The Runaway Bride in a Substitute Marriage Novel 41 (End)

"It's no pity."

Xie Qingyan wrapped his arms around his wife from behind, his voice laced with a smile as he said gently, "There won't be anyone else. My heart has always held only you, madam."

"Smooth talker." Chen Yao said the words, but she couldn't help the corners of her lips curling upward.

"Every word comes from the bottom of my heart. You can believe me, madam."

One hand held her waist while he gently turned her shoulders, bringing her face-to-face with him in his embrace.

Then, with a slight exertion of strength, he swept her entirely into his arms.

"Hey! What about your wound? Put me down this instant." Subconsciously, Chen Yao looped both arms around his neck and looked down at him.

"The wound healed long ago." Xie Qingyan's steps didn't pause; he simply carried her steadily toward the bed.

He lifted his head, his warm breath brushing against her cheek as he murmured low, "If you don't believe me, I'll prove it to you right now."

He set her down gently on the bed, then leaned over and pressed his lips to the crimson ones before him.

At first it was a shallow, tentative kiss. Chen Yao slowly closed her eyes, then parted her lips slightly in cooperation, indulging his tongue's deep incursion.

In the quiet room, faint sounds of moisture gradually arose.

Chen Yao's chest rose and fell lightly. The corners of her eyes flushed a pretty crimson as she peered through hazy, watery eyes at the tall figure above her.

She lifted a hand, her fingertips brushing inadvertently across his abdomen in her daze.

Xie Qingyan felt his whole body stiffen, even the movement of kissing his wife pausing.

He could feel the soft pad of her fingertip tracing the uneven arrow scar, but at the same time, a tingling, numbing sensation quietly rose from that spot and spread swiftly through his limbs and throughout his body.

His fingers gripped her waist, and he couldn't help but let out a low, stifled groan.

Then his tongue withdrew from her mouth, and he kissed and suckled heavily down the side of her neck...

"Mmm... you bastard, have some restraint at least."

Chen Yao bit her lower lip, her fingertips clutching the brocade quilt beneath her. In the end, unable to bear it, she let out fragmented, soft, and delicate curses.

*

It was the Lantern Festival again, another year.

Everywhere in the capital, all sorts of exquisitely crafted lanterns were hung, their flowing colors lighting up the entire long street as if it were day.

Chen Yao wore a crab-apple-red ru skirt with a light fox-fur cloak draped over her shoulders. In her hand, she carried a lifelike rabbit lantern and strolled leisurely through the bustling crowd.

Until a small, reckless figure suddenly crashed into her arms.

Xiao Zhaoning, his hair in a child's topknot, tilted his little head up and said in a crisp voice, "Auntie, I—no, I mean—there are lion dancers up ahead! Let's hurry!"

"Before I brought you out of the palace, what did you promise me?"

Chen Yao steadied his small body with one hand, narrowing her eyes to slant a look at him. "You disappeared without a word just now—where did you run off to?"

Though she knew plenty of imperial guards were surely shadowing the young emperor in secret, she couldn't help feeling uneasy when he wasn't in her sight.

Xiao Zhaoning guiltily averted his eyes and apologized in a hushed voice, "I'm sorry, Auntie. It's my first time outside the palace, and I got too excited. When I saw someone over there breathing fire, I couldn't resist running over to watch."

Chen Yao patted his little head, thinking that Jiang Lingxuan, as the regent empress dowager, was probably busy with state affairs day in and day out and couldn't spare attention for him.

Though he was the emperor above all others, in her eyes he was just a six-year-old child confined to the palace, without playmates his own age, whose father had died young.

She certainly wasn't going to truly stay angry with him, so she quickly softened her tone and said gently, "Then let's not let it happen again, okay?"

"Mm-hmm." Xiao Zhaoning nodded with understanding, then blinked his big eyes and looked at her pleadingly. "Auntie, can we go watch the lion dance now?"

Chen Yao extended her free right hand toward him, lifting her chin slightly. "Hold my hand and no running off."

Xiao Zhaoning immediately stepped out of her embrace and happily slipped his soft little hand into her palm. "Okay, I'll do whatever Auntie says."

"Boom-boom!" The gongs and drums were tight and urgent, crackling in their ears like sudden rain.

Two lions, one draped in golden brocade and the other in bright red, leaped onto the wooden posts from either side.

