Chapter 2
◎White Moonlight Declares Sovereignty◎
The wedding date was set for the end of August. It is said that the Third Prince specially consulted the ancient Chinese calendar to determine the date, because that day happens to be the Qixi Festival in ancient China—a legendary festival symbolizing love, and Lan Ye is of pure Chinese blood.
If it weren't for the Third Prince's wedding, few people, except those who study ancient Earth history, would know about Qixi Festival, a festival long lost to the annals of history. Therefore, the announcement of the wedding date caused a huge sensation on the Star Network, and consequently boosted the concept of Qixi Festival.
As the top-tier "flower vase" of the Silver Empire, any news about Lan Ye can become headline news. What's more, now his news also involves the royal family and the former top-tier "flower vase" Jia Ni, who, although retired from the entertainment industry, still enjoys considerable popularity. Therefore, the media can't wait to chase after Lan Ye.
Strangely, no matter how powerful the media is, they can only capture Lan Ye on film sets and at announced events. At any other time, no matter how well-connected they are, they simply cannot find Lan Ye's whereabouts.
Back then, if they wanted to get news about Jia Ni, they could sneak into her private estate in the Northern Region to get the information.
Furthermore, they did indeed have some major scoop on Jia Ni, but unfortunately, the higher-ups issued a gag order. This meant that although they desperately wanted to release this information—which, if revealed now, would absolutely devastate StarNet—they had to reluctantly suppress it for the sake of their careers and personal safety.
Now that Lan Ye and the Third Prince's wedding date has been announced, the media has also guessed why it has been difficult to track Lan Ye's whereabouts since he entered the entertainment industry.
Lan Ye and the Third Prince certainly didn't start discussing marriage immediately upon meeting; they must have had a courtship process, which the media failed to track down. This suggests that Lan Ye and the Third Prince were already secretly dating. Perhaps the Third Prince was the financial backer behind Lan Ye after he entered the entertainment industry, which explains why his whereabouts are difficult to photograph and why he has such abundant resources.
But these are all speculations. Lan Ye's ambiguous background has always been one of the three great unsolved mysteries in the entertainment industry.
Although Lan Ye's whereabouts are difficult to photograph, his Weibo account is easy to track, and he posts almost every day with a lot of photos, from which a lot of details can be extracted.
After announcing their wedding date, Lan Ye's Weibo account was anything but low-key. He practically dominated the trending topics.
The people of the Silver Empire are speculating about just how grand this royal wedding will be.
After all, since His Highness the Crown Prince disappeared two years ago when he was invited to visit the Galactic Federation and was caught in a massive explosion caused by a black hole merger, the royal family has not held any major ceremonies. Even the annual Independence Day celebrations, the Four-Region Military Parade, and the royal celebrations for the Empress's pearl wedding anniversary that should have been held last year were not held.
Not only has the royal family not recovered, but the people have also not completely emerged from the shadow of the Crown Prince's disappearance, because in the hearts of the people of the Silver Glow Empire, Crown Prince Regas is the light of the empire.
Although the royal family claimed that the Crown Prince's fleet was lost due to the blast wave, there was absolutely no chance of survival in such a massive explosion caused by the merger of black holes; there was virtually no chance of survival. Calling it a disappearance is merely self-deception by the royal family and the public.
Now, the Third Prince's wedding is arguably the most anticipated ceremony by the royal family and the people, as it serves as a way to dispel the gloom that has hung over the empire for the past two years due to the Crown Prince's passing. The entire Silver Glow Empire hopes to sweep away the somber atmosphere that has previously enveloped the empire through a grand ceremony.
Therefore, even those who dislike Lan Ye mostly hope that the wedding can proceed smoothly.
The wedding preparations proceeded smoothly amidst everyone's anticipation.
With her wedding approaching, Gani, who hadn't posted anything on Weibo for half a month, suddenly updated her blog with a new post:
I thought you and I were a bird and a fish, I yearned for the vast sky and you were born from the boundless sea. But the sky is too high to touch, yet I can kiss you when I look down. Thank you for still being here.
Then he posted a picture—a hand with a pinky ring.
Gani's fans quickly recognized the hand as hers. But that wasn't the point; the key was that the pinky ring he was wearing wasn't an ordinary ornament, but a signet ring. Viewers clicked on the image to access a 3D view, meticulously examining every detail from every angle.
This signet ring features a golden dragon, the emblem of the Gamondon royal family, at the top of the band, and a variant of the name of the third prince, Osset, at the bottom. Therefore, this is the third prince's signet ring!
There were already rumors that Jia Ni was the Third Prince's white moonlight, and when Jia Ni suddenly posted such an ambiguous Weibo post on the eve of the Third Prince's wedding to Lan Ye, it instantly became the most popular post on the Star Network.
"Holy crap, is Gani asserting her sovereignty?"
"Suddenly I feel that this wedding is a bit risky... Lan Ye and the Third Prince were not a good match in terms of status to begin with. If it is true, as the rumors say, that the Third Prince's true love is Jia Ni, and Jia Ni obviously wants to go back to her ex, then Lan Ye's position is not stable."
"You're not trying to go back to your ex, are you? It feels like you already are. Let me check the photo; it was taken on the same day, which means the Third Prince's seal ring is with Gani. Royal and noble seal rings are different from our decorative rings; they are true symbols of status, power, and identity. These rings carry far more weight than wedding rings."
