The mad princess forces love upon him, and the aloof imperial advisor trembles every night.

The next second, the world spun around.

She bent down, her arms passing under his knees and back, and suddenly exerted force—

He lifted him up by the waist!

Her silver hair fell down instantly, like moonlight pouring down, sweeping across her arm.

Si Chen closed his eyes, and his four-hundred-year-old Dao heart trembled at this moment.

The humiliation burned like a raging fire in his heart, almost causing him to break free from the constraints of this mortal body.

Unfortunately, he was unable to speak or move, so he could only let her carry him step by step across the courtyard and toward the brightly lit main hall.

Every step he took shattered his four hundred years of aloofness and self-cultivation.

Every step he took left a bloody mark on his heart.

---

Inside the main hall, red candles burned brightly.

When the dragon and phoenix wedding candles were half-burned, the candle wax piled up like a small mountain, like congealed blood, like dried-up tears.

On the table in the very center were the nuptial wine, steamed buns for fertility, and a pair of jade ruyi scepters—everything resembled a real wedding, eerily festive and desolately lively.

Chu Qingyue placed him on a chair covered with red silk, stood in front of him, and began to remove his purple robe, preparing him to change into his wedding attire.

"Chu Qingyue—how dare you!" Si Chen was furious, but could only squeeze out broken syllables from his throat.

Chu Qingyue's inner strength surged, and with a hissing sound, his purple robe, along with his inner garment, shattered.

She exerted force, and the purple robe shattered into pieces, which were thrown into the air like a swarm of purple butterflies before finally falling to the ground.

Chu Qingyue's eyes darkened, and she reached out to grab Si Chen's neck, slamming him against the wall with such force that he let out a muffled groan.

"Si Chen...isn't this outrageous?" Her eyes flashed with a crazed light.

"You'd better understand one thing: it's not that I'm begging you to get married, but that you—Si Chen—have delivered yourself to my doorstep, and since you're no match for my martial arts, you've fallen into my hands."

Her fingers tightened, her fingertips digging into his skin:

"Captives have no right to refuse."

"If I want you to get married, then you must...get married."

Suddenly, she released her hand and gently stroked his cheek.

"Ah Chen..." she called out tenderly, like a lover's deepest longing, yet there was no warmth in her eyes.

"Good boy, don't push my limits again."

She leaned closer, her red lips almost touching his earlobe, her breath sweet as orchids:

"Otherwise, I will order someone to lay red silk under the crabapple tree in the courtyard and perform the rites of Zhou Gong with you in public."

"Let all the officials and common people see how their aloof and ethereal Imperial Advisor is beneath me."

"Chu Qingyue!" Si Chen finally shouted angrily.

Chu Qingyue laughed, a laugh that was breathtakingly beautiful.

She reached out and smoothed his disheveled silver hair, her movements as gentle as if she were handling the most precious treasure.

"What's the rush? The night is still long, and our wedding... has only just begun."

--------

The moonlight, like water, poured in through the window and fell upon him.

That slender body was like a piece of cold jade, with distinct yet not ferocious muscles, and every line exuded a restrained and aloof coolness.

With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, her collarbones were deep-set like butterfly wings, undulating slightly as they were bound by the gold chain.

The moonlight flowed across his skin, gilding it with a silvery glow, making him appear otherworldly.

Chu Qingyue's gaze swept over him without restraint, her fingertips brushing against the bite mark on his collarbone—it was from the last time she bit him, it had faded but was still there.

Her eyes darkened, and she pressed herself against his chest, biting down.

Until his mouth was filled with blood, sweet and warm; until Si Chen was in so much pain that fine sweat beaded on his forehead, cracks finally appeared on his usually calm face.

Chu Qingyue raised her head, blood stained her lips, and smiled alluringly:

"Look, you stabbed me in the chest, and I bit you in the chest in return."

"Your chest hurts, and my heart hurts too. That's fair."

She smeared the blood from his chest with her own, then brought her fingertips together and licked them.

"Look, how red our heart's blood is."

She said softly

"Just like this wedding hall, just like this wedding dress, just like the candle wax, just like the blood that you and I are destined to be entangled until death."

After saying that, she kissed him on the lips, a fleeting touch, like a butterfly lightly touching a petal.

"How was it? Did you taste it? Is there a trace of each other in the blood of our hearts?"

She asked, her eyes flashing with a crazy yet earnest light.

"You are in me, and I am in you. Could this be considered... the beginning of sharing life and death?"

Si Chen did not answer.

The golden chains gleamed with a cold, eerie light under the candlelight, and the incantations flowed like living things, sealing his four hundred years of cultivation.

His eyes were closed, his long eyelashes casting a shadow beneath them, but his breathing betrayed him—the subtle irregularity was proof of the trembling of his Dao heart.

Chu Qingyue split the gold chain in two, tying the other one to her leg and connecting it to his, as if to completely bind their fates together.

Then she began to help him change his clothes, her movements extremely serious, as if she were performing some kind of sacred ritual.

From the inner garment to the wedding dress, and then to the outer robe and belt, every piece was worn meticulously.

Finally, she removed the jade hairpin from his hair and replaced it with a crown adorned with twin lotus blossoms.

The lotus flowers bloom in pairs, their tender embrace seemingly incongruous with his aloof and cold demeanor, yet strangely harmonious.

After everything was in place, Chu Qingyue took a half step back, tilted her head, and traced the man in front of her inch by inch with her gaze.

"See, how perfect it is."

A twin lotus hair ornament bound his silver hair, with a few strands falling beside his cheeks, gleaming coldly in the candlelight.

The red color made his skin appear even paler, highlighting the aloofness and restraint he exuded, a quality usually reserved for those clad in purple robes.

The forced embrace of festive colors at this moment ironically evokes a breathtaking sense of fragmentation.

—Like a god fallen to earth, like snow stained with blood, like moonlight imprisoned in red silk.

His eyes were closed, his long eyelashes casting faint shadows beneath them, his thin lips pressed into a straight line, and his jawline taut, as if he were enduring immense humiliation or suppressing the turmoil within him.

"So Ah Chen looks so good in red..."

Chu Qingyue sighed softly, as if admiring a perfect work of art, or gazing at a precious trophy.

"It's a thousand times, ten thousand times more beautiful than I imagined..."

Si Chen finally spoke, his voice low and husky: "Have you had enough fun?"

"Not enough." Chu Qingyue said decisively, reaching out to take the gold chain from his ankle and pulling him towards the center of the wedding hall.

"The next step is the wedding ceremony. Let's begin, Si Chen. My patience is limited."

Before she finished speaking, she had already picked up the red silk embroidered with a golden phoenix from the table and stuffed the other end into Si Chen's hand without saying a word.

The silk was cool to the touch, yet felt like being burned by flames.

"Bowing to Heaven and Earth—"

Chu Qingyue chanted the rites loudly, her voice echoing in the empty hall, carrying a kind of mad solemnity.

She bowed first, her red dress surging like waves of blood.

Si Chen stood frozen in place.

"Not going to bow?" Chu Qingyue straightened up, her eyes suddenly turning cold.

She pulled on the golden chain, and a powerful internal force surged through it, bending Si Chen's back.