CXD - 46

After leaving Taiqing Temple, Lord Yong’en felt as though he were walking on cotton, his soul adrift as he climbed into the carriage heading back to the city.

Lost in thought inside the carriage, he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was impossible.

The reason the previous emperor had sent a princess from the imperial clan to marry into the Xiluo tribe was because, at the time, Xiluo and Northern Jie were attacking Great Ye’s northwest in tandem. These two tribes constantly harassed the borders of Great Ye, causing small and large battles to erupt year-round along the frontier. Faced with dual military pressure, the empire had no choice but to adopt a conciliatory policy.

But now, Shen Yuance had spent three years leading troops to severely cripple Northern Jie, even going so far as to burn the ancestral tombs of the Northern Jie royal family. The threat from the north had been eliminated.

With no risk of being caught between enemies on both sides, and the matrimonial alliance between Xiluo and Great Ye still stable, what possible reason could there be to send another princess to Xiluo?

This talk of marriage alliances seemed utterly absurd…

What nonsense about past lives and this life—wasn’t it all just mystical bluster?

Lord Yong’en shook his head inside the carriage, still unable to believe it. Deep in thought, he frowned all the way back to the city. As they approached the city gates, he suddenly heard a commotion outside, and the carriage came to an abrupt halt.

“What’s going on?” Lord Yong’en moved the carriage window aside to look out. At the city gate, a group of imperial guards was clearing the way, ordering all pedestrians and carriages to move aside for some important person entering or leaving the city.

One of the imperial guards spotted Lord Yong’en’s carriage from afar and hurried over, bowing respectfully. “My lord, please wait a moment at the gate. The Xiluo delegation is currently leaving the city to return west.”

During the first month of the year, envoys from various allied states had gradually arrived in the capital to pay tribute, including those from Xiluo. It was said that this time, one of the sons of the Xiluo king had personally come to Chang’an, intending to take the opportunity to immerse himself in Central Plains culture. Just today, the palace was hosting a banquet for the Xiluo prince, attended by many nobles.

Lord Yong’en was surprised. “The Xiluo delegation only arrived a few days ago, and the palace banquet isn’t even over yet. How are they leaving already?”

“Replying to my lord, the queen of Xiluo has suddenly fallen critically ill. An urgent message was just delivered to the palace, and the Xiluo prince has no choice but to return west early.”

It felt like a bolt of lightning striking him. Lord Yong’en grew dizzy and leaned against the carriage window for support.

The current queen of Xiluo was none other than the princess sent by Great Ye over a decade ago to seal the matrimonial alliance.

Now that relations between the two nations were stable, there was indeed no need to send another princess to Xiluo. But if the previous princess were to suddenly pass away…

The divination had barely been completed when this news broke. Was it truly fate, or was someone deliberately orchestrating this?

Could it be that Shen Yuance, upon learning of the queen’s critical illness, had bribed the Daoist master at Taiqing Temple in advance to deceive him into agreeing to the marriage proposal? After all, if Yiyi were to possibly be married off to such a barbaric land as Xiluo, never to return, marrying Shen Yuance would seem like the better option!

“At what hour was the urgent message delivered to Chang’an?” Lord Yong’en asked the imperial guard for confirmation.

“About three quarters of an hour ago.”

Lord Yong’en’s face immediately turned ashen.

Three quarters of an hour ago, he had already left Taiqing Temple. This meant that when the Daoist master interpreted the fortune, the urgent message had not yet reached Chang’an. Before that, no one in all of Chang’an would have known about the queen’s critical condition—not Shen Yuance, nor anyone else. It was impossible for anyone to have bribed the Daoist master.

Could it be that Great Ye really intended to send another princess for a marriage alliance? Could this tragic fate truly fall upon his Zhiyi?

Without this hexagram, among so many imperial princesses, how could such a thing ever involve an outside-lineage princess?

Yet this hexagram specifically referred to his Zhiyi.

The carriage pulled aside to make way, and Lord Yong’en sat inside, his heart pounding with unease, filled with suspicion.

As the thundering sound of hooves echoed, a group of people dressed in Western attire galloped out of the city like a storm, racing westward.

Lord Yong’en leaned out the window, squinting through the flying sand and gravel at the Xiluo prince atop his horse—tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular, looking as though one leg could crush his delicate Zhiyi into pulp—

“Hurry—!” Lord Yong’en trembled deeply, taking a sharp breath and pressing his hand to his chest. He called out to the driver outside, “Hurry to the Shen residence!”

