Chapter 1244: Tied the Knot
Chapter 1244: Tied the Knot
Translator: RITF_Rain Editor: Chrissy
Yue Gongxue was begging the Moon Queen, but the Moon Queen was cold and indifferent. She would not give in, not even talk to Yue Gongxue face to face.
"You have chosen your beloved husband over the sect's anticipation and failed the people of Qiong-Hua Palace who have done so much for you. When you made the decision, you knew what was going to happen. One can never get all the advantages in the world! When you get something, you must give up something else!" The Moon Queen let somebody else deliver these cruel words.
"From now on, Qiong-Hua Palace will be the same Qiong-Hua Palace, yet you, Yue Gongxue will never be the same Yue Gongxue anymore! You are an orphan, who has no family name, so we won't stop you from using Yue [1] as your surname!
"You should be grateful that we allow you to marry somebody as a girl named Yue! It is more than you deserve!"
Such words broke Yue Gongxue's heart—she was hopeless!
When she saw Ye Nantian, she had a feeling that was strongly filling her heart. [In this complicated world, only this man will never give up on me, no matter whether I will become poorer or richer, sick or healthy, no matter how time will change my face, no matter how life will become difficult… he will unswervingly stay with me.]
[No matter how the storm strikes our life, he will stay by my side.]
[No matter what hardships fall on us, he will confront them with me and never leave me!]
[Only he!]
[Only he!]
"I will accept this!"
"Thank you! Master!"
"Thank you! Qiong-Hua Palace!"
She was on her knees, with her forehead touching the floor, sobbing.
However, she didn't know that the Moon Queen was also bearing the sadness behind the curtain before the throne. She seemed determined, yet her two hands were holding together so tight that the nails were sticking deep in the skin. She was gritting, biting her own lips and her lips were bleeding.
She clearly realized that from that moment on, she didn't have her daughter around anymore.
Her beloved disciple was going to be with that man.
The couple's life never had anything to do with her anymore!
She never had the chance to quietly get into her daughter's room in the night and checked if she was sleeping well…
At this moment, the pain that was sharp enough to tear her body apart kept expanding in her heart.
She was heartbroken.
The phoenix coronet was ready, as so was the wedding clothes. The Qiong-Hua Palace, which had been clean, plain, and snowy for ten thousand years, for the first time, became an ocean of wedding red!
It was soaked in a warm atmosphere.
Yue Gongxue didn't feel the warmth and happiness as she expected. Instead, she felt cold in her heart. Although she was going to marry the man she loved for the rest of her life, the loneliness and loss had filled her heart, and she knew that nobody could share with her and help her out!
She dazedly walked on the red carpet, driven by only instinct.
Ye Nantian was right on her side. She could definitely feel the joy and excitement from deep inside his heart. In his heart, there were excitement, encouragement, relief, and extreme happiness.
She knew she should be having the same feelings with her husband, yet the sorrow in her heart had diluted the happiness a lot.
The red bridal veil, which was a symbol of a wedding, had been put on her head.
The only thing she could see with her eyes was the red carpet under her feet. It was so red… just like blood!
Blood!
It was a wedding ceremony! All that surrounding her was blessing from others and jollification that rarely happened in this place. However, all that she felt was blood… A lot of blood…
[Why?]
[How come?]
[Why am I having such a feeling? Why am I so weird?]
[I feel like… I feel like walking on a path to death… to hell… I feel like they are all dead… that they are a crowd of people killed blessing me!]
[I feel incredibly uncomfortable… I feel choked… Where does this feeling come from?]
While she was lost in confusion and questioning herself, the sound of percussion and talks suddenly stopped.
Everything became silent.
After that, a voice sounded.
"It is time!"
It was the First Elder's voice. She was surely qualified to be the host of the ceremony.
"The newlywed, to bow to the sky and the earth!"
As the First Elder spoke it out loud, the cheering sound burst again all of a sudden.
Yue Gongxue was still blank in the head, just followed Ye Nantian and bowed to the sky, and then she heard First Elder's voice sounding again. "To bow to the parents!"
Silence stroke the atmosphere again all of a sudden.
The Moon Queen's voice sounded, full of joy and happiness, "As we all know, Xue-er has been working so hard in the sect. She is one of the best disciples of Qiong-Hua Palace… We also know that she is an orphan. I found her in the snow storm outside… Nobody knows who her parents are. That is a tiny bit of a pity, to be honest. After all, this is such a special day…"
Her voice suddenly stopped weirdly, but then she went on, "However, in this great moment, we can't skip any of the important steps of a wedding. I am the person who has raised her and taught her all she had learned. We are master and disciple, and we are like mother and daughter… Today, I am not the Prime Master of Qiong-Hua Palace, no the Moon Queen, not Xue-er's master… but her mother!
