The Night Before the Wedding, My Fiance Asked Me to Comfort His White Moonlight - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

My father was so furious his hands were trembling.

But with an imperial oral decree handed down from His Majesty himself, no one could openly defy it on the spot.

The palace attendant looked at me with a beaming smile.

“Miss Song, His Majesty said the auspicious hour has already been set. Your reputation must not be delayed over a few trifling family matters.”

Trifling family matters.

In a single night, assassins, poisoned incense, Sleep Herb, and murder to silence witnesses had all been brushed aside as mere family matters.

My father had just been about to speak when Pei Shu stepped in first.

He bowed to the palace attendant.

“This official, Pei Shu, was ordered to investigate the Lu Family’s old case.”

The palace attendant’s smile stiffened.

“Vice Minister Pei, where is this coming from?”

Pei Shu took out a sealed secret memorial.

“It was submitted to the palace last night.”

Only then did I realize Pei Shu had not rushed here at the last moment to rescue the situation.

He had long since calculated that Madam Lu would use the palace to pressure us.

The palace attendant’s expression turned ugly.

“But His Majesty’s oral decree has already arrived here.”

Pei Shu said calmly, “It arrived too quickly.”

The entire courtyard fell silent.

He handed over a written confession that had been placed beside the secret memorial.

“At the hour of Hai last night, someone from Madam Lu’s courtyard was already sent to deliver a message to the palace gates.”

“At that time, the assassins had not yet entered Lizhao Courtyard, and Lu Jingci had not yet vomited blood.”

The palace attendant’s smile froze on his face.

Pei Shu then took out a small cloth bundle.

Inside was the half page of an old account book removed from my wedding dress, along with the rubbing of a private seal.

The moment my father saw it, his face went frighteningly cold.

“That is not my seal.”

Pei Shu said, “Which is why this wedding cannot proceed.”

“If the ceremony continues, it will not be completing a marriage between two families. It will be helping the Lu Family nail the Song Family into this case.”

Lu Jingci forced himself out of the room. His face was paler than paper.

“Little Uncle, what do you mean by this?”

Pei Shu looked at him.

“You can barely stand right now, and Madam Lu has prepared forged account pages and poisoned wine.”

“This marriage with the Lu Family ends today.”

Lu Jingci’s lips had turned blue.

“You want her to break the engagement in front of everyone?”

Pei Shu did not answer.

My father suddenly looked at Pei Shu.

He had lived half his life, and his eyes were sharper than mine.

“Vice Minister Pei, think this through.”

Pei Shu bowed to my father.

“Grand Tutor Song, the Pei family is willing to present betrothal gifts today.”

My mind buzzed.

Lu Jingci jerked his head up.

“Have you gone mad?”

Pei Shu’s expression did not change.

“No.”

Madam Lu was anxious now as well.

“Pei Shu, although you are Jingci’s little uncle, your surname is Pei, not Lu!”

Pei Shu looked at her.

“That is why I am rejecting the Lu Family’s trap and asking for Miss Song’s hand.”

His meaning was perfectly clear.

The Lu Family’s wedding could not proceed.

But if I were sent back to the Song Family from the Lu Mansion after having my engagement broken, that line from the palace about the “auspicious hour already being set” would still hang over the Song Family’s head.

For the Pei family to present betrothal gifts at this moment was to pull the Song Family away from the Lu Family’s banquet table.

It was also to drag the Pei family itself into this muddy water.

My father asked with a grim face, “Zhining, what do you think?”

Everyone’s eyes fell on me.

I did not answer immediately.

I looked at Pei Shu.

He was looking at me too, his gaze very calm.

There was no coercion in it.

All at once, I remembered many small things.

Three years ago, after the spring hunt, it was Pei Shu who escorted me back to my tent.

I had twisted my ankle. He did not touch me, only had a maid help me into the carriage, then gave up his own horse for me.

During last year’s Lantern Festival, the market was packed. Someone took advantage of the crowd to ram into me, and it was Pei Shu who stood between us, separated from me by a rabbit lantern, and blocked the blow for me.

He never said much.

So I had always thought those things were coincidences.

But now, watching him stand before my father, I suddenly remembered that during that Lantern Festival, a hole had been burned into his sleeve by lamp oil.

At the time, all he had said was, “The lantern was poorly made.”

I asked him, “Vice Minister Pei, why are you helping me?”

Pei Shu’s hand, hanging at his side, twitched slightly.

“That question shouldn’t be answered here.”

I said, “Then I’ll ask a different one.”

“If I agree today, are you saving me from an emergency, or are you asking for my hand?”

Pei Shu looked at me.

A gust of wind blew through the courtyard, making the wedding lanterns sway.

He answered very slowly.

“First, saving you from an emergency.”

My heart sank a little.

Then he said, “And asking for your hand.”

As those four words fell, Lu Jingci’s face turned completely ashen.

Shen Jiaojiao stood inside the doorway, her eyes reddened too.

She was not grieving for herself.

She looked at Lu Jingci as if she had finally waited long enough to see him lose something.

My father was silent for a long time.

At last, he said, “Bring paper and brush.”

The wedding was not canceled.

But half of the red silk decorations at the Lu Mansion were taken down.

The Lu Family’s guests were kept in the front courtyard, while the rear courtyard was guarded by people from Dali Temple.

The Pei family arrived very quickly.

Old Madam Pei personally brought the betrothal letter and jade seal.

When she saw me, she did not scrutinize me, nor did she blame me.

She only took my hand.

“Good child, you’ve been wronged.”

My nose stung a little.

On the night before my wedding, my fiancé had asked me to go comfort his first love.

On the day of my wedding, the groom was suddenly changed.

Once this spread, it would be enough for the entire capital to gossip about for three years.

But Old Madam Pei’s simple words-“you’ve been wronged”-were far more useful than all of Lu Jingci’s pale explanations.

Before the wedding bows, Lu Jingci stopped me.

He had changed clothes, but he was still ill, his lips very pale.

“Zhining, you can’t marry him.”

I looked at him.

“Why not?”

Lu Jingci’s eyes were bloodshot.

“How long have you even known each other?”

I gave a small laugh.

“Lu Jingci, we’ve known each other for three years. But how much do you know me?”

He fell silent.

In the distance, the ceremonial officer was already urging us on.

Lu Jingci suddenly said in a low voice, “I know you don’t eat lamb. I know you don’t like wearing heavy hairpins. I know that when you’re nervous, you touch your sleeve.”

I looked at him and, for a moment, said nothing.

He did know those things.

But knowing was not the same as caring.

He knew I did not eat lamb, yet he had never once had a dish changed for me at a banquet in the Lu Mansion.

He knew I did not like wearing heavy hairpins, yet he had quietly accepted it when Madam Lu sent me the heaviest phoenix hairpin.

He knew I touched my sleeve when I was nervous, yet at my most humiliating moment, he made me go persuade his first love.

Pei Shu walked over from beneath the corridor and stopped beside me.

He did not urge me.

He only handed me a small cloth pouch.

I opened it and saw two pieces of candied fruit.

I froze.

Pei Shu said quietly, “You didn’t eat anything this morning. You’ll get dizzy after the wedding bows.”

Clutching those two pieces of candied fruit, I suddenly no longer wanted to say another word to Lu Jingci.

Lu Jingci saw them too.

His eyes reddened fiercely.

“Zhining.”

I walked past him.

This time, I did not look back.