The steering wheel was turned too sharply, the curve taken too fast—everyone was thrown off balance by the sudden swerve, letting out a collective gasp of surprise.
Lou Buqi spoke with unshakable confidence: “What’s with the gasping? You left the bridal sedan and the bride outside for two hours—that clearly means you don’t want her! What’s wrong with me taking her?”
The plump auntie was the first to react, giving Lou Buqi a thumbs-up:
“Right! Absolutely nothing wrong! If it were a piece of gold this big left outside, Heir Yun would’ve picked it up long ago!”
“He ignored the bride for so long! That’s proof enough that the Yun family has given up on this bride! It’s only right that you take her!”
The onlookers nodded in agreement, with some even leading the applause and cheers.
“Attendants!”
Amid the thunderous applause, Lou Buqi issued his orders: “Go drag Scribe Wang over here! Have him write the divorce agreement on the spot, and the marriage certificate right after. This heir is getting married today!”
Scribe Wang from the magistrate’s office was currently attending the banquet at the Yun family.
He emerged, sweating profusely: “What are your orders, Heir?”
This lord was not to be trifled with! He dared not disobey!
Moreover, the Princess Consort of Su had long been worried about Lou Buqi’s marriage prospects. Now that he was snatching a bride from someone else’s wedding, the Princess Consort would most likely not only not oppose it but would even shed tears of gratitude to the heavens and the eighteen generations of the Lou family ancestors!
Lou Buqi instructed his attendant: “Zhu Hai, go inform my mother that I’ve snatched a daughter-in-law for her, and we’re about to parade through the streets! Tell her to prepare the wedding ceremony within that time. We’ll perform the wedding ceremony as soon as we return.”
Everyone was stunned.
Wasn’t this moving too fast?
Lou Buqi added: “Tell my mother I’m not in a hurry, but we need to be quick!”
“Yes!”
The attendant’s reply was exceptionally loud and crisp! He took off running as fast as he could!
Good heavens, Heir must have been possessed by the God of Joy today—he’s actually willing to get married!
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; I must hurry back to report to Her Highness the Princess Consort and His Highness the Prince!
The matchmaker was utterly dumbfounded.
Wait, how did the groom get swapped out at the last minute?
Lou Buqi fixed his dark, intense gaze on the matchmaker, his eyes filled with overwhelming pressure.
Before he could even speak, the matchmaker immediately raised her hand: “This old woman will do as you say!”
The matchmaker knew her place, and Lou Buqi was pleased.
“If you do it well, the lucky money will be tripled.”
The matchmaker beamed with joy and quickly seized the opportunity for her colleagues:
“Then, Heir Lou, shall this old woman arrange the band and honor guard for you as well…”
Lou Buqi waved his hand grandly: “Hmm! Aren’t they already here?”
“Hasn’t Yunyang Marquis Mansion’s wedding already concluded? Lend them to this heir.”
Meanwhile, Scribe Wang had already finished writing the divorce agreement with swift strokes, bowing and scraping as he presented it to Lou Buqi for review.
Yun Feiyang’s face darkened with rage, while Bai Yanling stared in shock, utterly disbelieving.
She had always regarded Ju Yue as her lifelong rival, mentally preparing herself for a lifetime of conflict with her.
Who would have thought that, just as the battle was about to begin, before even setting the stage, her enemy would be whisked away by someone else!
Bai Yanling felt an indescribable mix of emotions.
The Marquise never showed herself throughout the ordeal. Yun Feiyang’s younger sister, Yun Duoduo, peeked out from the doorway for a while before being dragged back inside by the Marquise’s maid.
The message was clear: Yun Feiyang was to handle the matter entirely on his own.
Yun Feiyang stared at the divorce agreement and brush presented to him.
That was not paper, nor was it a brush; it was a series of heavy slaps, each word striking him across the face.
Trampling his dignity into the ground, grinding it over and over.
But Lou Buqi was truly someone not to be provoked, so Yun Feiyang could only suppress his rage.
"Young Master Lou! This is a private matter of the Yun family. I implore you to show mercy and not make a mockery of my family."
Lou Buqi stood lazily beside the bridal sedan, dressed in black embroidered with golden python patterns, both opulent and noble. His slender, well-defined fingers slowly lifted the delicate tassels of the sedan.
