In the blink of an eye, it was the twenty-third day of the third month.

Though the formal wedding procession was set for the seventeenth day of the fourth month, Bianjing and Qingzhou where the Huo family resided were very far apart. They had to travel first by water then by land, so Shen Lingzhen had to depart early on the morning of the twenty-third day of the third month.

At the wedding send-off, Duke Yingguo’s eyes brimmed with tears. Pointing at the dowry carriages and horses stretching ten li without end in sight, he said: “Why don’t you pack me in as well?”

The Grand Princess’s glance was sharp as a blade: “Then go ask the Huo family whether they’re willing to accept you, this dried-up old husk of a man!”

“Though I hold no actual office at court, I at least have my title. When I arrive in Qingzhou, surely people will have to say something about how my humble dwelling brings honor and radiance?” The Duke spoke with enthusiasm, rolling up his wide sleeves with a flourish. “Hey, why don’t I petition His Majesty to be stationed at the border, allowing our entire household to move to Qingzhou? These days, who doesn’t have some skill in defending home and country?”

Shen Lingzhen, fully adorned with her makeup and attire, listened to her father’s nonsensical talk. The tears that had been swirling in her eyes retreated halfway, and she finally broke into laughter through her tears.

Everything she needed to say, she had already said at length to her parents these past days. When the auspicious hour arrived, aside from “take care, take care,” there was nothing else to say. She only leaned close to her mother at the last moment to entrust one matter: “Mother, I must trouble you to continue searching for my savior.”

During these days, the Shen family had searched all around the capital’s outskirts but never found the person Shen Lingzhen described. It was as if he had truly evaporated into thin air.

Now with Shen Lingzhen marrying far away, whether investigating the secret behind the handkerchief or repaying that debt of gratitude—neither could she do with her own hands. She could only entrust it all to her mother.

Receiving her mother’s promise to “rest assured,” she departed from Duke Yingguo’s manor accompanied by the wedding escort party.

When a noble lady married, the procession was naturally arranged in grand and magnificent fashion, with banners fluttering all along the way as they traveled with music.

The status of the elders escorting Shen Lingzhen on this journey was even more remarkable. Besides her paternal cousin from the second branch of the Shen family, there was also a maternal cousin who was an imperial prince.

He was the Emperor’s second legitimate son, the birth brother of the current Crown Prince. That such an honored and precious person was dispatched to run this errand sufficiently demonstrated the Emperor’s regard for the marriage alliance between the Huo and Shen families.

The common people had also heard of this wedding being escorted by a legitimate imperial prince, and when the hour came, they all rushed to the wharf.

However, such excitement at the foot of the Son of Heaven was not so easily viewed. The Imperial Guards struck the ground with their long spears, clearing the way with solemn authority, showing not the slightest accommodation. People could only crowd along the roadside to watch from a distance, seeing the bride off onto the boat from afar.

But even though the veil covered Shen Lingzhen from head to toe, it did not prevent the crowd from glimpsing, in her every turn and every step, the peerless grace and elegance of a celestial goddess.

The late spring breeze stirred her layered skirts at just the right moment, causing people to involuntarily rise on tiptoe, craning their necks and widening their eyes to look.

This distant glimpse from half a li away was already sufficient to become the topic of people’s leisure conversations for half a month afterward.

With early summer approaching and fallen blossoms carpeting the ground, the departing boat, following the gradually aging calls of orioles, slowly sailed toward the misty and hazy world of water vapor in the center of the river.

Shen Lingzhen stood on the deck at the bow. Lifting a corner of the light gauze, she took one last look back at Bianjing city with its endless stream of horses and carriages, its streets filled with silk and brocade.

Nanny Ji beside her urged: “The waves at the bow are high and unsettling. Miss, you should go inside with this old servant.”

Bianjing people were mostly excellent swimmers and would hardly be made dizzy by these small waves. Shen Lingzhen waved her hand to indicate all was well. Only when she could no longer see the shore at all did she hold back her tears and enter the cabin.

