The wedding procession streamed into the Marquis of Ying’s mansion, with gongs beating, suona horns blaring, and bridal sedans being carried. The atmosphere was jubilant and lively.
After paying the entrance fee, Luo Shenyuan, dressed in auspicious red, was escorted into the front hall. He was tall and exceptionally handsome, with a composed demeanor, though his steps were quicker than usual. Wei Ling’s lips curled into a smile upon seeing him. Luo Shenyuan kowtowed before him. As Wei Ling helped him up, he noticed that although his son-in-law was a civil official, he had heard of Luo’s great strength. Rumors said he had even shot a golden pheasant with a bow during an imperial hunt and was skilled with a whip. Indeed, his arms were solid and powerful. But thinking of Yining’s delicate waist, Wei Ling wasn’t entirely pleased with his son-in-law’s prowess in both civil and military arts.
“Stand up and we’ll talk!” Wei Ling smiled. “The Old Madam is waiting for you in Jing’an Residence. It’s already noon, why don’t we have a meal first?”
Behind Wei Ling stood several uncles from the Wei family’s maternal side, including Marquis Fu Shao of Dingbei, Deputy Commander Guo of the Imperial Guards who was close to Wei Ling, and the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. Except for the Vice Minister, they were all military officials. Kneeling before them was the current top-ranked imperial examiner and Vice Minister of Works. These rough men couldn’t help but size him up several times. He was indeed strikingly handsome. Everyone knew about the recent incident, and it was remarkable that the Marquis of Ying had managed to find Luo Shenyuan as an emergency solution. This was no mere stopgap measure. Such a son-in-law would be hard to find even with a lantern.
The groomsmen accompanying the groom were Yang Ling, a Secretary in the Ministry of Revenue, Jiang Chunyan, the Vice Minister of Revenue, and Zhou Feng, the Minister of Justice. All were Luo Shenyuan’s close associates, dressed in their everyday attire – the secondary leaders of the civil official faction. Typically, the civil and military factions were at odds, as the saying goes, “Different paths don’t mix.” However, today was a joyous occasion. The officials, accustomed to opposing each other in court, found it refreshing to see each other out of uniform and maintained a harmonious atmosphere with laughter and jest.
Luo Shenyuan’s lips held a faint smile as he sat down to drink a cup of wine at his father-in-law’s invitation. Jiang Chunyan whispered to him, “I see your father-in-law eyeing you unfavorably. I hear the Marquis of Ying’s daughter isn’t even fourteen, and you’re taking her as your wife. If you exhaust her, won’t it be like an old ox eating tender grass?”
“She is indeed young,” Luo Shenyuan sighed softly. Today was his wedding day, long in preparation. At this moment, everything others said seemed fine to him – after all, she would soon be his. Luo Shenyuan replied, “I’ll take good care of her and be considerate. How could I mistreat her?”
Jiang Chunyan didn’t believe him. From Luo Shenyuan’s words, it seemed he planned to just look after her once she was home. Judging by his demeanor, Jiang suspected he wouldn’t last long.
Yang Ling felt things had progressed too quickly. The last time they met, Luo had called her his sister, and now she was to be his wife. After pondering for a while, he nudged Luo Shenyuan, “Luo Congji! You deceived me last time. I said that young lady looked like a painting, and you taking her to your newly bought pleasure boat was surely no simple matter…”
Congji was Luo Shenyuan’s courtesy name, which he didn’t particularly like. Yang Ling, being closer to him, only used it when angry.
Luo Shenyuan continued drinking, only swaying slightly from Yang Ling’s nudge.
Jiang Chunyan, intrigued, pulled Yang Ling aside and asked, “You’ve seen her? Is she truly beautiful?”
Zhou Feng, who had been slowly eating peanuts, put down his chopsticks and said, “Minister Jiang, haven’t you heard? That talented young lady from Minister Xie’s family was interested in our Luo San, but this reserved fellow just wasn’t interested. If he wasn’t impressed by Miss Xie’s beauty, then although this bride is young, she must be incredibly beautiful.”
