Yi Yuan instantly withdrew his hand that was holding Yun Xi.
His gaze, as sharp as a knife, swept over the two of them, and then suddenly softened.
"Something has happened to the Yun family, hasn't it?"
Although it was a question, his tone was extremely definite.
A tinge of sorrow crept into Yi Yuan's eyes:
"He threatened you with the Yun family, and that's why you were forced to agree, right?"
The hand that was no longer covered by Yi Yuan gradually grew cold. Yun Xi stared at her fingertips, her eyelashes fluttering:
"Yes."
She didn't say a single extra word, nor did she try to hide anything from him.
Yun Xi answered simply and frankly, clearly telling him:
She had her difficulties; she was forced into this.
Hearing this, Yi Yuan felt his heart sink.
If it was something she had to do, it meant there was no room for maneuver.
The color gradually drained from his face. Yi Yuan closed his eyes and suddenly smiled.
"It's okay,"
Yi Yuan said:
"He can protect you and the Yun family. This... is all right."
"Naturally,"
Shen Zhou immediately took over, mercilessly stabbing at Yi Yuan's heart:
"I've always said you couldn't protect her. Now you finally believe it, don't you?"
"What are you so smug about!?"
Before Yi Yuan could say a word, Xie Huaiyue in the neighboring cell couldn't hold back.
Having been outwitted by Shen Zhou, he was extremely angry. He shouted angrily:
"Miss Yun doesn't have feelings for you. Even if you really marry her, her heart will still be with A Yuan! Hmph—"
Letting out a mocking laugh, Xie Huaiyue lazily lay on the ground, looking down on Shen Zhou with disdain:
"You people from the Shen family are really magnanimous to insist on marrying a woman whose heart is set on another man."
"Thank you for the compliment, Lord Xie."
Shen Zhou remained completely unmoved. The smile on his face grew even wider. He took a few steps closer to Yun Xi and casually put his arm around her shoulder, saying:
"I originally wanted to invite all of you to my wedding banquet, but it's a pity that you are all prisoners now. It's really inauspicious, and you... can't leave this prison cell."
Yun Xi gave Shen Zhou a disgusted look out of the corner of her eye. Immediately, she shook off Shen Zhou's hand as if she had touched something dirty. She took a few steps to the side and said to Yi Yuan:
"A Yuan, I'll find a way..."
"I already know,"
Yi Yuan suddenly raised his voice, interrupting Yun Xi. He abruptly turned around and didn't look at the two of them again. Yi Yuan seemed to have become the same Yi Yuan as when he first met Yun Xi.
Cold, aloof, and as distant as the snow on the mountaintop.
"You can leave."
Your Highness? He addressed himself as Your Highness...
How cold and distant.
It felt as if a large chunk of her heart had been brutally dug out, leaving an empty void. Yun Xi's eyes welled up with tears that she couldn't hold back, making her eye sockets turn red and redder.
Yun Xi wanted to say something else, but Shen Zhou grabbed her wrist and said with a slightly solemn expression:
"You've seen him. I've done what I promised you. Yingying, it's time for you to go back and prepare for the wedding."
"Everyone and everything else has nothing to do with you. I'm your husband, and I hope you'll only focus on me from now on. Do you understand?"
After saying that, he ignored Yun Xi's cold and angry gaze and forcefully dragged her out.
Yun Xi's wrist was pinched painfully. She couldn't shake off Shen Zhou's iron - like grip at all. Angry and annoyed, she struggled while shouting:
"Shen Zhou, let go!"
Hearing the commotion, Ling Yan, who was delivering things and chatting with Mian Xiao and Lin An nearby, drew her long sword with a clear ringing sound. The tip of the sword pointed straight at Shen Zhou's neck.
Almost at the moment Ling Yan drew her sword, Sheng Yu behind Shen Zhou also attacked. The sharp long sword in their hands was pointed at Ling Yan's vital point the moment Ling Yan aimed at Shen Zhou.
Without even looking at Sheng Yu, Ling Yan stared sharply at Shen Zhou and coldly shouted:
"Let go!"
With a fake smile, Shen Zhou's eyes were filled with a hint of hostility. He didn't loosen his grip at all. He stared coldly at Ling Yan in front of him and spat out two words:
"Courting death."
"Shen Zhou!"
Seeing that things were going wrong, Yun Xi quickly shouted and grabbed Shen Zhou's arm. Her voice was urgent and determined:
"Don't touch her. Don't touch my people."
"Otherwise, I guarantee you'll only be able to marry my corpse."
Shen Zhou stared silently at Yun Xi for a long time, then snorted. Finally, he compromised and let go, simply flicking his sleeve and leaving.
The commotion here clearly reached the ears of Yi Yuan and the others not far away.
Xie Huaiyue looked worriedly in Yi Yuan's direction. He moved to the wall and comforted him a few words. Then he looked around and whispered:
"Things have come to this, A Yuan. How about... we use the power of Chong Shuang?"
Yi Yuan was shrouded in shadow, and his expression couldn't be seen clearly. Only a long sigh could be heard, and his voice was filled with unprecedented desolation:
"It's useless. The Crown Prince doesn't trust me now, and Chong Shuang has already been taken back by him."
"Then you're just going to watch the woman you love marry someone else!"
Xie Huaiyue angrily punched the wall:
"It's all my fault. I'm so careless. Otherwise, we wouldn't have fallen into this villain's trap."
"Are we really going to die unjustly in this prison?"
Yi Yuan didn't answer him.
Only silence filled the room.
But based on Xie Huaiyue's understanding of Yi Yuan, he clearly knew: Yi Yuan was at his wit's end. He, and all of them, were in a difficult situation this time.
The wedding day came quickly.
One reason was to avoid conflicting with the grand wedding day of Yi Zhen and Zongzheng Fengyi, and the other was that Shen Zhou couldn't wait any longer.
The unaware common people rushed to watch the excitement, chattering about Yun Xi's "fickleness" and "ingratitude".
Prince Yu'an had just been imprisoned, and now Yun Xi was in a hurry to marry someone else to clear herself of any connection. It was really too hasty.
Amid the deafening gongs and drums, Yun Xi soon arrived at the Shen family.
All she saw was the clean and tidy ground and her bright red wedding veil and dress. The noisy voices around her blurred into a jumble. Yun Xi only knew that she was being supported by Sai Xing and numbly following the master of ceremonies' instructions to perform the wedding rituals.
Worship Heaven and Earth, worship the elders.
When it came to "the bride and groom bow to each other", a blood - covered soldier stumbled in from outside and shouted hoarsely:
"No... something's wrong! General Yun is in trouble!"
The music and the voices stopped for a moment. Yun Xi tore off her veil without caring about the etiquette:
"What did you say!?"
Ling Yan had already stepped forward and tapped a few acupoints on the soldier. She helped him in front of Yun Xi and said:
"Speak quickly!"
Gasping for breath, the soldier quickly said:
"General Yun led us to set up a trap to ambush the bandits, but somehow the news was leaked. We were all surrounded by the bandits instead. General Yun led the charge and fought desperately, but was shot in the chest by an arrow from the bandits and captured with a net!"
"I managed to escape and come to report the news because my brothers protected me with their lives. Hurry... hurry up and send someone to save General Yun. Otherwise, he might be in danger of losing his life!"
"Yingying!"
"Miss!"
As soon as the soldier finished speaking, Shen Zhou and Sai Xing exclaimed in unison.
It turned out that upon hearing the tragic news, Yun Xi couldn't hold back the blood in her chest and fainted.