Marriage — barring the unexpected — happens only once in a lifetime. Even the most low-key people hope for a grand, lively wedding.

Though Ziqing couldn’t attend Yelu Qianqian’s wedding and wouldn’t see the pomp of Situ Haonan’s bridal procession, she could easily imagine how magnificent the occasion would be.

Though Situ Haonan had cut ties with Situ City, he still had plenty of assets under his name — arranging a household, preparing betrothal gifts, and all the rest would surely be done without any corner-cutting.

Especially since Situ Haonan had refused to marry into her family, he couldn’t afford to be looked down on by the Xijing royal family.

They talked for a long while, and though reluctant, the time to part had come — Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian both had plenty to attend to.

Ziqing and Beiyue saw them off in person. Ziqing and Yelu Qianqian chatted the whole way, while the men’s farewell was far more brisk — just a fist bump and a laugh.

Just before leaving, Yelu Qianqian turned back, scooped up Xiong Bao, and planted a loud kiss on his cheek, laughing, “Kid, it might be a long while before we see each other again. Don’t you dare forget who we are by then!”

Ziqing couldn’t help but laugh at that. It was true — a small child’s memory worked that way. Even people who doted on him endlessly, unless they were blood family, might become total strangers to him after a year or two apart.

Xiong Bao’s mouth twitched slightly. He pretended to scratch an itch, actually wiping the wet kiss off his cheek, glanced at Yelu Qianqian, then at Situ Haonan, and muttered, “I won’t forget you. Just don’t you forget me either… I’ll grow up soon.”

That was actually a fairly reasonable thing to say — even Jun Beiyue beside him couldn’t help but laugh, ruffling Xiong Bao’s small head and hoisting him up onto his shoulders.

Delighted, Xiong Bao, not yet understanding what parting meant, went straight to playing with his father’s hair.

Watching this, Situ Haonan couldn’t help feeling a pang of emotion — Jun Beiyue, of all people, and here in this world had finally appeared a man bold enough to mess with his hair…

Yelu Qianqian still lingered, reluctant to leave. Everything had already been said, yet she kept gazing longingly at Ziqing, pouting and refusing to mount her horse.

“Let’s go!”

Situ Haonan scooped her up onto the horse and raised his whip in farewell.

“We’re off — stay in touch, call if you need us!” Yelu Qianqian said hurriedly.

“Happy wedding!” Ziqing called, waving.

Ziqing kept watching until their figures had completely vanished. Jun Beiyue, meanwhile, seemed lost in thought. He slowly turned to her, and suddenly his expression grew serious. “Woman… let’s get married.”

Ziqing blinked, then smiled. “Is that supposed to be a proposal?”

At that, Jun Beiyue actually moved to kneel. Startled, Xiong Bao scrambled down off his back — a proposal! This was a big deal!

Where else in the world could a child witness the moment his father proposed to his mother?

Xiong Bao couldn’t help but marvel inwardly, “This is such a rare thing to see!”

But just as Jun Beiyue was truly about to drop to one knee, Ziqing quickly stopped him. “I never agreed to this!”

Jun Beiyue’s motion froze mid-air, startled. Xiong Bao, even more astonished, blurted out without thinking, “Mommy, I already came out of you — what more do you want?”

The words instantly made both Jun Beiyue and Ziqing feel awkward — only then did they remember their son was standing right there watching!

Used to bantering with her son, Ziqing hadn’t thought it through and shot back immediately, “Whether you came out of me or not has nothing directly to do with this.”

Er…

“Mommy, that’s probably a better question for Daddy…” Xiong Bao said timidly.

Only then did Ziqing realize she’d spoken too quickly. A chill ran down her spine; she didn’t dare look back at Jun Beiyue. She scooped Xiong Bao up and said hastily, “Let’s go, let’s go — let’s go see your scholar uncle!”

By now, Nanny Gu should have finished bidding farewell to the Xiongnu king and Minhan Mude’er, and would be on her way back to the palace.

At this moment, Nanny Gu was indeed being escorted toward Baili Weisheng’s quarters.

It had to be said — Baili Weisheng’s injuries were extremely severe. Once a body lost sensation, if it wasn’t restored quickly, its various functions would rapidly deteriorate. And once deterioration set in, given enough time, the muscles, joints, and internal organs throughout the entire body would begin to die off one by one.

Put bluntly, though this body wasn’t dead, it was moving day by day toward becoming a “corpse.” Though his willpower and mental faculties remained formidable, both still depended on the body they inhabited — once the body perished, the soul itself would scatter into nothing.

What should have been an intensely tense situation was made to feel not tense at all — entirely because of how Baili Weisheng himself carried on, easygoing as ever.

That was simply his nature — joking around all day, carefree to the point of seeming heartless. Anyone looking at him would think he was doing just fine, and seemingly getting better by the day.

But what they all overlooked was that this man had lost all sensation in his body — even pain, even agony, he could no longer feel at all.

Though he couldn’t sense it, his body was still deteriorating bit by bit.

Ziqing, who had originally been anxious, found herself considerably reassured by Baili Weisheng’s carefree demeanor.

At this moment, in the room, it was just master and disciple — Baili Weisheng and the little medicine boy Baili Xiaosheng. Baili Xiaosheng, just like Xiong Bao before her, sat astride Baili Weisheng’s body, hands on her hips, staring down at him with a solemn expression.

At first Baili Weisheng couldn’t be bothered to pay her any mind, but after being stared at for so long, he genuinely couldn’t stand it anymore. He frowned and barked, “What are you staring at! Get down, get down! You’re heavy!”

Baili Xiaosheng didn’t move an inch, continuing to stare at him coldly. Her delicate, doll-like little face carried seventy percent solemnity and thirty percent stubbornness — young as she was, her severity rivaled that of any adult.

“Get down! How old are you now? You think you’re still light as a feather?” Baili Weisheng urged impatiently.

“Are you going to die?” Baili Xiaosheng suddenly spoke, her tone as cold as the question itself, leaving Baili Weisheng momentarily stunned. But he quickly recovered, roaring furiously, “Get off, you little wretch! Cursing your own master — are you tired of living?”

Little wretch?

That’s right — Baili Xiaosheng was a girl, though she’d always been dressed and raised as a medicine boy. She had never told anyone she was actually a girl, yet everyone naturally assumed she was a boy.

Years ago, her master had said, “Little Sheng-Sheng, this master rather prefers boys, you know…”

She had said, “Then I’ll become a boy.”

Her master had nodded very seriously. “Good!”

From that day on, Baili Xiaosheng never again wore girl’s clothing, and she learned everything a boy was expected to know. Zither, chess, calligraphy, needlework — she knew none of that, couldn’t even style her hair into a proper bun. From the day she’d started taking care of herself to now, all she knew how to do was tie her hair into a simple bun.

On an ordinary day, being yelled at like this by Baili Weisheng would have sent Baili Xiaosheng scurrying far away. But today was different — Baili Weisheng couldn’t move at all. Baili Xiaosheng lounged lazily against the edge of the bed and said coldly, “Master, risking your life to save a beauty — that’s not like you at all. Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her?”