According to the historical records of the Liang Kingdom:
On the seventeenth day of the third month in the fourteenth year of Chongming, Emperor Liang Jing passed away. On the same day, the Prince of Lin, Yuwen Jin, along with Chang Jian and his son, attempted to seize the palace.
During the imperial examinations of the third month, the rebels captured 513 examination candidates, attempting to force court officials to recognize their legitimacy.
Later, a commoner woman named Jiang Ning single-handedly killed Yuwen Jin, while the Prime Minister's daughter Nangong Muyan subsequently killed Chang Jian. Seeing the tide turn against them, Chang Jian's son Chang Linwei committed suicide in front of the Taiji Hall.
The coup was thus quelled, with casualties including 280 imperial guards and one examination candidate.
On the twentieth day of the third month, Emperor Liang Jing was buried in the imperial tomb...
On the seventeenth day of the fourth month, the new emperor ascended to the throne, changing the reign name to Zhaoguang, and in the following year implemented...
On the same day, His Majesty issued an imperial decree: In recognition of the commoner Jiang Ning's meritorious service in saving the throne, His Majesty adopted her as his sworn sister, bestowed upon her the imperial surname "Yuwen," renamed her Yuwen Ning, granted her a princess's mansion, and conferred the title "Princess Hening," as she became known to later generations.
The Prime Minister's daughter Nangong Muyan, for her merit in executing the traitor Chang Jian, was granted marriage to the Capital City merchant Zhou Yi, with the wedding set for the twenty-first day of the sixth month. On the wedding day, His Majesty personally attended to give his blessing...
On the ninth day of the sixth month, when the palace examination results were announced, His Majesty saw that the new top scholar Liu Ming'an possessed exceptional talent and refined bearing, and specially arranged his marriage to Princess Hening. After consulting the almanac for an auspicious date, the wedding was set for the eighth day of the eighth month...
...
"Ling'er, wake up! How can you oversleep on your wedding day?"
Lan Xu's anxious voice rang out as she pulled away the blanket from the person in bed, yanking Jiang Ning up.
"Mother, there's no need to welcome the groom, why get up so early?" Jiang Ning mumbled, grabbing back the blanket and preparing to fall back asleep.
"Oh my, you must get up early on your wedding day! This only happens once in a lifetime, come on, get up..."
After Lan Xu's gentle coaxing and many sweet words, she finally got her daughter up.
Bathing, changing clothes, hair styling, applying makeup... quite a fuss indeed.
By the time Jiang Ning was dressed in her wedding attire, wearing the phoenix crown and seated in her chamber, it was already late morning.
"This phoenix crown is so heavy!"
As Jiang Ning raised her hand to adjust it, Lan Xu stopped her: "Don't fidget with it. This was given by His Majesty - no matter how heavy it is, you must bear it."
"Alright~ I won't move it," Jiang Ning replied with a smile.
Fearing she might have missed something, Lan Xu inspected her daughter from all angles, wearing an irrepressible smile that gradually gave way to glistening tears.
"My Ling'er looks so beautiful!"
Hearing the choked voice, Jiang Ning said with a smile, "Mother, don't cry! You'll be sitting in the place of honor with so many people watching - red eyes won't look good."
Only Lan Xu would be sitting in the place of honor. She would have no more connection with the Prime Minister's mansion - this was Yuwen Yan's way of showing gratitude.
After killing Yuwen Jin that day and quelling the rebellion, Yuwen Yan had met privately with Jiang Ning.
"Third Young Lady, you've saved me twice now."
At that time, Yuwen Yan was just two days away from ascending the throne, yet he bowed deeply and respectfully to her.
Jiang Ning stepped aside to avoid his bow: "You should know, I didn't come specifically to save you."
Yuwen Yan smiled: "Lady Jiang Ning's personality hasn't changed one bit... In that case, I owe Scholar Liu another debt of gratitude, and I haven't even repaid his life-saving grace from Qushui City..."
