Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

On the day of the wedding, ten miles of red silk were laid along Zhuque Avenue.

There were no golden lanterns sent from the palace in front of Zuixianju; instead, lanterns hanging under the eaves were all sent by the people of the capital. The red paper was of varying ages, and the writing was uneven. Some brought roast chicken, some carried red dates, and some little demons from the resettlement area had woven several bamboo baskets overnight, with red thread crookedly wrapped around the edges.

Su Qing stood in front of the back gate, bowing her head to straighten her wedding dress.

The fabric of the dress was tailored to fit her perfectly, and the hem was embroidered with nine tails, phoenix trees, and lanterns from the Luo River. Near the hem, a small fox with its head tilted crookedly squatted, its crooked stitches reminiscent of the jade carvings of Gu Xiang in his time.

She wore no phoenix crown in her hair, only a fox-shaped jade hairpin.

Outside the door, Gu Xiang, dressed in an old scarlet robe, waited quietly. The robe was the same one he wore when he first entered the court; Su Qing had altered it at the waist and cuffs, and the stitches were three thousand years old.

Hearing footsteps, he didn't urge her or ask if she was ready; he simply reached out his hand to her.

Su Qing looked at him for a moment, then placed her hand in his palm.

"Prime Minister Gu, if you abandon me again today—"

"Won't."

"I haven't finished speaking yet."

Gu Xiang clenched his fingers and said in a low voice, "If you want to turn the Prime Minister's residence into a fox den, that's fine too."

Su Qing's lips twitched slightly as she followed him out of Zuixianju.

The street outside the door is brightly lit.

Li Yu, Li Qingge, and the officials stood at the front, while the elders of Gujia Village sat in the front seats. The human refugees and lesser demons who had been treated by Su Qing in the Northern Border resettlement area were also invited in. Disciples of the Moving Mountain Sect carried in a bundle of paulownia branches, the tips of which were tied with red silk.

Su Qing slowed her pace.

She wore a wedding dress twice.

Once her life ended in a conspiracy, and another time in the flames of war in the North. Each time, she was left behind before a room full of red candles, watching Gu Xiang turn and leave.

She suddenly gripped Gu Xiang's sleeve tightly.

"You are not allowed to go to the North today."

Gu Xiang turned to look at her.

Su Qing tightened her grip: "Even if the sky falls, it's not allowed."

"it is good."

Gu Xiang answered solemnly.

"Today I will be your groom."

Before the ceremonial table, the Minister of Rites unfolded the ceremonial procedures and loudly proclaimed:

"The auspicious hour has arrived. The newlyweds offer sacrifices to Heaven, receive the nation's destiny, and pay homage at the ancestral temple—"

The smile on Su Qing's face faded.

The Minister of Rites stepped forward, holding a talisman to conceal his aura, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this is a solemn national ceremony. Please cover your fox ears and demonic markings for now, lest your demonic energy offend the Mandate of Heaven."

Several senior officials behind him echoed his sentiments.

"Demons and northern refugees are also not suitable to sit at the head table."

"The Empress's wedding is a matter of national destiny, and the mandate of heaven of the Great Zhou should take precedence."

The commotion in the street came to an abrupt halt.

Gu Xiang's eyes darkened, and a righteous aura condensed into golden light from his sleeve. Su Qing, however, pressed down on his hand first.

"It's a promise, we won't kill anyone on our wedding day."

She released Gu Xiang, walked alone to the altar, and raised her hand to remove the breathing-concealing talisman from the side of her neck.

Two fox ears peeked out from her black hair, and pale red demonic markings slowly emerged along the corners of her eyes and the sides of her neck. She did not release any oppressive aura; she simply stood in the sunlight, calmly looking at the people from the Ministry of Rites.

"Three years ago, the world told me to die."

Three years ago, the world asked me to make medicine.

Her fingertips landed on the ceremony.

"Now that I'm getting married, do I need the whole world to decide for me what to cover up?"

The Minister of Rites turned pale.

Among the crowd, the refugees whom Su Qing had once saved raised their heads. Several young demons also peeked out from behind their elders, looking at her undisguised fox ears.

The Minister of Rites, forcing a smile, said, "The sacrifices to Heaven and the Mandate of Heaven are not intended to coerce the Empress Dowager, but only to stabilize the nation's fortunes and appease the people. If the old rites are abolished, the Mandate of Heaven may change."

Li Qingge pressed his palm against the hilt of the sword.

Li Yuli stood beside the imperial desk, not speaking immediately.

Su Qing turned to look at the resettlement area outside the city.

