Chapter 95
On the day of the engagement banquet, the Shi family manor was covered in red and gold leaf, and even the wrought iron gate was wrapped in silk.
The surrounding area was filled with guests, their elegant attire and the sounds of laughter and clinking glasses, yet they could not conceal the palpable heaviness in the air.
We're all from the same circle, so we all know a little about Shi Mingyue's situation.
Many people are saying this privately...
The eldest daughter of the Shi family has gone mad and wants to marry a comatose man...
The rumors never stopped, and the guests, mindful of Shi Ke's status, kept the matter to themselves, pretending they knew nothing.
Shi Mingyue slowly walked out.
She wore a pure white wedding dress with a skirt that cascaded like clouds, the back of which was so long it almost trailed across the entire red carpet. The silk fabric shimmered with a warm, pearly luster under the lights.
With a long, slender neck and her hair piled high in a bun, her black hair held in place by a diamond tiara, she resembled a snow-white porcelain doll carefully displayed in a shop window.
"Her makeup was heavy and glamorous, but it couldn't hide the weariness in her eyes..." Pei Yanxi swirled her wine glass, her mood sinking.
At the end of the red carpet, the brass band played enthusiastically, but it couldn't drown out the hushed discussions floating throughout the hall.
Shi Mingyue was right in the middle of the discussion, her long white satin dress layered, like snow waves reflecting a warm glow from the lamplight.
She took very small steps, her back straight, each step her heel firmly planted in the gap of the red carpet. The surrounding chatter did not frighten her. She did not look around, her gaze was only on the wheelchair. Yun Zhan was pushed to her side, his face even paler than the color of his dress, but he wore a tiny diamond brooch, which Shi Mingyue had personally pinned on him the night before.
Wen Sixue sat at the side table, her knuckles unconsciously rubbing the rim of her glass, her gaze never leaving the newlyweds.
Her heart was churning with worry, bitterness, and pity, but she couldn't find a way out.
During a break in the band's song change, Wen Sixue finally turned her head and said in a very low voice, "If Yun Zhan doesn't wake up, how will Shi Mingyue handle this?"
Pei Yanxi did not answer immediately, but put down the champagne glass. The bottom of the glass touched the porcelain saucer, making a very light "ding" sound.
Wen Sixue received no response, so she could only look at Shi Mingyue again. The other woman was bending down to straighten Yun Zhan's collar. Her movements were gentle, but her expression was as cold as if it had been polished by a cold stone, without a single crack.
Why... would Shi Mingyue make that expression?
Does she hate Yun Zhan...?
Wen Sixue's eyes widened slightly. How could this be... How could Miss Shi treat Yun Zhan like this...?
"If Yun Zhan opened his eyes now, that would be good... Shi Mingyue is really pitiful."
Pei Yanxi looked away... she really couldn't bear to watch anymore.
The sweetness of champagne bursts on the tongue, but it can't mask the bitterness welling up in the heart.
She gazed at the end of the red carpet, where Shi Mingyue bent down to adjust Yun Zhan's veil, her movements as gentle as if touching fragile porcelain... In that instant, she could almost hear her heart being gently twisted.
"Shi Mingyue really felt much lighter. If I were in her shoes, I think even I might not have been able to handle it."
"She has to face her lover's coma, the smiling whispers of the upper class, the curious stares of 'two women having an engagement party,' and finally, she has to maintain the most appropriate smile in front of the camera."
Every step felt like walking barefoot on a knife's edge, yet I didn't even have the right to cry out in pain.
Pei Yanxi lowered her eyes. She remembered driving home alone late at night, the neon lights outside the car window receding like the tide, but she didn't even have anyone to call and let them know she was safe.
She was all too familiar with that feeling of being abandoned by the world...
So when she saw Shi Mingyue standing straight under the spotlight, embracing someone who would never reciprocate with an almost obsessive tenderness, her heart was gently twisted.
The brass band played a variation of the Wedding March, with the notes lengthened and slowed down.
On both sides of the red carpet, thousands of white roses and crimson ribbons intertwined to form an arch, and light bulbs hung from the dome, illuminating the entire hall. Shi Ke stood directly above the stage, his cane lightly touching the ground, his gaze sweeping across the entire hall.
No one dared to whisper under their gaze, and even the sound of camera shutters was ordered to stop.
The bride may fall into a coma, but her dignity must not be compromised.
Shi Mingyue walked this stretch of road alone.
There was no father to hold her arm, no bridesmaids to lift her skirt, and no flower girls tossing petals.
Only she herself...
The long white satin dress was layered like clouds, with a very light gauze tulle tied at the back waist, which, when lifted by the wind, resembled the reflection of evening clouds on a lake.
The diamond hair crown pressed down on her scalp with a slight pain, but she straightened her back even more, as if that inch of pain could remind her... that she was still alive, that she still loved Yun Zhan.
Shi Mingyue walked very slowly, so slowly that she could hear the echo of her own heartbeat.
She had been working so hard lately that every time her shoes landed on the red carpet, her feet would feel a dull pain, but she didn't flinch and let the pain accompany her all the way.
The audience was completely silent.
Celebrities held their breath, media cameras moved silently, flashes were banned, and even the wind died down...
In the vast manor, only Shi Mingyue's footsteps and the sound of bells outside remained.
Shi Mingyue walked to the end of the red carpet, where Yun Zhan was placed in a wheelchair decorated with white satin.
The wedding dress's skirt cascaded down in layers, like a gentle burial after an avalanche... The veil hung low, concealing a face whiter than paper.
Shi Mingyue bent down, her fingertips slipping through the veil, and gently straightened Yun Zhan's corsage. It was a tiny jasmine flower, which she had picked out one by one last night.
She whispered, "Yun Zhan, we're married... I'll wait a little longer, will you come back?"
