He Sui’an slightly opened her mouth upon hearing the words, but before she could utter a single word, she saw Qi Buyan suddenly close his eyes and slump onto the table, startling her.
He Sui’an stood up with a start, thinking something might be wrong. At the same time, a wine glass rolled to the ground. She considered other possibilities and reached out to touch Qi Buyan’s face and check his breathing.
His breathing was normal.
His cheeks were hotter than usual.
He Sui’an leaned in closer to look at Qi Buyan, her slender fingers still pressed against his skin. Hadn’t he taken some sobering medicine earlier? How did he still get drunk?
Maybe he had bought fake sobering medicine, or perhaps even the real thing couldn’t save him from his low tolerance. He Sui’an stood up straight, pondering how to get him back to the bed.
She went to clear the bed of the peanuts, red dates, longans, and lotus seeds on it, as lying on them would be uncomfortable.
After clearing the bed, He Sui’an went to the mirror to remove the silver ornaments from her body. Then she half-carried and half-supported Qi Buyan to get him up.
Though he looked thin, his bones were heavy. He Sui’an almost couldn’t breathe from the weight of him, but she managed to get him to the bed and then lay there for a while herself, exhausted.
He Sui’an turned her head to look at him.
She removed the bone flute from Qi Buyan’s waist and helped him take off his wedding robe adorned with silver ornaments.
The room wasn’t cold, so He Sui’an also took off her bright red wedding dress, leaving only a thin white inner garment. She then sat on the bed, knees drawn up, resting her head on them as she watched Qi Buyan for a long time.
Today was her wedding day, and He Sui’an wanted to see her parents.
Hallucinations of them would suffice.
So…
He Sui’an got off the bed and tiptoed to the unsealed window.
Actually, seeing hallucinations of her parents didn’t necessarily mean she would fall into danger. He Sui’an believed that the first time she saw them, she was too excited and chased after them, wanting to catch them.
The second time, in the snowy courtyard, He Sui’an managed to control her emotions and even conversed with Qi Buyan.
He Sui’an pushed the window open.
Snow was falling heavily, covering the ground like white frost.
She leaned on the windowsill, gazing into the snow, hoping to catch a glimpse of her parents.
As time passed, He Sui’an did not see them. Just as she began to feel confused and thought of giving up and closing the window, her parents appeared, each time looking more real than before.
They seemed to have exhausted themselves searching for someone, their expressions dejected as they sat on a long bench. Her mother lay in her father’s arms, her body shaking violently as she cried uncontrollably.
He Sui’an’s eyes reddened at the corners as she watched.
She called out to them softly.
In the next second, the woman stopped crying, grabbed the man’s arm, and looked around, “I think I heard Sui Sui calling me.”
Although the man wasn’t crying, he was deeply troubled. He thought she was hallucinating and remained silent, just holding her, “Even if I have to search the entire ancient city, I will keep looking.”
The woman struggled to get up, “I said, I heard Sui Sui calling me!”
“Don’t be like this.”
The man also looked around. There was no one else there but them, so it had to be a hallucination, “You go rest, I’ll continue the search.”
At this point, the vision faded.
He Sui’an covered her mouth in astonishment. Could this be a coincidence? Her mother said she heard her calling. If it was a coincidental hallucination, it was one thing. But if it wasn’t, what did it mean?
It meant she might be able to return to the real world from this one.
Her heart pounded like a drum.
Her mind went blank.
He Sui’an stared at the snow outside, feeling a faint chill before she remembered she was still at the windowsill. She closed the window and returned to the bed.
In the candlelight, Qi Buyan’s black hair spread across the crimson bedding, his hands resting by his sides, fingers slightly curled. His face had a faint flush, his sleeping expression peaceful and entirely unthreatening.
He Sui’an lay down and hugged him.
She closed her eyes.
He Sui’an was still unsure if what she experienced was real. She decided to tell Qi Buyan later.
—
The house was still adorned with red silk from the wedding, giving it a festive touch.
He Sui’an was exhausted from the previous day and didn’t wake up until noon. Qi Buyan woke up earlier and lay on his side watching her, his fingers touching her long eyelashes.
Feeling the tickle, He Sui’an woke up. She opened her eyes briefly before closing them again, still looking very sleepy. Out of habit, she burrowed her head into Qi Buyan’s chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Qi Buyan said, “Last night…”
“You were drunk.”
He Sui’an quickly interrupted, “Even after taking sobering medicine, you got drunk.”
Qi Buyan supported her slender waist, helping her sit up with him. She was like a boneless sloth draped over him, not wanting to move as she just woke up.
He seemed a bit regretful, not letting go of He Sui’an’s waist, “I said before that I wanted to see your butterflies on our wedding night.”
He Sui’an’s face heated up.
She stammered, “N-next time, it’s also possible.” For He Sui’an to say this was quite difficult, but because the person was Qi Buyan, she managed to say it.
Qi Buyan kissed He Sui’an’s earlobe and then brushed his nose against her, “Alright.” He also found it hard to understand why he was so enamored with being intimate with He Sui’an; just looking at her made him want to be close.