These words piqued Jiang Chunyan’s interest even more. Just as Luo Shenyuan was called away, he asked Yang Ling to describe her in detail.
At this moment, a commotion arose outside. From the sound of it, it seemed to be quite a grand procession.
Jiang Chunyan looked back, and his quick-witted servant immediately went out to check. If it was a high-ranking official, they might need to go greet them.
The servant returned within minutes: “Sir, it’s… Marquis of Ningyuan, General Lu, who has returned from Shanxi to attend the wedding. Indeed, it’s quite a grand affair. He said since it was the Marquis of Ying’s daughter’s wedding, he brought several chests of gifts. The procession is endless. The area outside the mansion is filled with his people.”
“He’s back from Shanxi?” Yang Ling was surprised, then frowned, “I heard the Emperor gave him strict orders. Has there been any development in the spy case?”
How would Jiang Chunyan know about General Lu’s affairs…
Their ranks were lower than Lu Jiaxue’s, so they should go out to greet him, but they were here for Luo San’s wedding and didn’t need to stand at on ceremony. Moreover, it was Lu Jiaxue.
Luo Shenyuan had already been called away by several uncles from the Marquis of Ying’s family and was no longer at the table. Jiang Chunyan thought for a moment and waved his hand, “Forget it, let’s just keep drinking and pretend we didn’t hear anything!”
The other two were enjoying their meal and didn’t want to cause trouble either.
Wei Ling welcomed Lu Jiaxue into the main hall. Seeing his cold expression as he sat down and drank tea without a word, Wei Ling felt uneasy.
“Why did you suddenly return? Is everything settled in Datong?”
Lu Jiaxue replied, “Aren’t I here to attend your daughter’s wedding?” He then took out several bank notes from his sleeve, “The wedding gift.”
The more nonchalant Lu Jiaxue appeared the more Wei Ling felt something was amiss. Seeing that Lu Jiaxue had given two thousand taels without hesitation, Wei Ling accepted it without being overly polite. The commotion outside continued, and he still had to go entertain guests. Wei Ling said, “You’re Yining’s godfather. We thought you wouldn’t be able to make it, but it’s good that you’re here. There are many officials outside waiting to pay their respects to you. Would you like to see them?”
Lu Jiaxue waved his hand impatiently, “No need. You go attend to your business, don’t mind me.”
Wei Ling nodded and left. At the door, he instructed the steward, “Inform the young lady to come to pay her respects to her godfather.”
Yining owed Lu Jiaxue for his help last time, so it was appropriate for her to thank him.
The steward acknowledged, and Wei Ling headed to the flower hall where his son-in-law was waiting.
The noise outside made the hall seem particularly quiet in contrast. Lu Jiaxue leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. Someone came in from outside and said to him, “My Lord, the boxes have been delivered.”
“Those audacious wretches…” Lu Jiaxue said coldly, “Tell them to lie in wait and capture them as soon as they appear.”
“The Marquis of Ying’s household is having a wedding today. With people coming and going, there are security gaps everywhere. They will likely find it easy to sneak in,” the person lowered his voice, “But we’re afraid of disrupting the Marquis’s family wedding…”
“They wouldn’t dare cause trouble in the Marquis of Ying’s mansion,” Lu Jiaxue said indifferently. “No matter, we’ll compensate them later if needed.”
The person then retreated.
A maid whispered something in Yining’s ear, causing her to furrow her brow slightly. The women in the room were chattering merrily. She quietly walked out and asked, “Isn’t General Lu in Shanxi…”
“This servant doesn’t know either. The Marquis asked you to go pay your respects. He said the General is your godfather after all.”
Yining looked at her red wedding attire, feeling a mix of emotions. At this point, she shouldn’t be moving around freely, but fortunately, the main hall was not in the outer courtyard.
