The wedding was set for seven days later.
When the news reached the Ministry of Rites, Lord Qian, the minister, was eating dinner, a piece of red-braised pork held between his chopsticks.
"Seven days? All six weddings have to be held within seven days?"
The pork fell from his chopsticks into his soup bowl, splashing his face.
"My lord, the decree says they are to be held on the same day."
"The same day?!"
Lord Qian pushed his bowl away.
"There aren't enough red carpets in this place to lay them all out!"
The Ministry of Rites worked overtime through the night.
The Golden Register Office rushed to make the wedding attire, dispatching six teams to six different locations just to take measurements and tailor the garments, all working at the same time.
The wedding feast menu was revised eight times because the six brides had entirely different dietary habits.
The Northern Territory princess didn't eat freshwater fish, Liu Ruyan from the pleasure house avoided spicy food, and the grand commandant's daughter ate anything but never swallowed a loss...
The whole Ministry of Rites was in a state of flying chickens and leaping dogs.
On the second day of wedding preparations, Gu Moran took over the entire arrangement, on the grounds that "a wastrel cared about putting on a show."
No one thought it strange. The third prince was known for his love of grand displays; it would have been strange if he hadn't interfered in an affair as grand as a wedding.
But the way he went about it left everyone in the Ministry of Rites scratching their heads.
The first change concerned Murong Xue's bridal procession.
"Get rid of the bridal sedan."
The ministry official stared at him. "Your Highness, royal protocol requires the bride to ride in a bridal sedan..."
"She's a princess of the Northern Territory who grew up riding on the grasslands. Putting her in a bridal sedan is like shutting an eagle in a chicken coop."
"Then what should we use?"
"A warhorse. Pick the fiercest horse from the batch the Northern Frontier Envoy Delegation brought and let her ride it. Change the procession's drums and music to the Northern Territory style too. War drums will lead the way."
The official stared, dumbstruck.
"Your Highness, war drums at a wedding? Isn't that a little too..."
"Too what? Too imposing? That's exactly right."
The second change concerned Liu Ruyan's departure point.
"She won't depart from the Flower-Between Pavilion."
"Then where?"
"From my Prince Yi's Residence."
Those words silenced the entire Ministry of Rites for two breaths.
When an imperial prince took a concubine, she departed for the wedding from her original residence. That was the rule. Liu Ruyan lived at the Flower-Between Pavilion, so by the rules, the bridal procession should go there to fetch her.
But that meant one thing.
An imperial prince's bridal procession would have to make its way to the doors of a pleasure house.
The whole capital would see it.
"My lady will leave for her wedding from my own home. Have her move into a side courtyard at the residence beforehand. If anyone dares utter a word against it, tell him to come say it to me."
The official's hand shook as he wrote that down.
The third change was the most discreet, so discreet that no one noticed.
He instructed the matron in charge to fill Su Yao's wedding ceremony area with potted white plum trees.
The matron asked him why.
"They're pretty."
He offered no further explanation.
But he knew full well that Su Yao's system file said white plum blossoms were her favorite, though she never mentioned it to outsiders.
He also changed Shen Ling'er's wedding dress.
There was no visible difference on the outside, but the lining had been replaced with a layer of the Imperial Medical Bureau's finest medicinal-scented cotton. It would be warm against her skin, and its medicinal fragrance would also calm her nerves.
Her system file said that Shen Ling'er suffered from mild internal cold. Her hands and feet turned icy in winter, and when it was severe, it could even affect her pulse.
He had Lin Qingdai's bridal sedan specially reinforced with three extra layers.
The steward asked him why.
"She has a fierce temper. If she kicks it a couple of times and it collapses, it won't look good."
The steward smiled but didn't dare respond.
He had sent someone to the Imperial Academy's rear courtyard specifically to ask about the embroidery technique used on Xie Wanqing's bridal veil.
It was a technique passed down through the Xie Clan, taught to Xie Wanqing by her mother when she was alive, and used only on the most important occasions.
He had an embroiderer make a bridal veil using that technique.
