Chapter 481: Chapter 420: Keeping Vigil

’Young Master Yun Rong rejected the marriage alliance with Princess Ji Wan back then, so why is he initiating one now?’

’Is the plot finally moving forward?’

Sang Luo recalled what the old village chief Xu had said—Princess Ji Wan died on her wedding day to the Divine Venerable. ’Could this be it? This Princess is so short-lived.’

Sang Luo found herself in a dilemma.

The problem was, she had to maintain the Princess’s persona. Everyone knew Princess Ji Wan was infatuated with Young Master Yun Rong of the Nine-tailed Fox Clan. The old Clan Leader of the Red Fox Clan had even agreed to the marriage without asking a single question. If Sang Luo were to refuse, it would surely arouse suspicion…

After the Princess’s body died, her soul would leave this mortal vessel and, barring any accidents, return to her original body. This was the only method left for Sang Luo if she ultimately failed to find her body.

She hadn’t acted before, partly because she was afraid of the pain, and partly because she feared disrupting the timeline. Now, following the course of events felt like it was fated to be.

“When will the wedding be held?” Sang Luo asked, turning to the Clan Leader.

“If there are no other issues, let’s do it next month. It seems the Young Master wishes to marry you as soon as possible,” the Clan Leader said, chuckling happily.

His daughter, however, didn’t seem as happy as he’d expected. “Getting married so soon… isn’t that a bit rushed?”

“Oh? If there’s something you’d like to prepare, we can pick another auspicious date. Your father will go negotiate with the Nine-tailed Fox Clan.”

Sang Luo shook her head. “No, that’s alright. Next month is fine.”

She gazed out the window. A continuous spring rain was knocking countless new buds from the flowering trees.

’I just can’t bear to part with that little fox… But the day of our farewell is inevitable…’

…

The plum rain season was damp and cold, so Yun Qi had been staying in his courtyard and not going out much. His illness had mostly healed long ago, but he greedily clung to the tenderness she showed him. Sang Luo was happy to indulge his little ploys and often found time to come and keep him company.

“Is Your Highness in a poor mood?” Yun Qi asked, seeing her listless expression ever since she returned. He brewed her a cup of hot tea.

Sang Luo snapped back to reality and stared at him. Suddenly, she said something completely out of the blue.

“Are you feeling better now?”

“Hm? Your Highness…” Yun Qi was taken aback.

“I recall what you said last time. As my Concubine, you have yet to perform your duties as a Concubine. It has indeed been unfair to you.”

“COUGH!” The young man seemed to have choked on a sip of tea. A faint blush spread across his face, and he lowered his head, not quite daring to look at her.

Seeing his shy demeanor, Sang Luo’s mood brightened considerably. She reached out, lifted his chin, and her red lips parted slightly. “I’ll give you one chance. How about it? Just this once.”

“…My cold is better. I won’t pass the sickness to Your Highness.”

The young man’s breathing deepened. He swept her up into his arms, turned, and strode toward the bedchamber. His steps were steady, yet they betrayed a hint of haste.

The bedroom door closed. Sang Luo lay on the large bed, which was covered in a soft, cloud-like quilt. Her long, messy hair fanned out across the bed, and her eyes held a bewitching allure.

The female’s light fragrance was all the more intoxicating.

Yun Qi’s Adam’s apple bobbed. No longer restraining his scorching desire, he knelt on the white mattress, pressing deep folds into it. He braced one hand beside her, while his other slender hand pinned her fingers. He lowered his head to kiss the side of her neck, his long fingers moving behind her to slowly, meticulously, peel away the layers of her robes…

No lamps were lit. The curtains were drawn, plunging the room into darkness. The only sound was their two entangled breaths as the temperature steadily climbed—

At the last moment, Sang Luo suddenly stopped him. “Wait.”

Pain flickered across the young man’s flushed, restrained face. His voice was pleading. “Your Highness…”

“Forget it. Let’s just rest for now.” She had suddenly lost interest. She turned over and pulled the quilt up tightly around herself.

’Sigh… No matter how much I might regret this, I can’t just mess around in someone else’s body.’

’If I can’t have him, so be it.’

’It’s enough that the memory of this beautiful young man exists in my mind.’

But Yun Qi didn’t know what Sang Luo was thinking. He curled up, taking a long moment to suppress the aching pain. A deep sense of loss and dejection flickered in his eyes.

’Why won’t she accept me?’

’Am I unable to arouse a female’s desire?’

’This half of my face…’ He had searched through countless medical texts but still hadn’t found a complete cure.

The amorous atmosphere dissipated, and the temperature in the room dropped with it. The young man wrapped his arms around Sang Luo’s waist from behind, resting his chin on the nape of her neck. His voice was still tinged with a lingering hoarseness. “Your Highness, I’m a little cold. May I hold you while we sleep?”

’This little fox certainly knows how to be endearing.’

Sang Luo couldn’t bring herself to refuse him. She sighed softly. “If I were to leave one day, what would you do?”

The young man nuzzled the back of her neck and murmured, “I will wait for Your Highness forever.”

“What if you wait and I never return? The kind of departure from which one can never come back,” she said.

Yun Qi froze. The arms around her waist suddenly tightened. “Your Highness!”

“…A person’s life is full of accidents, filled with separations and goodbyes. No one can promise to stay with someone forever.”

The young man’s hands slowly relaxed. After a long moment, he answered in a low voice.

“Then I will hold a vigil for Your Highness.”

He said,

“I once heard an ancient, beautiful legend. After a person dies, as long as they live on in someone’s memory, a wisp of their soul will remain in the world, never to dissipate.”

“If someone holds a vigil for the deceased for a hundred thousand years, moving heaven and earth, the Beast God will take pity and allow the two to meet again.”

Sang Luo hadn’t known such a legend about vigils existed. Thinking of the past, her heart grew heavy. “It’s just a legend. You can’t take it seriously.”

“Yes, just a legend. A lie the living tell themselves for comfort. But if one doesn’t even have a lie, what is left to sustain the obsession to keep on living?” Yun Qi said softly. “If, after a hundred thousand years, Your Highness has not returned, then I will go and find you.”

“…Don’t be ridiculous!”

’First one, now another… What’s with this obsession with following someone in death?!’

Sang Luo turned around in a huff, but when she looked up, she met the young man’s deep, resolute, ink-black eyes. She froze, the scolding words dying in her throat. Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her arms around his lean waist and buried her head in his embrace—still somewhat slender, but firm and strong.

Her voice was muffled as she said, “No matter what happens, you must live well. Live for yourself. Whether you succeed in waiting for me or not, you are not allowed to do anything so foolish… If I truly leave one day, you must let me go and find another good female whom you like, one who will love and cherish you.”

“But a Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox can only have one partner in their lifetime. I have already married Your Highness. There will never be anyone else.”

Hearing the young man’s deeply affectionate confession, Sang Luo’s heart only grew heavier.

Someone else had said those same words to her once; she understood the loyalty of a Nine-tailed Heavenly Fox to their partner all too well.

But she was not Princess Ji Wan. The person Yun Qi had married was not Sang Luo.

’Some things are just wrong from the very start. I can’t afford to be greedy.’

Sang Luo released him, turning to straighten her clothes and get out of bed. The young man was at a complete loss. He pulled her back into his arms, holding her tight. “Your Highness! Did I say something wrong? Please don’t go…”

Sang Luo slowly pried his fingers away. “I have to leave for a trip next month.”

“Where is Your Highness going? I can go with you!”

“What a coincidence. I’m going to your old home, the Nine-tailed Fox Clan.” Her voice was flat. “Soon, I will marry Yun Rong and take him as my Main Husband.”

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