Page 74 of He Is My Bride

No one tried to stop Hanjun and Li Ying as they fled the ceremony. Everybody was yelling back and forth, shocked by what they had just heard through the recording:

“Could this be true?”

“It’s fake!”

“Where is the proof?!”

But Wang Guosheng had laid the perfect trap.

“Said hidden camera footage has now been uploaded on the wedding website, to which all of you have a link in your invitations—go, have a look!” he spoke over the ruckus, grinning triumphantly as everyone rushed to check their phones for the proof of Wu Hanjun’s bride being a man.

Wu Yiheng sat still. Hanrong looked at him and saw him do nothing. Hanrong rushed after Hanjun and Li Ying, with Anne in his tow.

Wang Yan had stood up as well, and ran inside after the couple. She saw them speeding through the lounge.

“Wu Hanjun, Li Ying!” she shouted after them, “I had no choice, he threatened my girlfriend!”

Neither stopped to address her plea in any way .

“I’m so sorry!” Wang Yan gave up the chase as Hanrong and Anne hurried past her.

“Hanjun!” Hanrong called. His cousin turned to look at him, but didn’t slow down. Hanrong understood his hurry. “Let me help you, please, Hanjun! What do you need?”

Hanjun knew he had been a fool not to trust his closest cousin with their secret from the start, but he knew he could trust him now.

“Drive us to the airport,” Hanjun said. We’re going via the French Concession. Anne, help us pack, and then you will come with us. We’re flying to New York, Los Angeles, Hawai?i, anywhere where there are flights today.”

“Understood,” Anne acknowledged.

Hanrong and Anne joined them in a taxi, and Hanjun told the driver to take them to his apartment in the Concession.

“Hanjun,” Li Ying said while they were driving, still using his feminine voice out of habit, “I don’t have a place to return to.” Li Ying didn’t think he could return to the Qians like this: this would be all over the press by tomorrow. How could he face his family after that?

“I will find us a place,” Hanjun said, but Li Ying didn’t understand what he meant by ‘us.’

“I’m sorry this happened, Li Ying,” Hanrong said.

Li Ying looked at him and figured he could drop his voice act, giving the taxi driver quite a surprise. “Did you know?”

“No. I once suspected you might have changed your sex, but it was none of my business.”

Hanjun’s phone was going off, but he ignored it and called various jet companies to ask whether they had planes available last minute.

“There’s a jet that can take us to Tokyo, ready to fly in three hours,” Hanjun said, putting away his phone as they all exited the taxi in front of his apartment building.

“We’ll take that, and from Tokyo we can take another aircraft that can take us as far as Hawai?i, and from there we’ll have more options. ”

“Nice, early honeymoon,” Li Ying said. “Anne, you didn’t pack me a bikini, did you?” He had the faculties to joke around, so suppose he was… fine?

As long as Hanjun was with him, Li Ying thought he would be able to live minute to minute for now.

It wasn’t panic that made him act so calm, considering the situation, just the knowledge that this was happening and they had to roll with it.

There was no going back from this; all they could affect now was the future.

They entered Hanjun’s apartment. Anne wasted no time, throwing Li Ying’s and her luggage open on the floor and began tossing everything in by approximate value, including things they had brought over on Li Ying’s previous visits, packing the most expensive things first. She threw her own clothes out of her luggage and filled that too with the couture, the Miu Miu and the Alexander McQueen.

They would take everything they could carry, just in case this was all the insurance her and Li Ying would have for the future.

It had been too good to be true, Anne supposed. Her career was only the second thing on her mind right now, but she didn’t doubt Hanjun wouldn’t leave Li Ying in trouble. As for herself, Anne had to trust she would make it somehow. Perhaps she could spin this to her advantage:

‘Anne, the con stylist that pulled off the forbidden elite marriage of the century, transforming a simple Brooklyn boy into a society lady in the name of love.’

She could see the editorial. Yeah, she would turn this into profit yet, if she were smart. And however she could still help Li Ying and Hanjun, she would do it.

“Help me with this.” Li Ying showed his back to Anne, and she undid the zipper at the back of the wedding dress.

Li Ying went to the bathroom and changed out of the dress and untucked.

He threw on some black faux leather leggings, took off his breast tape, and donned a simple white blouse, tying it at the front.

Anne had seen so much effort for the makeup though, and Li Ying decided to keep it on.

