In the main hall.
The red silk fluttered in the wind, and its soft - shadowed silhouette on the ground was graceful and unrestrained.
Ning Fengnian, the Marquis of Yongning, and his wife Yuan Qingrong were greeting the guests. Occasionally, there was a look of confusion exchanged in their eyes.
"Today is a great joy. Why hasn't Yuqin shown up yet?"
"Yuqin is a thoughtful girl. She may think we only care about Yuwan. Later, my lady should comfort her well."
"Of course. Once Yuwan gets married, Yuqin will be the only young lady in our mansion."
The Marquis and his wife of Yongning never imagined that the adopted daughter they had raised since childhood had already harbored improper thoughts.
On one side, Hongye saw Ning Yuqin being escorted by the wedding maid into the sedan chair. Then she quietly returned to Ning Yuwan's room.
Hongye carried the quietly sleeping Ning Yuwan on her back. She was slightly surprised that this young lady who had grown up in the countryside was extremely light.
It was like...
It was like a scarecrow!
She tilted her head slightly and looked at Ning Yuwan behind her through the mirror. Her sleeping face was gentle and delicate, and her breathing was shallow. Hongye gradually suppressed the doubts in her heart.
She had to quickly send Ning Yuwan out of the mansion as her young lady had arranged.
The light and shadow were flickering. It seemed that there was a shadow moving behind the screen.
She didn't know how many winding corridors she had turned. The road to the back gate seemed especially long today.
Sweat kept pouring down Hongye's forehead, but it felt as if ice was covering her back. She couldn't help but mutter, "What's going on?"
What responded to her was the suddenly pitch - black sky and the strange wailing of a woman in her ears.
"Ah!"
It was not until she saw the reflection in a stagnant pond that she found that what was on her back was not Ning Yuwan at all.
It was clearly a hanged ghost in white with a long tongue!
Immediately, her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
On the other side.
Inside the sedan chair, Ning Yuqin thought that she would soon marry into the Prince's Mansion. She wrung her handkerchief, trying to contain her excitement.
Malice was hidden behind her innocent and delicate eyes. At this moment, Ning Yuwan must have been sent into the hands of the people she had arranged.
With so many plans in mind, Ning Yuqin ignored the fact that there had been no human voices outside the sedan chair for a long time.
It was not until the sedan chair finally landed that she waited and waited. But neither did the wedding maid invite the groom to kick open the sedan - chair door, nor did the maidservant invite her to get out of the sedan chair.
She didn't dare to make a sound to ask, for fear that others would discover her identity as a substitute bride.
After waiting patiently for a long time, it was quiet and stuffy inside the sedan chair. Ning Yuqin felt extremely impatient.
Suddenly, her eyes froze. It seemed that there was a raging fire devouring the sedan chair in front of her, and then it quickly swept towards her.
"It's so hot! It hurts!"
The hem of her wedding dress was devoured by the fire, and it burned down to her skin, causing searing pain.
No matter how much she cherished her wedding dress, Ning Yuqin had no choice but to take off the outer skirt.
The fire still wouldn't let her go. It turned into fire wolves and surrounded her. Ning Yuqin was so frightened that she rushed out of the sedan chair suddenly, shouting, "Help! Don't come near! Don't come near!"
Where was there anyone around?
The place where the sedan chair had landed was not the Prince's Mansion as she had thought.
It was a gloomy and strange cemetery.
Ghost fires were floating, white sails were flying high, and there seemed to be funeral music ringing in her ears.
Ning Yuqin had been delicately raised in the Marquis of Yongning's mansion. How could she have ever seen such a scene? She crawled away with her eyes closed, crying, "Father, Mother! Help me!"
"Ning Yuqin!"
"Second Young Lady!"
Suddenly, she heard the voices of her father and the maidservant in her ears. When she opened her eyes, she found that she was in the main hall of the Marquis of Yongning's mansion.
The congratulatory voices of the lively guests disappeared in an instant. It was a long time before someone whispered.
"Is this the second young lady of the Marquis of Yongning's mansion?"
"Isn't it the eldest young lady's wedding today? Why is the second young lady wearing the wedding dress?"
"Could it be that she wants to replace her sister..."
Everyone present was a shrewd person from a wealthy family. Who couldn't guess Ning Yuqin's intention?
"Showing up in disheveled clothes on such an important occasion. Which family would dare to marry her in the future?"
"How could the Marquis of Yongning's mansion raise such a girl who brings disgrace to the family?"
Only then did Ning Yuqin realize that she had been in the Marquis of Yongning's mansion all along.
The skeptical and critical voices in her ears made her angry and annoyed. Her parents not far away also had strange expressions on their faces.
