"Let go of me first," Ruan Jingliu softly said, without the anger from before. Qin Yuanfeng laughed, kissed her on the face several times, then released her, holding her up: "Are you dissatisfied? Then I’ll tell them to rearrange everything."

"There’s no need." Ruan Jingliu looked at him: "I won’t marry you." Back then, when she went to the Zhang Mansion, it wasn’t for love. She hadn’t even met Mr. Zhang, and the words they spoke after the marriage didn’t exceed ten sentences. Soon after, she became a widow. But these things are not important because she doesn’t care about them. Her life demands are few, and love is definitely not one of them.

Qin Yuanfeng was taken aback: "Why?"

Ruan Jingliu stood up, her gaze slowly moving from the joyful red character to the flickering phoenix candles: "I don’t want to stay in the inner house all my life. I don’t want my sight to be limited to a small courtyard. That’s not what I want." She turned her head to look at Qin Yuanfeng with firm determination: "The sky is vast and the world is full of wonders. Only freedom is what I pursue."

"Is that it?" Qin Yuanfeng replied, completely unbothered: "Who says you have to stay in the inner house after marriage." After saying this, Ruan Jingliu was stunned. Then she heard him say, "Do whatever you want, as long as you’re my wife, Qin Yuanfeng’s wife, whether it’s to the heavens or the earth, I’ll be with you."

Ruan Jingliu was too shocked to speak. Qin Yuanfeng came over, took her hand, and looked down at her softly: "I just like you this way: unconventional, living true to yourself. I just like you this way: having clear goals and never being perfunctory. I just like you this way: being honest and upright with no pretense!" He hugged Ruan Jingliu: "How could I bear to let you be confined in the small inner house to bear children for me? You can just do what you want to do, and I won’t stop you... trust me."

"But!" Ruan Jingliu pushed him away, opening her mouth to argue. Qin Yuanfeng interrupted her rudely, already knowing that what she was about to say wasn’t what he wanted to hear: "Don’t say you have no interest in me. I know you’ve often thought of me in the past two years, secretly sending people to inquire about my whereabouts, rushing over as soon as you knew I was injured. If you had no interest in me, with your personality, you wouldn’t have done all this."

He knows her too well because they are very similar.

"Come, come, come!" Qin Yuanfeng didn’t give her time to think, reached out to take down the wedding dress hanging up, draped it over Ruan Jingliu in a few swift movements, took the phoenix crown and compared it to her head, exclaiming: "So beautiful!"

"Wait." Ruan Jingliu was very uncomfortable with her current outfit. Qin Yuanfeng placed the phoenix crown on her head: "Don’t wait anymore." He lowered his head, smiling ambiguously: "I can’t wait."

For the first time, Ruan Jingliu’s face turned red. Qin Yuanfeng pulled her to the door, shouting loudly: "Everyone!"

The door opened, the sound of gongs and drums became louder, and a group of people dressed in red and green crowded in, bowing to Qin Yuanfeng: "Hello, sir." Then they saw the phoenix crown and embroidered cover of Ruan Jingliu: "Hello, madam!"

"Is everything ready?" Qin Yuanfeng asked. A leading matron replied: "Everything’s ready." After saying this, she waved, and two women with big red silk flowers swayed in. Qin Yuanfeng bowed, beckoned, and the two women quickly entered the room, pulling out a red veil from somewhere and placed it over Ruan Jingliu’s head, then sang: "Bow!"

The resting gongs and drums sounded again, as Ruan Jingliu was "escorted" by two women, with two cushions placed in front of her. She knelt down and stood up again, and before she knew it, someone sang: "The ceremony is complete, escort to the bridal chamber."

Then like the wind, the crowd that had been bustling dispersed like the tide.

No need to enter the bridal chamber, this place already is the bridal chamber.

Qin Yuanfeng ceremoniously used a scale to lift the red veil, as Ruan Jingliu stood there, her expression was nothing short of spectacular.

Before she could get angry, Qin Yuanfeng smirked and went up to her: "Wife, let me show you around our home." After saying this, he naturally held her hand: "If you don’t like it, I’ll tear it down and rebuild, or set up another elsewhere." Saying this, he walked outside, and Ruan Jingliu suddenly waved his hand aside: "What madness are you talking about? I don’t have time to play with you." She hurriedly took off the wedding dress and removed the phoenix crown from her head: "Do you think this is child’s play?" After this, she threw it towards him.

Qin Yuanfeng caught it and put it to the side, trying to pull her: "Jingliu." Ruan Jingliu didn’t listen to him at all, casually pushing, but not hard, though Qin Yuanfeng doubled over immediately. Ruan Jingliu froze mid-step, squinting as she looked at him: "What kind of trick are you playing now?"