t
Jin Yue definitely was not just some ordinary servant girl. She was born in the Moon God Realm and was even chosen to serve the future god empress. Her status was definitely far above the majority of the profound practitioners who lived in the Moon God Realm. At the very least, she would not be a timid person who was prone to losing her head.
But in front of Yun Che, she could not shake this feeling of unease and nervousness that had dogged her since the start of the conversation, and she especially did not dare to meet his gaze directly.
“Jin Yue will be taking her leave.” Yun Che did not know whether she had remembered his instructions as he watched her hurriedly leave the area.
Huo Rulie and the others looked at each other and Mu Huanzhi finally could not help but to ask, “Our Snow Song Realm is owed a debt of gratitude by the god empress? Just what is going on?”
But Yun Che and Mu Bingyun did not reply.
Mu Huanzhi stroked his beard to lessen the awkwardness he felt.
The mysterious relationship between Xia Qingyue and the Snow Song Realm was one that Yun Che and Mu Bingyun were well aware of. After she had reached God Realm, Xia Qingyue would naturally gradually become aware of the fact that the Frozen End Divine Art that she had cultivated in Frozen Cloud Asgard was actually the Snow Song Realm’s Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon.
“What did you give to her?” Mu Bingyun asked, her eyes filled with worry.
“The marriage contract between her and I,” Yun Che said in a bland voice.
Pfffft…
Huo Rulie instantly spat out the wine he had just drunk all over his body and the table in front of him. He immediately tried to wipe himself clean in a fluster before he stammered out a response, “I… I… I… I… I didn’t hear anything just now, nothing at all…”
As if he was afraid Huo Poyun would run his mouth and ask stupid questions, he disregarded his pathetic appearance and grabbed Huo Poyun as he said, “Poyun, your master still has many important things to talk to you about. After you enter the Eternal Heaven Pearl… Blah blah….”
The marriage contract between her and I…
The marriage contract between Yun Che and the Moon God Empress!?
That was some f*cking bolt out of the blue. In fact Huo Rulie, Yan Juehai, and Mu Huanzhi, three great Divine Sovereigns, had all been blasted so hard that they were rendered completely dumbfounded right there and then. The news was so big that they felt as if they were drowning in a boundless and endless tidal wave…
“I… will go take a look at our disciples.” Mu Huanzhi’s forehead was filled with sweat and when he stood up, he staggered as he tripped over his chair.
“Cough… I will go as well.” Yan Juehai, who was normally as calm and steady as a mountain, seemed to almost be running away as he left the scene.
“So it looks like you don’t believe what that maidservant told you just now?” Mu Bingyun said as she looked at Yun Che.
“No, I do believe her,” Yun Che said impassively. “She must not have seen the profound images that captured the Profound God Convention, nor does she know that I am alive.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I understand her.” Yun Che lightly closed his eyes as he was recalling some unknown memory, “She is really a person who possesses an extremely retiring and passive personality, she has been like that since she was a child. The profound way has always been her only pursuit, and she was completely indifferent to anything besides that.”
Mu Bingyun, “...”
“Even though she did not see the profound images that captured the Profound God Convention, she definitely did hear of my name. It’s just that…” Yun Che said as he gave a self-deprecating chuckle, “It was not possible for her to link me with the ‘Yun Che’ that she had heard about.”
It was just like when he had first heard the Moon God Emperor say the name “Qingyue”, he had definitely never thought that she would be Xia Qingyue, he did not even think there was the slightest possibility it would be her.
Because it was impossible for him to connect Xia Qingyue with the “Moon God Empress”.
Likewise, it was even less likely for her to link the “Number One in the Conferred God Battle” to him… To say nothing of someone whom she thought was already dead.
“...” Mu Bingyun looked at Yun Che in silence. Yun Che’s words told her that in Xia Qingyue’s world, “Yun Che” was her ex-husband who had died many years ago. So it was completely up to her whether she wanted to marry someone else.
These words were spoken for Mu Bingyun’s benefit, or perhaps, they were spoken to console himself.
“Since she is someone with a retiring and passive temperament, she naturally will not covet the title of ‘Moon God Empress’. So perhaps, she is being forced to do so, or there are some difficult circumstances behind her choice?” Mu Bingyun said as she tried to console Yun Che. “After all, if the Moon God Emperor wants someone to become his god empress, it would be impossible for that person to reject him.”