"Whether the Third Prince's seal and ring were always with Jia Ni, or Jia Ni gave them to him after she turned back, doesn't that mean the Third Prince values Jia Ni more?"
"What do you value more? There's no comparison at all. You've already given away the seal ring, so it's basically a no-go for Lan Ye."
“I’ve searched all the news photos of the Third Prince, and I can tell you that this ring was still in his possession two days ago. So it wasn’t always with Gani; it was only given to him these past two days! So guess what this means?”
"Lan Ye just showed off her wedding ring this morning..."
"Well... although I'm a hater of Lan Ye and can't stand his vanity and ostentation, I don't know why I suddenly feel sad for him..."
"Me too, it feels weird. If the Third Prince and Gani really want to do something, Lan Ye doesn't seem to have any power to interfere with them."
"The person upstairs is being too saintly. Have they forgotten how arrogant and smug Lan Ye has been lately?"
"These are two different things, okay..."
...
When Gani posted this Weibo post, Lan Ye was holding a media conference with the crew of "The Chronicles of Passy".
Lan Ye was originally the focus of the entire event. After the media learned about the news released by Xingwang Jia Ni in real time, they disregarded the crew's rules and directly changed the reception into a live broadcast via projection.
"Lan Ye, what do you think about Jia Ni posting the Third Prince's seal ring on Xingwang?"
"Back then, was it you who interfered in the relationship between Jia Ni and the Third Prince, or was it Jia Ni who interfered in the relationship between you and the Third Prince?"
"Did Jia Ni really have a relationship with the Third Prince?"
"Will your wedding with the Third Prince proceed as planned or be postponed?"
...
Faced with questions from the media and live footage from all angles, Lan Ye looked pale, a sense of vulnerability and helplessness shrouded her as she struggled to maintain her composure. She couldn't even keep her usual carefree expression.
No one had ever seen Lan Ye like this before, because in the eyes of the media and the public, Lan Ye had always been arrogant and high-profile. Although Lan Ye's vulnerable and helpless appearance was heartbreaking, a little sympathy was worthless in the face of enormous fame and fortune. If Lan Ye were let go now, it would be virtually impossible to interview him again.
Media personnel surrounded Lan Ye, asking the most pointed questions and scrutinizing every expression and word he uttered.
Lan Ye reached out to block the live broadcast projectors, but couldn't stop the sharp questions and the relentless surveillance cameras.
This media extravaganza was broadcast live, and the number of viewers kept skyrocketing.
"Suddenly I felt so helpless about Lan Ye, and I felt a little sorry for him."
"This is going a bit too far. This is pushing him to his death."
"It's easy for the person upstairs to say that. You also contributed to the hype by watching the live stream."
"If Lan Ye wasn't the third party, and they had a normal relationship and got married, but his white moonlight suddenly jumped out to declare his ownership before the wedding, then he was really too pitiful."
"Even if the Third Prince and Jia Ni had never officially dated before, and even if they had dated normally and then broke up, Jia Ni's actions were still incredibly manipulative."
...
During this unexpected live interview, Lan Ye only said one sentence: "I believe in him."
Lan Ye's bodyguard team finally broke through the numerous obstacles and escorted him out of the hotel where the media conference was being held. Lan Ye, at the center of the storm, disappeared; no one knew where he was, and even his Weibo account stopped updating.
Just when people thought the wedding would be postponed or canceled, the royal family did not release any information and seemed to be preparing for the wedding as scheduled.
Enthusiastic netizens followed the Weibo accounts of many royal family members and nobles who might attend the wedding, discovering that wedding invitations were still being sent out, with some people receiving invitations after Gani posted about it on her Weibo. Those who received invitations began to depart for the capital star to attend the wedding. Suddenly, all sorts of speculations and rumors were flying around.
The eve of the wedding
"Have you taken a count of the guests?" Ossa asked his attendant as he sat at his desk, writing something.
"The statistics have been completed," the attendant said respectfully.
"Who are the people from the four regions?" The other guests were not important to Osei; he only wanted to know the attitude of the lords of the four regions.
Although no one dared to declare the Crown Prince dead, only saying he was missing, everyone knew perfectly well that his body had vanished without a trace. The princes began to stir with restless activity.
The current emperor of the Silver Empire, Leo VI, has four sons, although he publicly claims that all four sons are born to the empress.
However, the eldest prince Dusao and the third prince Ouse were not born to the empress. Only the second prince, who is also the crown prince Regas, and the fourth prince, Riel, were born to the empress.
The only truly powerful families in the Silver Empire, besides the royal family, are the four domain lords, all of whom are dukes and possess their own interstellar fleets. Other nobles hold only honorary titles.
The Sopedu family, the rulers of the Eastern Region, are the maternal family of the Queen. The Lan family, the rulers of the Southern Region, and the Dayton family, the rulers of the Western Region, have always been neutral families, not involved in any disputes. The Subek family, the rulers of the Northern Region, are simply betting on the situation.
A note from the author:
Lan Ye: I heard everyone is worried about me. Thank you all for your concern. I'm fine →_→ Love you all~ Sending love
Lan Hua: ...
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