"I heard the bride's clothes were soaked through when she fell into the water!" "Prince Mei's heroic rescue of the beauty has become a legendary event." People in the teahouse, watching the excitement, chewed melon seeds and suddenly changed the subject: "Poor guy in the Yongding Marquis' Mansion."
The chatter was drowned out by the joy. Jiang Qinghe leaned against the embroidered building facing the street in the Marquis's mansion, watching the wedding procession turn the corner. Xu threw the gilded invitation into the brazier, and sparks splashed onto the "Marquis of Yongding's Mansion" in gilded calligraphy, leaving a charred hole.
In the Peng Mansion's backyard, Jiang Yuyao was helping Peng Yuyan adjust her phoenix crown. A bronze mirror reflected two figures: one in splendid attire, the other in plain clothes and simple hairpins. The kingfisher feather headpiece gifted by the Fourth Prince had long been confiscated by the Marquis's Mansion.
"Come to my house often in the future." Peng Yuyan gripped her wrist tightly, Dan Kou pinching into her flesh, "Wait until I take charge of the household."
“The auspicious time has arrived——”
Outside, the bridesmaid was urging her to come, so Jiang Yuyao pulled back her hand and watched as Peng's half-brother carried the bride on his back. Sparks scorched her skirt as she stepped over the brazier. Peng Yuyan's smile froze beneath her veil, her face frozen as she recalled that sunset, when Mei Weixing's hands had been just as hot.
As the sedan chair lifted up, Mei Weixing suddenly turned around. His gaze passed over the swaying beaded curtain and fixed directly on Jiang Yuyao's hair. She wore a white crabapple blossom in her hair today, just like the half-broken flower he had fished out when it fell into the pond at the peony banquet.
Mrs. Peng held her daughter in her arms and cried as she got married. Her tears fell on the sleeves of Yuanyang Playing in the Water: "Stay away from Jiang Yuyao."
"Aunt is so nosy!" Peng Yuyan pushed her away, the tassel of her veil brushing across her stepmother's pale face. "Don't forget that you're just a concubine!"
Peng Xuanyue supported her staggering mother and glared at the receding bridal sedan, gritting her teeth: "What a heartless thing!"
The curtain of the eight-treasure sedan chair dropped to its last slit, and Jiang Yuyao smiled faintly at Mei Weixing. The groom's whip cracked, startling a magpie that fluttered over the embroidered building of the Marquis's mansion.
"Miss, it's time to go home." The maid tugged at her sleeve. "The people from the Fourth Prince's Mansion are waiting."
Jiang Yuyao stroked the bruise on her wrist, where Peng Yuyan had pinched her this morning. She cast one last glance in the direction of the Mei residence—the sedan chair had already turned into the alley, but Mei Weixing kept looking back, as if trying to see her through the rooftops.
In the main hall of the Marquis Jingkang's mansion, Mrs. Hu watched the newlyweds perform their ceremony with a cold gaze. As the wedding wine soaked the carpet, she suddenly asked, "I heard the Jiang family's concubine is here too?"
The entire room fell silent. Peng Yuyan's face beneath her veil flushed the color of liver. Mei Weixing's hand, holding the wine glass, froze in mid-air.
"Mother." "Since you're here, you're a guest," Mrs. Hu interrupted her son. "Please rest in the side room, Miss Jiang, so as not to offend the God of Happiness."
As Jiang Yuyao was being "invited" by the maid into the side courtyard, she heard the sound of cups breaking in the main hall. She stroked the jade token given to her by the Fourth Prince and suddenly laughed out loud—Peng Yuyan must be tearing off her veil, just like she had torn up her marriage certificate with Jiang Qinghe that day.
The candles burned until midnight, and Mei Weixing kicked open the door to the bridal chamber. Inside the tent, Peng Yuyan clutched a pair of scissors. Seeing him rushing toward her, reeking of alcohol, she screamed, startling an owl from under the eaves.
"Yuyao." "Look carefully at who I am!" The bride stabbed him on the shoulder with a pair of scissors.
Mei Weixing regained consciousness after the pain and watched as the scarlet wedding dress overlapped with the wet clothes in the pool. It was clearly Jiang Yuyao he had saved that day, so how could it have become Peng Yuyan?
In the Peng Mansion's backyard, Madam Peng held her daughter in her arms. Peng Xuanyue touched her mother's bruised arm and said, "Let's live our own lives from now on."
"You're all I have left." Madam Peng tossed the broken engagement letter into the brazier, and Jiang Qinghe's name curled into ash in the flames. She had seen it all that day at the Peony Banquet; it was clearly the Jiang family's concubine's daughter who fell into the water, yet the Yongding Marquisate had persisted in throwing the blame on the legitimate daughter.
After three drum beats, Jiang Yuyao stood at the corner gate of the Fourth Prince's residence. A guard handed her a secret letter, which she unfolded. It was written in Mei Weixing's handwriting: "Meet at the same place in three days."
She held the letter close to the lantern, and when the flame licked the word "Yu Yao", she suddenly saw the corner of a scarlet dress flash at the corner of the street - Jiang Qinghe's skirt disappeared in the night, and the pearls in her hair swayed in a way that made people feel uneasy.
…
The candle burned until the third watch. Peng Yuyan clutched the auspicious tassels of her veil, adorned with dragons and phoenixes, her nails digging into her palms. The clapping of the gong outside annoyed her, and she finally lifted her veil. "Zi Yan! Go see which wine jar the prince has died of drunkenness in!"
The maid went out with a lantern and came back, her skirt wet with night dew: "My son-in-law...is resting in the study."
"Prepare the hangover soup!" Peng Yuyan kicked aside the scales at her feet, her phoenix corona and jewels jingling against each other. As she crossed the corridor carrying a celadon bowl, she saw overlapping figures reflected in the study window paper, and the bowl clattered against the bluestone slabs.
"Who is this filthy bastard!" Peng Yuyan pulled off her veil and rushed in, only to see Mei Weixing's underwear hanging on the screen. The maidservant named Yaoyao had her breasts half exposed, her arms wrapped around the man's neck, "Prince, help me!"
Mei Weixing was drunk and blurry. He vaguely saw Jiang Yuyao's tearful face and hugged her tighter: "Who dares to touch my Yao?"
“Bang!”
Peng Yuyan slapped Yaoyao to the ground, and the golden armor scratched the maid's face. Mei Weixing was awakened by the noise. After seeing who was in front of him, he sneered: "Is the Peng family's upbringing just to catch an adulterer on their wedding night?"
"Sell this bitch!" Peng Yuyan dragged Yaoyao out by her hair, her jade earrings falling off during the fight. Mei Weixing suddenly picked up the inkstone from the table and smashed it at her, splashing ink all over her skirt.
Yaoyao was sobbing in Mei Weixing's arms when hurried footsteps were heard in the main courtyard. Hu Shi saw the mess on the floor as she entered. She sneered at the nanny and said, "Seeing blood on the first day a bride enters the house is a good omen."
The next day, while serving tea, Peng Yuyan stared at the blisters on the back of her hand. Mrs. Hu slowly opened the lid of the teapot, saying, "We in the Mei family wouldn't dare drink Miss Peng's tea."
"Aunt is right." Wu Zihan pushed the scalding teacup forward. "My cousin can't even accommodate a concubine, so how can she be in charge of the household?"
Peng Yuyan raised her hand to pour the tea, but Mei Weixing grabbed her wrist. As the tea poured onto her gilded horse-faced skirt, she suddenly remembered Yaoyao's unfinished cry of "Yao" yesterday, and her blood froze.
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