In the inner hall, Luo Jin held the silk ribbon attached to the bride and smiled faintly as he turned to head deeper inside.
At that moment, at the table to the left of Yang Kai and the others, a white-haired elder rose to his feet and walked toward the pair with a pleasant smile, coming to a stop before them.
The music fell silent, the drums ceased, and the atmosphere turned solemn in an instant.
The elder smiled and said, "It is a great honor for this old man to witness this marriage for the City Lord."
He paused briefly, then continued, "On this auspicious day, the two of you join in matrimony and forge a union blessed by the heavens. May you love and cherish one another as husband and wife, remain harmonious for a hundred years, and hold each other in mutual esteem forevermore. Do you both consent?"
Luo Jin smiled. "Luo consents!"
The elder nodded, then turned to the bride and asked, "And you?"
The bride's delicate body trembled ever so slightly, and a pleasant voice drifted out from beneath the phoenix crown: "I…"
As those words left her lips, Yang Kai's expression shifted subtly. The restless, uneasy stirring in the depths of his heart grew ever stronger — he had the distinct feeling that he ought to recognize this voice.
Before he could listen further to determine whose voice it was, a delicate but trembling shout suddenly rang out from somewhere within the inner hall: "I object!"
The words dropped like a thunderbolt, and the entire gathering was stunned.
Every pair of eyes snapped toward the source of the voice. No one could fathom who was audacious enough to embarrass the City Lord in front of so many powerful figures.
Luo Jin's face darkened with fury as he whipped his head toward the sound and bellowed, "Who dares!"
His features were twisted into a vicious snarl. Today was the day of his ceremony to take a concubine — a joyous occasion — and he had never imagined that someone would dare sabotage it at this critical moment. A murderous intent surged through his heart.
His eyes gleamed with cold light as he scrutinized the direction from which the voice had come, and he snorted, "What's this? You have the nerve to ruin my celebration, but not the courage to stand up and admit it?"
A guest immediately called out, "Step forward obediently and apologize to the City Lord — perhaps he'll spare your life. If you persist in your foolishness, this day next year will be your death anniversary!"
Luo Jin said, "Today is my joyous day, and I have no wish to take a life. Stand up quietly, and I won't make things difficult for you!"
As his words faded, someone rose from within the crowd.
The figure was shrouded entirely in a black cloak, concealing their true appearance, but the height and build made it obvious that this was a woman.
"Seize her!" Luo Jin barked, sweeping his arm forward the moment the person stood.
Whoosh — several warriors from the City Lord's estate immediately charged toward the cloaked figure.
The woman stood there without the slightest hint of panic. Just as the warriors were about to reach her and pin her down, she suddenly pulled back the black hood draped over her head, revealing her face.
Under the gaze of the entire assembly, every pair of eyes went wide. The crowd stared, jaws slack, faces blank with disbelief.
"Huh?"
"This…"
"The Eldest Miss?"
The City Lord's warriors who had been charging at her with fierce momentum — ready to seize the woman on the spot and drag her away for a proper punishment — froze the instant they saw her face. Their expressions changed dramatically. They retracted their strikes mid-lunge and stumbled to an ungainly halt, standing there in complete bewilderment.
Because the person who had disrupted the concubine ceremony at this critical juncture was none other than the City Lord's eldest daughter — Luo Bing!
Qiu Yu shot to his feet, staring at Luo Bing with an expression of utter shock. He never could have imagined that Luo Bing had been here in the inner hall the entire time — and that she would be the one to sabotage the City Lord's ceremony.
He had parted ways with Luo Bing just yesterday, and she had been perfectly fine then. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't understand what could have happened in a single night to make her do something like this.
In an instant, the inner hall fell deathly silent. Every person gazed at Luo Bing with bewildered expressions, wondering what in the world she was trying to pull.
"Bing'er!" Luo Jin's body jolted as he stared at his daughter with wide eyes. "What are you—"
He stopped mid-sentence, as though he had suddenly noticed something. His voice dropped to a low rumble. "Who has been bullying you?"
He saw that his precious daughter's eyes were red and swollen — clearly she had been crying for a long time. Her voice was hoarse, which was why he hadn't recognized it as hers at first.
His instinct told him that someone had wronged his daughter.
Qiu Yu swallowed hard off to the side, terrified that Luo Bing would speak his name. He believed that everything she was doing was because of him.
"No one has been bullying me," Luo Bing said, pressing her lips together.
"No one at all?" Luo Jin narrowed his eyes and pressed in a deep voice.