Chapter 2: Go Along with the Mistake

Yan Haitang choked up. The wedding attendant had said that during the drinking of the nuptial wine, the bride must be covered by her veil, and after that, everything was a blur...

After pondering for a moment, she finally said, "I drank the wine and fell into a deep sleep."

"Oh, truly?" Seeing her eyes flickering uncertainly, Yan Funing asked, "Then what about the Eldest Young Master?"

Fu Minghe, dressed neatly, also stepped out of the room.

He saw Yan Funing at a glance; she was exquisitely beautiful and captivating.

Even with a bump on her forehead, it did not diminish her breathtakingly beautiful face.

His bride should have been her. Fu Minghe steadied himself for a moment before looking toward Fu Ciyi: "Why did Second Brother fail to discover the mistake with the bride sooner?"

Fu Ciyi smoothed his sleeve: "How did Eldest Brother not notice?"

Fu Minghe: "You!"

Fu Ciyi's gaze was as cold as water, his voice indifferent: "She was covered by a veil; I did not see her face."

Fu Minghe asked again, "Did you two drink the nuptial wine?"

Fu Ciyi: "We did not."

Yan Funing: "The Second Young Master and I did not drink the nuptial wine. I have come here now because I wish to rectify the situation."

Yan Haitang stared straight at Fu Ciyi and nodded, "It is only midnight; it is still early before dawn. Let us switch back."

Fu Minghe pondered for a long while but did not speak, which served as a tacit agreement.

Just then, a maidservant emerged from the bridal chamber carrying a bloodstained bridal handkerchief.

"The Eldest Young Master and Miss Yan have already consummated their marriage!"

Having said that, without regard for the expressions of the four masters, she clutched the handkerchief and headed toward the main courtyard of the West Wing.

Yan Funing frowned in surprise; it turned out that when Yan Haitang said "fell into a deep sleep," she actually slept.

Among the four present, two had become a real married couple, and she had already formed a deep grudge and conflict with Fu Ciyi earlier...

What was to be done in such a situation?

The maidservant quickly summoned the Second Old Master and the Second Old Madam.

"One pair has already consummated their marriage; we can only let the error stand," the Second Old Master said in a heavy voice.

Yan Haitang, however, was unwilling to submit: "If the one who performed the wedding ceremony with me was the Second Young Master, but the one who consummated the marriage with me was the Eldest Young Master, what then should be done?"

The second branch's elderly couple were the parents of the County Magistrate, making them Fu Minghe's biological grandparents.

In front of them, she could not say that she was in love with Fu Ciyi.

The courtyard fell into a momentary silence.

After a moment, the Second Old Madam took Yan Haitang's hand: "After the wedding ceremony, the bride is sent to the bridal chamber. The problem could only have occurred when the bride was stepping down from the sedan chair."

The implication was that the one who performed the ceremony with Yan Haitang was Fu Minghe.

Yan Haitang said aggrievedly, "But Second Sister dislikes the Second Young Master. Disregarding a man's dignity and prestige, she arrogantly broke off the engagement. Even so, can the bride not be switched back?"

The Second Old Master's cloudy eyes swept toward Fu Ciyi: "Originally, the Second Miss Yan was matched with Ciyi. The current situation proves that they indeed have a predestined bond."

As for whether it was a cursed bond, that was none of his business.

Fu Ciyi was not his biological grandson, after all.

——

Since things had reached this point, Yan Funing had no choice but to return to the East Wing with Fu Ciyi.

On the way, she murmured to herself, "The problem occurred when stepping down from the sedan chair..."

The Yan family was marrying off two daughters on the same day; their sedan chairs were identical, and their wedding dresses were the same.

When stepping down from the sedan chairs to enter the gates, they had refused to yield to one another. After a bout of shoving, both had fallen.

Although Yan Funing was domineering, she was delicate and soft. Because she hit her forehead during the fall, she had fallen into a coma after the ceremony and before being sent to the bridal chamber.

Fu Ciyi's brow furrowed slightly. At that time, after the two Yan daughters fell, they were helped up, and a wedding attendant had pressed a red silk ribbon into his hand.

After entering the bridal chamber, she had lost consciousness, and he had left by flicking his sleeves.

A woman who faints from a single fall—so delicate and fragile—he did not like such a type!