Not one of the brides knew about any of these details.
Six days passed.
Business at the capital's gambling houses was better than ever before.
New, popular betting pools covered an entire wall.
"Which bride will cause trouble at the wedding?"
Su Yao killing her husband paid eight to one.
Shen Ling'er administering poison paid three to one.
Murong Xue drawing her blade paid 1.2 to one, the most popular bet.
Lin Qingdai flipping a table paid two to one.
Liu Ruyan running away paid five to one.
Xie Wanqing crying herself unconscious paid ten to one.
All six brides were on the betting board, each possibility more outrageous than the last.
There was also an overall pool: would the third prince survive his wedding night?
It paid 1.5 to one.
That meant most people thought he wouldn't survive.
When the news reached the residence, Uncle Fu, the steward, was so angry that he stamped his feet.
"Your Highness, these people have gone too far! They're taking bets on your wedding. Should I go find someone from Shuntian Prefecture..."
"Don't."
Gu Moran lay in a rocking chair in his study, leafing through a book for pleasure, a smile curving his lips.
"Let them bet. The livelier it gets, the better."
"But Your Highness's reputation..."
"When has my reputation ever been good?"
Uncle Fu opened his mouth, only to find he had no answer.
"Put five hundred taels on that overall pool at the gambling house for me."
"Huh?"
"Five hundred taels that I survive my wedding night."
"Your Highness!"
"At 1.5 to one, a win pays seven hundred and fifty taels. That's a profit of two hundred and fifty. What a fine deal."
Uncle Fu thought his prince had gone mad.
But he went and placed the bet anyway.
The night before the wedding.
The residence was ablaze with lights, and servants bustled everywhere. Some hung red silk, others arranged flowers, and the kitchen hands chopped ingredients from evening until midnight.
The entire residence was decked out in red, as though it were on fire.
Gu Moran sent everyone away.
He sat alone in his study.
The system panel was spread out on the table, the six beauties' favorability scores lined up in a column. Every one was a negative number in red, like six blades hanging over his head.
The clamor outside filtered through the paper windows. In the distance, someone was setting off firecrackers in early celebration; nearby, maids were whispering about the dishes for tomorrow's wedding feast.
He wasn't listening.
He was looking at the countdown at the very bottom of the panel.
[Countdown until Ye Qingyun, Son of Destiny, arrives in the capital: 14 days.]
Fourteen days.
The wedding was only the beginning.
A marriage contract could bind a person, but it couldn't bind a heart.
The Heavenly Dao Correction Force was restoring the luck that had been stripped away each day, at a rate of 0.3% to 0.5% daily. It wasn't much, but little by little, it would add up.
When Ye Qingyun arrived in the capital fourteen days later, if Su Yao's favorability was still at negative sixty-seven, a single poem from Ye Qingyun at the betrothal-breaking banquet would be enough to overturn everything Gu Moran had painstakingly built.
He needed to show Su Yao a different side of Gu Moran over the coming days.
No, not just Su Yao.
All six of them had to see it.
He reached out and opened the wedding plan on the panel, checking each item one last time.
Potted white plum trees, in place.
Medicinal-scented cotton lining, in place.
Northern Territory warhorse procession, in place.
Liu Ruyan's changed departure point, in place.
Reinforced bridal sedan, in place.
Bridal veil with the ancestral embroidery technique, in place.
Six details, six keys.
He didn't know how many locks they would open tomorrow.
But they were the only cards he held.
When the candle had burned down to its last stub, the system displayed a new message.
He glanced at it and shot to his feet.
[Urgent notice: The release date of Xiao Jinghan, Son of Destiny, has changed.] [Original release date: Three months from now.] [Revised release date: Two months from now.] [Speculated cause: The Heavenly Dao Correction Force has intervened, accelerating Xiao Jinghan's fate line to compensate for the loss of luck caused by the change in Liu Ruyan's ownership.]
Two months from now.
Gu Moran stared at the message, his fingers slowly tightening around the back of the chair.
The Heavenly Dao had already begun to strike back.