“No,” Yun Che said with a shake of his head, “she is indeed someone who will not covet the title of ‘god empress’ but she is also someone who will not be coerced by anyone.”
Mu Bingyun, “...?”
“Palace Master Bingyun, when I got married to her twelve years ago, she was already being pursued by countless admirers. Furthermore, she had also already been accepted as an official disciple of Frozen Cloud Asgard. However, the me at that time was someone who had a weak body and crippled profound veins, and even the servants within my own family would mock me in secret.”
“The gap between heaven and earth was not even sufficient to describe the distance between the two of us. Yet she still agreed to get married to me, and it definitely was not because she was forced, nor were there some difficult circumstances compelling her to do so. Rather, it was entirely of her own free will.”
“...” Mu Bingyun was left slightly dumbfounded at those words.
“The me at that time was not only grateful to her but adored her as well. On the first day that we were married, I had decided in my heart that no matter what status she had, I would definitely cause her to truly fall in love with me… It was also probably to satisfy that somewhat laughable dignity of mine.”
As he thought of the few days they had spent together as newlyweds all those years ago, Yun Che could not help but give a quiet chuckle.
“After that, I had many female soulmates and as I interacted with them, they would gradually include me in their lives and their thoughts. Even Caiyi, who was the Little Demon Empress, was the same. But… only Xia Qingyue…”
“I bowed to the heavens and earth together with her, I went through trials and tribulations with her and we even survived life and death situations together. There were so many occasions that I had thought that I had finally completely melted her heart of ice… Especially that one time when I had been swallowed together with her by an enormous beast in the Heaven Basin. In order to save me, she transferred all her energy into my body and nearly lost her own life as a result…”
“But every time I thought that I had completely walked into her heart, she would… leave me with almost no hesitation and return to Frozen Cloud Asgard. And when she saw me again, she still maintained that distance that I was never able to close with her.
All those years ago, when he had agreed to enter Frozen Cloud Asgard and become its first male disciple in history, there was one important reason that he was unconsciously harboring, and that was to be able to linger beside Xia Qingyue for as long as he wanted to.
“She always looked cold and delicate but her mind was her irrefutably her own, and she possesses an incomparable stubbornness, so once she set her mind to something, no one could sway or dissuade her from it. Perhaps, it was due to the Heart of Glazed Glass in her body, so she was always subconsciously overlooking every thing and every person in this world. So no one could force her to do anything, it was only whether she agreed to do it or not.”
“So what you’re saying is that her desire to marry the Moon God Emperor is entirely genuine and of her own accord?”
“Yes,” Yun Che said with a nod of his head, his face devoid of sorrow or joy.
Eight years could change many things, but the one thing it could not change was a person’s inherent nature and force of will.
When Xia Qingyue had made her appearance, her eyes looked exactly the same as they had in his memories, like calm and undisturbed pools of autumn water.
“On her side, she has done nothing wrong. On the contrary, she made a choice that would have been the absolutely correct choice to make for any woman in this world. The king of the Moon God Ream… Compared to him, I am nothing more than a bug who has just learned how to crawl. To any woman, there is no status more exalted than being the god empress of a king realm. And perhaps, this is the protection of heaven that the ‘Heart of Glazed Glass’ has bestowed upon her.”
“If one were to say that there is a single flaw in that plan, that flaw would be that I am still alive.”
Yun Che’s words were clear and not forced and his expression was extremely calm…. But it was a calm that caused one’s heart to beat faster.
“Then… why did you still want to pass her that marriage contract?” Mu Bingyun asked.
“Of course, it was to let her know that this flaw exists and to allow her to get rid of it herself after that,” Yun Che said with a bland laugh.
It seemed as if Yun Che had completely recovered his sense of reason. In fact, he was so rational that it was terrifying. But Mu Bingyun’s worries were not assured at all as she said, “Yun Che, you really…”
“Don’t worry,” Yun Che said as he lifted his head and looked at the scene in front of him, “this wedding celebration is huge, so it is not a mere wedding celebration. Rather, it is something that is connected to the dignity and face of the Moon God Emperor and the entire Moon God Realm.”
