Shen Yunyue was about to step out when she heard a servant rush in with a panicked report, saying that Steward Li from the palace had arrived to deliver an imperial edict.
Mo Yiran was summoned to receive the edict.
"Allow me a moment to dress properly." Mo Yiran scrambled to her feet, flustered, intending to return to her room.
"Madam. Steward Li said to receive the edict immediately."
"Then… very well. I'll go at once." Mo Yiran's voice trembled with agitation.
Shen Yunyue's heart ached to hear it. Her poor, beautiful mother was about to become a tearful beauty from this moment on.
Once everyone in the room had left, Shen Yunyue slipped out quietly and made her way to the front courtyard.
She had a fair idea of what the edict was about.
She had just reached the doorway when she heard Mo Yiran's voice.
"What? Marry Yuebao to the Xiaojunwang of the Taizifu? But our Yuebao is only thirteen." The beautiful mother's trembling voice rose several pitches.
A voice, neither fully male nor female, laced with menace, came through.
"Madam Shen. This is His Majesty's imperial edict. Do you wish to defy the decree? A marriage bestowed by the imperial family—this is a great blessing for the Shen family. You ought to be grateful and remember the emperor's grace."
"Your subject's wife would not dare. Thank… thank you for Your Majesty's boundless favor." Mo Yiran knelt on the ground, not daring to raise her head. The poor beauty trembled like a sieve.
Shen Yunyue crept over on tiptoe.
"Miss Shen, please change into the bridal attire."
Damn. She'd been caught.
Shen Yunyue knew that she would soon be performing the wedding ceremony with Fu Xuanheng. In the afternoon, she would go to the palace to express gratitude—merely so the Empress could examine Fu Xuanheng's condition.
After returning to the prince's residence, the edict for confiscation of property and exile would arrive.
The emperor had issued a marriage decree.
His only thought was that his grandson wouldn't survive the journey to the place of exile, so he wanted to find him a young wife. Even in the underworld, the boy would have a wife—he wouldn't be a lonely wandering ghost.
He was going to do his grandson in, but he'd still find the boy a granddaughter-in-law.
The emperor's way of thinking was truly unlike that of ordinary people.
"Eunuch Li. Since this is an imperial marriage, shouldn't we choose an auspicious day and hour for the ceremony?"
Mo Yiran felt something was deeply wrong—a sense that something momentous was about to happen.
"An imperial marriage means every day is auspicious, every hour is propitious. This is the Shen family's fortune—who else could claim such an honor?" The pale, beardless eunuch flicked his horsetail whisk and cast his eyes downward.
Shen Yunyue couldn't stand him bullying her delicate, beautiful mother. "Then how about I give this fortune to you?"
Eunuch Li was taken aback.
What would he want with such fortune?
Others might think it a blessing, but he wasn't a fool.
"Miss Shen has a sharp tongue—a true inheritance from Lord Shen."
"Since you know I am to be the future Junwangfei, shouldn't you be paying your respects to me?" Shen Yunyue's damned prideful temper flared. Even knowing exile awaited, she would have her moment of arrogance.
Eunuch Li's expression soured, but he forced a smile and bowed to Shen Yunyue.
"This servant pays respects to Miss Shen."
"Mm. You may rise. Since we're going to perform the ceremony, where are the clothes?"
After speaking, Shen Yunyue went to support Mo Yiran and whispered softly in her ear: "Mother, I fear something is amiss. Today, dismiss the capable maidservants and servants in the household."
"Have my two younger brothers wear plain cotton-padded jackets. Have them carry inconspicuous cloaks—the same for Grandfather and Grandmother."
"Also, sew some silver leaves into the lining of their undergarments."
Shen Yunyue finished these words in haste and stood up. She followed the nannies brought by Eunuch Li back to her own courtyard to change clothes and prepare herself.
She left behind a bewildered Mo Yiran.
It wasn't until the nanny beside her called out "Madam" that she snapped back to her senses.
"Nanny Zhang, I'm afraid."
"Madam, what did the young miss say to you?" Nanny Zhang was Mo Yiran's wet nurse.
The Mo family had chosen their son-in-law from among the scholars at the imperial examinations, and the nanny along with her personal maidservants had married into the humble Shen family with Mo Yiran.
Nanny Zhang helped the nearly collapsing Mo Yiran sit down in a chair.
"Have someone bring Yunfeng and Yunzheng here. Change them into the plain cotton clothes we wear at home."
"Madam. What has happened?"
"Nanny, let me have a moment of quiet before I speak. I must stay by Yuebao's side." Mo Yiran thought of her daughter, and an unspeakable grief surged in her heart.
Then she thought of what her daughter had said, and began to worry about Shen Cixuan at court.
Her heart felt as though it were being twisted with a knife—a dense, stabbing ache flooding through her chest.
