Chapter 67

Rong Mo frowned, his expression carrying a hint of displeasure. What was someone from the palace doing here at a time like this?

Were they here to demand accountability?

Cheng Ruyi, on the other hand, didn’t overthink it. She had always acted on whim—it was just receiving an imperial edict, no big deal. She had her servants touch up her appearance, and then she and Rong Mo, accompanied by Mo Xiang, headed to the main courtyard.

The person who had arrived this time was a trusted eunuch close to the Emperor. At the moment, he was sitting in the main hall sipping fragrant tea, with the Marquis of Changle and Rong Susu chatting along to keep him company.

One was eager to curry favor, while the other wanted to gauge the Emperor’s intentions, making for an incredibly lively conversation.

“My Lord, Madam, Young Mistress and Young Master Rong Mo have arrived!” Mo Lan quickly stepped inside to report.

The Marquis of Changle stopped talking, feeling like he hadn’t quite had his fill of the conversation.

Hearing this, the decree-bearing eunuch shook his sleeves and stood up, holding a bright yellow imperial edict.

“Marquis, it is time for this servant to read the decree!”

Rong Mo and Cheng Ruyi walked in side by side. One was in white and the other in red; one was tall and handsome, while the other was stunningly vibrant. They looked like a match made in heaven.

The eunuch secretly praised them in his heart.

The Marquis of Changle led his family to kneel down in an orderly manner. As the recipient of the decree, Cheng Ruyi knelt right at the very front.

The eunuch unfurled the bright yellow imperial edict, and his slightly high-pitched voice began to ring out.

“By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: The eldest legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Changle is of gentle nature, possessing both virtue and talent. She is hereby granted a batch of dowry gifts. Thus decreed.”

Cheng Ruyi was completely bewildered. “Gentle nature” and “possessing both virtue and talent”—she knew what those idioms meant, but was that really describing her?

By the time the eunuch handed the imperial edict over to her, Cheng Ruyi was still utterly dazed. However, upon hearing the eunuch say, “Miss Cheng, this is a dowry the Emperor specifically bestowed upon you. Here is the inventory list, please inspect and accept it,” she snapped out of her daze and instantly perked up.

A dowry! A dowry bestowed by the Emperor himself!

“Thank you, Eunuch!”

With her heart bursting with joy, Cheng Ruyi immediately slipped a feather-light pouch into his hand.

The eunuch accepted it with a beaming smile.

He had heard all about this eldest young lady’s exploits. A pouch this light was bound to contain banknotes, and a single banknote would be worth at least a hundred taels.

How incredibly generous!

Right in front of the eunuch, Cheng Ruyi impatiently handed the inventory list to Mo Xiang, telling her to take some people outside to count the items.

Rong Mo watched this scene with a smile.

He was a bit surprised by the meaning behind the Emperor’s move. It seemed the Emperor approved of Ruyi’s actions as well, which was a good sign.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Mo Xiang came back inside to report the results of the check.

“Everything is accounted for, without a single error!”

The eunuch took a sip of his tea, stood up, glanced at the bright-eyed Eldest Miss Cheng, and said with a smile, “Since the counting is done, my mission is complete. I must return to the palace; His Majesty is still waiting for my report.”

“Safe travels, Eunuch!”

The Marquis of Changle said with a smile, then ordered the servants to see the eunuch out.

Once the eunuch left, the Marquis of Changle immediately rushed out to the courtyard. Looking at the yard packed with chests, his eyes practically turned into dollar signs.

“Daughter, you’re about to strike it rich!”

Rong Susu was genuinely delighted. With a dowry bestowed by the Emperor, who wouldn’t envy her daughter’s incredible luck?

“Dad, I struck it rich a long time ago. But when it comes to gold, silver, and jewels, the more the merrier! Besides, I still give the Emperor thirty pills of divine medicine for free every month!” Cheng Ruyi tilted her chin up proudly.

“You’re right, daughter. These things from the Emperor can’t even compare to the value of our divine medicine.”

The Marquis of Changle chuckled. Looking into the chests, he saw pairs of jade ruyi scepters, a dazzling array of hairpieces and jewelry, jade pieces, pearls, and luminous night-pearls. There were no medicinal herbs or calligraphy paintings in sight—clearly, the Emperor thoroughly understood his daughter’s tastes.

Looking at the courtyard full of glittering gold, silver, and jewels, Rong Mo shook his head in amusement.

This dowry from the Emperor had hit his little fiancée’s sweet spot perfectly.

No sooner had the eunuch left the Marquis of Changle’s estate than the news of the Emperor bestowing a massive dowry on Cheng Ruyi spread like wildfire through every street and alleyway. Needless to say, people were green with envy, but more importantly, everyone was analyzing the deeper meaning behind the Emperor’s gesture.

