Chapter 179 Extra: Another Ending 5
On Zhuque Street in late spring, Yuwen Che stood from dawn till dusk, but that familiar figure never appeared.
Bai Xiao sat with his legs crossed in a private teahouse, cracking sunflower seeds: "You've gone too far, haven't you? You've been pretending to be profound year after year, and now your wife's run away!"
Yuwen Che gripped the jade hairpin in his sleeve, his gaze fixed intently on the end of the long street.
Su Mansion Boudoir
"Ah Che... Ah Che, no!" Su Luoxue sobbed and turned in the brocade quilt.
Cold sweat soaked her temples. "Please...don't leave me..."
"My husband...don't leave me."
"My husband..."
Fuling hurriedly nudged her: "Miss, wake up!"
Su's mother rushed over upon hearing the noise.
She cradled her daughter's pale face and cried out, "Luoxue, look at your mother!"
Su Luoxue suddenly opened her eyes and grabbed Fuling's wrist tightly: "Do you remember A-Che? My A-Che..."
Fuling was horrified by the despair in her eyes: "Miss, are you having a nightmare? There's no such thing as A-Che."
Mother Su wiped the cold sweat from her daughter's forehead and coaxed her gently, "You must have been engrossed in reading those stories the other day. I'll take all those books away now."
Su Luoxue stared blankly at the floral pattern on the tent ceiling, a piercing pain lingering in her heart. She murmured softly:
"But that dream... felt so real."
Su Luoxue suddenly rushed towards the door barefoot, and her mother and Fuling hurriedly stopped her.
"Xue'er! How can you be so disheveled!" Su's mother hugged her daughter tightly.
Su Luoxue stood there blankly: "Mother... I don't know... I just want to go out..."
Su's father and Su Jingxing rushed over upon hearing the commotion.
Su Jingxing pressed down on his sister's shoulder: "Where are you going with your hair all disheveled like that?"
"I need to go find..."
Su Luoxue suddenly grabbed her father's sleeve.
"Father! Is the imperial surname Yuwen? Is the Emperor's name Yuwen Che? Yuwen Che is waiting for me!"
"Shut up!" Mr. Su exclaimed, covering his daughter's mouth in fright.
"How dare you address His Majesty by his name! This is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family!"
Su Jingxing hurriedly closed the door and lowered his voice, "Sister, are you crazy? How dare you call the emperor by his name!"
Su Luoxue gazed at her family through teary eyes, memories of her past life flooding back. She murmured softly:
"But I clearly remember... he is my husband..."
"Let me go! He's waiting for me!" Su Luoxue pushed everyone away forcefully, barefoot and with her hair disheveled, she rushed out of the Su residence.
"Yuwen Che—wait for me!"
At the end of the long street, Yuwen Che turned around sadly.
"Ah Che, don't go!" A tearful cry pierced the twilight.
"Yuwen Che!"
He turned around abruptly and saw the person he had been longing for running towards him, disheveled: "Xue'er?"
"My husband..."
Su Luoxue threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly, tears streaming down her face, "I remember everything... I remember everything..."
Bai Xiao stared in disbelief from the rooftop: "This is actually possible?!"
Yuwen Che gently stroked her disheveled long hair: "Why are you still so reckless?"
Su Luoxue looked up at him, her eyes blurry with tears, and said, "Husband... please hug me."
Yuwen Che picked her up steadily and said, "Okay, I'll hold you. We'll never be apart again in this life."
"You idiot!" Su Luoxue pounded his chest. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
“Because in my past life I made you a concubine without even asking you,” he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers.
"You look quite frightened. So this time, your husband is willing to wait, five years, ten years, a lifetime—until the day you remember that I am your beloved husband."
When Su's parents caught up, they saw their daughter being held tenderly in the arms of a young man in black.
Su Jingxing was about to step forward when Bai Xiao stopped him:
"Your younger sister is catching up with her future son-in-law. Would you all like to leave?"
Su's father stamped his feet in frustration: "Hugging and cuddling in broad daylight, what kind of behavior is this!"
Bai Xiao lazily picked at his ear: "Yuwen Che, someone said you're being improper."
"Yu... Yuwen Che?!" The Su family members froze in shock.
Yuwen Che glanced at her indifferently, and Su's parents immediately knelt down. "Greetings, Your Majesty."
Su Jingxing was still stunned when Fuling quickly pulled him down to kneel.
"Get up, both of you." Yuwen Che was still holding Su Luoxue. "The ground is cold."
Su Luoxue buried her face in his shoulder and chuckled softly, saying, "Look how scared you are of my dad."
Yuwen Che lowered his head and asked her, "Then, Madam, how should we apologize?"
