I woke up as the Villainous Empress

Yang Ning noticed the concern in Yu Ling’s eyes and smiled at her, ” I am alright. You don’t need to worry about anything.” She said, assuring her worrying eyes.

Although she could tell that Yu Ling has sensed something about her strange interaction with Yang Luoyang, she still doesn’t want to say something from her mouth.

Because no meaningful outcome is going to come out if she tells her honestly about what Yang Luoyang said to her. She has no evidence and the way he implicated Zheng Liang for lying in front of His Majesty, he can do the same with her as well.

Yang Luoyang is good at manipulating people, after all. Why does she have to deal with manipulating people all the time? She wondered.

Her best friend, whom she trusted the most, betrayed her. Here Yang Luoyang was openly threatening her and challenging her decisions.

For the sake of everyone’s happiness, she decided to shake off what happened today. Today is such a big day and everyone is so busy executing this wedding with perfection.

How can she ruin everyone’s excitement by acting like a spoiled sport and getting upset over a small thing? Well, it wasn’t a small thing. He literally threatened her but still.

If she plans her future actions well, the worst situation can be prevented. Isn’t it?

.....

....

” You were saying that we need to leave for the palace right away? Let me call Xiaowei to touch up my makeup before we leave.” Yang Ning tried to divert Yu Ling’s attention from the situation.

However, the Head of Court ladies of the royal palace wasn’t convinced by Yang Ning’s calm and composed manner who was pretending as if nothing had happened.

She could sense that something had happened because earlier when she entered the chamber, Yang Ning’s eyes were tearing up and screaming ‘HELP’ while looking at her.

Yu Ling didn’t react to Yang Ning’s words and stepped forward to help her with the makeup. She pursed her lips as she stood there and her eyes were fixated on the slightly reddened scratch on her chin.

She closed her eyes to control the storm that was building up inside her as she felt awful seeing the scar on Yang Ning’s beautiful face. It was her wedding day, yet she had to experience something disgusting like this on a prominent day like today.

“Sit here for a moment.” Yu Ling pushed Yang Ning to sit back on the chair and went to find something from the drawer.

“What...what are you looking for?” Yang Ning asked curiously.

“Oh? This is....” Yang Ning was speechless and touched when Yu Ling returned with a small wooden first-aid box.

This small box was organized by Yu Ling where she had put all the medicines of Yang Ning which had been prescribed by Master Jiang Tai. Since she is clumsy and easily gets sick, she needs medical assistance sooner which can reduce her hardships and pain in the later days.

Without saying anything, Yu Ling pulled out a small glass bottle from the box and carefully applied the gray medicinal herbs powder on her delicate skin so that it would not hurt or leave an ugly scar on her beautiful face.

“Ah!” Yang Ning winced in pain when Yu Ling applied the medicinal powder to the cut. It didn’t hurt this much earlier when Yang Luoyang grabbed her chin and was squeezing it hard between his fingers.

However, his rough hands left their mark on her face and caused her jaw skin to turn crimson due to fierceness and his harsh grip.

Yu Ling glanced at Yang Ning who was trying to control her groan and was trying to bear the pain. “If you’re hurt, then say that you are hurt. Rather than overlooking them, it is better to tell others that you’re hurt.”

“Otherwise, no one will know it and only you will suffer.” She said in a sweet yet indifferent voice while gently applying the medicine to her face.

Yang Ning was touched by Yu Ling’s comforting words and smiled mildly at her meaningful words. All her life, she has worked hard to reduce her father’s hardships and wished her family to be happy and together.

Aside from her family, she had devoted her whole life to archery and lived most of her years at the team dormitory. She was so used to hiding her pain that even if she was hurting and didn’t have the strength to do any workout or go to her training, she always showed up on the day because she didn’t want to sound like a loser.

There were many incidents where she fainted while practicing and had been taken to the emergency room multiple times.

All because she didn’t know the word being sick. It was never in her dictionary. She used to consider it as the worst excuse of all and always did her best to make others comfortable around her, even if she was the one feeling uncomfortable.

However, after hearing Yu Ling’s words, it sounded right as well. If she doesn’t take care of and protect herself, no one will be able to save her from any kind of misfortune.

‘Is it really that easy to show your weaknesses to others?’ She wondered in a daze while Yu Ling applied the medicine to her face.

After the medicine, Yu Ling even touched up Yang Ning’s makeup to hide the scratch. Following this, she helped her with her long and heavy wedding dress and admired her in the wedding dress for the last time before saying, ” Now you look like the Crown Princess of the Zheng Empire. Beautiful and full of elegance.”

“I have never seen such a beautiful bride in my life. Your ethereal beauty is truly god gifted.” Yu Ling said, making Yang Ning blush at the choice of her words.

Yang Ning was feeling emotional because, in such a short time, she has gotten close to Yu Ling as she reminds her of her mother who passed away when she was young. If she would have been alive, she would have guarded her against all the evil intentions like Yu Ling does and would have been a strict mom to her, like the way Yu Ling treats her.

However, Yu Ling didn’t stretch this emotional moment for longer and reminded her, ” Lady Yu Ling, we have to leave for the palace now. Otherwise, we will be late for the auspicious hour for the ceremonies.” She hurried her.

“Ah? Right. Today is my wedding. I almost forgot about it.” Yang Ning came to her senses and took a deep breath and exhaled it, realizing that she almost forgot about the wedding.

It was all because of Yang Luoyang. If he hadn’t come to her chamber to ruin her mood, things would have passed smoothly.

‘Fang Li, let’s not ruin your mood and enjoy this today to the fullest. Since when will you get to experience a wedding like this?’ She repeated to herself.

She is not only getting to witness a royal wedding in an ancient way but she is the one getting married. It’s a cool and scary experience at the same time.

She could only hope that this experience doesn’t stretch for long and she will soon get to return to her world.

___

-Royal Palace-

The royal palace was decorated with thousands of colorful flowers and lanterns. Even though it was daytime, hundreds of Chinese lanterns and decorations were hanging around all over the royal palace, making it look even more extravagant and lavish.

The royal wedding ceremony will be taking place at the Main Hall where His Majesty holds his royal court regularly. The wedding ceremony consists of reading the vows in front of both families and a tea ceremony.

After paying respects to the elders of both families, the wedding will be followed by the wedding banquet which has been prepared for everyone.

Not many people will be attending the tea ceremony as only the two families will be present at the Main Hall and the royal court members to witness this magical moment when the Crown Prince of the Zheng Empire will tie the knot with Yang Ning and will make her his first wife and the Crown Princess of the Empire.

Following the wedding ceremony with the royal court members being the witness to such a precious memory, it will be followed by a wedding banquet that will be held at the large arena of the palace which is on the back side of the main palace.

The amphitheater-sized large arena was meant to hold large events and banquets to welcome a large audience. All the royals, ministers, nobles, and aristocrats from the other empires and kingdoms will be attending the wedding banquet to give blessings to the new royal couple.

Day one of the Royal wedding will conclude with the wedding banquet and entertaining dance and cultural performances.

On the second day of the royal wedding, Zheng Liang and Yang Ning will go on a parade, riding the horse carriage around the capital to announce their togetherness to the world and let them witness the power of the royal couple.

On the third day, Yang Ning will be visiting her parents and will go to the Yang Household along with Zheng Liang to greet them and accept their blessings.

It will be a long week following the royal wedding ceremony in which they will have to fulfill so many formalities.