“This place is the Moon God Realm. Given my utter weakness, even if I were throw my life away in this place and spill my blood all over this place, it would not be able to change a single thing. On the contrary, it would drag down the Snow Song Realm and the Flame God Realm together with me.”
Even if Xia Qingyue wanted to renege on her word, it was already no longer possible.
“I still have many things that I need to do. I just made a vow with her, so how can I… ruin myself here over such a thing.”
“And that’s all there is to it.”
He picked up another jade cup and drained it in one go.
And when the jade cup fell to the ground, it instantly shattered.
“...” Mu Bingyun’s jade hand lightly held on to Yun Che’s arm as she wordlessly attempted to comfort him.
Yun Che, was it truly for such a simple reason that you passed that marriage contract to her?
In the clouds far above, the bulk of Qingye Ying’er’s attention was focused on Yun Che, so she naturally also took notice of Jin Yue.
The distance was far and she had not released any profound strength, so she was not able to completely catch their conversation, but she did manage to hear the words “maidservant of the god empress”.
“The god empress’ maidservant? Why did she go to find Yun Che?” Qianye Ying’er’s eyes fell on the jade box in Jin Yue’s hands, “Uncle Gu, what did Yun Che put inside there?”
Gu Zhu’s body did not move but a strange light flashed in his eyes. In an instant, he slowly said, “It is a marriage contract.”
“Marriage contract? Fetch it for me to see.”
Gu Zhu did not say anything but his old and withered hand was raised up at this moment. Before he made any moves, a strange vortex suddenly appeared in the space in front of him.
Five fingers that were as wizened and shrivelled as old firewood came together and slowly submerged themselves into the vortex. After several breaths, Gu Zhu’s ancient hand retracted from the vortex and it disappeared soundlessly, but a rolled up scroll of paper had appeared in his hand.
Below them, Jin Yue’s footsteps were hurried and she had not noticed at all. The jade box in her hand was completely intact and there were no irregularities that could be detected.
Qianye Ying’er retrieved the paper scroll and her eyes swept across the scroll once she opened it. Her phoenix eyes immediately narrowed after she read the contents.
Blue Wind Nation… Floating Cloud City…
Xiao Che… Xia Qingyue…
Qingyue…
She rolled up that marriage contract and her movements were slow and deliberate. Once the marriage contract had been completely rolled up, the corner of her mouth hooked up in an extremely dangerous small smile…
“To think that such an interesting thing truly exists in this world.”
“Do we put it back?” Gu Zhu asked.
“No,” Qianye Ying’er said as she put away the marriage contract, “this is such a heavy and grand gift, so we naturally need extract as much use out of it as we can.”
“We have come to the Moon God Realm but we did not bring a fitting wedding gift. So I’ll present Buddha with these borrowed flowers and give Yue Wuya an such a pleasant and enormous surprise!”
…………
Within the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace, Xia Qingyue sat in front of a mirror, her fingers lightly dancing across its surface. Her beautiful eyes seemed to be lost in reverie and she seemed to be thinking about something.
The internal space within the Vanishing Moon Celestial Palace was amazingly big and countless bright lights flashed within. These bright lights seemed to be attracted by some unseen force as they clustered around Xia Qingyue’s celestial figure.
There were only fifteen minutes left before the wedding ceremony began.
Jin Yue carried a jade box as she drew near to her on quiet steps. After that she stopped behind Xia Qingyue and bowed ceremoniously, “God empress, I have fulfilled the instructions you have given me a month ago and bestowed upon the Snow Song Realm a Moon God Pellet, handing it over to that Snow Song disciple who goes by the name ‘Yun Che’.”
“That’s good,” she calmly replied.
“There is also one more thing, “ Jin Yue said. “Sir Yun Che also gave this servant a gift to send back to the god empress, he said that he hoped that the god empress herself would personally open it.”
“There’s no need for that,” she said in a gloomy voice. “You may bring it away.”
Jin Yue was not surprised at all at her answer. But she recalled something and finally said those words, “Sir Yun Che also asked this servant to pass the God Empress a message as well…”
“This is the grand congratulatory gift that Floating Cloud’s Xiao Che has given to the god empress for her wedding.”