On the day the imperial decree for the bestowed marriage was announced, Li Guangwen was playing chess with his superior, surrounded by three or five colleagues observing the game.

When he heard the report from a servant from his household, Li Guangwen’s face darkened as he asked, “Marriage in seven days? You didn’t mishear, did you?”

The servant’s face turned pale with fright.

The master didn’t know how to speak properly – this was a bestowed marriage! Who would dare to speak carelessly about it? He said he might have misheard.

“No, sir! Master, you should hurry back to the residence. The Old Madam is waiting for you to return and discuss matters.”

“Fine, I’ll go back right now!” Li Guangwen flipped over the table and took off running.

A chess piece bounced up and hit his superior’s forehead.

The superior rubbed his forehead, his face instantly turning black as the bottom of a pot. Several colleagues exchanged glances, wanting to laugh but not daring to, only able to lower their heads and suppress their amusement.

The superior released his hand and secretly took a breath.

He wouldn’t argue with that lucky fool.

If it weren’t for stumbling upon a son-in-law like Marquis Guanjun, he would make that blockhead understand what superior authority meant!

“Everyone disperses.”

The crowd scattered in all directions.

The Hanlin Academy was already a place where people were bored out of their minds, so this gossip immediately spread around.

When Qiao Mo returned to the government office, he happened to hear these discussions and couldn’t help but pause in his steps.

The Emperor bestowed marriage between his younger sister and Marquis Guanjun and ordered them to marry in seven days – what was this about?

Shao Mingyuan hadn’t revealed to Qiao Mo even half a word about the wedding date being moved up.

As soon as Qiao Mo approached, the discussion stopped, and everyone looked at him with somewhat subtle expressions.

As Marquis Guanjun’s brother-in-law, now that his brother-in-law was about to marry a new person, they wondered what he felt in his heart.

Qiao Mo had only been in the Hanlin Academy for a few months and originally had quite good relationships with his colleagues, but this changed after Cabinet Vice Minister Xu Mingda called him to work in the Cabinet.

After the new jinshi graduates of each three-year batch were assigned – some entering the Hanlin Academy as shujishi, others going to the Six Ministries and other places for observation duties – these observation jinshi practiced administrative affairs for several months and by this time had been successively assigned to posts throughout the country. Only those selected for the Hanlin Academy as shujishi had to serve a full three years before receiving official appointments.

But now there was a problem. Some busy government offices needed obedient and understanding newcomers to handle miscellaneous tasks. Once the observation jinshi left, the superior officers turned their attention to the freshly minted shujishi.

There was no choice – those old fellows who had been stuck in the Hanlin Academy without promotion had all become slick, making them troublesome to use. So these newly minted shujishi would occasionally be borrowed by various government offices to help out.

Qiao Mo was the top scholar and had been directly granted the official position of Hanlin Editor. Ordinary government offices wouldn’t dare to order him around, but unexpectedly, he had caught the eye of the Vice Minister and was called to work in the Cabinet.

Being able to work odd jobs in the Cabinet was an excellent opportunity. Not only would it broaden his knowledge, but if he could take the chance to win the favor of the Grand Secretaries, rapid advancement would be just around the corner. He might even enter the Cabinet and become a minister within twenty years.

This Qiao Mo was truly fortunate, and his background was good too. After all, he was the grandson of the great scholar Qiao Zhuo, and the current Vice Minister Xu Mingda was from the same examination class as Qiao Zhuo.

No matter how people secretly consoled themselves, their hearts felt quite uncomfortable, and they no longer looked at Qiao Mo with the same warmth.

Having experienced a great upheaval in his family, Qiao Mo had long since transformed from the refined young master who paid no attention to worldly affairs into someone with careful thoughts. How could he not understand these changes?

He merely smiled at this and continued to greet people with the same smile as before.

Fellowship among those from the same examination class was indeed special, but with his grandfather’s passing, how much of that fellowship could remain?

If it were just a matter of lifting a finger to help, anyone would be happy to assist, but taking the risk of offending Chief Minister Lan to call him to the Cabinet to gain experience – this was not ordinary.

Thinking of this, Qiao Mo’s mood became somewhat complex.