"Now, let me sit here, embrace the couple, accept their bow, and watch my daughter… marrying the man she loves! I would like to watch her catch the happiness of her life!
"I hope… that everyone in Qiong-Hua Palace would bless my daughter… congratulate her with the best wishes… We wish her a peaceful, healthy, and happy life! I hope that her life will have no more twists and turns… She has suffered too much more than she deserves!
"I wish her a beautiful, enjoyable, happy life afterward!"
She didn't sound peaceful, calm and elegant as usual, but emotional. For several times during the speech, she nearly stopped because her voice was shaking badly.
Yue Gongxue started to sob.
She could hear the blessing and the love of her master!
Nobody could fake it. She was sure that every word of her master came from deep inside her heart!
Bing Xinyue and Ye Nantian slowly got down on their knees.
"Get up, my child." The Moon Queen's gentle voice sounded again.
Yue Gongxue had a strange feeling. She felt that the Moon Queen didn't want her to leave. The next moment, she felt two shaking warm hands holding her up.
"Listen, girl. Being expelled by your mother in Qiong-Hua Palace is the last thing you should keep in your heart. It doesn't mean anything. Seize the day. Seize what you have in your life. From now on, enjoy every second of your life. Live well. Live happily. There should be nothing more you need to worry about. You don't need to take the burden as the Saintess of Qiong-Hua Palace anymore…"
She was playing the role as Yue Gongxue's mother at the moment—at least the others thought so, so she talked just like a mother. However, she didn't need to really act like Yue Gongxue's mother, because she was. For the first time, she got the chance to talk to her daughter as a mother.
"From now on, you belong to Ye Clan… You can't get into a huff just as you like. Remember, harmony and peace are the most important. Don't ever think that you are more important than others just because you are the former Saintess of Qiong-Hua Palace… No matter what happens, you should talk to Nantian, listen to him…"
"My child, I hope… I hope that you can… you can have a happy life… enjoy every second of your days… be together for the rest of your life in this wonderful marriage…" Finally, she couldn't help starting to get sentimental, nearly shed tears in front of all the others… She hurriedly operated her spiritual qi to hold the emotion down to calm down.
"Master…" Yue Gongxue was sobbing too much to speak, and her body was shaking.
"That is not right." The Moon Queen joked on it, "Today, you can't call me master… You should call me… mother…"
"Mother…" Yue Gongxue finally burst into tears and was choked with sobs. She got down on the knees again and crawled forward a few steps, holding the Moon Queen's legs and cried, "Mother… you have always been my mother…"
The Moon Queen was shaking. She nearly passed out because of what her daughter just said. With the shaking voice, she said with a bitter smile, "My silly child… You should have been married eighteen years ago if not that I stopped you… Don't be childish now… You are a mother yourself after all…"
Even though she said so, deep in her heart, she felt so painful that she nearly passed out.
[Today… I am finally a mother.]
[Today, my daughter finally call me mother in front of everybody else…]
[Today, I finally sit here as the girl's mother to witness my daughter's wedding, and accept the bow from her and her beloved husband!]
[Today, I watch my girl marry somebody…]
[It's enough!]
[I am satisfied enough!]
[There is nothing more I would ask for!]
"To bow to each other!" The First Elder spoke loudly, even though she didn't know if it was appropriate to do it at this particular moment!
"I announce you, husband and wife!"
…
The wedding ceremony, which was eighteen years late, was finally done.
Yue Gongxue, who had been feeling the sadness in her heart since the beginning finally came to joy and happiness after all that was spoken.
The Moon Queen said, "Twenty years afterward, Yue Gongxue will not be allowed to step into Qiong-Hua Palace any more!"
Yue Shuang, who stood beside the Moon Queen couldn't help but asked, "Your great Moon Queen, what about twenty years after?"
The Moon Queen said, "I won't be the Moon Queen of Qiong-Hua Palace after twenty years. Yue Gongxue will be not the disciple of the Moon Queen, or the heir of the Prime master anymore, but only the daughter, the beloved disciple of an old lady in the palace. It is reasonable that she comes to see her master. I don't think anybody will stand on her way. It will only be a personal affair. It won't violate any rules of the sect."