Nanny Ji supported her as she sat down in the cabin: “Miss need not worry too much. The Grand Princess specifically ordered this old servant to accompany you to Qingzhou. With this old servant here, even if those fierce people of the northwest grew three heads and six arms, they absolutely could not bully you!”

——

After traveling over water and mountains all the way, the wedding escort party arrived at Qingyang, the administrative seat of Qingzhou, at dusk on the seventeenth day of the fourth month.

The party that had come for the formal wedding procession had long been waiting before the city gate.

This place was close to the Great Qi border. Having experienced war and chaos repeatedly over several decades, the city walls had once been damaged and once repaired. These patched and mended city gates could absolutely not be called presentable.

However, Shen Lingzhen currently had no mind to examine these matters.

She had been well-behaved since childhood. Forget traveling far from home—she rarely even saw the sun on ordinary days. Her body had thus been raised delicate and weak. After traveling continuously for more than twenty days this time, she was exhausted to the point where her bones felt like they would fall apart. At this moment, she was forcing herself to sit upright in the carriage with what remained of her energy.

Through the carriage door, the people outside could not see her, so she secretly took a small liberty, sitting only sixty or seventy percent upright.

As they approached the city gate, the carriage train slowed its pace. Outside the carriage, Nanny Ji opened a side window crack and quietly told her: “Second Master Huo has come in person. One can see he is sincere.”

Shen Lingzhen was somewhat surprised.

Originally she had been prepared, thinking that Huo Liuxing would probably have someone else conduct the formal wedding procession on his behalf. After all, traveling such a great distance in a wheelchair would truly be exhausting.

She moved close to the window and asked in a low voice: “What does he look like to you, Nanny?”

Nanny Ji inconspicuously surveyed Huo Liuxing from afar. He sat in his wheelchair wearing wedding attire. Though he could not walk properly, his waist and back were straight, and his seated posture was quite dignified—surpassing rather than falling short of the noble young masters of the capital. She answered: “He can indeed be described as elegant and graceful.”

Shen Lingzhen had previously truly thought that someone who sat motionless every day should have developed a fat head and bloated face. She smiled and said: “Nanny’s standards in judging people have always been harsh. For you to praise him, could he be an immortal descended from heaven?”

“Miss can look carefully this evening and see for herself.” Nanny Ji looked again toward the city gate direction, this time letting out a sigh. “It’s just a pity…”

Though these words were not completed, any discerning person would know what the pity was.

But regarding this matter, Shen Lingzhen had long been mentally prepared and no longer dwelt on it. A husband with inconvenient mobility was just right for living quietly and peacefully, wasn’t it?

After sighing, Nanny Ji closed the window and reminded: “We’re about to arrive.”

Shen Lingzhen straightened her collar and sleeves and sat back properly, this time perfectly upright.

She always followed the principle of “reciprocating courtesy for courtesy” in her dealings. Since he had made the effort despite his physical condition to come, she should also show proper etiquette in return.

While Shen Lingzhen was straightening her collar and sleeves, on the other side, Huo Liuxing, who was watching the carriage train, suddenly frowned and said to the servant behind him: “There’s a pothole ahead. Tell them to be careful to go around it so as not to startle the bride.”

The servant received the order and rode forward on horseback, but was unfortunately a step too slow. The wheel’s trajectory was aimed right at the pothole. When it sank in, there was a sudden jolt that startled Shen Lingzhen, who had just settled back into her seat.

She cried out in alarm and grabbed the golden armrest inside the carriage, barely managing to steady herself. The phoenix crown on her head nearly knocked against the carriage wall.

Up ahead, the Minister of Rites on his tall horse and Shen Lingzhen’s cousins all turned their heads back.

Nanny Ji nodded to them, indicating all was well. After scolding the driver a few words, she had the carriage continue forward.

The Huo family servant who had gone ahead to give warning sat on his horse, awkwardly neither advancing nor retreating. He looked back toward Huo Liuxing and saw him sighing and shaking his head helplessly, giving a look that meant “come back.”

