Chapter 58

When Yu Ge and Shanzi arrived at Cheng Duo's house, Cheng Duo was carrying hunting tools, preparing to go up the mountain. Fortunately, the two arrived just in time and bumped into him.

"Are you here to find me?" Cheng Duo saw the two approaching but remaining silent, so he had to ask proactively.

Yu Ge was facing Cheng Duo directly for the first time and was so frightened that his face turned pale. He instinctively shrunk behind Shanzi.

Shanzi was also a bit unsure because he didn't know if Cheng Duo would be willing to get involved in "other people's business." After hesitating for a moment, he mustered up the courage and explained the strange situation of Yong Ge getting married today for no apparent reason and his peculiar behavior at the Sha family.

He thought that even if Cheng Duo was willing to help, it would just be a casual favor. But he didn't expect Cheng Duo's expression to change drastically after hearing it. "What did you say? Yong Ge is the one getting married today?!"

What a joke! Yong Ge was with him just yesterday!

Cheng Duo immediately put aside his hunting plans, using it as an excuse to return to his courtyard to retrieve his weapon. In reality, he took out the iron spear from his storage space and held it in his hand with an intimidating aura. He stomped down the steps with determination, saying, "Let's go."

Shanzi and Yu Ge exchanged glances, and somehow, they felt like they had found support. They almost jogged behind Cheng Duo.

Cheng Duo stormed into the Sha family's house, where the front courtyard was filled with guests. But when they saw him charging in with a fierce momentum, no one dared to stop him.

Cheng Duo smoothly made his way to the entrance of the bridal chamber. Shanzi, Yu Ge, and even the guests who were spectating at the Sha family followed curiously.

Whispering broke out among the crowd: "What's happening?"

"Why does the hunter have a murderous expression? What did the Sha family do to provoke him?" Sha San was Sha Yang's father, and coincidentally, Sha Er was Sha Yang's second uncle.

Uncle Sha, thinking about his somewhat friendly relationship with Cheng Duo, quickly stepped forward to block the entrance of the bridal chamber. He kindly advised, "Brother Cheng, what are you doing? Today is a joyful day for my nephew Sha Yang. If you're here to congratulate, we welcome you…"

"Uncle Sha, excuse me." Cheng Duo didn't want to waste time with him, so he apologized and directly grabbed Uncle Sha, moving him aside. Then, with long strides, he entered the bridal chamber and headed straight for the person sitting on the bed with a covered head – Feng Ge.

Feng Ge, hearing the commotion outside, quickly pretended to be unconscious and leaned against the bedside table, feigning ignorance.

"What are you doing, hunter?!" "Don't touch my husband!" The Sha family rushed to stop Cheng Duo, alarmed and angry at his attempt to lift the cover.

Cheng Duo had already recognized that the person under the covered head was not Yong Ge. The body shape was different – broader shoulders than their Yong Ge, a less slender waist, and even shorter legs…

Knowing the rules of lifting the cover in ancient customs, Cheng Duo, even with the tip of his iron spear touching the edge of the cover, withdrew it. He pointed the spear at Sha Yang and said, "Come and lift the cover."

"Why… why should I?" Sha Yang was startled. Intimidated by Cheng Duo's aura and with the sharp iron spearhead close to his neck, his legs unconsciously began to tremble.

Sha Yang's mother stepped forward to shield her son. "Exactly, why should he?! The auspicious time hasn't arrived yet; the cover cannot be lifted!"

"Stop the nonsense. If I tell you to lift it, you lift it!" Cheng Duo grabbed Sha Yang as if catching a chick and forcefully pulled him out. He shoved him in front of the "unconscious" bridegroom and sternly shouted, "Hurry up and lift it!"

Normally, Sha Yang would act willfully and unreasonably because he had someone to back him up. But now, with no one daring to help him and Cheng Duo's angry face, the strength of his grip was astonishing.

Sha Yang's arm trembled, and he quickly lifted the cover.

"What's the meaning of this, hunter? We didn't invite you, how dare you come in and cause trouble—" Sha Yang's mother was accusing, but she suddenly recognized the person lying on the bed and exclaimed in shock, "It's Feng Ge? How could it be Feng Ge? We clearly arranged for Yong Ge!"

Hearing Sha Yang's mother's words, the guests who were unable to squeeze into the room to spectate burst into an uproar: "What? Sha Yang is marrying Feng Ge?"

"Isn't it supposed to be Yong Ge?"

