Chapter 20 Chapter 20: Hearts of gold and stone are united, wind and frost remain unchanged
Xu Zhaoyi had a rare deep sleep. When he was woken up by the noodles the next day, he was so lazy that he wanted to stay in bed for the first time in his life and almost forgot that he was going to get engaged to Qin Sheng today.
Noodles lay on the bed and gently brushed Xu Zhaoyi's nose with the tip of his tail, a cat-style wake-up service.
At this time, it had already pestered Qin Sheng to put on the light brown cat suit that Wu Yunlian had specially tailored for it. The combination of dark and light orange fur made it look very fat.
Qin Sheng stared at it for a while, opening and closing his mouth, thinking about how conceited he was when he looked at himself in the mirror in the dressing room after putting on his noodles. Forget it, it's better not to tell the truth.
Although he really couldn't understand it, since it was usually well-fed and well-clothed, at least in terms of material things, he dared to say that he raised Noodles more meticulously than others raised their own sons, why did this brat think that the clothes prepared for it by the Qin family were more fragrant?
If he asked, Noodles would tell him that it was not because of this, but because AI liked things with specific meanings.
Here, Xu Zhaoyi sneezed because of the persistent harassment of the noodle tail, and slowly sat up and became completely awake. He finally remembered what day it was. His eyes, which were originally squinted because he had just woken up, suddenly widened.
"Don't worry, go take a shower first." Qin Sheng looked at it with amusement, "There's still some time, and it's okay to be late."
"Well... okay." Xu Zhaoyi raised his eyes and looked at him, but when he met the gentle smile in his eyes, he remembered the scene of him being coaxed to sleep by him by chanting a calming spell last night. For some reason, he felt a little uncomfortable and quickly lowered his head to respond.
He got out of bed and went into the bathroom. Qin Sheng sat for a while before realizing: [Did he forget to bring any clothes in just now?]
[It seems so.] Noodles swung his tail and grinned playfully: [Then the host will be able to enjoy the handsome man coming out of the bath. The original work proves that the male protagonist has eight-pack abs and an amazing body.]
[………] During the thirty seconds of silence, Qin Sheng reflected deeply on his words and deeds towards Noodles, and finally concluded that this was not his fault.
He didn't dare to say that he was very moral, but at least he should be hypocritical enough. Even if he was just pretending in front of the Qin family, he couldn't be too vulgar, so there was no possibility of him being a bad example.
However, even though he thought so, Qin Sheng himself had no intention of getting up to deliver clothes to Xu Zhaoyi.
There is another door in the bathroom of his room that leads directly to the cloakroom. As long as Xu Zhaoyi doesn't want to be "honest" with him, he won't be stupid enough to go back the same way wrapped in a bath towel.
As expected, the handsome man described in the noodles coming out of the bath with peerless brilliance did not appear. Not long after the sound of water in the bathroom stopped, Xu Zhaoyi walked out of the cloakroom. Except for his hair which was still a little wet, he was already dressed neatly.
Noodles' original whistling rogue expression changed, and he sighed with regret for its host.
Xu Zhaoyi didn't realize his older son's sinister intentions at all. He thought the dog was cute, picked it up and purred at it.
Qin Sheng looked at him quietly, and thought to himself, although he was not a handsome man emerging from the bath, he did have some of the peerless brilliance.
Perhaps it was because she had just absorbed some nourishing food, or because she slept so well last night, but his temporary wife had a rosy complexion and looked radiant today. Her fitted white suit made Xu Zhaoyi's figure stand out even more, and it was no exaggeration to say that she was unparalleled in handsomeness.
"Let's go, there must be people waiting outside."
"good."
At this time, the entire Qin family was ready for the most important Hegen Ceremony, but the two protagonists had not appeared yet, and the guests could not help but whisper.
Wu Yunlian frowned and glanced down, and the whispers gradually stopped.
The guests were not stupid either. Seeing that the engaged protagonist was late for such an important occasion and no one from the Qin family expressed dissatisfaction, they knew that Qin Sheng's favor was not a rumor. So why should they offend the Qin family when the emperor was not anxious and the eunuchs were anxious at this time?
Compared to this, they were actually more curious about the fact that the Xu family hadn't sent anyone to attend. Didn't this clearly indicate that the Xu family was dissatisfied with this marriage? Where did they get such courage?
However, they did not know that the Xu family was suffering. Because of the attempted murder the day before yesterday, they looked at the wedding invitation as if they were seeing the King of Hell calling their names. Even though they knew that it was the worst time to confess one's guilt, the several families of the family sat together and shirked responsibility for a long time, but no one dared to represent the Xu family to plead with Xu Zhaoyi.
Xu Zhaoyi still underestimated how much they feared death.
No one in the Qin family cared whether they came or not. After all, in their eyes, this family was no different from the dead.
It would be bad luck if it really came.
Soon, the guests, whose patience was gradually disappearing, finally saw a cat in a suit walking in with a proud step and a flower in its mouth. The protagonist of the engagement party followed it and finally took his place.
Qin Sheng pulled Xu Zhaoyi, who looked a little unnatural, and walked quickly up to the platform. In front of the incense table, the two of them kowtowed to heaven and earth respectfully according to the etiquette, and then sat opposite each other at a small table in the presence of several elders of the Qin family.
In the middle of the small table was a Hegen sticker made of a whole piece of red paper, with writings on both sides.
Although Qin Sheng knew the procedures, this was his first time experiencing an engagement ceremony for cultivators in this worldview, so he looked at it with some curiosity. However, the post only had their names and birth dates, as well as a few lines of formal words announcing the engagement to heaven and earth.
The most important marriage vows are written by them together. The material of the Hegeng Tie itself does not look ordinary. It should be made of a special talisman paper used for praying for blessings. The vows written on it have a certain binding force on the person.
