The night before the wedding.
Mu Yao had worked through the night, finally completing a dazzling wedding gown with her embroidery.
Ningzhu helped Mu Yao put on the gown. Its brilliant gold made the already stunning Mu Yao appear even more radiant and beautiful.
“Miss, to wear such a beautiful wedding gown and yet marry into that kind of family—it’s such an injustice!”
Ningzhu spoke with indignation, though she knew the imperial decree could not be defied.
After trying on the gown, Mu Yao folded it neatly and placed it on the table.
Though she was dissatisfied with this marriage, she had put her full heart into making this gown.
After all, tomorrow she would wear it through the streets to draw the attention of the common folk.
“Go and bring my father’s memorial tablet.”
Ningzhu didn’t think much of it, assuming Mu Yao simply wanted to pay her respects to her parents one last time before marrying.
Before bed.
Mu Yao placed the tablet engraved with “Zhongsu Gong, Mu He’s Memorial Tablet” at her bedside, tracing her fingers over it gently.
Father, I’ll need to trouble you once more tomorrow.
Otherwise, the Mu family’s honor will be utterly ruined.
At dawn, before the sky had fully brightened, Mu Yao was dragged out of bed by Ningzhu to be dressed and made up.
The mansion was adorned with red candles throughout, presenting a scene of festive celebration.
Yet despite all this, no one wore a smile on their face.
This marriage was an insult to the Mu family—how could it be considered a joyous occasion?
The matchmaker sent by the Lu family had arrived early as well, fussing over Mu Yao’s black hair as she combed it again and again.
“The palanquin sent by the Houfu is waiting outside the gates—a full Si Cheng. For an ordinary family, that would be a most impressive display of ceremony!”
The matchmaker wore a broad smile, singing praises for the Lu family.
Mu Yao looked at her own stunning reflection in the bronze mirror, but her lips curled into a contemptuous smile.
“You know that Si Cheng is only considered proper ceremony for an ordinary family. Is the Lu family an ordinary family?”
Even gilding the lily had its limits.
The matchmaker’s smile stiffened, clearly embarrassed.
She had been paid by the Lu family, so naturally she had to speak well of them.
Though even she thought the Houfu only sending Si Cheng was rather shabby…
“What about Liu Xiyin? She had Ba Cheng, didn’t she?”
Mu Yao asked again, and the matchmaker averted her gaze, refusing to answer.
Seeing her reaction, Mu Yao understood everything.
Perfect—she had been worried the gap wouldn’t be big enough.
Mu Yao pressed a silver ingot into the matchmaker’s hand. “Please go back and tell Lu Zhi that Si Cheng is too shabby. I won’t marry.”
The matchmaker was stunned, standing frozen for a long moment, and was ultimately chased out by the servants.
Why didn’t she say she wouldn’t marry earlier? Now the mansion was decorated, and the wedding gown had been worn.
And only now did she say she wouldn’t marry?
Ningzhu chased the matchmaker out of the Mu mansion. She felt satisfied for a brief moment, but then remembered this was an imperial match decreed by the Emperor.
If she refused to marry… wasn’t that defying the imperial order?
“Ningzhu, go and have Uncle Wang take down the plaque in the main hall, and gather all the household servants who have signed their indentures.”
Mu Yao remained calm and composed, sending the bewildered Ningzhu out on her errand.
Soon, the courtyard of the Mu mansion was filled with servants, and before them stood the plaque inscribed by the Emperor’s own hand—”Manmen Wenzhong.”
“The Pingyang Hou family bullies the Mu family for having no one to stand up for us, humiliating me with only Si Cheng.”
“Today, I will show you all something you’ve never seen before—I’m going to seek justice before the Emperor.”
…
Pingyang Houfu.
The matchmaker leaned close to Lu Zhi’s ear and told him that Mu Yao refused to marry.
But upon hearing this, Lu Zhi didn’t panic—instead he laughed, a contemptuous and arrogant laugh.
“The Emperor decreed this marriage. If she refuses, that’s defying the imperial order. Do you really believe she has the guts?”
“She’ll come back to marry me sooner or later. If she doesn’t come today, I’ll only send Er Cheng next time, and we’ll see if she can bear the shame!”
“Don’t delay the auspicious hour—today we’ll welcome Xiyin into the mansion first.”
Lu Zhi didn’t take it seriously at all, his mind full of how he had lived up to the trust Liu Xiyin’s parents had placed in him.
