Chapter 3 — Calling Off the Wedding at the Shen Estate

The malice and contempt in his eyes were no longer masked, bared for all to see.

"You base wretch, you dare strike me? Do you truly believe you are still that high-and-mighty princess of the past?"

"After today, who among the nobility will mention your name without laughing behind your back?"

"Look at yourself now. Do you honestly think anyone else would want you? The fact that I was willing to hold my nose and marry you is a blessing greater than heaven itself! Do not insist on drinking the bitter wine of refusal when the toast of grace has been offered!"

Having said this, he raised his hand, intending to grab my hair and drag me into the courtyard. Instinctively, I squeezed my eyes shut. Yet, the sharp sting of my scalp being torn never came. Instead, a sudden gust of wind whistled past my ear. A split second later, a horrific scream tore through the wedding hall.

"Argh—!"

Shen Yan’s wail echoed violently. I snapped my eyes open. A black-feathered arrow had pierced clean through his right hand, pinning his palm firmly against the red-lacquered pillar of the corridor. The matriarch’s expression shifted instantly, turning pale with shock.

"Assassins!"

Dozens of Black Armor guards immediately formed a defensive formation, their blades sliding from their scabbards with a chilling, metallic shriek. But before they could act, a dark silhouette descended from the rafters, wielding a massive longbow. The guards in the front line did not even have time to react before they were sent flying like kites with broken strings, crashing into their comrades behind them. Within a few shallow breaths, the black-clad figure stood directly before me. He delivered a brutal kick that sent Shen Yan—who was still shrieking beside me—sailing several yards away, where he slammed into the center table with a bone-jarring thud. Only then did the guests manage to get a clear look at the intruder, gasping in collective horror:

"It is the commander of the Northern Border Army, Marquis Yan Shuo!"

The Black Armor guards fell to their knees in terror. Yet, in Yan Shuo’s eyes, I was the only thing that existed. He shed his heavy cloak, wrapped it carefully around me, and pulled me into his protective embrace.

"Chang Le, I am late."

Shen Yan struggled to his feet, coughing up a mouthful of blood, and upon seeing who it was, his face drained of all color.

"Yan Shuo?! How are you here? You were supposed to be at the Northern Border! How did you return to the capital so quickly?"

Yan Shuo was too indifferent to even lift his eyelids. Seeing his silence, Shen Yan grew increasingly frantic, grit his teeth, and hissed, "Marquis, this is a private matter concerning the Shen household! The princess was married into our family by imperial decree; she is now a daughter-in-law of the Shen family. It is not for an outsider like you to interfere!"

The matriarch stepped forward, her face dark as she thumped her dragon-headed staff against the floor. "He is right. Regardless of your high standing, Marquis, you have no authority to meddle in our family affairs. I am the Matriarch of the An Kingdom! The Shen family is not some soft persimmon for you to squeeze at will!"

Yan Shuo finally raised his gaze. He swept a casual, contemptuous look over the two of them before settling his eyes on the matriarch. A cold, mocking smirk curled his lips.

"Old woman, just because you nursed a child with your milk, do you truly believe yourself to be the Empress Dowager? The Emperor might indulge you out of respect for that connection, but I? I never drank a drop of your milk. Whether you are the Matriarch of the An Kingdom or not, what has that to do with me?"

The matriarch’s face flushed a deep, bruised purple. "You—"

Before she could finish, Yan Shuo cut her off with icy precision. "Publicly humiliating the imperial family and slandering a princess of the first rank. Since when did such things become the 'private matters' of your family?"

He tightened his hold on me, his voice devoid of all warmth. "Today, I am taking the princess back to the palace. As for the Shen family, I shall settle accounts with you properly in the days to come."

With that, he turned to leave with me in his arms.

"Halt!" the matriarch roared.

In an instant, dozens of Black Armor guards surged forward, encircling the wedding hall until not even a drop of water could escape. The matriarch let out a cold, sharp laugh. "Marquis, this marriage was secured through the Shen family’s own merit in saving the Emperor. If you force her away now, are you prepared to face the charge of defying an imperial decree?"

She slammed her staff down, and the guards tightened their formation, the scent of blood and iron filling the air. "I know your martial prowess is unmatched under heaven. But even with a thousand hands and feet, burdened as you are with a princess who has no strength to truss a chicken, can you truly break through the Black Armor array?"

A flicker of lethal cruelty flashed in her eyes. "If you are determined to meddle in our affairs, then today… you shall not leave here alive."

At these words, I let out a chilling, sharp laugh of my own. "Is that so? Are you attempting to commit treason, Shen family?"

The matriarch acted as if she had heard a ridiculous joke. "A princess raised deep within the palace walls—how naive you truly are." She gripped her staff tightly, her aged eyes gleaming with malice. "Only the living have the right to debate right and wrong. The only person dying here today is the Marquis. As for the charge of rebellion..." she sneered darkly, "...that, naturally, will be pinned upon him. My family will simply be performing the duty of cleansing the court for the Emperor."

Yan Shuo suddenly burst into a low, terrifying laugh. "The Matriarch is quite right."

At that very moment, a deafening thunder of heavy iron hooves erupted from every direction outside the manor.