It is said that for a marriage vow that is truly recognized by heaven and earth, when both parties write their vows to each other, the words appear in their minds as if by inspiration, guiding them to write them down stroke by stroke.
This is not only a commitment to each other, but also a blessing from heaven and earth for this marriage.
However, this situation was not common in ancient times. Most people who could receive this blessing had a great fate and their names were engraved on the Three Lives Stone. Normally, the family would prepare the oath in advance, and the two people would write it together in the presence of their elders, and the ceremony would be considered complete.
The Qin family had naturally prepared the oath for them long ago. Qin Sheng had no intention of making any special arrangements in this regard. He even rejected Noodles' suggestion to cheat them by adding some fancy special effects.
However, he didn't expect that the moment he was about to write, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.
The hand holding the pen paused, and Qin Sheng subconsciously raised his eyes, meeting Xu Zhaoyi's gaze almost at the same time. His expression was relatively calm, but his eyes were full of disbelief.
Ever since Xu Zhaoyi was picked up by Noodles, Qin Sheng had never seen such panic and helplessness in the other's eyes. Even when he suddenly proposed to get married, Xu Zhaoyi had never looked at him with such eyes.
But at this moment, with everyone watching, Qin Sheng had no way to comfort him. The emcee beside him saw that they had not started writing, so he coughed softly to urge them on.
Xu Zhaoyi came back to his senses in a daze, and realized that no matter what the reason for this fake engagement was really communicated to the world, the arrow was on the string and had to be fired.
Qin Sheng was relieved to see him calm down so quickly. After looking at each other, they tacitly withdrew their gazes without hesitation. After calming down, the pen tips fell at the same time.
On the first page of the Hegen Letter, Qin Sheng followed his inner guidance and slowly wrote the four words "gold and stone are one heart" with a flick of his wrist. Xu Zhaoyi wrote "wind and frost remain unchanged".
After the ink has dried slightly, the emcee will carefully fold the red paper and turn to a new page.
Qin Sheng had regained his composure by this point, and picked up his pen again...
Lovebirds, yes, live and die together.
We are in the same boat, yes, and we share weal and woe.
…
My determination will never change, and I will never change it until I die. *
The two of them made the final stroke together.
Qin Sheng let out a light breath. He had just clearly felt the marriage contract as they wrote their vows. Invisible constraints and wishes surrounded his mind. Even though he felt that he had no choice but to do so, he couldn't help but feel sad.
Looking up, he saw that Xu Zhaoyi was not in much better condition. He naturally would not look embarrassed in such an occasion to arouse suspicion, but his subconsciously pursed lips revealed his inner discomfort.
Qin Sheng raised his hand and touched the tip of his nose guiltily, thinking that this was really too strange. There were many lovers in this world who were deeply in love and made vows to each other, so why did the world choose to bless them, a fake couple, with a half-hearted engagement?
[You little bastard!] He called out to Noodles, who was begging for food among the guests: [Did you feel anything just now?]
[Yes, yes!]
Qin Sheng raised his eyebrows slightly. Really? He asked: [What did you feel?]
Noodles is delighted: [Of course, the first mission is complete. The Soul-Guiding Pill we've been waiting for almost half a month has finally arrived!]
Qin Sheng: […Very good.]
So Noodles didn't notice anything unusual. If it couldn't do it, then it stands to reason that other people present shouldn't be able to sense it either. This is good news.
This kind of one-in-a-million blessing from heaven happened to him. Even if it was just about marriage, it was enough to arouse the Qin family's vigilance, which was a situation he did not want to see.
The engagement letter was put away by the master of ceremonies, and now it was time for the guests to feast and take the opportunity to make friends with each other.
Knowing that Qin Sheng was impatient with this and was weak, no one dared to ask him to take Xu Zhaoyi to toast everywhere.
This task should have been done by Qin Xing, his younger brother, but Qin Kangnian and Wu Yunlian personally completed this step for their eldest son. They almost held up a loud speaker to announce to everyone that Qin Xing was not worthy, which also made everyone who came have a new understanding of Qin Sheng's status in this family.
It's not that Qin Kangnian had to step on his own youngest son's face to carry Qin Sheng's sedan chair, but the incident of the Gu Master attacking the manor sounded a wake-up call for them.
Qin Sheng now lives outside, and they have no way to force him to stay in the house for protection, so they can only give people in the circle a little shock: whoever dares to touch Qin Sheng will become an enemy of the Qin family, and the fight will not stop until one of them dies.
Unfortunately, Qin Xing had no idea about the considerations and his face immediately fell, which made his already mediocre appearance even worse.
"Going back?"
Qin Sheng looked at the crowd coldly for a while, then turned around and asked Xu Zhaoyi.
Xu Zhaoyi snapped out of his chaotic thoughts and asked, "Where to go? Back to the room or home?"
He could go home, but not to his room. After what he had just done, his straight-man radar was blaring in his head, and for the time being he didn't want to stare into the eyes of Qin Sheng in a bedroom that wasn't too big or too small, listening to each other's breathing.
Qin Sheng smiled and said, "Of course I'm going home. The engagement has been made, and it's time for me to fulfill my promise."
Speaking of this, Xu Zhaoyi no longer cared about the embarrassment, and all the messy and complicated emotions just now were instantly thrown behind his mind.
"Then go back."
The author has something to say:
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⑴ Source: Tang Dynasty Yang Jiong's "Stele of the God Road of Jianchang, the Governor of Hengzhou in the Tang Dynasty" - "Gold and stone are unchangeable, wind and frost cannot change."
⑵Source: The Book of Songs, Yongfeng, Baizhou - "My mother is a natural woman, and she doesn't understand human nature."
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