere and tossed them to Lu Cheng.

The book was thrown at me; I had no choice but to catch it.

Lu Cheng was really curious to see what interesting book the Crown Prince of Yanping had mentioned.

I just flipped through it casually.

A man and a woman were entangled together.

Almost instantly upon seeing it, Lu Cheng's face turned bright red.

He glared at the Prince of Yanping and said through gritted teeth, "You really are my good brothers!"

“We’re all good brothers, no need to be so polite,” the Prince of Yanping said with a smile.

"..."

Lu Cheng felt like he was going to vomit blood.

What sins did he commit in his past life to have such good brothers?

When he was injured and could only eat bland food, people would tempt him with lavish meals of meat and fish in front of him.

He's still injured and can't consummate the marriage, yet they send him erotic pictures. They don't treat themselves like human beings, and they don't treat him like one either.

If I weren't injured, or if I weren't outmatched, I would have been tempted to go up and fight.

Moyuxuan.

Shen Wan sat on the swing, swaying back and forth.

Haitang, who was serving nearby, caught sight of a figure entering and said, "Yinshuang is back."

Shen Wan glanced over and saw Yin Shuang walk in, her eyes wide with delight.

Looks like he's received quite a few tips...

Shen Wan did not go to the Yun family to send off the bride. Yin Shuang and Dong'er went to the Yun family to watch the fun. Old Madam Yun rewarded each of them with two taels of silver, and Second Madam Yun rewarded them with another two taels. When they left, the steward of the Yun family gave each of them a handful of silver melon seeds. When they arrived at the Xuanping Marquis's residence, one of the stewards of the Xuanping Marquis's residence stuffed a purse into their hands. Today, they were filled with joy.

Yinshuang told Shenwan about the wedding procession from the Xuanping Marquis's mansion and the ten-mile-long red bridal procession that the Yun family had prepared for Yunrui. She spoke with great enthusiasm, her mouth dry from talking so much.

After Yinshuang finished speaking, Haitang noticed that Dong'er was not there, so she asked, "Where is Dong'er? Why didn't she come back with you?"

Yinshuang said, "Dong'er was injured and went to see Doctor Tao to treat her wound. I was afraid that the Princess would be waiting anxiously, so I came back first."

Haitang then asked, "How did Dong'er get hurt?"

Yinshuang said, "I received quite a few rewards. After returning from the Marquis of Xuanping's residence, I saw that it was still early, so I wanted to buy some hairpins and silk thread. Unfortunately, I had only been on the street for a short while when someone's horse got spooked and started running wildly. Dong'er tried to avoid the horse, but she fell to the ground and cut her hand..."

Speaking of the runaway horse, Yinshuang looked at Shen Wan and said, "I wonder who the horse's owner is. It's caused a huge disaster. The horse crashed into the carriage transporting tribute to the capital, the carriage overturned, and the tribute porcelain was smashed all over the ground..."

Because of the commotion, Yinshuang and Dong'er went to watch the excitement for a while.

The thought of the exquisite porcelain shattered into pieces on the ground made Yinshuang's heart ache.