Song Chengzhang had no choice but to abandon all pretense of humility, but after visiting several families, he still hadn't found a bride. As it grew increasingly late, he couldn't help but become anxious.

"Is it because it's a ghost marriage that it wasn't registered with the Ministry of Revenue?"

Logically speaking, even in a ghost marriage, families who are particular about these matters would register it with the Ministry of Revenue. After all, the deceased would be buried in the groom's family's ancestral grave.

"Could it be that it's not from our area?"

"If it's not from our area, the bridal sedan chair wouldn't come this way!"

"First, ask around and see which family has had a ghost marriage."

The Song family's servants ran rampant through the streets of the capital, and finally, as night fell, someone found the lost bridal sedan chair!

The bridal sedan chair wasn't anywhere else; it was right at the back gate of the Cui family's residence!

The bride fainted in the sedan chair, and the maids and servants who accompanied her were nowhere to be found.

This scene enraged Song Hanzhi, who immediately ordered people to knock on the Cui family's door and break in.

On their special wedding day, they ended up fighting and getting bloodied.

The Cui family was also extremely aggrieved; wasn't this just an unexpected disaster?

Even though the Cui family was related to the Lu family, they didn't attend the wedding because of the annulment of the engagement. Not only did they not attend, but to show their stance, the Cui family gave the Lu family a considerable dowry.

Now that Lu Yujie's bridal sedan chair is parked at their back door, the situation is unclear!

The newly appointed Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture was the former Vice Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture. When he was in the position of Vice Prefect, he hoped every day that his predecessor would be brought down so that he could take over.

His ex finally fell from grace, and he finally took her place. Now he just hopes his ex will come back!

His predecessor was demoted and sent away to a remote and impoverished place where he was a local tyrant. Unlike himself, who, despite being a third-rank official, had to fawn over others every day in the capital.

Right now, the Cui family is in a menacing mood. Although everyone has injuries on their faces, and even Cui Maosheng, the head of the family, has a bruise around his eye, they believe they are in the right and are not afraid of the Song family's questioning at all.

"You Song family are going too far! No one from our Cui family went out today, so how would we know who carried the bridal sedan chair? You might just be trying to pin this on us because your Song family doesn't want to marry her!"

"You're talking nonsense! If our family didn't want to marry her, why would we spend so much money! Do you know how much money our family spent on this wedding!"

"Even if it wasn't done by your Cui family, it's still inextricably linked to them!"

The two families argued fiercely in front of the Prefect of the Capital. The Prefect's head was spinning, and he felt that he must have been a butcher in his past life, committing too many sins, otherwise he wouldn't be in this lousy official position in this life.

"Alright! Stop arguing!" he shouted in a hoarse voice.

However, no one paid him any attention, as his voice was drowned out by the two groups.

His attendant brought over a gong and banged it loudly, making the heads of both people buzz, and only then did they stop talking.

Song Hanzhi and Cui Yan were the two with the most bruises. Song Hanzhi's wedding clothes were torn and tattered from the fighting, and after rolling around on the ground several times, the once festive bright red wedding clothes had turned dusty.

"This guy pursued Princess Yongle before but failed, so he kept pestering her! I think he just couldn't get what he wanted from the princess, so now he's thinking about his cousin!"

"You're talking nonsense! My cousin and I have never had any feelings for each other beyond siblings. The annulment of the engagement was a result of our mutual discussion. Stop making baseless accusations! You probably just didn't want to marry her anymore and called off the engagement at the last minute!"

Seeing that the two were about to start fighting again, the Prefect of Jingzhao had no choice but to have them separated, much to his dismay.

But this case is indeed mysterious.

"Young Master Song said that when you were picking up your bride, another group of people bumped into you. Does Young Master Song know which family it was?"

If we knew, we wouldn't have gone through all this trouble to search! There were words written on the memorial tablet, but upon closer inspection, it was a blank tablet; we didn't even know whose it was!

"Hmph! It seems your Song family has offended someone and plotted against us, affecting our Cui family as well!" Cui Yan sneered. His once handsome face was now a riot of colors, like a palette of hues.

When Song Chengzhang arrived, his second son was in this state. Lu Yujie, on the other hand, had regained consciousness after being treated by the doctor. After vaguely realizing her situation, she began to cry uncontrollably.

Her reputation is ruined!

What did she do wrong to make her marriage so complicated?

Upon learning the news, Song Yaozhu and Xie Liwei exchanged a glance and then rose to take their leave.

Once inside the carriage, Song Yaozhu's eyes darkened.

"I never expected someone to be lurking in the shadows!" Her original intention was to make Song Hanzhi's wedding full of twists and turns, but she didn't want to ruin Lu Yujie's reputation.

Who is behind this? How could someone be so vicious as to offend two families at the same time with a single move?

"Prince Xuan? Or the Emperor?"

Even Xie Liwei couldn't figure it out. But right now, the only family the Cui family had offended most severely was the Xuan Prince's mansion, and it was possible that the Xuan Prince himself had done it.

King Xuan was an upright official, but that doesn't mean he was a pushover. If he were easy to manipulate, he would have been kicked out of the Dali Temple long ago.

"Never mind anything else, how are our people doing?"

Qin Yu had already sent people to meet them, and the news arrived when the two arrived at the mansion.

"She was slightly injured, but nothing was lost. Liu Yang said those people were ruthless, like suicide squads; none of Lu Yujie's maids or servants survived."

"Did you leave any trace?"

"No, those people chased them for no more than ten miles outside the city before they withdrew, as if they had a mission."

Song Yaozhu couldn't help but lower her head and ponder.

"Tell them to hide well and not to show themselves again for the time being."

"Could it be the Emperor?" Xie Liwei frowned. "But what benefit would he gain from doing this? If he didn't want the Lu family and the Song family to be related by marriage, it would only be a matter of a word."

Why make such a fuss?

Song Yaozhu curled her lips into a cold smile.

"Have you forgotten Song Zhao's poem?"

A man like Yuwen Wuji is vindictive. It's illogical that he hasn't taken action against the Song family for so long after obtaining that poem.

"I just hope his men haven't noticed Liu Yang and his group's whereabouts."

Inside the palace at that time, Consort Xian was worshipping Buddha in her own hall. Her fair fingers turned the jade beads, her expression solemn and dignified.

The personal maidservant came in and whispered, "Your Highness, it's done."

Consort Xian then slowly opened her beautiful eyes, but her eyes flashed with cold light, as if they concealed icy blades.

"Let Yujie enter the palace tomorrow and stay with me for a few days, so she won't hear any gossip outside."

The old woman responded with great regret, saying, "It's really a waste for someone as good as Miss Biao."

"It's only a temporary injustice. If I marry into the Song family, I'll inevitably be implicated in the future." Consort Xian's eyebrows twitched as she thought of the calligraphy and paintings she had seen at the Emperor's place.

She understood that the Emperor had intentionally shown her this, wanting to test her abilities and see if she could replace Gao Ping as his right-hand woman.