Jiang Yuyao dug her nails deep into her palms. This bitch actually acted like a mistress in public, making herself look like a prostitute vying for favor!
"Your Highness!" She suddenly ripped open her clothes, revealing an arrow wound on her snow-white shoulder. "Last year in the enclosure."
"Jiang Yuyao!" Xinyi Zigu shouted, a vein throbbing in his forehead. This scar was linked to a royal secret and could not be mentioned in public. He suddenly lifted her up and carried her sideways, his dark cloak covering the glaring red. "Go back home!"
Yu Chuwei watched the receding sedan chair, a sneer curling up at the corner of her lips. The hand hidden in her sleeve loosened, revealing a blood-stained plum blossom hairpin in her palm—the one Jiang Yuyao had dropped during her struggle.
"Miss." The maid held the phoenix crown and seemed to be hesitant to speak.
"No rush." Yu Chuwei stroked the trembling orchid on her veil. "Let the whole capital know that the Fourth Prince abandoned his wife for a concubine." She turned and walked towards the bridal chamber, her embroidered shoes crushing the lotus flowers on the steps. "This drama has only just begun."
In the pavilion, Jiang Songyi drained her glass of grape wine, her moon-white skirt sweeping across the shredded red fabric on the stone steps. Xu Shi had appeared behind her, her gilded armor tapping lightly against the white jade railing. "Did you figure it out?"
"Yu Chuwei doesn't want pampering." Jiang Songyi tossed the shredded silk into the lotus pond, watching the red streak gradually sink to the bottom. "She wants the Fourth Prince to owe her a wedding night forever."
As dusk completely engulfed the Bo residence, the stage in the front hall was singing "The Phoenix Returns to the Nest." Yu Chuwei sat alone on the wedding bed, fingertips stroking the blood-stained plum blossom hairpin. Suddenly, the sound of a night watchman's drum echoed outside the window. She smiled and inserted the hairpin into the tent of her children and grandchildren: "Jiang Yuyao, you must keep this wedding gift."
The Yongchang Marquis's mansion was decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations. Yu Chuwei's fingertips brushed the mandarin duck bracelet on Jiang Yuyao's wrist, and she suddenly tightened her grip on her wrist. "Sister, this bracelet looks familiar. I wore it during the Lantern Festival last year."
"Yu Chuwei!" Jiang Yuyao flung her away, her gilded hairpin jingling against the porch pillars. Just as she was about to explode, she saw Yu Chuwei's eyelashes tremble slightly, and her eyes shimmered as she looked at Xinyi Zigu. "Chuwei, from my own boudoir, heard that Your Highness and Sister Yuyao were childhood sweethearts. Seeing you today, I couldn't help myself." She suddenly choked up and knelt. "If I can please Your Highness, Chuwei is willing to leave the palace."
Amidst the gasps of air throughout the courtyard, the python-patterned jade belt around Xinyi Zigu's waist jingled. He gazed at the trembling oriental pearls on Yu Chuwei's phoenix crown, and vaguely saw her breaking through the ice of the icy lake that day. As blood spread across the ice, her words, clutching his clothes, "I have no regrets," burned more deeply than Jiang Yuyao's tears.
"The imperial decree is not to be trifled with!" He stretched out his hand to help, but Yu Chuwei avoided his fingertips, turned to Jiang Yuyao and smiled, "Sister, if you can't wait, why not marry me as a concubine today?" As he said that, he clapped his hands three times, and the maid came forward holding a peach-pink wide-sleeved shirt.
Jiang Yuyao stared at the dazzling powder, and Dan Kou pinched it into her palm: "You want me to be a maidservant?"
"Sister, you misunderstood." Yu Chuwei stroked the golden hairpin by her temples. "Ordinary concubines wear bright red, but this one is made of Sichuan brocade." She suddenly leaned close to Jiang Yuyao's ear and whispered, "Just like last winter hunting, when you wore my fox fur."
"Enough!" Jiang Yuyao raised her hand to strike, but Xinyi Zigu grabbed her wrist. The scorching heat from the man's palm burned her heart. "Your Highness has forgotten Merlin."
"Yuyao!" Xinyi Zigu suddenly let go, watching Jiang Yuyao stumble back. He then caught a glimpse of the scar on Yu Chuwei's wrist, where she'd shielded him from an arrow. The scars of the two women intertwined in the twilight, like spider silk wrapped around his throat.
Yu Chuwei suddenly picked up the large-sleeved shirt on the ground and draped it over Jiang Yuyao's shoulders. "We're going to miss the auspicious time." Her fingertips brushed the red mark on her neck. "My sister's toad blood. It's time for His Highness to take a look."
Jiang Yuyao was struck by lightning, and hurriedly grabbed her collar. Xinyi Zigu's pupils suddenly shrank - last year on Qixi Festival, she had clearly said that she had given her body to him!
"Cui Yu," Yu Chuwei called softly, and the maid immediately came forward with a bronze mirror. The mirror reflected Jiang Yuyao's pale face, a stark contrast to Yu Chuwei's regal bridal gown. She suddenly grabbed the candlestick beside the mirror and threw it at her: "Bitch!"
"Be careful!" Xinyi Zigu waved her sleeve to deflect the candlelight. Sparks splashed onto Yu Chuwei's veil, burning a black hole. Through the hole, her smiling eyes could be seen: "Your Highness, it's time to enter the palace to express your gratitude."
When Earl Yongchang rushed in, he saw Xinyi Zigu, surrounded by women, approaching the sedan chair. Jiang Yuyao's large, peach-pink sleeves entwined around his black cloak like vines clinging to a tree. Amidst the guests' whispers, Yu Chuwei suddenly lifted the torn veil and said, "Father, it would be disrespectful for my daughter to enter the palace in this state."
"Quickly bring a new veil!" Yongchang Bo was so anxious that his forehead was sweating. But he saw his daughter took out a white handkerchief from her sleeve and covered her face with it. "If the emperor asks, I will say that I have always been a woman and dare not see him with my broken body."
Xinyi Zigu shuddered at the words. The twin lotus flowers on the white handkerchief were the ones he had left in his study yesterday. Now stained with the scorch marks on the handkerchief, they looked like a love poem burned by fire.
As the sedan chair departed, Yu Chuwei gazed at the pavilion through her gauze scarf. Jiang Songyi was holding a round fan to her lips, the embroidery of fish and lotus flowers shimmering in the dusk. She suddenly remembered what the Jiaqing County Lady had said when she presented the fan to her three days earlier: "When fish leap and lotus flowers bloom, remember to cast the bait."
Jiang Yuyao is sobbing in the sedan at this moment. Isn’t she just the fish that has taken the bait?
"Sister, what are you laughing at?" Jiang Yuyao suddenly pulled off her Supa. "Do you think you've won?" She pointed at the long red silk that stretched along the palace path. "These should have been mine!"
Yu Chuwei slowly stroked the edge of the charred veil. "Sister, did you know that last month the Imperial Astronomical Observatory reported that there was an evil star causing trouble near Ziwei Star?" She suddenly put the veil over Jiang Yuyao's head. "Do you think these scorch marks look like fallen stars?"
Suddenly, a salute erupted from outside the sedan chair, making Jiang Yuyao's ears ring. She peered through the scorched earth and saw the palace gates slowly opening. Yu Chuwei's voice, like a venomous snake, pierced her ears: "Sister, your peach-pink outfit today really suits you better than that blood-stained fox fur coat you wore back then."
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