The Qin embassy residence.

The palace maids from Qin ran back and forth through the embassy residence, busy inside and out.

Especially the attendant Mingyue.

She directed every maid and checked every matter.

Today was Her Majesty’s great joyful day.

Not the slightest mistake was allowed!

Compared to the bustling Mingyue, the bride in the room looked far calmer, her expression full of composure.

When the final hairpin was set into the woman’s hair, the maid picked up a piece of red paper and held it to her lips.

The woman closed her mouth and lightly pressed them together.

Her already delicate lips gained an even more festive, vivid red.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Qin Siyao tilted her head slightly. The hairpins on her head swayed gently, giving off the crisp sound of jade lightly tapping against jade.

The maids in the room stared at their princess, all of them briefly losing themselves.

In their eyes, let alone a man—even they, as women, wanted nothing more than to pull the bride before them into their bones and love her fiercely.

“Your Maj—Princess,”

Mingyue called as she walked into the room.

But when she saw Her Majesty’s appearance, she froze blankly, forgetting for a moment what she was supposed to say.

Her Majesty’s wedding robes were tailored to fit her perfectly. The tight, narrow waist pinched into a full curve that flowed along her shoulders and neck, over her chest and waist, and then naturally opened at the hips into a wide hem.

Yet as she moved, through the slit at the side one could faintly see the outline of straight, long legs, loosely draped by same-colored silk trousers beneath, gathered only at the calves, revealing a slender ankle.

Her Majesty’s brows had been carefully traced in dark ink, curved like the shadow of distant mountains.

Her almond-shaped eyes held gentleness and softness, the corners naturally lifting slightly. When she lowered her gaze, her long lashes cast a small, quiet shadow beneath her eyes.

Her lips were touched with full rouge—the deepest, most vivid color in all this red—soft and moist. Pressed together, saying nothing, yet seeming as though they had already said so much.

“What is it?” Qin Siyao turned her head and smiled at Mingyue.

Mingyue hurriedly came back to herself and bowed. “Reporting to Princess, everything has been prepared. The palace’s wedding procession is also on the way. Qin’s dowry has also been arranged. Would you like to inspect it?”

“Mm. Then let’s take a look.” Qin Siyao nodded and walked out of the room.

In the courtyard, red chests were set out one after another, each tied with a large red flower.

“Open them.” At Mingyue’s command, the maids beside her opened the chests holding the dowry.

Inside were various spiritual medicines and spiritual flowers, gold and silver jewelry, famous paintings and calligraphy, and other precious items.

Qin Siyao walked past these chests, glanced through them roughly, and smiled. “There really is something missing.”

As she spoke, Qin Siyao reached into her red sleeve and took out a mask and a small clay figurine, placing them steadily inside a chest.

Seeing those two items, Mingyue jolted. “Princess... you’re adding these two things to the dowry as well?”

As Qin Siyao’s attendant, Mingyue had followed her since childhood, and naturally knew these two items were extremely important to Her Majesty.

Even though Mingyue did not know what was special about them.

In °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Mingyue’s eyes, they were clearly ordinary objects, yet Her Majesty treated them as treasure. The two items were never separated from her.

As if they were more precious than everything in the world.

“Of course.”

Qin Siyao extended her fair, delicate fingers and gently stroked the mask and the little clay figurine. At the corner of her lips, a smile rose, gentler than a spring breeze.

“Because they were his in the first place.”

“?”

Hearing Her Majesty’s words, Mingyue blinked, and question marks could not help popping up in her mind.

What did Her Majesty just say?

She said these two things belonged to the ruler of Zhou?

But these clearly belonged to Her Majesty—how did they become the ruler of Zhou’s?

Could it be that the ruler of Zhou had met Her Majesty before?

But that was not very possible.

She had always followed Her Majesty and grown up alongside her. If Her Majesty had long known the current ruler of Zhou, how could she not know?

“Alright. Since everything is prepared, you take the others and wait outside the residence. I’ll stay alone for a while. If anything comes up, report to me then.” Qin Siyao said with a smile, and did not explain much to Mingyue.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Mingyue did not dare to ask more. She bowed and led the maids out of the courtyard.

Qin Siyao lifted her head and looked at the sky.

Because there was still some time before the auspicious hour, Qin Siyao strolled alone within the Qin embassy residence.

Looking at this familiar yet unfamiliar courtyard, Qin Siyao’s memories drifted continuously, comparing this Qin embassy residence one by one with the Xiao Residence of Ancient Qin from tens of thousands of years ago.

It was a coincidence.

Qin Siyao had not expected that the Northern Pacification King’s Xiao Residence from back then would, tens of thousands of years later, become the embassy residence.

Only, time was far too distant. The original Frost King’s residence had long since vanished, and this rebuilt embassy residence could no longer show even the slightest trace of the past.

The original pond had become a small grove.

The separate courtyard where the First Madam, Xia Qingke, had lived had become a study.

The martial training ground of the Xiao Residence had grown full of flowers and grass, becoming a garden.

In the end, Qin Siyao followed a small path and kept walking forward.

When Qin Siyao stopped, she had arrived before the gate of a small courtyard.

This small courtyard had not existed originally—there had only been a patch of grass.

But after Qin Siyao arrived, she had the servants build it anew.

The small courtyard was very ordinary, and the yard was not large—only a small front yard and three rooms, plus a small kitchen.

The layout of the front yard was also simple—only a stone table and a few stone stools.

Looking at this small yard, Qin Siyao’s eyes gradually grew unfocused.

As if, in the courtyard’s kitchen, cooking smoke curled upward.

A gentle woman who did not contend with the world, together with her attendant, personally prepared a whole table of dishes, while the woman’s daughter-in-law claimed she was helping in the kitchen.

In truth, with cooking skills so poor, it was already good if she did not make things worse.

In the courtyard, a man who was clearly a military general, yet liked reading, sometimes held a book scroll in his hands, sometimes looked toward the kitchen, smiling helplessly yet warmly. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

A spring breeze swept through.

The scene before the woman’s eyes scattered like sand.

In the courtyard, there was only her alone.

Qin Siyao smoothed her red wedding finery skirt and sat down on a stone stool.

The clear wind brushed her hair and clung to her figure. She raised her head and looked toward the distant sky.

On that sky, so far away she could not know how far, it seemed someone was always watching her, always blessing her.

“Mother...”

A faint layer of mist covered Qin Siyao’s eyes. The corner of her lips lifted slightly, like a small crescent boat in a dream.

“Can you see it?”

“Siyao and Xiao Mo are getting married today.”