Inside the carriage, Shen Lingzhen settled back into her seat. When the carriage stopped at the city gate, she heard several male voices ahead—probably Huo Liuxing speaking with the Minister of Rites and her two older male relatives, preparing to welcome them into the city first.

Shen Lingzhen rested briefly in the carriage, attended by maidservants, and rearranged her makeup.

A moment later, Nanny Ji knocked on the carriage wall: “Miss, Master Huo has come.”

By rights, Huo Liuxing should not be coming to see Shen Lingzhen at this time. She was somewhat surprised. She took a sip of tea to moisten her throat and asked: “Is there an urgent matter?”

This question was originally directed at Nanny Ji, but unexpectedly, Huo Liuxing had already arrived nearby.

A male voice sounded from just beyond the wall: “Nothing urgent. I just came to ask if Fourth Miss was hurt just now.”

Shen Lingzhen’s head shot up abruptly.

This voice…

She was momentarily dazed and forgot to answer. Only when she heard Nanny Ji’s reminder did she come back to herself and respond through the door: “Thank you for your concern, Master. I’m fine.”

However, she had been fine before, but now there was something wrong.

Because Huo Liuxing’s phrase “were you hurt” was exactly the same as what the man who had saved her from “the tiger’s mouth” more than a month ago had said. The timbre, tone, inflection, and articulation were all identical.

“That’s good. I’ll go up ahead first then.”

Shen Lingzhen sat in a daze. Hearing that he was about to leave, she hastily called out: “Master Huo!”

The servant pushing the wheelchair stopped his movements. Huo Liuxing turned back: “I’m here.”

Realizing her impulsiveness, Shen Lingzhen closed her eyes in chagrin, suppressing the heartbeat that was about to leap out of her throat, and said as calmly as possible: “This road is uneven. You should also take care…”

Huo Liuxing seemed not to have expected her to say this. He smiled at the tightly closed carriage door: “Alright.”

The person left, but Shen Lingzhen’s soul also drifted away with him. Like a walking corpse, she let the maidservants on either side touch up her makeup, allowed several matrons to help her onto the wedding sedan chair, and was welcomed all the way with gongs and drums clamoring into the green bower built in the southwest corner of the Huo manor for the exchange of wedding bows.

All around was bustling with people coming and going, calling out auspicious phrases of celebration. Yet she remained immersed in shocked doubt the entire time: This voice was undoubtedly that voice, but was this person that person?

The man who had saved her back then had clearly possessed peerless martial arts and showed no sign of lameness.

Huo Liuxing was already waiting in the hall. As Shen Lingzhen crossed the threshold, she quietly raised her eyes and, through the thin silk fan covering her face, glanced toward the man in the wheelchair opposite her wearing wedding attire, carefully discerning his physique and outline.

Looking at him, it seemed about right too…

The auspicious hour arrived, and the ritual official to one side began chanting the ceremony.

Shen Lingzhen followed the chanted words and made a deep bow. As she bent halfway down, her gaze still clung to Huo Liuxing.

This completely unguarded stare—others could not see it, but Huo Liuxing across from her saw it perfectly clearly.

As he bowed, he finally seemed unable to restrain his curiosity and asked her in a low voice: “Why do you keep looking at me?”

Shen Lingzhen, caught red-handed, hastily averted her gaze and lowered her eyes.

Huo Liuxing said in a volume only the two of them could hear: “It’s all right. You can continue looking.”

This remark seemed both smiling and not smiling. To call it refined and elegant, yet it carried a trace of elusive intimacy. To call it presumptuous and improper, yet it had several parts solemn propriety. It was truly difficult to discern his meaning.

Shen Lingzhen’s cheeks grew hot. Taking advantage of the ritual official’s loud chanting of congratulations, she lowered her head and said hesitantly: “It’s not convenient right now. I… I’ll look more later…”

Huo Liuxing seemed amused by her candid manner. Smiling, he said: “Then I’ll drink less wine at the banquet and return as early as possible.”