The tassels slipped through his fingers strand by strand, as if unfastening a beauty's waistband—a scene so suggestive it was almost unbearable.
Yet his words were venomous enough to kill: "Get this straight, Yun Feiyang—you were the one who first made a joke of your own Yun family!"
"If it weren't for Yue Niang being here, your Yun family wouldn't even be worthy of me making a joke of you!"
Yun Feiyang's face flushed crimson with anger, but there was truly nothing he could do about Lou Buqi.
In recent years, the Yun family had achieved little and was gradually declining, to the point where they might not even retain their marquis title.
They had slowly been pushed to the fringes of the aristocratic circle.
Meanwhile, the Lou family was at the peak of its power. How could he possibly contend with Lou Buqi?
Hadn't he noticed that even his own mother dared not show her face?!
Yun Feiyang swallowed his anger again and again, a metallic taste rising in his throat.
Gritting his teeth, he made one last desperate plea: "Young Master, please reconsider!"
He finally understood the despair and indignation Ju Yue had felt.
He too wanted to file a complaint!
To take it all the way to the Central Court!!
But these thoughts remained locked in his heart.
No matter how furious he was, there was nothing he could do—the disparity in power was simply too great.
His bluster was empty as he urged Lou Buqi to reconsider, but Lou Buqi responded by having him sign, stamp, and fingerprint the documents.
On the spot, Yun Feiyang and Ju Yue's engagement was dissolved.
Not wanting to trouble another, Lou Buqi went a step further and had the matchmaker bring Ju Yue's birth chart, instructing Scribe Wang to draft a marriage certificate for himself and Ju Yue right then and there.
He too signed, stamped, and fingerprinted it on the spot.
In less than half an hour, he successfully turned Ju Yue into…
A remarried woman.
Ju Yue gritted her teeth and tugged at Lou Buqi's sleeve: "Young Master…"
Lou Buqi turned to her, solemnly promising, "Don't worry. Though the wedding may be a bit rushed, everything that should be provided will be! I won't let you live without proper status!"
His mother had been longing for him to marry for so long that the wedding supplies in the family vault were updated every year.
Though today's ceremony was hastily arranged, the wedding items in the prince's vault were ready-made—they just needed to be brought out and set up.
That was why Lou Buqi dared to guarantee that nothing essential would be missing.
Ju Yue stomped her foot: "Don't be in such a hurry."
Lou Buqi gazed at Ju Yue's beautiful face, so close to his own, his voice dripping with tenderness.
"Don't worry! I'm not like some sour, hypocritical so-called noblemen who say one thing and mean another, wanting both beauty and reputation, pretending to be righteous while indulging in vice! I'm not afraid of people calling me lustful!"
"What's wrong with being lustful? Everyone appreciates beauty. You're beautiful, and I like you. Only you are worthy of me!"
The Yun family's wedding wasn't prestigious enough to warrant Lou Buqi's attendance to save face, so he hadn't planned on coming.
But as he happened to pass by the Yun residence, he overheard some gossip about the family and stopped out of curiosity.
With just one glance, he saw Ju Yue stepping out of the sedan.
Lou Buqi felt as if a brilliant light had suddenly illuminated everything before him.
Love at first sight!
In life, like iron pots stewing geese; in death, sharing the same coffin and the same outer casket—united forever!
When Ju Yue calmly stated her intention to strike the Dengwen Drum, it wasn't just a drum being struck—it was a blow straight to Lou Buqi's heart!
Brilliant!
There were plenty of beautiful people in the world, but to act so brilliantly—in all the capital, there was only one like her!
He immediately decided to step in and claim her.
Lou Buqi lifted his chin slightly. "We shall marry honorably and openly. I won't let you be criticized by the world!"
Before Ju Yue could stop him, she watched helplessly as Scribe Wang pulled a large seal and inkpad from the pouch he carried and stamped the marriage certificate twice with a loud thump.
She closed her eyes in despair.
"What I meant was, don't rush—the Yun family still owes me half of my family's property!"
She wanted to beat Lou Buqi to death, that wasteful fool!
With the situation so favorable, he only thought to seize a person?!
What about the property?
What about her property?!