Yanyue woke up and recalled falling asleep on the sofa due to all the recent tiredness, but somehow, she was on the bed, fully clothed. There was some discomfort from the intense intercourse from the day before, but her body felt refreshed, and there was no sticky feeling from the night before.
"Did he wash me?" she thought.
However, she scrambled the silly thought away because he most likely ordered the maids to clean her up.
The middle-aged woman from the other night came into the room.
"Please take the pill, Miss Shen," she said as she handed the young woman on the bed a birth-control pill.
Yanyue's heart ached. Beichen would never let any woman bear his children besides his beloved Wanyue. She wondered if he would force her to take the life out if she were to become pregnant. Thinking of the high possibility, she felt even worse. To feel less pain, it was better not to let this happen. So, she reached for the pill and cup of water on the tray.
She returned the empty cup and asked, "Can I see His Highness?"
"His Highness is not home at the moment," the woman said politely.
Yanyue was disappointed. She wanted to talk to him about the marriage, but it seemed like she would have to wait.
She found her dress and was relieved it was still in one piece. She quickly put it on and visited Grandma Lu at the hospital afterward. Luckily, no one was in the room.
"Grandma, I'm here to visit you," she said as she entered the room with a basket of fruits.
The old lady put away the book she had been reading and smiled at her favorite visitor. "Xiaoyue, I'm happy you're here! Come sit next to Grandma."
Yanyue set the basket on the table and familiarized herself with the chair beside the bed.
"Grandma, how are you today? Are you feeling pain anywhere?" she asked, holding onto the old lady's wrinkly but soft hands.
"This old lady is not doing well. You youngsters always make me worried for your future," Grandma Lu complained.
"Grandma, this is why you need to eat your medicine and get better so that you can always ensure we won't make trouble in the future."
"My child, I'm getting old. Who knows when I will die?" Grandma Lu said as she brushed Yanyue's hands. "You must promise to live well when I'm gone."
Yanyue shook her head and was slightly depressed by the old lady's sad words. "Grandma, nothing bad will happen, and you will always be with us."
"Silly girl, everyone has their fate — even you. Promise me you will marry Ah Chen and be with him forever. That child is stubborn, but he has a soft soul. Sooner or later, he will realize your love for him."
The old lady sounded so sincere that the young woman did not know what to say.
"Grandma, we can't change a person's heart. He doesn't love me at all, so it doesn't matter if he knew that I love him or not," the young woman said dejectedly.
"Let me tell you something." The old lady looked out the window nostalgically.
"It was twenty years ago that your mother saved my life. I still remember that day's event like the back of my hand."
The old lady paused and sighed.
"Grandpa had recently passed away, so I was very lonely. I went out one day to clear my mind but met some bad people. Your mother wasn't even afraid for her life. She rushed over and covered my old, feeble body from the gunshots. Since then, we have become good friends and promised to wed you to the second prince. It was you and Ah Chen."
Yanyue listened carefully to the story. Her mother had never told her this story. It was because her mother never had the opportunity.
When she was old enough to understand life, her mother had already passed away, so listening to this was very surprising for her. Hearing that she risked her life to save Grandma Lu gave her a different perspective on her mother. Yanyue felt proud of her mother, and her resolve for revenge increased even more.
She was also speechless at the fact that her mother and Grandma Lu made a promise to engage herself and Beichen. At that time, she should have only been a year old while he was four.
"Unfortunately, that boy had to go and propose to Wanyue, but luckily, something like that happened at the hotel, and I was able to reverse the situation," Grandma Lu said with a trace of accomplishment, not caring much that she might have violated her grandson's free will.
Then, when she looked at Yanyue, who was listening intently to her story, she suddenly felt remorse for not taking better care of the young girl.
"My silly child, I have a lot of regrets about you, and I feel sorry that you had to go through everything. Only when you and Beichen successfully married will I be able to face your mother in the afterlife, so will you promise to marry Beichen for this old lady's sake?"
