"Finish the decree."
The Crown Prince's command sliced through the hall.
The scribe's brush trembled.
Ink hovered above paper like a guillotine that hadn't dropped yet.
Lin Yue's knees were still on the red cushion.
Her wrists were still wrapped in bridal ribbon.
And across the hall—
Shen Rui stood in the open.
Unhidden.
Unprotected.
Recorded by hundreds of eyes.
Guards closed in around him.
Steel flashed.
The nobles whispered.
The Crown Prince didn't look angry.
He looked satisfied.
Like this was exactly how history was supposed to correct itself.
Lin Yue's head throbbed.
That pressure behind her eyes returned.
The wipe.
The erase.
Her body wanted to shut down.
But her gaze locked on Shen Rui.
His face didn't change.
He wasn't begging her to save him.
He was forcing her to choose.
Choose him…
or choose survival.
Lin Yue swallowed.
Her throat tasted like blood.
The scribe lifted his voice again, forced and shaky.
"And may this union—"
Lin Yue moved.
Fast.
She grabbed the ceremonial cup of wine from the tray beside her.
A sacred bridal drink.
Symbol of submission.
Symbol of belonging.
She stood—
and hurled it across the altar.
The cup shattered.
Wine exploded like blood on white stone.
The hall went silent.
The scribe froze.
The Crown Prince's eyes snapped to her.
"What did you do?" he hissed.
Lin Yue's chest heaved.
She didn't answer.
She stepped forward and ripped the red ribbon off her wrists.
The cloth fell like dead skin.
Gasps rippled through the nobles.
The matron's face went white.
"My lady!" she whispered.
Lin Yue ignored her.
She looked straight at the scribe.
Her voice came out clear.
"Stop writing," she ordered.
The scribe flinched.
He looked to the Crown Prince for permission.
The Crown Prince's jaw clenched.
"Continue," he said coldly.
Lin Yue's hands shook.
She grabbed the altar scroll—
the decree itself—
and yanked it off the stand.
The paper tore.
The sound was loud.
Disgusting.
Final.
Half the hall sucked in a breath like they'd watched a murder.
The Crown Prince's expression didn't crack.
But his eyes did.
A flicker of shock.
Because this wasn't rebellion.
This was sabotage.
This was her destroying the record.
Lin Yue held the torn decree in both hands.
Her voice shook, but she forced it louder.
"This marriage is false," she declared.
The nobles erupted into whispers.
The guards froze for half a second.
Even the scribes hesitated.
The Crown Prince stepped forward slowly.
His voice dropped into something deadly soft.
"You will regret that," he murmured.
Lin Yue's stomach turned.
She believed him.
But she didn't stop.
Because Shen Rui was still surrounded.
Still one breath away from being seized.
Lin Yue's eyes cut to the guards.
"Touch him," she said sharply,
"and I will confess."
The Crown Prince paused.
His gaze sharpened.
"Confess what?" he asked.
Lin Yue's heart slammed.
This was the point of no return.
She didn't have a real confession.
So she had to manufacture one.
A lie that would be so loud, so disgusting, so scandalous—
that the palace couldn't kill Shen Rui quietly anymore.
Because quiet deaths were easy.
Public scandals were not.
Lin Yue inhaled.
Then she spoke.
"I am already his," she said.
Silence.
A full, brutal silence.
The Crown Prince's eyes widened slightly.
The nobles' mouths fell open.
The matron staggered back like she'd been slapped.
And the officer—
the one who smiled too much—
stopped smiling.
Finally.
Lin Yue's voice shook, but she pushed it harder.
"Prince Shen Rui is my husband," she declared.
"Not by decree."
"By blood."
The hall snapped.
Whispers exploded.
The scribes' brushes jerked, spilling ink.
The Crown Prince's face went still.
His voice came out dangerously calm.
"You dare say that in my hall?"
Lin Yue stared at him.
Her heart pounded like a drum.
"Yes," she said.
The Crown Prince stepped closer.
His gaze dropped to her lips.
Then to her neck.
Like he wanted to strangle her with politeness.
"Then prove it," he whispered.
Lin Yue's blood turned ice.
Prove it.
He wanted her to break.
To stutter.
To crumble.
To show fear.
Because if she hesitated, the palace could call it madness.
And madness could be erased.
Lin Yue turned her head.
Her eyes found Shen Rui.
He was still trapped in a circle of guards.
His expression had shifted.
Not fear.
Not surprise.
Rage.
Because he understood what she was doing.
She was throwing herself into the record.
She was ruining her own name to save his life.
Shen Rui's jaw clenched.
He shook his head once.
No.
Don't.
Lin Yue swallowed.