Before she could think carefully, she fainted due to a rush of blood to the head.
Ning Fengnian's face turned green. "Hurry up and send the second young lady back!"
On the roof, Ning Yuwan watched the "farce" she had orchestrated. The corners of her lips curled up slightly. "Ning Yuqin, it's time for you to taste the consequences of having your reputation ruined and not being trusted."
She had spared no expense in consuming her spiritual power to make Ning Yuqin have hallucinations, making her think that she had gotten into the sedan chair.
In fact...
Ning Yuwan looked up at the sky happily. It was still early for the wedding procession to arrive.
"The eldest young lady is really skillful!"
Yan Zhao was glad that he had stayed a little longer. Otherwise, he would have missed this wonderful show.
Perhaps because he was standing in the wind, he suddenly covered his lips with his right hand and coughed a few times. His face instantly turned a little paler.
Ning Yuwan frowned. "Who are you?"
When did this seemingly sickly man appear?
Although she had been in a deep sleep for a long time and most of her spiritual power had dissipated, she was still sharper - eared and keener - eyed than ordinary humans. But she hadn't noticed this man in advance.
Could it be that he wasn't really a sickly man, but someone with excellent martial arts and profound internal strength, who was good at hiding his aura?
Yan Zhao coughed embarrassedly. Since Ning Yuwan didn't comfort or ask about him, he felt a bit of regret and annoyance in his heart.
"Before the wedding, didn't the eldest young lady see the portrait of your future husband?"
"It's you!"
So he was the sickly prince that Ning Yuwan should have married in her previous life, the evil ghost that Ning Yuqin had described as being good at making human - skin lanterns.
No wonder there was a faint smell of medicine lingering on him.
However, she didn't smell the so - called evil aura that was rumored. She didn't know if he had hidden it well or if the bad reputation was just a rumor!
Ning Yuwan squinted her eyes and sized up the man's handsome appearance. "Yan Zhao? You are really alluring."
He seemed more handsome and eye - catching than someone she had seen before.
No wonder Ning Yuqin wanted to harm her sister and take her place in the marriage!
Handsome men are indeed a curse!
The corners of Yan Zhao's lips twitched slightly. He corrected, "The 'Zhao' in 'Zhaoran'."
Ning Yuwan was skeptical. "It's a pity."
Yan Zhao, who was sickly but had excellent hearing: …
"Today is the wedding day, but the eldest young lady isn't prepared at all. Do you not want to get married?"
Yan Zhao coughed lightly. The smell of medicine on him wasn't pungent. Instead, it was quite gentle.
The dragon's sense of smell was really sensitive. Ning Yuwan smelled a faint fragrance floating in the subtle smell of medicine. The fragrance was familiar yet strange.
Ning Yuwan couldn't help but get closer to him. Her warm breath sprayed on Yan Zhao's earlobe without any restraint. When she saw it turn as red as blood, she curiously reached out to touch it.
Yan Zhao trembled. He had coughed too hard just now, and his eyes were wet.
"Eldest young lady?"
Ning Yuwan was confused. Although her original form was quite old, she had always been alone and didn't understand human emotions at all.
She didn't understand why Yan Zhao refused her to touch him again.
"Can't touch?"
"Can't."
Yan Zhao's eyelashes fluttered wildly. He had never allowed a woman to get close to him, and of course, no woman had ever been bold enough to touch him actively.
Ning Yuwan was really too bold.
"Okay."
Ning Yuwan felt a bit itchy, but since Yan Zhao's attitude clearly showed that he didn't agree, she finally came to her senses and answered his question. "I thought you didn't want to marry me."
Yan Zhao was dressed in black. His thoughts were quite obvious.
He didn't want to marry, and she might not be willing to marry either.
In this life, she was just helping Ning Yuwan take revenge. Agreeing to the marriage was just to disgust Ning Yuqin.
If neither of them was interested, they could even annul the marriage in front of everyone in the main hall.
"The eldest young lady is intelligent and beautiful. How could I not dare?"
Yan Zhao smiled faintly. This time, he didn't cough again, and the moisture in his eyes gradually faded.
But he was as beautiful as a jade crown. Dragons were naturally fond of beauty, and Ning Yuwan couldn't help but take a few more glances at him.
"Please prepare well, madam. I will come to pick you up and take you into the mansion myself."
Watching Yan Zhao's departing figure, Ning Yuwan pursed her lips. "You're really alluring to dragons."
She wondered if he really knew how to make human - skin lanterns.
If he did, she wanted to learn from him.
Then skin Ning Yuqin and make a lantern out of her skin!
She secretly thought maliciously. This prince's skin was fair and delicate. The human - skin lantern made from it would surely be even more beautiful!