Chapter 492   The Auspicious Moment Missed on the Wedding Day

“Fifth Sister, you are really beautiful. I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than you, and you are even more beautiful than the fairies in heaven,” Ning Lingyun, who came to give her gifts to the bride, sat on the side to see Ning Xueyan being dressed and given makeup and said with a smile in the tone of the bridesmaids.

“The Marquis’s Manor is indeed a nice place for people to live in. The ladies here compete with each other in looks.” The bridesmaid was a sweet talker and took a quick look at them. “The two ladies of the Marquis’s Manor are also extremely excellent. Without Fifth Young Lady Ning, the stunning beauty, as a comparison, the two ladies are rare beauties, especially Third Young Lady Ning who is said to be the consort of Third Prince soon. She is charming and graceful.”

So, she blurted out these nice words.

Due to the fact that Ning Yuling and Ning Ziyan committed wrongdoings time after time these days, Madam Dowager did not let them come here. The two people were now concubines. They would not add grace to the Marquis’s Manor, and others would remember their terrible deeds if they showed up, so only Ning Qingshan and her sister Ning Lingyun were in Ning Xueyan’s place now.

“Fifth Sister, you are the most beautiful one!” Ning Qingshan’s eyes and brows were full of smiles, showing no trace of guilt on her face that she once plotted against Ning Xueyan.

Since Ning Xueyan had a painted color on her lips, it was not convenient for her to talk now, so she just gave a faintly discernible smile at Ning Qingshan.

Lanning sent over the wedding dress, which was embroidered by Ning Xueyan herself and was a pair with Ao Chenyi’s. The patterns were taken by Ao Chenyi from the palace, and the chosen color of the material was bright red. Since Ning Xueyan’s name had been registered on the royal list and she was a perfectly justifiable consort, she was allowed to put on the bright red wedding dress this day.

Of course, she could wear it this day only.

Ning Xueyan was dressed in the gorgeous robe. The gorgeous bright red color made her skin more snow-white and her waist slenderer. No one would have thought that when she wore such a bright red color dress, her overall momentum was not suppressed by it. Instead, she looked like a fairy because of it.

The small and exquisite golden crown on her head was not as grand as that of the princess, but it was more charming. At the black hair bun, the phoenix hairpin made of gold threads had many small golden tassels, which hung at the snow-white, pink, and tender cheek of Ning Xueyan, making her look more charming and stunning. Her long eyelashes quivered a few times, and a faint mist came out of the eyes that were as cold as the ice and snow. Truly, her beauty was breathtaking.

Seeing this, Ning Qingshan was jealous. Ning Xueyan never dressed herself up in normal times. She only wore plain clothes, but it made others feel that she was more like an immortal. Now when she dressed herself up, she looked so alluring.

Ning Lingyun was stunned by this dazzling beauty of Ning Xueyan. Previously, she thought that Ning Xueyan was just a little more beautiful than she was, but now she found that she was far from her. Momentarily, she rubbed her handkerchief. It was unclear whether she had a hatred or she was angry.

“You are just like a fairy coming down to earth. I used to think that the comment of a fairy coming down to earth was an exaggeration, but now I even don’t think that the fairy coming down to earth can be so beautiful.” Seeing that Ning Xueyan was dressed up, the bridesmaid could not help smacking her lips to praise her. This time, she did not intend to curry favor with the Lord Protector’s Manor, but that she did feel so.

She had never met such a beautiful bride yet.

The bright red veil had been fetched. The auspicious moment that had been set had arrived. Since no one from the bridegroom’s home would come to take the bride, there were not many taboos about entering the bride’s room. Now there was no official wife in the Lord Protector’s Manor, so only Concubine Xu assisted Madam Dowager in handling affairs. Now when Junior Concubine Xu was missing, everyone had changed their call of Senior Concubine Xu to Concubine Xu.

The other concubines in the mansion were not favored, and only Concubine Xu was special. Although she could not be counted as someone who won the favor, she did not lose the favor. Besides, she also gave birth to Fourth Young Lady Ning Lingyun. In normal times, she kept a very low profile, but she handled affairs well.

“The time has come, Miss,” Qingyu, who came to urge Ning Xueyan to begin the marriage ceremony, whispered to remind her.

“Okay, I’ll get up at once.” Ning Xueyan nodded. Wearing the red veil, she, who was supported by Qingyu and Lanning, went out of the inner room.

In the outer room, Madam Dowager was sitting there, smiling with joy. Madam Dowager Liu kept her company, and a few old imperial mandate ladies were also there. They chatted and laughed, bringing a roomful of joy.

Ning Xueyan came out, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed hard to Madam Dowager twice.

Madam Dowager gave her a few instructions: When you become a member of Prince Yi’s Mansion, you should be amiable, virtuous, and generous. After saying that, she asked two maids to help her up.

Something unforeseen happened at this time. No sooner Ning Xueyan was helped up than she suddenly lost her strength and fell back. If it had not been for the two maids who had been supporting her, she would have fallen straight to the ground.

The laughter in the whole room stopped in an instant. Madam Dowager stood up abruptly and asked Qingyu and Lanning angrily, “What’s wrong?”

“Madam Dowager, maybe because our Miss went to bed too late last night and got up too early this morning. Madam Dowager, please allow our Miss to take a rest. Our Miss has a weak body,” Lanning said anxiously while supporting Ning Xueyan.

She was going to get married today, so it was normal for her to lose her sleep the night before. Early this morning, she was woken up to dress up. Indeed, she was a little tired, but the other young ladies were fine. Only this Fifth Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor passed out like this.