He took off the jewelry and the flowers from his hair, pulled out what felt like a million bobby pins and a hair donut, shook his now curled locks down, and pulled his hair to a simple mid-height tail that didn’t pull at his scalp so much.

Still perfectly passable as a flat-as-a-board chick.

Li Ying exited the bathroom and heard Hanrong talking on the phone:

“No, uncle, what they need right now is a moment, some privacy—No, I won’t disclose where they are.

…Handle the press however you deem best. …

Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?” Hanrong looked at Li Ying as he entered the living room, his eyes worried while he listened to Wu Yiheng say something on the phone that Li Ying couldn’t hear.

Hanjun came out of his room carrying half-packed luggage and put it down on the couch.

“Hanjun,” Li Ying asked, “am I in danger?”

“…Criminal investigation?” Hanrong asked on the phone.

Hanjun wrapped his hand around Li Ying’s shoulder and pulled him into a light hug. Hanjun rubbed Li Ying’s neck, soothing him while they both looked at Hanrong, who was still on the phone with Wu Yiheng.

“Uncle, that is ridiculous.”

“I didn’t fake my identity or any documents!

” Li Ying said. “If the local officials failed to identify me as ineligible for marriage by their standards, that’s on them!

” Li Ying said, and while it was true, a judge might agree or disagree on whether a crime had taken place.

And Hanjun bribing the hospital was another thing.

They really should get out of the country.

“How is there a crime? Obviously their marriage will be null, but Li Ying has told me they hadn’t faked any documents, so how could it be a con?

…Li Ying doesn’t have to answer to anything if they are not in the country, they are still a citizen of the States.

…Yes, I’d say it’s li kely Li Ying will be leaving Shanghai very soon, and maybe that’s for the best right now, don’t you think? ”

“Li Ying, go help Anne pack, we will handle the legal,” Hanjun said.

With a core family member directly involved, the Wus’ reputation was now on the line. Li Ying knew the family lawyer would do everything to manage this scandal, but not whether it would be enough to save his hide in the worst case scenario. It was wiser to leave the country than stay and find out.

He went to see if Anne still needed help packing.

Two hours later, Hanrong was parking Hanjun’s Bentley in front of the airport.

“Well, Li Ying, it was lovely getting to know you. I hope this won’t be the last we meet,” Hanrong said as he turned to look at Li Ying, who was in the backseat with Anne.

Li Ying answered his smile. “Thank you for everything, Wu Hanrong.”

Li Ying didn’t dare hope for anything concerning the future right now, but he wished this wasn’t the last he would see him.

“Miss Lü,” Hanrong said to Anne, “friends like you don’t come by every day. It was nice to get to know you too.”

“Thank you, Wu Hanrong.”

“Thank you, Cousin,” Hanjun said, and Hanrong put his hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Hanjun,” he said, “we will handle things here. Meanwhile, I think you should enjoy your honeymoon. Hawai?i doesn’t sound too bad, I heard it’s very queer friendly.” Hanrong winked. His unwavering optimism never seemed to fail.

Hanjun blushed, but nodded in agreement. “We should catch our jet.”

—

The jet took them to Tokyo, and on their way there, Hanjun arranged another one to Honolulu for the next day.

They hadn’t actually planned for a honeymoon yet, what with Hanjun having expected to be busy with work. Now he was going to put everything on hold, so they thought about taking a surprise vacation, waiting for the dust to settle in Shanghai.

“Kaua ? i looks pretty nice.” Li Ying had bought a travel guide from the airport and was flipping through the pages. “Good beaches, a lot of green. We could go hiking.”

They were sitting in a small and intimate omakase restaurant in Roppongi, having gotten lucky with a last-minute reservation.

“But let’s stay a few days in Honolulu, all together, until Anne has to fly back to New York,” Li Ying added.

Anne said nothing. She was scrolling through her phone.

“Hey, Anne!”

“Hm?” She looked up.

“Rude!”

“Sorry, I was reading what people are saying on social media about this all. You probably don’t want to hear?”

Li Ying shook his head rigorously and popped the next perfect piece of sashimi into his mouth. “None of it.”

“Yeah, it’s really nothing nice.”

“Hanjun?”

“Mm?” Hanjun had been eating every artful dish in silence.

Li Ying thought he had been remarkably calm through all this.