A few days after Xin Mei returned to Xinxie Manor, Silan came with three different wedding dresses, which were said to have been chosen by Lu Qianqiao himself.

Xin Mei spent half a day staring blankly at the three Phoenix crowns that looked like chamber pots to her. When she looked at Silan, he was expressionless. Then, when she looked back at Xin Xiong, his eyes were bright. It was estimated that if Lu Qianqiao really send several chamber pots to him, he would surely shed tears of joy.

"Are you sure… I have to put this on when I marry him?"

Speaking of the chamber pot… no, the phoenix crown, when it was placed on her head, it swallowed up half of her face.

Silan coughed quietly, "The General said that the War Demon Clan"s wedding style is like this."

... The brides of War Demon Clan were so pitiful. All of them had to wear these chamber pots on their heads.

"The General also stated that he will settle up the remaining peasant soldiers near Jiaping Mountain Pa.s.s within half a month, so he will not have time to look after you. For that reason, this arduous task has been left to me. For this half a month, you have to stay in Xinxie Manor earnestly, and you are not allowed to go anywhere else."

Speaking of which, this task was truly troublesome… Silan rubbed his already aching forehead.

Unexpectedly, Xin Mei nodded her head agreeably, without any objection. Silan straight away felt a lump in his throat, and at last, a sigh of relief came out from him.

"By the way, Silan." Xin Mei took off the Phoenix crown and looked back at him kindly. "This is a rare opportunity. Now that you are here, shall I take you to see a doctor in LushuiGreen Water¹Town? He has a good skill in acupuncture, specializing in facial paralysis, cramp and stroke."

... He did sigh too early.

*

Half a month pa.s.sed in a blink of an eye for Xin Mei. For Silan, it felt a little longer than three lifetimes.

Soon, a report of success came from Jiaping Mountain Pa.s.s. Although Old General Bai Zongying had retired and returned to his hometown, the replacement general decreed by the Emperor, General of Flying Calvary, was by no means inferior to him. He had easily killed several high-ranking officers working under Wu Shuang. Wu Shuang, who had been in like splitting a bambooChinese idiom : Overpowering²kind of state since the uprising, finally come to realize the high mountain-like setbacks. He finally withdrew his troops from Jiaping Mountain Pa.s.s and retreated to the border of Qiongguo. It was estimated that they would not dare to do it again in a short time.

Emperor Rongzheng"s dragon heart was greatly pleased. Gold and silver were rewarded to Lu Qianqao like flowing water. He also built a large-scale building in the capital for General of Flying Calvary"s residence and waited expectantly for the return of the General to the Royal Court.

This expectation obviously fell through again. Liu Qianqiao wrote a pa.s.sbook and asked for a half-year rest. He didn"t even wait for any reply. That night, he packed up and returned to the Imperial Mausoleum.

Recently, he had been busy remarrying his wife and had no time to return to the capital.

It was the 18th day of 9th lunar month, and it was said to be the most auspicious day of that year.

Xin Mei was wearing a toilet-like Phoenix Crown on her head and a sack-like wedding gown made of hundreds of bird feathers. Under the eyes of the public, she did not have her usual courage, so she covered her face with her sleeve and boarded the festooned bride sedan again. Different from last time, this time, Lu Qianqiao himself arrived, riding a fiery red Lie Yun Hua and wearing a sack-like costume. He was still looking like jade tree in the windChinese idiom : Chinese idiom : handsome both physically and talents³in a dignified manner.

LushuiGreen Water¹was seethed with excitement again. It was said that Xinxie Manor young lady who was said to be a jinx to her husband, had killed her ex-husband within a few months after she married. But soon, she had found yuāndàtóua foolish spender⁴to replace her dead husband. The yuāndàtóua foolish spender⁴was also a handsome and extraordinary person.

Looking at Xin Xiong"s wrinkled and blossoming old face, those at home who had unmarried girls were feeling both angry and jealous. So, they went all out during the wedding feast by eating and drinking heartily till the kitchen could no longer produce anything. Only then did they felt their angers had been vented.