"Want to repay the favor?" Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Yes."
Jiang Ning thought for a moment. She and Liu Ming'an wanted for nothing - except a wedding. And since both Nangong Ya and the Lou family had said they would interfere, she could use imperial power to handle things.
"Then after your ascension, arrange the marriage between Liu Ming'an and me," Jiang Ning said, then added: "Don't arrange it under the identity of Nangong Ling - I don't want any connection with the Prime Minister's mansion."
An imperial decree arranging marriage carried more weight than any matchmaker's efforts and would save a lot of trouble.
Yuwen Yan agreed without hesitation.
However, Jiang Ning hadn't expected Yuwen Yan to adopt her as his sworn sister and grant her the title of "Princess Hening," directly elevating her status so that even Nangong Ya would have to bow to her now.
After Jiang Ning left the imperial study, Yuwen Yan summoned Nangong Muyan, similarly bowing to her and expressing his desire to show gratitude.
"I don't seem to lack anything," Nangong Muyan pondered before asking, "What did my third sister ask for?"
"She asked me to arrange her marriage," Yuwen Yan answered truthfully.
Nangong Muyan gave a light laugh: "Then I want you to arrange my marriage too."
Yuwen Yan: "..."
The Prime Minister's two daughters were truly unique.
Yuwen Yan hadn't thought much of it at first, assuming Nangong Muyan might have her eye on some noble's son and was too shy to speak of it. He never expected she wanted to marry a merchant.
After the marriage was arranged, rumors circulated in the streets suggesting that although the Prime Minister's eldest daughter had helped secure the throne, the emperor married her to a merchant because he feared she might become empress, which would allow the Nangong family to gain too much power at court and threaten his position.
Hearing these rumors, Yuwen Yan's mouth twitched, but he couldn't explain anything and had to bear the reputation of being ungrateful and suspicious.
It wasn't until Nangong Muyan's wedding day, when Yuwen Yan came to the Prime Minister's mansion and saw her swollen belly, that he finally understood why this lady had asked to be married.
Now, sitting in the Princess's mansion watching Jiang Ning and Liu Ming'an bow to heaven and earth, Yuwen Yan couldn't help but keep glancing at the bride's waist. After discreetly observing for quite a while without noticing anything unusual, he felt somewhat disappointed.
Yuwen Yan turned to look at Nangong Muyan. Six months pregnant with a visible bump, she stood with a man carefully supporting her waist, keeping her separated from the crowd around them.
Seeing the genuine smile on Nangong Muyan's face, the question that had been bothering him surfaced again.
He had later discovered that it was Nangong Muyan who had sold out Nangong Ling and even spread rumors about an elopement. By all rights, they should have been mortal enemies, but for some reason, he felt their relationship was closer than most.
Even stranger was that in his memory, Nangong Muyan had been willful and temperamental, while Nangong Ling had been timid and fearful. Yet during Yuwen Jin's coup, the murderous intent of these two sisters had been identical, the coldness in their eyes indistinguishable - for a moment, one might have thought they were the same person.
Yuwen Yan glanced at Nangong Ya, standing at the edge of the crowd, whose face displayed complex emotions like a theatrical performance - joy, sentiment, satisfaction, bitterness, acceptance... and something indefinable.
At his daughter's wedding, this father wasn't sitting in the place of honor to receive the newlyweds' bows - he was here today merely as a subject attending a princess's wedding.
Yuwen Yan truly couldn't understand the people and affairs of the Nangong family - indeed, every family had its own difficult story to tell.
"Escort them to the bridal chamber!"
"Excellent!"
With the master of ceremonies' final call, cheers erupted from the crowd, pulling Yuwen Yan from his scattered thoughts.
With the ceremony complete, the banquet followed. Yuwen Yan knew his presence made everyone uncomfortable and unable to relax, so he rose, spoke a few ceremonial words, and returned to the palace with his personal guards.
