Chapter 6 Three Questions from the Mirror of Unity: Couples Part 2 - The Ming Family Are All a Bunch of Madmen
Upon hearing Feng Yi's idea, Ming Yan immediately objected: "No way!"
Feng Yi thought his idea was brilliant and tried to defend himself: "Isn't it great that we can hold a wedding banquet soon without needing any irrelevant people to participate?"
Neither Mingying nor Xiao Jingze, as the parties involved, spoke at this moment.
Young Master Zhu looked left and right, and suddenly realized: "If you two are not familiar with the process, or if there is anything I can help you with, I will do my best."
Xiao Jingze looked at Feng Yi: "She's just a mortal, isn't she an irrelevant person? If something happens to the Ming Clan's goddess here, do you think the Jin Clan will stand up for you?"
Feng Yi's face stiffened, but Ming Ying raised her face and said, "I'm fine."
Xiao Jingze stared intently, a half-smile on his face: "Miss Ming is quite capricious. I originally thought Miss Ming was very resistant to this marriage certificate."
"This is just a show. If we can subdue the Heart-to-Heart Mirror, what's wrong with that?"
"Is Miss Ming so confident because of her archery skills?"
Mingying smiled and said, "Of course it depends on the three of you, especially Young Master Xiao. You must have already figured out what kind of magical artifact you want to make."
She blinked: "If there isn't a suitable magical artifact to seal it, this whole thing is pointless. I have faith in Prince Xiao."
Xiao Jingze snorted coldly, refusing to accept her flattery.
Mingying changed her approach and continued, "Does Young Master Xiao mind a fake marriage?"
Xiao Jingze met her gaze: "I'm worried about Miss Ming's abilities."
Mingying said seriously, "Although I am a mortal, apart from not being able to cultivate, I don't think I am much worse than others."
"There is a world of difference between mortals and cultivators."
"Aren't mortals and mortals, cultivators and cultivators, worlds apart?"
Xiao Jingze looked at her for a moment, then avoided her gaze: "Even if I make a magical artifact, you won't be able to use it."
Mingying curled her lips: "You say magical artifacts need spiritual power, but I've seen magical artifacts that can absorb spiritual power on their own. If I had a magical artifact that had already been infused with spiritual power, wouldn't I be able to use it?"
Mingyan looked at them coldly, then turned to the other two and asked, "Can just any two people get married?"
While Young Master Zhu was processing the information he had heard, he replied somewhat hesitantly, "A marriage certificate is required, as well as a complete wedding banquet. If it's just like children playing house, then the Mirror of Unity won't appear."
Mingyan questioned, "How can a complete wedding banquet be enough for just the two of them? How can they even perform the wedding ceremony? There aren't even any best men or women in charge of the ceremony."
Feng Yi clapped his hands and replied, "We have it! You can be the best man, I'll be the master of ceremonies, and Young Master Zhu will be the guest. We'll choose the Immortal Temple as the venue, and the ancestral hall will also be taken care of."
Mingyan suddenly felt like she was the only normal person in the room, and her expression was complicated: "Do you think this is okay?"
Young Master Zhu hesitated, "...I think it's feasible."
Mingying smiled and leaned closer: "Let's try it first, and if it doesn't work, we'll think of another way."
She turned to look at Xiao Jingze: "Young Master Xiao, now all that's missing is you as the groom."
Xiao Jingze hadn't considered that he would be both a child's toy and a child's game. If he didn't participate, it would seem that he cared too much about the fake marriage. His expression was indifferent, and he spoke sparingly: "Okay."
Feng Yi was beaming with excitement, and he declared himself a genius!
Thinking of the most important part of the plan, Feng Yi asked again, "How long will it take to forge that magical artifact?"
With Xiao Jingze's abilities, even if it's something that ordinary people can use, he should be able to complete it within three days.
The true genius answered, "Tomorrow will do."
"This is... a mirror case?"
Mingying carefully examined the rosewood box. The box had simple carvings on its six corners, and there was nothing particularly special about it on the surface.
She humbly asked, "How do I use this?"
Xiao Jingze infused his spiritual power, and the mirror box transformed into two rings: "If I activate one of them, the other can be opened without using spiritual power."
