Chapter 15 A Wedding Ceremony Was Held at the Earth God Temple Outside the City

There was a local earth god temple ten miles outside the city. It was here that Xie Shang caught up with Su Tingwan. When their feelings for each other were strong, they used the temple to worship heaven and earth, which was Su Tingwan's request.

She said, "Ah Shang, since we can't have a proper wedding ceremony, let's worship the Earth God. He's worshipped by people, so it can't hurt to pay him a visit."

Xie Shang was initially hesitant, but he couldn't resist Su Tingwan's bold words and actions. Knowing that he had broken his promise to her today, the moment he saw her, the feeling of having regained what he had lost made him feel like he had found a treasure. In the end, he agreed to have a wedding ceremony with her at the local temple.

After the two bowed to heaven and earth, Su Tingwan said, "Ah Shang, today is the happiest and most carefree day of my life. Now that we have bowed to heaven and earth, we are husband and wife. I am your wife. I am so happy."

He couldn't give her the position of his legal wife, and now he had secretly married her outside, knowing in his heart that it was against etiquette. Wanwan was a straightforward person who didn't care about such trivial matters, so he went along with her.

He looked at her with doting eyes, and as long as it didn't go against his conscience and morality, he would try his best to satisfy any request Wanwan made.

Su Tingwan hugged his waist and leaned against him. If this were their new home, shouldn't they...?

Her cheeks flushed crimson. Xie Shang suddenly remembered Jiang Huai's words at the dinner table. He wanted to tell Wanwan that his position didn't allow him to do this, so he pushed her away and said in a deep voice, "Wanwan, let's go back quickly! Actually, Jiang Fenghua has already agreed..."

Upon hearing Jiang Fenghua's name, a hint of displeasure flashed in Su Tingwan's eyes. She raised an eyebrow and interrupted him, "Tell me, am I your wife?"

Xie Shang hesitated for a moment, then suddenly Jiang Fenghua's tearful face flashed into his mind. "Wanwan, I can't promise what I can't do. The emperor's decree cannot be disobeyed."

“She is indeed the Princess Consort of Heng. His Majesty bestowed the marriage upon us, and it cannot be changed. But I only want to be your wife! Haven’t we already had our wedding ceremony?” She hugged his waist. “I was the one who met you first. The world is so unfair. Why did she marry you first?”

Xie Shang was stunned. He clearly loved Wanwan, yet he had to marry Jiang Fenghua, which was unfair to Wanwan. He hadn't even given her a proper wedding. He felt guilty for not being able to give her the status of his legal wife. "Wanwan, I'm sorry..."

"From now on, as long as A-Shang regards me as his only wife in his heart, that's enough."

Seeing her so wronged, Xie Shang hugged her tightly.

She then said, "I don't want you to apologize. I just want you to love me, to love me enough. From now on, she will only be the Princess Consort of Heng, and I will be your wife, okay? Please don't like her, okay?"

"Okay." Xie Shang nodded, his eyes deep and unfathomable, like a cold, deep abyss.

Su Tingwan was very bothered by Jiang Fenghua becoming the Princess Consort of Heng, and even began to plot against her, thinking, "If she knew we were getting married, she would definitely be unhappy and would try to stop it. Love is selfish; it can't be shared..."

"No, she won't be upset," Xie Shang replied decisively.

"How do you know she can't?" she pouted, persisting.

If Jiang Fenghua wanted to stop him, she wouldn't have brought the Su family's messenger to see him. Xie Shang couldn't explain, fearing she would overthink it.

At this moment, passersby saw the scene and came in to offer their congratulations and ask for a drink of celebratory wine.

But the environment here... well, it's hard to describe. Everyone said a lot of well wishes and then left.

The news that someone was getting married at the Earth God Temple in Shiliting outside the city spread like wildfire and quickly reached the city.

"That young man is so elegant and handsome, and the young woman is dressed in a magnificent red wedding gown. Why would they be worshipping heaven and earth at a local temple..."

"Only someone without parents would worship the Earth God. How could such a well-dressed young nobleman not have parents? He wouldn't dare bring his daughter home to meet his parents, so he's probably married to a mistress?"

