After Transmigrating, the Female Lead Went Dark (GL) - Chapter 23

It was still dark and gray when Zhou Zhuying was dragged out of bed to be washed and dressed.

Due to her special status, she could only marry from within the Moshan Sect, thus the tradition of the groom’s procession was skipped. Once the auspicious time arrived, she would simply proceed with Xiao Xinyue to perform the wedding bows.

Waking up so early made her grumpy. “The bowing ceremony isn’t until the afternoon, so why are we up this early?”

The matchmaker nearby said, “Although the auspicious time for the ceremony is at You Shi (5 PM – 7 PM), you must leave your room at the beginning of Si Shi (9 AM – 11 AM). You still need to get dressed and made up. If you don’t start early, you might miss the auspicious time.”

Zhou Zhuying opened her eyes. “Why leave so early?”

“Naturally, to parade through the town and let the townsfolk share in the joyous occasion.”

Zhou Zhuying thought that she would be sitting inside the sedan chair during the parade, so she could catch up on sleep. They could fuss as much as they wanted for now.

She sat dutifully in front of the bronze mirror, allowing others to apply her makeup, change her into the bright red wedding gown, and finally put on the phoenix crown.

It had to be said, the phoenix crown was truly heavy. For someone whose heaviest hair accessory was a simple headband, the weight of the phoenix crown felt like having dozens of hairpins shoved into her head. Just turning her head felt like a rusty wheel axle.

Zhou Zhuying regretted it. She should have switched with Xiao Xinyue and married her off. Anyway, they were the same gender, and who married whom didn’t determine who was the pillow princess.

But it was too late to back out now.

After she was dressed, her stomach started rumbling. However, the matchmaker said she couldn’t eat until after the ceremony. Zhou Zhuying immediately became unhappy. “Why didn’t you tell me this before? If you had, I definitely wouldn’t have gone through with this marriage!”

The matchmaker was thoroughly annoyed. “That’s just the custom!”

Unable to eat, the Sect Leader immediately entered a mode of ignoring all relationships. “I’m not from here; how would I know your customs? Our custom is to do whatever we want! Why is getting married worse than being in jail? No wonder people say marriage is a grave—I haven’t even bowed yet, and I’m going to starve to death!”

A female disciple nearby, seeing her throwing a tantrum at this moment, said indignantly, “Your Demon Sect is known for being lawless and disrespectful! Since you are marrying our Saintess today, you must abide by our righteous path’s rituals!”

The Sect Leader sighed. Getting married without a single family member present, surrounded only by my in-laws… The thought alone is stifling.

Fortunately, she was optimistic. This small feeling of loneliness, if not deliberately dwelled upon, would eventually fade.

“Can I at least have some fruit?” she conceded.

Just as the matchmaker was about to answer, Xiao Xinyue cleared her throat at the doorway. “Ahem, ahem!”

The Sect Leader had already spotted her in the bronze mirror. Due to the weight of the phoenix crown, she didn’t bother turning her head and called out, “Saintess sister!”

“Saintess, why have you come?” the matchmaker and the female disciple quickly asked.

“To take a look,” Xiao Xinyue said with a slight smile.

The matchmaker replied, “This, I’m afraid, is against the rules.”

“There aren’t many rules to begin with for our marriage. We are all family here, so let’s be more relaxed!” Xiao Xinyue said, glancing at the Sect Leader. She waved her hand. “You two go about your business first. I need to speak with the Sect Leader.”

Knowing that this wedding was tied to the crucial matter between the righteous and demon paths, the matchmaker and the female disciple didn’t hesitate. They left, thoughtfully closing the door behind them.

Xiao Xinyue quickly walked behind the Sect Leader, took a package from her sleeve, and said, “Don’t be angry, Sect Leader. I’ve brought you food.”

