At the beginning, Feng Luodi didn"t believe that souls existed in this world, nor did she believe that there was another world after death, but her existence made it impossible for her to not believe in all of this.
What about a soul who could foresee things?
Only when she dreamed of Situ being killed did she wake up from her long slumber. She didn"t want that dream to become a reality. She had heard the voices of many people while she was struggling in her dream. In the end, only Situ"s voice persevered as he insisted on calling her back to his side.
After painstaking efforts, she finally followed Situ to the deserts of the North, but she realised that there wasn"t much she could do.
She had talked to Situ about that dream, and Situ didn"t believe it, or better said, he didn"t think too much into it. It wasn"t that he belittled Feng Luodi"s words, but it was because he believed in himself. Of course, she herself didn"t believe it. How could the omnipotent Situ possibly die?
However, when Situ began to risk himself and strategize along the way, Feng Luodi began to worry again. The Situ in that dream was holding the Hong Ming Scimitar in his left hand. Feng Luodi knew very well that Situ was right-handed, and Situ"s left hand had sustained an injury after the first war"s victory. Followed by an invitation from his old friend, his right hand got poisoned and couldn"t be used for another month. All this seemed to be a sign to prove that that dream was real.
She couldn"t accept the fact that she had let the scene of her dream reappear in front of herself. She stood up and tried to get close to the scout whose face was covered with blood and tears. She wanted to question him why he had lied. She wanted to ask him where Situ was at this moment.
But dizziness washed over her, and she fell to the ground. She suddenly lost consciousness and no longer heard the voices around her.
When she woke up again, she found herself in her own tent. The person taking care of her was Mama and the other generals were at the front, taking charge of the current situation.
Seeing her awake, Mama put on a dismal expression.
"Miss Feng, you shouldn"t be overly grieved, otherwise you"d harm your health. I certainly don"t believe that something would befall our General."
Feng Luodi"s wandering gaze landed on Mama and she smiled mournfully.
"But his corpse was carried back to the barracks, and I saw it with my own eyes. Situ, he…he"s gone…"
Feng Luodi repeated those words repeatedly and didn"t notice Mama approaching her.
"General met with an accident, so I"m also very sad."
So speaking, Mama suddenly took a dagger out of her sleeve and tried to a.s.sault Feng Luodi.
"I"ll send you to the underworld to reunite with General!"
When Mama pounced on Feng Luodi, she noticed that the latter"s expression had changed. The earlier aggrieved look in her eyes had completely dissipated and was replaced by a frosty and disdainful one.
"You fool!"
The next moment, Mama was subdued to the ground by Covert Guard Quattor as he glared disdainfully at Mama. When he clapped his hands, a few soldiers rushed in and tied Mama up.
"Why did I have to take action when it only concerns an old granny without martial arts? Two must be laughing at me now…"
Covert Guard Quattor thought that it wasn"t worth his time, and without waiting for him to finish, Mama suddenly cried out mournfully. Those who didn"t know the truth would think that she had been wronged.
"Why are you guys arresting me? Don"t you know who I am?! I"m General"s wet nurse! Quickly, let me go!"
Covert Guard Quattor ignored her and moved aside a few steps, glancing at Feng Luodi.
Feng Luodi nodded and Covert Guard Quattor went out.
As such, Mama instantly switched targets and started questioning again.
"You set me up on purpose, right? What are you trying to do?"
There was a type of person in this world that one shouldn"t provoke, those so-called self-righteous people.
Feng Luodi coldly stared at Mama and frostily said,
"I should be the one asking you that, right? You"re a citizen of the Xuan Kingdom, yet you sold your soul to the enemy and you"re working for the Huns instead. I"ll tell you the truth before you are dealt with by military law. This was something that Situ had asked me to tell you."
Mama"s eyes widened as she stared at Feng Luodi. She finally realised that she had been tricked.
This stratagem was implemented before Situ had returned to deserts of the North.
Situ deliberately revealed when he"d be returning to the barracks to lure out the spy who"d leaked Yanmen"s intel, which ultimately led to Mama.
After Feng Luodi discovered Mama"s strange behaviour, Situ immediately handed over the task concerning Mama to her. On the one hand, she was to confuse Mama with her actions, and on the other hand, she went to meet Linglong. After fulfilling Linglong"s request, she let Linglong go inform the King of the Huns about the relations.h.i.+p between Situ and the King of Xianbei.
Then there was the battle between the King of the Huns and Situ. The purpose of this match was to make Situ sustain some slight injuries. After that, the King of Huns would surely send out the King of Xianbei with repentance as an excuse to meet up with Situ, and poison the latter. After all was said and done, Mama would confirm the news and pa.s.s the words to the King of the Huns.
However, whether it was the King of the Huns or Mama, they never would have thought that the King of Xianbei had been on the Xuan Kingdom"s side all along. The Kind of Xianbei had only agreed to join the alliance to gather intel for Situ, so of course he wouldn"t poison Situ.
"This time…" Feng Luodi nodded with interest and continued,
"The Huns would be utterly defeated and Fuyu and Sushen would be crushed by Xianbei and the Northern Army."
Chang"an City, in the Imperial Study.
The Emperor finished reading the good news from the deserts of the North and sighed.
"As expected of our General-in-Chief! This battle has ended excellently!"
Hearing this, several officials immediately congratulated the Emperor and praised Situ"s glorious achievements.
And, only the palace attendant standing at one side noticed the cold glint flas.h.i.+ng across the Emperor"s eyes.
"When the General-in-Chief returns, I"ll certainly greatly reward him for his outstanding merit."
