In Lu City, the bridal chamber was filled with flickering candlelight. The red candles wept tears of blood-red wax with soft crackling sounds.

Feng Xiyue sat with her head bowed, wringing her sweaty hands. Who could have predicted that heaven would favor her so? A chance glance had made her aware of Xia Jingshi’s existence, and she, who had harbored no hope, had unexpectedly gained her father’s support.

However—it seemed her appearance had hurt another woman, one who was very important to him, a woman even she couldn’t help but like. Although she longed for Xia Jingshi to have eyes only for her, could she ask for more when she had such a towering man as her husband? No, to ask for more would be to invite heaven’s disfavor.

Yet Fu Yixiao had chosen to stay in Su Sha.

That day, when she suddenly heard Xue Ying’s cry, “Yixiao, Yixiao, Yixiao!” As the carriage stopped, she saw Xia Jingshi—yes, Xia Jingshi, the man who always seemed unflappable, as if nothing could ruffle him—leap down from the carriage ahead and run wildly back.

Xiyue smiled bitterly. It seemed only that name could stir his very soul.

Not just him, but also Ning Fei, Xiao Weiran, Ling Xueying, and all the accompanying Jin Xiu imperial guards. Although very polite, there was always a faint hostility and cold distance in their words and actions. She didn’t know if she was being overly sensitive, but she always felt that even at the wedding banquet in Jin Xiu, the military officials and civil servants who came to toast her looked at her with scrutiny.

She adjusted the heavy phoenix crown. Being a bride was truly exhausting. Why hadn’t he returned to their chamber yet? But she was willing to wait. They would support each other through life… Thinking of this, she pressed her lips together and smiled secretly.

The first watch… the second watch… The water clock slowly counted the time. The ceremonial music gradually retreated, and the bright lamps were removed one by one, leaving only a pair of large red wedding candles and a few night pearls in the corner of the room. The room suddenly felt empty, and her heart felt empty too. She began to feel cold—the icy bed, the icy palace chambers, the icy people.

Feng Xiyue stood up and removed her phoenix crown. Perhaps her husband had fallen drunk somewhere in a pavilion, waiting for her to find him. When he woke up tomorrow, she would tease him mercilessly.

Following her memory of the way she had come, she began to walk out. She hadn’t gone far when she encountered a night patrol guard.

The guard seemed startled to see Feng Xiyue and stuttered, “Greetings, Princess Consort. Do you need anything?”

She nodded with a smile. “Did you come from the front? Have the guests not yet dispersed?”

The guard hesitated. “Perhaps the Princess Consort should retire first. The banquet should be ending soon.”

Feng Xiyue pondered briefly before moving forward. “It’s alright. I’ll go check on him. He might have drunk too much.”

The guard hurriedly stepped in front of her to block her path. Seeing her raise an eyebrow, he finally told the truth. “The wedding feast ended two hours ago. His Highness went to his study afterward… Perhaps the Princess Consort should return to her chambers to rest.” With that, he lowered his head and walked away quickly.

Stunned for a long while, two lines of tears silently slid down from the corners of Feng Xiyue’s eyes, falling onto her red phoenix robe and soaking a large patch. She tried desperately to swallow her tears back, but the more she tried, the more unstoppable they became.

Was this what being newly married felt like? She was already his Princess Consort, but how could the wedding night be like this? Why was it like this? It was truly unbearable—after waiting for so many years, what she had gained was an awkward situation.

A room of solitude, a sleepless night.

As dawn broke, the faint sounds of palace servants moving about and sweeping could be heard outside. Feng Xiyue sat before the mirror, which reflected her swollen eyes from crying. She removed her heavy makeup and took off her wedding dress. She wanted to find Xia Jingshi; she needed to have a good talk with him.

Circling past flower pavilions and crossing water pavilions, just as she was about to pass a corridor entrance, an abrupt voice made her stop in her tracks. “…Using his status to bully others, driving Colonel Fu away!”

