"That's wonderful! Master has been asking about Miss all along!"
"Who are you? And who am I?" I remember sleeping on the plane, looking forward to seeing Sun Rui later.
"Ping'er, Ping'er..."
The pretty girl in green quickly turned around: "What's all the commotion about? Miss has just woken up and hasn't fully recovered yet!"
The woman in red rushed in and exclaimed, "It's terrible! It's terrible! The Second Miss is missing! She's about to get into the bridal sedan chair!! What should we do?"
Ping'er looked displeased. "Why are you saying all this! What does the Second Miss's disappearance have to do with me!" Forgetting about the Fourth Miss whose head was wrapped in a white cloth, she said angrily, "He's clearly our Miss's fiancé, and not only has he been snatched away, but now he's playing hide-and-seek... Humph..."
"You, you..." Peony glared at her angrily, "I just wanted to tell you that the old lady and the master asked the fourth young lady to go to the front hall."
The girl named Ping'er helped me put on a lake-blue dress. "Fourth Miss, we don't need to be afraid of them. Don't worry, Master treats you the best. He won't make you suffer..."
Upon entering the front hall, a kind-looking, thin middle-aged man approached and asked, "Yue'er, are you feeling better?"
Hehe... This is my adoptive father, Liu Mengjun, a born scholar. He's a second-rank official in the imperial court. He and my birth mother were childhood sweethearts.
Unfortunately, my birth mother is now practicing vegetarianism and chanting Buddhist scriptures, and she doesn't care much about anything anymore.
"I'm feeling better."
Suddenly I heard a cough, and when I looked up, I saw a dignified old lady with a long face sitting in the center. "Grandma..." I called out with a smile.
"Grandma, hurry up! The Lin family's sedan chairs have arrived!"
"Someone come here..."
Before I even realized what was happening, I saw a group of old women rush up to me, and countless hands were raised and lowered towards me.
"Eh..." The sound of my struggle was muffled.
"Master, Master..." Ping'er called out anxiously from the side.
Liu Mengjun turned her head with some reluctance and said to Ping'er, "Ping'er, take good care of Miss and tell her that I'm sorry!"
She threw off the red veil and took a big bite of the bright red apple. She crunched and crunched away.
“Miss…” Ping’er was on the verge of tears.
Why are you crying? I'm perfectly fine.
“Miss, it was clearly Young Master Lin who came to your door back then and turned down your engagement with him, asking to marry the Second Miss instead. But… how much the Fourth Miss cried because of this…”
"If it weren't for Young Master Lin, Miss Fourth would have married into the palace long ago and was living a good life there..."
"Wait, what... what's going on here?" How can I be so charming?
Ping'er looked at me in surprise, "Don't you remember, Miss?"
Then, as if listening to a legend, I listened to Ping'er recount the events of that year.
It turns out that when I was just a baby, the current emperor, traveling incognito, met my father, who was then a scholar, and discovered his talent. He stayed at the Liu residence for a while, concealing his identity. Back then, I was a chubby girl, and the emperor even held me. I even peed in his arms back then.
Looking at my adorable bubble-blowing antics, the Emperor said something about me becoming his daughter-in-law. He only said it briefly then, and never brought it up again. My father, ever since he learned that the woman was the Emperor, would never mention such a thing again. And then, tragically, the engagement was broken off.
"Miss, you don't know... I've heard that the four princes of today are all handsome and elegant, who... Hey, hey... Miss, why are you asleep?"
"Stop the sedan chair! Bride, come out."
Ping'er looked outside curiously, "Where's the young master? Why didn't he come?"
Suddenly, a woman dressed in flamboyant attire ran over, swaying her slender figure a few times. "Second Young Master, he's gone to the Hundred Flowers Pavilion."
"Wh...what?" Ping'er's face turned bright red with anger.
"Miss, Miss..."
I couldn't stand the noise anymore, so I slightly opened my eyes. "What's wrong? Have we arrived?"
"Miss, the young master, the young master... he... he..."
"Slower……"
"He went to a brothel!" she shouted indignantly.
I tossed my arm and said, "Alright, since the groom is at the brothel, let's go there and find him. Go tell the sedan chair bearers."
"Miss..." Ping'er cried out in fright. What's wrong? Has Miss gone mad with anger?
"Go."
A crowd gathered on the road.
"Hey, hey, look at this! Whose sedan chair is this?"
"Isn't it the second young lady of the Liu family getting married today?"
"Yes, that's right, but why... this direction...? Let's go, let's follow it and see..."
A group of people followed behind the bridal sedan chair, forming a long tail.
"Miss, there are so many people behind us..." Ping'er glanced over furtively. "Miss..." Seeing her mistress looking at her fingers as if nothing had happened, "Miss..." she leaned closer.
"What's wrong?"
"Miss, I've noticed a big change in you since you woke up!"
I looked up. "So tell me, is this change in me good or bad?"
"Of course it's great! I feel like Miss will never be bullied again!" she said, shaking her head smugly. "But why are we going to a brothel?"
"Just do as I say, Miss!"
The sedan chair stopped at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion, attracting a large crowd.
"That's strange, why is the bridal sedan chair stopped here?"
"Yes, yes, what happened?"
"It's said that the second young lady of the Liu family married the second young master of the Lin family, is that true?"
People chattered amongst themselves, offering their own opinions and making wild guesses...
Incense burned in the room, and wisps of smoke rose from the ceiling. Under the veil of purple gauze, a stunningly beautiful woman played the zither, her eyes occasionally glancing at the young man opposite her.
"Miss Xue Rou, Miss Xue Rou..."
Her fingers faltered for a second. "Young Master, I'm sorry, Xue Rou..." She turned back with a resentful look. "Jasmine, what is it?"
“It’s a bridal sedan chair.” He glanced at the handsome man. “The bridal sedan chair for the second young lady of the Liu family is downstairs.”
“It’s her.” The young man stood up.
"Miss, shall we wait here?" Ping'er asked curiously.
"Yes, let's wait and see."
"Young Master Lin is out..." someone shouted, and everyone's attention was drawn.
"Miss, what are you laughing at?"
I looked up. "Ping'er, let me tell you, there's a word for it: 'idiot.' Lin the idiot..."
Lin Ruixuan glanced at the familiar sedan chair, his heart filled with surprise.
The sedan curtain was pulled open.
They met a pair of bright and intelligent eyes.
"Liu...Liu Feiyue?!" Lin Ruixuan almost bit his tongue.
My heart skipped a beat. If I hadn't known I'd traveled through time, I would have thought I'd really run into Sun Rui. The exact same eyebrows and eyes, the same thin lips—perfectly captivating.
"Young Master Lin seems quite surprised to see me?"
Lin Ruixuan calmed down, his expression indifferent. "Didn't you already annul the engagement?" The implication was clear: why are you still wearing your wedding dress and riding in the bridal sedan chair, offering yourself up for nothing?
"Yes." He yawned listlessly. "Originally, my second sister was supposed to marry you, but she ran away, so... I'll marry you in her place!"
Everyone nodded, realizing that's how it was.
A hint of doubt appeared in Lin Ruixuan's eyes. She actually revealed all that so easily. Didn't she feel ashamed?
"If that's the case..."
The sedan chair carriers breathed a sigh of relief; finally, they could get back on the normal road.
"I will not marry you either."
"Ah..." Ping'er glared at him angrily, "You can't treat my young lady like this! You..."
"It's alright," she said with a faint smile. "Don't worry, I will never marry you."