"Come!"
Amidst the heavy snowfall, a flash of lightning-like figure galloped down Changning Avenue on a tall horse from the lands beyond the Great Wall.
The grand wedding procession of the Zhao family was halted in the middle of the street by the figure in black riding the spirited steed.
The teenage eldest son, with an iron spear in his hand, sat upright on the fine horse. His sword-like brows furrowed coldly as he looked at the large red bridal sedan chair stopped in the snow.
The cold wind howled as the joyful music came to an abrupt halt. The servants of the Zhao family shivered as they fearfully looked at the youth in black in the snowstorm.
A chill went down everyone's spine.
The commoners stopped to watch and gossip about the girl in the red bridal dress in the sedan chair and the boy on horseback.
Zhao Changdu narrowed his jet-black eyes. "Huo Qiyun! The eldest son gives you one last chance! If you still want to marry Zhao Changxing, I will not stop you!"
Inside the sedan chair, Huo Qiyun did not move. Only a gentle voice helplessly drifted out, "Adu, please, let me go."
The wind blew her voice into a wisp that pricked Zhao Changdu's heart like a needle when it reached his ears, giving him a dull ache.
Let go? What did her help to him mean in her eyes?
He gave a self-deprecating cold laugh, and his heart sank. After making a scene at the Huo Residence, he still could not stop her from getting into the bridal sedan chair. Zhao Changxing had taken the chance to stab him in the back during the chaos. The guards of the Huo family and Zhao family, under the guise of quelling his disturbance, had severely injured him. Now, his whole body was covered in wounds from head to toe.
He had staked his life to pull her out of the fiery pit.
Yet she was so cold-hearted that she would not even look at him.
"The young eldest son must love Miss Huo so much! To think he would rob her wedding and take it to the streets!"
"The eldest son has sharp brows and bright eyes. It's a pity his mother committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. There's only his stepmother and elder stepbrother in the Duke's Residence. It seems the eldest son does not have it easy there."
"Miss Huo is the grandson of Lord Huo after all. How could she not marry the eldest son but instead marry Young Master Zhao Changxing!"
What puzzled the people also puzzled Zhao Changdu.
When Huo Qiyun was young, she had saved him when he had a high fever. At a tender age, she had pulled him back from the gates of hell. He had always been grateful and wanted to repay her someday.
Others did not know that despite her status as the legitimate granddaughter in the Huo family, she did not have it easy.
Even though his own days were also tough, he had sworn a venomous oath to protect her and take her into his household as his wife, to make her the happiest woman in Bianjing.
Yet she insisted on marrying Zhao Changxing.
She clearly knew the two people he hated most in this world were Lady Cheng and her son Zhao Changxing, yet she ignored his hatred and married him!
What a good Huo Qiyun!
Simply wonderful!
Zhao Changdu burst into loud laughter. But the movement aggravated his wounds and he clutched his chest in pain. Raising his eyes, he looked at the hazy sunlight in the sky. The glare hurt his eyes and his breath hitched.
Seeing he did not move, the wedding procession respectfully resumed its journey, passing by his side with pipes and drums blaring.
A gust of wind lifted the sedan curtain.
The woman wore a large red bridal veil, cold as frost.
He sat expressionlessly on the horse. The horse whinnied softly, as if unable to bear seeing its master's all-encompassing grief, and walked with him in the opposite direction of the bridal sedan chair.
After a while, the figure on the horse swayed and tumbled off the back of the horse.
It was snowing heavily in Bianjing. The thick snow buried half of the youth's body. Due to Zhao Changxing's arrogance, no one dared to go forward and help him up.
Zhao Changdu felt ice-cold all over. He fainted, thinking he would die again. But when he awoke, he found himself in an abandoned temple.
There was a fire in the temple. A little child lay fast asleep on top of him.
He moved his stiff, cold body and opened his eyes to see a childish face the size of a palm, flushed red.
She was sleeping deeply. Her thick long lashes, black and curly like two small fans, cast large shadows on her round face. Her pink lips were pursed slightly. Occasionally she would smack them, revealing a bit of small pink tongue, seemingly dreaming about something delicious as she mumbled for pastries and fell back into deep sleep.
He couldn't describe the strange feeling swelling in his chest.
Warmth radiated from where she lay on him in waves.
Just as he was wondering where he was, his attendant Huai An happily ran into the dilapidated temple carrying firewood.
