Chapter 38: Mother and Daughter Reunited (Patreon)

"Mother... I thought... I thought I'd never see you again." Her voice was muffled, thick with tears — nothing left of the cold, imposing empress from the enthronement ceremony. She was, in that moment, entirely the little princess who used to bristle the second she felt wronged.

"Silly girl." Huandu Xingzhen patted her back gently, her own eyes reddening.

Then Lan Yan noticed that only Gusttave and her mother had returned — her father was nowhere to be seen. A sense of foreboding coiled in her chest.

She hurried to ask what had become of Huandu Qingtian.

Gusttave and Huandu Xingzhen exchanged a glance, and finally told Lan Yan the truth.

"...That's what happened. To save your mother, your father paid the price of becoming human and performed a Pledge of Love. By now, he should already be in the underworld."

Lan Yan stood frozen where she was, like a statue caught mid-motion.

She understood every word Gusttave had said — Pledge of Love, becoming human, going to the underworld to be reborn — but strung together, the meaning refused to sink in.

Or maybe she simply refused to let it.

Huandu Xingzhen stepped forward and pulled her daughter into her arms.

Lan Yan buried her face in her mother's shoulder, her own shoulders shaking violently, but she bit down hard on her lip, refusing to let a single sob escape. She was Nanguo's empress now. She couldn't cry. She couldn't let anyone see her weak.

But tears never listened to reason — the harder she held them back, the faster they came.

Gusttave stood off to the side, not stepping closer, not saying a word.

He knew that at a time like this, any comfort would be hollow. Some grief had to be swallowed alone. No one could carry it for her.

[March 7th: Waaaah! Lan Yan just took the throne, and her father's already gone!]

[Jing Yuan: Huandu Qingtian guarded Nanguo for thousands of years, and used his last stretch of time to save the one he loved. A parting like that hurts, but it leaves no regrets. Compared to those who are torn away in an instant, without even a chance to say goodbye, he's had no small measure of fortune.]

[Zhongli: To trade himself for the one he loves, to shield his home and people with his own strength alone — that kind of resolve already surpasses most people in this world.]

In the end, Lan Yan came to accept that her father was gone, and at the same time formally announced to the world that her mother had returned.

As for Huandu Qingtian, through Lan Yan's careful framing of the story, he became the hero who had taken Huandu Xingzhen's place, sealed within Wuhuang Mountain.

From then on, Huandu Qingtian would spend most of his time standing guard within Wuhuang Mountain, only rarely able to step out and reunite with his family.

That way, once he was reborn and returned, it wouldn't stir up much of a disturbance.

And should he eventually die of old age, it could be explained away as his return to Wuhuang Mountain — avoiding any unrest there.

After all, if word ever got out that the Poison Emperor, Huandu Qingtian, was a being from outside the circle, the consequences would be severe.

It would directly shake the foundation of Lan Yan's rule.

Because although she was Huandu Xingzhen's daughter, she was also the daughter of an outsider being.

Once her hold on power was secure, Lan Yan held her wedding with Gusttave.

Among the attendants was even Yaoguang, the Venom Lady, serving as a maid in her dowry retinue.

It was a bit of an insult, having one of the Five Poisons Guards serve as a dowry maid — but who could argue, when it was for the family's own Nanguo empress?

Of course, Yaoguang herself couldn't care less about being a dowry maid. All she cared about was the meal she was about to get.

As Huandu Xingzhen presided over her daughter's wedding, she glanced at her old friend Yukong, who was helping out beside her, and couldn't resist teasing.

"Look at you — you've lived for thousands of years, and my daughter's already getting married, while you're still single. Don't wait until my grandchild's wedding to still be single."

The remark left Yukong speechless for a long moment, the teacup in her hand hovering in midair — she couldn't set it down, and she couldn't drink from it either.

"Look at you — you were exactly like this thousands of years ago, and you're still exactly like this now," Huandu Xingzhen went on, not even turning her head as she straightened the hem of her daughter's wedding gown. "Back when I picked Qingtian up at Nanguo's border, you said, 'What's so great about men.' Now I'm about to be a grandmother, and you're still saying, 'What's so great about men.'"

"Was I saying men are no good? I was saying I hadn't found the right one!" Yukong set the teacup down on the table with a clack and crossed her legs, looking every bit like she'd stopped caring what anyone thought. "Besides, look around Nanguo — is there a single man who can actually fight? Back in the day, I was the second-strongest fighter in Nanguo, right behind you. I can't exactly settle for someone I could beat myself."

Huandu Xingzhen finally looked up, giving her a look that plainly said 'you sure know how to make excuses for yourself,' then said, unhurried, "Then how about I introduce you to someone? Gusttave's caliber."

Yukong nearly slid right off her chair.

"Are — are you out of your mind?! That's your son-in-law!"

"I never said my son-in-law," Huandu Xingzhen said, smiling sweetly, though a mischievous glint flickered in her eyes. "I said that caliber of man. Though, in the whole world, there's really only the one of that caliber. If you truly can't find anyone else, settling isn't entirely out of the question—"

"Huandu Xingzhen! Keep talking nonsense and I'll dig up every embarrassing story about you crying your eyes out back at Wuhuang Mountain!"

"Go ahead. Qingtian isn't here, and Lan Yan's already married off — I don't need this old face of mine anymore anyway."

The two women, each of whom had lived for thousands of years, bickered on and on inside the hall, while outside, Lan Yan — who'd been eavesdropping — went red to the ears and yanked Gusttave away by the sleeve. "Don't listen, don't listen! My mother and Auntie Yukong never say anything sensible once they get together!"

[March 7th: Hahahahaha, Auntie Yukong getting pressured into marriage live! That's literally me getting ambushed by every aunt and uncle at New Year's family gatherings!]

[Qingni: So this is what Mom was like when she was young... I always thought she'd always been so composed and dignified.]

[Jing Yuan: Yukong was famously untamable back in her day — you could count on one hand the people who ever earned her respect. Who'd have thought that in this world, she'd still have the same temper. It's a good thing, really.]

The wedding was held in Nanguo's imperial palace. It wasn't a lavish affair, but everyone who came carried real weight.

The Beishan Yao Emperor, Shi Kuan, sent an envoy bearing gifts. Fan Yunfei of the Far West Regions didn't attend in person but still sent a pair of thousand-year Water-Calming Pearls. There was no word at all from Tushan's side, and Lan Yan secretly let out a breath of relief over that — the last thing she wanted was to run into anyone from the former Tushan lord's faction at her own wedding.

Seated in the place of honor, Huandu Xingzhen watched her daughter in her wedding gown, eyes crinkled with a smile, and suddenly felt her own eyes sting.

She turned her head aside and quietly pressed a fingertip to the corner of her eye — only to get caught red-handed by Yukong.

"Weren't you plenty chatty a minute ago? What's with the tears now?"

"Who's crying? I got sand in my eye."

"This is an inner hall. Where would sand even come from?"

"...Can you just shut up and watch the ceremony?"

As Lan Yan walked down the long red-silk aisle on Gusttave's arm, she suddenly murmured, "If only my father could see this."

Gusttave didn't break stride, only gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Then let's record today, and show him the footage once he's reborn."

Lan Yan blinked, then broke into a teasing grin. "I think you just want to use the recording to annoy him!"

Knowing Gusttave's personality all too well, Lan Yan immediately understood — he really did mean to use the footage of her wedding day to needle her stubbornly proud old father.

[Author's Note: Mid-Autumn reading event! Recharge 100, get 500 VIP points! Grab it now (event period: September 25 to September 27).]