Qiao Xi had convinced herself last night that marrying Su Heting was for revenge.
But Granny Jinhua's words—"Miss Xi, this old woman presumes to speak on behalf of General Qiao and his family. This cake is for you. They surely wish you a smooth and happy marriage, filled with peace and joy."
Qiao Xi's casual indifference turned solemn.
She could almost see the one hundred and thirty-two members of the Qiao family seeing her off to her wedding.
When Granny Jinhua whispered the wedding customs in her ear, she listened with both earnestness and longing.
It was as if the admonitions and blessings of her parents and family were being conveyed to her through Granny Jinhua's voice.
But Qiao Xi still remembered the Crown Prince with clarity.
She had not lost her senses.
Granny Jinhua had been brought by Su Heting. How did he know of her connection to Granny Jinhua? What did he intend to do?
"Since this is a marriage of alliance, why do all this? And how do you know Granny Jinhua?"
Before the wedding night, Qiao Xi asked this.
"In the northern frontier, news of the Qiao family is not hard to come by."
Su Heting lazily removed his groom's hat and tossed it aside, then casually lifted the heavy phoenix crown from Qiao Xi's head.
He clicked his tongue. "Moved, are you?
Seems this prince's efforts have won your heart. Here's to a pleasant cooperation from now on, Princess Consort."
Qiao Xi's fingers curled slightly.
Granny Jinhua had said that after the barbarian invasion, she had returned to the mountains with her family, and Su Heting had personally gone to bring her out.
Finding someone in the deep mountain forests where one could hide from the barbarians was no easy task.
"How did you come to know my Qiao family?"
Just yesterday he had fed her poison, yet now he went to the trouble of finding Granny Jinhua for her.
Qiao Xi could not read Su Heting.
The man picked up the wedding scissors from the table. "What? Barely married, and you're already trying to dig up your husband's secrets?"
He leaned in, bringing the scissors behind Qiao Xi's head, his long arms seeming to encircle her entirely.
Still in that careless tone, he said, "To be precise, it was my grandfather who had ties with the Qiao family."
Snip. A lock of Qiao Xi's black hair fell into his hand. "He was grateful to the Qiao family and once hoped I would marry a daughter of the Qiao house."
In the information Qiao Xi had gathered, Su Heting did indeed have a grandfather—though the old man was afflicted with madness and was not his biological kin.
She tried to read something from his face.
There was no trace of lying or evasion.
At this time in her past life, the northern frontier was still in barbarian hands. In this life, Su Heting had reclaimed it ahead of schedule. Qiao Xi had suspected whether Su Heting, like her, might be a reborn soul.
But she had analyzed him—from organizing the righteous army to driving out the barbarians, his actions bore no trace of a reborn prophet.
Su Heting also lowered his gaze to her, his phoenix eyes tilting upward with a seductive, wicked charm. "Don't overthink it. That face and figure of yours are worth this prince's effort."
Straightening up, he cut a lock of his own hair and offered both strands to Qiao Xi. "Do you know how to tie a Concentric Knot?"
Qiao Xi knew how, but she did not take it.
Before the Crown Prince's downfall, she had been on the verge of coming of age. After her coming-of-age ceremony, she was to be wed, and the matrons had already begun teaching her the matters of marriage, intentionally or not.
When she had practiced the Concentric Knot with the matrons, she had thought of tying her hair with her Crown Prince brother—husband and wife, never to part.
"Though this is a marriage of alliance, it is still something you agreed to. You have already accepted the betrothal gift of five thousand soldiers."
A chill coiled in Su Heting's deep eyes as he pressed the hair into Qiao Xi's hands. "This prince is not a casual man. This is the first marriage of my life. Ruin my first, and I'll skin you alive."
Qiao Xi snapped back to attention and swiftly tied the hair into a Concentric Knot.
She was being overly sensitive. She had already chosen to marry, which meant she had already betrayed the Crown Prince. What was the point of dwelling on it?
Only then was Su Heting satisfied. The coldness in his eyes gradually faded as he pressed the Concentric Knot beneath the pillow, then pulled a piece of paper from his chest. He glanced sidelong at Qiao Xi's finger. "Will you bite, or shall I cut?"
Qiao Xi looked over and saw it was a marriage contract, the names already filled in. All that was needed was a fingerprint.
This time Qiao Xi did not hesitate. She broke into a smile. "I'll bite."
But she reached for Su Heting's hand.
That smile dazed Su Heting.
It was not until his large hand was grasped by a soft, warm little hand and brought to her lips that he came back to his senses. Yet he could not bear to pull away, letting her pearl-like teeth bite into his finger.
His mouth remained merciless. "Bold little fox, daring to wound this prince right after the wedding. Careful, or this prince will pull out your teeth."
In his heart, he consoled himself: Forget it, today is the wedding. I won't stoop to argue with this little thing.
Qiao Xi wiped Su Heting's blood and pressed a fingerprint onto the marriage contract. "Done."
Then she saw Su Heting press a small tray into her hand. On the tray sat two wine cups, and he lifted a wine pot to pour wine into them.
Qiao Xi understood what this was.
She was only a little surprised that Su Heting, a grown man, was so adept at these rules and rituals, as though he had been married countless times.
But she had no heart to tease him.
Having lived two lives, though she had never been married, she understood what came after the Neck-Crossing Wine.
As his wife, if he wished to consummate the marriage, she had no reason to refuse.
After all, her heart had been cremated along with the Crown Prince in that great fire. What remained now was nothing but an empty shell.
She thought this way, yet Qiao Xi's body still tensed instinctively.
In truth, Su Heting was not rough, nor was he greedy.
But Qiao Xi, experiencing it for the first time, still felt a pain that made the world spin.
She closed her eyes and caught her breath.
There was movement beside her—Su Heting must have risen from the bed.
Before long, a damp cloth landed on her body, startling Qiao Xi into opening her eyes.
She saw Su Heting, who had been about to wipe her, freeze as he stared at a piece of silk on one side.
That silk was meant to be placed beneath the bride on the wedding night to catch the blood of first intercourse.
But now that cloth…
Spotlessly white!
Qiao Xi's mind went blank with a buzz.
How could there be no blood?
She was certain that in her existing memories, she had never been intimate with a man.
She hesitated over whether to explain, but did not know how.
Then she saw Su Heting's hand move again.
Qiao Xi quickly sat up, covering herself with the thin quilt, and took the damp cloth from Su Heting's hand. "I'll do it myself."
Even having done what married couples do, she could not bring herself to shamelessly let a man she had met only a few times wipe her there.
Besides, Su Heting's expression was not pleasant at this moment.
"Ungrateful. Clean yourself up and rest. This prince has matters to attend to and will be away for a few days."
He rose, dressed himself piece by piece, and left without looking back.
The moment the door closed, Qiao Xi thought: Su Heting does mind.
But she no longer wished to explain.
It was Su Heting who had arbitrarily altered the agreement, who had forced the marriage without asking about her past.
He was not her Crown Prince. She had no obligation to explain. They were merely partners in cooperation.
Lying back down on the wedding bed, Qiao Xi still could not sleep.
She carefully went through her past again but found no trace of any loss of chastity.
Yet she remembered that the matron who cared for her had repeatedly told her that women always bled on their wedding night; otherwise they were unchaste and impure.
No man would not mind; even if he said nothing, resentment would still take root in his heart.
At that time, she was still a young girl who had not yet reached the age of coming-of-age ceremony. Why did the matron tell her these things?
Thinking of something, a faint dark light flickered across Qiao Xi's gloomy pupils.