"Oh, what a calamity!"
Inside the house, Father Gu lay on his bed, eyes squeezed shut and brows furrowed, surrounded by his entire family. Outside, Xuantian Ze held Gu Ruoxi, who looked as if she were about to faint from crying, and whispered words of comfort.
"Ruoxi, this is not your fault. Do not blame yourself so much."
"Waaah, Brother Ze, how could Sister Wan treat me like this? It would be one thing if she only embarrassed us, but how could she show such total disregard for your reputation, Your Highness? I am fine—I can endure some suffering—but I am so worried about you..."
Gu Ruoxi sobbed into Xuantian Ze’s chest, yet despite her eyes being slightly reddened, not a single tear fell.
"Yun Feiwan... there is no need for you to worry about her, Ruoxi. Today was not entirely her fault." Xuantian Ze looked down, deep in thought. "Ruoxi, I will restore your reputation. Perhaps Feiwan was simply jealous, or there was a misunderstanding between you two. Leave it to me."
Thinking of Yun Feiwan, the corners of Xuantian Ze’s mouth curled into an involuntary smile. *It is nothing more than a little girl’s petty act of jealousy,* he thought. *She must have felt a sense of crisis the moment she saw Ruoxi.*
For some reason, after witnessing Yun Feiwan’s unique, unconventional behavior, Xuantian Ze no longer felt quite as angry. In the past, he would have likely pushed her away with irritation and disgust. He had met Yun Feiwan a few times before due to his status and Gu Ruoxi’s influence, but because of Gu Ruoxi’s subtle, suggestive words, his impression of her had been quite poor. Now, however, this bold, lively, and straightforward personality seemed rather endearing.
"B-Brother Ze?" Gu Ruoxi’s eyes widened in disbelief. She bit her lower lip hard and hesitated before speaking. "You... you don’t intend to hold my sister accountable for her mistakes? She showed absolutely no regard for your face! Brother Ze, you..."
"Enough, say no more!" Xuantian Ze pushed Gu Ruoxi away from his chest, his expression cooling. "Regardless, your sister is my legitimate wife now. Even for the sake of your family, I must handle this when we return home. Ruoxi, I hope you will always remain as lovely as you are, and I will be here to protect you quietly."
"Ooh-la-la, look at the little lovers sneaking off for a secret rendezvous!"
Yun Feiwan sauntered over, looking like a total gossip, her face practically screaming, *I’m here to catch you in the act and watch the drama.*
"Sister!" Gu Ruoxi brushed her hair behind her ears with an affected gesture, lifting her chin in defiance. "Brother Ze and I are not what you think. Please, you mustn't misunderstand!"
It was a classic "explanation" that only served to make things look worse. *Isn't that exactly what you wanted me to think?* Yun Feiwan tilted her head innocently, pouting in mock grievance.
"Oh, yes, yes, of course! You just wanted me to misunderstand and get angry; I know that, Sister. I just wonder—did you finish cleaning up the letters you sent to the Crown Prince? Hehe! I’m really not angry. You two..." She tapped her two index fingers together in the air. "A match made in heaven, truly a perfect pair! I highly recommend you stay locked together—please, don’t come out and wreak havoc on anyone else. Besides, Sister, you wouldn’t want the Emperor to find out about the bride-substitution, would you? My reputation is a small thing, but your life, Sister—that is a big one."
"You..." Gu Ruoxi was infuriated twice in one day. She looked at Xuantian Ze with a pout, leaning in and fluttering her chest. "Brother Ze, look at her!"
"Ahem..." Xuantian Ze, deviating from his usual temperament, gave two dry coughs. "If today’s events spread to the Emperor, it will be our fault in the end. Do not dwell on it any further. Rest well, take care of the Minister, and if you encounter any difficulties, send someone to find me. I will be heading back now."
With that, he patted Gu Ruoxi’s shoulder and turned to leave without looking back.
"Brother Ze! Ze..." Gu Ruoxi stomped her feet hard on the ground where she stood, then glared venomously at Yun Feiwan, who was still hanging around to watch the show. "Yun Feiwan, are you proud of yourself? Picking up the man I discarded as your husband—you don’t actually take pride in that, do you? If not for me, such a prestigious marriage to the Imperial Prince’s Estate would never have fallen to you! You should be grateful, yet you turn around and bite me. You have quite the nerve!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk—flustered, aren't we? You’re so flustered!" Yun Feiwan’s eyes curved into crescents as she gestured toward the space behind Gu Ruoxi. "Sister, you should care more about Father. If you worry him into an illness, your hopes of marrying into the Eastern Palace will go up in smoke."
"Yun Feiwan, are you coming or not? What are you standing there for?" Xuantian Ze’s cold voice drifted from the distance.
Yun Feiwan curled her lips into a smile. "Oh, my! As the Imperial Prince’s wife, I really must be getting back. I won’t disturb you any further. Good luck, Sister!"
Under the influence of the Truth System, she spoke her mind with such fluidity that her biting remarks were truly lethal.
*System Notification: Detected that the host has used Truth to cause strong emotional fluctuations in the target five times. Gained 100 points.*
The system’s chime put Yun Feiwan in a wonderful mood; she felt light enough to skip.
"You... you stand right there! Yun! Fei! Wan! You will regret this! Sooner or later, you will regret this! You will never be better than me, never..."
Leaving Gu Ruoxi’s words behind, Yun Feiwan walked away from the Minister’s Estate with a joyful spring in her step. However, as she caught up to Xuantian Ze, her expression changed in an instant.
"Wooo, how could my husband treat me so cruelly? If you like my elder sister so much, you should have just married her! How could you, how could you humiliate me like this? I... I cannot bear to face anyone, woooo!"
Yun Feiwan covered her face with her sleeves and began to wail, her voice pitched just right for everyone nearby to hear clearly. Before Xuantian Ze could even react, she turned around in a huff and ran off, sobbing until she vanished from sight.
Only when the Minister’s Estate was no longer in view did Yun Feiwan drop her act. She flicked her sleeves, thinking triumphantly: *Though this homecoming visit wasn't exactly smooth and still left me with a bad reputation, it’s nothing compared to the scandal surrounding Xuantian Ze and Gu Ruoxi!*
Within a day, a juicy piece of gossip would spread through the capital: *On the second day of his marriage, the Third Prince visited his in-laws, only to get entangled in an old flame with the Minister’s daughter, hugging and whispering until he fainted his father-in-law. His wife, in order to protect the family’s honor, endured everything alone and left in tears.*
*From now on, I suspect Gu Ruoxi will have a very hard time marrying into any decent family.*
The thought of throwing a wrench in Gu Ruoxi’s plans made Yun Feiwan’s lips curl. She looked around and patted her stomach. *Now that I’ve transmigrated, I absolutely must taste the food of the ancient world!*
A quarter of an hour later, Yun Feiwan stood by a street stall, a chicken leg in her left hand and a skewer of candied hawthorn in her right. "Mm, this is so delicious! Boss, it’s a real shame you aren’t a head chef at a restaurant! I—"
"Hey, hey, my chicken leg... the chicken leg!"
A gust of wind swept past. The chicken leg fell to the ground, followed immediately by a sensation of suffocation at her throat.
"Assassins! There are assassins! Quickly, catch the assassin!"