No one had forgotten that Eldest Miss Cheng had exposed a royal scandal that morning, dragging the royal family’s reputation through the mud. Yet by the afternoon, the Emperor had sent rewards.

The Emperor truly spoiled the Marquis of Changle’s family.

But upon closer thought, it made perfect sense. Rong Mo was the biological son of Prince Rong, making him a member of the royal family after all. Even though the Lin family had Old Master Lin—a tutor to two generations of emperors—they were still outsiders.

To expect someone from the royal family to take the fall for the Lin family’s “calamity star”…

The Lin family sure had some nerve!

The Emperor’s attitude offered a glimmer of hope to the Lin family, who were desperate to catch any liferaft they could.

For the sake of the family, Old Master Lin cast his pride aside and paid a visit to the estate, happening to run into Luo Fei who was also there.

Looking at the weeping, elderly Master Lin, the Marquis of Changle and the others fell silent.

To put it frankly, almost all the culprits had met their retribution. In particular, the family of the disgraced Marquis of Chongyang—the maiden family of the old matriarch Lin—had already been exiled to a harsh, freezing wasteland. Whether they could even survive the massive natural disasters predicted for the next two years was highly debatable.

Aside from Old Master Lin acting as an accomplice twenty years ago, the rest of the Lin family couldn’t really be called culprits. They could be considered innocently dragged into the mess. But did that mean Rong Mo deserved to die?

Cheng Ruyi didn’t regret leaking the truth in the slightest. However, she wasn’t a cold-blooded monster who wanted hundreds of people in the Lin family to be buried with the dead.

“Old Master Lin, whether Rong Mo acknowledges you or not won’t solve the Lin family’s crisis. You’d be better off directly scratching that calamity star daughter of yours and your first wife off the family tree, moving their graves out of your ancestral land, and making the truth public. That might actually yield some results.”

Cheng Ruyi didn’t want Rong Mo to have anything to do with the Lin family at all. When the Lin family possessed overwhelming power, it had nothing to do with him; now that they were cornered, it shouldn’t involve him either.

It was better to just be familiar strangers.

This would save her beloved from facing the wrath of a furious, irrational populace later on.

She was just that fiercely protective and petty.

Rong Mo nodded and said in a calm, detached tone, “Ruyi is right. Please return, Old Master. Instead of pinning your hopes on me, it would be wiser to cut off a diseased limb to save the body. The Lin family might still have room to turn things around.”

The entire tragedy had originated from the old matriarch Lin and the fake princess. Having thrown off the scapegoat mantle and cleared his birth mother’s name, Rong Mo didn’t want to keep pushing them into a corner.

Even a cornered dog will leap over a wall, let alone the deeply rooted and heavily branched Lin family.

A starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

With a massive natural disaster on the horizon, there was no need to cause unnecessary casualties.

The lives of the common people were still lives!

However, the Lin family’s previous actions disgusted Rong Mo, and he had no intention of claiming these relatives.

Old Master Lin fell silent. Previously, he had sacrificed his own blood for the greater good of the family; now, for the sake of the Lin family’s survival, he had to expel his wife and daughter from the clan.

Reclaiming Rong Mo as his grandson hadn’t actually been Old Master Lin’s main purpose in coming today. He had primarily wanted to confirm whether Rong Mo truly harbored a deep-seated hatred for the Lin family and wished for their demise.

If Rong Mo had indeed wanted them destroyed, Old Master Lin would have had no choice but to send the family’s talented young men away and launch a desperate final counterattack before his death. But Rong Mo’s words made it clear that he wouldn’t misdirect his anger at the rest of the clan.

Yet, he still resented the wife and daughter.

Old Master Lin was a decisive man, and he immediately made up his mind.

When he left the Marquis of Changle’s estate, his steps were somewhat faltering, and his entire form radiated a profound desolation.

Rong Mo pursed his lips and looked away.

Old Master Lin was indeed ruthless enough. Upon his return, he immediately struck the old matriarch Lin and Lin Minran off the family tree, moved their graves out of the ancestral land to a random burial spot, and then sent people to steer public opinion.

Throughout this process, Rong Mo didn’t interfere, nor did Prince Rong. The royal family remained silent, and seeing the tide turn, the Lin family’s rivals stopped kicking them while they were down.

The common people, who were easily swayed to begin with, stopped hounding the Lin family.

Since the major natural disaster hadn’t broken out yet, a trace of leniency still lingered in the hearts of the public.

After this ordeal, the Lin family finally managed to temporarily resolve their crisis, though their influence had plummeted significantly, and the public still held little affection for them.

The daughters of the Lin family who had married out were also heavily affected; some were even divorced by their husbands, and those who weren’t faced a miserable existence at home.

