When everyone saw Qi Yue emerge in that classical wedding dress, not a single person at the venue laughed.

Even Cui Xiu, who had been determined to watch the spectacle, didn’t laugh—or rather, she didn’t even notice.

“Jianfeng… Jianfeng… look, look at that person…” She gripped Wu Jianfeng’s arm tightly, following the ushers as they walked slowly. There were many people around, many she recognized, though those people didn’t recognize her. “Isn’t that the Deputy Prime Minister or something… and that one, and that one… Oh heavens, Jianfeng, did we somehow end up inside a news broadcast?”

Though Wu Jianfeng wasn’t as flustered as she was, his rigid posture revealed his current tension.

In fact, their entire group was like this.

“No wonder, no wonder.”

No wonder they had only invited so few people to attend the wedding. A wedding of this caliber, my goodness…

“Old Qi, Old Qi.”

After being led to their table, everyone couldn’t help but crowd around to speak with Father Qi and Mother Qi. They didn’t say much, just vigorously patted shoulders and arms, gripped hands and shook them, expressing their inner excitement and shock.

Such a wedding, and Old Qi had remembered to invite them to attend—nothing more needed to be said. This was the most genuine, ironclad friendship there could be.

Several of them were officials in the health system, and when the in-laws were introduced, they had already managed to shake hands with the high-ranking ministry leaders, with the fortunate ones even exchanging a word or two.

For those in official careers, every moment and place presented opportunities. Don’t underestimate a single sentence or handshake—at crucial moments, they could mean the difference between life and death.

Father and Mother Qi were actually not much better off than the others. Now, seeing everyone’s grateful, excited expressions, they felt somewhat helpless.

Heaven knew, their original intention had been to avoid having too many people and creating an embarrassing situation that would be hard to handle, so they had carefully selected these people. If they had known they were attending such a wedding, they probably would have deliberated more carefully, and quite a few of these people wouldn’t have been invited.

Just what kind of person was this son-in-law of theirs?

Could an orphan with no education and no job really arrange such a wedding banquet?

What a joke!

Qi Rui thought that shouting “Oh my god!” when he got into that Red Flag sedan should have been the biggest shock of the day, but it turned out that was just the beginning.

He looked at the familiar and unfamiliar faces in the hall and couldn’t help swallowing hard.

“Mom, so my brother-in-law is a red princeling…” he muttered. “Well then, my bank card should be returned soon. Maybe the money inside will even double…”

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help grinning foolishly.

The hall became lively, with someone shouting that the groom was coming out.

Everyone hurried to crane their necks to look.

Among those present, almost no one had seen the bride and groom, or even knew who they were. But what did it matter?

“Oh, it’s that guy!” Huang Ying stared at the man striding past her and exclaimed in shock.

“You still said you’d never seen him,” a colleague beside her whispered, nudging her accusingly.

“Oh my god, oh my god, so it was him!” Huang Ying covered her mouth, still exclaiming.

That rude man…

Cui Xiu watched the man walk past and only withdrew her gaze after a long time, then looked at Wu Jianfeng.

“What are you looking at?” Wu Jianfeng felt uncomfortable under her stare and snapped in a low voice.

“You still said you dumped Qi Yue,” Cui Xiu laughed mockingly, looking at him. “Actually, she dumped you, didn’t she?”

Wu Jianfeng’s face darkened.

“What nonsense are you talking about? Don’t spout nonsense here,” he scolded in a low voice irritably.

“I really… I picked up someone else’s castoff, and I was even showing off in front of her. What was I showing off about…” Cui Xiu ignored him and continued, saying with a sideways glance, “You really made me lose face.”

Applause broke out, interrupting their conversation. Everyone looked toward the stage, where the married couple was bowing to their elders.

Time flowed across a thousand years. Under the Great Xia dynasty’s temporal space, in early winter in Yongqing Prefecture, rain and snow fell in flurries. Pedestrians hurried along the streets, while raggedly dressed children ran through laughing and playing with pinwheels, adding a bright touch to winter’s bleakness.

In Qianjin Hall, A’Ru, now dressed as a married woman, looked at the opened bundle before her. Letters and various small clay figurines and other miscellaneous items were scattered about.

“…Were all these… found where Master Chang disappeared?” she asked in a trembling voice, reaching out to touch them.

“Yes,” Guard Xiao Qu said.

“Then Master Chang, he…” Hu San asked hurriedly.

Xiao Qu shook his head.

“No news,” he said.

A’Ru and Hu San exchanged glances, neither saying anything.

Someone came running in with heavy footsteps.

“Sister, sister, it’s true, it’s true…” A’Hao rushed in, and instead of speaking, she burst into tears with a wail.

Everyone in the room was startled.

“What’s wrong? What’s true?” A’Ru grabbed her and pressed urgently.

“The Prince of Marquis Dingxi has died of illness,” A’Hao cried out.

A’Ru and Hu San exchanged glances, both seeing shock in each other’s eyes.

“When did this happen?” A’Ru asked in a trembling voice, gripping A’Hao’s hand so hard she almost wanted to tear through her clothes.

“Ten days ago,” A’Hao said, wiping her tears.

Ten days ago!

A’Ru looked at Xiao Qu.

Xiao Qu nodded at her.

That’s right, that’s right. Chang Yuncheng had suddenly disappeared ten days ago. During patrol, he had a habit of spurring his horse to gallop ahead of his men, but he never acted recklessly. After galloping, he would return to a safe place to wait for his men. But this time, his men couldn’t find their master. They only found his horse, his clothes, and the small bundle he always carried with him. They searched everywhere they could, but Chang Yuncheng had vanished without a trace like a ghost. This incident was even rumored locally to be the work of demons and spirits, forcing the authorities to issue a denial, hastily declaring Chang Yuncheng dead from an attack.

“Sister,” A’Hao also gripped A’Ru tightly, unable to say a word before breaking into tears again.

A’Ru turned to look at the bundle on the table, and tears could no longer be held back.

In this life, they would never meet again. Even exchanging a single inquiry through letter was now impossible.

“Please, I beg you to save A’Hao. No matter who you are, as long as you save A’Hao, A’Ru is willing to give her life in exchange…”

“I can’t do it alone. I need your help. There isn’t much time left, and we have many things to do.”

My lady…

“Whatever you need A’Ru to do, A’Ru will do,” A’Ru murmured. “A’Ru will definitely do it well!”

Urgent shouting came from outside the door.

“Emergency, critical emergency.”

A’Ru wiped her tears and released A’Hao, running outside.

“Prepare the carriage,” she called as she opened the door, running toward the emergency corridor in the back courtyard. Three disciples wearing green robes were already there, taking different medicine boxes from a row of wooden cabinets.

A’Ru took her nursing kit and got into the carriage. The horse-drawn carriage, hung with a large red lantern marked “Qianjin Hall Emergency,” rushed out of Qianjin Hall.

In the falling rain and snow, pedestrians hurried to get out of the way as the carriage sped through the streets.