Where is the early stage of the marriage alliance?

"Did the princess have a nightmare?"

Upon entering the room, Pei Lan looked at her mistress with concern.

Ling Xi sat up in a daze. The image of Xiao Ce being pierced through the heart by an arrow and falling to the ground in her dream was still clear, and her heart felt heavy and suffocating.

Her gaze swept blankly across the empty and quiet bedroom. In a daze, she suddenly remembered that it was here the day before their parting that he looked at her earnestly and asked her seriously if she was willing to be his true Crown Princess, with only her for the rest of her life.

She hesitated then and didn't give him a definite answer, but now she suddenly regretted it.

"Princess, my brother has arrived. He says he has news of the Crown Prince."

A cold, unparalleled voice suddenly came from the inner room doorway. Ling Xi shuddered, the fear from the nightmare and the bitterness in her heart instantly replaced by urgency. Without a moment's hesitation, she quickly threw off the covers, grabbed an outer robe from the clothes rack and draped it over her shoulders, then stumbled and rushed towards the outer hall.

"Oh, Princess! Wait a minute! You haven't washed and dressed yet!"

Perrin hurriedly picked up her clothes that had fallen to the ground and quickly followed after her.

When Ling Xi rushed to the front hall of Chuixing Courtyard, Qin Qi and Lu Baixu were sitting upright in the hall. When they heard her voice, they both looked up and their eyes fell on her. They were both stunned.

The person before me had completely lost the dignity and composure of a princess. Her black hair was unbound and loosely hung over her shoulders, with a few strands sticking to her forehead. Only her outer clothes were relatively neat. Her face, without any makeup, was pale and thin, and her eyes were filled with anxiety and panic.

"Princess Consort, what's wrong...?"

Qin Qi looked puzzled, clearly not understanding why she appeared in this state.

Although the beauty was not dressed up, she was not at all disheveled. On the contrary, she resembled a lotus flower just beginning to bloom with dew, her beauty pure and clear.

Lu Baixu paused slightly, glanced at it for a moment, and then quickly looked away.

"What about Xiao Ce? How is he?"

Qin Qi was about to speak when she interrupted him with her urgent, cold voice. Ling Xi completely ignored their surprised expressions, only wanting to know about Xiao Ce's condition.

"The Ministry of War has just received a military report that our army has won a great victory. The Jin general has been personally killed by Yi Zhi, and the Jin army has withdrawn all its troops five days ago. The border situation has been stabilized."

Qin Qi noticed the anxiety in her eyes and slowed his speech.

Ling Xi's wildly beating heart suddenly stopped, and she froze. Still recovering from the nightmare, she was momentarily stunned and couldn't believe the good news.

"Is he alright?"

"Yes, Yi is safe and sound. We came early this morning to share the good news with the family as soon as possible, so that everyone can rest assured. However, we will only know the full details of the arrow wound Yi suffered after he returns to the capital."

Qin Qi nodded emphatically, his expression relaxing slightly.

"He's alright, he's alright..."

Her voice was soft and trembling. Her nerves, which had been stretched to the limit, suddenly relaxed, and all the strength in her body seemed to be drained away in an instant.

The next moment, her body swayed slightly, her legs went weak and she began to stagger.

Upon seeing this, Lu Baixu's expression changed slightly. He immediately stood up and stepped forward, quickly raising his hand to support her arm and steady her unbalanced body.

Ling Xi's eyelashes trembled slightly as she felt a strange warmth on her arm, which brought her back to her senses.

"Are you alright?"

Looking at her still pale face, Lu Baixu placed his fingers on her wrist and began to check her pulse.

Ling Xi was dazed for a moment, then awkwardly withdrew her arm.

"Thank you, Vice Minister Lu, I'm fine."

Lu Baixu gave her a deep look, his eyes calm, and said nothing more.

"I'll go and give the princess acupuncture first."

He casually uttered a sentence, then turned and walked straight out of the front hall with him.

Qin Qi did not follow him. Lu Baixu had come to treat the princess, but he had come to see his sister.

The dark clouds that had hung over Prince Rui's residence for days finally dissipated when this good news arrived. The servants felt a huge weight lifted from their hearts, their faces showing much relief. Their young master was not only safe, but had also won a battle.

Upon learning that Xiao Ce was safe and sound, Princess Rui's spirits and complexion instantly recovered, and she was no longer as gloomy and haggard as before.

From that day on, Ling Xi began to wait, even though the military reports did not mention the day he would return to the capital.

After this incident, she made up her mind. She no longer cared about his past with Mu Wanning; she wanted to trust him wholeheartedly this time.

Day after day, from dawn till dusk, she never felt tormented during the long wait. For her, the days when his fate was unknown were the most agonizing.

In the previous eighteen years of her life, she had never felt that quietly waiting for someone to return was such a beautiful and worthwhile thing.

Dusk always falls early in Jinling. Gray clouds weighed down the top of the sycamore tree in the courtyard, shrouding Chuixing Courtyard in tranquility. Ling Xi sat under the tree, dressed in a lotus-colored silk dress, the hem of which was gently lifted by the evening breeze.

She has been sitting here all day.

The guards returned the day before yesterday and reported that he would arrive in Jinling within the next two days, either today or tomorrow, but Ling Xi felt that it would be today.

The sun moved from the east eaves to the west wall, the shadows of the trees shifted on the bluestone slabs, twilight gradually painted the sky, and the lights in the courtyard lit up one by one, their warm yellow glow illuminating her slender figure.

Perrin came several times to persuade her to go back inside, but she only shook her head gently each time.

He should be back today.

She murmured softly, as if speaking to herself, or perhaps to the evening breeze.

When she first entered the Prince Rui's mansion, he was extremely cold towards her, not even visiting her room on their wedding night. But later, when she sprained her ankle, he carried her from the mansion gate to Yuehua Courtyard. When danger struck, he shielded her tightly beneath him, disregarding his own safety. And before he left, he somehow found a chef from Chu to cook exclusively for her…

She had always felt that they were just a marriage of convenience without any feelings for each other. She didn't know when her heart began to change, but at this moment, the longing in her heart was incredibly clear.

The night dew was slightly heavy, and the lantern light cast dappled shadows on her face. The anticipation in her eyes, reflected in the deep night in the distance, showed no sign of restlessness.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she heard light footsteps coming from the courtyard gate. She suddenly looked up, her eyes instantly brightening like a star suddenly igniting in the cold night.

Moonlight bathed the courtyard steps, and a figure in black walked slowly through the clear light. He was tall and straight, and his dark robes were gently fluttering in the evening breeze. The moonlight softly enveloped him.

She slowly straightened up, stood quietly under the shade of the tree, and fixed her gaze on the figure she had been waiting for for so long.

He approached step by step, steady and resolute. Her eyes stung with tears, and before she could utter a single word, a calm and powerful aura suddenly drew near, and in the next instant, she was tightly embraced by him.