Minister Xu’s promotion of him had an all-too-obvious reason: he had agreed to the marriage arrangement with the Xu family.

He was still in his mourning period, so discussing marriage naturally couldn’t be put on the agenda, but once such matters were agreed upon, they became tacitly understood by both parties, and there would naturally be no reason to back out in the future.

Qiao Mo’s mind was now filled with thoughts of his sister’s sudden bestowed marriage, so he hurried to find his superior to request leave.

Everyone in the Hanlin Academy knew that this new top scholar had an unlimited future, so his superior naturally didn’t make things difficult and readily granted the leave.

Qiao Mo hurriedly rushed back to Marquis Guanjun’s residence.

There were two imperial decrees for the bestowed marriage: one was read at the Li residence, and one was read at Marquis Guanjun’s residence.

When Qiao Mo rushed back, the eunuch who had delivered the decree had already left. The entire Marquis residence was filled with joy, with servants rolling up their sleeves to begin sweeping and cleaning, and even some personal guards had joined in.

“Young Master, watch your step.” Seeing Qiao Mo walking quickly, a sweeping servant reminded him.

Qiao Mo headed straight for Shao Mingyuan’s quarters. At first sight, he saw Shao Mingyuan standing in the courtyard with a joyful expression, admiring the snow, and directly asked, “Tingquan, what’s this about the bestowed marriage?”

Shao Mingyuan’s smile disappeared, and he put on an innocent expression: “Hmm?”

“I just returned to the Hanlin Academy and heard colleagues discussing His Majesty bestowing marriage upon you two.”

“Yes, I just received the imperial decree and was completely stunned. I still feel like I’m dreaming.”

“So you hadn’t heard any news beforehand either?”

Shao Mingyuan nodded earnestly.

In any case, he couldn’t admit even unto death that he hadn’t insisted on waiting until Zhaozhao came of age before marrying her. Getting cold looks from his brother-in-law was guaranteed.

Qiao Mo frowned: “What does His Majesty mean by this?”

“Perhaps he felt that leading troops in battle was hard work for me, so he specially bestowed marriage to show imperial grace.”

Qiao Mo thought about it and seemed unable to find a more reasonable explanation, so he had to accept it.

“As long as His Majesty doesn’t have other intentions, that’s fine.”

The corners of Shao Mingyuan’s mouth curved up in a faint smile.

Of course, there wouldn’t be other intentions. On the day he and Zhaozhao had their grand wedding, the Emperor would go into seclusion, making everything perfectly peaceful.

Speaking of which, seven days was quite long. The Emperor hadn’t set it for three days later, which was truly beyond his expectations.

Li Guangwen rushed back to the Li residence as if his feet had grown wings, but found he couldn’t locate Old Madam Deng and Lady He. He had to grab a servant woman and ask, “Where are the Old Madam and the others?”

The servant woman smiled and said, “The masters are all busy arranging Third Miss’s wedding matters. This old servant congratulates the Master.”

Li Guangwen rolled his eyes and flicked his sleeves as he left.

What congratulations! His precious daughter would soon belong to someone else’s family!

In the Jinlin Guards’ office, Jiang Yuanchao, having received the news, sat withered in his study for a long time without speaking.

Outside, water was freezing into ice, but inside the room it was warm as spring. He wore an azure-colored fitted robe with thin cotton padding that made him appear clear as jade, though he had grown much thinner than the previous spring.

Jiang He rolled his eyes but didn’t dare make a sound.

When heaven wants to snow and one’s beloved wants to marry, no one can stop it. In any case, there would be heartbreak eventually – better sooner than later.

After a long while, Jiang Yuanchao stood up and lifted his feet to walk outside.

“My lord, your clothes—” Jiang He grabbed the cloak draped over the screen and chased after him.

As soon as he stepped out the door, the bone-piercing cold wind blew directly at him. The thin cotton robe naturally couldn’t block it, and Jiang Yuanchao shivered, but he didn’t take the cloak Jiang He offered. Instead, he strode to the tree in the courtyard and gazed into the distance.

“My lord, please put on your heavy clothes quickly, or you’ll freeze.”

“Each winter seems colder than the last.” Jiang Yuanchao sighed softly as he said this, then put on the cloak. But the chill in his heart lingered for a long time.