He had realized this a long time ago.
And he had thought about it.
It didn’t necessarily have to be very intimate; just touching her brought him joy. Of course, if they were very intimate, the joy multiplied, making it impossible for Qi Buyan to stop, leaving him helplessly addicted.
It was as if his body no longer obeyed his commands, acting on instinct, and that instinct now seemed to be to continually draw close to He Sui’an.
He stood up to fetch her clothes.
He Sui’an hugged him from behind, her eyes darting around. After some thought, she decided to speak, “Last night, you asked me if I am in love with you.”
The word “love” felt a bit awkward on her tongue.
She rarely spoke of love.
Qi Buyan didn’t turn to face the bed, instead lowering his eyes to look at He Sui’an’s hands around his waist. The cuffs of her sleeves were pushed up to her wrists, revealing a faint red line that was almost invisible.
He Sui’an thought carefully before speaking, “I don’t know if I’m in love with you because, like you, I don’t really understand it. But I know I like you.”
Qi Buyan turned around.
She lowered her head.
Still holding him, He Sui’an continued, “I like being with you, I like spending time with you, I like being close to you. So, I like you. No matter what the future holds, I like you now.”
“Like?” Qi Buyan took He Sui’an’s hands off his waist, touching the red line on her wrist, “Do you remember that I placed a love-binding gu on you? It’s supposed to help you fall in love with me.”
Of course, He Sui’an remembered.
She listened as he continued.
Qi Buyan pressed his fingertip to the red line, “You say you like me, so you have feelings for me? Why is the color of your red line so faint?”
He Sui’an didn’t understand much about the love-binding gu and hadn’t asked about it since it was placed on her. She hadn’t felt any change: “What do you mean by the color being so faint? Is it supposed to be darker?”
Qi Buyan murmured, “According to the gu scriptures, it should be dark.”
He Sui’an pulled her hand back to look.
The color was indeed very faint.
She stammered, “I don’t know, maybe the love-binding gu is broken? My feelings for you haven’t changed since before you used it; it’s not because of the gu.”
Qi Buyan’s eyelashes trembled, “Broken?” The love-binding gu was refined with his blood, so how could it be broken? However, refining gu did have degrees of success, determined by the refiner’s skill.
He Sui’an grew anxious, flustered, “Everything I said just now is true. Are you choosing to believe the love-binding gu over me?”
He laughed.
Seeing him laugh, she was stunned.
In Qi Buyan’s eyes, there was a fragmented starlight and a pleasant smile, “I choose to believe you.” Maybe his gu-crafting skills weren’t advanced enough, and something went wrong with the love-binding gu.
He Sui’an held onto him, afraid Qi Buyan only said he believed her on the surface but didn’t truly believe her, “I swear, I absolutely did not lie.”
His smile remained unchanged.
He bent down to look her in the eye and slowly said, “He Sui’an, I really do believe you. I said before, as long as it’s something you say, I will believe it. This time is no exception.”
He Sui’an’s heart suddenly pounded like a drum.
The red line on her wrist became even fainter, but neither of them noticed.
Qi Buyan brought He Sui’an’s new dress over and helped her put it on. When he leaned over to adjust her collar, she tilted her head and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
He glanced at her.
He Sui’an lowered her head in embarrassment again.
She was the type to blush easily, and whenever she mustered the courage to do something bold, she would feel very shy when recalling it later.
Qi Buyan also placed a light kiss on He Sui’an’s cheek.
Once they were dressed, they went out.
It was the second day of He Sui’an’s marriage. She wore a long pink dress, covered by a dark blue cloak Qi Buyan had bought for her. The collar had soft, warm fur, making it very cozy.
Today, they were to discuss plans against Liu Yan with Su Yang and the others, who were scheduled to meet them at the house after noon. It was time.
He Sui’an didn’t want Su Yang and the others to wait long.
She voluntarily covered her eyes with a silk ribbon and asked Qi Buyan to lead her to the front hall.
Su Yang and the others had arrived early.
Standing at the door, Shen Jianhe saw He Sui’an and Qi Buyan first and waved cheerfully, “Miss He, Mr. Qi.”
“Senior Shen.”
He Sui’an stepped over the threshold and entered.
Qi Buyan closed the door and helped her remove the blindfold. Su Yang looked over at them, and He Sui’an called out to her again, “Sister Su.”
The two of them hadn’t changed much since getting married. Or rather, nothing and no one could really change them. Marriage was just a ceremony, Su Yang thought inexplicably.
“Time is of the essence,” Su Yang said, pulling out a map of Chang’an. “Come over and take a look.”
He Sui’an walked over, leading Qi Buyan by the hand.
Shen Jianhe, Zhong Kong, and Zhong Huan also gathered around the table. Su Yang pointed at the map and said, “This is the palace gate, and this is the main street of Chang’an. The wedding procession will definitely pass through the main street.”
She continued, “When the procession passes through the main street, we need to switch out the princess in the carriage. The emperor has ordered me to ensure the princess’s safety and not to let her be placed in any danger.”