This is simply too outrageous!
Meng Wantang’s inner fire erupted. Swinging her small pink fist, she aggressively shoved Assistant Qin out of the way.
“Yinyin! You have suffered! Old Meng here has arrived late to save Your Majesty!”
In the dim basement, Shen Lanyin was wearing a luxurious and dazzling white wedding dress. The ruby necklace around her snowy neck was breathtakingly sparkling, and her matching ruby earrings swayed gracefully every time she turned her head.
“Wantang, you have come.”
Meng Wantang trotted over to Shen Lanyin, looking her up and down, left and right, nonstop, while praising her with clicks of her tongue.
“Yinyin, you are so beautiful that you do not even look human! You look like a vixen specifically born to hook people’s souls and drain their vitality!”
The woman’s face was ethereal yet desolate, clean enough to seem completely untouched by mortal dust.
Yet, that pair of upturned fox-like eyes swirled with aggressive, glistening light. She was alluring and purely seductive, with lips dyed an eerie red.
Her temperament was even more soul-stirring, beautiful in a bold way, and cold enough that one could only admire her from afar.
Her skin was as white as snow, and the blindingly white wedding dress made her look like she was carved from ice and jade. The radiance radiating from her skin made the entire dark room light up instantly.
The vintage court-style off-the-shoulder design highlighted the perfect lines of her charming shoulders and collarbone, combining sexiness and elegance in one effortless flow while teasing restless hearts.
The uniquely intertwined beaded straps cinched a slender waist that was so small it could barely be spanned by a single grasp.
Flowing vines and gemstones intertwined from the waist downward, with tens of thousands of crystal-shattered diamonds condensing into brilliant stars scattered across the sweeping train, dazzling as if the entire galaxy had been embedded into it.
“No wonder Lu Xiao insists on marrying you. With this face and this figure, let alone men, even women cannot walk away when they see you, wanting to make you entirely their own.”
Meng Wantang dropped to one knee, took Shen Lanyin’s hand, and said with affectionate eyes, “Yinyin, marry me, and I will take you away from this wedding.”
“It seems my beloved wife swings both ways. It looks like in the future, I will not only have to guard against men trying to poach my wife, but women as well.”
Looking up, Lu Xiao was dressed in a well-tailored dark blue suit, looking dapper, noble, and distinguished.
His tall, pine-like posture leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest while his slender fingers tapped rhythmically against his arm.
Meng Wantang scrambled up from the floor, blocking in front of Shen Lanyin. “Lu Xiao, honestly speaking, I really admire your skin. How on earth do you manage to keep it so thick?”
“Beloved wife?” Meng Wantang’s lips curved into a sneer of ridicule. “I would say Yinyin is more like your prisoner!”
Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow, his gaze falling lightly upon Meng Wantang with an indifferent, lukewarm curve at the corner of his lips as he stepped closer and closer.
His entire person radiated an overwhelming aura, as if he could make the surrounding air tremble at any moment.
Meng Wantang thought to herself, I specifically got a rabies vaccine before coming here. Did you really think I would be afraid of you?
Though her words sounded tough as nails, her body could not help trembling slightly.
Shen Lanyin reached out, grasped Meng Wantang’s damp and chilly hand, pulled her behind her, and glanced sideways at Lu Xiao. “Do not bother with the mad dog. Let us go eat the wedding feast.”
With that, she took Meng Wantang’s hand and walked toward the door, her gorgeous hem fluttering past Lu Xiao’s fingertips.
“Wait a moment.”
The man’s sexy, deep baritone rang out from behind.
Shen Lanyin ignored him, her steps unceasing.
“Yinyin, you are being disobedient again.”
The man bit down lightly on his lip line as if contemplating something, his voice entirely nonchalant.
“How should we punish your brother this time? Last time it was a broken hand, how about a broken leg this time?”
The woman’s spine stiffened, and she came to an abrupt halt before striding forward with flying speed.
She stopped right in front of the man, tilted her head up to look at him, and smiled brilliantly. “You really do look good!”
The next second, she caught the man’s collar unawares. “It is just that you are too damn punchable! The kind of person people want to beat to death!”
Lu Xiao chuckled with rebellious amusement and shook his head. “Not right now. Save your strength for tonight.”
He leaned down and planted a kiss on the crown of the woman’s head, his tone ambiguous. “I will be entirely at your disposal then.”
