The pair of bride and groom stood there holding a red silk string with an embroidered orb in between them. Ji Feng Li held one end of the string as he silently stood there in the middle of the hall. The flickering candlelights illuminated half of his face. Though he appear unperturbed, his piercing gaze was fixed on Hua Zhu Yu like a dagger. She didn't look away and met his eyes straight on. She didn't want to lose even if it was a gazing contest.
With a radiant smile, her eyes curved like the flurry of a spring breeze as she stated, "Lord Chancellor, I've offended you."
Ji Feng Li narrowed his eyes but a gentle smile was still on his lips. It's just that the smile never reached his eyes. In the depths of those eyes there was an unfathomable coldness. "s.n.a.t.c.h the bride?" he repeated, his eyes still fixed on Hua Zhu Yu.
"Actually, it is not accurate to say that I am s.n.a.t.c.hing the bride. I think everyone here have already guessed that the lady you want to marry is the person in my heart. But what no one is aware of is that we were once engaged many years ago. So to speak, I'm here tonight merely to take back my unmarried furen!" Hua Zhu Yu's voice was gentle and soft yet her words were distinctly provocative.
The atmosphere within the main hall became even heavier and quiet. Originally she had come to s.n.a.t.c.h the bride but now her words were insinuating that Ji Feng Li had been the one that stole the bride.
"Commander Bao, you…. Even so, you cannot s.n.a.t.c.h Lord Chancellor's bride. You should quickly leave." the official presiding over the ceremony advised upon seeing the situation.
Hua Zhu Yu narrowed her eyes, ignoring the official. She placed the sword back into its sheath and she strode forward to stand in front of Jin Se.
There was still a crowd inside the hall but not even a breathe could be heard. The atmosphere was tense and rigid as countless eyes fixated on her. Even still, Hua Zhu Yu just smiled and reached to grab Jin Se's delicate hand. She leaned over and lightly plant a kiss on Jin Se's bridal veil and in a hushed voice said, "Come with me."
The tone of her voice, her expression, even her movements were all gentle but in the eyes of the crowd it was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with loving affection. The crowd couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. Commander Bao appeared very familiar with this lady but he truly was too audacious they thought.
The ta.s.sel attached to the embroidered bridal veil slightly shook and Jin Se's hand raised in attempt to remove the veil. However, before she could do so Ji Feng Li suddenly reached over, grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side.
"If you've come to s.n.a.t.c.h the bride, you must know the implication of those words!" Emotions surged like black clouds before a storm in Ji Feng Li's eyes, getting increasingly intense.
"Of course," Hua Zhu Yu replied with furrowed brow.
"Of course?" Ji Feng Li repeated. "If so, good. Everyone else leave!" Ji Feng Li commanded as he flung his arm up, his red sleeves flickering across his jade-like face.
The military officials were still perplexed by the turn of events and stood there in a daze.
"Humph!" Ji Feng Li coldy grunted before a burst of current swept pa.s.s and a chair promptly smashed against the doors of the hall.
No one had ever seen Ji Feng Li this angry before. Everyone was shocked and quickly made their way to the door. After leaving the hall, they dare not linger in the courtyard so they went pa.s.s the trees and exited the courtyard completely.
"Si'Er, you leave as well," he softly advised as his cold phoenix eyes momentarily became gentle when they turned to look at Jin Se.
Witnessing the current situation, Xu'Er, who had been standing off to the side, stepped forward in attempt to escort Jin Se out.
But Hua Zhu Yu stepped forward to grab Jin Se's hand. "You can't marry him. Follow me!"
Her hand had yet to reach Jin Se's sleeve when an air-piercing sound resonated as Ji Feng Li's fan shot forward and opened in front of Jin Se, blocking Hua Zhu Yu.
Hua Zhu Yu quickly withdrew her hand and took a step back, raising her sword. The cold blade reflected the crimson colors of the room, flashing a dusky glare.
"What do the both of you intend to do?" Jin Se couldn't bear it and finally pulled the bridal veil down, revealing a complicated expression as she asked in a shaky voice.
"Xu'Er, escort Furen back!" Ji Feng Li's eyes did not leave Hua Zhu Yu as he gave the command.
Hua Zhu Yu swept her gaze towards Jin Se.
Jin Se looked back at Hua Zhu Yu then turned to Ji Feng Li and said, "Lord Chancellor, I can leave but you both can't fight. I won't go with him but let's stop the marriage ceremony here, alright?"
Hua Zhu Yu was startled. Did Jin Se not understand her intentions? Perhaps Jin Se just didn't want to leave with her but as long as she leaves Ji Feng Li and not marry him, she won't be in danger.
"I've already decided, you two don't fight!" Jin Se tried to take off the phoenix crown but perhaps because she was shaken, her hands trembled and she couldn't take it off. Seeing her struggle, Xu' Er lent a hand and the phoenix crown was finally removed and carefully placed on the ground of the main hall.
