Chapter 4 — The Wedding Veil Still Cold, Loyal Bonds Severed

Instantly, before his astonished eyes, I swung my leg and kicked him viciously in the kneecap. Caught entirely off guard, a sharp gasp of agony escaped his lips as he collapsed heavily onto the cold stone floor. Looking down at his face, now twisted with rage and humiliation, I spoke in a voice devoid of warmth:

An apology is an apology, but who on earth asked you to spew such nauseating nonsense.

The moment those words left my mouth, two robust guards emerged smoothly from the surrounding shadows, forcing Han to bow deeply before me. Their movements were swift and merciless; despite his frantic writhing and desperate attempts to resist, he was entirely powerless against them. Not until he was thoroughly forced into a prostrate kowtow did the two men release their grip, slipping back into the milling crowd as stealthily as ghosts, leaving no trace behind. Furious to the point of madness, Han shrieked at the top of his lungs, demanding that the guards be hunted down and hacked into a thousand pieces, while his glare burned into me with enough malice to turn me to ash.

Shen Yu, you treacherous wretch, how dare you subject me to such public humiliation!

He roared, but I merely raised my voice to drown him out:

Han, do not forget that you and that shameless creature were the ones who degraded me first!

Even though I harbor not an ounce of affection left for you, nor wish to maintain the slightest shred of association with scum of your caliber, the debts you owe me must be settled in full!

With that, I pivoted sharply to fix my gaze upon Ning Wan Er.

Han has already offered his apology. Now, it is your turn.

Ning eyes widened in utter disbelief, her voice shrill as she protested that she had never signed any such pledge, demanding by what right she should apologize to me. My voice dropped to an icy chill:

Naturally, for the clandestine filth you have spent your days orchestrating.

With a knee-jerk reaction born of guilt, Ning assumed I was referring to her premarital pregnancy, her cheeks flushing an angry crimson as she shot back:

Han and I are bound by true, unwavering love. I owe no explanations whatsoever to an outsider like you.

She went on to accuse me, claiming that since I had already chosen to sever all ties with the Han family, my refusal to let go could only mean one thing—that I was still hopelessly pining for Han, utterly unable to stomach the bitter sting of being cast aside. I allowed her to run her mouth to the bitter end before raising a hand to signal a middle-aged couple to step forward. They were none other than the very people Ning had previously hired to spread vicious and unfounded rumors about me. The haughty, arrogant expression vanished from Ning face in a single heartbeat, replaced by a ghastly pallor and eyes swimming with sheer panic. She leaned over, whispering frantically into Han ear, which instantly prompted him to wheel around and glare murderously at the couple, barking:

Today my estate is honored by the presence of esteemed guests; how dare lowborn vagrants wander our grounds at will? Someone toss these trespassers out at once!

But his desperate efforts came a fraction too second too late. As the officers of the capital magistrate court swarmed the courtyard, sealing every exit, a collective gasp of shock rippled through the assembled crowd. The faces of the Han family turned the color of ash, demanding furiously if this was some elaborate trap of my design. I gave a subtle nod, my demeanor serene and unshakeable:

Indeed, it was I who brought the authorities here.

I was never some gentle, docile creature meant to be trampled upon at a whim. Ning shattered my marriage alliance and cowardly plotted behind my back to shred my reputation to pieces. From the very day the engagement was broken, I had dispatched investigators to quietly unearth her father past. Had the Ning family been upright and honorable, my hands would have been tied; alas, her father was no virtuous official. Throughout his tenure in the local magistracy, he had plundered the common folk, amassed fortunes through embezzlement, and openly bought and sold official posts for bribes. Bribing his way upward, he eventually bought his way into a prestigious post in the capital. Far from reigning in his greed, he grew even more brazen once Ning successfully sank her claws into the young marquis. Leveraging the considerable prestige of the marquis estate, he ran illicit loan sharking rings, culminating in a homicide only recently. I had gathered watertight evidence and lined up faultless witnesses, waiting precisely for the day Ning was welcomed into the Han household to deliver a devastating blow. While I was causing a scene at the wedding ceremony, my most trusted confidant had already delivered the complete dossier of evidence directly to the magistrate. Her father had already been dragged into custody; according to the officers, he was stubbornly refusing to confess, shifting the blame entirely regarding the loan sharking operations by claiming that every single asset and financial account was managed solely by his precious daughter. He swore that whatever crimes had been committed had nothing whatsoever to do with him. Consequently, the magistrate had no choice but to dispatch officers directly to the marquis estate to haul Ning in for interrogation, alongside investigating the formal charges I had lodged against her for malicious defamation. Upon hearing the officers' stern pronouncement, Ning trembled uncontrollably from head to toe, her knees buckling as she nearly collapsed into Han arms. She shook her head in frantic denial:

My father has always been an upright and incorruptible official! This is nothing more than a malicious framing!

She babbled further, claiming she had never once meddled in household affairs and that her aging father must have simply been frightened out of his wits into uttering nonsense. As she spoke, she cowered further behind Han, terrified of being clapped in irons. Heartbroken, Han pulled her protectively against his chest, shooting a venomous glare at the officers, demanding they thoroughly investigate the matter before ever daring to question her, attempting to use the grand wedding ceremony as a shield to force the soldiers to retreat. At that exact juncture, I stepped forward, raising my voice so all could hear:

With witnesses and tangible evidence piled as high as mountains, surely the young marquis does not intend to obstruct official justice?

Let other matters wait for now; as for the vicious slander and deliberate character assassination orchestrated entirely by Ning, we can begin inquiries this very instant.

As the final words left my lips, my personal maid stepped gracefully forward, presenting the signed testimonies directly into the hands of the magistrate, while the two key witnesses were guided to the forefront. I approached the magistrate, offering a respectful, formal bow:

I implore Your Honor to deliver absolute justice, to restore the unsullied reputation of this humble maiden, and free her forever from the heavy burden of unmerited slander.