Lin Qingchen and Lin Qingxue both helped Yun Ruoyan up. She bowed to the gathered guests, thanking them for their attendance, and accepted their effusive praise.

“I thank all in attendance for being present at my daughter’s coming-of-age ceremony,” Yun Lan announced, standing up from his seat. “Given this opportunity, I also have another piece of good news to announce: my daughter has been betrothed to the Slaughtering King, and their wedding will take place three days later. I hope you’ll all join me at the celebration again then.”

Of the guests, only a rare few had heard of the news, so most of the gathered crowd was astounded—first, by the fact that Yun Ruoyan was marrying the Slaughtering King Li Mo, and secondly, by the fact that it would be so sudden.

Because Li Mo was in attendance, however, the whispers were particularly hushed.

“It looks as though what that Pei housekeeper said wasn’t a lie. What do the Slaughtering King and Miss Yun, if they’re rushing the marriage like this?”

“It surely seems like there’s something going on,” someone else added. “A disciple marrying her master? Outrageous! I’d not attend such a wedding!”

The other guests also began to murmur quietly, and even those who weren’t volunteering anything perked up their ears and paid attention.

Yun Ruoyan, Li Mo, and Yun Lan all possessed a rather advanced cultivation, so they could easily hear what the guests were whispering about, but this was something they had already anticipated would happen.

Unlike other events, the coming-of-age ceremony did not involve any sort of banquet, so Yun Lan continued, “Now that the ceremony’s over, I won’t waste any more of your precious time, honored guests. Three days later, I’ll offer you another toast in thanks.”

But just as the crowd turned to leave, a booming laugh came from outside the great hall of the Yun manor. “Official Yun, how could you not inform me of an event as important as your daughter’s coming-of-age ceremony?”

Rong Tianling stepped into the great hall with Rong Yueshan in tow.

The feud between the Rong and Yun families was, by now, common knowledge in the capital. When Rong Tianling arrived, the guests’ expressions all changed: some expectant, and others worried.

“I heard that the Slaughtering King’s disciple was having her coming-of-age ceremony today, so I chose to attend even without receiving an invitation,” Rong Tianling continued, then bowed to Li Mo.

“The Slaughtering King’s disciple? Then… Miss Yun?!” A commotion erupted amidst the crowd.

“It seems like the rumors are true! Miss Yun and the Slaughtering King are truly master and disciple, so how can they be getting married?!”

Naturally, Rong Tianling’s plan was to cause trouble for Yun Lan.

“Master Rong, today is a day of celebration for my daughter. I ask that you not disrupt our joyous proceedings,” Yun Lan replied coldly.

Rong Tianling made a confused expression. “Disrupt? What sort of disruption? Official Yun, I don’t understand what you’re saying!”

Yun Lan’s voice and face both turned cold. Yun Ruoyan should have left after the ceremony, but Rong Tianling was now blocking the exit. Li Qianxiao and Li Qianyuan both knew of the relationship between Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan. When the news of the wedding was announced, they briefly flirted with the idea of announcing that Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan were master and disciple, but that notion quickly dissipated when they realized that they would be going against Li Mo.

After being struck by Yun Ruoyan’s dramatic changes, Li Qianxiao had settled on an exceedingly intense infatuation with Yun Ruoyan. If he were competing against Li Mo, however, no matter how intense his feelings, he could only suppress them.

Li Qianyuan’s feelings were far less intense than those of his brother, but he too was a little disappointed upon finding out that she would be marrying Li Mo. However, he certainly wouldn’t act on those feelings and do something that could offend the Slaughtering King.

As a result, when Rong Tianling appeared and revealed the truth, Li Qianxiao and Li Qianhan couldn’t help feeling a little excited. Given the crowd’s reaction, how would the wedding proceed now? The two young men, who had already stood up, now sat back down again.

“Your Highness, please, won’t you stand on my side?” Rong Tianling turned to Li Mo, his face wronged. “I came all the way here to celebrate your disciple’s coming-of-age ceremony, so why is Official Yun claiming that I’m here as a disruption?”

That Rong Tianling was so bold as to challenge Li Mo himself was unexpected to the crowd, but Li Mo himself didn’t much mind. He sat back down in his original seat, his face surprisingly casual and… unusually genial?

Faced with such a smile, Rong Tianling couldn’t help feeling a little guilty. “Your Highness, won’t you say anything in my favor?” he asked again.

