When Xiang Yu entered the courtyard again, Jing Yi was long ready and Qiu Ling had already changed his robe as well. Xiang Yu stared at him with wide eyes, his thoughts inevitably traveling to Xin Lan. Qiu Ling … looked really good like this. How would it be if it was Xin Lan?

Most likely, he would be just as handsome. Xin Lan was tall and he managed to fill out any kind of robe. When it was a special one for a special occasion, that should be even more the case. His silvery hair might also be really pretty with the red of the robe, although he’d like a darker shade of red in that case.

Thinking of Xin Lan, he finally couldn’t help but remember how he had looked when he last saw him: His face obviously almost healed but then bloodied as if rushing over had opened the old wounds again. It made him feel guilty.

Clearly, Xin Lan had hated how his face looked or he wouldn’t have worn that mask all the time. Now, because of him, he would continue to have to look like that. How was that fair? Unfortunately, he couldn’t change it.

Xiang Yu sighed to himself and then went to stand next to Jinde so he wouldn’t be in the way. Anyway, when it came to Xin Lan, he’d think about all of that later when he had given Xin Lan enough time.

Jinde glanced at him and then reached up, rubbing his head. “Excited?”

Xiang Yu nodded but didn’t say anything else, just quietly watching and wondering what his own wedding in the future would look like.

The others didn’t say anything else either. Other than Jinde and Leng Jin Yu, Qiu Ling’s advisers, Nie Huang and Bai Mu, and Xiao Dong and his family had gathered. It wasn’t too many people in the courtyard but more than enough to make Jing Yi feel that there were actually some people who cared about their wedding. It was … a nice surprise, to be honest. He had thought that everyone would only care about Jing He but now, here they were, with friends and family on their big day.

He smiled at Qiu Ling who squeezed his hand in return.

“Ready?”

Jing Yi nodded. “Ready.” Anyway, he had been waiting for this day for a long time. There had been ups and downs along the way but they had finally made it. Naturally, he wouldn’t have any second thoughts about it now.

Qiu Ling nodded as well. “Let’s do it then.” He turned to the front, his expression solemn. What they were going to do was a simple ceremony how it was done in the mortal realm but he still took it seriously.

The two of them held hands and looked at each other before kneeling down. They had chosen a spot next to the pond so that Jinde wouldn’t have to step too far away from the child. In this courtyard that Jinde had slowly started to conform to his ideals since moving in, any spot chosen would be beautiful but this one was especially so.

Jing Yi glanced at the arrangement of flowers growing quietly beside the glittering surface of the water and couldn’t help but smile. This day was just as he had imagined, only that it came a lot later. He glanced at Qiu Ling before retracting his gaze again.

Finally, the two of them bowed. Nobody spoke a word unlike in the mortal world where the ceremony was to be headed by somebody who would give instructions. But then, they knew what to do.

They bowed to each other and exchanged another glance afterward, smiling faintly. Then, they turned to the side to bow to Jinde and Leng Jin Yu.

Xiang Yu suddenly felt that he was standing wrong so he inched away, almost floating toward where Bai Mu and Niu Huang stood. He couldn’t help but give him an odd glance but finally didn’t say anything, focusing his attention on the couple getting married instead.

After this bow, they turned to the other side. There were no elders on Jing Yi’s side any longer so everyone had left an empty spot where his family should have been. They both looked at it with solemn expressions and then still bowed, thinking of the people who had long left.

Finally, for the gods that would usually be worshiped in the mortal realm, they bowed toward the Heaven mountain that lead to the High Heavens. Anyway, worshiping regular gods seemed strange in the immortal realms but the supreme ruler should be alright. Even Jing Yi didn’t have anything against it, especially since Tian had once helped him with healing his soul.

With this last bow done, the two of them straightened up again and turned toward each other. Now, even though there were still a few traditions to be followed, they could be regarded as a married couple according to the customs of Jing Yi’s people.

Qiu Ling reached over and took his hands again, carefully helping him to his feet. “Was it what you imagined?”

Jing Yi nodded slowly and then tiptoed, kissing Qiu Ling on the lips. “It was. Thank you for this.”

Qiu Ling smiled. He didn’t want to think of what this meant for their timeline of being together so he simply changed to hugging him tightly and closed his eyes. “No need to thank me. This … it’s also what I wanted.” Yes, even though he knew that this would cause a slew of problems later on, he felt that it had been the right thing. This kind of simple ceremony, how could he refuse to have it with Jing Yi when he loved him as well?

Just when he wanted to say that they should continue with the other customs of his people, Xiang Yu froze and scuttled back to his previous place, tugging at Jinde’s sleeve. “There’s a demon in the palace. It’s a different one though. Should I go and …” He didn’t say it but everyone knew exactly what he was thinking.

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