Seeing that the yíng qīnto send a party to escort the bride to the groom"s house⁵procession was about to leave, Xin Xiong quickly lifted the curtain of the festooned bride sedan. "Little Mei, have you read the books dad gave you?"

This is a yíng qīn.

At that time, Xin Mei was playing around with the phoenix crown with her fingers. When she suddenly heard her father"s words, the phoenix crown fell to the ground.

Those books... She had taken a look at ‘Orchid And Muskfig. sweet perfumes⁶, Lovely Pistil Collection", while the rest of them were meant to read when she was free. Who knew that day when Lu Qianqiao sent her back to Xinxie Manor, he completely sc.r.a.ped them away without saying anything to her.

"I"ll learn it well. You can rest a.s.sured."

At that time, when he threw such a sentence to her and said it in a very serious way, it caused her to have another few nights of spring dreamerotic dream⁷.

"In a word, I"ll check the goods tonight."

Xin Mei picked up the Phoenix crown and turned her head to give Xin Xiong a long-lost smile filled with an air of a tyrant ruler.

The vast and mighty yíng qīnto send a party to escort the bride to the groom"s house⁵procession finally took off and headed for the Imperial Mausoleum. Xin Mei sat quietly in the festooned bride sedan carriage while feeling kind of stuffy. She lifted the curtain and suddenly caught Lu Qianqiao riding Lie Yun Hua to come to the side of her carriage. She quickly beckoned at him.

"Silan said, your War Demon Clan marriage seems to be very different from our side. Later, I have to perform breaking big stone on my chest or something, right? Let"s us talk this over. Let me eat first, then I"ll perform, okay?"

… What with breaking big stone on the chest? What on earth did Silan told her?

Lu Qianqiao took out a pouch of pastries from his sleeve and threw it to her, while smiling lightly, “Fool, do you think we"re like Jianghulit. rivers and lakes—people wandering from place to place and living by their wits, e.g. fortune-tellers, quack doctors, itinerant entertainers, etc. , considered as a social group⁸people who make a living by being a performer? Just cover your head, then you don"t have to do anything else.“

After saying this, he looked at her quietly for a long time. His ears were a little red as he whispered, “You are… very beautiful today.”

He wanted to see her wearing the wedding clothes of the War Demon. He had thought about it many times. The imaginary scene in his mind was very much inferior than the person who was actually sitting in front of him now.

“You are very suitable for my family"s wedding dress.”

Xin Mei hesitated to look down at her torn sack-like clothes and the toilet-like Phoenix Crown that she was holding in her hands. It turned out that… in his eyes, she was fit to dress like this.

“You are also quite suitable for wearing this kind of clothes too.” She gave a reluctant compliment, “Those birds" feathers are really gorgeous.”

Uh, he… He smiled so happily.

Xin Mei guiltily squeezed a piece of and silently stuffed it into her mouth.

Lu Qianqiao wanted to say something more, when he suddenly felt something wrong. He immediately looked back and saw several huge birds of paradise flying out of a cloud nearby. They were pulling a long, glistening vehicle. It was extremely fashionable and luxurious as it slowly coming up to them.

The golden light from the vehicle turned into words and flowed away, occasionally sliding over his body, and the feeling he felt… was very unpleasant.

“General!”

In front of him, Silan was very alert. He immediately drove his horse back, subconsciously blocking it, and quietly pressed his hand on the knife handle at his waist.

Lu Qianqiao shook his head and motioned him to withdraw.

He finally knew what was wrong with Xin Mei"s unpleasant smell that day. She had met a great monk of the Fox Clan.

“… What is it? “

He rode three steps forward and his voice was indifferent.

The white bamboo curtain was rolled up by a hand wearing black silk gloves. The great monk stretched out his head and smiled at him leisurely.

“I"m here not for you, but for her.”

He pointed to Xin Mei in the festooned bride sedan, whose mouth was currently filled with jujube cakes.

Liu Qianqiao frowned and did not speak. He just moved slightly sideways, blocking the monk unbridled line of sight.

“Beautiful bride in the festooned bride sedan!” The great monk put his hands around his mouth and shouted loudly, “Thank you for your last moon cake. Today I will return the favour.”