Sha Yang was also bewildered and quickly grabbed Feng Ge's shoulder, shaking him vigorously, trying to wake him up. "Why is it you? Where is my Yong Ge?!"

Cheng Duo, already filled with anger, became even more furious upon hearing this. He swung his staff, hitting Sha Yang's buttocks, and pushed him away. Then, he pointed the iron spear at Feng Ge, menacingly saying, "Still pretending, huh? The eyes of someone who just woke up from unconsciousness wouldn't move around like you do! If you don't open your eyes, I'll poke a hole in your shoulder!"

Feng Ge froze for a moment, hesitating whether to wake up or not. However, in the next second, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. In pain, he opened his eyes and said, "I… I'm awake. I really did faint just now, I wasn't pretending…"

"Tsk, someone who wakes up from fainting doesn't ask what happened and immediately denies pretending. You're lying!" Cheng Duo sneered, not wanting to waste any more words. "Where is Yong Ge?"

With the sharp iron spear pointed at him and his wedding attire already stained with a few spots of blood, Feng Ge's face turned pale. He stuttered, "He… he snatched my marriage and went to the Hong family…"

"Well, what a thief calling others thieves! Weren't you unconscious? How do you know that Yong Ge snatched your marriage? This was probably pre arranged by your family!" Cheng Duo coldly laughed, put away his iron spear, and turned to leave. He still had to chase after Yong Ge and didn't have time to argue with them.

If anything happened to Yong Ge, he would make them understand the consequences of plotting against him!

"No, I guess it's like this…" In a state of panic, Feng Ge accidentally let slip, but Cheng Duo saw through it and his racing heart stopped. He quickly tried to remedy the situation.

Their plan was indeed as he had said, but when spoken from his mouth, it seemed very deliberate.

They had planned that as long as he got through tonight's wedding night without arousing suspicion and pretended to wake up and recognize Sha Yang tomorrow, everything would be fine… Why did this hunter named Cheng Duo have to meddle in their affairs?! He and Sha Yang had only gone through the ceremonial betrothal and hadn't even had the wedding night!

What should he do…

"Sha Yang…" Feng Ge looked at Sha Yang with a sense of grievance, but to his surprise, Sha Yang had already disappeared.

"You explain it clearly to me! What exactly is going on?" Sha Yang's mother accidentally let her son slip away and could only grab onto Feng Ge's collar to interrogate him.

"I don't know, I really don't know…" Feng Ge, who had now regained his senses, understood the situation. Besides pitifully saying that he didn't know, he refused to say anything else. When Sha Yang's mother pressed him with urgency, he would cry. After all, Sha Yang's mother wasn't like Cheng Duo, who would threaten or harm him. She only came over to pinch his arm, which Feng Ge dared to dodge.

Sha Yang's sisters also cornered the matchmaker and demanded an explanation.

The matchmaker was at a loss and could only desperately explain that she had indeed informed Sha Yang that it was Yong Ge. She had the wedding invitation as proof. Why there was a substitution, she didn't know either…

On the other side, Sha Yang chased after Cheng Duo out the door. His father, Uncle Sha, and the young men from the Sha family and relatives also followed. However, they couldn't keep up with Cheng Duo's fast pace, and in an instant, he vanished from their sight.

Yu Ge was physically weak and didn't dare to leave the village. As for Shanzi, he considered following but decided against it. Instead, he turned around and took Yu Ge to report to Li San Ye's house and seek assistance.

Shanzi was clever. Before the Li family could turn the tables on them, he explained how they noticed something was amiss, their encounter with Cheng Duo, and the events at the Sha family, embellishing the details…

"""

The bridal procession from the Hong family wasn't moving quickly. Firstly, the groom was in the donkey cart, and in challenging sections of the road, the young men from the Hong family had to assist in carrying it. Secondly, Hong baobei was making a fuss. He would complain about the sun being too hot one moment and then about walking too far and his feet hurting the next. Despite Hong DaGe and Hong SiGe trying to coax him along the way, their progress was slow.

(T/N: DaGe refers to Big brother and SiGe- fourth brother. Here Ge signifies brother as one must have heard in chinese dramas where people refer to their brother as gege… Da and Si are the position of the brothers.)

Just as the Hong family's procession came to a halt for a rest, Hong baobei started fussing for the third time to see the groom, and finally, Hong DaGe and Hong SiGe realized something was amiss.

It had been an hour since the groom had been in the donkey cart on such a hot day. They suggested that he come out for some fresh air, and if he remained silent, it could be explained as shyness. But to not even drink water, how could a normal person bear it?