"Eldest Son, you're awake! I thought you were done for!"
Huai An was also quite young. His eyes red, he moved to help him up.
Zhao Changdu's body was covered in wounds. He moved his eyes and asked hoarsely, "What is this thing?"
Huai An did not dare touch his young master. Looking at the bloodstains on his black brocade robes, he cried, "I don't know either. Judging by her clothes, she seems to be a young lady from some wealthy household, but she's lost her way. I was busy trying to save you and she kept squatting by your side. I was worried that someone might kidnap and sell off a child her age, so I brought her along."
Zhao Changdu's gaze went blank for a moment before he asked again, "Did the wedding go through?"
Huai An said, "It did."
Zhao Changdu closed his eyes. Perhaps it was the warmth from the little one that invigorated him, for he felt a deep sense of tranquility.
Now that the wedding was done, there was no turning back.
She had chosen her own path in life. Even if she regretted it in the future, she would have to bear the consequences herself.
He was an insignificant outsider. Why agonize over her?
He was quite open-minded about it, but Huai An thought his heartbreak had been too much. He sat crying silently, then advised, "If I may say so, Eldest Son, don't think about Miss Huo anymore. I've always felt you and Miss Huo are not fated to be. When the Duke returns, he will surely find a new young mistress for you. Tell me, Eldest Son, what kind of woman do you like? I don't believe in all of Bianjing, there is no young lady of a prestigious household, no noble princess, who is better than Miss Huo!"
Zhao Changdu did not reply. He extended his slender, long fingers to poke the child's soft cheek. It was like a small steamed bun, so cute.
Disturbed from her sweet dream, the child blinked open her eyes.
A pair of black gem-like eyes appeared before him.
He thought the delicate child would be angry, but instead, the little one merely wrinkled her tiny brow. Soon she hooked her little hands around his neck, happily crying in her tender voice, "Big brother, you're all right! I thought you were dead! Mother said when people die they won't move anymore! I was so scared! So I kept lying on your heart to listen to your heartbeat! Big brother, don't die, please?"
"On my heart?"
"Yes, Mother said living people have heartbeats, thump thump thump, like that."
"Come!"
Amidst the heavy snowfall, a flash of lightning-like figure galloped down Changning Avenue on a tall horse from the lands beyond the Great Wall.
The grand wedding procession of the Zhao family was halted in the middle of the street by the figure in black riding the spirited steed.
The teenage eldest son, with an iron spear in his hand, sat upright on the fine horse. His sword-like brows furrowed coldly as he looked at the large red bridal sedan chair stopped in the snow.
The cold wind howled as the joyful music came to an abrupt halt. The servants of the Zhao family shivered as they fearfully looked at the youth in black in the snowstorm.
A chill went down everyone's spine.
The commoners stopped to watch and gossip about the girl in the red bridal dress in the sedan chair and the boy on horseback.
Zhao Changdu narrowed his jet-black eyes. "Huo Qiyun! The eldest son gives you one last chance! If you still want to marry Zhao Changxing, I will not stop you!"
Inside the sedan chair, Huo Qiyun did not move. Only a gentle voice helplessly drifted out, "Adu, please, let me go."
The wind blew her voice into a wisp that pricked Zhao Changdu's heart like a needle when it reached his ears, giving him a dull ache.
Let go? What did her help to him mean in her eyes?
He gave a self-deprecating cold laugh, and his heart sank. After making a scene at the Huo Residence, he still could not stop her from getting into the bridal sedan chair. Zhao Changxing had taken the chance to stab him in the back during the chaos. The guards of the Huo family and Zhao family, under the guise of quelling his disturbance, had severely injured him. Now, his whole body was covered in wounds from head to toe.
He had staked his life to pull her out of the fiery pit.
Yet she was so cold-hearted that she would not even look at him.
"The young eldest son must love Miss Huo so much! To think he would rob her wedding and take it to the streets!"
"The eldest son has sharp brows and bright eyes. It's a pity his mother committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. There's only his stepmother and elder stepbrother in the Duke's Residence. It seems the eldest son does not have it easy there."
"Miss Huo is the grandson of Lord Huo after all. How could she not marry the eldest son but instead marry Young Master Zhao Changxing!"
What puzzled the people also puzzled Zhao Changdu.