Shen Lanyin raised an eyebrow slightly, her eyes seemingly carrying a smile. “You had better not break the promises you made to me.”
The smile purposefully failed to reach the depths of her eyes. “Otherwise, I will definitely make you regret coming into this world!”
The man wrapped his arm around the woman’s willow waist and casually played with her earring. “Rest assured, as long as you marry me, your brother will naturally be safe and sound.”
Lu Xiao used to wander through blood-stained darkness, accustomed to using any means necessary to get everything he wanted.
He knew Shen Lanyin feared nothing in this world, and the only person she cared about most was her brother.
Therefore, while imprisoning her, he had also kidnapped Shen Huaixu, with the sole purpose of forcing Shen Lanyin to marry him.
She was his wife now. There was plenty of time ahead, and one day he would uproot the towering tree that Shen Huaixu had planted in her heart.
And the sapling he planted himself would sooner or later grow lush and full.
In the massive banquet hall, guests clinked glasses and chatted away with bright smiles.
When the wedding march began to play, everyone’s gaze focused on that gradually opening door.
The bride and groom wore smiles as they slowly stepped onto the red carpet, looking just like a prince and princess from a fairytale.
Yet, it was merely looking like one.
On the high stage, the emcee was reciting the vows. Lu Xiao’s “I do!” was resolute and decisive, but when it was Shen Lanyin’s turn to answer, she remained silent for a long time.
Time ticked by second by second. The emcee was sweating profusely from anxiety, and the guests below the stage began whispering and discussing among themselves.
Mr. and Mrs. Shen were even more frantic with worry, wishing they could march up onto the stage and pry Shen Lanyin’s mouth open.
Lu Xiao, however, showed no trace of panic, remaining completely composed and serene.
He quietly gazed at Shen Lanyin, brilliance and hidden tenderness rippling across his brows.
A moment later, the man gently took the woman’s left hand, his movement gentle yet carrying unquestionable dominance.
A brilliant, dazzling diamond ring was slowly slipped onto the woman’s ring finger.
At that exact moment, the doors of the wedding venue pushed open once again.
“Yinyin! Do not marry Lu Xiao!”
Hearing this, Shen Lanyin turned her head, her gaze piercing through the sea of people to land on Shen Huaixu.
He looked pale, his hair disheveled, and there were stains of blood visible on his white shirt.
Paying no heed to the pointing fingers of the crowd or his father’s forceful tugging, Shen Huaixu hurried up onto the stage with hurried steps.
“Yinyin, do not be afraid. Come home with your brother.”
While speaking with soft coaxing, he tightly gripped Shen Lanyin’s right hand, their fingers intertwining as he led her down the stage.
Clatter!
The half-slipped ring dropped to the floor, rolling around a few times before stopping right by Lu Xiao’s feet.
The man’s lips curled upward, a trace of amusement and banter flashing through his gaze, as if he were watching an interesting performance.
“Yinyin, do you still remember what I told you before?”
The man sighed as if helpless, his magnetic, provocative voice sending shivers down one’s spine.
“If you still think about running away in the future, then I will not mind locking you up for a lifetime.”
Shen Lanyin paused in her steps, slowly raising her gaze. Her sharp and piercing cold eyes seemed capable of piercing through all hypocrisy and striking straight at the truth.
“Lu Xiao, you did this on purpose.”
“Tsk, I actually had good intentions. Since you are getting married, Shen Huaixu as a brother naturally needs to witness his younger sister’s wedding with his own eyes.”
As the man finished speaking, a chilling and terrifying laughter rumbled in his throat, making one’s hair stand on end.
“Yet who would have thought he did not know what is good for him and actually dared to fight me for someone?”
Lu Xiao stood right where he was, a ferocious and bloodthirsty aura swirling unrestrainedly around him as he reached out a hand toward Shen Lanyin from afar.
“Yinyin, come here. I have kept my promise; surely you are not going to break yours?”
The woman’s fingertips, which were held tightly in Shen Huaixu’s palm, paused, and her gaze grew colder inch by inch.
Only the indifference seeping from her bones pierced through layers of outer shells, deeply invading the bottom of the man’s heart.
“Lu Xiao, why on earth do you insist on marrying me as your wife?”
Lu Xiao stared straight at the woman, as if guarding his own prey.
His eyes flashed with an unusual obsession, and the corners of his lips curved into a morbid yet bewitching smile:
“From the moment you broke into my world eight years ago, you were destined to be my wife only.”