It had long been said that Fifth Young Lady was not in good health, and she had a bad experience a month ago. It seemed that her health was so unexpected. In the future, it might be very difficult for her to be the first one to bear the child of Prince Yi.

“First, take your Miss to the inner room for a rest.” When Madam Dowager witnessed such a big flaw, her face turned blue out of anger. “The auspicious moment is coming right now, but we have to delay and miss it. The bride has fainted. How can we put her in the bridal sedan chair and carry her away?”

Madam Dowager clearly knew Ning Xueyan’s physical condition. Ning Xueyan had a weak body, and her internal organs had also been injured. In addition, she, who was going to get married, was very excited and could not fall asleep the night before, but still got up early, so it was possible for her to pass out. Madam Dowager thought that she should take the blame because she did not think of it. The night before, she should have asked maids to watch her go to bed early.

Since Ning Xueyan had fainted, the bridal sedan chair team that blew suona horns and beat drums and gongs had to let the bridal sedan chair stay in the yard. The steward of the prince’s mansion came and asked about it. After learning that the consort was not well and needed to have a rest, he could not say anything anymore. He was just a servant of the prince’s mansion, so how could he manage the business of his mistress? Even if the auspicious moment was missed, he could not do anything about it.

The wedding ceremony here had to be stopped because of Ning Xueyan’s affair.

At the gate of the Lord Protector’s Manor, a group of people, who also accompanied a bridal sedan chair, beat drums and walked past. It was a bright red bridal sedan chair accompanied by bridesmaids and maids on both sides. At the end of it, there was also a group of people who blew suona horns and beat drums and gongs. Beaming with joy, they came over from the road next to the Lord Protector’s Manor. They happened to pass by the gate of the Lord Protector’s Manor and then moved toward the street entrance in front.

That place was the only main road leading from the Lord Protector’s Manor to Prince Yi’s Manor.

The bridal sedan chair was carried all the way to the street entrance when several people in black appeared from the roofs on both sides and suddenly rushed to the bridal sedan chair. Surprisingly, the things that glistened coldly in their hands were all sabers and swords.

The maids and bridesmaids guarding the bridal sedan chair were all frightened and only had time to scream, and then they fled to all directions. After that, the servants who blew suona horns and beat drums and gongs were scared and turned pale. Seeing that all the bridesmaids and maids had fled, they would not stand their ground. With an uproar, they escaped without leaving any traces. As they ran away, they shouted, “Help, some people are working to take the bride!”

When the leader of the men in black saw the lonely sedan chair that had been left, his eyes glistened. “This goes so smoothly.”

But this was not the time for him to think about other things. When he lifted the curtain of the sedan chair with his hand and found that the bride in the sedan chair was frightened and fainted, he picked her up, carried her on his back, and turned around and left with her.

This happened suddenly. When the people on the street realized it, the person in black had disappeared with the bride, and then they began to shout.

And some ran to the Lord Protector’s Manor and Prince Yi’s Manor to report.

There were so many people in this part of the street today because they heard that Prince Yi was going to get married. The bridal sedan chair of the consort would be carried away from here, so they especially came here to watch the lively scene, but they did not expect to see something like this—the sedan chair of Prince Yi’s consort was hijacked and Prince Yi’s consort was taken away in the public eye.

Even if she could be taken back, her reputation would be ruined.

Many people did not expect that a happy thing was likely to become a funeral. Thinking of this, they felt sorry for the consort of Prince Yi’s Manor. For a short while, they had various talks, claiming that the consort did not have a good fate. They said they heard that the Lord Protector had not been paying much attention to her since she was young and her biological mother became a co-wife after she was framed by the former Marchioness and lost her life later.

It was fair to say that the consort had not been living well since she was a child. Now when such a thing happened, she had no choice to die.

The women of ordinary families would die to save her reputation, let alone the daughter-in-law of the royal family.

Everyone on the street shook their heads and sighed. “Fifth Young Lady Ning really has a poor woman’s life.”

When the news reached the ears of Ning Zu’an, the Lord Protector, he was entertaining guests in the front yard. When he heard the news, the wine cup in his hand fell and turned to pieces. He stood up in shock, looking ashen, “How, how could this happen?”

“I... I don’t know. The people in front were talking about it, and several groups of people were saying that our Fifth Young Lady had been taken away.” The young male servant who reported the news was terrified and still shook all over even at this time.

“Where was she taken from?” Ning Zu’an subconsciously felt that something was wrong and asked with a serious face. “Why don’t I know it when the people outside have learned it?”

“The street entrance not far from our house. They said that our Fifth Young Lady’s sedan chair had not gone too far from our mansion when it was hijacked, but they did not see these people clearly because they were all dressed in black,” the young male servant said.

“The street entrance not far from our house?” Ning Zu’an knitted his brows tightly and suddenly turned to ask the housekeeper behind him, “When was the bridal sedan chair carried out?”

“When the bridal sedan chair is carried out, I, her father, have to be informed. But it was clear that just now, no one told me that the bridal sedan chair had started its tour. But how could it be that the bridal sedan chair has gone out of the house and arrived at the street entrance at this time?” Ning Zu’an was acutely aware that something was wrong. “Just now, Madam Dowager sent word that Ning Xueyan passed out and missed the auspicious moment, and the bridal sedan chair would be carried out in a while, right?”

“Marquis, the sedan chair hasn’t been carried out yet, and Fifth Young Lady is still resting in the backyard. It will take a while before she can go there,” the housekeeper came to his senses at this time, sorted out his thoughts, and replied hurriedly.

Hearing this, Ning Zu’an set his mind at rest, sat down again, and sent an older female servant to go inside to ask for information.