Huai Falls for an Old Friend - Chapter 4

Xie Huai returned to his true form and somersaulted through the skies above Qingqiu and the Southern Sea several times.

At last, he stood before me holding a bouquet. The scarlet flowers made him look even more dazzling.

“I—Qingqing, I… I swear I’ll treat you well.”

I brushed a finger over the vivid blossoms and smiled. “Xie Huai, isn’t my father’s garden the only place in Qingqiu where these flowers grow?”

His expression stiffened. “Well… Uncle Bai once said I could visit his garden whenever I liked. So picking two flowers probably—maybe—wasn’t a problem?”

“If I remember correctly, Father has been cultivating a new variety as a birthday gift for Mother.”

The bouquet clearly became too hot to hold. Xie Huai shifted it from one hand to the other, nearly breaking into a sweat.

“Hasn’t Uncle Bai always wanted the red coral from my father’s treasury? I’ll bring it to him later.”

I burst out laughing. My father was hardly the only person across the Eight Wilds and Four Seas who coveted that magnificent coral. Legend said the former God of War had given it to the Lord of the Southern Sea as a wedding gift.

Xie Huai was beautiful. I had always known that.

Otherwise, I would never have let him trail after me all these years. That flowerlike face of his had played no small part in the decision.

When he saw me laugh, delight shone at the corners of his eyes.

“Qingqing, do you want to marry in the Southern Sea or Qingqiu?”

“Qingqing, if you don’t like sleeping in a shell bed, I have a very large palace.”

“Qingqing… do you truly want to marry me?”

Xie Huai bit his lip, suddenly nervous. “I have plenty of brothers. I could marry into Qingqiu instead.”

He stole a cautious glance at me, then immediately looked away.

I leaned over and planted a kiss on his peach-blossom cheek.

“Absolutely not. I’m waiting for you to bring me all the treasures you’ve hoarded as my betrothal gifts.”

Xie Huai touched his cheek, dazed.

“Heh… They can be my dowry instead. Either way, everything is yours.”

When Father learned that I was marrying Xie Huai, he sobbed until tears and snot streamed down his face.

I patted his back. “Father, I’m getting married, not taking holy vows. The Southern Sea is right next door. Whenever you miss me, I’ll come home.”

Father leaped far out of reach, leaving my hand suspended in the air.

“Please don’t. Don’t come back and interrupt your mother and me.”

My knuckles cracked. It had been far too long since I sparred with Father.

He edged back toward me. “So… from now on, anyone you beat up will go to the Southern Sea to complain instead, right?”

Yes. A fight was definitely needed.

Xie Huai consulted the Star Lord of Destiny in the Nine Heavens, a priest of the demon clans, and an imperial diviner in the mortal realm. At last, he set our wedding for six months later.

Then he began hunting for treasures throughout the Eight Wilds and Four Seas.

Rumor said the palace in the Southern Sea had been decorated with staggering extravagance. Any single treasure inside would have sent lesser immortals into a frenzy.

Before our wedding banquet arrived, an invitation came from the Nine Heavens. We were summoned to a feast welcoming the Heavenly Sovereign home.

Father and Mother had gone off somewhere to enjoy each other’s company, so this “important duty” fell to me.

Xie Huai ordered an immortal attendant to place another chair beside mine and squeezed over.

“Qingqing. Qingqing. Qingqing…”

“Mm, I’m here. What is it?”

I patiently answered each call, every one sweeter and stickier than the last.

Beside us, the leader of the flower clan covered her mouth and watched us with sparkling eyes.

“Nothing. I just wanted to say your name.”

Under the table, Xie Huai’s hand crept closer until his fingers interlaced with mine.

The banquet suddenly grew much quieter.

Do not misunderstand. It had nothing to do with us.

A man in white robes and a jade crown walked slowly into the hall.

The flower clan leader’s eyes shone even brighter. “The Heavenly Emperor is so handsome,” she whispered.

Xie Huai’s grip tightened, and his breath caught.

Neither of us had ever met the Heavenly Emperor, Yun Chen, before.

Without looking to either side, he walked to the highest dais.

As expected, Yun Jingchen had indeed been an immortal from the Nine Heavens undergoing a mortal trial.

Upon ascending, however, he had forgotten everything from the mortal realm.

Perhaps that was for the best. Otherwise, I would not have known how to soothe the man beside me, whose palm had already gone slick with sweat.

I sent Xie Huai a private voice transmission. “Don’t worry. Half the invitations have already gone out. I am going to be your wife.”

From the dais, Heavenly Emperor Yun Chen announced that the fallen God of War would soon return.

The hall erupted.

I had been born too late to witness that god’s glory, but everyone across the Eight Wilds and Four Seas knew the story.

Long ago, a great demon had devoured countless members of his own kind, obtained a powerful treasure, and sparked a war. When even the combined forces of many immortals failed to subdue him, the God of War sacrificed herself to Heaven and destroyed the monster.

Several immortal maidens behind me whispered that the Heavenly Emperor had refused all these years to choose an empress or take a consort because he was waiting for that female God of War.

For some reason, their words left me dazed.