Mingying picked up the ring and slipped it onto her finger. Xiao Jingze's ring was too big; it wouldn't fall off unless it was on her thumb.
She opened her palm and looked at it; it was quite amusing.
Xiao Jingze had worn rings on all ten fingers. He casually picked one up and put it on, then looked up to see Ming Ying leaning closer, staring at his hand with interest: "What kind of magical artifacts are the other rings?"
Their faces were too close. Xiao Jingze frowned and gently pushed her head back.
Mingying touched her hair, and the double buns she had just styled that morning seemed to have been flattened a little. She glared at Xiao Jingze: "If you don't want to talk, then don't. Why did you flatten my hair?"
The flattened spot looked like a rabbit with a drooping ear. Xiao Jingze showed no remorse, propping his chin up with a mocking expression: "Miss Ming, don't you think this is even more special?"
Mingying was skeptical of his aesthetic sense. No one in the Ming family piled everything on himself like he did, as if he was afraid that no one would not know that he was a spoiled young master.
But she was too lazy to go back to her room to redo her hair. She took out the herbal soup from the kitchen, pinched her nose, and gulped it down.
If Xiao Jingze hadn't stayed up all night, he would never have witnessed such a scene. He watched with interest as Ming Ying frowned, rummaged through her pockets, and popped a candied lotus seed into her mouth.
Mingying only brought a small bag of maltose from home, and it had been gone long since she had been eating it. She sat opposite Xiao Jingze with her head down, feeling very much missing the Ming family. She had never been away from home for so long before.
Perhaps seeing her pitiful expression, Xiao Jingze took pity on her and handed her a candied lotus seed.
Mingying's eyes lit up: "Is there more?"
Xiao Jingze had a lot of snacks stored in his storage ring, but he said indifferently, "That's all."
Mingying saw him take out a whole bag, crunch the candied lotus seeds, and his mouth still tasted bitter.
She glanced at Xiao Jingze, who remained unmoved. Mingying glanced at him again, then suddenly leaned closer with a smile: "Young Master Xiao, I know you're a very good person."
Xiao Jingze smiled slightly: "Miss Ming has misunderstood."
"Give me that bag of candied lotus seeds, and I won't hold your hair a problem."
"Really? I didn't know about that."
The two were very close. Mingying's gaze swept from his hair crown to his hands, and then back to his hair. The golden crown that bound his hair and the red jade inlay made him look very elegant.
She reached out and tried to pull him away, but Xiao Jingze instinctively stood up and stepped back. Mingying leaned forward and fell onto the table with a thud, still clutching a strand of long hair in her hand.
Mingyan came down the stairs yawning, but was startled awake by what she saw: "What are you doing!"
Mingying remained unresponsive, lying face down on the table. Xiao Jingze's eyelids twitched twice, and he pulled out some of his hair, but Mingying still didn't move.
He leaned closer, wanting to check on her condition, but Mingyan quickly stepped past him and helped Mingying up.
Mingying had her eyes downcast, her nose was red, and one side of her hair was flat, making her look extremely pitiful.
She sniffed, but didn't shed a tear. She just grabbed Mingyan's sleeve, rested her head against her chest, and said in a muffled voice, "Mingyan, I want to go home."
After saying that, she turned her head and coughed twice, pushed Mingyan away, vomited up the medicine she had just drunk, closed her eyes and fainted.
Xiao Jingze caught her as she fell, as if catching a falling feather.
Since she was eight years old, Mingyan had never seen Mingying so unconscious. Her legs went weak, she grabbed Mingying's hand, and her mind went blank.
Feng Yi was also startled by the group. He jumped down from upstairs and asked anxiously, "What happened to Miss Ming!"
Xiao Jingze picked up Mingying. Usually, this sickly girl was unusually lively, but now she was frighteningly quiet. His heart felt heavy, and his face was solemn: "Let's go to the clinic first."
Mingyan shook her head, her face pale: "It's a congenital disease that the clinic can't cure."
Before Xiao Jingze could say anything more, Ming Yan decisively made a cut on her palm, signaling him to put Ming Ying down. She then used her blood to draw a talisman on Ming Ying's forehead.
Feng Yi had never seen such a talisman before. It looked strange on Ming Ying's face. He also noticed Ming Yan's unusual expression and felt a chill run down his spine.
