After saying those words, the Duke of Yong’en led his guards out of Yaoguang Pavilion with an imposing manner.

When he reached the main hall, he saw a tall young man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, dressed in a dark robe, standing with his hands behind his back, casually surveying the furnishings inside the room, as comfortable as if he had entered his own home.

This body, once a vessel of trouble, had been reborn through the crucible of battlefields, now carrying the air of an extraordinary talent. No wonder his niece was so enchanted…

The Duke of Yong’en examined him with a gloomy face, then glanced at the scholarly young man in white robes standing beside Yuan Ce, and coldly snorted: “Does Young General Shen know he has breached propriety and cannot persuade me about this marriage, so he has brought an advocate to plead his case?”

Yuan Ce turned around, glanced at the group of guards standing imposingly nearby, and gave the Duke a cupped-hand salute, pointing to Li Dafeng: “This is the physician from my Xuance Army, skilled in treating injuries and trauma. He has come to examine Your Grace.”

The Duke of Yong’en was startled, his angry eyes flickering momentarily: “Ex-examine?”

“I observed that when Your Grace leaned backward earlier, your forehead was covered in cold sweat, and your guards were constantly supporting your back. It seems not to be a symptom of anger but rather a recent injury to your tendons and bones.”

One came to beat someone up, the other came to give medical treatment—it was like punching a cotton ball, impossible to apply force effectively.

The Duke of Yong’en stared for a long while, awkwardly shook his sleeves, and turned his head away: “…Young General Shen has good eyes, but there’s no need to trouble yourself. My injury has already greatly improved!”

“Then why did you depart almost a month early to return to the capital? If it weren’t for your old injury flaring up on the journey, why would you only arrive today?”

According to what Jiang Zhiyi had said before, her uncle couldn’t return for the New Year because he was delayed by canal construction work. But according to the information just delivered by Mu Xinhong, the southern construction had been suspended before the New Year, and the Duke of Yong’en had not departed late. The family letter sent to Jiang Zhiyi saying he couldn’t return was sent from a post station along the way.

“You…” Young people were so direct, not even offering a way to save face. The Duke of Yong’en couldn’t maintain his dignity for a moment. “Did you tell Zhiyi?”

“Doesn’t Your Grace not want her to worry?”

The Duke of Yong’en let out a sigh of relief, but then felt that he had suddenly lost face in front of Yuan Ce. He straightened his back: “That little girl is close to me. If she knew, she would cry and be difficult to deal with.”

Yuan Ce curved his lips into a smile: “I understand.”

…He understands that she cries and is difficult to deal with, too?

The Duke of Yong’en looked at him with suspicion and shock.

Yuan Ce: “She just didn’t notice earlier because she was anxious. If your injury isn’t treated soon, she will inevitably discover it later.”

The Duke of Yong’en fell silent for a moment and glanced at Li Dafeng.

Yuan Ce gestured toward the main seat: “Your Grace, please.”

The Duke of Yong’en reluctantly walked to the main seat, but as soon as he sat down, he paused and slowly raised his head.

…Wait, is this the Duke’s residence or the Shen family’s home?

Early the next morning, in the main courtyard of the Duke’s residence, the Duke of Yong’en lay prone on a couch, howling in pain as he endured the second round of care sent by his future nephew-in-law.

His back had been accidentally injured by a huge rock during canal construction. At that time, his vision had gone black, and he had fainted. Fortunately, he was lucky and no vital areas were damaged.

Yesterday, during the examination, this military physician Li had given him a back massage, causing him to cry out in pain so much that he lost all dignity, as if someone had his lifeline in their grasp, unable to maintain the bearing of an uncle. After a night had passed and his mental state had barely recovered, early in the morning, this miracle healer showed up at his door again.

After the massage, Li Dafeng nodded and took his leave, instructing before departing: “Your Grace’s injury has affected your internal organs. Compared to the tendons and bones, the internal injury requires more urgent care. In the future, you must stay warm and avoid catching a cold.”