There, tents stretched out in a row, and smoke from their chimneys rose above the city walls. Human refugees were sharing porridge, while a little demon carried timber to repair the tent roofs damaged by the weight of the snow.

"The lights of the capital city can be lit again, not because anyone has knelt before the mandate of heaven."

"Someone is willing to give the refugees a bowl of hot porridge, and humans and demons are willing to hold up a tent together in the wind and snow."

Su Qing tore off the four characters "Worship Heaven's Mandate" from the ritual document and placed them on the candle flame.

The paper curled up and turned to ashes.

"Only a world like this is worthy of worship."

Gu Xiang stepped forward and took the blank wedding scroll.

He picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, but did not write anything immediately. Instead, he turned and walked towards the refugees from the northern border, the lesser demons, the disciples of the Mountain Moving Sect, and the people of the capital.

The old scarlet robe hung down.

Before the people, the Grand Chancellor of the Great Zhou Dynasty solemnly bowed.

"I bow here not to ask for Heaven's mercy."

"I only thank you all for still being willing to light a lamp in these chaotic times."

The people were stunned for a moment.

An elderly man at the front of the table stood up, supporting himself on the edge of the table, and returned his greeting. Following him were a woman leading a child, a little demon with a broken horn, and a travel-worn disciple of the Mountain Moving Sect.

Along the entire Vermilion Bird Avenue, all the people bowed down.

With this gesture, Gu Xiang's righteous aura spread out, not transforming into an oppressive holy might, but rather into a gentle golden light that spread across ten miles of red silk.

In the golden light, the tents of the resettlement area outside the city, the hot soup delivered by Zuixianju, the wooden frame erected by humans and demons, and the lanterns in the hands of the people all appeared one by one.

The fate of the Great Zhou Dynasty remained unshaken.

The five-clawed golden dragon that had been hovering above the capital opened its eyes, and its body solidified into several parts.

Li Yu's eyes widened in shock, and he raised his hand to stop the old minister who was about to argue.

Su Qing walked back to his hometown and took the pen from his hand.

She wrote her eight characters on a blank wedding plaque.

"Husbands and wives bow to each other, but do not worship fate."

Before the ink was dry, the Phoenix Fire ignited along the characters.

Su Qing turned to look at Gu Xiang.

"I don't want to be anyone's sacrifice anymore, nor do I want to be the empress's memorial tablet in the Imperial Ancestral Temple."

"Gu Xiang, I don't want you to make up for past grievances with guilt."

She paused, her fingers lightly touching his old scarlet robe.

"I stand here today only because I have chosen to marry you."

Gu Xiang didn't rush to speak.

He unfolded the marriage certificate, and with his righteous spirit as ink, he wrote stroke by stroke: "I will never fail Su Qing in this life."

As the six words were uttered, my heart, with its seven orifices of exquisite wisdom, pounded heavily.

Gu Xiang held up the marriage certificate towards the city lights, and the sound echoed throughout Zhuque Avenue.

"Gu Xiang's wife, Su Qing, could be a fox, could be a human, could enter the imperial court, or could return to the mountains and fields."

He glanced at Su Qing beside him, his gaze unwavering.

"If I betray my hometown in this life, my noble spirit will dissipate and my exquisite heart will burn away."

The exquisite heart with seven orifices resonates simultaneously with the true fire of the phoenix.

The magnificent golden characters shot into the sky, transforming into six large characters above the capital city.

I will never let Su Qing down in this life.

All the people in the city looked up and saw it.

Su Qing stared at the words for a moment, then reached out to straighten Gu Xiang's collar.

"That's pretty ruthless."

"I'm afraid you won't believe me."

"If I did not believe you, I would not have come today."

Gu Xiang's fingertips rested on her hair, firmly fixing the fox-shaped jade hairpin that had been blown askew by the wind.

The two first bowed to the crowd in the street, and then stood facing each other.

There was no sacrificial ceremony to Heaven.

Not registered.

Only the lights stretching for miles and the people as witnesses.

The two bent down at the same time.

This bow came three thousand years late and spanned several life-and-death experiences.

The world was quiet.

There was no divine punishment, no collapse of the nation's destiny. Instead, from the depths of the streets and alleys, one light after another lit up, until it illuminated the entire capital city.

Li Yu personally closed the old ceremony plan.

The ceremony is complete.

Li Qingge was the first to clap her hands.

The next moment, applause and congratulations erupted throughout the street.

Gu Xiangzhi stood up and took Su Qing's hand.

Su Qing did not break free.

The two walked slowly back to Zuixianju, stepping on ten miles of red silk amidst the lights and congratulations.