Chapter 3: Chapter 1: Personally Bestowed Hehuan Pill

Inside the bridal chamber, the scarlet "Double Happiness" characters were everywhere. Red gauze draped gracefully, sandalwood incense curled fragrantly, red candles wept tears of wax.

Today, the marriage between the Empress's legitimate son, Qin Yunhong, and the Xia family's Third Miss, Xia Zibing, was decreed by the Empress herself. Yet on this very wedding day, the Fourth Prince simultaneously took the Xia family's Eldest Miss, Xia Yuerou, as a consort.

All the world knew the Xia family's Third Miss and Eldest Miss were worlds apart.

One: plain of appearance, chronically frail, skin sallow as wax. She bore the title of Third Miss of the Xia family in name only—a thorough waste. Utterly useless, no one understood why the Empress had bestowed this marriage, granting such heavy favor.

One: excelled in zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Truly possessed of heavenly beauty and national grace, renowned as the "Number One Beauty Under Heaven."

The former was precisely the Xia family's infamous waste of a miss.

She naturally knew that the ever-lofty Fourth Prince harbored a thousand reluctances toward marrying the Xia family's Third Miss today.

Yet Xia Zibing still wore her red wedding attire, the veil unlifted. She sat quietly on the edge of the bed, not daring the slightest slackness.

*Creak.*

The door was pushed open. Moments later, a figure stepped inside. Indistinctly, the newcomer wore scarlet wedding robes. His gait was composed and proper, bearing the aura of royalty. Then, the newcomer lifted Xia Zibing's veil.

"Fourth... Prince."

Clearly, Xia Zibing's voice held utter shock. Her fourteen-year-old cheeks had not yet lost their childish roundness.

"Hmph..." Qin Yunhong's lips curled, flashing a trace of mockery.

Thereafter, his red robe settled onto the sandalwood chair. His bearing was extraordinary.

Beside him, Xia Zibing twisted her衣角 in panic, at a loss for what to do.

After a long while, Qin Yunhong's lips held a smile. Holding a cup of wine, he walked slowly toward her. The corners of his eyes held infinite gloom.

"Drink it!"

That tone was purely a command, brooking no question from Xia Zibing.

"..."

Xia Zibing's bleak gaze fixed straight on Qin Yunhong. She bit her lip, uncertain whether to accept this cup of wine.

"This King told you to drink!"

With that, he impatiently pinched Xia Zibing's cheeks, rudely pouring the wine down her throat. Xia Zibing, helpless, could only let Qin Yunhong manipulate her.

The cup fell. Tears had already spilled from the corners of Xia Zibing's eyes. She fell back onto the bed, her eyes hollow and lifeless.

Qin Yunhong looked at this woman—dull eyes, sallow skin, emaciated body. In his view, any random maid in the prince's manor was superior to this woman. The Empress Dowager had personally designated this woman as his principal consort, but from head to toe, he could not see where she was fit for the three words "Fourth Prince's Consort."

Moments later, unknowingly, a scorching heat rose within Xia Zibing's body. Hotter and hotter, until finally, she could bear it no longer.

"Fourth Prince, you... what did you make me drink?"

Xia Zibing summoned her courage to ask.

Qin Yunhong did not answer, merely watching the foolish woman before him from afar. She didn't even know what she had eaten—truly laughable.

Xia Zibing endured with all her might. At this moment, she missed the Pear Garden. Though she ate food unfit for pigs and dogs daily, at least Mother was there. Thinking and thinking, she gradually lost sensation.

"Ugh..."

Xia Zibing's cheeks flushed crimson. She lay on the bed like a marionette. Her heart raced violently, seemingly ten times faster than usual. Life, like a plate of loose sand.

"Ling Qiu, enter."

Qin Yunhong's lips curved in a satisfied arc as he called toward the outside.

The Empress Dowager wanted him to consummate the marriage with this woman? Fine! He would consummate it for her to see.

"Master!"

Ling Qiu entered and performed a respectful bow.