Chapter 113: Change your life for him, for her, and for them.

There was no snow this morning, but as the auspicious time for the wedding approached, light snow began to fall from the sky again.

No one knew where the city lord's wife's family was, nor did anyone know which family she came from. Therefore, this wedding ceremony could not be considered a real one. It was just the groom riding a tall horse and leading the young lady through the streets and alleys for a lively and festive occasion.

The bronze mirror reflected Zhang Furong's jade-like face, her hair tied in a bun with golden hairpins, and pearls and precious stones piled up in it. She was wearing a red dress and was covered in gold and silver, making her look like the Goddess of Wealth in the mural, but not tacky, just like a red plum blossom blooming in the cold.

"Madam, the auspicious time has arrived."

At noon, when the sun is setting, it is a good time to get married.

Everything seemed to be no different from the wedding ceremony a hundred years later.

A group of girls surrounded Zhu Hao, adjusting her makeup and wedding dress one by one, making sure there were no omissions, and then covered her with a wedding veil. They led Zhu Hao over the high threshold, walked on the red carpet, and came to the outside of Songheju.

Through the thin gauze, Zhu Hao saw a man in red clothes and a jade crown sitting upright on a tall, pure white horse at the front of the procession. His eyes were so fiery that they seemed to burn through the wedding veil and imprinted them deeply on her.

Even through the wedding veil, one could vaguely make out the man's thin figure, with light eyebrows and eyes, and a carefree demeanor, like a wisp of smoke about to fall in the drifting snow.

Zhu Haoxiao: "How about... you take the sedan chair and I'll ride on horseback to meet you."

"No." Song Xieqing didn't think twice and extended a hand to the young lady, "Why don't you and I ride together?"

After saying this, he realized something was wrong. Her wedding dress today was heavy, and her hair was adorned with pearls, hairpins, and precious jades. She got up before dawn to put on her makeup. Although the full make-up and gorgeous clothes made the girl beautiful, the heaviness would inevitably cause discomfort. If she rode the horse again, the hairpins and hair that she had been busy with all morning's makeup might be messed up.

Besides, it was snowing lightly and she would catch a cold.

Thinking of this, Song Xieqing was about to withdraw his hand, but a warm hand fell into his palm first.

Song Xieqing smiled. He held his wife's hand, led her to the horse, and protected her in front of him.

The crowd of onlookers saw this and burst into laughter and noise, their sounds blending into the wind and snow, turning the snow into spring.

Song Xieqing suppressed the blood and cough surging in his throat. He pulled the reins, and the horse raised its hooves and neighed loudly, galloping along the long road that had been cleared long ago.

Behind him was an endless procession of ceremonial guards, with little children carrying woven baskets scattering flower petals, with bits of silver, gold and malt sugar wrapped in the baskets.

"A hundred years from now, when you and I get married, I'll already... already have no home, and you'll be unable to find a bride just like you are now, so you'll be taking me around Huaicheng to ask for favors..." Zhu Hao snuggled a little closer into his frail arms, groaning, "But at that time, you were very reluctant to marry me, Mr. Song."

She felt the man's body stiffen noticeably. "After a hundred years, I am actually a blind man."

The person in my arms chuckled.

The streets on both sides, outside the red carpet, were already crowded with people. Although many people were still dissatisfied with the city lord Song Xieqing, they could not resist the fact that the child scattered not only some broken flower petals that would rot, but also some small silver and gold coins, so they all came to pray for good luck. Moreover, even the new emperor sent palace servants from afar to deliver gifts, so naturally everyone wanted to see such a grand scene.

It was the first time to see the young lady and the groom riding on the same horse during the wedding procession. As time went by, everyone was inevitably infected by the warm atmosphere and exhaled blessings from the bottom of their hearts.

Zhu Hao could clearly feel the breath around her gradually weakening. At first, Song Xieqing had been chatting and laughing with her, but now, even if she took the initiative to speak, he would only respond with a few low words.

The poison of Bithu is as painful as being tortured by slow slicing.