"Even a mistress shouldn't worship heaven and earth at the local earth god temple! That's incredibly unfilial. Worshipping the earth god instead of one's own parents is practically cursing them to die! It's the height of filial impiety!"

Speaking of "filial piety," the Great Zhou Kingdom prioritizes filial piety. Grand Tutor Pan, a first-rank official, is a true scholar and great learner. For some reason, this news also reached the ears of Grand Tutor Pan, who was giving a lecture. Hearing that someone had gotten married in the local temple, he was furious and cursed what kind of behavior this was. If this person was a scholar, he had truly wasted his time studying the classics.

Grand Tutor Pan decided to record this incident as a model to teach future students about the meaning of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame. He could talk about this incident for a month straight, and he would use it as an example in the future.

On another note, the guard Lin Feng secretly hid his sword outside the earth god temple, pretending not to recognize the two people inside. He felt humiliated.

However, Lin, the guard, was itching for gossip. He pretended to be a passerby and listened intently to what people were saying about his master.

After listening, he also complained in his heart: What kind of nonsense is this! How could Miss Su drag her master to the local temple to worship heaven and earth? Such nonsense, where does she put the princess in the manor?

She didn't want to serve tea to the mistress yet.

That's absolutely against all propriety!

It was clearly intentional, but the prince just couldn't see through it.

Yinxing obediently squatted to one side. Since it was all just acting, she didn't take it to heart. Her mind and eyes were only on Lin Feng.

Lin Feng noticed someone looking at him and quickly looked away, feeling a chill run down his spine.

-

Consort Su personally dispatched a ceremonial guard to the Su residence. Today, she wanted Wanwan to enter the Heng Prince's residence in a grand manner. As long as Xie Shang's heart was with Wanwan, Wanwan would still have a chance to become the mistress of the Prince's residence, provided that she first legitimately became Xie Shang's woman.

Consort Su entered the Su residence in her finest attire but did not find Su Tingwan. She asked the guards and learned that Su Tingwan had already packed her bags and headed out of the city.

In the afternoon, Xie Shang brought Su Tingwan back to the city. She was dressed in a bright red wedding dress, her face as beautiful as a peach blossom. Since there were three horses in total, Lin Feng rode one, Su Tingwan and Xie Shang, who were deeply in love, naturally rode together on another, and Yin Xing rode the third.

Su Tingwan's wedding dress was so eye-catching that passersby frequently turned their heads to look at it, and some people gossiped, "In broad daylight, which young master has snatched whose bride again?"

"Didn't you see the bride's smile was sweeter than any flower? This doesn't look like a robbery at all; it's clearly the bride and man eloping."

Xie Shang had excellent hearing. Hearing the others' discussions, his expression turned slightly cold, and his body stiffened and became somewhat unnatural. Wanwan was holding his waist too tightly.

In order to catch up with Su Tingwan, he resolutely chose to ride a horse when he came out. The horses of the Jiang family were indeed excellent steeds, and he soon found her at the local temple outside the city.

But it would be awkward not having a carriage.

He winked at Lin Feng, signaling him to find a carriage.

Lin Feng, wanting to avoid Yin Xing's gaze, spurred his horse a little faster. In addition, the horse in the Jiang family was indeed a rare and fine steed, making him want to ride it. Unfortunately, he couldn't ride freely in the city, otherwise he would have disappeared long ago. Now he just wanted to stay as far away as possible to avoid making a fool of himself by following beside him.

Unconsciously, Xie Shang quickened his pace, wanting to escape the sight of these people as soon as possible.

Su Tingwan told Xie Shang a lot about the broad-mindedness and sentiments of the people of the grasslands. She felt that their love was as free as the wind, and she would take Xie Shang to see the outside world if she had the chance.

Finally arriving at the gate of Prince Heng's mansion, Xie Shang's face turned as green as a leafy green vegetable. The more unpleasant the words spoken by the people on the street, the worse his mood became.

He dismounted, nearly losing the reins. Su Tingwan was beaming with happiness; she was nothing like Jiang Fenghua, so delicate that she couldn't even get out of a carriage.

With a swift movement, she dismounted and stood firmly, exuding a heroic and spirited air. She seemed completely unconcerned about the growing crowd of onlookers; all she wanted was for the world to know that she was the woman Prince Heng admired, and for Jiang Fenghua to back down.