Chapter 199 - All Enemies Gathered!

“Ninghua, it’s my fortune to have you as my wife.”

The gentle voice was low and deep, but it gave her a lingering sense that caused her heart to soften. Under the red veil, Shen Ninghua blinked and smiled. She didn’t respond. Instead, she followed the guide of the nurse before her and stepped out of the bridal sedan.

The music became even more joyous and louder. Chu Junyi held onto the silk tied with red flowers. He felt that all the noises around had disappeared. Only the red silk in his hand and the person at the other end of it were real.

The officials and their wives who attended the wedding had already been waiting in the main hall. When they saw the new couple arriving, they all stood up to welcome them.

Shen Ninghua was a princess. Although she was not the Emperor’s biological daughter, as long as Baili Qingcang admitted her, she would be no different from his biological daughters. Empress Zhao Huiying sat upright at the seat of honor, with Crown Prince Baili Jinyi standing beside her.

As the protocol officer chanted loudly, the new couple began to salute. The complicated etiquette and kneeling procedures made them get dizzy.

Although Shen Ninghua was supported by Nurse Quanfu, she still felt very tired.

After saluting, Chu Junyi followed the instructions of the protocol officer to pinch the red veil and slowly lifted it up. Immediately after that, he was stunned by the beautiful appearance before his eyes. His pupils slightly tightened and he felt that his heart was beating violently.

Shen Ninghua slightly lowered her eyes. Her slender eyebrows extended under her temples. Her eyes were covered by thick eyelashes but still sparkled brilliantly. Her lips were red and her eyebrows were dark. Her skin was as delicate and smooth as ice and jade. All in all, her beauty was overwhelming.

Her bright red wedding dress made a dazzling sight, but it couldn’t conceal the slightest bit of her beauty, only making her even look more incomparably gorgeous.

The people attending the wedding stared with wide-opened eyes and were dumbfounded. They couldn’t help but feel jealous in their hearts. “What virtue and ability does Chu Junyi have? How could he deserve such a gorgeous bride?”

Crown Prince Baili Jinyi was stunned for a moment before he quickly came back to his senses. He raised his head and looked at Second Prince Baili Jinchuan. A gloating smile flashed across his eyes. He thought that Baili Jinchuan must be in agony at this moment. Everything about this younger brother of his was fine, except that he was too obsessed.

Baili Jinchuan stood there, casting his gaze closely at Shen Ninghua in her red wedding dress. He clenched his fists so tightly that his strength hurt the muscles and bones that hadn’t fully recovered yet. The wounds on his wrist gave off bursts of tearing pain. However, he didn’t care at all. He only looked at Shen Ninghua, as if he wanted to carve her into his heart. A strong wave of anger arose in his eyes, as if it could burn a person up like a thick flame.

Empress Zhao Huiying stood up and said, “Today is the wedding day of Princess Zhaohua and the imperial son-in-law. His Majesty specially ordered me to entertain the guests. So I prepared this Nine-bowl Banquet to entertain all of you.”

“Thanks to His Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty, Your Highness, and Lord Chu.”

When Shen Ninghua’s red veil was lifted, Nurse Quanfu aside brought over a cup of tea. “Your Highness, it’s time to offer a cup of tea to Her Majesty.”

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes. She exchanged a glance with Chu Junyi and nodded slightly. Then she knelt down in front of the Empress with the cup of tea. “Mother Empress, please have some tea.”

Zhao Huiying lowered her head and looked at Shen Ninghua. The smile on her lips subsided slightly.

Chu Junyi’s heart tightened. A cold feeling arose in his heart. Could it be that the Empress wanted to embarrass Ninghua in public?

Seeing that the Empress did not take the teacup, the guests all lowered their heads and held their breaths, not daring to look at the situation.

Shen Ninghua looked up. Although her heart suddenly turned cold, her voice was gentle. “Mother Empress, you don’t have to worry about my life after marriage. Lord Chu is kind-hearted. He was personally chosen by Father Emperor for me. I will definitely have a happy marriage in the future.”

With just a few words, she turned the seemingly dissatisfaction of the Empress into worry for her.

Zhao Huiying smiled again, as if she was really worried about Shen Ninghua a moment ago. She said intimately, “Alright, since you said so, then I’m relieved.”

After saying that, she received the cup of tea and took a sip of it. Then, she took an exquisite dangling ornament with golden phoenix and pendants of pearls from Fangxue’s hand and inserted it into Shen Ninghua’s thick hair. “Wish you a long and happy life together.”

The Empress’s tone was extremely gentle. Obviously she was giving her blessings, but each word seemed to carry a cold and oppressive aura.

Shen Ninghua smiled and bowed respectfully. “Thank you, Mother Empress.”

The tension in the main hall gradually disappeared. Everyone finally heaved a sigh of relief and stood up to congratulate Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi.

Baili Anning was led in by a palace maid with a serious expression. She looked at Shen Ninghua and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something. However, she gave up and only turned to look back.

Everyone then looked over and saw Xiao Jingran walking in quickly in black plain clothes. He did not wear an official uniform according to the etiquette of attending the ceremony, and his face was even colder, without the slightest bit of joy.

Chu Junyi’s eyes moved. He moved forward and bowed. “Father, you’re here. Hurry up and take your seat.”

Xiao Jingran looked coldly at Chu Junyi, his voice even colder without any warmth. “I don’t dare to receive the imperial son-in-law’s salute. I have something to do here today.”

Shen Ninghua stepped forward and stood beside Chu Junyi, wanting to speak.

However, Xiao Jingran abruptly turned to the side and bowed to the Empress. “Greetings, Your Majesty.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes darkened. It seemed that Xiao Jingran came here because of her.

