"Ban Lan!" Chu Ba quickly waved her over, inviting her to sit here.
Upon seeing that they were all old acquaintances, Ban Lan smiled and walked towards them.
As he passed by Hebi, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Banlan's wrist.
"Sit here." He Bi pulled Ban Lan down to sit in the chair next to him with a little force.
Ban Lan didn't mind, but Chu Ba was unhappy: "Sixth Brother, when did you become so domineering?"
He didn't even look up: "Call me Sixth Brother."
Chu Ba stiffened his neck, and after a long while, rolled his eyes: "...Sixth Brother."
As soon as he finished speaking, he put his arm around Su Qiao's shoulder and said, "Tenth Brother."
Su Qiao looked up: "What's wrong, Myna?"
"Pfft, hahaha..." Ban Lan laughed so hard she fell onto the table.
Chu Ba's lips twitched as he said, "How many times have I told you, call me Eighth Brother!"
Su Qiao glanced at him sideways and said, "Oh." Then he lowered his head and carefully wiped his judge's pen.
Xiong Sanniang, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up: "I didn't expect you to actually come."
Ban Lan's trembling figure gradually calmed down.
She sat up and raised an eyebrow at Xiong San Niang: "Why didn't you come?"
“People with thick skin don’t care, of course,” Zhai Huan interjected sarcastically.
"Fifth brother." Xiong Sanniang glared at Zhai Huan.
Zhai Huan leaned against the wall and said in a muffled voice, "I didn't expect that, little girl, you didn't win over the seventh brother's heart, but you did win over the third brother."
Ban Lan narrowed her eyes.
Zhai Huan added, "I heard you're the young lady's junior sister. Oh dear, I can't tell at all. How come you haven't learned even a fraction of the young lady's good qualities?"
Ban Lan gradually frowned.
Zhai Huan continued, "You..."
Before he could finish speaking, He Bi coldly interrupted, "Fifth Brother, haven't you said too much?"
"Let him speak." Ban Lan slowly leaned back in his chair, crossed one leg, and his chilling gaze ignited a nameless rage within Zhai Huan.
Everyone may encounter one or more people they inexplicably dislike in their lifetime, and Zhai Huan happened to meet Ban Lan. Zhai Huan himself didn't know why he hated seeing Ban Lan so much, just like he would kick a crab that insisted on crawling vertically instead of sideways.
Zhai Huan didn't know that he was simply baffled. Ban Lan, who was neither half as good-looking as Wen Moyin nor even one ten-thousandth as cultured, could make Lao Qi even more like a wandering soul than before, a completely absent-minded wandering soul. This annoyed Zhai Huan from beginning to end.
Zhai Huan glanced at Ban Lan's crossed legs and sneered, "Are the people of Fish Eye Valley all lacking in manners?"
"Whether the people of Fish Eye Valley lack proper upbringing or not—what business is it of yours?" Ban Lan crossed her arms, raised her head, and spoke clearly, each word distinct and distinct.
On the eighth day of the lunar new year, I suddenly felt a bit cold, as if the air around me had suddenly cooled down.
Zhai Huan sneered: "It's truly unfortunate that Wei Li's school has produced such a disgraceful person as you."
"Ha!" Ban Lan laughed loudly: "Tell me, where have I disgraced the family?"
Without thinking, Zhai Huan blurted out, "You seduced someone else's man!"
"Bang!" Ban Lan slammed her hand on the table and jumped up.
Her squinting eyes reminded Zhai Huan of a sharp sickle.
"I'd rather rob than seduce!" At this moment, Ban Lan was like a small, aggressive beast.
It seemed that no one heard the loud "Auspicious time has arrived," so at the moment Ban Lan jumped up, Cen Ji, dressed in wedding attire, stepped into the house, and beside him was Wen Moyin, who was wearing a veil.
Zhai Huan's gaze passed over Ban Lan, over the sea of heads in the room, and landed on the newlyweds at the entrance.
Ban Lan turned her head with a puzzled look on her face.
Then she saw Cen Ji staring at her, while she remained in that cursing pose, motionless.
Zhai Huan snorted and glanced at the ceiling.
Ban Lan seemed not to hear, staring blankly at Cen Ji as if she were looking at a passerby.
She had never seen Cen Ji in wedding attire before. So for a moment, she thought that the person holding Wen Moyin's hand was someone else.
Cen Ji's throat felt a little dry. He noticed that Ban Lan's red dress looked exceptionally new, and it was clear that she had specially gone to have a new dress made to celebrate his wedding.
She looked so beautiful in red... Cen Ji was mesmerized by Ban Lan's crimson attire, yet he couldn't look away.
He must have heard everything, right? Well, then he heard it. Ban Lan shrugged indifferently and sat down next to He Bi again.
From beginning to end, she only gave him a very faint smile, forced and ethereal, which vanished before Cen Ji could even catch it.
Cen Ji remained motionless for a long time. Seeing that his gaze seemed to linger on Ban Lan, the matchmaker had no choice but to whisper a reminder that the auspicious time had arrived.
