Chapter 77 The Wedding's Final Cycle!
Chapter 77
In just two hours, the Zhenbei General's Mansion was adorned with red silk throughout the courtyard, tall red lanterns shone on the stone steps in front of the gate, and large red "double happiness" characters were prominently displayed. At dusk, this bright red was gilded with golden light.
Liu Duoxi and Bai Chengguang looked at each other in bewilderment.
Who will General Yan marry?
"I don't know. I haven't heard of him having an affair with any girl. Besides, there's no bride here. What kind of wedding is this?"
Zheng Wenjue looked to his side and asked in confusion:
Do you know?
Ye Pei shook his head and remained silent. For some reason, looking at the celebratory red, he felt a tightness in his chest and a deep discomfort, as if he were standing in an empty, white world, with a hole gouged out of his heart, unable to find a way out, feeling lost and confused.
Behind him, Ye Changming held a painting scroll, staring blankly at the red lantern.
Inside the door
Red candles burned, the room was decorated with lanterns and streamers, yet it was quiet and still. Only one person stood in the main room, dressed in red, facing the empty chair and two red candles above, all alone and forlorn.
Yan Danqing twitched the corner of his mouth: "I searched the entire General's Mansion, but I couldn't find that imperial decree of marriage. However, it didn't have our names on it. When you come back, we will definitely go to the Emperor to ask for a new imperial decree..."
On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes. Even he cannot say "I will definitely come back alive." He left Nandu today and does not know when he will return. Moreover, Xixi is still nowhere to be found, and it is unknown whether she is alive or dead.
"You said that I need to discuss things with you in the future," Yan Danqing murmured, her eyes moist. "Then I'll discuss it with you now, Ye Xiren. If you don't say anything, I'll take it as your agreement."
The room was quiet, the candlelight flickered, casting a long, solitary shadow.
Ye Pei and Liao Changying walked in from outside, intending to ask some questions, but they lost their voices after entering, feeling empty inside and dazed.
Yan Danqing calculated the time; he was in a hurry to go to the battlefield and was afraid he wouldn't be able to wait for the best auspicious time.
But marrying Xixi is always an auspicious time.
The master of ceremonies announced, "First bow to Heaven and Earth!"
Yan Danqing, carrying a red love knot, bowed deeply to the gods of heaven and earth outside the door, concealing the sadness on her face and wearing a bright, festive smile, bowing earnestly to the very end.
Ye Pei could no longer restrain himself and looked away, only to find that Liao Changying beside him was deathly pale, one hand clutching his collar and the other gripping Ye Pei's wrist, barely managing to stay upright so as not to fall.
Why am I so sad?
What have they forgotten?!
In the middle of the main room where no one could see, Ye Xiren, who had been anxiously circling around Ye Pei and Liao Changying, was now covered in tears.
She stepped forward and stood beside Yan Danqing. She couldn't hold the love knot, she didn't have a red veil, and she was even wearing the white clothes she had worn when she went to see Chi Zhanlan Ce. She raised her hand and bent down with him.
One yin and one yang, one person in red and one person in white, worship heaven and earth together.
"Bowing to the parents twice!"
The wooden chair at the head of the table was empty, and Yan Danqing bowed solemnly.
Ye Xiren immediately followed suit and bowed.
Whether it's the two Marquises of Loyalty and Valor who died on the battlefield, the Marquis of Loyalty and Valor's wife who defended the Northern Capital to the death, or Yan Wan who disappeared into the cycle of reincarnation and was forgotten by everyone, they all deserve our respect.
"Husband and wife bow to each other!"
Yan Danqing smiled and bowed deeply to the opposite side.
Even though he couldn't see her, Ye Xiren stood seriously opposite him, holding her breath and returning the greeting earnestly. This was not a one-man show by Chun Zhou.
To outsiders, it was just the groom in red carrying out this incomprehensible and unconventional wedding. But in Yan Danqing's heart, it was him and his beloved, dressed in red, bowing to heaven and earth.
In Ye Xiren's eyes, they were one white and one red, one yin and one yang, one illusory and one real, and she accepted his marriage proposal.
When Yan Danqing looked up, she gave a bright smile to the person opposite her.