She understood Grandma Lu's wish. It would be a lie to say she had no hope for the marriage. Every girl's wish was to get married to the person they love. She would gladly accept the proposal in a normal situation where Beichen was a single man.
However, he had always been with her sister. If she had not given in that night, then what existed between them would have been the typical brother-in-law and sister-in-law's relationship. But she only thought about saving him and nothing else at that time.
Sensing the young girl's hesitation, Grandma Lu said again, "Let me tell you something else: This marriage will save Beichen's inheritance."
Yanyue looked at the old lady with questions.
The old lady continued, "The King disapproved Beichen's engagement with Wanyue and threatened to remove him from the inheritance list. If you marry him, the King will likely retract his threats."
Being cut off from the inheritance list was a big deal in legendary families like the Lu. Withdrawing him from the inheritance meant he would also be removed from the President's position in the Lu Group.
Beichen was a very ambitious man, so he would put up a fight if that happened. She understood the struggles of families fighting for the inheritance, which had always had a negative result, and in some cases, the families ended up broken and bitter. She never wished to see him on that route, so now she had second thoughts about the marriage.
The marriage would not be bad if it fulfilled her mother's wish and protected Beichen from being kicked out of the inheritance.
"My child, go back and give me an answer when you thought it through," Grandma Lu said softly.
Yanyue nodded and left the hospital with many thoughts. After a sleepless night, she called Grandma Lu and accepted the marriage. One could imagine the joy on the granny's face — it was as if she had gone back twenty years.
*
The full moon made the evening light glisten. It was a perfect night for a blessed wedding.
Red lanterns lit the whole Palace, creating a magical hue that could bewitch a person's lonely soul. Auspicious garlands hung on every corner and dangled like red poppies in a breezy poppy field. There were endless decorations everywhere one tread, fabricating the joyous atmosphere that was supposed to be.
In a quiet corner of the feastful and roaring Palace, the bride looked at the unrecognizable person reflected in the mirror. The old lady had gotten her the most expensive wedding dress, but no one could understand the desolate feeling brewing in her heart.
The stylist felt that something was amiss with this bride. Although this was the most beautiful bride she had ever worked on, the bride's face was grim and solemn. She had been in the field for more than a decade, and one could imagine all the different types of brides she had encountered.
She had seen brides so delighted they cried tears of joy, while some wept for the opposite reason, often due to the marriage being forced or arranged.
However, this bride displayed no such emotions. Sometimes, she was calm and looked hopeful, but then her expression turned to misery and sorrow.
She could not tell whether the bride was content or sad about her wedding. However, she felt this was not the face of a bride happy to marry the person she loved.
"Miss Shen, are you unhappy with this marriage?" the curious stylist asked, feeling sympathy for this enchanting bride who should have been beaming with happiness because she was marrying the second prince. She wondered if this woman saved a country to receive this gracious fate with the prince.
Yanyue looked up at the stylist, who had finished donning her face with make-up.
"I'm..."
She paused, unsure how to respond. It was a wedding with her most beloved man, but somewhere deep in her heart, she knew she had been dreaming all along. "I just think that everything seems like a dream right now," she finally said, forcing an awkward smile.
Then, it was time for the ceremony. The stylist covered her with a red veil.
Although she told herself not to have specific thoughts, Yanyue's heart quivered with emotions as she approached Beichen, dressed in red and standing in front of the ancestral hall.
He looked majestic in his wedding suit and wore the red like he owned it.
They stood side by side like a pair of swans.
He lowered his head and whispered in her ears, "Don't be too happy. This is only the beginning."
She froze.
The scene looked sweet, but only she knew how menacing he was. His cold attitude and words made her tremble as they walked along the aisle to the shrine of tablets to complete the ceremony.
Grandma Lu, inspecting from the side, felt that the two children were made for each other. The way they walked together to their impressive ambiance exuded nothing but chemistry and attraction. She felt that her decision to join the two children was not a mistake; it was a decision that had already been predetermined from the moment they were born.
