In the imperial capital of March, a light rain is trickling.
At the Westminster Church in the city center, an enormously grand wedding costing millions is taking place.
The red carpet laid out from the floral arch extends for kilometers, seemingly without an end. Countless luxurious cars are parked on both sides of the white stone paved street. White roses mixed with colored petals are scattered along the path leading to the holy door, with hundreds of young men in military uniforms standing with upright postures, aligning neatly beside the carved fragrant wood door that's two meters tall.
The church, large enough to accommodate thousands of guests, is bustling inside. Figures from all walks of society sit on the benches. Everyone's gaze falls on the bride.
She is draped in a wedding gown, holding a bunch of flowers in her hands, and beneath the hazy veil is a countenance too gorgeous to be described. Her appearance, however, is too sudden. Before the guests have taken their seats, she is already standing up there, waiting.
There's nobody leading her into the church, she’s like an object. If she stays motionless, she seems no different from the holy angels sculpted on the wall.
As time goes on second by second, the groom still fails to appear, inevitably a bit of murmuring starts to emerge from the guest area.
“When did the Jiang family acquire a third daughter? I thought Mr. Jiang only had two daughters?”
“Shh … I heard she's an illegitimate child...”
“Does Mrs. Jiang know about her? What about the eldest son of the Jiang family?”
“It doesn't matter whether they know or not, the important thing is whether Mr. Li knows or not...”
Mr. Li.
These two words, said aloud, feel as though electrifying, compelling people to shut their mouths and look around, fearing that they might be caught gossiping these two words.
Perhaps standing for too long caused her legs to stiffen under her heavy veil, the bride tightens her grip on the bouquet involuntarily. She can't help but lift her head under her veil, using the corner of her eyes to stealthily glance at the opened church entrance.
Through the haze, she seems to see a figure strolling towards her from the end of the red carpet.
He was tall, so tall that she probably only came up to his shoulders. When he made his appearance, all the murmuring voices in the crowd vanished. Everyone turned their heads, fixating on this man.
It was as if he carried a magnetic field around him that drew all attention, making people involuntarily shut their mouths and quietly submit to his regal aura.
Perhaps, in the entire room, only one person was so nervous her teeth were chattering. That person was Su Ruoshui, today's bride.
For her mother's illness, she had struck a deal with the Jiang family. In exchange for her standing here now, marrying this man known as a “demon”, all the medical expenses during her mother's hospitalization would be covered.
Did she really belong to the Jiang family as their third young miss? Her mother was Su Xin, the ex-wife of Jiang Jing'an. After spending eighteen years in the countryside, these people found her one day and asked her to return to the Jiang family.
Return for what? To marry this man that made the two young misses of the Jiang family pale with fear and find excuses to avoid him whenever possible?
She could have refused, but with her mother seriously ill, and being just a country girl with savings not even reaching four digits, she didn't even have money for college.
She desperately needed money for her mother's treatment.
Thus, she agreed to the deal. She traveled all the way to the capital, Di Jing, the most prosperous city in the country.
In less than a week, she had donned a wedding dress and stood here.
Her two stepsisters labeled her a "country bumpkin" who knew nothing and hadn't seen the world. Only her stepbrother Jiang Yan Cheng treated her like a true sister, not looking down on her, even going out of his way to help her.
Watching the man slowly approaching her, Su Ruoshui felt her heart pounding.
Just what kind of person was this "demon", Li Juntin?
