Work Text:
Dou Zhao suspected that there were certain events she simply could not avoid. Like the death of her mother and the birth of her younger half-sister. One such event was probably the wedding to Wei Ting Yu. So she decided to simply surrender to the flow of time, agreeing to follow this event. She decided to marry him, and then stabilize his household, just like his sister had always wanted. She knew that this was the only reason Wei Ting Zhen wanted her. She wanted to marry Dou Zhao, despite the bad reputation that was circulating around her, solely because of her dowry and business skills. The woman wanted her gold, and Sou Zhao was willing to give it to her to gain peace.
She had a plan. She would enter his house, do what she had to do, and then quickly find a way to divorce him or have the marriage annulled.
Dou Zhao knew what kind of person Wei Ting Yu was. She had lived under the same roof with him for long enough. She had had enough opportunities to see for herself what kind of person he was. She knew all his dark secrets. She knew where he spent his time and where he spent the last of their money. She knew who he borrowed from and who he drank with the most. She knew the names of his favorite courtesans. She knew which days of the week he went to which brothels. Dou Zhao knew him better than anyone else.
She also knew that if she was desperate, she could always use her younger sister to bring up the betrayal case and force her family to annul their marriage. She could even give Dou Ming her role as Wei Ting Yu's wife. She could also use his tendency to visit brothels to destroy his name. Then she wouldn't have to look back at all. Any court would grant her a divorce from such a shameless man. She could take revenge for the words he said and her previous life.
Dou Zhao hadn't decided how to deal with him yet. She had many ideas on how to deal with her reluctant husband.
She hoped that she would also be able to get some revenge for his earlier actions while she was still in his house. When he would have to call her his wife.
What she hadn't anticipated was Song Mo, with his brilliant idea, kidnapping the bride...
Now Dou Zhao sat theatrically tied up in a blanket, slung over Song Mo's horse like a sack of potatoes, who was taking his chance to hit Wei Ting Yu a few more times, until it would be counted as theatrical kidnapping of the bride.
Song Mo was dressed in red, wedding robes. He had already cut the wedding bow that tied Dou Zhao's sedan chair. He had also broken the red jug full of wedding wine that the maid carried in front of the sedan chair. And now he was having fun beating her would-be groom.
She pulled her arm out of the cloth that wrapped her. She had thrown off the veil before it was tied up, so she could now watch the performance without any obstacles. She rested her chin on her hand and lifted her head.
The crowd around them also watched as Song Mo kicked Wei Ting Yu who was lying on the ground.
"Madam..."
Lu Ming or Lu Zheng said as he approached Song Mo's horse. Dou Zhao turned her gaze towards him.
"You should look more... helpless."
He told her. Dou Zhao sighed loudly, completely theatrically.
"Maybe I should burst into tears and scream in fear when Song Mo turns towards me?"
She asked the boy. He lowered his gaze. Dou Zhao sighed again. Men and their ill-conceived ideas, truly irritating.
When Song Mo got tired of tormenting Wei Ting Yu, he turned towards her. She could see the satisfaction written in his demeanor, she could also see the fear and uncertainty in his eyes. When their gazes met, the man swallowed loudly. Dou Zhao couldn't help but wink at him.
The great, terrible general lost his step and stumbled over the air, almost falling to the ground in front of her. Dou Zhao had to hold back her laughter, but it took a lot of energy.
"Oh great, terrible general, don't kidnap me from the altar, what will my father say?"
She said, playing with him. She wrapped her finger around a strand of hair that was escaping from her hairstyle. Song Mo stopped. Dou Zhao knew the man didn't know what to say. She had to hold back her laughter again. Yes, this was her great, terrible general, who was losing the fight against the small woman, who was still hanging from the horse, wrapped in a blanket.
She beckoned him over with a movement of her finger, which the general quickly and obediently did.
"If you didn't want to do the show, you should have gagged me."
She said flirtatiously. The general blushed, to her great delight.
"Go on, jump on the horse, I won't hang here all day."
She urged him on.
The crowd laughed and teased the general. After the initial fear that was caused by the arrival of a group of fully armed men and the sight of their weapons pointed at the wedding procession, everyone finally understood what was happening before their eyes. The general had decided to steal the bride.
Song Mo obediently got on the horse, helping Dao Zhao sit more comfortably. He put his arm around her before he urged the horse on.
Song Mo didn't have the courage to admit that he hadn't planned anything other than kidnapping the bride. He didn't know what he should do now. He felt like he had been waiting and listening the whole time for Dao Zhao to tell him what to do. He hoped that his... beloved would tell him what to do now.
He felt her hand tighten on his shoulder.
"It'll be okay. We'll figure this out somehow."
She said comfortingly, and Song Mo was afraid to admit it, but he was really relieved to hear the confidence in her voice. He didn't even know how much he relied on Dao Zhao, but he couldn't imagine life without her by his side...
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