Chapter 2: Changing the Bride
Duke Gu cleared his throat, slightly taken aback by the way she questioned him. He opened his mouth, but did not seem to know how to answer his daughter.
Gu Qian Cheng swept her eyes over the wedding guests, all of whom looked away from her awkwardly. Half of them looked at Qin Yun Chu, while the other half anticipated Gu Qian Cheng’s next move. None of them spoke. The entire hall was quite in a terrifying way. The sound of a needle dropping would have been heard so clearly.
At that moment, Madam Quanfu got the hint and stepped forward to break the silence, “Duke Gu, a disabled maiden indeed cannot marry into the imperial family. If you insist upon marrying her into the Zhao manor, it might ruin the relationship between the two families instead of improving it.”
“She is right. The esteemed bride is crippled and is not suitable to be the daughter-in-law of King Zhao’s manor,” someone else quickly agreed.
Gu Qian Cheng saw the meaningful look that Madam Gu sent to Madam Quanfu, so she was not surprised by the turn of event. Instead, she stared at Duke Gu, waiting for her father to speak up.
Everyone looked at Duke Gu, waiting for his decision.
Now that the situation had reached this point, Duke Gu had to speak even if he didn’t want to. He could not bring himself to look at his daughter and instead turned to Qin Yun Chu, “It is true that Qian Cheng is not suited for King Zhao’s manor because of her leg injury. However, changing the bride on the wedding day is just too presumptuous.”
“Presumptuous? What is so presumptuous about this? Do you expect this shizi to quietly accept this loss and marry a crippled bride?” Qin Yun Chu’s face was haughty as the word ‘crippled’ left his mouth smoothly. He looked at Gu Qian Cheng in disgust.
Gu Qian Cheng appeared as though she hadn’t heard him. She smiled as though she was only a spectator and that this situation had nothing to do with her.
Rather than the wedding, Gu Qian Cheng was more worried about her leg. She just wanted this to be done and over with. If this dragged on any longer, her leg might not be able to take it.
Now that things had gotten this way, Gu Qian Cheng wouldn’t marry Qin Yun Chu even if he wanted to.
Since Duke Zhen hadn’t said anything that he wanted to hear, Qin Yun Chu decided to continue threatening him, “You still wouldn’t change the bride, Duke Gu? This shizi is still waiting for the bride to board the carriage. As for this crippled Gu Qian Cheng, you could marry her off to whoever wants her. The point is, this shizi refuse her!”
Duke Gu’s face turned red at Qin Yun Chu’s disrespectful words. There was not a single sensible person in this room.
“Old master…..” said Madam Gu delicately after observing the situation. Someone who had yet to reach 30 years of age was definitely at the prime of their life. They could easily look coquettish or dignified when situation called for it.
Her voice immediately erased the anger on Duke Gu’s features, “Madam?”
Seeing this, the smile on Madam Gu’s face deepened, “Old master, Chu shizi is not entirely wrong. Qian Cheng’s leg indeed made her unsuitable for King Zhao’s manor. Chu shizi willing to marry Qian Xue could already be considered as him relenting. Otherwise, we would be humiliated once the wedding is cancelled.”
“This—“ Duke Gu appeared hesitant. Seeing this, Madam Gu sent Qin Yun Chu a look.
Qin Yun Chu frowned and hesitated for a moment. He stepped forward, softening his voice, “Since Duke Gu refused to change the bride, this shizi will not force you. As for this crippled Gu Qian Cheng, marry her off to someone else. This shizi will not have her. Marrying her will only worsen our relationship.”
After saying that, he turned around to leave.
Seeing this, Gu Qian Cheng suddenly felt like laughing. If you wanted to scare people, at least do it till the end. He kept looking back to check Duke Gu’s reaction. Did he really think no one knew what he was really thinking about?
Gu Qian Cheng and pretty much every other person inside the hall could see what he really wanted to do, but no one dared to say a word because of how overbearing he was.
Unfortunately, the one person who should have seen through Qin Yun Chu’s act did not. Gu Qian Cheng began doubting the intelligence of this so-called father of hers. Of course, she naturally did not rule out the possibility that he was only acting.
When Duke Gu saw that Qin Yun Chu was about to leave, he immediately got up, “Please wait, shizi. Everyone in the capital knows about this wedding today. If you cancel it in this manner, it will ruin our reputations. If you really want to change the bride to Qian Xue, what about King Zhao and Zhao Wangfei?”
(TN: A Wang is a king, while his legitimate wife is called a Wangfei (King’s Consort.))
Gu Qian Cheng was the bride that Zhao Wangfei personally picked, even Duke Gu wouldn’t dare to mess with that. This was all entirely up to Qin Yun Chu to handle.
Satisfied at having obtained what he wanted, Qin Yun Chu immediately turned back around with a large smile on his face. “Wouldn’t it have been easier if you just agreed from the start, Duke Gu? As for my parents, don’t worry, I will handle them.”
The two of them blatantly disregarded Gu Qian Cheng’s existence and immediately agreed on changing the bride without considering her feelings.
The crowd laughed and immediately congratulated the pair upon this new turn of event. As for Gu Qian Cheng? She had long ceased from existence in their eyes.
Purple Petals Blossoms 