As for the women who had married into the Lin family, they could only pray for the best. They could opt for a mutual divorce if they wanted, though things hadn’t gotten quite that dire yet.

Perhaps once the natural disasters hit and people grew desperate and wild, the Lin family would still become a target for their venting rage.

However, by that time, the Lin family would have defensive measures in place, which would drastically reduce casualties.

With that, the chapter on the Lin family drew to a temporary close.

Rong Mo’s name was officially entered into the royal genealogy, changing his name to Chu Rongmo, and Prince Rong even requested the title of Heir Apparent for him.

In the blink of an eye, late autumn had arrived, bringing with it Cheng Ruyi’s wedding day.

The Marquis of Changle’s estate was decked out in red silk everywhere. The servants were bustling about as carriage after carriage of ingredients was delivered to the estate. Everyone’s face was flushed with joy, and the wedding of the eldest young lady was the talk of every street and alley.

Many guessed that since Young Master Rong Mo was now the Heir Apparent of Prince Rong, the wedding would have to follow royal protocols, making for a grand and majestic spectacle.

Little did they know, neither Rong Mo nor Cheng Ruyi gave a damn about those old men in the imperial clan. The wedding would be held exactly how they wanted it; Cheng Ruyi had zero patience for those tedious, archaic rules.

Even after marriage, Cheng Ruyi and Rong Mo planned to live between both estates.

Though it was a bit unconventional, neither the Emperor, Prince Rong, nor the Marquis of Changle said a word. No matter how much those rigid elders of the imperial clan disagreed, they ultimately had to compromise.

The Marquis of Changle’s family simply couldn’t be viewed through the lens of common sense.

However, the main wedding ceremony absolutely had to be held at Prince Rong’s estate.

To this, Cheng Ruyi and Rong Mo agreed.

In the days leading up to the big event, Cheng Ruyi was exceptionally happy, her smile radiant every single day. She was getting married—that thrilling, exhilarating feeling was simply beyond words.

At this moment, Cheng Ruyi was flipping through a hidden booklet her biological mother, Rong Susu, had given her to pack at the bottom of her wedding chest.

The booklet was filled with beautifully drawn, hazy illustrations of “fairies fighting”—it looked incredibly intense and came with explanatory text.

Cheng Ruyi was reading it with absolute relish.

Before the apocalypse, she had only been five years old, so she couldn’t possibly have encountered such things. After the apocalypse, most videos of that nature had long vanished. Growing up, Cheng Ruyi had only ever seen smuggled adult novels, but she had never seen an illustrated book of real-life action before.

“Miss, so many people have come to present wedding gifts these past few days. Today, another noble lady came to add to your dowry,” Mo Xiang walked in panting, carrying a large chest, her face bright with a joyful smile.

Everyone knew their young mistress loved gold, silver, and jewels. Aside from a few embroidered pouches and handkerchiefs, the dowry gifts delivered were almost exclusively jewelry. Miss Wang Ying had sent a pouch she embroidered herself, which was stunning.

As a general’s daughter, Wang Ying wasn’t well-versed in the arts, but she possessed a pair of clever hands and made exceptionally beautiful pouches.

The young mistress loved her embroidered pouches.

Deeply engrossed in her reading, Cheng Ruyi didn’t even raise her head as she said, “Log it in the ledger and put it in the storeroom.”

Mo Xiang’s lips twitched slightly. “…”

She knew it. For the past two days, her mistress had been studying that little booklet, paying absolutely no attention to anything else.

After putting the large chest away, Mo Xiang looked at the massive storeroom specifically cleared out for wedding gifts, which was now bursting at the seams. She felt a massive sense of accomplishment; she hadn’t expected her mistress to be so popular.

Young Master Rong Mo had returned to Prince Rong’s estate a few days ago to prepare. She had originally worried that the young mistress would be lonely or unhappy, but to her surprise, the mistress was perfectly capable of entertaining herself, staying full of energy every single day.

As night fell over Prince Rong’s estate…

Rong Mo stood by the window frame, gazing out at the bright, clear moon in the sky. Tomorrow, his little fiancée would become his wife. He had waited long enough for this day.

Lately, whenever the night grew quiet, he would toss and turn, his mind entirely consumed by his little fiancée’s smiling face, leaving him unable to sleep peacefully night after night.

After a long while, he turned back into the study. From a drawer, he pulled out a thick, exquisitely crafted picture book. His distinct, elegant fingers flipped open the pages, revealing clear illustrations of men and women intertwined in various complex positions, depicted with intense intimacy.

This wasn’t his first time looking at this book.

Yet, his reaction during the previous viewings had been nowhere near as intense as it was tonight.

The moment he thought of tomorrow’s bridal chamber night, Rong Mo couldn’t help the fluttering sensation in his chest, his heart thumping wildly.

Looks like another sleepless night ahead!

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