Chapter 310: The Day of the Grand Wedding

Chapter 310: Chapter 310: The Day of the Grand Wedding

The Prince’s Mansion sat in the center of twenty-one cities, perfectly positioned to govern them and mobilize their forces at a moment’s notice.

It was now approaching noon.

Inside the Prince’s Mansion, the Second Prince stood on a balcony, a faint smile on his face as he watched the endless stream of guests arriving. The mansion was festooned with lanterns and banners, brimming with celebratory cheer.

"Second Prince, the Pill King has delivered the elixirs."

A Golden Armor Powerhouse approached and presented him with a jade box.

The Second Prince raised an eyebrow. He opened the jade box, which revealed two elixirs nestled within.

One was translucent and crystalline, exuding a subtle fragrance and marked with four Pill Patterns.

The other was entirely scarlet, faintly reeking of blood, and had only a single Pill Pattern.

"Take this elixir to Yun Cang. Tell him that if Yun Mengling consumes it, I will cease all threats against his Yun Mansion," the Second Prince ordered one of his subordinates.

As he watched the subordinate’s retreating figure, a cold, smug smile spread across his face.

’I’ll have to see how this Yun Mengling plans to act all chaste and pure with me now. After she takes the elixir, she’ll have no choice but to grovel at my feet, willingly submitting to my every whim!’

Then, the Second Prince turned to another Golden Armor Powerhouse and asked, "How are the preparations coming along?"

"Everything is ready. We have half an hour left, but the twenty-one City Lords have yet to arrive," the Golden Armor Powerhouse replied.

The Second Prince nodded, his brow furrowed slightly.

By now, grand platforms had been raised outside the Prince’s Mansion, all of them floating a thousand feet in the air.

The entire wedding ceremony would be visible to anyone who looked up for miles around.

This was the only way to fulfill the Second Prince’s desire to announce the event to the entire world.

It also meant that any guest qualified to attend this wedding had to be capable of flight; the minimum requirement for one’s Cultivation was the Nascent Soul Realm.

One by one, members of prominent clans from the twenty-one cities came forward to present their congratulatory gifts before flying up to take their seats.

Since the Second Prince held partial authority over the Imperial Army Mansion, the mansion had also dispatched many powerhouses to offer their congratulations.

However, not a single one of the true dignitaries from the Imperial Army Mansion had come.

This wasn’t a reflection of the Second Prince’s standing in the Imperial Army Mansion. Rather, he took on new concubines so frequently that the top-ranking officials couldn’t possibly attend every single time. Over the years, it had become customary for them to simply send representatives with gifts.

DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG!...

「Half an hour later.」

A series of deep, heavy drumbeats echoed across the heavens and the earth.

"The auspicious hour has arrived!"

Several figures soared into the air, landing on the largest and highest of the floating platforms.

At their head was the Second Prince himself, resplendent in a golden crown and robes.

"Second Prince, of the twenty-one City Lords, only Yun Cang has arrived. The other twenty are still absent," the Golden Armor Powerhouse whispered, his gaze sweeping over the guest platforms.

Anger flashed in the Second Prince’s eyes upon hearing this.

He could overlook the absence of the Imperial Army Mansion’s top brass, but these City Lords were under his jurisdiction. For them not to show up was a blatant show of disrespect!

"Hmph! The nerve of them, putting on such airs! Am I supposed to wait for them?"

After an angry snort, the Second Prince commanded, "We’re not waiting. Hold them accountable for this after the ceremony!"

A moment later, the gongs and drums sounded once more, joined by the melodious harmony of chimes and strings.

SCREECH~

Amidst the drawn-out, ethereal music, several high-pitched cries rang out. Four enormous, beautiful spirit birds drifted into view, like four vibrant clouds.

Each of the four massive spirit birds had a wingspan of nearly a hundred feet. Together, they carried a crystalline bridal sedan, treading through the air as they approached.

"Five-Colored Peacocks?"

"Those are fifth-tier Demon Beasts! They’re comparable to Nascent Soul Transformation experts and incredibly rare!"

"To get four Five-Colored Peacocks to pull a sedan... what an extravagant display!"

"Worthy of the Second Prince. Only someone of his status could pull off a spectacle of this magnitude!"

The crowd immediately erupted, all of them clearly stunned by the scene before them.

Inside the bridal sedan sat a single figure: Yun Mengling.

Through the thin veil covering her head, one could faintly see the cold glint in her eyes. No one knew what she was thinking.

"What a beautiful woman!"

"Is that Yun Mengling, the greatest beauty in Yunzhou City?"

"I’d say she’s the greatest beauty in all of Great Xia!"

"She’s like a goddess. No wonder the Second Prince put on such an extravagant show!"

"It’s just... does she seem unhappy to you?"

"Shut up! Do you want to get us all killed?"

A buzz of discussion swept through the crowd. The scions of noble families were all dumbstruck. Even through the veil, everyone was captivated by Yun Mengling’s beauty.

In the direction the Four-Colored Peacocks were flying, the Second Prince stood with his hands clasped behind his back, an unconcealable excitement in his eyes.

’I’ve been enduring this for so many days. Every day has felt like a year!’

’Finally, she’s mine!’

As the Five-Colored Peacocks arrived before his platform, the Second Prince could no longer contain himself. He walked forward, his greedy, fanatical gaze piercing through the veil to stare at Yun Mengling’s face.

"Hm?" ℴℴ𝘮

The next moment, his brow furrowed. The eyes behind the veil were stunningly beautiful, but they were also incomparably cold.

’Could it be? Has the Blood-Crying Heart Soul Pill not taken effect yet?’ he thought. He was almost certain of it. With the lives of the entire Yun Mansion on the line, there was no way Yun Cang wouldn’t have given her the elixir.

With this in mind, the Second Prince smiled faintly and reached out to lift the veil from Yun Mengling’s head.

This scene unfolded on the high platform, watched not only by the guests on the surrounding platforms but by everyone for miles around, all of whom were looking up to witness this very moment.

They all wanted to see the legendary, world-toppling beauty that lay beneath the veil.

Before the Second Prince’s hand could even touch the veil, the clear ring of a sword made every hair on his body stand on end.

TING!

It all happened so fast that most people couldn’t even see what had transpired.

When they focused their gaze again, they saw only a longsword, as vibrant and alluring as fresh blood, embedded right where the Second Prince’s hand had just been.

The Second Prince had shot back at the last instant. He stared at the blood-red sword quivering and humming before him, his eyes erupting with fury.

"Who is it?!"

"Who would dare cause trouble at the Second Prince’s wedding?"

"Do they have a death wish, provoking the Second Prince in Great Xia?"

Everyone, including the Second Prince, immediately looked to the sky where the sword had come from, but they saw no one.

But when their eyes returned to the platform, they discovered that the sword which had been embedded there was gone!

And what’s more, the person who had vanished along with it was Yun Mengling!

All that remained was a slowly fading Flame, burning away the veil inside the now-empty bridal sedan.

...