The group made their way over to the far wall of the Heavenly Empress’s garden. The flowerbeds now lay behind them but vines climbed up in this place and they were in full bloom, making for a picturesque view with many dots of color as well. With these in front and the flowers in the back, a faint floral scent enveloped them, adding to the atmosphere and giving it an even more romantic touch, just perfect for a wedding custom to be held there.

Qiu Ling was more than satisfied with this place and showed a somewhat proud smile. Just leave it to his beloved to pick the perfect spot! “After we move to the dragon realm, I guess I should leave the courtyard to you.” The things Jing He could probably do with it … he was looking forward to that. Such an environment would be great for them to cultivate their feelings further and it would also be the perfect place for Jinde and his husband to raise their child in. What more could he want?

Jing He was somewhat tempted but felt some concern as well. “Isn’t …” He hesitated and glanced at Jinde who was waiting behind with the others. After a few moments, Jing He’s cheeks flushed but he forced himself to continue saying what he felt the need to do. “Isn’t father-in-law using it as a herb garden?” It just … didn’t seem very appropriate for him to take over that way. Especially with Jinde having a child on the way.

Qiu Ling … was stunned into silence for once. This … It had to be the first time he heard Jing He call Jinde ‘father-in-law’. Compared to the hundreds of times he had called the Heavenly Emperor father-in-law and the Heavenly Empress ‘mother-in-law’ or even going for ‘uncle-in-law’ when it came to the God of War, it might not sound like much but … this was Jing He. His beloved wasn’t the type to do such things before everything was official. It was yet another reminder of just how fast their wedding ceremony was now approaching.

He still couldn’t regain his bearing that easily even after a few moments but hearing Jing He’s words and thinking of what would happen in three days, he was all the more eager to continue. He didn’t bother responding and instead opened his spatial ring. He directly took out a table and placed it beneath the overhanging vines with their beautiful flowers. After adding the two jade tablets he had received from Jinde, he reached for his lover’s hand, interlacing their fingers. This joy he felt at this moment … nothing could truly express it but this was at least a way to show some of it.

Jing He raised his gaze, the blush finally receding when Qiu Ling didn’t react at all to the address he had used for Jinde. He smiled and set up his own family’s jade tablet.

The three tablets were lined up neatly, the uniform ornaments on the surface making it look as if they were already a family. Maybe originally, when this custom had come to be, this was what people had had in mind: The feeling of being one with your future spouse and your family and theirs joining together, sharing in the similarities between them while also acknowledging their differing pasts and all the people that had once been part of their families of origin, finally leading to the people now standing before them.

Looking at these tablets and pondering what they meant, Jing He felt a dull ache at the thought of his father’s tablet missing in this ritual. Still, at least his mother and uncle were giving this relationship their approval, taking part in these customs, and adding the past of one side of his family to this relationship that was now turning official. Knowing this, he was still happy. Even if it wasn’t the perfect wedding experience he had once imagined, it was enough.

Just like Jing He, Qiu Ling also looked at the jade tablets, his thoughts wandering. To him, while this was naturally also about Jing He and him marrying and becoming a family, it had a much, much deeper meaning even apart from that. As someone who had once thought to have lost his whole family and who could only ever have one with a future spouse if he was lucky enough to find a person who could accept him, these tablets were probably the most important of the customs done before the actual wedding ceremony.

Look, that one was the tablet signifying his father’s family. Even if the person had passed and couldn’t stand behind him now, he knew that he wished him well. His ancestors might be watching over him if they were still waiting for their chance at reincarnation somewhere in the High Heavens or wherever that happened and if they weren’t, then at least they should have been able to find their own happiness, something he’d be happy for them for.

Next to it was the tablet of Jinde’s family, the one he wasn’t blood-related to but that had still welcomed him. It was the family he had thought to have lost but who he had regained. How beautiful was that? Just thinking of it, he felt that he was incredibly lucky.

Finally, there was the tablet of the family that he was gaining now. In fact, while the wedding ceremony would only be held in three days, he already felt that Bai Fen and her brother were treating him like a family member. During Jing He’s trial when there had been an issue, when had they not been here for him? When he was troubled and wanted to pour his heart out, had they ever disappointed him? No, he genuinely couldn’t say that they had. Just like Jinde, they had accepted him as their own and, of course, he was grateful for that.

The people the two of them were thinking of stood behind them quietly, waiting for the couple to take in everything and enjoy this moment of quietness that signified yet another step on their path to marriage. Not everything was as it should be but this moment, for sure, was much closer to the ideal one than any other part. The way both people gazed at these tablets as they held hands should be proof enough of that.