The Deception Beneath the Betrothal

The three strikes of the golden gong resounded through the Grand Hall of Da Yi Palace, echoing like a proclamation from the heavens and earth.

Each reverberation struck the stone walls and carved wooden beams, setting the embroidered dragons and phoenixes upon the red-and-gold silk banners into a trembling illusion as if the creatures themselves bore witness to a ceremony that shook the hearts of all within the Imperial Court.

Though it was only a betrothal, the scale rivaled a coronation.

For this was no mere union of individuals

It was the sealing of fate between two mighty realms: Nan Yan and Xianyue.

Among the rows of courtiers flanking the ceremonial path, some faces had paled, some tightened with stern resolve, and others flickered with uneasy glances between the aloof Crown Prince and the woman chosen to stand beside him.

"Let it be proclaimed

The betrothal ceremony to forge the alliance of two realms:

Crown Prince Feng Yuhan of Nan Yan,

and the daughter of the esteemed Su family… Su Mengyu."

The voice of the court herald rang out, clear and solemn.

It pierced the stillness, slicing through every soul present like a blade.

Even one who stood quietly in the far shadowed corner saying not a word seemed louder than thunder with the presence she carried.

Su Mengyu took a single step forward.

Her embroidered phoenix slippers pressed into the carpet with regal precision.

Her hair, styled into a high coiled crown, shimmered with the soft glow of pearl ornaments under golden lantern light.

She wore a faint smile, elegant and poised but with an undertone of smug triumph, like a queen savoring a victory long awaited.

"You won't be able to outplay me now, Xianlan,"

she thought as her gaze flicked toward a girl in pale gold-white robes standing quietly at the edge of the chamber.

She stood neither on the stage nor within the court's spotlight.

And yet her mere presence was so undeniable, Su Mengyu could not ignore it.

"No matter how cunning you are…

In the end, I am the one who stands beside him rightfully, by the law of the realm."

⸻

Beneath the ceremonial throne,

Feng Yuhan stood like a carved statue.

He wore the five-clawed dragon robe of a Crown Prince,

his long cloak shifting faintly with the breeze from the open windows.

But his eyes… his eyes did not glance toward the woman he was to be betrothed to.

No.

They locked instead on the quiet silhouette to the side where Xianlan stood like a figure carved from white jade.

She did not move.

She did not waver.

Her gaze was steady, fixed on the ceremonial rites before her yet within her, an invisible thread stretched taut…

ready to snap at the slightest tremble.

She said nothing.

Yet her silence… spoke louder than a thousand words.

To Su Mengyu, that silence was the gravest insult of all.

⸻

Then the herald's voice rang out again this time like the draw of a sword in the middle of a battlefield.

"Let the Crown Prince step forth and declare his acceptance of the betrothal."

Silence swept the room like a gust of wind that snuffed out breath.

Even the eunuchs dared not exhale too loudly.

Feng Yuhan took a slow step forward.

Each movement felt as though it crushed the heartbeat of someone unseen.

But though he stepped toward the center…

his gaze did not once shift toward Su Mengyu.

Instead, it locked eyes with the man seated upon the imperial dais

Emperor Li Sicheng, his adoptive father.

"This subject has but one request before accepting this ceremony."

His tone was calm. Cold.

Yet it lacked neither weight nor intent.

A murmur stirred at the back of the hall.

Some courtiers shifted on their feet.

A few eunuchs lowered their eyes, wary of what was to come.

Emperor Li raised a brow, his gaze sharp with suspicion and brewing displeasure.

"…So long as your request defies no law of the realm, speak it."

Feng Yuhan turned.

His piercing eyes finally fell upon Su Mengyu

who stood like stone, her smile still painted upon her lips…

…a smile that began to freeze as she realized his eyes held no warmth, no joy.

"This subject… respectfully withdraws from this betrothal."

He did not raise his voice.

But the words crashed through the hall like thunder on a cloudless day.

Silence blanketed the room.

Even the flames in the lanterns seemed to hesitate in their dance.

"For a union bound without the heart… Is naught but golden shackles."

"And I, for one… do not wish to be a prisoner of ritual."

In that moment, a cry erupted but only within someone's soul.

Su Mengyu went pale, her wide eyes trembling with disbelief.

Her lips parted, as if to speak but Feng Yuhan's voice sliced through the space before she could utter a word.

