Firmament Sword

”What’s wrong?” Xu Luo looked at Su Qianqian, his brows furrowing. ”Hurry up and tell me!”

Su Qianqian rolled her eyes and snapped, ”The bride ran away!”

”Ran away?” Xu Luo’s eyes widened. ”She ran away? You’re saying my sister-in-law ran away?”

Su Qianqian nodded. ”I went over first thing in the morning. When I got there, the servants said the Young Madam wasn’t feeling well and was still resting in her room. I didn’t think much of it at the time. I just assumed that since Sister Yun is pregnant, she might be a little lethargic.”

Su Qianqian continued, ”I waited for a long time, but she still didn’t come out. I started to get anxious and pointed out that the wedding was about to start. Why wasn’t she coming out? Didn’t she need to get ready?”

”The servants there told me she had already gotten ready before going back to her room to rest. They said that since she was pregnant, she couldn’t overexert herself...”

Su Qianqian pressed her lips together. ”I don’t know anything about these things, so I thought it was normal. But I waited and waited, and she still didn’t come out. I couldn’t hold back anymore. To be honest, I also wanted to see how beautiful the bride was...”

”And then she was gone?” Xu Luo asked, his face dark.

”Yeah. I rushed into her room and found no one there at all. That’s when the servants finally panicked. They all started searching, turning practically the entire estate upside down, but they still couldn’t find their Young Madam. The few maids who serve Sister Yun were so frantic they were crying... So I rushed back to tell you,” Su Qianqian said.

Xu Luo said angrily, ”What are those servants good for? How could they let a living person slip away right from under their noses?”

Su Qianqian said softly, ”Don’t blame them. With Mo Yun’s power, if she wanted to leave, how could anyone have noticed? I haven’t known her for long, but I know her personality well. She’s very strong-willed and stubborn. I heard your second brother’s mother doesn’t like her. Could that be the reason?”

”I don’t know.” Xu Luo shook his head slightly, his mind on something else. ’Mo Yun’s fall to her current state is inextricably linked to me and my four brothers. Is she... really doing this willingly? Does she truly not harbor any hatred in her heart?’

It wasn’t that he’d never considered these questions before, but he’d never dwelled on them. Xu Luo had been especially busy recently, with almost no time to spend in his own fief.

Moreover, unlike typical young nobles who started getting involved with women in their teens and became seasoned veterans, none of the five brothers were experienced players in the game of love. They couldn’t claim to understand a woman’s heart at all.

Later, seeing that Mo Yun had been very docile since getting together with his second brother, and that her former lieutenants were also very obedient, their initial worries had gradually faded.

After all, Xu Jie wasn’t an idiot. As the person sharing his bed, if Mo Yun truly harbored ill intentions toward him, how could he not have sensed it?

But now, it seemed... he might have sensed something, but he never imagined it would be this serious!

”That idiot!” Xu Luo let out a long sigh, thinking to himself: ’The procession to escort the bride is about to leave, but the bride has run away. What do I do?’

With that thought, he looked up at Su Qianqian.

Su Qianqian looked back at Xu Luo with an innocent expression. ”Don’t look to me for help with this. If I could come up with a solution, I wouldn’t have run back here to ask you. Anyway, you’d better think of something fast. The news is probably going to get back here any minute...”

As she spoke, Su Qianqian’s eyes suddenly lit up. ”Oh, right. Before... didn’t your second brother’s mother arrange a marriage for him?”

”You mean...” Xu Luo looked at Su Qianqian and gave a wry smile. ”That wouldn’t work, would it?”

”Who knows? How will you know it won’t work if you don’t try?” Su Qianqian said, pressing her lips together. ”Otherwise, your second brother’s wedding is going to become a complete joke!”

Just then, Little Fatty walked out of the room. Seeing the two of them, he teased, ”Are you two hiding here to whisper sweet nothings? If you’re really that jealous of Second Brother... how about we arrange a wedding for you two later?”

”Shut up!” Su Qianqian glared fiercely at Little Fatty. ”Who’s whispering sweet nothings!”

Little Fatty shrank back, looking aggrieved. ”Fine, you weren’t. Why are you so angry?”

”Fatty, something’s happened,” Xu Luo said, looking at Little Fatty. He quietly explained the situation.

Little Fatty’s mouth twitched violently, and a wry smile appeared on his face. ”I knew it... Sigh. I really thought everything would be fine, but I never expected... In the end, the thing I was most worried about still happened!”

As he spoke, Little Fatty looked at Xu Luo and said, ”I told Second Brother about this before. He said he trusted Mo Yun, and he believed his sincerity could move her. He believed that even if she had some resentment in her heart, it would be resolved sooner or later...”

”Such a huge knot in her heart isn’t so easily untied. You men just don’t understand women at all!” Su Qianqian interjected from the side.

”You understand women?” Xu Luo glanced at Su Qianqian.

Su Qianqian said angrily, ”I’m a woman too, you know!”

”You’re a girl!” Little Fatty added from the side.

Su Qianqian rolled her eyes. ”Stop talking nonsense and figure out how to solve this mess.”

”We can’t tell Second Brother. He wouldn’t be able to handle it,” Little Fatty said softly.

”Then what do you suggest we do? The news from over there will get back soon. Isn’t Lan Xin there too? She’ll probably come looking for you in a bit,” Xu Luo said.