Hong baobei continued to clamor to see the groom, and Hong DaGe and Hong SiGe exchanged glances before finally taking their younger brother to the cart. They lifted the curtain, and the groom, Yong Ge, had already pushed back the cover due to the stuffiness.

At the moment, he had his eyes half-closed, his mind hazy. He had attempted several times to prop himself up but failed, only ending up with beads of cold sweat on his forehead.

So the Hong brothers lifted the curtain, and what they saw was Yong Ge lying in the cart, dressed in red garments. His handsome face was pale, and his dark, wet hair was clinging to his forehead. He was forcefully opening his beautiful eyes to look at them.

His nose was straight, and his lips were rosy. Even in this side profile, he didn't appear disheveled but rather enchanting…

Hong DaGe and Hong SiGe were stunned on the spot, and the young men from the Hong family who were secretly peeking behind them were also stunned.

Only Hong baobei, with his foolishness, said, "You, are you my groom? You're so handsome!"

As he spoke, he reached out to touch Yong Ge's hand, and Yong Ge widened his eyes, wanting to lift his hand to push him away. But he was helpless and weak all over, unable to muster any strength.

Most of the young men from the Hong family who followed the bridal procession were unmarried. Seeing that the foolish Hong baobei had married a celestial-like groom, they couldn't help but feel envious. Seeing Hong baobei publicly touching his new groom, for some reason, they started to cheer loudly, "Oh, touching the new groom~~"

At a critical moment, Cheng Duo arrived just in time, pushing aside the crowd and grabbing Hong baobei's hand to separate them.

"Who are you?" Hong DaGe promptly caught his younger brother and frowned as he asked.

Yong Ge's eyes lit up when he saw Cheng Duo, and his tense body unconsciously relaxed. When Cheng Duo reached out to support him, he leaned comfortably into his arms.

"Cheng… Duo…" Yong Ge struggled to move his lips, his voice faint like a mosquito.

His nose felt a little sour. He knew Cheng Duo would come for him!

"Are you okay?" Seeing that Yong Ge was safe and sound, Cheng Duo also breathed a sigh of relief.

Yong Ge shook his head with difficulty and smiled faintly at Cheng Duo. However, when he noticed the red wedding garments on himself, he soon furrowed his brow in regret. He had only wanted to wear wedding clothes once in his life, and it was supposed to be with Cheng Duo!

"You, you, you, how dare you hold my groom? My mother said that only I can hold my groom!" Hong baobei became angry and without thinking, he rushed forward to separate the two.

Cheng Duo directly grabbed him by the collar and tossed him aside, saying, "Who said he's your groom? Yong Ge is clearly mine!"

Because he was annoyed, Cheng Duo threw the obstructing person to the ground. It was the first time Hong baobei had been hit like this and he started crying loudly while lying on the ground!

"Wahh! Big brother, fourth brother, he, he hit me!"

Cheng Duo: "…"

Hong DaGe: "How could you hit someone…"

"Well, this guy is a scoundrel. Not only did he steal someone else's betrothed, but he also hit someone. He looks down on our Hong family!" Hong SiGe angrily said. The young men from the Hong family, full of youthful vigour, saw Hong baobei being beaten and all rallied together, brandishing fists and holding wooden poles, ready to teach Cheng Duo a lesson.

"Scoundrel deserves to die!"

"This groom is probably not clean either. They deceived us with this marriage!"

"Beat him to death!"

Hong DaGe: "Wait, let's clear things up first!"

Unfortunately, no one paid attention to him. Led by Hong SiGe, the young men from the Hong family had already rushed forward.

Cheng Duo kicked Hong SiGe and another person away and turned to support Yong Ge against the cart's wall. "Yong Ge, wait here for me."

"No…" With so many people against him, Yong Ge was afraid that Cheng Duo would be at a disadvantage. He reached out to try to grab him but failed due to his lack of strength.

In the blink of an eye, Cheng Duo was already wielding his iron spear, and the Hong family members were crying out for mercy.

Yong Ge: "…"

Hong DaGe: "Stop, let's talk!"

Cheng Duo did indeed want to have a good talk, but these people came up and called him a "scoundrel," and even said that Yong Ge was unclean. They were the ones who were unclean!

He decided to give them a beating first and then have a good talk!

At this moment, Sha Yang and his son, Uncle Sha, along with their relatives, rushed over and saw the scene of the Hong family members lying all over the ground, a scene of sorrow and desolation.

Sha family members: "Hiss–"