This exchange had devolved into a playful war of words. With Ling Ziyun in the picture, Ji Cheng needn’t worry about having to pay a dowry to get married. However, the mere thought of Ling Ziyun made Ji Cheng hesitate once more.
Shen Che scrutinized Ji Cheng, noticing her face powder was a bit too thick. The Ji Cheng he knew rarely wore makeup, especially since she had just ended her mourning period.
“Why such thick powder? Did your father hit you?” Shen Che inquired.
Ji Cheng instinctively turned her head slightly. This man truly lived up to his Jingshi Army background; his gaze was sharper than a knife.
“Serves you right,” Shen Che said to Ji Cheng, uttering just one word.
Ji Cheng, having something to ask of him, was unwilling to engage in a verbal sparring match with Shen Che.
“Can you not attend the banquet tonight?” Ji Cheng asked. It was obvious that Shen Che already had her birth chart in his possession, and the marriage had been arranged. If Ling Ziyun found out about it tonight, who knew how he might react? Ji Cheng feared he might do something rash, causing pain to her loved ones and joy to her enemies.
Shen Che took a sip of tea and slowly replied, “I can’t think of a reason not to go.”
“You’ve already won, got everything you wanted. What more do you want?” Ji Cheng said angrily.
Shen Che chuckled, “Shouldn’t I teach a lesson to the scoundrel who dared to covet my ‘future wife’?”
Ling Ziyun’s words and actions this morning had deeply bothered Shen Che. Although he didn’t show it on his face, he was already itching to act.
Ji Cheng knew this aspect of Shen Che best: the more he smiled, the more one should be on guard.
“Don’t hurt him,” Ji Cheng said nervously, standing up.
Shen Che slowly stood up, leaning on the table, and said word by word, “Why shouldn’t I hurt him? He deserves to die a thousand deaths.”
“Shen Che!” Ji Cheng said through gritted teeth.
Shen Che glanced at Ji Cheng and said sternly, “If you don’t want me to hurt him, show your sincerity. From now on, if you still think about him, I can’t tolerate a living person. Only the dead can’t cause trouble.”
This meeting naturally ended on an unpleasant note.
Sitting in the bridal sedan chair sent by the Ji family, Ji Cheng was still mocking herself. There probably weren’t any other couples who despised each other as much as she and Shen Che did, yet they were still forced to be together, becoming husband and wife who would see each other every day.
The ways of the world were truly unpredictable.
The bridal sedan chair traveled over mountains and ridges, making Ji Cheng dizzy and nauseous, intensifying her aversion to this marriage. Unconsciously, her thoughts drifted to Ling Ziyun again. Since their parting at Fahong Temple, they hadn’t seen each other.
After learning of Ji Cheng’s engagement, Ling Ziyun tried to visit several times but was refused by Ji Qing. He wanted to climb over the wall but encountered Nan Gui. Ever since the engagement between the Shen and Ji families, Shen Che had openly sent Nan Gui to the Ji household, clearly to prevent Ji Cheng and Ling Ziyun from eloping.
Ji Cheng sighed. She didn’t have the face to see Ling Ziyun either. She only hoped that her Brother Ziyun would no longer think of her. From beginning to end, it was she who had failed to reciprocate his sincere feelings. Even if he hated her, it would be better than him still pining for her.
The bridal sedan chair was carried into the Ji family’s residence on Orchid Lane. Ji Cheng’s eldest and second brothers were escorting the bride. When Shen Che came to receive the bride, it took quite some effort to get the new bride onto the sedan chair from her two sisters-in-law.
As the groom in his white horse and red robe passed through the streets of the capital, many young women were left heartbroken. Shen Che’s long-delayed marriage had given them hope, but now that hope was completely dashed.
People’s gazes seemed to pierce through the curtains of the bridal sedan, eager to see which family’s daughter she was and what she looked like to be worthy of such a noble and handsome groom.
Some with better information knew that the Shen family’s new daughter-in-law was surnamed Ji. Recalling the legendary story of Ji Lan marrying into the Shen family and Shen Cui’s devoted plea for marriage, the Ji women were rumored to be of unparalleled beauty, born to captivate men.
This grand wedding was enough to keep the common people of the capital talking for half a month, with all sorts of rumors. The bride’s dowry was so impressive that it dazzled onlookers. The first load had already entered the Shen family gate while the last one hadn’t even left the residence on Orchid Lane.
Private inquiries revealed that the Ji family was originally a wealthy household from northern Jin, with mountains of gold and silver – typical nouveau riche. Those who couldn’t have grapes and claimed they were sour found even more to gossip about.
Some said Shen Che was all show, having frequented brothels for years and nearly pawning off the Shen family’s ancestral treasures. This time, he had no choice but to marry a merchant’s daughter. Everyone worried for Ji Cheng, fearing that her dowry would likely be squandered in the future. Thinking this way, people felt more balanced, especially those young women or young madams who had once admired Shen Che, all waiting to see Ji Cheng make a fool of herself.
It wasn’t just these outsiders who were waiting to see Ji Cheng embarrass herself. Even the Shen family’s relatives and friends, while wondering why the Shen family had chosen such a daughter-in-law after years of selection, were also secretly waiting to see her fail.
