Chapter 1678 - 1671: Only, Afeng is Worthy
Chapter 1678 -1671: Only, Afeng is Worthy
“Look! Isn’t that a fairy?”
All eyes turned toward Rong Sheng.
Amid the festive sea of red, her icy white gown stood out, ethereal and piercingly radiant.
Zuo Qingqing, dressed in a wedding gown adorned with soaring golden phoenixes, paled in comparison to Rong Sheng’s captivating presence. Even though Chu Yifeng had ceremoniously received Zuo Qingqing from the bridal sedan, holding onto the red silk, the murmuring crowd spoke only of Rong Sheng’s name.
Beneath the crimson veil, Zuo Qingqing’s nails, stained with vermillion lacquer, dug deeply into her own flesh.
“Silence, all of you!”
Chu Yifeng quickly noticed Zuo Qingqing’s unease. Seeing the tension on her hand and the bulging veins, he realized the whispered words had provoked her ire.
The people of the Ghost Market fell quiet. Dressed in bizarre attire, they sat together in eerie silence, their unwavering stares at Chu Yifeng making the atmosphere even more unsettling.
Many officials seated behind Chu Heng trembled, using their long sleeves to shield their faces while nervously whispering:
“Who exactly is this Eighth Prince?”
“These people… They’re hardly human! They look like monsters!”
“The Ghost Market—it must be the King of Hell’s domain! These spirits from there… The Eighth Prince, this—”
“Sigh!”
Chu Heng listened to their murmurs, unsure of how to respond.
From a young age, he knew his eldest uncle was peculiar in countless ways.
However, as his father had once mentioned, his uncle had been abducted while protecting him as a child, resulting in the man he had become today. No matter what, Chu Heng could not allow his uncle to be harmed.
Today, he had to maintain the dignity of the wedding ceremony.
As Chu Yifeng led Zuo Qingqing past the crowd, the people of the Ghost Market remained silent while the court officials were filled with palpable fear. The joy on Chu Yifeng’s face dimmed considerably.
Chu Heng promptly rose to his feet and addressed Chu Yifeng, “Congratulations, Uncle.”
He was the first to voice his felicitations. Seeing this, the officials behind him dared not remain passive.
They stood one after another to offer their congratulations.
The growing chorus of well-wishes helped ease Zuo Qingqing’s tightly wound nerves a bit.
Seeing her joy, a hint of happiness also returned to Chu Yifeng’s face.
Yet as he entered the main hall for the wedding rites, his gaze lay upon Rong Sheng seated alongside Chu Xi at the foremost table in the courtyard.
That flowing white dress, endlessly distant, like the moon in the heavens.
How could the moon ever descend to the mortal realm?
A whirl of indefinable emotion surged within Chu Yifeng.
His heart ached, and a dull pain began pounding in his head.
“Ah Feng, are you alright?” Zuo Qingqing sensed his unusual demeanor and quickly voiced her concern.
Through her veil, she could not see that Rong Sheng had arrived, but Chu Yifeng’s loosening grip on the red silk made her uneasy.
“I’m fine, just a headache,”
Chu Yifeng replied in a gentle tone. Breaking decorous norms, he clasped her hand directly. “Senior Sister, I will marry you wholeheartedly, make you my wife, and cherish you for a lifetime.”
He was willing to offer her everything, promising her the world.
Zuo Qingqing’s eyes shimmered with tears. She had dreamed endlessly of this earnest love from Chu Yifeng.
Even if this happiness was stolen from Rong Sheng through sordid means!
So long as it was hers, it did not matter how she had taken it.
The couple entered the main hall for the ceremonial rites. Chu Heng had deliberately brought portraits of the late emperor and Imperial Consort Shu to serve as the elder witnesses.
Before the assembled crowd, Chu Yifeng and Zuo Qingqing paid respects to heaven and earth, then to their elders.
Upon seeing the portrait of Imperial Consort Shu, a mixture of familiarity and strangeness washed over him.
He spoke slowly, “Mother, your son brings his bride to meet you.”
He no longer remembered his mother’s appearance clearly.
While Chu Yihan had been raised under their mother’s care until fifteen, Chu Yifeng had been abducted while still very young.
After reuniting with Chu Yihan, his brother had shared that their mother had gone blind within two years of his disappearance.
Day and night, their mother wept herself into blindness over the child she had lost.
At this moment, he had finally brought the woman he loved to pay respects to his mother.
Bowling deeply to Imperial Consort Shu’s portrait, Chu Yifeng stretched forward to give his most solemn bow. Outside the hall, Rong Sheng stood behind Zuo Qingqing, bowing as well to the portrait of Imperial Consort Shu.
“Mother, your daughter-in-law Rong Sheng bows alongside Ah Feng,”
Rong Sheng’s voice was calm but resolute.
This was her first grand ceremony in this world.
Behind her, Chu Xi followed suit, mirroring Rong Sheng as she made her silent bow.
Their actions left the crowd puzzled.
Yet their upright figures and undeniable pride rendered ridicule impossible.
Even the people of the Ghost Market stood protectively in distant support behind Rong Sheng.
When Sun Wu declared the moment for the couple’s bow to one another, Zuo Qingqing turned to face Chu Yifeng. She believed that Chu Yifeng would, as he had done for Imperial Consort Shu and the late emperor, bow deeply and reverently in the sacred union of matrimony.
Instead, he swept his robe aside and knelt before her.
“Boom——”
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.
“What is His Highness doing?”
“What sort of mortal courtesy is this?”
“The Eighth Prince—he wouldn’t even kneel before the emperor!”
The Ghost Market attendees and court officials stared, dumbfounded.
Even Chu Heng raised his brows slightly in surprise.
Tugging at the sleeve of Chu Jinling beside him, he mused with a laugh, “Brother Ninth, don’t you think Uncle’s devotion is moving? He wouldn’t even kneel to our father.”
Chu Jinling initially found it amusing but, thinking of someone else, his expression shifted to a small smile. “It’s indeed touching. For the one you love, setting aside pride and dignity—what does it matter?”
If he were to marry Sisi, kneeling before her wouldn’t matter to him either, not if it meant making such a vow of permanence.
Zuo Qingqing, seeing Chu Yifeng kneeling before her, was utterly stunned. Her words dripped with disbelief, “Your… Your Highness?”
He, a man of eminent status, a noble prince—and master of the Silver Moon Pavilion. The man who wouldn’t even kneel before the emperor himself.
He was kneeling before her.
“To bow before you in the rite of matrimonial union—it is only right.”
Perhaps, this was the most tender declaration Chu Yifeng had ever made in his life.
No woman present could remain unmoved by this moment. Some discreetly shed tears, casting envious, jealous gazes toward Zuo Qingqing.
Two streams of tears rolled down Zuo Qingqing’s cheeks as she hurriedly lifted her dress and knelt before Chu Yifeng.
“Bow to one another as husband and wife—”
Sun Wu shouted ceremoniously.
Amid his proclamation, Chu Yifeng and Zuo Qingqing bowed deeply.
At that instant, Rong Sheng’s gaze betrayed uncontrollable envy, accompanied by silent tears.
Chu Xi clasped Rong Sheng’s hand, whispering, “Mother, don’t cry.”
Rong Sheng sobbed, her voice trembling, “I… cannot help but cry.”
In this fleeting moment, the cool poise she possessed crumbled completely. All the traits she had taken pride in shattered like fragile glass.
She felt as if there was nothing in this world worth cherishing anymore.
Save for Ah Feng.