Chapter 484: Making Her Wedding Complete Without Regret
After a swift journey, taking countless winding paths, they finally stopped before a manor. Shen Xihe was puzzled: "Why have we come here?"
Xiao Huayong gave her a mysterious smile without answering, instead leading her inside. Once they passed through the second gate, she saw a tall figure standing in the courtyard. Shen Xihe couldn't help but call out: "Brother!"
During the wedding procession earlier that day, Shen Xihe had guessed it was her brother. Her father couldn't escort her, and according to tradition, the bride's brother should accompany her. Shen Xihe only had Shen Yungan as her biological brother. To avoid making her feel regretful on the surface, they had arranged for a cousin from the Tao family to escort her.
But this was her once-in-a-lifetime wedding, and she had hoped Shen Yungan would be the one to escort her. Still, she understood the constraints of the situation and the bigger picture, so she had never mentioned it.
Lifting her skirts, Shen Xihe rushed to Shen Yungan. At her call, he turned around and opened his arms.
Shen Xihe threw herself into his embrace, holding him tightly. It had been over a year since she last saw her brother. Although they often corresponded, she missed him terribly.
Shen Yungan spun her around in his arms before setting her down. He patted her head and looked down at her, his eyes filled with emotion: "My Youyou has grown up."
She had truly grown up—already married.
"Brother, Youyou will always be your little sister." Shen Xihe tilted her head slightly, her obsidian-like eyes reflecting Shen Yungan's figure, soft and warm.
Xiao Huayong watched from a distance. So this was how she could be—delicate and reliant. It was the first time Xiao Huayong had seen her like this.
It wasn't that she lacked the demeanor of a young girl; it was just that very few could bring it out in her.
Even though she was now tolerant, accommodating, and trusting toward him, she had never been this tender in his presence.
He envied how Shen Xihe behaved around Shen Yungan, but he wasn't jealous. Shen Yungan had spent fifteen years by her side, with the deep-rooted bond of blood kinship, to earn this. He and she had known each other for less than three years.
Shen Yungan opened his hand, revealing a wolf fang in his palm. A hole had been drilled at the base, with a string threaded through it: "Do you remember this wolf fang?"
Shen Xihe looked down. The smooth, slightly worn fang showed its age. Actually, there were two of these wolf fangs. They came from when Shen Xihe was seven years old. Hearing that Shen Yungan, who was training with the soldiers, had gone missing, she ignored others' advice, sent everyone away, and sneaked out to search for him.
Back then, Shen Yungan was just a young boy. He had stepped into a snowdrift and was buried instantly, which was why no one knew how he had disappeared. When he finally managed to climb out with great effort, he happened to run into Shen Xihe. Unfortunately, the siblings encountered a hungry wolf that had been driven out due to a lame leg. Shen Yungan had no weapons on him. A fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth, he fought the hungry wolf bare-handed, covered in wounds, and in the end, prepared to perish together with the wolf.
It was Shen Xihe who found a sharp branch, chased them down the snowy slope where he and the wolf were rolling, mustered all her courage, and desperately stabbed the wolf in the eye.
At that time, Shen Yungan and the wolf were tangled together. Shen Xihe might have missed the wolf and stabbed Shen Yungan instead. But they both knew there was only one chance. For young Shen Xihe, this required immense courage.But she did not hesitate, accurately stabbing out one of the starving wolf's eyes, which won him a brief opportunity. By the time he had killed the wolf and turned around, he found Shen Xihe had long since fainted—not from fright, but because her illness had flared up, leaving her gasping for breath.
If not for Father arriving just in time, bringing along the physician who always treated Shen Xihe, he might have lost his sister forever.
Later, the wolf was taken back, and Shen Yungan pulled out two of its sharp fangs, carrying them with him ever since. In countless bloody battles afterward, no matter how difficult or arduous, whenever Shen Yungan saw those two wolf fangs, he would remember that year—how if he hadn't gritted his teeth and persevered, Shen Xihe would have become the wolf's prey. And thus, he would surge with boundless fighting spirit.
"I wanted to give them to you back then, but Father said you were a young lady—how could you carry wolf fangs with you? Your vitality was weak, and such a bloody, fierce object might suppress your fortune." Shen Yungan lifted one of Shen Xihe's hands and placed them in her palm. "Now that Youyou's health has greatly improved, you can surely withstand its ferocity. From now on, we siblings will each keep one. When you miss your brother, just look at it."
He paused, then lowered his voice: "Brother feels the same."
The wolf fangs were warm—Shen Yungan must have been clutching them in his palm, and they retained the heat from his hand.
Shen Xihe closed her fingers, trying to shield them from the cool night breeze that might dissipate their lingering warmth.
Shen Yungan lowered his head, gazing reluctantly at Shen Xihe for a moment before saying hoarsely, "Brother has to go now, Youyou. Take good care of yourself."
"Mm." Shen Xihe forced a faint smile and responded quietly, not daring to speak.
Today, her heart felt unusually fragile. When she went out to bid farewell to Father earlier, she couldn't hold back her tears. Now, she felt she might not be able to suppress her tears again.
Shen Yungan held Shen Xihe's hand and walked up to Xiao Huayong, entrusting his sister to him without a word. He just clenched his fist and lightly punched Xiao Huayong's chest. Then he stepped back, his eyes fixed on Shen Xihe until he reached the doorway, where he turned and strode away.
Shen Xihe remained motionless. Only when the neighing of horses came from outside the courtyard and the clip-clop of hooves faded into the distance did she finally lower her eyelids.
"I arranged this hoping to make you happy, but instead I've caused you sorrow." Xiao Huayong sighed softly, drawing her into his embrace and sheltering half her body.
Shen Xihe tilted her head, her slightly moist eyes filled with gratitude: "Your Highness, I am very happy. Thank you, Your Highness, for planning all this for me."
She now understood—that night on New Year's Eve, when he came to find Shen Yueshan, it was for this matter. To find someone to impersonate Shen Yungan in the northwest, pretending to be ill for a few days, while Shen Yungan rushed here on horseback to accompany her wedding procession.
He had escorted her bridal carriage, personally seeing her through the Vermilion Bird Gate, fulfilling every duty an elder brother should.
Because of this, her wedding day was completely without regret.
That was why Shen Yueshan had allowed Xiao Huayong to stay that night—because he realized this son-in-law cared for his daughter more than he had imagined. Married to him, she would surely live no worse than before her marriage.
After all, this undertaking carried immense risks. Even they, despite their regrets, hadn't dared to take such a gamble. Yet Xiao Huayong, wanting Shen Xihe to have no regrets in this life, took the risk and explicitly stated that if anything went wrong, he alone would bear the consequences.To ensure everything went off without a hitch, only Shen Yueshan, who was involved, knew exactly how much effort and manpower Xiao Huayong had invested.
(End of Chapter)
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