Mingyan painted slowly, as if recalling something. With each stroke, she chanted a spell, and the blood talisman seeped into her skin, until Mingying's forehead was smooth and white, as if it had never been stained with blood.
Her complexion became rosy, and the corners of her mouth curved slightly, as if she were having a sweet dream.
Ming Yan composed herself and looked at the two of them: "This matter concerns the secret techniques of the Ming family. I ask that you two sign a pact to keep it a secret."
Feng Yi felt that this was no different from sorcery, even if it wasn't. He rubbed his arms and asked, "Even Miss Ming didn't know?"
Mingyan looked at him expressionlessly.
Xiao Jingze didn't hesitate. He raised his hand and made a mental pledge. He twitched his lips, feeling utterly absurd. The Ming family were all a bunch of lunatics.
Seeing this, Feng Yi quickly made a mental pledge. Ming Yan was the best swordsman in the academy. If he didn't follow her instructions, he might not be able to leave here today!
Seeing that the two of them did as instructed, Mingyan shook Mingying awake: "Get up."
Mingying didn't react. Feng Yi glanced at Xiao Jingze again and saw that he was still staring at Mingying's face, seemingly not curious about what his fiancée was.
He was on the verge of tears. Was he the only one in the crowd who felt something was wrong with the talisman? Was he the only normal person?
Mingying remained unconscious, and Mingyan suspected that she had drawn the talisman incorrectly. After all, she had only seen Madam Shen draw this talisman many years ago. But judging from Mingying's appearance, it should have been effective. Could it be that only Madam Shen's blood could work?
Mingying wrinkled her nose, feeling a bitter taste in her mouth. She opened her eyes and saw three people surrounding her.
Mingyan breathed a sigh of relief: "You're finally awake. I thought you were about to die and was waiting to collect your body."
Mingying sat on the table, swung her legs, and asked her with a smile, "Mingyan, did you bring any candy?"
Just as Xiao Jingze was about to take out the candied lotus seeds, Ming Yan threw out a bag of maltose: "You've already vomited up your medicine, why are you still eating candy?"
Mingying grabbed her hand: "Why is your hand bleeding?"
Mingyan was inexperienced in doing this for the first time and forgot to treat her wound. She looked away and said, "I cut my hand in a panic when I saw you suddenly faint."
Mingying said "oh" without asking any further questions, and took her hand to go upstairs: "Your ear was scratched by a magical artifact, right? I made some herbal medicine for you, let's apply it together."
Feng Yi watched the two walk upstairs, then nudged Xiao Jingze with his elbow: "You mean that talisman..."
The mental connection took effect, and Feng Yi's face turned red, unable to utter a single word.
Xiao Jingze chuckled, sat back down, took a sip of tea, and paused when his gaze fell on the ring on his finger.
——
The temple lanterns of the Immortal Venerable were dimly lit at night. Feng Yi held three sticks of incense and bowed: "Immortal Venerable, the two newlyweds you have chosen are to get married here... Although it is a fake marriage, you must bless us with a safe and smooth journey."
Mingyan finished setting up the formation and glanced at him sideways: "What's the use of burning more incense? How could the Immortal Venerable usually pay attention to such trivial matters?"
Feng Yi looked unconvinced: "So worshipping the goddess is useful then?"
"We're not going to ask a goddess for blessings."
Instead of hoping that Mingying can become an immortal and protect the Ming family, she should do more things herself.
"So what do you Ming clan goddesses do?"
Mingyan recalled: "It was just showing up during the Lantern Festival procession to listen to wishes and such."
"That's just making a wish! I'm making a wish right now too."
“That’s still not quite the same. Xiang Mingying… the wish she made to the goddess will definitely come true.”
Feng Yi was stunned. It was hopeless. How come he hadn't noticed before that neither of the two Ming family members were normal?
Mingyan ignored him. She used to make wishes to Mingying when she was little, but she stopped wanting to make wishes to her later, as it would make her feel like she was worse off than a sickly person.
She waved her hand: "The best man has gone to fetch the bride, the master of ceremonies can stay here for now."
Feng Yi looked at her back. The candlelight dimly illuminated the blue bricks, and the branches cast shadowy shadows on the wall. He shrank his neck and bowed three more times to the Immortal Venerable.
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