Shi Mingyue was deceiving herself...
The emcee's voice rang out in the silence, as if it came from a very far place.
"Please have the bride put the ring on her partner's finger."
There was no exchange, no response, only her alone.
Shi Mingyue knelt down on one knee, her skirt spreading out like a huge snow wave, her knee touching the red carpet with a very soft "rustling" sound.
She opened the ring box, revealing two identical platinum rings, each engraved with the other's name on the inside.
She first picked up her own ring and slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand. Then she took out the other ring, lifted Yun Zhan's numb hand, and slowly pushed the ring into the base of his finger...
Shi Mingyue neither cried nor laughed. She simply leaned down and rested her forehead on Yun Zhan's hand for three seconds, three seconds that felt longer than a lifetime.
Then she looked up, her gaze passing through the veil to fall on the sleeping face, her voice low but firm, yet audible throughout the entire hall.
"I, Shi Mingyue, am willing to marry Yun Zhan as my wife. She will be my lifelong partner, friend, and my one and only true love."
"On this special day, I give you my promise. I promise that whether in good times or bad, in wealth or poverty, in health or sickness, in joy or sorrow, I will always be by your side as your wife."
"I promise that I will love you unconditionally, be proud of you, respect you, provide for your needs to the best of my ability, protect you in times of danger, comfort you in times of sorrow, and grow with you in body, mind, and spirit. I promise to be faithful to you forever and cherish you forever."
This wedding vow was supposed to be recited by the emcee, but she memorized it herself...
She wanted to tell Yun Zhan in person...
Shi Mingyue leaned down and placed her lips on Yun Zhan's forehead, leaving her mark on Yun Zhan's body.
The ceremony is complete.
There was no applause, no cheers, only the tolling of the bells.
Shi Mingyue pushed her wheelchair back step by step, her skirt sweeping across the red carpet, her back still straight... her figure still lonely.
The wedding ended, and the entire Mingyue Manor fell silent.
Under the wisteria trellis in the back garden, Pei Yanxi and Wen Sixue walked side by side.
Shi Mingyue stood under the corridor, her white veil still on, only her hair crown removed, her black hair cascading down her shoulders and back, like a waterfall of ink that had suddenly lost its luster.
She looked up, her eyes so deep they were unfathomable, yet chillingly calm.
Pei Yanxi spoke first: "What do you plan to do if Yun Zhan doesn't wake up?"
Shi Mingyue did not answer immediately. She lowered her eyes and ran her fingertips over the ring on her ring finger.
A moment later, she looked up and said in a voice as soft as a night breeze across a lake, "She will definitely wake up."
Wen Sixue's heart tightened upon hearing this, and she subconsciously asked, "Why?"
Shi Mingyue's gaze passed over them and landed on the distant mountain ridge swallowed by the night: "Because I gave her ten years of my lifespan to return it to her."
A single sentence, so soft it was almost inaudible, yet so powerful it rendered the two people present speechless.
Pei Yanxi's fingertips trembled, and Wen Sixue suddenly looked up, her eyes filled with shock and bitterness.
So, this wedding... was something Shi Mingyue gambled her life for...
...
Yun Zhan had been staying at home for several months, unable to find a way to go back. He was extremely haggard, and his hair had fallen out all over the floor.
Suddenly, a mechanical voice reached her ears: "The female lead is forcing you to go back, and the price will be high... You, go."
I opened my eyes groggily, and all I could see was crimson.
Red lanterns hung high, candlelight flickered, and the air was filled with the thick scent of ambergris and damp rust, making it feel like a wedding chamber, yet also like a prison.
Yun Zhan subconsciously raised his hand, but felt a cold, metallic friction against his wrist—a chain.
His limbs were separated and bound, the bed was hard and cold, and red silk was laid under him, like a layer of snow stained with blood.
She turned her head in a daze, and her fingertips were suddenly enveloped by something soft and moist...
Shi Mingyue sat on his hands, her knees apart, her head bowed, her black hair falling down, the ends brushing against the chain on Yun Zhan's wrist, bringing a very slight itch.
Yun Zhan hadn't adjusted to the light yet and couldn't fully open her eyes. In her daze, she saw that the face was so thin it was almost unrecognizable, but two extremely bright flames burned in the depths of his eyes, as if they had been repeatedly tempered by hatred and obsession.
Shi Mingyue's lips were still damp with a little water, whether from tears or sweat, it was hard to tell, but at that moment a very faint smile slowly bloomed on her face.
"You're back."
Shi Mingyue's voice was low and hoarse: "The chains are to prevent you from being taken away again. Don't be afraid, I just want to make sure you can't escape again."
Those eyes reflected Yun Zhan's face, devoid of tenderness or pity, only filled with a thirst that wanted to tear him apart and devour him whole.
Shi Mingyue's breath was rapid and hot, spraying onto Yun Zhan's neck, like a branding iron probing back and forth where to place the first mark.
"You abandoned me willingly, I won't believe you anymore..."
She leaned down, her lips landing lightly on the chain on Yun Zhan's wrist, yet carrying a burning heat...
This is like putting a final seal on a prisoner, or like putting a final ring on a lover's finger.
Yun Zhan's heart stopped beating, but in that scorching heat, he suddenly realized that this was neither a dream nor an illusion.
Shi Mingyue's eyes were too bright and too hot, as if she wanted to nail a person to the bed and then use her gaze to dismantle bones and stomachs inch by inch.
Yun Zhan was captivated by that gaze, and even her breathing became softer. She had never seen Shi Mingyue like this before, as if she were surrounded by both hatred and love, yet she was so beautiful that it was impossible to look away.
She really did come back, brought back by Shi Mingyue at an extremely high price.
At this moment, she is both a bride and a prisoner...
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