Some too many people wanted to form marriage alliances with the Shen family, and those who couldn’t naturally harbor some resentment.
Regardless of their motivations, their curiosity about the new bride was unprecedentedly high. Although Ji Cheng had lived in the capital for a while three years ago, the people of the capital were known for their poor memory. With people constantly coming and going, and too many new faces and events to see and hear about, someone with Ji Cheng’s low-key personality was quickly forgotten.
If she hadn’t become a peacock and married Shen Che, people might have struggled to remember someone named Ji Cheng.
When the bridal veil was lifted, the room was packed with people. No wonder Ji Cheng felt suffocated. In the height of summer, the smell of so many heads in one room was enough to make anyone uncomfortable.
The Shen family had been established for a hundred years, with countless relatives and friends. Those curious about Shen Che’s bride were even more numerous. Especially since Shen Che had not married for so many years and suddenly married Ji Cheng, those unaware of the inside story were surprised, while those who knew were even more astonished.
The first people Ji Cheng saw when she raised her eyes were Shen Yun, Shen He, Shen Yuan, Shen Cui, and naturally Shen Qian. Two young women looked unfamiliar; Ji Cheng guessed they must be the wives of Shen Yu and Shen Jing. She had been in mourning, so she hadn’t attended those two weddings to offer congratulations.
Ji Cheng smiled at the familiar faces, inadvertently ignoring the groom standing beside her, still holding the wedding scale that he hadn’t put down.
The bride’s beauty far exceeded everyone’s expectations. Some people thought they had found the answer, after all, Shen Che was known for his profligacy. However, despite some sour grape mentalities, everyone had to admit that they truly were a golden boy and jade girl, perfectly matched. Just sitting together, it seemed all the world’s spiritual energy was concentrated on them.
The wedding hostess kept saying auspicious words and wedding money was given in pile after pile. No matter how people felt inside, their faces were all beaming with joy. As for Ji Cheng, she was the kind of person who could maintain a faint smile on her face even if her heart was in turmoil. Everything looked perfectly normal, the only slightly awkward thing was that the bride never once glanced at the groom from beginning to end.
Shen Che’s face was expressionless, showing neither joy nor anger, but he seemed somewhat impatient. When all the formalities were completed and the groom left the bridal chamber to toast the guests, his strides were particularly large.
Those who thought themselves clever seemed to have noticed something and smirked.
As the observers left the bridal chamber, Shen Yu’s second wife, Madam Cui, who had married into the Shen family two years ago, said, “I never imagined Second Sister-in-law would be so beautiful. But I suppose only such beauty could catch Second Young Master’s eye.” Madam Cui was from Qinghe and had never been to the capital before Ji Cheng left, so she had never seen her before.
“Indeed, I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as Second Sister-in-law in my life,” said Madam Li, who had married Shen Jing last year.
“Don’t underestimate her. Do you think mere beauty would be enough to enter our family?” Shen He said with a smirk. She and Ji Cheng had no real conflict, but Shen He had once hoped to make her husband’s relative, Feng Qing, the second young madam of the Shen family. That didn’t work out, which wasn’t a big deal, but now seeing that Shen Che’s eventual second young madam turned out to be Ji Cheng, Shen He couldn’t help but suspect that these two had been playing her for a fool back then, clearly having a secret understanding while pretending to be innocent on the surface.
A woman from a branch family heard this and said, “What do you mean by that, Sister He? Don’t keep us in the dark. Tell us so we can know. We’ll all be interacting in the future, so it’s better if we know the new young madam’s temperament to get along better.”
Shen He didn’t dare say that Shen Che and Ji Cheng had been intimate before marriage, as that was just her speculation. Moreover, saying such things would bring shame to the Shen family, and she clearly couldn’t undermine her own family’s reputation. So she said, “I’m not very familiar with this new young madam either. I only know that our family’s great-grandmother dotes on her more than on us, her granddaughters. When she stayed at the Shen house back then, she lived in the old madam’s courtyard.”
“Oh, is that so?” Madam Li exclaimed softly. Although sisters-in-law should support each other, there was inevitably some competition, especially when it came to gaining the elders’ favor. The most important person in the Shen family was the great-grandmother, and who wouldn’t want to be in her good graces? Not to mention other benefits, even giving orders to servants would be easier.
Some of the Shen family’s servants had been with the family for decades, sometimes acting more like masters than the actual masters. Not only new daughters-in-law like Madam Cui and Madam Li who had only married a year or two ago, but even the second madam, Madam Huang, and the third madam, Ji Lan, sometimes couldn’t command those old servants.
Shen He’s words had planted seeds of discord in the hearts of Madam Cui and Madam Li towards Ji Cheng. The sudden arrival of a granddaughter-in-law favored by the old madam inevitably made them feel threatened.
“How could she be more favored than you, the actual granddaughters? But looking at it, this one must indeed have some skills. Otherwise, how could someone of her background marry into our Shen family?” another young woman from a branch family chimed in.
Shen He smiled and said, “That I don’t know. Cui might be the most familiar with her, after all, they are cousins.”
Shen Cui, who had been called out, just smiled without responding.
If anyone had changed the most over these years, it would have to be Shen Cui. In the past, with her personality, she would have already joined in gossiping about Ji Cheng. But now, she had learned to remain silent.