Although he wasn't much to look at, his attitude was passable.
Soon, the news that the mayor's daughter was getting married spread like wildfire through the town. The townspeople were utterly bewildered. They'd never heard of anyone coming to the mayor's house to propose marriage. Who was the mayor's daughter going to marry? And which daughter was it?
After some investigation, everyone finally got to the bottom of the matter. It turned out that the mayor's daughter had caught the eye of a noble from the capital, who wanted to marry the mayor's second daughter.
The townspeople had complete faith in Mu Rendong's identity. They believed that no one would dare to impersonate royalty, so Mu Rendong's noble status was genuine. Suddenly, everyone rushed to curry favor with the mayor's family, hoping that their children might catch the mayor's eye.
"Dad, why do you have to make me marry that man?" the mayor's second daughter, Xiuxiu, asked.
"This isn't something I can decide. It's your good fortune that this noble has taken a fancy to you. Once you're married, you'll be living a life of luxury," the mayor said, seeing Xiuxiu's reluctance.
"His sister is a favored concubine in the palace. Just think about it. If you marry him, there'll be no end to the benefits," the mayor dangled the bait, knowing that his second daughter was ambitious.
Hearing her father's words, Xiuxiu quickly imagined a crowd of people bowing and scraping behind her. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. Sure enough, the fortune - teller was right. She was born with a noble destiny.
"Dad, daughter understands. If there's nothing else, daughter will go prepare the wedding dress," Xiuxiu said. In their area, brides had to embroider their own wedding dresses, and with only seven days left until the wedding, time was running out.
"Alright, go quickly and embroider it well. Don't let Rendong look down on you," the mayor said cheerfully as he sent Xiuxiu out.
But while some were happy, others were sad. The happy ones were, of course, Mu Rendong and the second miss, Xiuxiu, while the sad one was the mayor's eldest daughter.
"Why does Dad always give the best things to others? I'm his first - born child!" the eldest daughter said bitterly as she sat in her room.
"Please calm down, eldest miss," the maid beside her knelt on the ground, trembling. The eldest miss had a bad temper since childhood, and the scar on her face made her already fierce expression even more terrifying.
The eldest miss looked disdainfully at the kneeling maid. What a useless wretch, always kneeling and having no backbone.
Looking at the birds flying outside the window, the eldest daughter thought that the noble was from the capital and had a good family background. If only she could take Xiuxiu's place and get married.
At this thought, the eldest daughter's eyes lit up. Right! She could totally take Xiuxiu's place. With the wedding veil on, no one would be able to tell who she was. And at night, with the candles blown out, nothing could be seen. By the next day, everything would have happened, and there'd be nothing they could do about it.
The eldest daughter secretly planned her scheme. Soon, the wedding day arrived. Everyone in the town came. Mu Rendong looked at the gifts they'd brought and grinned from ear to ear.
After the newly - weds paid respects to the elders, the second miss was escorted to the backyard, while Mu Rendong stayed to drink with the guests. No one noticed as a figure quietly made their way to the backyard.
She managed to avoid everyone, knocked out the bride in the bridal chamber, and carried her out.
"Xiuxiu, don't blame your sister. It's all your fate. Why does Dad always give you the best things? Sister has never asked you for anything. Consider this as repayment," the eldest daughter said and quickly took off Xiuxiu's wedding dress and put it on herself. After making sure there were no signs of the switch, she covered her head with the red veil and went out.
"Second miss, what are you doing here?" a passing maid asked in surprise when she saw 'Xiuxiu'.
"Nothing. I'm just a bit hungry. Come and help me back to the room," the eldest daughter cleared her throat and imitated Xiuxiu's voice.
The maid didn't suspect anything. She helped the eldest daughter back to the room carefully and ordered someone to bring some food.
"You can all go. I don't need your service here," the eldest daughter said after secretly looking around the room and seeing only a few bridesmaids. Then she sent them out.
Sitting alone on the bed nervously, she knew that if she could just get through the night, everything would be settled. Her father would never neglect her again.
Soon, she heard the noisy voices outside. She knew the groom was coming. She quickly checked everything, and after making sure there were no problems, she sat up straight.
A group of people soon entered the room, shouting that they wanted to see the bride. Just as Mu Rendong was about to agree, the bride on the bed spoke up.
"Husband, I'm scared," she said and shrank to one side.
"Did you hear that? My wife is shy. Get out of here quickly," Mu Rendong said drunkenly, still a bit conscious. He was pleased by the bride's attitude. After all, this was his woman. He hadn't even seen her yet. Why should others get to?
Seeing that Mu Rendong had spoken, the people in the room didn't dare to stay any longer. They joked a bit and left.
"Husband, let's drink the nuptial cups first," the eldest daughter dodged Mu Rendong's outstretched hand and directly picked up the cups on the table and offered one to him.
Just thinking about what was going to happen later, Mu Rendong was so excited that he couldn't wait to drink it.
"Wife, it's getting late. Let's go to bed," he said and was about to lift the red veil on the eldest daughter's head.
"Wait a minute!" the eldest daughter quickly grabbed Mu Rendong's hand and stopped him.
"What now?" Mu Rendong asked impatiently.
"Husband, you may not know that there's a custom on the wedding night here. We're not supposed to lift the veil on the wedding night, or it'll be inauspicious," the eldest daughter lied. After all, Mu Rendong had never been here before, so she could say whatever she wanted.
Mu Rendong thought about it and didn't see anything wrong. After all, with the candles blown out, it was all the same whether the veil was lifted or not.
The fiery - red candles burned all night. Early the next morning, everyone in the mansion was startled by a scream.
"Ah!!!" Mu Rendong stared in shock at the woman lying in his bed. "Who are you? Why are you in my bed?"
As soon as Mu Rendong opened his eyes, he was so scared by the ugly face in front of him that he rolled off the bed. He looked at the woman on the bed in horror.
"What's wrong, husband?"