If it weren't for the emptiness in his eyes, Ye Xiren might have suspected that he could actually see her... Yan Danqing was smiling, and Ye Xiren pursed her lips and cried out. She didn't want to be like this!
She wanted to go home, to see Chunzhou.
Yan Danqing has lost her family and forgotten her sister. Although she remembers her now, it is more painful than forgetting her. If she disappears from now on and never comes back...
He was still without a wife in the spring, and thus became a widower!
They seemed to be standing in two different worlds, gazing at each other; the unseen were laughing, while the seen were crying.
Liu Duoxi witnessed the whole thing, and for some reason, even though it was a strange wedding he had never seen before, with only one person and a simple ceremony, he felt inexplicably sad.
It's like witnessing a tragedy, a life-and-death separation.
He subconsciously looked at the person beside him, wanting to say something, but saw Ye Pei with tears streaming down his face, looking as if he had aged ten years in an instant, his brows tightly furrowed and unyielding.
Behind him, Ye Changming, his eyes red, hurriedly opened the painting he had been holding. He had seen the painting hanging above his bed this morning, and for some reason, a voice seemed to remind him not to forget it, so he held it in his arms, not daring to put it down.
Open it now, and you'll see a painting of four people: his grandmother, his parents, and himself.
“No.” Ye Changming shook his head, tears streaming down his face. “This is not right.”
But what exactly is wrong?
After Yan Danqing finished bowing, he strode to the backyard.
Ye Xiren didn't know what he was going to do, so she followed him. What exactly was she in? She didn't need to eat or drink, and she didn't even feel tired. It was as if she had really become a dead person, like the...soul in a storybook.
She followed Yan Danqing and saw him enter the ancestral hall.
Ye Xiren paused, her heart pounding. Would she run into Chun Zhou's ancestors if she went in like this?
She cautiously followed him inside.
Fortunately, there were only countless memorial tablets; no ghosts were seen, and everything seemed normal.
Seeing Yan Danqing pull out the family genealogy, she curiously leaned closer and asked, "What are you going to do?"
No one answered. Then, Yan Danqing picked up his pen and, stroke by stroke, wrote next to his name:
My wife, Ye Xiren, was born on the 25th day of the seventh month of the 19th year of Jingyou. After experiencing twenty-three cycles, her fate is now unknown. She rescued me from the imperial prison, uncovered the conspiracy of Northern Yan, rewrote the destiny of Great Liang, and single-handedly saved hundreds of thousands of people...
Ye Xiren was taken aback.
Was he doing this so that he could include her in the family genealogy?
After finishing writing, Yan Danqing took a deep breath and continued writing on the family genealogy:
My elder sister, Yan Wan, was born in…
Ye Xiren's eyes reddened, and tears welled up in her red eyes again. The fear that had been suppressed for so long finally spread.
She couldn't find Yan Wan at all!
This is a terrifying state where you can't touch anyone or anything, and no one can hear you when you speak. She is right in front of you, but it's like another world. Her world has no one else, only herself, and she is completely out of place in the real world.
What about Yan Wan?
If she's gone, will she... also disappear completely like her?
Yan Danqing finally finished writing, put down his pen, looked up at the front, as if looking at Ye Xiren, and said softly: "I'm sorry for marrying you and writing you into the family genealogy without your consent."
"The Yan family, the Marquis of Loyalty and Valor, has fought for the country for generations. Even if no one in the Yan family is left, the General of the North's Mansion and the family genealogy will be properly kept by someone."
He gave a weak smile: "I think that even if I don't come back alive, at least when someone looks through the family tree in the future, they will know that you and your sister once existed. You shouldn't be forgotten."
“You remember,” Ye Xiren looked back at him. “As long as you’re alive, someone will remember us.”
Yan Danqing paused, then said, "If you haven't come back by the time everything is over, I'll come and keep you company, okay?"
"Oh no!" Ye Xiren immediately frowned, pacing anxiously.
However, Yan Danqing couldn't hear a single word.
He sat on the ground in his red robes, holding the family genealogy book to his forehead, swallowing all the bitterness and pain. His face, hidden behind the genealogy book, was already covered in tears. "Xixi, where are you?"
"I'm here!" Ye Xiren reached out urgently, but her hand passed right through his body. Furious, she slapped her own hand hard, tears streaming down her face. "I'm still alive..."
