Li Hua recognized Gan Qiongying not by her appearance, but by a blurry figure.

If you miss someone day and night, and you imagine her figure and appearance countless times in your mind, and what she would look like if she were thinner or fatter, then you're missing her.

You talk to these imagined figures countless times, and even repeat various encounter scenes in your dreams.

Then you will be able to recognize that person at first glance, based on just a blurry figure.

Perhaps because she had repeated it so many times and imagined so many possibilities, Li Hua had already relived every reunion in the world.

When he finally saw Gan Qiongying standing not far from him, what burned in his heart first was not an urgent desire to recognize her, but resentment.

He resented how this person could be so cruel and resolute, until his expectations turned into disappointment, disappointment into despair, and despair gave rise to pain and hatred, before she finally appeared unexpectedly.

In a way you never thought of.

Li Hua's fingers gripped the reins tightly. He sat on the horse, his fingers so hard they almost spasmed, and he was as stiff as a stone statue.

But he didn't tumble off his horse or rush over crying and shouting.

He slightly raised his chin, squeezed the horse's flanks with his legs, and continued walking forward.

But his vision was already blurred, and his mind was filled with the sound of fireworks exploding everywhere. He could not only not see anything, but he could not even tell which way to go.

Unable to perceive everything around them like a normal person.

But he kept his back straight, so no one noticed anything unusual.

This was the only pitiful, pathetic bit of dignity he left himself.

Gan Qiongying sensed that the wedding procession had stopped and heard the old woman supporting her speaking to the other person, addressing him as "Little General".

But soon the sound of hooves faded into the distance. Gan Qiongying tilted her head slightly, but the veil on her head obscured her view, and she couldn't see anything.

Soon, the old woman who had been supporting her came back, took her hand, and led her through the small gate into the side courtyard.

Gan Qiongying was very obedient and let herself be manipulated throughout the entire process. While she was in the sedan chair, she had silently pulled out the sharpest hairpin from the top of her head and hid it in her sleeve.

They were going to use them to kidnap Zhongli Zhengzhen later.

Because Gan Qiongying had calmly calculated while sitting in the sedan chair, even if Li Hua returned to the Crown Prince's residence tonight, the person who impulsively pointed to a woman and wanted to take her into his room a few days ago would definitely be Zhongli Zhengzhen, not Li Hua.

Gan Qiongying secretly lifted her veil and peeked out twice from inside the sedan chair. They always took various hidden paths, and once inside the Crown Prince's residence, they avoided both the front courtyard and the main courtyard.

Gan Qiongying guessed that she would definitely be sent to Zhongli Zhengzhen's courtyard.

On her way from the northwest, she had already established a secret signal with her shadow guards: if they got separated or if they needed to call each other, they would blow a whistle.

Gan Qiongying planned to use the hairpin to hold Zhongli Zhengzhen hostage for a while, then pull him to the window and whistle.

The rest is easy.

As Gan Qiongying was thinking this, she was led to a house. After the maid opened the door, the old woman helped Gan Qiongying inside.

Then Gan Qiongying was asked to sit in the house and wait.

The veil covering Gan Qiongying's head was not a traditional headscarf; in places where there was light, the outlines of some objects could be vaguely seen.

The room was clearly furnished, but not very elaborately. This was further evidenced by her sneaking in through the side door.

This Zhongli is truly... even more discreet in marrying a concubine than in taking a mistress.

Having come this far, Gan Qiongying naturally waited patiently.

However, after waiting for about 15 minutes, the door was pushed open, but it was not the groom who entered.

Or were there several people?

Through her veil, Gan Qiongying saw several tall figures. Then the old nanny who had left earlier returned, took Gan Qiongying's hand, and said, "His Highness the Crown Prince is temporarily staying in another palace and has sent us to fetch the Consort."

"Your Highness, please lift your foot slowly."

The old woman's attitude had changed slightly from before, and Gan Qiongying, being perceptive, quickly noticed it.

Gan Qiongying tensed up a little, because the most likely scenario in her mind was that... she might be taken to some palace by the Crown Princess and someone would try to kill her.

After all, the Crown Princess had previously declared that if Zhongli Zhengzhen dared to marry a concubine, she would poison the concubine.

However, Gan Qiongying hesitated only slightly, then gripped the hairpin in her hand and followed her nanny out the door.

Several tall guards followed behind her. When Gan Qiongying came out of the door, she deliberately staggered a little to delay her departure.

So that her people could clearly see that she was no longer in this room and had moved to another location with someone else.

Afterwards, the nanny helped Gan Qiongying onto a palanquin. Once Gan Qiongying was seated, she placed her fingers on the palanquin's armrests and her eyebrows twitched.

I couldn't help but stare at the handrail in the dim light.

The handrail is carved with dragons soaring through the clouds, or perhaps pythons? Anyway, Gan Qiongying doesn't care about that; what she cares about is that the handrail is gold!

It's made of pure gold.

Gan Qiongying knew it without even biting it; she could tell it was pure gold just by touching it.

Because she had given away a lot of money when she was helping disaster victims, although she and Gan Lin still had a lot of money, it was nothing compared to how they used to spend it like water... worlds apart.

Therefore, Gan Qiongying rubbed the pure gold dragon head armrest a few times, satisfying her craving.

Although they said they had moved to a different palace, Gan Qiongying felt that they had been walking for a long time.

Gan Qiongying felt cold from the thin clothes she was wearing, and the surrounding light gradually became brighter.

After crossing an arched bridge and passing through several arched gates,

A magnificent palace came into view in a blur before Gan Qiongying's eyes.

It feels completely different from the courtyard behind it; this place is bright, spacious, magnificent, and grand.

Moreover, there were many guards, and Gan Qiongying could see many blurry figures through the veil.

Then she was placed at the very center of the palace entrance, and the nanny helped her carefully down the steps before taking her back into the room.

The room was brightly lit. Through the veil, Gan Qiongying could see the furnishings and felt a vague sense of familiarity...

However, most palaces are probably laid out the same way. After passing through the outer room, Gan Qiongying was helped into the inner room.

After passing through the screen, Gan Qiongying was led to sit on the bed.

Her heart, which had been hanging in suspense, eased slightly when she touched the red dates and peanuts on the bed.

If Wen Xueling were trying to poison her, she wouldn't have gone so far as to scatter red dates and peanuts on the bed.

Through the gaps in the veil, one could still see the bright red wedding quilt on the bed.

For a moment, Gan Qiongying didn't even doubt whether it was acceptable to use a dragon and phoenix embroidery pattern when marrying a concubine.