Chapter 238: Breaking Sheng Shiwen’s Leg
The emcee hired by the Song Family for the wedding was quite surprised to see the groom return with a girl in a white dress on his bike.
He’d been officiating weddings for decades and had never once seen a bride wear white!
But that was none of his business. He was just the emcee hired by the Song Family, and his job was to welcome the bride.
A square table sat at the entrance to the Song Family’s courtyard, holding a bowl of rice and a black umbrella.
As Song Zijin stopped his bicycle, someone waiting at the gate set off a string of firecrackers.
The Song Family’s third great-aunt, known for her good fortune, was responsible for presenting the black umbrella to the bride. She didn’t recognize the bride.
Since her grandnephew had brought the girl back, she had to be the bride. The great-aunt picked up the prepared black umbrella, opened it, and was about to hand it to Jiang Ruyan.
Song Qianqian shouted in surprise, "Third Great-Aunt, that’s not the bride!"
The emcee had already grabbed a handful of rice, ready to sprinkle it over the black umbrella to welcome the bride into the courtyard.
The shout startled him, making his hand tremble and spill the rice all over the ground.
Meanwhile, the Song Family’s third great-aunt froze, holding the large black umbrella, unsure of what to do.
The person in charge of the firecrackers couldn’t hear Song Qianqian, so he just kept setting them off with gusto.
Hearing the firecrackers, the people inside the courtyard figured it was time for the bride and groom to bow to Heaven and Earth and should be coming in any moment.
’The emcee should be quickly arranging for the bride and groom to come in for the second bow to the elders. Why isn’t anything happening?’
’The ceremony has to be finished before 12:30 to be auspicious! This emcee is so unreliable!’
So, many guests braved the scorching sun and went outside to see what was happening.
As soon as they stepped outside, they heard the gossip. "This is crazy! The bride isn’t here yet, and the groom came back first with Divine Doctor Jiang’s granddaughter!"
"All the firecrackers have been set off. Why isn’t the bride here yet?"
Just then, a young cousin from the Song Family, part of the bridal escort, came pedaling back furiously on his bicycle.
He was shouting anxiously, "Grandma! Grandma! Did you welcome the wrong bride?"
The rest of the escort party was behind Song Zijin because they never dreamed he would leave ahead of them.
They had been stunned for a moment and fallen behind. The spot where Sheng Yueyue and Jiang Ruyan had been fighting was very close to the Song Family’s home.
At that moment, a cousin from the Song Family also arrived, carrying Sheng Yueyue on his bike. Sheng Yueyue deftly hopped off.
She darted in front of the person holding the black umbrella. She had been married in a past life, so she knew the procedure.
Neither Jiang Ruyan nor Song Zijin had ever been married, so they didn’t know what to do next and simply stood where they were.
The Song’s third great-aunt was an exceptionally clever woman. She was particularly pleased to see Sheng Yueyue dressed in red.
So she immediately held the large black umbrella over Sheng Yueyue’s head and led her toward the square table.
She then shouted to her grandnephews, "Quickly! Bring the groom over here to bow to Heaven and Earth."
A bewildered Song Zijin was pulled to Sheng Yueyue’s side by his cousins. He knew the situation was now irreversible.
The emcee, recovering quickly, chanted the ceremonial words, grabbed another handful of rice, and sprinkled it on the black umbrella. "Bride and Groom, first bow to Heaven and Earth!"
Then, supported by the crowd, the bride and groom entered the main hall to bow to the elders.
Sheng Yueyue glanced back at Jiang Ruyan with a sneer, looking like a triumphant rooster that had just won a fight.
Stepping in her high heels, she swaggered into the main hall with her head held high, as if she owned the place.
This left Jiang Ruyan standing alone under the scorching sun, wailing her eyes out.
Inside the main hall, the emcee’s voice boomed, "Second bow to the elders! Bow to each other!"
Then the emcee took the stage to give a speech, announcing the newlyweds as husband and wife, and sending them off to the bridal chamber.
No one noticed whether the couple had finished before 12:30. All these rituals should have been accompanied by the sound of firecrackers.