Little Fatty frowned, thought for a moment, then looked up at Xu Luo. ”How about... he marries someone else?”

Xu Luo gave Su Qianqian and Little Fatty a resigned look, thinking, ’Why are you two singing the same tune?’

”Marry someone else... Putting aside whether she would even agree, even if she did, would Second Brother be willing? This is his wedding... If he’s not willing, who could force him?” Xu Luo said, frustrated.

”Sigh, this could have been avoided. It’s all my fault...” Little Fatty said, blaming himself.

”Forget it. This isn’t the time for self-blame. Let’s just focus on finding a solution,” Xu Luo said.

Meanwhile, in the Champion Marquis’s Mansion, the master and madam—that is, Champion Marquis Xu Zhongtian and his wife—along with some other relatives, had also heard about the matter.

The Champion Marquis’s wife, her eyes red and puffy as she angrily wiped away tears, looked at Xu Zhongtian. ”I told you before! A woman from an enemy nation, one who was brought to ruin by our own son! How could someone like that ever be willing to marry our Little Jie? But none of you listened! Not you, not His Majesty! Go on, bestow a marriage, he said! Bestow it! And now what? The bride’s vanished without a trace, hasn’t she? Heaven knows what corner she’s hiding in, plotting against us!”

Xu Zhongtian’s expression was also ugly, but he was ultimately more rational than his wife. He frowned slightly, thinking about Mo Yun’s reasons for fleeing the marriage.

Just then, the Champion Marquis’s wife’s older sister spoke up from the side, ”Dear sister, look, the procession to welcome the bride is about to leave. Now the bride has vanished. If we can’t bring a bride back, our family will lose all face!”

”That’s right, sister. Our face doesn’t matter, but brother-in-law’s honor is what’s most important!” the Champion Marquis’s wife’s younger sister added.

”Why don’t we... ask about that other marriage we arranged before? Hmph. Since that woman is so ungrateful and has caused us such immense embarrassment, why should we still marry her into our family? We’re better off without a woman like that!” Xu Zhongtian’s eldest sister said coldly from the side.

”Exactly! The woman is utterly shameless. We were willing to overlook the past and marry her into the family, but she throws a tantrum and pulls a disappearing act. We’re better off without her!”

”Right, we don’t want her!”

”Let her live to regret it!”

Everyone started talking at once, all pointing to a single idea: switch the bride!

These people had always had strong objections to Xu Jie marrying a foreign woman. It was only because Xu Jie was stubborn and deeply in love with Mo Yun that they never dared to bring it up in front of him. Now that they had the chance, they were naturally speaking their minds.

”You mean the young lady from the Liu Family?” The Champion Marquis’s wife wiped her eyes, hesitating. ”This... isn’t this a bit improper? Although the Liu Family has declined somewhat, they are still a respected scholarly family. For us to only think of them now because we can’t complete our own wedding... isn’t that a bit too much?”

Xu Zhongtian mumbled from the side, ”It’s not a bit too much. It’s extremely out of line.”

”You shut your mouth!” his wife snapped coldly. ”If you hadn’t indulged our son, would we be in this mess today?”

Xu Zhongtian’s mouth twitched slightly, but he didn’t say anything more. He just sighed and fell silent.

His wife tilted her head in thought, then said, ”Why don’t we... send someone to ask? No, forget it. For something like this, I’d better go myself!”

With that, she glanced at Xu Zhongtian. ”You’re coming with me! Otherwise, it won’t seem sincere enough!”

”Me?” Xu Zhongtian looked up, then shook his head frantically. ”I’m not going! I can’t afford the humiliation!”

”You won’t go? Fine, have it your way. When the whole world is laughing the Xu Family to death, don’t you dare sulk about it by yourself!” his wife said coldly.

”This... alright, fine... sigh...” Xu Zhongtian sighed and groaned, but immediately went with his wife to prepare gifts.

After waiting for a while, Xu Luo and the others finally received confirmation: the Xu Family... was going to switch the bride!

”They’re really switching her?” Xu Luo’s mouth twitched as he asked in disbelief.

”Yes, Third Master. There’s no other way. The Master and Madam have gone over together now, hoping to make it happen and bring a bride back. After all, countless guests have arrived, and I hear His Majesty is planning to attend as well. If this really gets botched...”

Su Qianqian and Little Fatty were listening from the side, completely dumbfounded. Although they had both suggested something similar, that... had just been talk, after all.

Marriage is a major life event, not child’s play. It’s a lifetime commitment.

Putting aside whether the other family would even agree, there was Xu Jie... currently kept in the dark like a fool, dreaming about his future happiness. If he learned the truth, what would he do?

The one speaking was the head steward of the Champion Marquis’s Mansion. He was quite familiar with Xu Luo, so he wasn’t being particularly careful with his words, nor was he keeping his voice down.

Just then, the door suddenly opened, revealing Xu Jie’s somewhat tense face. He looked at the group seriously. ”Did something happen?”

Little Fatty forced a laugh. ”Heh heh, just wait to be the groom. It’s your big day, what could possibly happen? Who would dare cause trouble at a time like this? Master Fatty would tear them apart!”

Xu Jie didn’t even look at Little Fatty, his eyes fixed on Xu Luo. ”Third Brother, come over here. I need to ask you something.”

A wry smile finally appeared on Xu Luo’s face as he thought to himself: ’Second Brother isn’t a fool. I’m afraid he already knows...’