Tie Xiong brought betrothal gifts to Zhou Wan's door to propose marriage. The gifts weren't particularly generous; most of them were things that Zhou Wan liked to eat.
Xu Yuehua nodded secretly. Although Tie Xiong was a rough man, he could still remember what Zhou Wan liked to eat. Based on this alone, he would treat Zhou Wan well in the future.
However, Xu Yuehuai was a little surprised to see that he had come alone. She pulled him aside and scolded him, "Marriage is a major event, and it has always been decided by parents and matchmakers. It is not appropriate for you to come alone."
Tie Xiong scratched his head and said, "That makes sense, but I've been an orphan since I was a child, and I don't know who my parents are."
"If I really have to talk about my parents, then the prince is just like my parents."
Xu Yuehuai quickly apologized, saying that she hadn't thought it through. Tie Xiong waved his hand, indicating that he didn't mind: "I'll just pretend they're gone. If anything happens, I'll buy some yellow paper and burn it on the street to tell them. At least it'll be something to remember them by."
"You and Zhou Wan are both people who have suffered hardships. If you want to live your lives together in the future, you must support each other. Similar people are only suitable for arguing, but complementary people can grow old together. You two are exactly complementary people," Xu Yuehuai advised.
Tie Xiong chuckled sheepishly, but he didn't understand what Xu Yuehuai meant.
"Go and see Zhou Wan, the two of you can talk. I'll check the almanac to see if there are any auspicious days recently, and pick a wedding date for you two," Xu Yuehuai said, waving her hand.
Tie Xiong then took his things to see Zhou Wan. After knocking on the door, Zhou Wan let him in.
After Tie Xiong went inside and put his things down, he looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. Zhou Wan laughed and said, "Why are you getting shy?"
Tie Xiong seemed to have made a very big decision. He took out an object wrapped in red cloth from his pocket and wrapped it tightly in three layers.
Zhou Wan was curious about what it was and leaned closer to take a look.
When they finally got to the bottom, it turned out to be an iron bracelet. Tie Xiong scratched his head and said, "I went to the jewelry store a few times, and I've been thinking of buying you something to wear, but I was afraid that you would ask me to return it after I bought it. So I thought about it and decided to make this myself. If you... if you don't like it, then we can go to the jewelry store to buy it."
Zhou Wan picked it up and looked at it, finding it to be beautifully polished, with her name engraved on the inside. Overjoyed, she said, "I love it! You made this yourself. How can anything from those jewelry stores compare?"
After saying that, she put the bracelet on her wrist and asked, "Does it look good?"
"You look good, I think you look good in anything," Tie Xiong said woodenly.
"Oh, you've learned to be glib too," Zhou Wan teased.
"What glib talk? I'm telling the truth!" Tie Xiong retorted hastily.
"Okay, I know, it's the truth." Zhou Wan covered her mouth and chuckled. Tie Xiong also laughed heartily, and then his hand naturally grasped Zhou Wan's hand.
"Found it! Found it!" Xu Yuehuai ran in at that very moment, holding up the almanac.
Startled, the two quickly separated their hands. Tie Xiong coughed and asked, "Manager Xu, have you found an auspicious day?"
Xu Yuehuai, oblivious to their awkwardness, smiled and said, "Then of course we found it."
“The 18th of next month is an auspicious day, but the Prince won’t be back. If we want to prepare properly and wait for his return, I’m afraid it will be next year,” she said with a smile.
Tie Xiong hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Zhou Wan again: "Good things come to those who wait. Otherwise, let's choose a date next year. I'll prepare properly and make sure you're the most glamorous bride in Chang'an."
Just when everyone thought Zhou Wan would agree with relief, they found that Zhou Wan's expression was not good.
"Zhou Wan, what's wrong?" Xu Yuehuai couldn't help but ask with concern.
"Tie Xiong, I know you're good to me, but I'm a widow with a child. It's already good enough that I can find someone to settle down with. As for anything else... I don't ask for much, and I don't want to ask for so much. Let's just have a wedding ceremony." Zhou Wan knew that widows often attract gossip, and if she held a big ceremony, people would definitely gossip about her.
Although Tie Xiong was unwilling to wrong her, he also knew that her decisions were not easily changed.
Xu Yuehuai wanted to try to persuade them again, but she didn't expect the two of them to set their wedding date for next month.
Meanwhile, Maimaiti and Qi Guze's group were on their way to the Kingdom of Mingyue.
Qi Guze felt something was off about his journey, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
After thinking for a while, his gaze fell on Maimaiti, who was chattering incessantly beside him.
From the moment they left Chang'an, this guy started talking non-stop, completely disregarding whether Qi Guze wanted to listen or not. He just kept talking to himself, which made Qi Guze quite annoyed.
After traveling for a while, Maimaiti suddenly fell silent. Qi Guze was a little surprised and pulled the horse's head back to look.
He noticed that the group had all stopped and were staring at him menacingly.
Qi Guze's mind raced, realizing that he had probably fallen into their trap.
Sure enough, Maimaiti spurred his horse forward and said, "Regent, you are wise all your life but foolish for once."
They never intended to negotiate peace. Rather than making peace, they wanted to seize control of the entire Central Plains region, which would solve all their problems.
Qi Guze asked without changing his expression: "Is the peace negotiation a pretense, and your real intention to kill me?"
Seeing Qi Guze so calm, Maimaiti asked in surprise, "Aren't you scared?"
"What's the use of being afraid?" Qi Guze shook his head and asked rhetorically.
"Aren't you always so good at predicting things? Did you expect to die here today?" Maimaiti sneered, his hand reaching for the sword at his waist.
"No, someone will die, but I don't think it will be me." Qi Guze also touched the sword at his waist.
“There are more than a dozen of us, and you are only one person. We will grind you down to death today.” Maimaiti drew his sword and said fiercely.
"Such fine weather, yet you choose to kill; it's truly a sin," Qi Guze said, drawing his sword and pointing it at Maimaiti's head.
"Don't play tricks, get them!" Maimaiti was too lazy to waste any more words with Qi Guze, and with a wave of his hand, several men rushed forward.
Dust billowed up as Qi Guze and his men clashed, with muffled groans of someone being struck by a sword echoing through the air.
Maimaiti craned his neck to look around from his horse, but he couldn't see who had won or lost. He could only patiently wait for the dust to clear.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the smoke and dust gradually dissipated. Maimaiti looked closely and saw that the people who had just passed by were all lying on the ground, while Qi Guze seemed to be unharmed.
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