Qiu Ling pulled himself out of his thoughts before Jing He did. He cherished this addition of family and Jing He’s change in address for Jinde had truly driven this point home, especially in conjunction with the tablets in front of them. But now wasn’t the time to get distracted. And, well, he truly had been. He hadn’t even answered his beloved yet!

Qiu Ling turned to his lover and shook his head in response to the question about the garden he had asked him earlier. “I don’t think you need to worry about that. Jinde only uses a part of it and with their child about to be born, he’ll likely spend even less time on it. Anyway, he’s easy to talk to so you can just speak about it and see what solution would satisfy both of you. I want to see both of you happy, you know?” He brushed through Jing He’s hair but hastily cleared his throat to stay focused when his thoughts were about to wander completely elsewhere. This really wasn’t the time for distractions. They ought to finish this ritual first. Sighing faintly, he motioned at the table with the jade tablets. “Shall we begin?”

Jing He nodded and the two of them knelt down next to each other. The sun fell into the courtyard from above, painting shadows into the depths of the engravings as if to make them stand out more.

Each of them would say a few words before the tablet of their own family. Qiu Ling was set to speak later so he turned to look at the tablet of Bai Fen’s family, waiting for his beloved to begin.

Jing He took a deep breath before he exhaled slowly. He wasn’t that worried as his mother and uncle were in favor of his relationship with Qiu Ling. From the little he had heard about their parents, he also felt that they shouldn’t have rejected this. As a result, he didn’t feel as if he were doing anything wrong. Still, some anxiety remained as this was an important step.

He reassured himself silently, telling himself that other people’s opinions didn’t matter since he had decided to wed this man. As long as he didn’t waver — and he never would — it wouldn’t change a thing whether his ancestors would have agreed to this or looked favorably upon it.

Lowering his head, he took one more moment before he raised his head and started to speak. “Greetings, ancestors. This one is Jing He, son of Bai Fen. In three days, I will marry the man next to me. Today, I am here to introduce him and ask for your blessing of this relationship so that we may face a future filled with joy.”

He lowered his head once again, taking another moment to consider before he continued. “My life until here has not always been easy. I don’t mean to complain. I just … want you to know that since knowing him, it has been filled with much more joy than before. He has always … made a lot of effort for me and I … I can’t imagine having to live without him ever again.”

Qiu Ling next to him almost swooned. How come he received such beautiful love confessions from his beloved twice on the same day? This really was his lucky day! Well, this one hadn’t actually been addressed to him but the intent was still the same, right?

Unfortunately for Qiu Ling, his husband-to-be had already finished after saying these few sentences so this was the end of this love confession he had admired so happily. Still, Jing He turned to look at him to let him know that it was now his turn. This alone was enough to maintain Qiu Ling’s happiness.

He also looked at him with a smile but then turned to the jade tablets of his family. Looking at it … the happiness was replaced by a stunned silence. Inside of the left one, his father’s name was recorded. He usually refused to speak about these things, but … that didn’t mean that he didn’t love his father. On the contrary, despite all his faults, he had loved him a lot so even to this day, having lost him hurt. Especially with the way he had gone. On a day like this, not being able to have this person by his side made it worse.

Qiu Ling took a deep breath to get rid of the stuffy feeling in his chest and slowly exhaled. In a way, he and Jing He were going through something very similar, even if the reasons were very different.

After taking a moment, Qiu Ling’s expression turned solemn and he hesitatingly started to speak. “Greetings … ancestors.” He lowered his gaze in silence, reconsidering those few words. “Father.” Honestly, he knew none of the others, only him, and this was the person whose blessing he cared most about so greeting him seemed appropriate.

Jing He glanced at his husband-to-be when he heard this and silently squeezed his hand.

Qiu Ling squeezed back and felt himself calm down, finally able to continue with the ritual. “I am Qiu Ling, son of Chun Yin. Today, I kneel before you to announce that in three days, I am going to marry the person next to me, Jing He.” He also turned to look at his beloved, his smile returning. “I hope that you will give the two of us your blessing.”

Qiu Ling sighed again and closed his eyes, bidding farewell to his father once more. While the other person couldn’t hear it any longer, this moment was for himself. He needed this. He needed this moment to quietly say the words to himself he would have loved to tell him if he had still been with them.

When he finished, he turned to the other jade tablet, his heart feeling a lot lighter and even his expression brightening. “Greetings, ancestors. I am Qiu Ling … son of Jinde. I have received his blessing for my upcoming marriage to Jing He, the person next to me, and I hope that I will receive yours as well. Being with him is the ultimate happiness for me and I hope that for the rest of our lives, we will be together while you watch over us.”

There wasn’t much he had to say to these ancestors either so he didn’t speak further and instead turned to Jing He.

Together, they bowed to the tablets before Qiu Ling stood up and carefully helped Jing He to his feet. Finally, Qiu Ling put away the tablets for the two of them. In the future, they’d carry them with them or maybe find a place to display them.

Either way, now, another custom had been followed and their wedding ceremony seemed to be even closer. In fact, this was the last ritual to be done today and the only thing to do now was to wait.