Chapter 5
Chapter 5
On the eve of the wedding, Mu He came to see me. Speaking of the marriage, she said, “Sister, actually, you never owed me anything in the first place.”
I met her gaze and listened as she continued, “It is I who owe you, Sister. If Father hadn’t died protecting me, he would still be here. Sister, I owe you a life.”
With that, she threw herself into my arms.
“It’s alright, it’s alright, Ah He. I’m not doing this just for you.”
I was doing it for myself as well. The only thing I could rely on was the Ningguo Mansion. Therefore, I had to do something to plan for my own future. Otherwise, why should they protect someone like me, who wasn’t even related to them?
It was just that I was too narrow-minded, not nearly as kind-hearted as they were.
When my brother carried me on his back to the bridal sedan, he told me that if I ever felt wronged in the future, I should come home.
Hearing this, I wanted to cry again. This was the place where I had lived for sixteen years. Regardless of what happened later, at this moment, I was a part of this family in their hearts.
We performed the wedding kowtows and entered the bridal chamber.
Until Prince Li lifted my bridal veil, my heart was in a state of panic. This prince, rumored to be a jinx to his wives, turned out to be quite handsome, not some three-headed, six-armed monster.
As long as he was human, it was fine.
After our first night together, I woke up the next day to go to the palace to give thanks, feeling a bit physically uncomfortable. The Emperor merely spoke a few auspicious words as per custom, and we then went to pay our respects to the Empress, who did the same. We were supposed to pay our respects to Prince Li’s birth mother as well, but she had passed away from illness many years ago, so we returned home.
He also handed over the management of the household to me. Everything seemed quite good; it wasn’t the dragon’s den or tiger’s lair I had feared.
When it came time for the traditional return visit to my maiden home, I had expected to go back alone. To my surprise, he didn’t go to the military camp that day. Instead, he accompanied me home and sat with us for a while, giving me a great deal of face.
My mother told me in private that Father intended to officially record Mu He as an adopted daughter. I was startled and asked if Mu He had agreed. Mother nodded and said to me, “Since you have married Prince Li, how could our Zhao Family have an extra daughter?”
“Mother, I…” I wanted to say that I hadn’t actually expected things to turn out this way at the start.
“I know. You did it for Ah He’s sake too. Ah Rou, you are a girl I raised with great care. I know your heart.”
However, I must admit that this news made me happy for a long time. At the very least, I was still a daughter of the Zhao Family on the clan registry. Yet, I felt I had let my biological parents down; a daughter like me was probably unworthy of being their child.