"I extend my apologies to the House of Su…"

he continued, his voice steady, gaze cast nowhere in particular.

"But if the bonds between realms must be forged upon a heart that is not sincere, then the longer it is bound, the more it will rot from within."

"Besides," he added, tone unwavering, "I am already the Crown Prince of Nan Yan, and adopted son to the Emperor of Li. That alone is bond enough between the kingdoms even without this betrothal."

⸻

The atmosphere shattered like porcelain on marble.

Several ministers gasped aloud.

A few eunuchs dropped to their knees as though winded.

Some imperial ladies turned away in haste, others raised their fans to their lips to muffle their exclamations.

Emperor Li Sicheng said nothing at first.

His solemn face seemed to wrestle with the storm brewing beneath a heat fiercer than the flames in the golden braziers that lined the hall.

At last, a low scoff escaped him.

"Feng Yuhan… you have chosen the most treacherous path."

The young man bowed low.

"I am aware."

"Yet I would rather tread the thorned road… than reach a golden cage at its end."

⸻

Murmurs began to rise once more within the great ceremonial hall.

Not of praise or joy, but of scandal, speculation, and disbelief whispers laced with barbs and questions flung like arrows in the dark.

A lone woman stumbled forward.

The cloak draped around her shoulders slipped to the floor.

No one moved to help her.

Su Mengyu stood still in the center of the crimson carpet,

as if her spirit had fled her body.

Her eyes quivered.

She turned slowly toward the woman still standing by the wall in silence.

"…It was you…" she whispered.

"Because of you…"

But there was no answer.

Xianlan remained unmoving, serene as a swan upon tranquil waters unshaken even by the gathering storm.

⸻

Within Xianlan's chest, though cold as moonlight,

there sparked a subtle ember beneath the still surface.

Feng Yuhan's words had not merely humiliated Su Mengyu before all…

They were a declaration a declaration of choice.

And that choice…

might bring ruin,

might bring condemnation…

…but he had made it without hesitation.

"He did not do it for her," a voice in Xianlan's heart reminded.

"He did it for himself."

And yet…

she could no longer see him the same way.

Something deep and faint had stirred.

And it was… warm.

⸻

That very evening,

news of the Crown Prince's refusal spread through the palace like wildfire across dry grass.

No hall remained silent.

No servant failed to whisper.

No noble failed to guess what had truly transpired.

Su Mengyu was summoned back to Lady Guifei's quarters at once.

Two maids had to support her trembling form.

The embroidered soles of her slippers dragged without strength,

their soft thuds echoing the disgrace she never imagined she would bear before the eyes of the entire court.

⸻

Meanwhile…

Beneath the silver light of the moon filtering through trellised vines in the royal garden,

Wen Yichen walked in quiet step beside Xianlan.

The sound of two pairs of shoes brushing against stone fell in steady rhythm accompanied by the faint fragrance of linhua blossoms that had not yet faded.

"You've won again," he murmured,

"without moving a single piece on the board."

Xianlan turned to him, her gaze calm…

but not entirely unreadable.

"Some enemies are so confident in their game," she replied,

"that they step into the battlefield alone."

Wen Yichen chuckled softly in his throat.

"And you were merely waiting… to applaud them as they marched into the trap of their own making."

He glanced sideways at her,

his eyes gleaming with amusement and admiration.

"I would pay good silver to see Su Mengyu's face right now.

She must look like a peacock who lost all its feathers at the heart of the court."

Xianlan did not reply,

but the corners of her lips lifted a faint wisp of amusement passing like a ripple across a still pond.

"But I take no pleasure in it," she said softly.

"Victory earned from another's folly… has never brought me pride."

Wen Yichen paused,

then slowly nodded.

"Because your sight reaches far beyond this skirmish."

Xianlan looked up to the sky.

"Because true victory…must be won with truth....not merely the missteps of others."

Note:

The engagement between Su Mengyu and Crown Prince Feng Yuhan of the Nan Yan Kingdom was due to the Su family's significant influence in the Nan Yan Kingdom. Moreover, Noble Consort Su Zhen, the favored consort of Emperor Li (The Xianyue Kingdom), also came from the Su family. It could be said that the Su clan had planted its members across every kingdom, making it one of the most powerful and politically dominant families of the time.

"This chapter has been updated with improved narrative and deeper character perspective. The plot remains unchanged."

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