Zhao Huiying smiled and said, “Lord Xiao, you’re welcome. I felt strange just now. As the foster father of Lord Chu, why didn’t you come to attend the wedding and enjoy the banquet? I thought that you must be held back for some reason. I was just thinking of sending someone to invite you. Now that you’re here, take your seat.”

Xiao Jingran shook his head. “Your Majesty, I’m not here to attend the banquet.”

“Oh?” Zhao Huiying moved her sapphire blue armor, and the joy in her eyes became even stronger. “Then what…”

Xiao Jingran turned around to look at Chu Junyi. He had his eyebrows knitted, and his expression was tense and stiff. “I came here to sever my relations with my foster son Chu Junyi under the witness of Your Majesty. From now on, he will have nothing to do with the Xiao family!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the officials aside immediately looked at each other in dismay. Chu Junyi had been the Peerless Duo Master in the capital. Although he was known for his talent, he also had a great reputation. The identity of the Xiao family’s foster son even gave him a lot of glory. Now, Xiao Jingran actually wanted to openly renounce his relations with Chu Junyi. No one knew how many wonderful insider stories there were behind this.

Chu Junyi’s face was expressionless, but his eyes were shaking fiercely. He had long thought that he would break with the Xiao family one day, but he didn’t expect it to happen on this special day. He thought that Xiao Jingran must hate him bitterly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t choose this wedding day to announce the end of their relationship.

“Father, you can punish me if I did anything wrong. Why must you renounce our relations?”

Xiao Jingran sneered. “Xiao family raised you for twenty years. I originally thought that you had deep feelings for my family. But I didn’t expect that it would only end up like this. It didn’t matter if you chased a beautiful woman. As your foster father, I will not interfere. However, you actually betrayed my family for her. The Xiao family cannot tolerate such a thing.”

Chu Junyi gritted his teeth and felt a sudden pain in his heart. His foster father wanted to brand him as an unfilial person and Ninghua as a chaos-making beauty.

Xiao Jingran’s eyes were cold. “Xiao family has always valued the virtues of loyalty and filial piety, and doesn’t allow its members to act differently. Therefore, in the presence of Your Majesty today, I will sign a contract to cut all my ties with Lord Chu from now on!”

As he spoke, he took out a written contract from his pocket and threw it at Chu Junyi’s feet before quickly leaving.

The main hall fell into absolute silence. All kinds of gazes were focused on Shen Ninghua and Chu Junyi.

Back then, when Shen Ninghua separated herself from the Shen family, it was done with the Emperor’s instructions. In addition, the Shen family indeed didn’t treat her well. So no one gossiped about it. But Chu Junyi’s separation from the Xiao family was different. He would surely be criticized.

The Da’an Dynasty had always attached great importance to filial piety. The Xiao family had raised Chu Junyi for twenty years. For Chu Junyi, repaying that kindness was greater than anything else. If the Xiao family cut ties with Chu Junyi, it would almost be equivalent to telling everyone that he was a disloyal, unfilial, and heartless person. It was almost impossible for him to remove such a stigma from his name.

The expression on Shen Ninghua’s face did not change much from beginning to end, and she even ignored the silence in the main hall. She stood up and took two steps forward. Then, she bent down and picked up the contract that was thrown on the ground. After a quick glance, she handed it over to Bai Ruo aside.

“Bai Ruo, keep the contract well. Father was angry for the moment. It was hard to predict what he would do on impulse. No matter what he said, we must tolerate him.”

The atmosphere in the hall eased.

Shen Ninghua turned to the crowd and said, “Today is a day I and Lord Chu get married. Although this provoked his father, there are naturally no family affairs that cannot be solved. Please don’t mind. Mother Empress, can we start the Nine-bowl Banquet now?”

Zhao Huiying nodded. “Let’s begin.”

Looking at Shen Ninghua’s gentle face, the Empress got absent-minded. She almost mistook Shen Ninghua for her biological mother Xia Jingyan. Back then, Xia Jingyan was also quick-witted and articulate. No matter what trouble she faced, she could always deal with it at ease. Shen Ninghua mustn’t be allowed to live in this world, so she had to destroy her.

Thinking about it, she glanced at Fangxue, who was standing beside her. Fangxue nodded and made a gesture in shadow behind her.

In the main hall, the atmosphere of the banquet was harmonious. Regardless of what rumors spread next, they didn’t mind it now. They were here to support the new couple.

Halfway into the banquet, a loud noise suddenly came from outside the gate.

Zhao Huiying frowned. “What’s going on outside? Someone, go take a look.”

Shen Ninghua sat on the seat, her fingers tightened slightly as she held the wine cup.

The curtain of the gate was lifted. It was snowing heavily. Very quickly, the ground outside was covered with a layer of snowflakes.

The maidservant who went out to check returned quickly. “Your Majesty, there is a monk at the gate who called himself Liaochen.”

Zhao Huiying revealed a surprised expression. “Monk? Liaochen… Could it be Master Liaochen? Summon him in quickly.”

Shen Ninghua’s eyes became harsh, and her fingers couldn’t help but tighten. Chu Junyi raised his hand to hold her hand and wrapped the slightly cold fist in his palm. He softly comforted her and said, “Ninghua, Don’t worry.”

Shen Ninghua turned around and smiled at him. “I know. I’m just wondering why all enemies gathered here today.”

“No matter who came, we will get married, have a full family of children and grandchildren, and love each other for the rest of our lives!” Let them get tortured with jealousy!

Seeing that the two of them smiled at each other, Baili Jinchuan raised his hand and drank all the wine to conceal the cold smile on his lips.