Lu Yichen knew that what he did today wasn’t entirely right, but that was no reason for Lin Ruochu to call off their engagement. Today was supposed to be the day they held their wedding banquet—how could Lin Ruochu be so utterly disregarding of his face and dignity?
Lu Yichen also knew it was his and Lin Ruochu’s wedding feast, yet he and Xia Lin had been acting just like a newlywed couple. Whose face was he really slapping here?
However, Lu Yichen didn’t take Lin Ruochu’s words seriously. He knew just how deeply Lin Ruochu loved him; she was probably just throwing a jealous tantrum.
He certainly couldn’t let her get away with it. “Enough. Even if you’re throwing a tantrum, there should be a limit. On a day like today, this is no time for your nonsense.”
Xia Lin tightly linked her arm through Lu Yichen’s, smiling brilliantly. “Brother Lu, don’t be too hard on Ruochu. She’s just upset for a moment. Girls, you know—just coax her a little and she’ll be fine.” Her words made it sound as though Lin Ruochu was purely making an unreasonable scene out of nothing.
Anyone with eyes could see that the relationship between Lu Yichen and Xia Lin was far from ordinary.
Lin Ruochu looked at Xia Lin’s hand hooked around Lu Yichen’s arm. “Lu Yichen, today is supposed to be the great wedding day for you and Xia Lin. But I’ll pass on drinking this wedding wine.”
Lu Yichen frowned, not expecting Lin Ruochu to be so unreasonably difficult. Losing his patience, he snapped, “Enough, Lin Ruochu! You know very well that today is the wedding between you and me. What do you mean by saying things like that?”
“Do you have any idea what kind of trouble remarks like this will cause Xia Lin? Don’t you know how important a female comrade’s reputation is?”
Lu Yichen tried to put on a stern front, but every word he uttered was a condemnation of Lin Ruochu and a defense of Xia Lin.
Yet Xia Lin feigned wiping away a tear. “Ruochu, I only saw you faint, so I stepped in to help. Had I known you would mind this much, nothing in the world would have made me do it.” The implication was clear: it was all Lin Ruochu’s fault.
In her past life, after finding out that Xia Lin had poured the wedding toasts in her place, Lin Ruochu had foolishly believed it was a kind gesture from the heart and bought into their lies.
In this life, Lin Ruochu wouldn’t believe a single word of it.
“Oh, so you do remember that today is our wedding day? Anyone walking in here wouldn’t have guessed it; they would’ve thought you were marrying Xia Lin instead.”
“Since you know you’re marrying me, why are you holding someone else’s arm like a groom?” Lin Ruochu turned her gaze to Xia Lin. “Since you took my place on my wedding day, why don’t I just hand over tonight’s bridal chamber to you as well?”
As it turned out, Lin Ruochu had inadvertently hit the nail right on the head. In her past life, after being deliberately framed and “caught in the act” by their design, Lu Yichen used that as an excuse never to step foot in Lin Ruochu’s room, winding up in bed with Xia Lin that very night.
Xia Lin’s true intentions had been called out directly, and her face instantly turned pale. “Ruochu, I genuinely had good intentions. How can you say something like that? How am I supposed to face people from now on?”
At this point, among all the guests eating at the banquet, probably only Lu Yichen could still “firmly believe” Xia Lin’s act.
Feeling that Xia Lin had been terribly wronged, Lu Yichen reprimanded Lin Ruochu in a harsh tone, “Enough! Xia Lin was trying to help you. Don’t be so ungrateful.”
Lin Ruochu laughed. “Who helps out like this? By stepping in to play the bride? What’s next, are you going to help me give birth to my children too?”
And hadn’t her past life unfolded precisely like that? Xia Lin had gone off to follow the troops with Lu Yichen and given birth to a child, only to return and trick Lin Ruochu into believing she had been scammed by some scumbag outside.
Back then, she and Xia Lin were close friends. Out of pity for Xia Lin being tricked by a jerk—and with Lu Yichen nudging her along the side—she had foolishly taken in that child.
Who could have known that child was actually the illegitimate spawn of Xia Lin and Lu Yichen?
Xia Lin had originally planned it this way: she would sneakily follow the troops with Lu Yichen, have the child, and leave it for Lin Ruochu to raise, all while comfortably staying by Lu Yichen’s side.
Thinking it and having Lin Ruochu spell it out loud in public were two entirely different things. If today’s mess wasn’t handled properly, how would the villagers look at her from now on? Where would she put her face?
No, things couldn’t just end like this today. She had to clear her name.
Hardening her resolve, Xia Lin choked out, “Ruochu, I had no idea you’d care about this so much, but there is truly nothing between Brother Lu and me. By painting me in such a light, aren’t you just forcing me to die?”
“How important is a woman’s reputation? Since I can’t clear my name today anyway, I might as well just go die.”
Looking utterly heartbroken and bearing the grievance of a wronged soul, Xia Lin violently shoved Lu Yichen away. Before he could react, she bolted straight toward the outside.
Seeing Xia Lin crying as she ran off, Lu Yichen threw a harsh threat at Lin Ruochu: “If Xia Lin comes to any harm, you’re a murderer.”
He then spun around and chased after Xia Lin. Not far outside the Lu household was a patch of reed marshes, and beyond the reeds flowed a river. Knowing that’s the direction Xia Lin was heading, Lu Yichen panicked.
Lin Ruochu wasn’t the least bit worried that Xia Lin would do something foolish. With someone like Xia Lin? As if she’d ever actually give up her life.
If Xia Lin really did drop dead today, Lin Ruochu would probably have to throw two banquets just to celebrate, let alone care about the farce Xia Lin had drummed up.
With the two eyesores gone, it was just as well. Lin Ruochu immediately announced to the crowd, “Today’s wedding is canceled. Everyone, please enjoy your meal.”
“Lu Yichen brought another woman to take my place at my own wedding banquet—he is slapping me right across the face. Even if I, Lin Ruochu, remain unmarried for the rest of my life, I will never marry a man of such despicable character.”
With that, Lin Ruochu unpinned the bridal corsage from her outfit and walked straight home without looking back.
Lin Ruochu’s family lived in the neighboring Lin Village. She and Lu Yichen were childhood sweethearts whose marriage had been arranged since they were kids, so the two families had always been on very close terms.
According to local village custom, on a daughter’s wedding day, her family members weren’t allowed to escort her to her new home—a superstition meant to keep the bride from constantly longing for her parents’ house. That was why none of Lin Ruochu’s family members were present today.
As for Lu Yichen’s parents, they probably knew what kind of shameful stunt Lu Yichen would pull today and didn’t have the face to show their faces at the wedding feast, so they made up an excuse to stay away.
They likely never expected things to spiral into such a chaotic mess.
With Lin Ruochu leaving and no hosts left in the Lu household, the wedding guests began to filter out one by one, muttering curses about bad luck over coming out for a festive meal only for the Lu family to put on such a disgraceful spectacle.
As Lin Ruochu walked back, she caught sight of Lu Yichen gripping Xia Lin tightly in the middle of the reed marsh.
Xia Lin was covered in tears, looking as though she had suffered the greatest grievance in the universe. “Let go of me! Today is your wedding with Ruochu; I shouldn’t have appeared here in the first place. Ruochu has every right to blame me.”
“After the awful things Ruochu said today, how am I supposed to face anyone ever again? I might as well just die.”
“At least that’s better than being pointed at and gossiped about everywhere I go.”