When Huo Qiyun was young, she had saved him when he had a high fever. At a tender age, she had pulled him back from the gates of hell. He had always been grateful and wanted to repay her someday.
Others did not know that despite her status as the legitimate granddaughter in the Huo family, she did not have it easy.
Even though his own days were also tough, he had sworn a venomous oath to protect her and take her into his household as his wife, to make her the happiest woman in Bianjing.
Yet she insisted on marrying Zhao Changxing.
She clearly knew the two people he hated most in this world were Lady Cheng and her son Zhao Changxing, yet she ignored his hatred and married him!
What a good Huo Qiyun!
Simply wonderful!
Zhao Changdu burst into loud laughter. But the movement aggravated his wounds and he clutched his chest in pain. Raising his eyes, he looked at the hazy sunlight in the sky. The glare hurt his eyes and his breath hitched.
Seeing he did not move, the wedding procession respectfully resumed its journey, passing by his side with pipes and drums blaring.
A gust of wind lifted the sedan curtain.
The woman wore a large red bridal veil, cold as frost.
He sat expressionlessly on the horse. The horse whinnied softly, as if unable to bear seeing its master's all-encompassing grief, and walked with him in the opposite direction of the bridal sedan chair.
After a while, the figure on the horse swayed and tumbled off the back of the horse.
It was snowing heavily in Bianjing. The thick snow buried half of the youth's body. Due to Zhao Changxing's arrogance, no one dared to go forward and help him up.
Zhao Changdu felt ice-cold all over. He fainted, thinking he would die again. But when he awoke, he found himself in an abandoned temple.
There was a fire in the temple. A little child lay fast asleep on top of him.
He moved his stiff, cold body and opened his eyes to see a childish face the size of a palm, flushed red.
She was sleeping deeply. Her thick long lashes, black and curly like two small fans, cast large shadows on her round face. Her pink lips were pursed slightly. Occasionally she would smack them, revealing a bit of small pink tongue, seemingly dreaming about something delicious as she mumbled for pastries and fell back into deep sleep.
He couldn't describe the strange feeling swelling in his chest.
Warmth radiated from where she lay on him in waves.
Just as he was wondering where he was, his attendant Huai An happily ran into the dilapidated temple carrying firewood.
"Eldest Son, you're awake! I thought you were done for!"
Huai An was also quite young. His eyes red, he moved to help him up.
Zhao Changdu's body was covered in wounds. He moved his eyes and asked hoarsely, "What is this thing?"
Huai An did not dare touch his young master. Looking at the bloodstains on his black brocade robes, he cried, "I don't know either. Judging by her clothes, she seems to be a young lady from some wealthy household, but she's lost her way. I was busy trying to save you and she kept squatting by your side. I was worried that someone might kidnap and sell off a child her age, so I brought her along."
Zhao Changdu's gaze went blank for a moment before he asked again, "Did the wedding go through?"
Huai An said, "It did."
Zhao Changdu closed his eyes. Perhaps it was the warmth from the little one that invigorated him, for he felt a deep sense of tranquility.
Now that the wedding was done, there was no turning back.
She had chosen her own path in life. Even if she regretted it in the future, she would have to bear the consequences herself.
He was an insignificant outsider. Why agonize over her?
He was quite open-minded about it, but Huai An thought his heartbreak had been too much. He sat crying silently, then advised, "If I may say so, Eldest Son, don't think about Miss Huo anymore. I've always felt you and Miss Huo are not fated to be. When the Duke returns, he will surely find a new young mistress for you. Tell me, Eldest Son, what kind of woman do you like? I don't believe in all of Bianjing, there is no young lady of a prestigious household, no noble princess, who is better than Miss Huo!"
Zhao Changdu did not reply. He extended his slender, long fingers to poke the child's soft cheek. It was like a small steamed bun, so cute.
Disturbed from her sweet dream, the child blinked open her eyes.
A pair of black gem-like eyes appeared before him.
He thought the delicate child would be angry, but instead, the little one merely wrinkled her tiny brow. Soon she hooked her little hands around his neck, happily crying in her tender voice, "Big brother, you're all right! I thought you were dead! Mother said when people die they won't move anymore! I was so scared! So I kept lying on your heart to listen to your heartbeat! Big brother, don't die, please?"
"On my heart?"
"Yes, Mother said living people have heartbeats, thump thump thump, like that."
