Read Novel Full CHAPTER 37 PART2
CHAPTER 37 PART2
In this moment, Gu Feichi’s gaze on her was heartbreakingly sincere.
Wait—so you could back out after placing a bet? Xiao Yanfei’s eyes lit up.
That sentence of his fell like the final weight tipping the scales in her heart. In an instant, her hesitation gave way to clarity.
She now had her answer.
“Really?!” Her eyes sparkled like stars as she stared at him, unblinking—like sunlight had suddenly broken through the clouds and poured into his world.
Gu Feichi: “…”
He fought hard to hold back a laugh, but the amusement still spilled from his eyes as he nodded.
Really.
“Alright!” Xiao Yanfei beamed, her eyes curved in delight. Behind her, it felt as though a fluffy cat tail was swaying contentedly with her joy.
She raised a small hand and playfully slapped his palm. “Then it’s a deal, okay?”
Smack!
A pact sealed with a palm-slap—one word, and it was done.
His hand was nearly twice the size of hers, the contrast stark: one strong and broad, the other delicate and slender.
His fingers were long and well-defined, like sculpted jade bamboo; hers were soft and graceful, like tender scallion stalks.
In the moment their palms met, he could feel the warmth and softness of her touch.
Her hand was so soft—just like her waist, he imagined. So delicate, it seemed as if even the slightest pressure might break her.
Gu Feichi’s smile deepened, his eyes alight with something bright and dangerous.
They were standing far too close. Xiao Yanfei was momentarily dazzled by his beauty.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Her heart suddenly pounded out of rhythm, completely beyond her control. She thought to herself: What a waste it is for a face like this to be hidden behind a mask every day.
“Ahem…” She cleared her throat awkwardly and asked dryly, “Do you still want the candy?”
She pulled out the package of sticky rice dumpling candies again and offered it to him. “They’re really sweet. You’ll like them.”
Gu Feichi reached over and plucked a piece from the wax paper in her palm—but he didn’t eat it. Instead, he held the candy to her lips.
Without thinking, Xiao Yanfei opened her mouth and accepted it. Her soft, rosy lips brushed against the slightly rough pad of his fingertip, and her whole body stiffened. She even forgot to take back the candy packet from his hand.
Gu Feichi picked up another candy for himself. This time, he popped it into his mouth.
His long lashes lowered slightly, casting shadows over the snowy-white skin at the corners of his eyes, the contrast so stark it made him look like a fox spirit from deep in the mountains—seductive, otherworldly, dangerous.
“It really is sweet,” he said with a faint smile.
The candy melted on the tongue, fragrant and sugary, its sweetness laced with a subtle hint of rose—soft, warm, lingering. A sweetness that didn’t just settle in the mouth, but sank all the way to the heart.
Utterly, irresistibly tempting.
Xiao Yanfei was almost dazzled again. Her lips suddenly felt like they were on fire, and that heat rapidly spread across her cheeks and ears. Her mind was a complete mess…
Without thinking, she hastily bundled the herbs she needed, tossed them into her basket, and blurted out, “I’m leaving!”
One hand lifting her skirt, the other gripping the little basket, she bolted—giving Gu Feichi no chance to say another word.
The warm spring breeze swept through the camphor trees and the blooming crabapple flowers nearby. It was a scene straight out of a picture—full of light, warmth, and fragrance.
Gu Feichi gazed after the girl’s retreating figure—she fled almost as if escaping—and a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips. It was a smile like spring sunlight, slowly warming the chill at the edges of his sharp, cold features, until his entire face seemed to glow.
Xiao Yanfei dashed out of Wancao Hall without once looking back, completely missing the shopkeeper’s greeting as she passed.
Only when she reached the street and felt the breeze brush across her face did she realize how hot her cheeks had become.
She lifted a cool fingertip to touch her flushed skin, then traced the heat to the base of her ear—her heart was still pounding wildly.
After a few moments in the fresh air, the candy in her mouth finally melted completely, and her thoughts slowly settled. The lingering sweetness remained.
Princess Ning Shu had said the zongzi candy was delicious—and she’d been right. It was sweet, fragrant, and crisp.
Hmm… Ye’er would love this too!
On the way back, Xiao Yanfei stopped by Dingshiji and bought another packet of zongzi candy for little Xiao Ye before returning to the marquis’s estate.
She personally delivered the candy to the main courtyard, then returned to her own residence, Moonrise Pavilion, and began sorting through the herbs she had just purchased.
She also pulled out the new medical texts she’d bought.
For the next two days, she stayed tucked away in her courtyard. Aside from the customary morning and evening greetings, she didn’t leave once.
She spent her time immersed in studying medical books, attempting to craft herbal pills according to the formulas she read. Failure after failure, she started over again and again. Nearly half the day at Moonrise Pavilion was filled with the sound of simmering decoctions.
The thick scent of medicine clung to the air.
Rumors spread throughout the marquis’s household that the second young lady had fallen ill again. Many servants, fearful of catching whatever “illness” she might have, avoided her altogether.
Moonrise Pavilion became especially quiet.
That noon, a young maid came running breathlessly into Moonrise Pavilion, gasping for air. “Second Young Miss… Second Young Miss!”
Her high-pitched and excited cry shattered the quiet serenity of the courtyard.
Haitang turned with a frown, ready to scold her for the disturbance, but the little maid blurted out between panting breaths, “Sister Haitang, there’s an imperial decree!”
An imperial decree? Haitang was stunned.
“Hurry and inform the Second Young Miss! She needs to go to the Outer Ceremonial Gate to receive the decree,” the maid urged anxiously. “Tell her to be quick!”