She had Daimao hold an umbrella to shade her from the sun as she walked towards the main hall through the covered corridor. Past the corridor was an open space paved with blue bricks, where several servants were guarding her dowry, which would soon be carried out. Yining glanced at the dowry items and suddenly felt something was amiss. She pointed at several black boxes and asked, “Where did these come from?” They weren’t adorned with red silk, and their style was different from the others – uncarved and very dark.
The lead steward said, “In response to your question, these are additional gifts from the General.”
“Is there an inventory?”
The steward hesitated, “The General said there was no need to be particular about it.”
Yining walked a few steps, then suddenly stopped and said, “Something’s not right.”
Daimao was puzzled, not sensing anything amiss, “Young Miss, what’s wrong… Do you want this servant to check what’s inside those boxes?”
“Don’t move yet,” Yining said. “Lu Jiaxue just returned from Shanxi. He didn’t know I was getting married before he left. How could he prepare several boxes of additional gifts in such a short time after returning to the capital? These items might have been brought directly from the border… What kind of additional gifts could he prepare for me from the border? Surely not mutton?”
Hearing her reasoning, Daimao also became anxious, “Then what do you think is inside…”
“How would I know?” Yining glanced at her. How could she guess what Lu Jiaxue had sent her? If she could guess Lu Jiaxue’s thoughts, she wouldn’t be standing here now. But he had just returned from the Commander-in-Chief’s mansion, and Yining couldn’t help but speculate – he had either brought back artillery or other firearms or… it was mutton.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t brought Qingqu with her. Yining beckoned a servant to come forward, “Go and see if those two boxes are heavy.”
The servant went to lift the boxes but hadn’t yet reported back. However, Yining could tell from his expression that he was a bit disappointed. He seemed to struggle a bit but could move them, proving the contents weren’t too heavy – not iron objects… So what could they be?
The servant stood up, dusting off his hands, when suddenly he screamed in terror and fell to the ground, crawling back in panic.
More than ten shadowy figures suddenly sprang out, each drawing an embroidered spring knife from their waists. They were dressed as guards but quickly grabbed the servants, holding knives to their throats and saying, “Shut up, don’t yell!”
Daimao was trembling with fear. The covered corridor was only about ten feet from the passage, and those bandits immediately spotted the two of them. Yining was slightly calmer than Daimao but still frightened. She pushed Daimao to one side and finally saw something seeping from the cracks of the box.
Dark red and sticky… it was blood.
Of course, Yining didn’t believe Lu Jiaxue had sent her two boxes of mutton. If he had, it would have spoiled the journey from Shanxi to the capital.
There were likely corpses inside!
Daimao was terrified and clung tightly to Yining’s sleeve, screaming, “Help! There are thieves in the mansion! Help!”
Yining didn’t have time to cover her mouth. Those men, clearly afraid of drawing attention, immediately rushed towards them with their knives, intending to silence them first. No matter how composed Yining was, she was still a young girl, and her limbs suddenly went weak. Two of the men were already approaching them with menacing looks, clearly not intending to negotiate or leave witnesses.
Yining stepped back, about to run, when suddenly her vision blurred and several more figures flashed by to confront the attackers. She was swiftly pulled aside by someone who then coldly commanded, “Capture them.” The newcomers were better trained, wielding hooked curved blades with great agility, and immediately engaged the intruders in combat.
Yining realized that the person holding her was Lu Jiaxue; his scent was very familiar.
She immediately pushed him away and looked at him coldly.
Lu Jiaxue’s lips twitched slightly, “Is this how you treat your savior? If I hadn’t pulled you away just now, you’d already be a ghost under their blades.”
“Godfather,” Yining curtsied with a cold smile, “If it weren’t for the things you brought, why would my life have been in danger in the first place? I don’t even know where to begin with my thanks.”
He must have been watching from the shadows all along.
What exactly was he up to?