Cen Ji suddenly came to his senses and looked to his side.
Wen Moyin, who was beside him, remained silent, and a sense of unease arose within him.
He took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Moyin, let's go."
Upon hearing this, Wen Moyin took light steps and walked into the hall together with Cen Ji.
As expected, Master Kongshan did not come.
Almost everyone present knew that Master Kongshan would not show himself easily. Instead, there was a portrait on the wall, and the person in the portrait was the previous Master Kongshan, who was no longer alive.
The hall was quiet; Cen Ji could even hear his own unsteady breathing.
"Paying respects at the temple!"
Cen Wen and the other person followed his instructions, stepped forward to offer incense, and knelt down to pay their respects.
The two people's movements appeared unusually slow to Ban Lan.
She was somewhat restless, as if uneasy or impatient.
She draped both arms over the mahogany armrests, her upper body leaning entirely against the back of the chair, as if her bones had been removed. After watching for a while, she lifted her right leg and crossed it over her left, but after a short while, she switched places, crossing her left leg over her right.
Ban Lan became increasingly irritable.
With the words "bowing to heaven and earth," she saw Cen Ji and Wen Moyin bow down together.
She unconsciously reached out and grabbed the cold, hard handrail.
"Bowing to the parents twice."
The newlyweds bowed deeply before the portrait hanging high above.
Ban Lan began to tremble, almost imperceptibly.
"Husband and wife bow to each other."
Ban Lan closed her eyes. Yes, if she didn't see it, it was as if nothing had happened.
Unfortunately, she could close her eyes, but forgot to cover her ears.
Then she heard Zhai Huan's muffled mockery: "What, regretting it now? Too bad there's no medicine for regret in this world."
Ban Lan trembled more and more violently, and He Bi, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but lean over and support her shoulders.
He felt a pang of heartache and wanted to help Ban Lan leave, but suddenly, Ban Lan pushed He Bi away and stood up abruptly.
If He had to admit he wasn't seeing things, then he did indeed see a radiance on Ban Lan's face at that moment, a radiance born of resolute determination. Only later did he realize that that radiance represented unwavering determination and a refusal to look back.
"Regret? What's regret? Even if those two words exist in my dictionary, they're in the past!"
The hall fell into a deathly silence as everyone looked in Ban Lan's direction.
Cen Ji felt as if he had been standing for three days and three nights. Every part of his body was stiff and lifeless. Even turning around to look at Ban Lan seemed to have exhausted his strength.
Ban Lan waved his hand and drew the Huaying sword from his waist.
With a "whoosh," the sharp blade was drawn. She gripped Huaying and plunged it fiercely into the table until the entire blade was embedded in the surface.
She raised her hand and pointed directly at Zhai Huan, as if she had found an outlet for her anger: "Stop acting like a big shot here. I was blind to think that Cen Qi's friend was someone important. I didn't expect you to be nothing at all."
Zhai Huan gave a forced smile and said, "Is that so? I am indeed incompetent, unlike you, who doesn't need to pretend to be a man."
"Fifth brother, this is a wedding banquet," He Bi coldly interjected.
"Yes, this is a wedding banquet. Cen Qi's wedding banquet." Ban Lan seemed to have just come to her senses.
She turned around and saw Cen Ji staring blankly at her, while Wen Moyin, whose face was covered by a veil, had her expression hidden.
Ban Lan smiled apologetically at the newlyweds, but her eyes were no longer bright.
She picked up a jar of wine from the ground and raised it towards the two of them.
"Senior sister, Cen Qi, best wishes to you both."
After saying that, she pulled out the cork, raised her hand, and tilted her head back.
Cen Ji was taken aback. He had never seen Ban Lan drink so much that his face and body were covered in alcohol.
Gone is the careful consideration and appreciation of the past, and gone is the leisurely ease of the past.
Ban Lan felt as if she had fallen into a vat of wine. A whole jar of wine poured down, and she gulped it down, the wine sliding down her lips and neck, soaking a large patch of her crimson front.
No one moved. Everyone stared in astonishment at the petite girl, who was hugging the huge wine jar and desperately gulping it down.
Her arm ached from holding it up, and she shook it, but still didn't put the wine jar down.
She didn't drink properly and choked, coughing violently until her cheeks turned red and tears streamed down her face.
"Ban Lan!" Cen Ji forgot how he ran towards Ban Lan. He only remembered that when he rushed over to grab the wine jar, Ban Lan pushed him away.
A commotion immediately erupted in the hall.
Wen Moyin remained standing in the same spot, without moving. She looked up, but the view in front of her was completely blocked by a wedding curtain.
She smiled. Although Ban Lan was known for her temper, capable of overturning even the most powerful person's table when angered, Cen Ji was already hers, and no one could change that.
She knew Ban Lan's weaknesses, but she understood Cen Ji's vulnerabilities even better.
So she knew she was going to win.
Ban Lan's face was half wet. She raised her arm and casually wiped it with her sleeve. As she wiped, she suddenly stopped and took out a folded handkerchief from her bosom.
That was the handkerchief that Mo Yue gave her.