She tried hard not to cry in front of everyone. She just gently tugged at his sleeve, suppressed the sob in her throat, and said, "Xieqing, I want to go home."

"Song Xieqing, let's go home." She couldn't help herself, her voice trembling, "I'm still waiting for you to lift the veil for me."

The man still only responded softly.

The horse beneath her suddenly broke into a gallop, plunging from the red carpet into the snow. The scenery on both sides quickly passed by, and it seemed as if everything in the world had nothing to do with them anymore. There was only the vast expanse of snow between heaven and earth, and only the two of them were left. The blessing was not clear, and the wedding hat was blown away by the wind. Tears fell from her eyes, blending into the snow, melting without a trace.

Zhu Hao could hardly feel the rise and fall of his chest, which was as stiff and cold as if leaning against the wind and snow.

"Song Xieqing..."

"...Pianpian, I'm here."

The sound was so faint, almost inaudible.

She finally asked, "It hurts, doesn't it?"

The man didn't answer.

Zhu Hao easily pulled the reins from his hands, but unexpectedly there was a jolt under his body. He didn't know where the horse hit, and it jumped in fright, and the two of them rolled off the horse's back.

Zhu Hao didn't care to cry out in pain. He struggled to get up and held Song Xieqing tightly in his arms.

They didn't know when they had walked into a deserted narrow alley. There was no one around, the scene was desolate, and the only sound was the howling wind.

The person in his arms slowly opened his eyes, raised his hand to touch the corner of Zhu Hao's eyes, and wiped away her tears for the umpteenth time. His voice was so soft that it almost disappeared in the wind. "I'm sorry, Pian Pian."

"What are you sorry about?" Zhu Hao pinched him hard.

"I always thought that rather than wiping your tears over and over again, the best thing would be to stop making you cry... but I never did." His fingertips grew cold, but he still lingered on her eyes. "I haven't lifted your veil yet... I haven't married you yet, I haven't taken good care of you and spent our lives together... Not only that, I often make you unhappy and make you cry..."

Before he could finish his words, he suddenly vomited black blood, which splashed onto the vast snow, so dazzling that it was shocking.

Zhu Hao watched him struggle to get up again and again but fell into the snow again and again. His brows were twisted, veins bulged on his forehead, and his lips moved but he could hardly utter a word. Song Xieqing collapsed on the snow, his whole body convulsing.

She held his face in her hands and wiped the blood off his lips with the corner of her sleeve. She asked in a trembling voice, "Song Xieqing, it hurts, doesn't it?"

His chest and abdomen rose and fell violently, and he uttered intermittently: "I'll just rest for a while... Let's go home, lift the veil, and worship in the hall.

Zhu Hao stroked the porcelain bottle in her sleeve and uncorked it. "It will be ready soon, Song Xieqing."

She raised her head to drink the medicine in the bottle, then leaned over and passed it to him.

Zhu Hao's sobs were no longer soft, but she was wailing loudly. She murmured, not knowing whether to herself or to him: "It doesn't matter. A hundred years from now, you will have lifted my veil. We will have worshipped heaven and earth, drank the wedding wine, taken a boat ride, admired the moon, and viewed the flowers."

"That's enough, Song Xieqing."

She stroked his stiff and cold brows inch by inch, but Song Xieqing's eyes, which were gradually losing their luster, were still stubbornly fixed on her, unwilling to move away even a little bit.

The wind and snow grew stronger, and the snow fell on the temples of the two people, accumulating into a thin layer of white, as if they had walked hand in hand into old age.

The excruciating pain that was tearing out his heart and bones gradually faded away, and what followed was heavy eyelids and a confused mind. Song Xieqing had a thousand words to say but couldn't utter a single word. He tried his best to strain his eyes, wanting to look at her more closely, more closely. For some reason, he thought that if he closed his eyes this time, it would be a farewell forever.

It was more than just wanting to see her again. He had always been insatiable in everything related to her. He also wanted to hug her again, wipe her tears, hold her hands, and tell her how much he loved her and how much he had let her down.