Then she smiled at him.
Small.
Sad.
Final.
She turned back to the Crown Prince.
Her voice came out steady.
"I don't need to prove it," she said.
"You already know."
The Crown Prince's eyes narrowed.
Lin Yue continued, louder now, so the hall could hear.
"You're not angry because I lied," she said.
"You're angry because the palace can't correct him anymore without correcting me too."
The Crown Prince's smile disappeared.
Because she was right.
If she belonged to Shen Rui…
then killing Shen Rui would create a scandal.
A record.
A stain.
A question.
And questions were dangerous.
The Crown Prince's voice sharpened.
"Seize her," he snapped.
Guards moved instantly.
Two grabbed Lin Yue's arms.
Her body jolted.
The matron screamed.
"Lady Lin Yue!"
Lin Yue didn't resist.
She didn't fight.
Because this was what she wanted.
She wanted the palace to touch her.
To dirty their hands.
To make this public.
The Crown Prince stepped forward, eyes cold.
"You want to ruin my ceremony?" he murmured.
"Fine."
He leaned closer, voice like poison.
"Then I will ruin you back."
Lin Yue's stomach twisted.
The pressure behind her eyes surged again.
The wipe.
The erase.
It slammed into her skull.
Her vision blurred.
She gasped.
The guards holding her tightened their grip.
The Crown Prince lifted his hand.
The officer stepped forward, calm as ever.
"Your Highness," he murmured, "shall we correct her now?"
Correct her.
Erase her.
Wipe her memory clean.
Lin Yue's breath hitched.
Her mind screamed:
NO.
Not yet.
Not before Shen Rui escapes.
Not before—
A voice cut through the hall.
Low.
Sharp.
Unmistakable.
"Release her."
Shen Rui.
The guards around him stiffened.
Because he didn't shout.
He didn't plead.
He commanded.
Like he had the right.
The Crown Prince turned slowly.
His expression hardened.
"Brother," he said softly, "you're still here."
Shen Rui stepped forward.
One guard tried to block him—
Shen Rui didn't draw his dagger.
He simply moved his hand.
Fast.
Precise.
The guard collapsed like his joints had been turned off.
Gasps exploded.
Shen Rui walked through them like he was walking through fog.
He stopped in front of Lin Yue.
His eyes burned.
His voice came out low.
"What did you just do?" he asked her.
Lin Yue's throat tightened.
She couldn't answer.
Her head hurt too much.
The wipe was eating her.
Shen Rui's gaze flickered to the Crown Prince.
Then to the officer.
Then back to Lin Yue.
And Lin Yue saw it.
He understood.
They were erasing her.
Right now.
In public.
The Crown Prince smiled faintly.
"Careful," he murmured.
"You'll become recorded again."
Shen Rui's eyes sharpened.
He didn't care.
He reached for Lin Yue's wrist.
His fingers brushed the bruises there.
Then he lifted her hand.
And did something that made the entire hall freeze.
He pressed his lips to her knuckles.
Not soft.
Not romantic.
A seal.
A claim.
A vow.
Lin Yue's breath stopped.
The nobles gasped like they'd witnessed blasphemy.
The Crown Prince's face turned murderous.
Shen Rui's voice cut through the silence.
"She's mine," he said.
"On any record you write."
"On any day you steal."
"On any history you edit."
The officer's smile vanished completely.
Because those words weren't just love.
They were defiance.
They were Shen Rui forcing himself into the record.
Forcing the palace to acknowledge him.
And that was the one thing they feared.
The Crown Prince's voice snapped.
"Kill him."
The guards moved.
Swords raised.
Steel flashed.
Lin Yue's vision blurred.
The wipe surged again—
and her mind started slipping.
She couldn't hold his face.
She couldn't hold his name.
She felt it leaving her like water through fingers.
Shen Rui leaned close, voice urgent.
"Lin Yue," he whispered.
"Remember one thing."
Lin Yue's lips trembled.
"What?" she gasped.
Shen Rui's eyes locked onto hers.
And he said the cruelest thing possible—
because it was the only way to anchor her.
"Forget the palace," he whispered.
"Forget the decree."
His voice dropped, shaking with control.
"Just remember me."
Lin Yue's breath broke.
She tried.
She tried so hard.
But the pressure behind her eyes crushed her.
Her vision went white.
Her body sagged.
And as she slipped—
the last thing she heard was the sound of steel cutting air.
And Shen Rui's voice—
low, furious, final—
saying her name like a curse.
"LIN YUE—!"
END CHAPTER 14
Cliffhanger Trigger: Crown Prince orders Shen Rui killed; Lin Yue's memory wipe hits mid-chaos.