What she said had eventually calmed Yue Gongxue down.
She finally understood that as the Prime Master of the palace, her master had to do this, no matter how she loved her disciple. Yue Gongxue was the Prime Master's disciple, the former Saintess, so she should have obeyed the rules of the palace more strictly than others… However… she chose to marry Ye Nantian. What her master had done was only what she was required to do as the Moon Queen.
[Master is still the Prime Master of Qiong-Hua Palace. What she has done for me are already against her responsibility. When I was imprisoned, I actually hated her for what I suffered. In fact, I never tried to see things on her perspective. I… I was too unfilial to her!]
[Master, you are always my master!]
[Master, you are always my mother!]
[Not to mention twenty years, even two hundred years, even two thousand years, as long as I can still move, I will come back for you!]
[I will!]
Yue Gongxue, the former Saintess of Qiong-Hua Palace, had been prisoned for violating the rules of the palace. When Ye Nantian reached Dao Origin Stage, the Moon Queen agreed on the marriage as promised, so Yue Gongxue and Ye Nantian eventually got married. In the end, Yue Gongxue was expelled. That was all had happened.
Yue Gongxue and Qiong-Hua Palace were no more rated afterward!
Qiong-Hua Palace announced it to the world.
…
The news spread fast in the martial world.
People had different opinions on whether it was good news or not. The entire Qing-Yun Realm was in a discussion of the matter.
The news emphasized the words 'eighteen years'… and the promise of the Moon Queen…
…
"The couple has been loving each other from the beginning, and they were forced to be apart because of you, Moon Queen. The lady has been prisoned for eighteen years, during which she didn't even have a chance to see her husband and son. She has all the rights to hate every single person in Qiong-Hua Palace. Now her husband is a great man who has achieved greatness in cultivation. That is the only reason why the couple could finally be together. That is the blessing from heavens. I don't think Qiong-Hua Palace can actually stop them from leaving the palace… Yet the Moon Queen said the lady was expelled… What a joke! Qiong-Hua Palace truly cares too much about their stubborn pride."
"That's right. If I were Yue Gongxue, even though not powerful enough to burn the palace down, I would have left that merciless place as soon as I could. Expelled huh? Really? She would have left that stupid place if she could!"
"Well, Qiong-Hua Palace did hold a great wedding ceremony for the lady, but so what? If not for what they have done to the poor couple, how would the eighteen good years be wasted in nothing? A hypocritical wedding is all you can do to cover your shame, isn't it?"
"I guess the biggest enemy of Yue Gongxue and Ye Clan afterward will be Qiong-Hua Palace… Expelled? Come on… Leave it to yourself, Qiong-Hua Palace!"
…
These were what people said in the martial world. Gossip never died…
However, what they said were pretty convincing to the world. Almost everybody in Qing-Yun Realm agreed on the opinion above because it genuinely made sense!
What they believed was simple.
[If I were Yue Gongxue, I would never stop hating Qiong-Hua Palace…]
[The hatred will always remain in my heart for all the days to come in my life!]
…
In Qiong-Hua Palace.
"Please be careful on the way, dare elders. It is a practical time. We can't put her in any risk." The Moon Queen was holding Yue Shuang and Yue Han's hands, said, "Please, sisters."
"Don't worry, Prime Master. We will do our best to keep them safe." Yue Shuang nodded to agree.
"When you arrive, please tell the couple that they should not show themselves to the public for the shortcoming future when they reach Ye Clan. The best they should do is to live their life…" The Moon Queen was smiling, yet her eyes were red, "Maybe we will meet again someday. Tell them not to worry. Things will get better."
"Yes, we will."
"Tell them not to get involved in trouble. Don't stand out for justice for somebody else. No matter what happens in the future, they should be out of it. They can just stay out of it."
"Okay."
"If somebody mentions Qiong-Hua Palace, mention me to them, tell them to think about the eighteen years… Tell them to hate me… curse me… They have all rights to do so after all."
The Moon Queen blandly said, "Only you two have the chance to tell them these words. After all, you two support Ye Clan the most among us. I believe you sisters can find the best way to deliver the message I want to send them."
"Okay."
"One more thing, tell them, that no matter what happens… they should always save their lives first… Tell them to have their happy life."
The Moon Queen took a long breath and finally said, "Now you are free to go."
In fact, she still had a lot of words in her heart, but she decided not to say it.