Just then, another voice came from outside the great hall, thin and reedy and sharp, as though a man was speaking with a pinched throat. However, as soon as the crowd heard this sound, they all made way for the newcomer.

“By the writ of the emperor himself—” That sharp voice persisted until the speaker came into the hall. Except for the titled Yun matriarch and Li Mo, who was royalty himself, everyone else knelt.

The eunuch that entered the hall glanced at the gathered crowd, cleared his throat, unrolled the imperial edict, and began to read, “The female heir to the Yun family, Yun Ruoyan, composed and dignified, courteous and humble, good-looking and intelligent, kind and virtuous, has come of marriageable age. To my brother Li Mo, I bequeath her as bride and consort, with a wedding to follow in three days”

The eunuch cleared his throat once more. “Official Yun, please accept this edict.”

Yun Lan stepped forward, and the eunuch continued, “His Highness mentioned that three days might be a little rushed, so the wedding ceremony need not be particularly grand. However, His Highness will make a public showing himself.”

“I, Yun Lan, accept this edict.” Yun Lan bowed.

“Everyone may leave. Given the short amount of time before the wedding, there’s no need to delay Official Yun further,” the eunuch then called out to the gathered crowd. “Master Rong, the emperor has prepared a feast for you, so please return to the palace with me.”

Rong Tianling hesitated for a moment before skulking away with the eunuch. Since the emperor himself had granted the wedding, whatever misgivings that the crowd might have had to remain unsaid. That master and disciple couldn’t get married was only an unwritten rule. Now that the emperor himself had broken that rule, it was precedent for future such couplings.

Three days later, Li Mo and Yun Ruoyan were to be married. Although three days was a rather short amount of time, the wedding still managed to be grander and more imposing than Yun Ruoyan had expected. Because the emperor himself would be in attendance, the imperial family’s procession would take up half the street, and trying to be understated was simply impossible.

During her wedding day, Yun Ruoyan was pulled up at the crack of dawn, then suffered the ministrations of her maids and several others who had been pulled in to help. Only after four whole hours did they finally brand Yun Ruoyan presentable.

The Lin sisters, as well as the other guests and nobles in attendance, all the young ladies of the capital that Yun Ruoyan knew, as well as those that she didn’t, were stupefied upon seeing Yun Ruoyan in her wedding dress. No words could describe the imposing beauty of the woman who stood before them, and even the young misses usually inimical to her could only admire her beauty and stature.

Only when the propitious hour arrived and Yun Ruoyan was brought away by the Lin sisters did the young misses of the capital finally break out of their trance.

“I heard that Miss Yun had a birthmark on her face. Why don’t I see anything now? She looks beautiful!” a young miss who had seen Yun Ruoyan for the first time remarked.

“She did have a birthmark in the past, and I even saw it during the flower-viewing party hosted by the empress last year—but now it’s completely gone! She looks like an entirely different person now… How could someone have changed so much in so short a period?!”

“Ah, none of you girls know this, do you?” Another noble girl, who seemed to know the secret to Yun Ruoyan’s beauty, spoke up. “Allegedly, the Slaughtering King can make a salve to improve one’s beauty, and Miss Yun’s birthmark is all but healed now! But surely there’s still a few remnants of it left, which explains why her face looks so powdered. Didn’t her skin look pretty? It had to have been the Slaughtering King’s salve!”

“Really?” The girls’ eyes immediately began to grow bright. “What sort of salve? Oh, I’d love to have it! And that powder…!”

After the entire day’s worth of ceremonies, Yun Ruoyan thought herself nothing more than a puppet who couldn’t think or move. She was bogged down with an elaborate costume, an ornate and particularly heavy headdress, and a red veil that covered her face and blocked her vision. When she lowered her head, all she could see were her feet. Even the slightest step required someone else’s support, and she thought she was more tired than she would be if she had cultivated for three straight days.

Li Mo could clearly see her frustration and impatience. As they exchanged vows, he whispered by her ear, “Thank you for your hard work today, my little consort.”

“The newlywed shall exchange vows and be sent into their nuptial chamber!” the wedding official announced, amidst a stream of cheers. From right beside her, Yun Ruoyan thought she could hear Li Mo’s happy laughter. Hidden behind her veil, she couldn’t help blushing: it was finally time for them to consummate their marriage...