The marquis’s household hadn’t received an imperial decree in over a decade. By now, everyone else had already gathered at the Outer Ceremonial Gate, and only then did the Dowager Marchioness realize no one had informed the Second Young Miss. It might already be too late.
Panicked, Haitang rushed to the study and relayed the message to Xiao Yanfei. Xiao Yanfei, however, calmly set down the wolf-hair brush in her hand and placed it neatly on the brush rack.
She only tidied her clothes a little, then had Haitang help her pin on a red-gold butterfly hairpin with inlaid kingfisher feathers. Leisurely, she left the courtyard and followed the maid toward the Outer Ceremonial Gate.
From a distance, she could already see the members of each branch of the family gathered there, surrounding the Dowager Marchioness and the Marquis of Wu’an.
The sharp-eyed Wang momo spotted Xiao Yanfei first and whispered something into the Dowager Marchioness’s ear. The old matron immediately turned and cast a piercing gaze toward her, her brows knitting in displeasure.
This girl—always so slow and dawdling! They’d told her to hurry, and she still strolled over like she had all the time in the world.
Truly a concubine-born girl, the Dowager Marchioness thought with contempt. No matter how you raise her, she’ll always carry that air of small-minded vulgarity, never fit for anything respectable. If not for that pretty face, she’d be good for nothing.
Of course, the Dowager Marchioness wouldn’t scold her granddaughter in front of outsiders. She merely gave Xiao Yanfei a cold glance before turning back to Xiao Luanfei with a warm and kindly smile.
“Luan’er,” she instructed gently, “when the decree is read, kneel in the front.”
Earlier, the Dowager Marchioness had deliberately sent Wang momo to question the attending eunuch and learned that today’s imperial decree was a marriage edict.
It was obvious—the imperial decree must be for her eldest granddaughter, Xiao Luanfei.
Her beloved Luanfei was about to become the esteemed Crown Princess.
At the thought, the Dowager Marchioness’s clouded eyes gleamed with an uncharacteristic brightness. Her gaze toward Xiao Luanfei grew even more affectionate and indulgent.
Xiao Luanfei lowered her eyes demurely, a flush blooming across her cheeks like rouge. She clearly understood the Dowager Marchioness’s unspoken message—only the recipient of the decree was permitted to kneel at the front to receive it.
This decree was for her!
Marquis Wu’an, Xiao Yan, swept his gaze across the gathered crowd. Seeing that nearly everyone had arrived, he stepped forward and bowed slightly to the middle-aged eunuch bearing the decree. “Eunuch Liang, all are present.”
The eunuch sent to deliver the decree today was Liang Zheng.
Liang Zheng’s eyes followed Xiao Yanfei as she slowly approached, and a knowing smile appeared on his face. “Since Second Young Miss Xiao is here, we may begin the reading of the imperial edict.”
He even offered her a particularly warm smile—a subtle gesture meant to reassure her. Don’t worry. This is good news.
And she knew. Xiao Yanfei returned a composed and serene smile.
Liang Zheng took the imperial scroll from the attendant eunuch—its brocade embroidered with multicolored clouds and dragons—and proclaimed:
“Xiao Yanfei, Second Young Miss of the Marquis of Wu’an’s household—receive the decree!”
What?!
The entire household froze, eyes widening in disbelief. Even Xiao Luanfei looked utterly stunned.
Under the weight of all those shocked gazes, Xiao Yanfei stepped calmly past Xiao Luanfei. Her pace was neither hurried nor slow as she walked to the very front and knelt gracefully before the eunuch.
Only then did the others seem to snap out of their daze. In a flurry, they all knelt on the cold bluestone floor behind her, each one a head lower than hers.
Before anyone had time to process what was happening, Eunuch Liang’s high, slightly nasal voice rang out again, his tone deliberately drawn out:
“By the Mandate of Heaven, His Majesty decrees: It has come to our attention that Xiao Yanfei, daughter of Marquis Wu’an, Xiao Yan, is gentle, virtuous, and of noble character…”
Kneeling just behind and to the right of Xiao Yanfei, the Dowager Marchioness began to sense that something was off.
Wait a moment… This decree—it sounded like it was for Xiao Yanfei?
She frowned, her wrinkled brow creasing in confusion. Could it be that the Emperor intended to bestow Xiao Yanfei upon some noble as a concubine?
But would a mere concubine warrant an imperial decree?
The Marquisate hadn’t received an imperial edict in over a decade. The Dowager Marchioness was momentarily thrown into disarray, thoughts running wild.
Just then, she heard Liang Zheng continue in his unhurried voice:
“Now that the heir of the Duke of Wei, Gu Feichi, is of age to marry, His Majesty has deemed it fit to bestow upon him a worthy bride…”
The Dowager Marchioness, who had been lowering her head, suddenly jerked it up, her face full of disbelief.
No… This wasn’t a concubine.
This was a formal imperial marriage!
She turned sharply to stare at Xiao Yanfei, kneeling calmly at the front. Under the sunlight, the girl’s profile glowed with a soft, jade-like radiance.
The emperor had actually issued a marriage decree for a concubine-born, an illegitimate daughter?!
And not just to anyone, but to the heir of the powerful Duke of Wei!
Not as a concubine. Not as a secondary wife.
But as the official, imperial-decreed heir’s consort.
This was an honor of the highest order.
In most cases, the official title of a noble wife—along with her honorary rank—was only granted after the couple had already married and the heir petitioned the court on her behalf.
There had never been a precedent where an imperial marriage decree directly named a concubine-born as the principal wife.
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