"Who's your wife!" She lightly punched him, but a smile played at the corners of her eyes.
Su's father looked up shakily and saw his daughter twisting the emperor's ear again, which nearly made him faint.
Bai Xiao leaned closer and whispered a reminder: "Master Su, your daughter is twisting a dragon's ear."
Su Jingxing murmured, "My sister...twisted the Emperor's ear?"
Yuwen Che raised an eyebrow: "What, does Young Master Su have a problem with this?"
"No, no!" Su Jingxing shook his head vigorously. "Please...please continue!"
Su Luoxue blushed and buried her face in his arms. Yuwen Che carried her towards the Su residence.
"Father-in-law and mother-in-law, won't you invite your son-in-law in for a seat?"
Mr. and Mrs. Su stood there, looking at each other in disbelief.
"This...this is outrageous!" Father Su stamped his feet in frustration.
Su Jingxing, supporting his father, smiled bitterly: "Father, that person is the Emperor..."
Inside the boudoir, Yuwen Che was carefully tidying Su Luoxue's clothes and using a wooden comb to style her hair.
Her reddened eyes were reflected in the bronze mirror.
"My husband..." she called softly.
Yuwen Che knelt down in front of her and kissed her fingertips: "Xue'er, will you marry me?"
Su Luoxue threw herself into his arms: "Okay! I'll marry you, I'll marry you today!"
"Alright." He smiled and hugged her tightly. "I will marry you today."
"Clang—" Su's father almost fell as soon as he stepped through the door, but Su Jingxing quickly caught him.
Su's mother asked in a trembling voice, "How should we celebrate this joyous occasion?"
Yuwen Che put a phoenix hairpin in Su Luoxue's hair, then turned and said, "Mother-in-law, you don't need to worry. The betrothal gifts are already waiting outside the door."
Everyone looked out the window and saw the Imperial Guards carrying a hundred boxes of betrothal gifts in single file, with red silk fluttering along the ten-mile-long street.
Bai Xiao peeked out from the door frame: "The Ministry of Rites officials have arrived with phoenix coronet and embroidered robes. Should we also decorate the bridal chamber?"
Yuwen Che pulled Su Luoxue into his arms and asked softly, "What kind of wedding would you like, Madam?"
Su Luoxue tugged at his clothes and pleaded, "Let's have the wedding ceremony at my house! We want to go to the bridal chamber right now!"
"As you wish." Yuwen Che kissed the top of her head affectionately. "We'll have it at the Su residence."
Mr. and Mrs. Su were dumbfounded: "Getting married today?!"
"The palace personnel will arrive immediately." Yuwen Che's words had barely finished when...
The Minister of Rites had already led his female officials into the courtyard.
The maids stepped forward, carrying the phoenix coronet and embroidered robe: "Please, Your Highness, change your clothes."
In less than half an incense stick's time, the Su residence was brightly decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, and even Su Luoxue's boudoir was draped with red curtains.
"First bow to Heaven and Earth—"
Yuwen Che, holding the red silk ribbon, knelt side by side with Su Luoxue, who was wearing a wedding dress.
Su Jingxing whispered to his parents, "Isn't this the fastest time in history for my sister to be crowned empress?"
Inside the bridal chamber, Yuwen Che lifted the veil and gazed at his wife, whose features were as beautiful as a painting, bathed in candlelight.
Su Luoxue laughed and pounced on him: "Husband, this time I jumped into your arms myself!"
The red curtains swayed, and he kissed her gently, chuckling softly, "It was my plan for many years that finally came, my wife, with this leap."
The following morning, Yuwen Che issued an imperial edict:
"Su Luoxue is gentle and virtuous, and has been made Empress of the Great Zhou Dynasty."
He personally straightened Su Luoxue's court robes and said softly, "Madam, it's time to go back to our home."
As the palace carriage traveled along Vermilion Bird Street, Su Luoxue suddenly grabbed Yuwen Che's sleeve: "That candy shop! The one I used to eat at when I was little..."
Yuwen Che chuckled: "All the shops on this street have long been the Empress's private property."
He said to the window, "Han Ying, bring the land deed over."
Fuling, clutching her bundle, followed beside the carriage, chuckling to herself. Bai Xiao then stuffed a bag of pine nut candy into her hand: "Girl, from now on we're on the same team."
The moment he stepped into the palace gate, Yuwen Che suddenly swept Su Luoxue up in a princess carry.
"what you do!"
“Just like back then.” He stepped onto the white jade steps. “I said I would carry you into the palace in a grand and honorable manner.”
Before the golden palace, officials knelt in welcome, and he whispered in her ear:
"This time, it is I who beg the Lady to be the mother of the nation."
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