Chapter 112
Chapter 112
Beneath the smoke lay a strange, eerie air of celebration.
Everyone in the Marquis Mansion was shrouded in that festive atmosphere, though no one knew whose wedding was being held.
Drums blared, gongs clanged, and joyous cries filled the sky.
Ren Fengjue almost doubted his own eyes, until Yu Lang, standing beside him, spoke up. “My lord, what is going on?”
There were still two moons in the sky, like a pair of eyes embedded in the curtain of night.
And the bright red lanterns hanging beneath the eaves were like the wide-open eyes of monsters, staring down at the people in the courtyard.
The red silk was as vivid as thick blood, stretching all the way to the main hall. The moment one looked up, a pair of dragon-and-phoenix wedding candles could be seen amid a heap of auspicious wedding fruits, their wax dripping like tears of blood.
Marquis Renxuan and the Marquise were neatly dressed, seated upright in the center of the hall.
Below them stood a crowd of old maids, servant girls, young manservants, guards…
But every one of them had dull eyes and wooden expressions. There was not the slightest trace of the “presence” of the living about them.
No matter how one looked at the scene before them, it made one’s hair stand on end and sent a chill down the spine.
Ren Fengjue did not answer. Instead, he said in a low voice, “Hold on tight to the protective talisman Daoist Yan gave you.”
Yu Lang nodded like a woodpecker and involuntarily drew closer to Lord Ren, afraid that if he lost focus for even a moment, he would be separated.
Amid the clamor, the two of them quickly entered the hall.
Ren Fengjue walked up to the Marquis and the Marquise and instinctively called out, “Father? Mother?”
There was no light or spirit in Marquis Renxuan’s eyes, yet he opened his mouth and uttered a few words. “Today is the day of your wedding…”
The Marquise beside him followed, saying, “Mother has finally lived to see the day of your wedding…”
Their voices were icy, without the slightest emotion, as if they were puppets being manipulated.
Ren Fengjue’s heart sank even further. “Father, Mother, wake up!”
He tried again, as though rousing people from deep sleep, and pushed at their bodies.
However, it had no effect whatsoever.
Looking at the scene before him, Yu Lang knew at once that a ghost was behind this. He said, “My lord, there must be something strange here. Let’s search around for traces of the ghost. We have to use the method Daoist Yan gave us and force it out as soon as possible!”
Although Ren Fengjue was deeply worried, he also knew what mattered most in the moment.
If the ghost was not driven out of the Marquis Mansion, the entire household would never know peace.
He nodded once. “The bell didn’t ring in this hall. Let’s check the east and west side rooms next.”
“All right.”
The two were just about to step out of the hall when the bells at their waists rang at the same time.
“My lord, be careful!”
The ringing was urgent.
According to Yan Zhengchu, that meant the ghost was approaching.
The two of them looked all around at once, but saw nothing unusual.
Remembering Yan Zhengchu’s instructions, Yu Lang had no time to think. He said, “My lord, guard the entrance to the hall…”
As he spoke, he uncorked the bottle, swiftly found the due west position in the hall, and scattered the bone ash.
He was just about to move to the due north position when a dark shadow suddenly appeared on the wall.
Yu Lang immediately tightened his grip on the protective talisman. However, the dark shadow merely breathed out a puff of black air, and Yu Lang’s body tilted to one side before he collapsed to the ground.
The instant Ren Fengjue saw the dark shadow appear, he wanted to rush forward, only to discover that his hands and feet no longer obeyed him at all.
Then two young manservants came forward, carried him directly into a small room behind the hall, and changed him into wedding robes.
The dark shadow on the wall suddenly curled a finger, and the music outside grew even more feverish.
A voice shouted, “The auspicious hour has arrived! Bride and groom, bow to Heaven and Earth!”
After the voice fell, the hall doors were thrown wide open. Beneath the eaves, the lanterns swayed, and a bride with a red veil over her head came walking gracefully over, supported by two servant girls.
Once the bride entered, two young servants carried Ren Fengjue into the main hall and set him beside her.
“First bow, to Heaven and Earth!”
At the shouted command, the bride dipped in a graceful bow toward the doors.
Ren Fengjue clenched his teeth, desperate to break free, but his body refused to obey him. Against his will, he bowed along with her.
“Second bow, to the elders!”
The bride slowly turned around and bowed to the Marquis and Marquise seated in the hall.
Ren Fengjue instinctively shifted his gaze toward her…
As the red veil fell forward, it revealed only a small, delicate chin.
But he recognized her at a glance-Mu Tingting!
He tried to speak, only to find that no sound would come from his mouth. All he could do was be forced into bowing to his parents.
“Husband and wife, bow to each other!”
They were about to complete this final bow.
Mu Tingting seemed somewhat bashful as she slowly turned to face him. As she bowed softly, she called in a gentle voice, “Husband…”
A wave of revulsion surged up from the depths of Ren Fengjue’s heart. When it rushed to his throat, he involuntarily bit the tip of his tongue.
The instant pain struck, something inside him seemed to be breaking out of a cocoon, swiftly shattering the restraints on his body.
Then a bright white glow enveloped him completely.
Mu Tingting and the two young servants closest to him all stumbled back several steps despite themselves.
The white light was dazzling, illuminating the entire hall as brightly as day and forcing everyone to cover their eyes.
When the radiance faded, everyone in the hall except Mu Tingting seemed to awaken from a dream.
“What is going on?”
“How could this happen?”
No one could remember how the situation before them had come to be.
Marquis Renxuan, Ren Xuan, instinctively glanced down at himself, as if unable to understand when he had dressed so formally. Then he looked at his wife and was startled all over again.
When his gaze moved to the “groom” and “bride” in the hall, shock gave way to utter absurdity. “You… What is the meaning of this?”
The Marquise was just as bewildered. “Feng’er, you two…?”
Ren Fengjue did not explain at once. Instead, he looked coldly at Mu Tingting beside him and said, “Miss Mu, you’ve certainly made a fine calculation.”
At his words, Mu Tingting did not lift the red veil over her head. In a soft, gentle voice, she said, “Young Marquis, since neither of us can leave anyway, why don’t we simply be husband and wife here for all our lives… for every lifetime to come?”
“In your dreams!”
Ren Fengjue could not hide the fury on his face. “No matter what means you use, I, Ren Fengjue, will never marry you!”
Listening to their exchange, the Marquise, Lady Rong, was utterly at a loss.
But she still recognized the voice beneath the red veil as that of “Xia Ximo,” and instinctively asked her son, “Feng’er, why are you calling her Miss Mu?”
Before Ren Fengjue could answer, Mu Tingting lightly lifted the red veil. With a calm expression, she said to the Marquise, “Madam, because I am the daughter of Mu Zheng-Mu Tingting.”
Lady Rong’s face turned deathly pale, her lips trembling. “What do you mean? You… aren’t Ximo?”
“Of course I’m not Xia Ximo.”
Mu Tingting showed no trace of guilt. “Haven’t you always been very pleased with me, Madam? In that case, why cling so stubbornly to an identity, to a name?”
“I sincerely like the Young Marquis and wish to marry him as his wife. After we are wed, I will also be a gentle, virtuous, and capable wife.”
For a moment, Lady Rong was left speechless. Rong Shu hurriedly supported her, her own expression complicated.
At that moment, Ren Xuan slammed his hand on the table and rose to his feet. “You impersonated a general’s daughter and deceived the Marquis Mansion, yet you still have the nerve to say such shameless things?”