Xin Mei patted the crumbs off her hands, looked at him curiously for a long time, and asked in amazement, “Do I know you?”

“Oh, this is so embarra.s.sing.” He smiled dismissively, “You forget me already? That"s all right. I"ll still give you the gift. By the way, I"ve also brought you the congratulatory gift from that fox in Chongling Valley. So, pick this up!“

With his long sleeves raised, he threw her a huge box.

Lu Qianqiao"s hand was like electricity. He stopped the box instantly and stared at the monk for a moment. Then, he slowly lowered his eyes. He was holding a long wooden box with a length more than a chia traditional unit of length, equivalent to 0.333 meter or 1.094 feet⁹. There were also two small boxes inside the long box. One containing a pearl with the size of pigeon egg and the other containing a delicate necklace made of gold.

“The necklace is from me.” The great monk laughed lazily and slowly said, “My wish, may you live a long and happy life together, stick to each other like glue or lacquerChinese idiom : be deeply attached to each other¹⁰, and give birth to a son soon.”

A disgusting smell exuded from the necklace. Lu Qianqiao threw the box away without any expression.

The great monk was not angry either and he was still smiling, “Why are you so hostile to me? I still have a favourable impression of you.“

Lu Qianqiao turned around and said, “Keep going.”

The yíng qīnto send a party to escort the bride to the groom"s house⁵procession continued to move forward, and the splendid long vehicle gradually disappeared. Xin Mei poked out her head and looked at it for a long time. Suddenly, she had an idea and finally remembered, “Oh! It"s the fake monk who eats meat!“

Lu Qianqiao said indifferently, “Don"t think about him.”

Huh, he was jealous?

Xin Mei held her chin in her hand and smiled sweetly at him, “Dear, I only have you in my heart.”

A smile appeared on his face but soon disappeared again, “Sit tight and be careful when you descend.”

So, that monk was from the Fox Clan… that day at Jiaping Mountain Pa.s.s, before Li Min left, he told Lu Qianqao a bit about them. They begun to stir Chinese idiom : get restless¹¹. One clan firmly believed that they were descendants of the G.o.d, while one other clan firmly denying the other party as descendants of G.o.d. That was how the conflict between the two clans came about. In recent years, the War Demon Clan had greatly withered. It could be a.s.sumed that… it was nearing the end of the clan.

“Lu Qianqao, what are you thinking about?”

The bride"s voice from the festooned bride sedan interrupted his thoughts. He smiled. Yes, he was still on his way to his own marriage.

“Nothing.” He drew the curtains close for her. “Sit tight. Now, we have to step up and rush to the Imperial Mausoleum before dark.”

*

In the event of marriage, when other people were watching the festivities joyously, the partic.i.p.ants in the marriage ceremony only felt tired.

War Demon Clan marriage was more troublesome than having children. Xin Mei covered her head and was embraced by Lu Qianqiao. A moment later, both of them were on top of Daoknife¹²Mountain and crossing a deep cauldron. It was said that the wedding dress woven with the feathers of birds on her body played such a large role – never drop a feather on the way to Daoknife¹²Mountain deep cauldron, otherwise it would be unlucky.

After they finally entered the door, a large iron ball came flying to their direction – was this a bridal chamber or a trap?!

As Lu Qianqiao kick the iron ball with ease which smashed the wall to pieces, the poor house was abruptly reduced to ruins.

It turned out that… the actual bridal chamber was at the back.

Xin Mei was placed on the bed. Before she could put forth a coy appearance, she heard the swish sounds at the soles of her feet. A row of steel knives had been put under the bed board, turning the wedding bed into a cage.

The groom was standing outside the cage and was about to pull up his sleeves to break the steel knives, when the beautiful woman in the cage had already stormed out from inside it and kicked the steel knives off with one foot.

“Come here!” Xin Mei pulled off her veil and hooked her finger at him. “Now – can we finally have a bridal chamber?”

Lol... Did Silan just troll Xin Mei by saying that breaking big stone on the bridr"s chest is one of War Demon Clan marriage custom? (◍˃̶ᗜ˂̶◍)ﾉ”

I"m wondering did LQQ hid his red eyes? I don"t think his eyes ever went back to black.