Following the rhythm of the drums, they rose and dipped, shaking their heads and swishing their tails, twisting and turning across the platforms atop the posts in one fluid, seamless motion.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Xiao Zhaoning's eyes lit up.

He seemed utterly absorbed in the surrounding cheers and applause, clapping his little hands vigorously.

Chen Yao stood behind him. She had already handed her rabbit lantern to a guard, so now she gathered him in front of her, her free hands hanging slightly at her sides, guarding around him.

Inexplicably, she felt a sudden, powerful sense of déjà vu... as though many years ago, she had once shielded another child in the same way?

The lion dance had reached its climax, and the commoners crowding around had clearly grown more numerous.

Though guards were always nearby, there were simply too many people, too cramped. Setting aside the extreme case of assassins, even ordinary public order in these ancient times could easily lead to a stampede.

"A'ning, we've seen enough of the lion dance. How about we go look somewhere else?"

The surrounding noise was too chaotic, so Chen Yao could only bend down slightly, cupping her hand around his ear and leaning in close to speak.

Xiao Zhaoning actually wanted to keep watching, but the empress dowager kept him on a tight leash in the palace, so he obediently nodded in agreement.

"Auntie, can I give them a tip too?"

He watched the people on both sides tossing coins toward the lion dancers and couldn't help asking eagerly.

A small matter like this—Chen Yao naturally wouldn't refuse him. She simply took another handful of loose silver from a guard and handed it to him with a light laugh. "Here, toss it."

Xiao Zhaoning cheered inwardly and hurriedly flung the barely-gripped handful of silver toward the wooden posts of the lion dance.

On the court, he had bestowed far more valuable rewards at the empress dowager's bidding, but none of them made him happier than what he had just thrown with his own hands.

After the round of tipping, Chen Yao took the young emperor's soft little hand again and guided him out through the pressing crowd.

But no sooner had they reached an open space than she lifted her eyes and saw, beneath a row of bright lanterns, Xie Qingyan standing tall and elegant in place—clad in a long robe of pale blue-green brocade, with a dark greatcoat over his shoulders.

"Boom, boom, boom!" Clusters of gorgeous fireworks burst open overhead, their multicolored sparks dyeing the dim night sky brilliant and bright in an instant.

Chen Yao glanced up at the night sky, then quickly looked back down.

She blinked, her gaze landing on the man before her, who, bathed in the resplendent light and shadow of the fireworks, was walking slowly toward her step by step.

"Madam." Xie Qingyan's eyes were full of tender warmth. He raised a hand and, with practiced ease, drew her furry cloak a little closer around her.

Then he looked to the little boy at his wife's side. "And... A'ning."

"Grand Tutor Xie—no, Uncle." Xiao Zhaoning immediately grew a bit nervous.

After all, Xie Qingyan was responsible for teaching him cultural knowledge and the way of governance on a daily basis—he was truly the imperial tutor.

When Xiao Zhaoning ran into him while playing outside the palace, he always felt like a slacker caught red-handed by his teacher.

Xie Qingyan patted his little head, but his gaze remained tenderly fixed on his wife. With a smile in his eyes, he asked softly, "Did madam enjoy herself at the lantern fair?"

Xiao Zhaoning craned his neck to look left and right. Realizing that Grand Tutor Xie seemed to have eyes only for his aunt, he rolled his eyes and quickly let out a relieved breath.

Chen Yao nodded. "It's quite lively."

Xie Qingyan reached out and lightly clasped the palm of his wife's free left hand. The sound of fireworks around them was very loud, so he leaned in a little closer.

Looking at her, he deliberately sighed. "I only hope that next time, madam remembers to bring me along."

While everyone else looked up at the fireworks, Chen Yao quietly rose onto her tiptoes, tilted her head slightly, and brushed her lips lightly against his cheek. "I know."

She deliberately drew out the syllables, her sweet breath wafting softly past his ear, and in a gentle voice she called to him, "Husband."

*

Chen Yao spent decades in this small world. Xie Qingyan treated her exactly as he had from the start—doting and devoted, never letting her suffer the slightest grievance.

Until the very end, when she quietly leaned against his chest and closed her eyes in peace.

"Madam, wait for me on the road to the Yellow Springs."

Holding his wife in his arms, Xie Qingyan lowered his head and pressed a loving kiss to her forehead.

And on the very night Chen Yao passed away, he—whose health had generally been fine—followed his wife in death, overwhelmed by grief.