But since the firecrackers had already been used up, the scene was eerily quiet, filled only with Jiang Ruyan’s sobs and the murmuring of the crowd.
A relative from the Song Family muttered, "The firecrackers for welcoming the bride have all been set off. Is it still auspicious to hold the wedding like this?"
"Hey, you, the one with the firecrackers! Why did you set them off early?"
"How was I supposed to know what the groom was thinking? He didn’t even have the bride with him! It was an honest mistake!"
"Right, right. You can’t blame him. It’s not like he knows the bride."
"Whoa! Divine Doctor Jiang’s granddaughter fainted!" a child suddenly shouted.
Whether from anger or the heat, Jiang Ruyan truly fainted this time. A gentleman gracefully caught her.
Divine Doctor Jiang was already so furious with his granddaughter he could have spat blood. His apprentice, Doctor Sun, had already helped him inside to rest.
Afraid of disturbing his elderly master, Doctor Sun immediately rushed out to check Jiang Ruyan’s pulse.
"Get her to the hospital, quick! She has heatstroke." When he first heard she’d collapsed, he’d assumed Jiang Ruyan was faking it.
’In his opinion, people who feigned illness were just trying to cause trouble for doctors and didn’t deserve any sympathy. But who would’ve thought she actually had heatstroke?’
In reality, Jiang Ruyan didn’t have heatstroke. She woke up as soon as she was put on an IV drip at the hospital.
She had been fraught with anxiety ever since returning from the war zone, and just yesterday, she’d had a scare from Su Shuochi.
Today, she had suffered one blow after another. The combination of shock and regret was what made her faint.
She regretted faking that faint on the way to the wedding when Song Zijin had come to pick her up.
’I was already abandoned by my eldest uncle, and now my reputation in Qing City is ruined. How am I supposed to face anyone!’
’That damned cripple Su Shuochi! This is all his fault. I’ll make him pay.’
’And that bitch Sheng Yueyue, daring to steal my man! I won’t let her get away with it, either.’
’So what if they’re married? Just like that cripple said, if I break that bitch’s legs first, how can they possibly be happy?’
The more Jiang Ruyan stewed, the angrier she became. She ripped the IV needle out of her arm and stormed out of the hospital. ’I have to go break her legs!’ She had plenty of admirers in their housing compound who would help.
Meanwhile, Sheng Yueyue, the object of Jiang Ruyan’s hatred, was already happily making the rounds and toasting the guests with Song Zijin.
When Mr. and Mrs. Sheng rushed over to the Song Family’s home, they saw their daughter in the middle of bowing to Heaven and Earth with Song Zijin.
They quietly slipped away and went straight home. According to Qing City custom, the bride’s parents do not see her off at the wedding.
Second Uncle Sheng and Aunt Sheng, along with their children, Sheng Shiwen, Sheng Shiwu, the married aunts of the Sheng Family, and all the cousins remained at the Song Family’s home for the banquet.
They were the bridal escort, and they had witnessed everything Song Zijin and Sheng Yueyue did from start to finish.
’Neither of them is an easy person to deal with,’ they thought. ’On top of that, this wedding was so inauspicious. Not only were there no firecrackers, but they also missed the auspicious time.’
But that was none of their business. The Song Family’s wedding banquet was especially lavish, so they decided to just eat, drink, and stay quiet.
Just as everyone was eating and drinking merrily, Jiang Ruyan ran up to the bride with several young men in tow.
Jiang Ruyan raised a wooden club and swung it viciously at Sheng Yueyue’s legs.
Sheng Shiwen was sitting some distance away from Sheng Yueyue, but he saw Jiang Ruyan the moment she rushed in with the club.
He reached Sheng Yueyue’s side at the same instant as Jiang Ruyan and took the full force of the blow for her.
Though Jiang Ruyan had been spoiled into arrogance by the Jiang Family, she was by no means an ignorant good-for-nothing.
She was ambitious and had actually put in some real effort into her studies.
She was dead set on breaking Sheng Yueyue’s legs, so the blow was forceful enough to actually break Sheng Shiwen’s leg.