Liu Xiyin entered the household one day before Mu Yao—which meant her status would be one day higher!
The Pingyang Houfu was filled with gathered guests.
Lu Zhi and Liu Xiyin each held one end of a red silk ribbon, already entering the main hall to prepare for the wedding ceremony.
But the noble ladies who had been gathered outside the gates to watch the festivities suddenly fled in panic after hearing some news.
By the time they were to bow to Heaven and Earth, the only ones left before the doors were the Lu family’s own servants.
“First bow to Heaven and Earth…”
The matchmaker began the proceedings in a loud voice.
Before Lu Zhi and Liu Xiyin could even bow, an eunuch holding a horsetail whisk strode through the doors.
Lu Zhi caught sight of him and immediately broke into a fawning smile, abandoning the wedding ceremony entirely as he turned to bow to the eunuch.
“Eunuch Li has graced our humble estate with his presence! The Lu family is truly blessed beyond measure. Please, Eunuch, take the seat of honor!”
Lu Zhi respectfully made way, his face brimming with barely contained delight.
Eunuch Li was the chief eunuch by the Emperor’s side—a man of immense power and influence.
If even Eunuch Li came to attend his wedding, perhaps it was by the Emperor’s own wishes!
But despite Lu Zhi’s flattery, Eunuch Li’s face remained grim.
“I am not here to witness your wedding. His Majesty has decreed that the Shizi is to report to the palace at once.”
With that, Eunuch Li glanced at Liu Xiyin, his expression filled with disgust. “And bring along your beautiful new bride!”
In that instant, Lu Zhi’s heart sank. Something about Eunuch Li’s tone felt deeply wrong.
But he dared not question it.
Though today was his wedding day, if the Emperor summoned him, even if he were squatting in the latrine, he’d have to wipe himself clean and rush over immediately.
Before the palace gates.
The blazing sun hung overhead, and the Emperor sat on a narrow stool, staring at Mu Yao kneeling on the ground, his heart aching with hatred.
At the palace gates, Mu Yao led dozens of members of the Mu family, kneeling in a long row that stretched across the entrance.
Half an hour earlier, Mu Yao had ordered the four-person palanquin sent by the Lu family to be carried here.
With the “Manmen Wenzhong” plaque strapped to her back and her father’s memorial tablet cradled in her arms, she paraded through the streets in her wedding attire.
The Mu family members beat drums and gongs, spreading word of the Lu family’s conduct throughout the city, then knelt at the palace gates and refused to leave.
The plaque Mu Yao carried bore the emperor’s own calligraphy, and the memorial tablet she held had been carved by the emperor’s own hand.
The guards at the gate could neither strike them nor curse at them.
After all, these were imperial gifts—to so much as touch them would be a crime punishable by beheading.
The emperor first sent Eunuch Li, but Mu Yao refused to rise, insisting she would only stand once Lu Zhi arrived.
However long Mu Yao knelt, the emperor accompanied her at the palace gates.
She was the orphan of a loyal minister, carrying a plaque inscribed in his own hand—how could he ignore her?
If he didn’t come out, wouldn’t the civil officials at court and the citizens of the capital who had witnessed this with their own eyes curse him behind his back?
After what seemed like an eternity, Lu Zhi and Liu Xiyin were finally brought by Eunuch Li.
The moment Lu Zhi saw Mu Yao kneeling ramrod straight at the palace gates in her wedding dress, his vision went dark and he nearly fainted on the spot.
Mu Yao had only said she wouldn’t marry him—she never said she’d bring this matter before the emperor!
“The Shizi certainly has nerve, keeping me waiting this long for your arrival!” the emperor roared furiously the moment he saw Lu Zhi.
For an entire hour, he’d been baked under the sun until his head spun!
Now that Lu Zhi had finally arrived, Mu Yao deigned to rise and led her procession into the palace.
The group knelt before the throne, Mu Yao clutching her father’s memorial tablet in silence, tears streaming down her face in wave after wave.
With every tear Mu Yao shed, Pingyang Hou, kneeling at the front and gazing at the tablet in her arms, felt his heart grow colder by a degree.
His foolish son had stirred up a disaster of epic proportions!
By the time Mu Yao knelt at the palace gates, word had already reached the court officials, and one by one they ordered their wives to boycott Lu Zhi’s wedding.
The guests had all fled, yet they still hadn’t noticed anything amiss—and had the audacity to go through with the bowing ceremony!