Zhou Zhuying smelled the aroma of steamed buns and quickly turned her head, nearly straining her neck in the process. She held onto the phoenix crown. When she saw the meat buns wrapped in lotus leaves in Xiao Xinyue’s hand, her eyes instantly lit up. “Ay, it’s Xiaolongbao! But the smell isn’t like ordinary pork filling. What kind of meat is this?”

“Mutton. And the mutton has been specially cooked, so it won’t leave much of a lingering smell,” Xiao Xinyue said with a smile.

The Xiaolongbao were perfectly sized. After they cooled down a bit, Zhou Zhuying opened her mouth wide and ate them whole, one after another, to avoid smudging her lip color.

After eating two, she didn’t forget to offer one to Xiao Xinyue’s lips. Xiao Xinyue smiled. “I’ve already eaten. These are all for the Sect Leader.”

Zhou Zhuying’s mood instantly soared. Suddenly, her attention shifted from the Xiaolongbao to Xiao Xinyue herself. She had expected Xiao Xinyue to be dressed like a groom, but a closer look revealed otherwise.

Xiao Xinyue’s wedding dress, though different in style and cut from her own, was clearly female attire. Zhou Zhuying was wearing a duijin ruqun (cross-collared jacket and skirt), while Xiao Xinyue was wearing a jiaoling ruqun (a cross-collar jacket and skirt) with a large red gauze robe, which made it look like male attire at first glance.

Most importantly, Xiao Xinyue was also wearing a phoenix crown, though the style was simpler and seemed less heavy than Zhou Zhuying’s.

However, it was clear that Xiao Xinyue had her eyebrows drawn, applied powder and rouge, and colored her lips. She had a subtle scent of makeup that wasn’t usually there. But is she not the female lead? Even with makeup, her beauty was still outstanding. A single glance felt like tasting the sweetness of falling in love with someone.

Seeing Zhou Zhuying staring intently at her, Xiao Xinyue was puzzled. “What is the Sect Leader looking at?”

“Saintess sister, you are exceptionally beautiful today!” Zhou Zhuying said from the bottom of her heart.

Xiao Xinyue was taken aback, then laughed. “There’s no sugar added to these buns, so why is the Sect Leader’s mouth suddenly so sweet?”

“It’s not because of the buns at all! When I think that Saintess sister’s beautiful appearance will be seen by others, I feel like I’m chewing on wax.”

Xiao Xinyue automatically interpreted this as the Sect Leader being jealous.

She chuckled. “They can only look at me for one day, but the Sect Leader and I spend every day together. You will have me all to yourself for all the days and nights to come. Does that make the Sect Leader feel better?”

Zhou Zhuying’s heart suddenly brightened. Oh, right! After marrying the female lead, the female lead is hers! She can be a little generous and let those people have just this one look!

Happy again, the Sect Leader brought a Xiaolongbao to Xiao Xinyue’s mouth. This time, Xiao Xinyue didn’t refuse, taking a bite. Some of her lip color transferred to the remaining half of the bun.

The Sect Leader, for some reason, recalled the kiss from the other day and, thinking that tonight was their wedding night, felt a little nervous and flushed. She forgot that the half-eaten bun in her hand was Xiao Xinyue’s leftover and put it straight into her own mouth.

Xiao Xinyue was about to remind her but saw that she seemed lost in thought, so she swallowed her words.

The matchmaker’s voice rang out from outside the door. “Saintess, the auspicious time has arrived. We must not delay.”

Xiao Xinyue and Zhou Zhuying both snapped back to attention.

“Understood.” Just as Xiao Xinyue was about to leave, Zhou Zhuying suddenly grabbed her and handed her her own lip color. “Touch up.”

Xiao Xinyue stood still, allowing her to apply the lip color.

Zhou Zhuying’s fingertip lightly brushed over Xiao Xinyue’s lips, meticulously applying the color to every corner of her mouth. Xiao Xinyue watched her serious, focused expression, her eyes shimmering with joy that extended all the way to her eyebrows.

“All set.” Zhou Zhuying looked at her masterpiece with satisfaction, then watched Xiao Xinyue walk out the door.

