Xiao Qi didn't even blink. He bent his body and easily dodged the punch again. He grabbed the wrist from before, placed Wan Yuekui's arm on his shoulder, and used his waist to throw Wan Yuekui, who was almost twice the width of Xiao Qi, into the air.

Seeing that he skillfully used his strength, Wan Yuekui turned sideways in mid-air, stabilized his lower body, and landed lightly with his sturdy body.

The two fought fiercely, but Xiao Qi always had the upper hand. He was light and agile, while Wan Yuekui focused on strength and speed. When the two faced each other, Xiao Qi, dressed in green, was like a bamboo leaf caught in a gust of wind, able to deftly deflect force and launch timely attacks.

After half an incense stick's time, Wan Yuekui was defeated step by step and finally clasped his hands in surrender, acknowledging Xiao Qi as his brother-in-law.

The Wan family members were delighted by the sight and burst into laughter.

The wedding day arrived in the blink of an eye.

The bride, adorned in a beautiful phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, was part of a grand wedding procession that stretched for miles across the capital. The city was practically deserted as everyone flocked to the Wan and Xiao families to offer their congratulations.

After the wedding ceremony, Wanwan was helped back to the bridal chamber. Xiao Qi was outside toasting people, and his friends took the opportunity to pli him with drinks. Even the guards and Wan Yuechi toasted him several times.

No one had any other intentions; they just wanted to see what this usually dignified and aloof prince would be like when he was drunk.

Xiao Qi remained completely unaffected after drinking several jars of wine. His face was neither red nor itchy, and he remained calm and composed. He dealt with whatever came his way, while the guests were all red-faced and swollen from drinking, but he was a man who could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk.

Xiao Qi finally managed to endure until the banquet ended before returning to his room.

Xiao Qi had thought that the naturally lively Wanwan would behave herself during such an important occasion as her wedding, but to his surprise, as soon as he entered the room, he saw that the girl had lifted her red veil herself and was happily eating an apple in one hand and a chicken wing in the other!

Hearing someone open the door, Wanwan subconsciously pulled her red veil back over her head, but when she saw it was Xiao Qi, she relaxed, dropped the veil, and continued eating and drinking.

"Brother Xiao, you're finally back! Wanwan didn't even eat her fill for dinner. They wouldn't let me lift the veil myself; they insisted you do it. I was starving, so I just kicked them all out!"

With her bright, crescent-shaped eyes and chubby cheeks, she spoke while chewing, "Really, Brother Xiao has seen me before, why do I need a veil?"

The little girl kept talking.

Xiao Qi smiled silently, his eyes filled with tender affection, his gaze shining with a gentle and satisfied light under the pair of huge dragon and phoenix candles.

"But Brother Xiao has never seen Wanwan in her wedding dress."

Xiao Qi walked over, took out a handkerchief, met Wanwan's bewildered gaze, and wiped the corner of her mouth clean.

Wanwan paused for a moment, then suddenly darted away from Xiao Qi, twirled around, and asked excitedly, "So, Brother Xiao, do you think Wanwan is pretty now?"

"Beautiful." Xiao Qi reached out and grabbed the lively little girl in front of him. With a gentle pull, Wanwan nestled into his arms, her chin resting on his firm chest. She tilted her head up and met his gaze.

Xiao Qi was different today; a rare possessiveness flickered in his eyes, reminding Wanwan of a wolf pack leader…

"My wife is the most beautiful."

Xiao Qi spoke slowly in a deep, magnetic voice, causing Wanwan's earlobes to turn bright red. She subconsciously buried her face in Xiao Qi's chest and reached out to hug his waist.

The two were of one mind and planned to return to Hailan Village to live in a few days.

On the day of his return visit to his wife's family, Xiao Qi met with the Wan family and then took Wanwan to the emperor to resign.

Having just lost Wan Suizhou, the Emperor was now about to lose another promising young talent favored by the Emperor. Naturally, the Emperor refused to agree to it. The three of them made excuses again, and finally, each of them compromised, and the Emperor granted Xiao Qi a half-month leave.

The two successfully returned to Hailan Village, but Wanwan had other ideas in mind; she wasn't simply going back to the village.

She is a mermaid, and Xiao Qi is also a mermaid. Sooner or later, she will have to take Xiao Qi back to the mermaid clan.

Now that they've returned, there's no need to wait for another day. After asking, Xiao Qi agreed to Wanwan's idea. Wanwan summoned her master and parents, and together they returned to the Mermaid Clan.

Mermaids live in the deep sea, where sunlight is scarce, the surrounding environment is dark and unclear, and the temperature is extremely low. However, once you get close to where the merfolk live, you can feel a wave of warmth, and then you can see merfolk guards patrolling around.

The male mermaids, armed with weapons, stood tall and had piercing eyes. Seeing that Xiao Qi had come with Wanwan and her group, they did not make things difficult for him and immediately let him pass.

Although Xiao Qi could adapt to the deep-sea environment, his fish tail never showed up, and he had to hold onto the curved hand tightly to fight against the ocean current.

The mermaids live in a land inhabited by bizarre deep-sea creatures, enormous in size and strange in appearance. But Wanwan is not afraid of them at all, and can even command them at will. The monsters full of fangs are all extremely docile towards Wanwan.

As they continued their journey, Wanwan led Xiao Qi to the merman clan chief. Xunying, quick-witted, explained in a few words why Xiao Qi was unable to manifest his fish tail.

The clan leader was neither young nor old, his age was hard to discern. He had a gentle appearance and no wrinkles on his face, yet he exuded a sense of wisdom and depth accumulated over thousands of years. He was polite and nodded slightly when listening to Xun Ying speak. After listening, a halo of light appeared on his fingertip and touched Xiao Qi's forehead.

Xiao Qi immediately felt a cool breeze descend from his head and enter his body, which then transformed into a familiar white fish tail.

That day, the two stayed overnight in the merfolk's village. During the night, Xun Ying specifically sought out Xiao Qi and told him everything about her past with his mother.

Xiao Qi listened in silence, his heart filled with even greater affection for his newlywed wife.

The next day, Wanwan wanted to return to the shore with Xiao Qi, but Baili Jin stopped her.

Wanwan is the third-generation young master of the mermaid clan, and she must inherit her father's position no matter what.

The couple had no choice but to stay, and Xiao Qi accompanied Wanwan to the succession ceremony.

From then on, Wanwan's identity was not only that of a princess or a noblewoman, but also that of the young master of the mermaid race, bearing the responsibility for the survival of her race.

On the day the ceremony ended, the half-month holiday promised by the emperor also came to an end, and the couple bid farewell to the merfolk and returned to the capital.

Not long after arriving in the capital, Wan Yuekui received an imperial edict to set off for the frontier to quell a rebellion.

The Wan family had only been reunited for a short time before they had to part again. Wanwan and Xiao Qi had no other choice but to rush to the farewell party before they had even finished packing.

Just as she squeezed her way to the gates of the capital, Wanwan realized that she had seen off more than just her older brother today.

Wan Suizhou, Wan Kongshan, and Zhang Xiu all wanted to return to Hailan Village. Wanwan was reluctant to leave and wanted to go back with her grandfather. She even shed tears just like when she was a child.

This made Wan Yuekui, who was on the horse, think that Xiao Qi had bullied his younger sister.

If it weren't for the large crowd around him, he would have definitely leaped down and fought Xiao Qi for three hundred rounds.