A tear fell onto the back of Yan Danqing's hand, passed through his hand, and disappeared.
However, as if sensing something, his hand suddenly tightened, and he abruptly raised his head, incredulous: "Xixi?"
"I'm here!" Ye Xiren replied hastily.
Yan Danqing couldn't hear anything. There was nothing but emptiness in front of him, nothingness in sight. He slowly forced a smile onto his face, his eyes welling up with tears. "You're here. I know you're still here!"
He reached out as if to embrace the person in front of him, but he couldn't touch anything. It was still empty, without even a trace. It was as if it had just been an illusion.
Ye Xiren took the initiative to rush over, raised her arms to hug him, and pressed herself against him.
Even though he was all alone, even though it was so empty, it felt as if another heart was beating in his heart, lighter and weaker than his, but it was there!
"I think I can sense you."
Hearing hurried footsteps outside the door, Yan Danqing murmured, "I will save you, I will definitely save you..."
The time has come; it's time to set off.
He took a deep breath, wiped away his tears, changed into military uniform, and strode away from the general's mansion, which was covered in red silk.
-
Nandu Gate
Liang Yue and Jiang You personally escorted Yan Danqing. They were a simple but well-trained team, with bundles on their backs containing letters and imperial edicts, and dry rations and water bags hanging on their tall horses.
Yan Danqing bowed to the Emperor and bid farewell to Prime Minister Jiang.
Remembering the news he had just heard, Liang Yue stepped forward and said, "Chunzhou, you are the only one left in the Yan family. You will definitely come back alive. When you return, I will bestow a good marriage upon you and officiate the wedding."
There is no one else left in the Yan family. He, the emperor to whom the Yan family has been loyal, should stand up for him.
Moreover, when he saw Yan Danqing, he felt like an elder who should take good care of him... Who asked him to take care of him?
Liang Yue's head started to ache again.
"Your Majesty, I already have a wife."
Yan Danqing twitched the corner of his mouth: "However, this wedding was unfair to her. When she returns, we will ask His Majesty to grant her a new marriage and hold a proper wedding."
Liang Yue was stunned.
again?
Has he already arranged a marriage?
Yan Danqing mounted his horse, grabbed the reins, and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Jiang, farewell."
Seeing him turn his horse around to ride away, Liang Yue subconsciously took a few steps forward and shouted somewhat incoherently, "Yan Danqing, she...did she ever exist?"
He was breathing rapidly and felt completely lost and uneasy.
"Yes," Yan Danqing answered with his eyes closed, "My elder sister Yan Wan and my fiancée Ye Xiren, they both existed."
As the sound faded away, Yan Danqing spurred his horse and rode off to his battlefield under the stars and moon. He wondered if Xixi would come back after he won.
He must win, he absolutely must.
Jiang You was puzzled and was about to ask when he saw Liang Yue beside him clutching his head, his face covered in tears, and falling straight down.
"Your Majesty!" Jiang You and the crowd behind him rushed forward.
Liang Yue gripped Jiang You's wrist tightly, trying to calm himself down. His headache had flared up again, and he was crying and laughing at the same time, looking extremely disheveled. He didn't know when it started, but he had a goddess in his dreams, whose appearance he couldn't see clearly and whose identity he couldn't remember.
All I know is that her name is "Awan," but I know nothing about her surname or given name.
But every time he thought of it, he felt heartbroken, as if he had forgotten the person he should never have forgotten. He tried desperately to remember, but the more he couldn't remember, the more painful it became. From then on, he developed headaches.
Liang Yue always felt that not being able to remember "Awan" was like having no roots in this world, just an empty shell. It was only by holding onto the long-cherished wish of Da Liang that he persevered.
How could he forget someone so important?
Who is it?
Does it really exist?
“Yan Wan…” Liang Yue murmured, trembling all over, his expression pained, “She really existed, it wasn’t a dream.”
Only now do I know her name.
That's his wife, but where is he going to look for her?
Ye Xiren stood aside, staring blankly at Liang Yue. After changing into the dragon robe and removing the crown, she realized that the current emperor, despite his young age, already had a full head of white hair...
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Author's note: See you tomorrow!
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