Hey... he thought, so there really are people who can cry like a tearful person? The young lady's red face was covered with tears, and even though he couldn't move or speak at the moment, her crying could still make his eardrums hurt.

He wanted to wipe her tears as usual, but his hand, raised in the air, was like a broken string, and all his facial features and senses fell down together.

Song Xieqing was trapped, in a small corner, yet also seemingly endless. The dark sky made it impossible for him to tell left from right, and he was destined to be unable to leave this place.

Maybe it took a day, a month, or a year... From far away, human voices finally came, it was Pianpian.

"Why did Li Xueshi so conscientiously write such a tortuous account of right and wrong?! Did you witness him committing any evil with your own eyes? If not, why are you so certain? Just like when you were compiling history in the Imperial Academy, you saw it with your own eyes, yet when you wrote, you contradicted it. Although I ask for your pen, I don't ask you to sing his praises, nor do I need any false praise. I only ask... if he truly murdered people, then you record how many he killed, how he killed them, and why. If he is truly a traitor, then you can incriminate him with every crime. But if he has ever benefited the people, please also be generous with your words."

"I don't ask you to write a good story about him, but if you dare to falsely accuse him and throw unwarranted mud on him, a hundred years from now, I will dig up your grave and scatter your ashes!"

"Li Mizhang, I wish you all the best. I will keep my word."

It was as if an invisible needle pierced into his soul. Song Xieqing's eyes were bloodshot and he curled up on the ground.

As his soul was flying, he suddenly remembered that it was a similar snowy day. The difference was that it was he who held Pianpian and cried loudly, it was he who watched Pianpian leave, it was he who held Pianpian and stepped onto the top of the sun step by step to bury her body.

His wife turned out to be a liar.

The fact that he was admired by everyone was a lie, and the fact that he and she had a pair of children was also a lie...

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan are clearly...

A pair of cats and dogs.

He suddenly heard clearly the words his wife, with white hair, whispered in his ear before she passed away:

She said, "Wait for me, I will change your fate."

So, she passed away at the age of 82. She had spent a full 62 years reading through history books, studying strategic theories, and making plans. She wanted to rewrite the so-called predetermined ending for him, for her, and for them. From then on, he was no longer a solitary figure in the history books, because she had also become one of them.

After winter, spring comes.

If you are willing to brush off the remaining snow on the branches, you will find that in the depths of winter, a strand of tenacious new green has already emerged.

The spring is bright and she is bright too.

…

Song Xieqing didn't know how many days and nights he had been floating in the darkness before he finally caught a glimpse of a glimmer of light. The next moment, the sky was brightly lit, which stung his eyes that were accustomed to the long night.

Looking around, there is no scenery at all, only a paleness.

In the blink of an eye, colorful clouds flowed, rainbows rolled, and the gods appeared.

Just like that time.

However, there are also differences. Before his so-called father Hua Xi Xingjun could induce him to become a god, the colorful clouds in the sky suddenly retreated, and were replaced by rolling white waves, and the world fell into vastness again.

The gods are like clay sculptures or wooden carvings, motionless and silent.

Song Xieqing raised his head and looked over, meeting a pair of eyes as calm and ruthless as ice. He had always been like this. The difference was that the snow fox named A Zhao was no longer perched on his shoulder. Instead, he was holding a candle with a dim flame that was about to go out with great care.

Song Xieqing asked: "What will happen to her?"

Awu didn't answer.

"What will happen to me?"

"As before, he is listed in the immortal records."

Song Xieqing said no, "I don't want to become a god anymore."

Without her, the world would be desolate.

"Now that you've appeared, it means there's still something you can gain from us, right? You used Pian Pian to find her soul, and now, what do you want me to do?"

From beginning to end, Ah Wu only lowered his head to protect the small candle. Hearing this, he suddenly raised his eyes and said calmly: "A Zhao once said that if you receive a favor from others, you must repay it. I am here to repay you two."

Song Xieqing sneered, "If it's to repay a favor..."

"I am willing to abandon my divine membership forever, only to ask for one thing."