"Si,Er will withdraw first," She said as her eyes drifted from Hua Zhu Yu to Ji Feng Li. There was a weak, fragile smile on her face and it seemed as though a gust of wind was enough to topple her.
Hua Zhu Yu's heart tightened and she couldn't help but take a step forward. Although there were many things that she wanted to explain, in front of Ji Feng Li, she couldn't say a word.
Jin Se slowly paid her respects to Ji Feng Li before quickly leaving with Xu'Er.
Hua Zhu Yu and Ji Feng Li both watched Jin Se leave before recovering their gazes.
A momentary silence enveloped the hall. A type of silence that was stifling….
translations at peachblossomgrove . com
Her eyes were staring straight into his. Deep as midnight, threateningly dark, his eyes did not contain any traces of gentleness nor composure. Rather, there was a fury ignited within them, a raging fire as red as his robes with golden embroideries, as he looked at her.
In the festive hall, the image that appears before her eyes was the spill of blood on that high platform at Liang Zhou. She hand couldn't help but clench the scabbard and it pressed painfully into her palm.
"Ji Feng Li, I hope you will let Si'Er leave with me," Hua Zhu Yu suppressed the surging emotions within her and coldly stated.
"Why?" Ji Feng Li lowered his head and questioned as he walked forward.
Hua Zhu Yu stepped back and replied, "You already know."
Ji Feng Li took another step forward and asked, " Know what?"
Ji Feng Li continued to step closer as Hua Zhu Yu retreated until she backed into a table and couldn't retreat any longer so she simply sat on the table. She coldly sneered, "Ji Feng Li, I had already said that I like her…."
Suddenly Ji Feng Li let out a loud laughter as his head was thrown backwards, interrupting Hua Zhu Yu.
Why? The reason why he got married was merely to free himself from these preposterous taboo feelings, why not give him this chance? He looked at Hua Zhu Yu's beautiful face and the anger in his eyes gradually dimmed, replaced with a boundess sorrow. Deep in the depths of those dark eyes was a piercing radiance, like a needle p.r.i.c.king her eyes.
He suddenly leaned over, his hands propped against the table, confining Hua Zhu Yu as he looked down at her. When she looked up, his cold sleeves brushed against her cheeks. Startled, she coldly said, "Ji Feng Li, you don't dare fight, it can't be that you're afraid of losing…"
But the remaining words were suddenly engulfed by his lips. Everything happened lightning fast. He suddenly leaned in and kissed her. Like a sudden clap of thunder Hua Zhu Yu was astonished. She did not expect Ji Feng Li to suddenly kiss her, especially when she was still dressed as a male.
The soft, warm touch on her lips was like wave spreading throughout her body. After a moment of surprise, Hua Zhu Yu realized that his lips were seemingly dissatisfied with the momentary touch, wanting to go deeper. Instinctively, without a thought, her lips parted and she bit down on him. The smell of fresh blood lingered between their lips. But it seems Ji Feng Li had no intentions of letting her go. With all her strength, she abruptly pushed him on the chest while at the same time her body was also driven backwards by the recoil of this push.
With a loud crash, the table toppled backwards along with Hua Zhu Yu to the floor.
t/n furen= madam or married lady
Translator's Random Rambles!
Soooo he finally kiss her and reveals his feelings but as ya'll know I'm on Team Xiao Yin. But now I wonder how their interaction will change now that his feelings are out in the open. Even though I've read this novel before, I don't quite remember haha. I only remember very specific scenes that left a memorable impression on me. This scene was one of them and the scene where XY was drunk and came to send HZY off on her wedding when he thought she was his sister was another. There are 2 more scenes that left a huge impression on me but I haven't translated that far yet. One is a scene with HZY and JFL and another is a scene with HZY and Huangfu Wu Shuang.
So, I've started watching Princess Silver last night and then binged watch like 25 episodes, but I skipped a lot of scenes, especially scenes in court which I just find boring. It is definitely better than Listening Snow Tower in my opinion. I stopped watching Listening Snow Tower at ep 15 so it might've gotten better as it progressed but probably unlikely. Anyways, Princess Silver has all of the typical chinese period drama tropes: hidden ident.i.ties, memory lose, love triangles, political court intrigues, fight for the throne etc but it's done tastefully and the acting is good as well as the chemistry between the leads. Like even a badly produced drama can still be good if the chemistry between the characters are there and I would say the chemistry is definitely there in this drama. At this point I can't even decide which male lead I want to root for. The camera work and lighting is good and I love the set design and the costume attires for this drama. The only thing that was off-putting was that they used too much filter on all the actors/actresses faces like their complexions are so white that there's no texture to their faces at all. But after a few episodes I got used to it. Coincidentally, there was a wedding scene where someone came to disrupt the wedding which I think was similar to the what was happening in this chapter, so I used the picture of that scene for this chapter.