________________________________________

In the eastern courtyard of the Shen residence, after Mu Xinhong reported the urgent message from Xiluo to Yuan Ce, he furrowed his brows deeply. “The queen of Xiluo is critically ill. Though the matrimonial alliance won’t immediately collapse, to prevent unrest in the west, you will undoubtedly have to leave Chang’an earlier than planned.”

“The verdict on the Zhong family’s corruption case is still under debate. It seems someone is trying to protect the Zhong family, stirring up trouble in court. As you predicted, His Majesty probably won’t sentence Lord Kang Le to death. We’ll need to find another way to avenge the eldest master…”

“As for the young mistress, she remains a constant threat to the entire Shen household and the lives of so many brothers in the Xuan Ce Army. Right now, Lord Yong’en refuses to approve your marriage proposal, and the compatibility of your birth charts hasn’t gone smoothly…”

With the sudden turn of events involving Xiluo, these matters had become increasingly urgent. Mu Xinhong felt overwhelmed, with one head spinning with twice its usual weight. He even wanted to ask: Is marrying the young mistress truly the only path? Killing her is out of the question… If worst comes to worst, could you two elope?

Yuan Ce clasped his hands together, resting them on the desk. He sat quietly for a moment, rubbing his fingertips thoughtfully. “Rewrite the compatibility results to show an auspicious match, and bring it to me.”

Though the young general didn’t believe in such things, the young mistress now treasured him dearly. If she were to learn that this marriage would harm him, she might refuse to marry him herself. Naturally, the result of the compatibility needed to reassure her.

Mu Xinhong immediately set off to handle the matter. A short while later, he returned with a new fortune-telling document.

Yuan Ce took it, tucked it into his robe, stood up, and walked out of the mansion. He mounted his horse and spurred it toward Lord Yong’en’s residence.

Midway through his ride, he encountered the marquis’s carriage hurrying along.

Meeting head-on, Yuan Ce pulled back on the reins, and the carriage came to a halt with a soft “whoa.”

The coachman turned back and said something inside. Lord Yong’en slid open the door and leaned out.

Yuan Ce dismounted and approached, getting straight to the point: “Lord, I wish to speak with you—”

Lord Yong’en raised a hand to stop him. “There’s no need to discuss it. I agree to this marriage!”

________________________________________

Two quarters of an hour later, at Yaoguang Pavilion, Lord Yong’en led Yuan Ce to the entrance of Jiang Zhiyi’s bedroom. Seeing the sliding panels closed, he knocked lightly on the door.

Soon, someone gently opened it. Inside, Guyu, seeing the two men outside, was surprised. “My lord, Young General Shen.”

Lord Yong’en: “Is Yiyi still lying in bed pretending to be sick?”

“She’s not pretending anymore…” Guyu hesitated. “She wasn’t pretending to begin with, my lord. The young mistress tossed and turned over the marriage proposal all night and couldn’t sleep. She truly hasn’t rested well and is currently taking a nap.”

Guyu quickly stepped aside and invited the two men in.

As they crossed the threshold, both instinctively softened their steps. Lord Yong’en carefully glanced at Yuan Ce from under his boot tips and gave him a relatively satisfied look.

Approaching the bed, they found that Jiang Zhiyi was indeed fast asleep, though her brows were tightly knit, suggesting she was still worrying about the marriage even in her dreams. It would be better to wake her and let her hear the good news before sleeping again.

Lord Yong’en bent down and gently patted her shoulder. “Yiyi?”

Jiang Zhiyi jolted as if startled, her body trembling slightly. Slowly opening her eyes, she first saw her uncle nearby, then Yuan Ce a little further away. Her gaze shifted, startled, and she abruptly scrambled up from the bed, retreating backward while pulling the quilt higher.

Yuan Ce paused mid-step.

Lord Yong’en also froze, looking back blankly at Yuan Ce, then at Jiang Zhiyi. “What’s wrong, Yiyi?”

Jiang Zhiyi stared at Yuan Ce, tilting her head as if trying to recognize him. Her expression gradually grew more shocked. Suddenly, she pointed at him. “...Uncle, why is he in my bedroom?!”

Yuan Ce narrowed his eyes, focusing on her startled and wary gaze.

Lord Yong’en: “Your uncle brought him here. I’ve agreed to your marriage proposal, and he’s come to share the good news with you.”

“Marriage?” Jiang Zhiyi half-opened her mouth, staring blankly at Lord Yong’en for a while, then turned to Yuan Ce, murmuring softly, “Marriage…”

Yuan Ce’s hand clenched into a fist by his side. After a tense pause, he cautiously raised his foot and slowly approached.

Reaching the bedside, he bent down and leaned closer to look at her. “Did you sleep so deeply that you don’t recognize the fiancé you’ve sworn to marry?”