Feng Xiyue frowned slightly. Judging by the tone, it should be palace servants from the royal city, but the people they were discussing…

“Colonel Fu is truly pitiful, staying all alone in Su Sha. Who knows if she’s living well or not? Ah, I miss Colonel Fu’s divine archery. I only saw it once at the martial arts competition. Who knows when we’ll see it again,” another person sighed.

“It’s because Colonel Fu comes from a humble background. If you want to blame someone, blame the heavens for being unfair and not making her born into an imperial family. If she were a princess too, how could the Su Sha princess have taken the position of His Highness’s principal consort?” A new voice joined the discussion.

“That’s right, that’s right. When Colonel Fu was accompanying His Highness through life and death, she was probably somewhere drinking and enjoying herself. I don’t understand. After fighting with Su Sha for so many years, how can they just make peace and even marry their princess? I don’t know how we’ll face our fallen brothers at the grand sacrifices in the future,” the first person sighed.

“His Highness probably left her to sleep in his study yesterday because of this—but the brothers who accompanied the army last time all said that in the whole world, only Colonel Fu, a woman, could match His Highness’s grandeur. On the battlefield, wherever her arrow pointed, the Su Sha soldiers would flee, wailing like ghosts and wolves…” Before he could finish, the group burst into laughter.

After laughing for a while, one person interjected, “Alright, alright, it’s about time. Everyone go do what you need to do. Listen carefully later, if there’s any movement in the room, quickly go to the kitchen to bring meals. If the princess gets hungry and can’t find food, and her temper flares up, she might say she’ll flay you instead of just beheading you. Hurry, hurry…”

The group agreed and dispersed. One of them grumbled as he walked away, “I thought the princess was above earthly desires and only ate gold nuggets.”

Someone in the distance replied, “Maybe she ate so many gold nuggets that she emptied Su Sha’s treasury, and that’s why their king had no choice but to marry her off to Jin Xiu…”

That person, with a smile not yet faded, turned around the corridor, yawned and walked away listlessly, completely unaware that in the bushes by the corridor, Feng Xiyue was crouching there, covering her mouth and crying with particular sorrow.

“Miss…” Xiumu poked her head in from outside the door. Ling Xueying, busy packing things, impatiently replied, “What, what, what is it? You—Ah!” Xueying suddenly cried out, pointing at Xiumu as if she’d seen a ghost. “You, you, you, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to go back to Cao City and tell Father that I’d be back a few days later?”

Ning Fei, who had been standing aside watching her pack, asked in surprise, “You didn’t see her last night?” “Last night?” Xueying tilted her head, thinking. Last night was Xia Jingshi and Feng Xiyue’s wedding banquet. “I didn’t see her last night.”

Ning Fei’s face suddenly took on a strange expression. “When we set off for Su Sha, didn’t you hear His Highness’s instructions to her?”

Xueying looked confused. “What did Xia Jingshi say?”

Xiumu jumped over the threshold, smiling, “The Prince of Nanzheng told Xiumu to return to Cao City to inform the master to come to Lu City for his wedding banquet—”

“Ah!” Xueying screamed. “That means…” She suddenly stopped, looking left and right. “Ning Fei, is there a back door here?”

“Where do you think you’re going!” With a deep, forceful shout, a burly middle-aged man strode in imposingly. It was none other than Xueying’s father, Ling Yuguang. “As soon as you leave home, you forget to come back. As soon as there’s something new, you can’t see your father anymore. Ling Xueying! Tell me yourself, how many books should you be punished to copy!”

“I’m not feeling well, I’m not feeling well,” Xueying whimpered, hiding behind Ning Fei. “My head is spinning, my ears are ringing, and I can’t see. Ning Fei, quickly take me to see a doctor.”

Ning Fei stared at the glowering Ling Yuguang for a moment, then suddenly bowed formally. “Father-in-law, please accept your son-in-law’s respect!”