Half a month later, Situ and his entourage finally arrived in Chang"an. There were people cheering on both sides of the Main Street, their faces filled with admiration and joy.
On the way, Feng Luodi sneaked a few glances at Situ. She hesitated for a long time but still didn"t manage to say those words out loud.
"How about holding our wedding in ten days?" Situ, however, set aside the bamboo slips in his hand and earnestly asked.
This topic was brought up too sudden!
Feng Luodi tuck her hair behind her ears, hesitated for a moment and asked, "Isn"t that a bit too soon?"
Situ instantly raised an eyebrow, his scorching gaze fixed on her.
"Do you know how long I"ve been waiting? It has been four months since the Emperor ascended the throne, and it"s already autumn now."
Although his tone was flat, Feng Luodi could hear a hint of sadness. At that instant, she instantly relaxed and said,
"You can decide, I don"t mind."
Feng Luodi admitted that she was guilty and that she owed Situ a lot, so all these things were left for Situ to decide. No matter how Situ wanted their wedding to look like, she didn"t mind.
As she was deep in thought, she"d missed the glint flas.h.i.+ng across of Situ"s eyes.
Amidst the people"s cheers, the entourage suddenly halted halfway through.
"The Emperor has asked General to enter the palace at once."
As expected, the Emperor was the first to request for Situ to enter the palace. This was what Feng Luodi had wanted to discuss with Situ earlier.
"Situ."
Feng Luodi grabbed Situ"s hand when he was about to get out of the carriage. Situ turned back to look at her and she solemnly said,
"You were the one who said that we would get married in ten days. You can"t break this promise."
Situ"s lips curled upwards and said, "I would never do that to my wife."
Feng Luodi didn"t know what had happened to Situ in the palace, and she couldn"t discern anything peculiar from his indifferent expression. All she knew was that Situ was quick to start making preparations for their wedding. There were many soldiers moving to and fro the Feng Residence and Duke of Anping"s Residence every day. Everyone was envious that Feng Residence"s daughter had found a great husband.
What Feng Luodi didn"t understand was: Why would Situ, who was supposed to be busy planning their wedding, appear in her room every night?
Feng Luodi"s face was tomato red as she watched Situ walk in leisurely. Meanwhile, all kinds of images from the night before suddenly popped up in her mind, and she couldn"t help but stutter as she asked, "Y-you…aren"t you busy making arrangements for our wedding? How come you have time to come here?"
Of course, Feng Luodi had said the same thing last night, but it was of no use.
Situ loosened his hair while walking towards Feng Luodi, his tone light and brisk as he responded,
"Qingjia has experience in this aspect and Yiqi also wants to learn so they have been helping out every day. Besides, there"s also the Covert Guards a.s.sisting them, so what else can I do aside from spending time with you?"
Listen to this, tsk, tsk. To think that the General-in-Chief of the Northern Army would utter these kind of words. Feng Luodi expressed contempt, but she was still unable to drive away someone who was immersed in happiness. Feng Luodi grieved in her heart.
Ten days flew by very quickly.
The love story of Feng Luodi and Duke of Anping had long spread all over Chang"an City.
As a result, Chang"an"s citizens were very enthusiastic about their wedding. They all had peach blossom petals in their hands and sprinkled them all the way from the Feng Residence to Duke of Anping"s Residence. It was many times more effective than a few covert guards pitiably jumping from roof to roof with baskets in their hands to scatter petals. Of course, this idea was put forward by Qi Jianqiu. The Covert Guards gritted their teeth and thought: This married couple"s ideas sure were amazing!
Feng Luodi who was sitting in the bridal sedan chair didn"t see such a scene unfold, but she could hear the voices of people cheering outside. She suddenly remembered the day Qi Jianqiu got married, it was already more than a year ago. At that time, she had tried very hard to suppress the envy in her heart, but now it was her turn and she could finally walk down the aisle with Situ, which she had been longing for.
The marriage procession with people donned in red, a palanquin with eight carriers, a Phoenix Coronet…these were only the basics. After Feng Luodi finished going through a bunch of small activities prepared by Qi Jianqiu and others, she was so tired that she couldn"t maintain the smile on her face anymore, luckily her face was covered with the red veil.
Following this, it was finally time for the wedding ceremony.
Red candles illuminated the banquet hall and the sound of drums resonated through the hall as Feng Luodi held the red silk alongside Situ and finished performing the wedding rituals.
After that, Feng Luodi was brought back to the bridal chamber.
Inside the bridal chamber were multicoloured brocades, bed curtains embroidered with lucky knots, a screen with a soaring peac.o.c.k and dancing hibiscus flowers embroidered on it, a delicate fragrance wafting in the air, and the rattling sound of golden ornaments.
It was a festive night accompanied by wine and plum blossoms, the sound of laughter spreading everywhere.
This was the night where the two exchanged solemn vows and pledged their undying love.
Three days after their marriage, Situ accompanied Feng Luodi back to the Feng Residence and then excused himself to handle some official matters. Thus, Feng Luodi stayed behind alone to comfort the people in the Feng Residence.
The next day, Duke of Anping, Situ Muye submitted a memorial to the Emperor. He claimed that for the sake of the people" happiness and peace, he could no longer take up the post of General-in-Chief as he longed to experience a commoners" life with his wife. From then on, Feng Luodi and he roamed the Xuan Kingdom and the two spend their days in a free and unbridled manner.
--THE END--
TL Note:
Hi all, we have finally reached the end!! Thanks a bunch for all your support and I hope you liked the ending and this novel :)
After this I"ll be working on another project: . If you like a modern, s...o...b..z, romance packed story, please do check it out ^^
Laterszz,
Yuna