She reached up and touched her face; it was covered in tears.
After Shen Yunyue was dressed, the nanny draped a red bridal veil over her head. A red carriage waited outside, with no other ceremony or procession.
The nanny helped Shen Yunyue into the carriage.
Mo Yiran ran over and saw her daughter's lonely figure.
She couldn't help but grieve:
"Yunyue, my Yuebao."
"Big sister."
Without turning around, Shen Yunyue knew it was her eldest younger brother, Shen Yunfeng, and her second younger brother, Shen Yunzheng, standing beside Mo Yiran.
She turned and gracefully performed a bow.
"Mother, remember what I said."
"Let's go. Don't delay the auspicious hour for the ceremony." Eunuch Li grew impatient.
"Didn't you just say every hour is propitious, Eunuch?"
Eunuch Li: … The daughter of Grand Secretary Shen was just as insufferable as he was.
He truly wanted to pull out her teeth.
The carriage swayed along until it reached the Taizifu.
The Crown Prince was not in residence—only the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince's secondary consort were present.
An imperial marriage edict was issued.
The Crown Princess was utterly bewildered—her sickly son was getting married this quickly?
"Eunuch Li, my Xuanheng is only seventeen. Even if His Majesty has bestowed a marriage, shouldn't we wait until the Crown Prince returns to discuss this?"
"Your Highness, the Emperor has decreed the wedding shall take place immediately. Surely Your Highness does not wish to defy the imperial order?" Eunuch Li's usual fawning demeanor had completely vanished.
This stirred suspicion in the Crown Princess's heart.
She had already hinted to the Crown Prince that she wanted her son to marry He Lushuang, her brother's daughter.
She had originally planned to petition this year, but hadn't dared to speak up due to the disasters plaguing various regions.
She would wait until Fu Xuanheng turned eighteen before requesting the Emperor's decree.
The Shen family's daughter was decent enough.
But she couldn't compare to the He family—her own natal family—who would devote themselves wholeheartedly to Fu Xuanheng's wellbeing.
The Shen girl could serve as a concubine later on.
"Eunuch Li, Xuanheng is still ill."
"No matter—the imperial physicians have arrived. I guarantee the Xiaojunwang will be able to perform the wedding rites within half an hour." Eunuch Li shot a look.
Several Yulinjun guards and physicians from the Taiyishu came forward together.
Shen Yunyue: … They were really going all out for this wedding ceremony.
She was escorted by a matron into a room, where she stood and waited for a moment.
She heard the sound of footsteps and coughing.
The Yulinjun guards carried Fu Xuanheng in from behind, while the matron pressed down on Shen Yunyue's head.
And just like that, the two of them were married.
Shen Yunyue couldn't see the Crown Princess's face clearly, but she could well imagine how furious she was.
Soon they were sent to the bridal chamber.
After all that commotion, Fu Xuanheng was laid on the bed, gasping for breath.
His throat sounded like a bellows being worked.
He coughed until his face turned purple-red.
Shen Yunyue lifted her bridal veil, picked up the teapot from the table, and poured some water. She carried the cup over and helped soothe his breathing.
Poor thing.
Fu Xuanheng had a face like polished jade, though his breath was weak and a misty sheen had formed in his eyes. His frame was slender, yet one could tell his build was well-proportioned. Even sick, he was this handsome.
What a tragedy.
"You're Yunfeng's sister?" Fu Xuanheng took a sip of water from Shen Yunyue's hand to moisten his throat.
There was a probing look in his eyes.
"Yes, I'm Shen Yunfeng's sister, Shen Yunyue. Just now in the carriage, I overheard something I shouldn't have."
Shen Yunyue observed that Fu Xuanheng was only seventeen.
Yet his manner of speaking and expression were that of someone far older—putting on the airs of a grown adult.
"What did you hear?"
"Promise me you won't tell anyone, and I'll tell you."
Fu Xuanheng closed his eyes and said nothing.
This insufferable boy—not a shred of curiosity in him. Shen Yunyue grumbled inwardly.
"Don't you want to know why the marriage was bestowed with such urgency?"
Fu Xuanheng opened his eyes. His lips stayed silent, but his gaze clearly showed he wanted to know.
Shen Yunyue leaned closer to Fu Xuanheng, and a faint scent of medicinal herbs wafted over. The smell wasn't pleasant—she inexplicably disliked it.
"I heard the carriage driver say that the one up top wants to exile us to some remote border region. Your imperial grandfather worried that if you died, you wouldn't even have a ghost bride to match you with—so better to match you with one while you're still alive."
Shen Yunyue's bright eyes sparkled like starlight as she pointed at herself.
"I'm that unlucky one."
"Aren't you afraid?"
"Would it help if I were?" Shen Yunyue countered.