After that awkward “gurgle” incident, Lin Yao never saw Chu Liyuan again.
She even suspected that even if she were taken to the “Prince’s Mansion” for the ceremony on the wedding day, once the rites were complete, Chu Liyuan would probably toss her back into this rundown courtyard like trash.
After all, who would want to see someone suspected of cuckolding them every day at home?
But this was also Lin Yao’s ultimate goal:
Plenty of food, plenty of drink, no one to boss her around… and money!
After all, she was a registered princess consort, and she was about to be pregnant with the “eldest imperial grandson.” Who would dare do anything to her?
With that thought, this desolate, haunted-house-like estate suddenly looked quite charming in Lin Yao’s eyes—the perfect retirement paradise!
However, things didn’t go as she had hoped. Instead, they began to take a strange turn…
Three days remained until the wedding.
Early in the morning, Chu Liyuan’s personal eunuch, Li Cai, led several craftsmen into the back courtyard.
Not only did they pull out every last weed in the back yard, but they even hauled in several cartloads of bricks and soil, seriously leveling the ground and laying down green bricks!
Lin Yao watched in utter confusion and couldn’t help stopping Li Cai: “Li Cai, if you’re going to renovate, shouldn’t you fix the front courtyard first? The weeds there are taller than me, and the paving stones are cracked from being pushed up. Why are you starting with the back courtyard that no one can even see?”
Li Cai bowed respectfully and replied with a smile: “To answer Your Highness, the Prince has said that from now on he will practice martial arts in the back courtyard every day. If the ground is uneven, it could easily hurt his feet.”
Wait… from now on? Every day?! And practicing martial arts?!
Before Lin Yao could fully digest the terrifying implications behind those words, Li Cai had already taken his leave to direct the craftsmen.
Even more absurdly, two days before the wedding, Chu Liyuan sent people to carry a massive huanghuali rosewood desk into the eastern wing, followed by several heavy wooden crates carried into the main hall.
Lin Yao secretly pried open a crack in one of the crates when no one was looking—good heavens, they were all men’s clothing for all four seasons, along with books!
Was this Chu Liyuan really planning to take up permanent residence in this godforsaken place?!
“Ah, impossible, don’t scare yourself…” Lin Yao patted her chest to comfort herself. “He’s an imperial prince. Sending over some useless odds and ends before the wedding to put on a show is normal… It must all be for the Emperor’s benefit!”
But just after noon, reality slapped her hard in the face.
Another group of people arrived and began decorating this “haunted house.”
The two stone lions at the gate, missing limbs and broken, were forcibly draped in bright red silk; in the desolate, dilapidated front courtyard, a few strips of red silk were strung up here and there.
The vivid red against the crumbling gray didn’t add the slightest festive cheer—instead, it exuded an indescribable air of gloom and eeriness, like preparations for a ghost marriage.
Standing under the eaves, Lin Yao rubbed the goosebumps on her arms and couldn’t help cursing: “That bastard Chu Liyuan—doesn’t he know what kind of state this house is in? I nearly get scared half to death just going to the bathroom at night!”
Then came the wedding day itself!
Lin Yao’s last shred of illusion was shattered.
Early in the morning, two matrons sent from the palace escorted her to the western wing to be dressed and made up. The roof had a huge hole in it. Lin Yao sat before the mirror, and whenever she looked up, she could clearly see the blue sky through the roof.
It was almost funny, really. Lin Yao had only been transmigrated here for a little over a month, and she’d already gotten married twice. At least it added some absurd life experience to what had been a dull existence as a 26-year-old PhD student.
But this time, the princess consort setup compared to the previous crown princess one was like a bargain-bin version. From the quality of the fabric to the craftsmanship of the jewelry, it was visibly several grades lower.
Lin Yao idly fiddled with the gilded silver bracelet on her wrist, weighing it in her hand and pursing her lips: “Tsk, the weight difference is nowhere near small. On the day the Crown Prince got married, those were solid gold bracelets!”
Just as Lin Yao was letting her mind wander, wondering whether she’d have to go through the elaborate ceremonies like in the TV dramas—
Boom—!
A clap of thunder, and it started to rain!
August thunderstorms came fast and furious. Raindrops the size of beans came pelting down, instantly passing through that “see-the-sky” roof and drenching the dressing table.
“Oh dear! Quick, let’s go!” The two matrons turned pale with fright and hastily helped Lin Yao run to the eastern wing.
The eastern wing was Chu Liyuan’s newly arranged study, with that expensive huanghuali desk sitting alone in the middle.
But before they could even get their footing, a cold drop of rainwater landed on Lin Yao’s forehead. Then the desk began to drip, drip, drip as well.
Apart from the one intact main hall, there wasn’t a single room in the entire estate that didn’t leak!
The two matrons fretted in circles: “This… what are we to do! The auspicious hour has arrived, but we haven’t performed the bowing ceremony. We can’t just go straight to the bridal chamber! That violates all propriety!”
“Rules?” Lin Yao looked at the torrential rain outside and thought to herself that if they kept following the rules, everyone would end up soaked to the bone. She made a snap decision, lifting her skirt and dashing toward the main hall. “At a time like this, survival comes first!”
So there were no guests streaming in, no music or ceremonial rites—they didn’t even bow to Heaven and Earth.
Lin Yao and Chu Liyuan, the two newlyweds dressed in bright red wedding attire, sat side by side on the only bridal bed in the main hall like a pair of refugees taking shelter… from the rain.
Outside the window, thunder and lightning raged, drenching the pitiful red silk ribbons hanging in the front courtyard into an even sorrier state.
The room was dimly lit, with only two cups of nuptial wine and a pair of dragon-and-phoenix red candles on the table barely holding up any festive atmosphere.
The peanuts and red dates scattered on the bed had been crushed into a mess by the two of them sitting on them. Lin Yao pulled out a flattened red date from beneath her and took a bite. “So it was you digging into my butt!”
Lin Yao remembered the Crown Prince’s bridal chamber—warm and fragrant, resplendent and grand. But this so-called “bridal chamber” before her, apart from the faint glow of the red candles, was no different from the cold palaces she’d seen in TV dramas.
“Anyway, Chu Liyuan doesn’t want this marriage either, and he definitely doesn’t want to stay here…”
Looking at the whole darkly comedic scene, Lin Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This sense of absurdity actually dissolved the tension of the wedding night.
She turned her head and looked at the man beside her, who wore an equally sour expression, and spoke solemnly: “Chu Liyuan, I originally planned to go through the motions with you, at least to keep up appearances. But even the heavens couldn’t stand it. Since that’s the case, stop pretending. Go back to wherever you belong! This phoenix crown and embroidered gown of mine are pretty heavy, and after a whole day of fuss, I ought to wash up and get some sleep.”
With that, she reached up to remove the phoenix crown, looking ready to claim the entire bed for herself.
But the man beside her didn’t move.
Chu Liyuan wore a bright red groom’s robe, and the vivid color made his usually sinister features look unexpectedly handsome.
He slowly turned his face, brows furrowed tightly, staring hard at Lin Yao as if he’d heard something utterly incomprehensible: “On our wedding night, instead of properly preparing to serve your husband, you’re telling me to go where?!”