The Duke of Yong’en, grimacing, raised his hand to indicate that he understood. After the physician left, he moved his much more comfortable muscles and joints, put on his clothes, and got up.

Just as he had finished dressing, he suddenly saw a maid from Yaoguang Pavilion rushing in: “Your Grace, terrible news, the Princess has fallen ill!”

…

In the bedchamber of Yaoguang Pavilion, the Duke of Yong’en sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the person whose small face was deathly pale, lips completely bloodless, and eyes tightly closed. He asked in alarm: “What happened? Wasn’t she fine before going to bed last night? What about the physician? Has one been called to examine her?”

Gu Yu, standing nearby, nodded: “He has examined her and said the Princess is suffering from a ‘qi illness’—qi deficiency, qi stagnation, qi—qi-reversal, and qi collapse altogether…”

The Duke of Yong’en opened his eyes wide: “So many illnesses?”

“Overall, it means that her qi is blocked, she has no strength, her entire body is depleted of blood and qi, extremely weak…”

“Then, then what caused this? How is it treated? Did he write a prescription?”

“The physician said that medicine would treat the symptoms but not the root cause, so a prescription would be useless…”

“Nonsense! Isn’t it just about replenishing qi and nourishing blood? Feed her ten roots of ten-year-old ginseng, and I bet she’ll recover!”

Gu Yu waved her hands in alarm: “This, this probably shouldn’t be done, Your Grace!”

“Cough, cough…” The person on the bed coughed twice, opened her eyes slightly, and weakly raised one hand. “Uncle…”

The Duke of Yong’en quickly took her hand: “Uncle is here, uncle is here.”

Jiang Zhiyi shook her head, her voice as thin as a thread: “Don’t blame the physician, this is all my fate…”

“How can it be fate? This little illness will get better with some care, won’t it?”

“No, Uncle,” Jiang Zhiyi took a deep breath, “you don’t know, I wasn’t necessarily set on marrying Young General Shen, but before the New Year, I took our eight characters to have our compatibility divined, and it showed that he is a lucky star in my life, a heaven-sent noble person. If I leave him, I will gradually weaken like this…”

“…”

The Duke of Yong’en’s mouth twitched slightly: “Really?”

“Your Grace, it’s true!” Gu Yu quickly took out a red paper from a drawer and handed it to the Duke.

A large “auspicious” character caught his eye. The entire document praised the man’s virtues as unparalleled in heaven and on earth.

The Duke of Yong’en held the divination paper and looked at Jiang Zhiyi: “You didn’t spend money to buy this to fool your uncle, did you?”

…Hadn’t she spent several taels of silver?

“How could that be? Uncle, you know my birth time better than anyone, and Young General Shen’s birth time I got last night—” Asked for it overnight.

“Last night what?”

“Last night, I already felt the noble person in my fate getting further and further away from me, and the strength in my body seemed to be draining bit by bit… Sure enough, this morning I became like this…” Jiang Zhiyi pitifully clutched the Duke of Yong’en’s sleeve. “Uncle, what should we do?”

The Duke of Yong’en folded the divination paper with a smile: “What should we do? This comes at just the right time! Your uncle will take your eight characters and seek another divination to see how to break this fate.”

Watching him leave without looking back, Jiang Zhiyi rolled out of bed in one movement, wiped off the powder applied to her face and lips, sighed heavily, and patted the bedding.

Gu Yu: “Princess, I told you this trick wouldn’t work. The Duke isn’t stupid!”

“Of course I know Uncle isn’t stupid,” Jiang Zhiyi pouted, “but since I’ve gone to such desperate measures, Uncle should see my determination and give in to me!”

“Now the Duke is going to divine your compatibility. What if the result is bad? Wouldn’t that make things worse…”

“Stop being such a jinx,” Jiang Zhiyi interrupted Gu Yu, “Brother Yuan Ce and I are definitely a match made in heaven, carved on the three-life stone!”

An hour later, at Taiqing Temple.

The Duke of Yong’en sat in a small room of the Taoist temple, quietly waiting for the Taoist master across from him to divine the fate.