The pair bowed to the heavens and earth and vowed to be with each other in front of all the ancestors before them.
As they kneeled and paid respects to their ancestors, everything, from her first meeting with him to their first night, flashed through her mind.
Truthfully, before that night, she had never imagined that she would be by his side in a moment like this. She used to have a dream like this but threw it away because it was the right thing to do. However, the words from earlier struck her profoundly, and she realized that she was not in a dream, even if she wished this was a dream instead.
After the ceremony ended, her thoughts remained a mess. She was then taken to the wedding chamber Grandma Lu had prepared for her and Beichen in the Eastern Palace.
In that newlywed room, she foolishly waited for him.
He never showed up.
Her phone vibrated. The content threw a bombshell at her when she opened the new message. It was Beichen and Wanyue cuddling each other in bed without clothes on.
She never hoped he would love her back, but she hoped he would respect her identity as his wife. In the end, what she got was cold water splashing on her last little trace of dignity.
And she had no one but herself to blame for destroying a well-established relationship.
Perhaps this was her fate: misfortune in love.
She slept alone that night, but a warm figure embraced her in her dreams as if they were the only two people who existed in that glistening night.
*
Ever since they got married, Beichen became worse than he was before. He did not respect Yanyue and never attended family events with her in the Palace. His days remained spent with his lover out in public, while his nights were spent forcing and torturing his wife like she was a dispensable doll. This was his way of insulting her dignity.
Grandma Lu scolded him multiple times for missing family events and not treating his wife well, which would only make him angrier. Yanyue could only bear his wrath at Bayside Garden like an obedient wife.
But this did not stop her from loving the man. The more he used her body, the deeper she fell into his trap. She understood her place well in his heart but thought he would change and treat her better if she obeyed. It did not have to be much better, but a little of the tip of the finger would be enough.
She also realized that to be a good wife to the royal family and to stand firmly by his side; she must be knowledgeable in royal etiquette. So, she began learning royal traditions and etiquette, such as dancing, art, and music.
After only one session, she found that her body flowed naturally to the movements of traditional music, and her fingers plucked the zither's strings like they were engraved in her soul. She passed the lessons with flying colors, and the old lady could not be more proud of her skills.
*
In the Eastern Palace's dining room.
"Xiaoyue, where is Ah Chen?"
Yanyue looked at Grandma Lu with a subtle trace of guilt. "Grandma, he's still at the company," she lied.
The old lady did not look happy and complained again. She knew that her fair granddaughter-in-law was lying, and she would later teach her grandson a lesson.
"You also learn to lie to grandma now, too? You don't need to cover for that boy! I will teach him a lesson when he comes back!"
Yanyue shook her head, her enthusiasm dwindling. "Grandma, he's busy, so you don't need to worry."
Then, two figures that antagonized her dreams almost every night walked into the room.
"Sister, Grandma Lu!" Wanyue chirped while holding onto Beichen's arms tightly.
Yanyue was speechless at the scene, but it was nothing new to her.
The old lady could not stand the sight of her grandson bringing home that vile woman. "Ah Chen, why do you bring this shameless woman home?! She's not allowed here!"
Wanyue shrunk in fear in the man's arms. She said nervously, "Ah Chen, Grandma Lu doesn't like me, so I'm going back!"
The pretentious woman swung away from her lover's arms and tried to dash out of the room. However, he held onto her tightly and did not let her escape his grasp.
"No, you're not the one who should leave. Just stay by my side," he said softly to the woman in his embrace.
While he cuddled his lover, his wife, who was sitting patiently, felt like millions of ants were crawling on her body, leaving tracks of poison in her heart.
"Grandma, I've already married her as you wished. Now, you don't have to interfere in my business anymore," he said sternly as he carried the whimpering woman up the stairs.
The legal wife watched them leave quietly.