He had not expected at all that she was Yan Funing.

Suddenly, Yan Funing recalled, "When entering the gate, someone intentionally tripped me!"

Fu Ciyi: "Are you certain?"

Yan Funing nodded: "Absolutely certain. The person who tripped me was wearing plum-colored embroidered shoes."

Fu Ciyi frowned; the wedding attendants were indeed wearing plum-colored dresses and embroidered shoes today.

After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the two returned to the room.

Yan Funing asked in confusion, "How did Eldest Sister and the Eldest Young Master not notice the mistake?"

And they had even consummated the marriage.

Fu Ciyi said indifferently, "The wine."

Yan Funing hurriedly checked the unconsumed nuptial wine. As expected, it had been tampered with.

Presumably, the nuptial wine in the West Wing was the same.

Because she was unconscious, someone was unable to drink the nuptial wine with her; the aphrodisiac on his body was likely administered to him during the banquet.

And because she was unconscious, someone might have also been drugged, which was why they ended up lying together.

It seemed that the switching of the brides was a setup by the Fu family!

The goal was to ensure that at least one of the two new couples consummated their marriage on their wedding night, making it impossible to switch them back.

To encounter such a thorny problem immediately upon transmigrating—and even more thorny was, how was she supposed to get along with this man?

"Second Young Master, we have a prior grievance." She pulled at the corners of her lips, trying her best to smile naturally, "How about..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Fu Ciyi raised his hand to interrupt her.

"The marriage contract was set by my grandparents."

Since tonight's conspiracy had nothing to do with her, he suddenly changed his mind.

Yan Funing's smile froze: "Did I not break off our engagement? The marriage certificate was torn up."

Fu Ciyi said without emotion, "My copy still exists."

His grandparents had raised him, and furthermore, this woman had broken the engagement first; now that she wanted an immediate divorce, he would simply not grant her wish.

Yan Funing knit her brows: "You mean, we are currently husband and wife?"

Fu Ciyi: "Yes."

Yan Funing held her breath.

In the book, she was merely a cannon fodder female supporting character, to be imprisoned and tortured by him, an ant he could kill at will.

But now, he said they were husband and wife.

Who would save her?

Fu Ciyi glanced at her, stepped away, and returned a moment later, handing her a sheet of Xuan paper.

"I have written a divorce agreement."

"A divorce agreement?"

"Automatic divorce after two years," his voice was very faint.

Yan Funing took the paper to read it.

*Hiss*, this man wrote in traditional characters.

That made sense; ancients naturally wrote in traditional characters.

As a soul from the modern era, if a single traditional character were pulled out, she might not recognize it or might be unsure of what it was.

But with traditional characters written into an article, she could roughly understand the meaning.

On the divorce agreement, it indeed clearly stated that they would automatically divorce after two years.

Seeing her knit her brows while reading for a long time, Fu Ciyi said, "I almost forgot you are illiterate."

Yan Funing's lip twitched. She was a modern Master, after all, yet she was being called illiterate by an ancient person.

Fu Ciyi waited quietly with a cold, dark face.

He waited for her to become aggressive as she had at the entrance of the literary society, to mercilessly ridicule him, trample on his pride, and clamor for an immediate divorce.

To his surprise—

Yan Funing carefully folded the Xuan paper: "Since the situation has been created, then let us divorce in two years."

Given his personality, agreeing to a divorce in two years was already a rarity.

If they divorced immediately after the wedding, it would only cause him to lose all face; perhaps his retaliation would be even more terrifying than in the book.

Yan Funing couldn't help but shiver and walked to the dressing table to sit down.

Only then did she see herself in the mirror; her appearance was exactly the same as her modern self.

Back in the modern era, her best friend always said she was excessively beautiful, that every frown and smile seemed to enchant people. Looking at herself now in her bridal makeup, she was indeed quite beautiful.

It was just that the bump on her forehead was very conspicuous. She touched it lightly with her fingertip.

"Ugh, it hurts..."

Her voice was charming, the end of the sentence drawn out, containing a hint of a sob within the sorrow.

This voice, these words, and being inside the bridal chamber...

A flicker of something seemed to pass through Fu Ciyi's calm eyes, but it instantly settled, leaving only disgust.

(End of Chapter)