Chapter 124 Jiang Li's Wedding
Ten days after leaving the capital.
Shen Jin and Jiang Mianmian's "retirement tour group" arrived in the scenic Tongzhou.
Although he had distanced himself from the hustle and bustle of the imperial court, news from the capital still seemed to have legs and would catch up with him from time to time.
That afternoon, the two were sitting in a riverside restaurant, enjoying Tongzhou's specialty, vinegar fish, while admiring the river view.
"Report—!"
A courier came running upstairs, panting, carrying a bright red brocade box that was almost too bright for its own eyes.
"Your Highness! Your Highness! Urgent news from the capital!"
"Good news?"
Jiang Mianmian bit her chopsticks, looking puzzled. "The little emperor had another son? That can't be right, it's only been a few days, how could it be so fast?"
Shen Jin took the brocade box, opened it, and took a look.
Inside lay a bright red invitation card with gold lettering, and a thick letter.
Shen Jin glanced at the name on the invitation, and his perpetually icy face surprisingly showed a hint of surprise.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Mianmian leaned closer curiously, "Who's getting married? Such a grand affair, and they even sent the invitations by express courier?"
Shen Jin handed her the invitation, his expression strange:
"It's your brother."
"Jiang Li."
"puff--!!!"
Jiang Mianmian sprayed the fish soup she had just taken a sip onto Shen Jin's face.
"Cough cough cough! Who?!"
Jiang Mianmian didn't bother wiping Shen Jin's face. She snatched the invitation and stared wide-eyed as if she wanted to pierce through the two characters "Jiang Li" on it.
"My brother?! That perverted siscon? That Minister of Justice who deals with corpses all day and treats human skulls like ornaments?!"
"He's getting married?!"
"How is this possible? Has the iron tree blossomed? Or has the sow climbed a tree? What kind of girl would be so foolish as to marry the Living Yama Number Two?"
[My God! This is absolutely the biggest news of the year!]
I always thought he was destined to live with skeletons for the rest of his life! Or that he really was gay!
[Look! Who's the bride? Which brave warrior was she? I want to erect a monument for her... oh no, I want to give her a big red envelope!]
He calmly wiped the fish soup off his face, picked up the letter, and unfolded it.
"The bride is... the only daughter of the Minister of Justice, named Leng Wushuang."
"Leng Wushuang?" Jiang Mianmian blinked. "That name sounds... aloof?"
"Not only aloof."
Shen Jin quickly scanned the letter, his smile deepening. "According to the letter, this Miss Leng has been obsessed with... autopsies since childhood."
"An autopsy?!"
"Yes. She's the only woman in Beijing, besides your brother, who can eat in the morgue without batting an eye. And..."
Chen Jin paused for a moment, then read a passage from the letter:
"It is said that the two met at a murder scene on a dark and windy night. At that time, Jiang Li was complaining about the coroner's slow work when Miss Leng passed by. Without saying a word, she took out the gold hairpin from her hair and quickly dissected the corpse. Her technique was so precise that even Jiang Li was stunned."
Jiang Mianmian: [...]
What kind of hardcore love story is this?!
[A pre-mortem examination to determine love? A gold hairpin used to examine bones?]
These two... they're a match made in heaven, a pair of freaks!
"The letter also said," Shen Jin added, "that Jiang Li fell in love with Miss Leng at first sight because of something Miss Leng said."
"What did you say?"
She said, "Lord Jiang's hands are so beautiful; if they were carved into a skeleton, they would be an exquisite work of art."
Jiang Mianmian: "..."
She got goosebumps all over.
[Madmen! Two madmen!]
Will this family ever be okay? Will their late-night conversations consist of discussing which bone is whiter?
【but……】
Jiang Mianmian suddenly smiled.
[It's weird, but...they're a really good match.]
That lonely oddball, my brother, has finally found someone who understands him and can go crazy with him.
This is probably... what they call "using brine to curdle tofu, one thing subdues another," right?
"very nice."
Jiang Mianmian sniffed, her eyes getting a little hot. "My brother finally has someone who wants him. Dad will probably be so happy he'll go to the ancestral graves and set off firecrackers."
Seeing her touched expression, Shen Jin took something else out of the envelope.
It was a familiar little booklet with a black cover.
"Observing My Sister's Diary" - Copy
“This is something your brother had the courier bring along,” Shen Jin handed it to her. “He said it’s a farewell letter for you.”
Jiang Mianmian took it with trembling hands.
Turning to the latest page, one sees that familiar, somewhat hasty handwriting:
"Spring of the eighth year of Xuanhe. I'm getting married. The woman's name is Leng Wushuang. She's strange; she's not afraid of me and even said she wants to dissect me. I find her very interesting. She said she'll help me protect my sister. If anyone bullies my sister, she'll be responsible for poisoning her, and I'll be responsible for removing her bones. I think this proposal is perfect. So, I agreed to marry her. Sister, go and fly with peace of mind. I'll take care of things in the capital, and your sister-in-law will too. We'll protect this family and wait for you to come back... for the feast."
Jiang Mianmian looked at this diary, and then she started to cry while laughing.
【Silly brother.】
[He's about to get married, and he still can't stop talking about his sister.]
[But...poisoning and bone-removing? This husband-and-wife team...is too ruthless!]
"Your Highness."
Jiang Mianmian hugged the diary tightly to her chest, looked up at Shen Jin, and asked, "Could we... send a big gift back?"
What would you like to give as a gift?
"Give me...give me two of the finest scalpels! They must be made of pure gold! And engraved with 'May you have a long and happy marriage and many children!'"
Shen Jin: "..."
A pure gold scalpel?
This gift is probably only something that Jiang Li and his wife can appreciate.
"good."
Shen Jin nodded, "I will have someone take care of it. Also, I will send a pair of jade ruyi scepters to calm your nerves."
"Uh-huh!"
Jiang Mianmian stopped crying and started laughing.
Although she couldn't go back to attend the wedding in person, she could almost see the unique wedding across the vast distance.
The red candles were lit, and the guests in the hall trembled with fear.
Instead of drinking from the same cup, the bride and groom exchanged a piece of... a skull?
The scene was too beautiful to look at.
But no matter what, the brother who was once gloomy, lonely, and lived only in the shadows has finally stepped into the sunlight and taken another person's hand.
This is probably the best news I received on this trip.
Let's go.
Jiang Mianmian wiped away her tears, picked up her chopsticks, and took a piece of fish. "We need to eat to have the energy to travel. We have to get to Jiangnan quickly, or the crabs will be out of season!"
Shen Jin smiled gently as he watched her regain her vitality.
"good."
The carriage continued its journey, heading towards the water towns of Jiangnan.
In the direction of the capital, that "iron tree" that was once thought to never bloom finally blossomed with the most dazzling and bizarre flowers in the spring breeze.
May this "perverted couple" live a life of mischief... no, I mean, a lifetime of happiness in their world.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com