“We’ll bring our children along,” Si Mobai said gently as he embraced her waist.
Feng Tianlan reached out to pinch his waist and replied, “I haven’t said I’m going to marry you yet, let alone have a baby with you.”
“Who was the one who said last time, ‘Mobai, will you marry me?’” Si Mobai gazed down and teased her.
“Is that so?” Feng Tianlan blinked innocently and feigned anger as she replied, “Who said that? You’d better tell me. How dare anyone try to compete with me for Mobai. I’ll catch her and get her to bully you.”
“It’s you, little fairy.”
“Ha-ha, then my punishment is to bully you for life.”
…
After watching the sunset at night, they watched the sunrise the next morning. The sun still felt extremely far away even though they were watching the sunrise on top of the highest mountain.
Amid the lingering clouds and mist, Lin’an City appeared to be shrouded in clouds, looking like a fairyland. Si Mobai and Feng Tianlan snuggled together, a celestial couple far removed from the secular world.
For them, these three days they were out sightseeing were the happiest and best three days of their lives. Even if they had to separate later, these three days would then become their best memories.
This was true for Si Mobai especially. He saw the purest and most immaculate side of her in these three days. Thinking about the beginning to the present, he had seen many sides of her, but he became convinced during each of these three days that they spent together that she was her truest self and the most complete.
He wanted to give her such beautiful memories so that she did not need to pretend and could live the way she wanted to and be her most authentic self.
Before leaving, Feng Tianlan felt reluctant to part and took a glance at the scenery under the steep mountain once more. There were still so many things not done but she was very satisfied to have these three days of happiness.
Si Mobai carried Feng Tianlan on his back and they climbed down the mountain, step by step, steadily. Even when they were next to the sheer cliffs, she did not feel it was too dangerous because he was around. He was her sky and world. She believed passionately that with him by her side, the sky could not collapse, and the world could not crumble.
…
The sky was already dark when Feng Tianlan returned to Si Feng Pavilion. Upon seeing her arrival, Azurite went to greet her, “Miss, Princess Zhaoyang returned to the palace and even came looking for you.”
“Sister Lin?” Feng Tianlan saw Azurite looking a little anxious and frowned deeply. She slid down from Si Mobai’s back and asked, “When did she come back?”
Si Mobai embraced her and soothed her in a soft voice, “Lan’er, don’t be anxious.”
“On the day you left. The princess did not say anything but the emperor issued an imperial edict yesterday, stating that because the Xi Yuan Emperor came from far away to propose marriage and for the sake of friendship between the two nations, he will marry Princess Zhaoyang off to the Xi Yuan Emperor. She is getting married tomorrow,” Azurite recounted the main highlights.
Feng Tianlan was alarmed by what she heard. She said, “Mobai, I’m going to find Sister Lin and may not be back by this evening. You don’t have to wait up for me.”
Having said that, she left in a hurry.
“Azurite, Shui Jue, go along and look after her,” Si Mobai instructed quickly. It was not appropriate for him to follow her into the palace.
Feng Tianlan could enter and leave the imperial palace freely, so she rushed to Zhaoyang Palace at record speed. She thought of nothing else even when she saw the palace decorated with lanterns and colored banners everywhere.
“Sister Lin!” Feng Tianlan entered Zhaoyang Palace and found Xi Lin trying on her wedding dress. Always dressed in plain white, she was dressed up in bright red today, looking so dazzling and beautiful.
Xi Lin smiled when she saw her, like an older sister greeting a younger sister with a loving smile. She gave a twirl and asked, “Tianlan, do you think I look good in this wedding dress?”