Now that neither of the young people showed any sign of backing down, and since he happened to have their birth data, he decided to consult the will of heaven when at an impasse. The Zhang Taoist Master of Taiqing Temple was a direct disciple of the Jianwei Celestial Master, who had been highly trusted by the imperial family in the past and possessed the ability of prophecy. His disciple also had considerable prestige among the nobility in Chang’an, so he had specifically come here.

“Taoist Master Zhang, how is it?” the Duke of Yong’en asked nervously.

“Does the patron wish to inquire about the female’s fate or the male’s fate?”

“The female’s fate.”

Taoist Master Zhang put down the red paper: “This is not the marriage originally destined in the female patron’s fate.”

“Is that so?” The Duke of Yong’en frowned and nodded. “I knew this marriage wasn’t good… Then where is her destined marriage, and when will it come?”

“The female patron’s destined marriage is far away in the extreme west.”

The Duke of Yong’en was shocked: “The extreme west?”

“According to the divination, if the female patron follows her fate and marries far away, she will never have the chance to return to her homeland in this life.”

“The extreme west… never return to her homeland… Could it be the Xi Luo tribe? How is that possible!” The Duke of Yong’en felt dizzy and supported his forehead.

Zhiyi would never look favorably upon someone from that barbaric land, nor could she endure living in such a place. If this distant marriage meant never returning to her homeland in this life, could it be… a political marriage?

But early during the Late Emperor’s reign, the Great Yue Dynasty had already sent a princess to marry in the west. Under this matrimonial alliance, the two nations had maintained peaceful relations for over a decade without moving a single soldier. Why would they suddenly send another princess now? And even if they did, how could it possibly be a princess from a non-imperial family?

“Whether you believe it or not is up to the patron,” Taoist Master Zhang nodded with a smile.

The Duke of Yong’en came back to his senses: “I’m not questioning the Taoist Master, it’s just that this is too unexpected… Taoist Master, if this destined marriage absolutely cannot be fulfilled, is there a way to avoid it?”

Taoist Master Zhang smiled and pointed at the eight characters paper in front of him: “Isn’t the solution right before the patron’s eyes?”

“You mean—” The Duke of Yong’en looked at him in astonishment.

“Although this is not the marriage originally destined in the female patron’s fate, through the cycles of reincarnation, cause produces effect. The female patron has fortunately encountered an opportunity in this life. If she can grasp this opportunity, she can avoid her originally destined marriage.”

At the same moment, in the east courtyard of the Shen residence.

Qing Song, holding a divination letter, entered the study with a solemn expression: “Young Master, last night the Princess exchanged birth data with you, and today the Madam had your compatibility divined—”

Yuan Ce raised his head from his desk: “She took it to appease her uncle, and you all had nothing better to do?”

“How is this having nothing better to do? Since you and the Princess are discussing marriage, according to custom, your birth data should be divined for compatibility on the marriage certificate.” Qing Song handed the divination letter forward.

“…Young Master, you should be prepared. The result isn’t good. Madam inquired about the male’s fate, and it says this marriage will harm you—it’s an omen of great misfortune.”

Yuan Ce lifted his eyelids as if not at all surprised: “That she harms me—is this the first day you all know about it?”

“…The great misfortune in this divination is not the joke you often mention. This is a matter of life and death!”

Although the Young Master and the Elder Young Master were twins, they were born in different hours because of the time difference. Since the midwife cut the umbilical cord after the Young Master was born, to more closely match the time when the birth ended, the birth time recorded for the Shen family’s only son was actually calculated based on the Young Master who was born later.

Therefore, the birth data provided now was not the Elder Young Master’s, but the Young Master’s. So the Princess harming the Young Master was a certainty.

Yuan Ce didn’t even glance at the divination letter.

These Taoist priests, twenty years ago they divined that he would bring calamity to the nation, and now they divined that he faced great misfortune. With a piece of paper, they presumed to control the universe and determine his life and death.

“My fate is not for them to decide.” Yuan Ce’s lips curved into a smile. “This marriage, I must have it.”