Time flowed like water, silently slipping away. In the blink of an eye, the auspicious date calculated by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau had arrived—the day of the marriage alliance between the Marquis of Yongning’s residence and the Marquis of Wuan’s residence, the day Young General Huo would marry the Third Miss of the Lu family.
On this day, before dawn had even broken, the capital was already awake.
The main streets had been sprinkled clean with water and covered with yellow earth. On both sides, endless lengths of festive red silk had been hung early, swaying gently in the cool morning breeze.
The wedding procession from the Marquis of Wuan’s residence was exceptionally grand. Gongs and drums led the way, while flutes and pipes played in unison. Guards dressed in ceremonial attire stood tall and spirited as they escorted an eight-bearer bridal sedan adorned with dragons and phoenixes symbolizing prosperity and harmony, making its magnificent way toward the Marquis of Yongning’s residence.
Along the route, countless citizens poured into the streets, gathering on both sides to watch. Their chatter, exclamations of admiration, and the laughter of children blended into one lively symphony.
It was truly a spectacle of ten miles of bridal splendor—the entire city rejoicing.
Inside the Marquis of Yongning’s residence, the decorations were even more breathtaking, as though the estate had been transformed into a celestial paradise.
Beneath the covered corridors and between the pavilions, exquisite glass palace lanterns and large red silk flowers hung everywhere. Even the koi in the pond seemed to have been touched by the festive atmosphere, swimming about with unusual delight.
The servants hurried back and forth, yet every face carried a proud smile. The air was thick with an atmosphere both tense and fervently joyous.
Inside Lu Jiaojiao’s embroidered chamber, the candles burned brightly.
Before the eastern sky had even begun to pale, she was pulled from her still-warm brocade bedding by a crowd of maids and matrons.
For the next several hours, she was like a puppet on strings, seated before the dressing table and subjected to one complicated procedure after another.
She bathed in fragrant hot water. Her skin was carefully dusted with fine scented powder. When her face was prepared with twisted thread to remove the fine hairs, the faint sting made her knit her brows slightly. Finally came layer upon layer of rouge and cosmetics, carefully applied to create the bright, radiant appearance expected of a bride.
When the phoenix crown and embroidered bridal robes symbols of both glory and restraint were finally placed upon her, Lu Jiaojiao felt as though even breathing had become difficult.
The phoenix crown, fashioned from red gold and kingfisher feathers, was unbearably heavy. The pearl and gemstone tassels hanging from it lightly struck against one another whenever she moved, producing crisp sounds that somehow irritated her even more.
Her brilliant red wedding gown was embroidered with elaborate images of phoenixes and mythical birds in harmonious union, all stitched in golden thread. It was magnificent and dazzling.
Yet to her, it felt like an invisible, exquisitely beautiful cage binding her body and soul within it.
For the last time, her mother, Madam Chen, entered her daughter’s room.
The moment she saw her reflection in the mirror a face made breathtakingly beautiful by the exquisite bridal makeup, yet faintly pale and distant beneath the lack of color—her eyes immediately reddened again.
She stepped forward and tightly grasped her daughter’s cold hands. Her voice choked with emotion as she repeated the instructions she had already said so many times that her lips were practically worn out.
“Jiaojiao, my child… After today, you will be a wife of the Huo family. You mustn’t be so willful anymore… In everything, you must put your husband’s family first. Be filial to your parents-in-law, live harmoniously with your sisters-in-law… And with your husband… with your husband…”
At the mention of Huo Shiran, Madam Chen’s words noticeably faltered.
In the end, she still forced herself to say, “You must… get along with him properly.”
If this had been in the past, hearing something like “get along with your husband properly” would have made Lu Jiaojiao jump to her feet long ago, stamping her foot and shouting, “Who wants to get along with that damn blockhead?!”
But now, she merely sat quietly before the mirror, like a porcelain doll without a soul, allowing her mother’s warm yet trembling hands to hold her own.
Her lashes lowered slightly, casting delicate fan-shaped shadows beneath her eyes and concealing all the turbulent emotions surging within them
Unwillingness.
Resentment.
Grievance.
And a trace of desperate determination, the resolve to stake everything on one final gamble.
She softly murmured, “Mm.”
Her voice was so steady that it was almost hollow.
She even turned around and comforted her mother, though there was little warmth in her tone.
“Mother, your daughter understands. Please don’t worry. I… won’t bring shame upon the Lu family.”
Though unwillingness and resentment still burned fiercely within her, like a volcano suppressed beneath a heavy weight, she also understood perfectly well that this marriage had long ceased to concern her personal feelings alone.
It concerned the reputation of two great families—the Marquis of Yongning’s residence and the Marquis of Wuan’s residence.
Moreover, this marriage had been personally decreed by the Emperor himself.
Countless eyes—some well-meaning, some curious, and some simply waiting eagerly to see a spectacle—were watching openly and in secret.
She had to play her role well.
The role of the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Yongning’s household.
The role of the future young mistress of the Marquis of Wuan’s residence.
She had to be dignified, gentle, graceful, and proper.
Perhaps this was the last fragment of pride belonging to an aristocratic young lady something instilled in her since childhood and carved deep into her very bones.
The auspicious hour arrived.
Outside, the deafening sound of celebratory music and firecrackers suddenly erupted, ringing like the tolling of a bell announcing her fate.
Carried upon the broad, steady back of her elder brother, Lu Yao, Lu Jiaojiao took one step after another out of the chamber where she had spent the first sixteen years of her life.
Before her eyes, the familiar sights gradually receded.
Beside her ears were the thunderous sounds of celebration—and, finally, the quiet sobs of her mother, who could no longer hold back her tears.
The bridal sedan curtain was lowered with a smile by the wedding matron, instantly cutting off all light and noise from the outside world.
Inside that narrow space, unseen by anyone and enveloped entirely in festive red, the flawless smile on Lu Jiaojiao’s face the shy, expectant smile expected of a new bride vanished as swiftly as the tide receding.
All that remained was a cold, almost indifferent calm.
Uncontrollably, countless fragmented memories flashed through her mind
When they were children, in the sandy grounds of the military camp, she and Huo Shiran had fought over a colt they both wanted, ending up covered in dust and rolling around on the ground in a tangled mess.
And last year, during the palace banquet, when he had mercilessly mocked her in front of everyone after she performed a new piece she had practiced painstakingly for so long, saying that her playing was halting and awkward, like
“sawing wood.”
Inside the sedan, she remained sitting perfectly upright.
Her hands were folded neatly over one another on her lap, her posture utterly flawless.
Only beneath the cover of her wide sleeves did her slender fingers dig deeply into her soft palms.
She used that faint, constant pain to maintain the clarity and composure she needed at this moment—to fight against the turbulent emotions raging like stormy seas within her heart.
Huo Shiran, your grandaunt is coming for you!