"Jing Wang, speak with caution," Ling Mo Han, standing outside the door, his expression displeased, blocked Feng Jin.
Chu Chen Yi looked up at the two. "Ling Mo Han, take your people and leave." With that, he picked up the wine cup and drank it down cup by cup.
Anger surged in Feng Jin. She snatched the wine cup away and smashed it violently on the ground, the cup immediately shattering into pieces.
"You must go out and welcome the bride today."
He truly relied on his lame leg to do as he pleased.
"You..." Chu Chen Yi's face was filled with anger, yet he could do nothing to Feng Jin, only glare.
Ling Mo Han pulled Feng Jin to his side, in a protective stance. "The palanquin will arrive soon. If you don't show yourself, it will be difficult to explain to Ping Yang Hou's residence."
Chu Chen Yi frowned, scrutinizing the two. Had he misheard? Ling Mo Han was speaking up for her, even helping a woman.
He supposed this was the "ugly wife" Gu Bei Chen spoke of so often, whom Ling Mo Han claimed he didn't like and even suspected of being a spy. To see her today, it was a world of difference. It seemed Gu Bei Chen's intelligence was indeed inaccurate.
"With fifth brother looking after things outside, Ping Yang Hou's residence's reputation will not be lost."
"Today is your wedding, yet you have others do the bowing to heaven and earth. Will you have others stand in for you in the bridal chamber too?" Feng Jin's nonsensical words spilled out one after another.
Chu Chen Yi's face instantly turned ashen. If Ling Mo Han hadn't been present, he would have had Feng Jin thrown out long ago.
"A man with no sense of responsibility like you, Lin Yu Wei marrying you is truly the worst luck in eight lifetimes. It would be better to marry a butcher than to marry you!"
Feng Jin pointed at Chu Chen Yi's nose and launched into a barrage of scolding.
Ling Mo Han was stunned by her ferocity, but Chu Chen Yi indeed deserved to be scolded.
After Feng Jin finished her exhilarating scolding, Ling Mo Han thoughtfully brought over a stool and handed Feng Jin a cup of tea.
"Get out," Chu Chen Yi said through gritted teeth.
How could there be such a unreasonable woman in this world? It was truly astonishing.
"For you to tell me to get out, you are not qualified yet."
Feng Jin took out a token from her embrace. "Do you recognize this?"
With the Empress Dowager as her protection, what was there for her to fear?
The moment Chu Chen Yi saw the token, he was first stunned. How did his Imperial Grandmother's token end up in her hands? "How do you have Imperial Grandmother's token?"
"It seems you're not entirely foolish, recognizing the Empress Dowager's token. Seeing this is like seeing the Empress Dowager. Hurry and tidy yourself up to go to the front hall to welcome the bride and perform the ceremony."
Feng Jin was displaying her power to the fullest, her aura exceptionally arrogant.
"You win!" Chu Chen Yi, filled with rage, dared not speak his mind, only glaring at Feng Jin hatefully.
Ling Mo Han, watching Chu Chen Yi's frustrated expression, stifled a laugh. "Someone, quickly help His Highness Jing Wang change his clothes!"
"Even you..." Chu Chen Yi never would have imagined that even Ling Mo Han would stand with Feng Jin.
"Your Highness, I am also helpless. The Empress Dowager's token is here. If you have any objections, it would be best to speak to the Empress Dowager yourself."
Ling Mo Han pushed everything onto the Empress Dowager, thus securing his own peace.
"The two of you, you truly are..."
"Enough, you're a grown man, stop being so indecisive. Change into your wedding attire and go perform the ceremony. If you dare not go, I will escalate the matter to the Empress Dowager and see how you will handle it."
With the Empress Dowager as her backing, Feng Jin was brimming with confidence, certain that Chu Chen Yi would not dare to object.
The maids brought a brand new wedding gown and helped Chu Chen Yi change.
Half an hour later, Chu Chen Yi, seated in his wheelchair, was pushed out of the room by the maids.
The dazzling sunlight hit his face. Chu Chen Yi turned his face away uncomfortably. He hadn't been out of his room for a long time, and the direct sunlight made his eyes very uncomfortable.
Feng Jin flipped her wrist, and a silver light flashed. A silver needle pierced Chu Chen Yi's acupoints.
"Ah..." His eyes throbbed with intense pain, and beads of cold sweat appeared on Chu Chen Yi's forehead.
"You did this to me!" Chu Chen Yi, suppressing the pain, roared angrily.
Feng Jin reached out and removed the silver needles from his eyes. "It's nothing, just helping you relax your nerves. If you dare to retreat halfway, I guarantee that in three days, your eyes will be blind, and immediately after, your hair will fall out..."
"You dare poison a prince? That is a crime punishable by extermination of the entire clan! Ling Mo Han, are you just going to stand by and watch without intervening!"
"Jing Wang, please forgive me. My eyesight has been poor these past two days, and I saw nothing just now."
Ling Mo Han chose to deliberately ignore everything that had just happened.
"The two of you are colluding like a husband and wife. This debt, this prince will remember!" Chu Chen Yi, having suffered a loss without being able to speak, secretly noted it down.
"What are you all standing around for? The auspicious hour has arrived, hurry and push His Highness Jing Wang to perform the ceremony."
Seeing the maids standing there in a daze, Feng Jin said with dissatisfaction. Why were the maids of Jing Wang's residence so stupid? Could it be that they were just like their master?
Lin Yu Wei alighted from the palanquin and was helped by her maids towards the main hall.
"Second Sister-in-Law, please forgive me. Second Brother's legs are not well. For this ceremony, Second Sister-in-Law will bow to Second Brother's formal attire." Chu Jun Yan said with a distressed expression, unsure how these words had even left his mouth.
He could stand in for the welcoming of the bride, but this bowing to heaven and earth, he truly could not do. He could only ask Lin Yu Wei to bear with bowing to his brother's formal attire.
Lin Yu Wei's hand gripping the fan tightened abruptly. She took a deep breath and said, "Naturally, His Highness Jing Wang's health is of utmost importance. Everything else is merely a formality."
As her words fell, the guests present, many of whom were gossips, began to whisper.
"The bride is truly pitiful, bowing to formal attire. On such a joyous occasion, Jing Wang doesn't even show up. It seems he doesn't think highly of this marriage."
"This marriage was the Empress Dowager's wish. I'm afraid neither of them are willing."
"In the future, Miss Lin's life will not be easy."
Countless sighs and whispers entered Lin Yu Wei's ears, her face filled with embarrassment.
Chu Jun Yan couldn't help but sigh, feeling her plight.
"Please bring the formal attire," the wet nurse called out towards the door.
A maid carrying the red formal attire walked gracefully towards the front of the hall.
Lin Yu Wei glimpsed the formal attire, and a heart full of grievance surged within her. Her nose stung, and tears slowly fell from the corners of her eyes.
This wedding ceremony was truly a mockery. Her parents were no longer present, yet she could only bow to formal attire. She stood alone in the hall like a joke.
"First bow to heaven and earth..."
Lin Yu Wei took a deep breath and moved to turn around. Just as she was about to kneel, a voice rang out to stop her.
"Wait!"
All the guests present turned their heads in unison.
They saw His Highness Jing Wang, dressed in wedding attire. Although seated in a wheelchair, his noble aura was such that no one could ignore him.
"His Highness Jing Wang is here. There was merely a slight delay. How can the bride be made to bow to formal attire? What sort of custom is this?"