flstandardbreds Chapter 142 Welcoming the Bride
Chapter 142 Welcoming the Bride
The main hall of the Duke of Sheng's mansion was already full of people.
Duke Sheng, Lady Lan, Old Madam Li, the second wife and her husband, and the concubines from the opposite side all came. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, a time for celebration, but the hall was eerily silent.
The Duke of Sheng's face was particularly horribly gloomy.
Because he had no idea that Sheng Junyao had left the capital; he only knew that Sheng had gone to the western suburban camp two days ago and had not returned since.
Now that the wedding day is almost here, we haven't even seen a trace of her.
He turned to look at Lan Shi aggressively, but when he saw her worried and anxious face, he wanted to get angry, but he just couldn't.
Enraged, he smashed the cup beside him and yelled at the servants, "Go check again! Go guard the city gate and the deceased prince's courtyard!"
Someone muttered, "Could it be that she ran away from the wedding?"
The Duke of Sheng's sharp gaze swept over them, startling the woman from the concubine's quarters. She quickly raised her hand to slap her own mouth, saying, "Uncle, please don't be offended. I just spoke too quickly. This young master is usually the most worry-free. I suppose something has gotten in the way."
The others quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, something must have happened."
"How come I heard that Miss Xue eloped with her cousin, and the young master went to chase after her?" someone whispered.
The person next to him quickly patted him on the shoulder: "What nonsense are you talking about!"
"I just heard it, and it's true. They said that Miss Xue and her cousin were in love and originally planned to break off their engagement and get married, but the Guangping Marquis's family was unwilling and insisted that the girl marry into the family, so the girl ran away with her cousin."
"Shut up!" Duke Sheng slammed his hand on the table in anger, and the room fell silent once again.
This time, the Duke of Sheng could no longer hold back and questioned Lady Lan in a low voice: "Where did he go? What did he do?"
Lady Lan was already in a state of distress, and she never expected that her usually reliable son would fail her at this crucial moment. As a result of some rumors, the Duke of Sheng actually came to question her. She immediately became angry: "Who is he? Duke, tell me, who is he?"
"You!" In front of so many relatives, the Duke of Sheng could not argue with Lady Lan and had to swallow back all the words he wanted to say.
The steward had already asked three times, and seeing that there was no time to delay any longer, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Duke, the time has come, and we really can't delay any longer. The wedding procession will be leaving soon, and the guests will be entering the house soon."
If the wedding procession hadn't left by the time the guests arrived, and the time had been missed, the Duke of Sheng's mansion would have been a laughing stock.
Duke Sheng clenched his fists, his brow veins throbbing with anger.
"Go, let the second young master change his clothes and go out in place of the heir apparent," the Duke of Shengguo said through gritted teeth.
The others looked at each other, not daring to say anything.
About fifteen minutes later, Sheng Junyi changed into his wedding attire and led the wedding procession out of the Sheng State Duke's mansion.
Sheng Yunjiao, lifting her skirt, ran into Lu Yangyang's courtyard, "Yangyang, something terrible has happened!"
Lu Yangyang waited in vain, and just as she changed into riding clothes to go out and see for herself, she bumped into Sheng Yunjiao. She quickly stopped her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Second brother, Uncle told you to wear my brother's clothes and go to fetch the bride first. You, you hurry up and find my brother, or we'll really miss it," Sheng Yun said breathlessly.
Lu Yangyang's eyes widened; she really hadn't thought of this approach!
Just then, Yan Yue popped out from over the wall next door, "Yangyang, quick, we have news! Come with me!"
Lu Yangyang instructed Sheng Yunjiao: "You stay in the manor. If your elder brother comes back, tell him to go to the weapons shop on Jixiang Street to find me, understand?"
Sheng Yunjiao nodded quickly.
Lu Yangyang immediately ran to the wall, climbed up quickly, and followed Yan Yue away.
They rushed to the weapons shop and, sure enough, found Xiao Liuzi who had been waiting for them.
Previously, Lu Yangyang had asked Xiao Liuzi to keep an eye on the Guangping Marquis's residence, but there was no news for several days. Lu Yangyang thought that nothing would happen, but unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Xiao Liuzi sent someone to find her.
When Xiao Liu saw Lu Yangyang, he was so shocked he almost popped his eyes out. "You, you, how come you're a girl?!"
What girl would be like that?
Lu Yangyang raised her hand and patted him on the head: "Let's get down to business. What did you find out?"
Xiao Liuzi recognized the voice but was still a little dazed. However, having received payment, he dared not lie and hurriedly told Lu Yangyang the news he had just heard: "It's the old lady from that mansion. She suddenly fell ill today. We initially thought it was her old ailment and gave her medicine, but she started getting worse around noon. She might not make it through the day. The Guangping Marquis's mansion is in complete chaos right now, with all sorts of opinions. Some say that Miss Xue's marriage is bad, that it's bad luck for the elderly, while others say that we must keep this news under wraps and not let it get out. We must get the eldest daughter married off first, no matter what. They're still arguing behind closed doors right now."
"The old lady's illness came on very strangely, but she already had a mental illness, so it's hard to say how she suddenly became unwell."
Upon hearing this news, Lu Yangyang felt a sudden, overwhelming shock.
When she heard last time that the old lady in that family had a mental illness, she wondered to herself, "Could it be that the old lady died of illness in my dream?"
If the wedding hadn't been brought forward and had taken place during the Lunar New Year, the Muzhou case would likely have been resolved by then. Based on subsequent speculation, it's likely that nothing major happened to Xue Wanning's uncle's family, and she successfully connected with the Third Prince. That's why she used the mourning period to postpone the wedding.
After the Crown Prince analyzed the situation with her last time, she thought about passing on the news that the Third Prince would be detrimental to her eldest brother to Xue Wanning. However, after Princess Liduan made such a scene in the palace, the matter caught the Emperor's attention, and the Crown Prince took this opportunity to obtain the Emperor's approval, so the marriage could be postponed.
If we just delay it, we can wait until the Muzhou case is successfully resolved before bringing up the marriage proposal.
Therefore, she did not pass the news to Xue Wanning's ears.
But she didn't expect that Xue Wanning would still take this path.
She must have met the Third Prince and figured out each other's bargaining chips. She didn't want to marry her eldest brother, so she made this move, targeting her own grandmother, and using the mourning period to ruin the marriage.
The marriage was considered unlucky because her grandmother died on the eve of her wedding. If Xue Wanning insisted even slightly, the engagement could be called off.
What a vicious mind.
Lu Yangyang had seen ruthless people before, but she had met Xue Wanning, such a gentle and generous girl. She never imagined that the other party would not hesitate to kill her own grandmother in order to achieve her own goals.
"Yangyang, Yangyang, are you alright?" Yan Yue asked anxiously when he saw that she looked unwell.
Lu Yangyang shook her head.
At this moment, the man Yan Yue had sent out ran over to report.
"Young Master, something terrible has happened! The Prince Sheng has returned, and he went straight to the Marquis of Guangping's residence!"
"Princess Liduan went too! She said she's going to steal the bride!"