"By the way, I have a question, Moon Queen…" Yue Han suddenly looked at the Moon Queen and said, "There are so many elders in Qiong-Hua Palace. Why would you only trust us on this matter? You know… What you have just said have shocked us both! What you said should be a secret of yours, that nobody, not even us, should know any of it."
Apparently, what the Moon Queen said was so frank that even the two sisters were shocked!
The Moon Queen remained silent.
She did not say a word after that.
When the two ladies believed the Moon Queen wouldn't answer the question and were ready to leave, the Moon Queen suddenly sighed and said in a low voice, "Because… in Qiong-Hua Palace, you two the only people who are nice to the couple… You are protective to them. I don't know why you treat them this well, but I know I can count on you."
"That is why you two are the only people that I can trust on this matter. If I am wrong, then there is nobody in this world that I can count on anymore!"
The Moon Queen sounded sad and bitter in the heart.
…
Yue Gongxue and Ye Nantian's wedding was a big ceremony indeed.
However, there were only four people to accompany them back to Ye Clan after the wedding.
Yue Shuang and Yue Han, and Yue Gongxue's two maids. That was sad.
The two sisters volunteered to go with the couple. Qiong-Hua Palace never sent anybody to do it.
The two ladies had tried to make the palace arrange a big team of people to carry all the dowry for the bride, yet they apparently failed. All the dowry were inside Yue Shuang's space ring.
If not for the ring, they might not even have a way to take the dowry back with them!
The palace offered eight treasures, and the Moon Queen personally provided one. Other than these, each of the elders offered one gift. Shuang and Han had spoken loud to everyone that everybody should give something to the couple as a wedding gift and also a sign of respect to the two sisters. Everybody knew that the Moon Queen gave the couple a Pure Lotus Seed. That was extremely valuable. So none of them dared to stingy on this. Ye Nantian and Yue Gongxue did have gained a lot of treasures from the wedding though!
However, when they left the palace, Yue Gongxue nearly passed out because she cried with tears so bad. She kept looking back at the palace while holding Ye Nantian's hand, but the gate of the palace remained closed.
Nobody opened the gate and watched them off.
Not a single person of Qiong-Hua Palace showed up to say goodbye.
Yue Gongxue had thought about seeing her master for the last time before she left, but she didn't have the chance!
The coldness and resolution of the palace made Yue Shuang and Yue Han who knew the truth feel cold in the hearts. If they were the Moon Queen… they wouldn't be so coldblooded.
Yue Gongxue's face looked pale. She just walked on Ye Nantian's side like a person without the soul.
The temporary warmth at the wedding was gone. All that filled her heart was disappointment and sorrow.
When they took a turn at the foot of a mountain, Yue Shuang finally couldn't help speaking blandly, "We are going to leave the palace's territory. We will arrive safely. There is no need to keep following us like this anymore, Prime Master."
She looked at the dark forest behind them and spoke in a bland voice. Her voice was like a beam of light shooting into the woods.
Yue Gongxue was shocked, with her eyes open, staring at the forest where the last bit of hope remained.
A sigh sounded inside the forest.
"Yue Shuang, I was wrong to trust you. You didn't keep my secret!"
Yue Gongxue was shaking. Tears rushed out her eyes, and she kneeled down at once, choked in sobs and tears.
[It is master's voice!]
[She has been watching me all the time!]
[She never truly broke with me! She is always still my master!]
The wind blew the leaves of the forest. A white shadow suddenly appeared, looking at Yue Gongxue in the distance, warm and soft in the eyes.
However, when Yue Gongxue was about to rush over, the Moon Queen shook her head and made a wave of gentle power to push Yue Gongxue away!
"My child… You will understand why I would do all that I have done to you. Remember. Stay away from Qiong-Hua Palace. You are not a disciple of Qiong-Hua Palace anymore. Do not forget…"
The Moon Queen looked at Yue Gongxue and spoke in a low voice, "I… I know you will be happy. Do not let your mother down!"
The shadow flashed and then disappeared.
This time, she was gone.
Yue Gongxue couldn't help bursting into tears.
Yue Shuang sighed. She knew that the Moon Queen was gone this time…
"Let's go."
Yue Gongxue still kept looking back, hoping that she could see the Moon Queen again.
However, she was disappointed again and again… However, she didn't feel hopeless anymore…
What the Moon Queen said to her had been resounding in her heart.
Especially the word, mother.
…
She had been thinking of the last few words in her heart even when they were already over a thousand miles away…
[Master…]
[Master seemed different…]
…
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