The Substitute Bride and the Cripple

ere was only gentleness in his eyes, and she wondered if that fleeting sense of suffocation had been her imagination.

With a shake of her head, Tang Qiu took his hand in hers.
“Alright.
Allow me to properly introduce myself, then.
My name is Tang Qiu, your new lawfully wedded wife.”

“Tang? You’re not from the Feng family?”

Tang Qiu shook her head again.
“It doesn’t matter who I am.
All you need to know is that Feng Lu didn’t want to marry you.
But I do.”

Jiang Shaocheng nodded, then leaned back in his seat.
His brows furrowed, as if from weariness.

2

Tang Qiu stared at him in silent disbelief.
That was it? Wasn’t he acting… a little too calm?

She eyed Jiang Shaocheng for a while longer, but his exhaustion must have been contagious; after a while, she felt her eyelids drooping.
She decided to follow suit, allowing herself to drift to sleep in the backseat of the car.

1

…

After they had alighted from the car and he was pushing Jiang Shaocheng to his chambers, Uncle Wang asked, “Young Master, do you want me to send this woman back home? As a warning to the Fengs?”

The Feng family had truly gone too far, picking some woman off the streets to play the role of the bride during the wedding today.
How could they let such disrespect for Young Master Jiang slide?

Jiang Shaocheng’s eyes were gentle, without a hint of anger, and his voice held no weight to it; he appeared extremely frail.
“Never mind that.
Sometimes, mistakes are not necessarily bad things.”

1

Uncle Wang protested, “But you’re…”

Jiang Shaocheng lifted a hand, and Uncle Wang fell silent.
Tang Qiu was right.
It didn’t matter which family his wife came from–only that she had married him out of her free will.
“Let me see the marriage contract.” After confirming that Tang Qiu had indeed signed the contract, Jiang Shaocheng returned it to Uncle Wang.
“Take this and prepare the marriage certificate.”

Uncle Wang was shocked.
“Young Master, we don’t even know who this woman is or where she came from.
Do you really want her for a wife?” The marriage certificate was much more than just a piece of paper.
If this woman harbored any secret schemes, she could walk away with half the young master’s fortune anytime she wished–hundreds of millions of dollars, at that!

Uncle Wang was about to insist that his young master rethink his decision when there was a knock on the door.
Warily, he opened the door, only to find Tang Qiu standing there.
The young woman’s gown was too loose for her shape, but her features were delicate, fine, pretty, and behind her rosebud lips, her teeth were pearly white.

So this was why his young master was refusing to send back his bride?

The little temptress. Uncle Wang was unable to prevent a flash of disdain across his face.
“The young master needs to rest.
You…”