Jiang Zhiyi remained slow to react, lowering her head and shaking her groggy mind as if emerging from some distant, fragmented memory. She raised her eyes again, gazing steadily at the face close to hers. The unfamiliarity in her eyes gradually receded like a tide. “...Brother A Ce?”

Yuan Ce slowly unclenched his fist, straightened himself, and tugged at his collar. “Mm.”

“What’s going on here? Did you sleep so soundly that you forgot the man you vowed to marry?” Lord Yong’en chuckled.

Jiang Zhiyi blinked at Yuan Ce, recalling something. She had just had a dream where she and Brother A Ce became enemies over a cricket, hating each other completely without any affection. The feeling of despising him—and being despised by him—in the dream had been so vivid that she almost couldn’t tell the difference between the dream and reality…

In the next instant, Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes welled up with tears, and she lunged forward in a sobbing voice: “...You scared me!”

Her waist tightened as Yuan Ce looked down at Jiang Zhiyi clinging tightly to him, then glanced at Lord Yong’en, who had been pushed aside and stood there dumbfounded.

“What’s wrong?” Yuan Ce cleared his throat softly, glancing at Lord Yong’en. Slowly raising his hand, he gently stroked the top of her head.

Tears streaming down her face, Jiang Zhiyi cried out, oblivious to her uncle’s presence: “I had a nightmare where you didn’t like me at all, where you hated me so much… You were so mean to me, saying I had such a bad temper that I’d never get married in my entire life!”

“...”

Too much, elder brother. Pretending to be a dissolute noble doesn’t mean you have to act so convincingly, especially when saying such hurtful things to a young lady.

Just as Yuan Ce was about to speak, he caught sight of Lord Yong’en’s resentful glance and paused with his mouth open.

Lord Yong’en wore an expression of “a grown daughter is no longer mine to keep,” bitterly flicking his sleeves and leaving.

Now alone in the room, Yuan Ce gently patted Jiang Zhiyi’s back. “So, are you finally getting married?”

Jiang Zhiyi tearfully raised her eyes. “But that dream felt so real… I almost thought it was reality…”

...It seemed her memories were indeed gradually falling into place—at this dangerous juncture, they were slowly correcting themselves.

Yuan Ce lowered his eyelids, looking into those pure eyes. Suddenly, Mu Xinhong’s reminder echoed in his ears.

After studying her for a long time, Yuan Ce sat down beside the bed, wiping away the tears on her cheeks with his fingertips. After a brief silence, he said, “Dreams are always the opposite. The more I hated you in your dream, the more I cherish you now that you’re awake.”

Jiang Zhiyi was taken aback. This was the first time she’d heard him say something so sweet. Her eyes brightened. “Really?”

“Really.”

Jiang Zhiyi broke into a smile through her tears. “So, in reality, you must really, really like me!”

“That’s enough—it was just a dream. Stop thinking about it. Your uncle has already left.”

Only now noticing that her uncle was no longer there, Jiang Zhiyi finally snapped back to attention, surprised. “Why did Uncle suddenly agree to our marriage?”

Yuan Ce shook his head. He only knew that Lord Yong’en had visited Taiqing Temple beforehand. It seemed the female fate in this marriage was auspicious.

These Daoists weren’t entirely useless after all—they saved him a lot of trouble.

Yuan Ce lifted his eyelids. “Perhaps after matching the birth charts, I’m truly your lucky star and destined benefactor.”

“I told you we’re a match made in heaven!” Jiang Zhiyi laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Thank goodness Uncle agreed quickly and didn’t delay too long. Then hurry and send matchmakers and wedding sponsors to propose and arrange the betrothal gifts. Let’s start making the wedding attire. Can we still finish the wedding before you return to Hexi?”

“It won’t happen in time. I’m returning to Hexi.”

“...What?” Jiang Zhiyi’s smile faltered. “When are you leaving? Why so suddenly?”

“The queen of Xiluo is critically ill. The emperor will likely summon me to the palace shortly.”

Jiang Zhiyi’s expression changed. “Does this mean another war is coming…?”

“I’m going to Hexi to prevent a war.”

Jiang Zhiyi understood. He was going to stabilize Hexi and deter the west. Even if the matrimonial alliance collapsed, Xiluo wouldn’t dare make any rash moves.

Yuan Ce: “With me there, Guzang City will be as impregnable as a fortress. No one will dare invade.”

“I know you’ll be fine, but…” Jiang Zhiyi sighed, her brows drooping. “I’ll miss you so much…”

“When I say this, it’s not to assure you that I’ll be fine.”

Jiang Zhiyi raised her eyes. “?”

“It’s to ask you to come with me to Hexi,” Yuan Ce smiled faintly, “my fiancée.”