When the matchmaker and the female disciple entered and saw the lotus leaves still on the table, they knew exactly what Xiao Xinyue had been up to.

They sighed helplessly: Never mind. The two newlyweds don’t care if these actions are considered inauspicious. Why should we worry unnecessarily?

As soon as the auspicious time arrived, Xiao Xinyue, surrounded by a crowd of Moshan Sect disciples, arrived at Zhou Zhuying’s door. There were already many disciples playing the role of the gate blockers. According to the original ceremony, these disciples would playfully obstruct the way, symbolically challenging Xiao Xinyue.

However, when they realized that the Moshan Sect’s Fifth Elder, Zhuo Zidan, was among them, the gate blocking became a serious obstacle.

Zhuo Zidan said, “If the Saintess can defeat me, I will let you pass.”

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. Who doesn’t know that, apart from the Sect Master, the Fifth Elder has the highest martial arts skill in the sect? If his martial arts weren’t so high, he wouldn’t have been promoted to Elder at such a young age after being recruited by the Saintess.

“Then I ask the Elder to go easy on me,” Xiao Xinyue said, still wearing a gentle smile, as if she didn’t realize that Zhuo Zidan was seriously trying to stop her from marrying Zhou Zhuying.

Zhuo Zidan did not speak, but he released his inner energy, and everyone immediately felt a pressure. Disciples with weaker martial arts found their hearts pounding, seemingly unable to bear the strain.

True Qi (Zhenqi) was unique to their cultivation world and was the fundamental energy of cultivation. Without True Qi, one couldn’t embark on the path of cultivation, and possessing it created a massive gulf in status between a cultivator and an ordinary person.

Therefore, when Zhuo Zidan released his True Qi, it was difficult for ordinary people to withstand it, unless they were cultivators with True Qi or experts with a century of internal power.

Xiao Xinyue, with an unchanging expression, took off the large red gauze robe and removed her phoenix crown. She bowed and said, “Elder, please make your move.”

Zhuo Zidan frowned, withdrawing his True Qi. “Since you won’t use it, I won’t either.”

After saying this, he suddenly attacked Xiao Xinyue.

Though he used no weapon, his move carried a fierce momentum that an ordinary person absolutely couldn’t parry. But Xiao Xinyue handled it with ease, looking completely relaxed. Everyone sighed in admiration, “Truly worthy of the Saintess! She managed to exchange more than five blows with the Fifth Elder!”

Zhuo Zidan saw that Xiao Xinyue hadn’t used her full strength and was slightly annoyed. He began to fight seriously, acting as if the person before him was an enemy he absolutely had to defeat.

Xiao Xinyue’s smile slightly faded, and her expression grew serious.

Just then, Zhou Zhuying heard the commotion outside and listened to the disciples discussing it. She was instantly alarmed: Holy cow, the male lead and the female lead are fighting?!

This is a disaster! The male lead is a cultivator! What if he gets serious and hurts the female lead?

She knew the male lead was probably acting irrationally out of jealousy, unable to watch his beloved marry someone else. But her current easy life depended on clinging to the female lead’s thigh. If something happened to the female lead and she fell into the male lead’s hands, wouldn’t she face the fate of being sliced up like a watermelon?

Thinking this, she immediately ran out and shouted, “Elder Zhuo! Are you on my side? Just pretend to fight, alright? If you get serious, I really won’t be able to get married!”

Her interruption immediately defused the tense atmosphere, and some disciples couldn’t help but laugh. Another disciple chided her, “Why are you so undignified?”

Zhou Zhuying wasn’t embarrassed at all. She said confidently, “Being able to marry Saintess sister is a blessing I’ve cultivated over many lifetimes! I can’t wait to marry her early. If I’m dignified now, this blessing might just run away!”

Author’s Notes:

Sect Leader: I’m showing my hand. I’m not pretending anymore. I can’t wait to marry the female lead early!

Gate-Blocking Disciples: We weren’t going to seriously block the door before, but now we are!