It seems that the villain is targeting me.

The elder took out a long piece of white silk from the white brocade box. It was inlaid with gold edges and outlined with different patterns. The elder passed the silk around the two people's clasped hands three times in a row.

The soft touch of silk wrapped around his wrist was a little itchy. Xiao Niao subconsciously looked at Gwyneth's beautiful eyes, which were sparkling like gems lost in a stream.

The elder pressed down the brocade with a strangely shaped cane. Xiao Niao felt the heavy weight of the object and guessed that it was made of metal.

The elder cleared his throat and began to recite an ancient prayer. All the words that needed to be said flowed out smoothly like water. Everything went smoothly. Everyone was listening quietly. The sunlight slanting into the house from the window had quietly turned golden, shining evenly on the two people standing opposite each other.

The metal ornaments they wore shimmered and reflected each other, as if announcing the emergence of a new relationship between the two people, one not linked by blood but by some more wonderful emotion.

The gods witnessed this scene from the sky, and they received the law and all the protection and blessings they deserved.

Xiao Niao saw the girl lowering her head slightly, winked at her playfully, pinched her fingers lightly, and mouthed: Don't be nervous.

Why not be nervous? Xiao Niao thought a little dazedly.

Just at this moment, the long speech that the elder was reciting finally came to an end. He lifted the heavy cane with some difficulty and tapped it lightly on the two people's clasped hands.

The silky satin quickly flowed away from Xiao Niao's hand, and the hand holding her loosened. She felt a gust of wind blowing towards her, inevitably, and then the soft touch on her lips.

Xiao Niao closed her eyes in panic. There was a burst of laughter around her, and Gwyneth gently held the back of her head.

She realized from the tremor on her lips that the girl opposite was smiling.

Xiao Niao actually couldn't remember what happened afterwards. The crowd surrounded them and brought them to the largest and brightest banquet hall in Pembroke Castle. There were silver tableware of various styles and sizes on the dining table decorated with white tablecloths. The guests were talking in a mess and clinking glasses with each other.

She saw Mrs. Tudor sitting in a chair, looking at her daughter with a smile on her face, and occasionally lowering her head to wipe away her tears.

Xiao Niao remembered that there was a sumptuous feast in the banquet hall that night, including a whole roasted goose and rounds of snow-white cheese, four fish dishes and three different wines. The finale was a cinnamon apple pie decorated with wheat ears and the Tudor family emblem. Xiao Niao saw the chef carved a small shrike on a thorn wreath.

There were so many things to do that day that she was so busy that she couldn't even remember what she had done.

To be honest, Xiao Niao was still confused until Gwyneth gently pressed her down on the bed in the bedroom.

Chapter 97: My daughter! Do your best!

She lay down peacefully, feeling tired and satisfied. All the muscles and bones in her body were stretched in a comfortable way. The tip of her nose was filled with the soft warm fragrance of skin and a little bit of the smell of estrogen after lovemaking.

Gwyneth was so sleepy that even her knuckles were stained an ambiguous pink.

She closed her eyes, but could still feel the bird approaching her, but when it got very close, it stopped moving.

It was a long time later, until Gwyneth's consciousness was about to fall into darkness, that she felt the touch of lips in the corner of her eye.

Before she fell asleep, she vaguely heard a sigh.

The next day, Gwyneth woke up earlier and was rewarded for it: she opened her eyes and saw Xiao Niao sleeping beside her. This scene would remain in her memory for a long time and be treasured for a lifetime.

She lay carefully on the pillow, looking at the man's face so close to her, slowly outlining Xiao Niao's handsome and delicate eyebrows with her eyes, and even her breathing was unconsciously suppressed.

Xiao Niao usually gives people the impression of being "vicious" and "ruthless", and few people know that she is actually quite gentle.

Gwyneth already knew that Xiaoniao was soft-hearted and easily manipulated by those close to her. She also learned that Xiaoniao was soft to the touch: soft in the palm of her hand, soft in her ears, and very flexible with wings covered in smooth feathers. The fuzz on them always distracted Gwyneth, and her voice was also soft.

The young girl no longer has the objective and fair judgment attitude she used to have in front of her beloved. She just thinks that the other person is cute in every way and there is nothing wrong with him.

Her body felt a little numb from lying on her side, and Gwyneth tilted slightly on the pillow, her light golden hair leaning down from the pillowcase. It was already bright outside the window, and she looked at Xiao Niao's shoulders exposed outside the quilt in the light coming in from the window.

The light in the room was too dim last night. She couldn't see many details in the darkness. She could only understand from the feedback she got from touch that the skin on Butcher's left shoulder blade seemed to be inconsistent with the rest of the body.

Now, Gwyneth saw some fine lines at the junction of the wings and shoulder blades - those were the traces left by the toxins invading the blood vessels, which were blocked.

It's just above the collarbone and hasn't spread to more dangerous areas.

Gwen gently touched the mottled fine lines with her hands. They felt soft and fragile, and the skin was thinner than other places. She slowly stroked the marks, and a dull pain arose in her heart.

Gwyneth looked up from her shoulder and saw that Xiaoniao's eyes were open.

Perhaps because he was tired, Xiao Niao's eyes looked more tired than Gwen's. His light brown pupils were a little unfocused, and covered with a hint of mist, which made people feel itchy.

"Good morning."

Gwyneth seemed to be in a particularly good mood today, and when she looked over, there was a kind of joy in her eyes that she tried hard to hide.

She asked considerately, "Are you still sleepy? Let's sleep a little longer."

Xiao Niao opened her eyes for a while and then closed them again. She was not fully awake yet, and the hazy sleepiness gently pulled at her nerves, as if she would fall asleep again in the next second.

My tendons are so sore, Xiaoniao thought, I feel like tenosynovitis is coming on.

The overuse of his wrist was really uncomfortable. Xiao Niao still didn't open his eyes, but he still spoke with superhuman perseverance: "... Let's wash up and get up."

"Yeah." Gwyneth responded softly, her eyes gentle.

If the love in a person's heart can be shown on his face, then Gwyneth Tudor's face is showing such love now.

She rested her elbows on the pillow, lowered her head slightly, and her soft neck and shoulders formed a very beautiful arc. She reached out and gently touched the hair by Xiaoniao's ear. The joy of last night slowly flooded into her mind, making the girl couldn't help but purse her lips and smile.

"Butcher?"

Gwyneth whispered softly in Xiaoniao's ear, her voice dragging out in a low tone, her tone as lazy as a cat.

Although Xiao Niao said she wanted to get up, she actually kept her eyes closed and refused to move. She couldn't understand why Gwyneth was still so energetic after waking up the next day.

Gwyneth might be calling her to get up. Xiao Niao knew very well that there were still many things to do in the next few days - things had to be done one by one, but she'd better start dealing with them right away - it was far from the time to leisurely enjoy the newlywed life.

Thinking of this, Xiao Niao's eyebrows suddenly twitched, as if he realized belatedly what had happened.

Oh my god……

She really got married.

Since coming into this world and realizing what being half-human means, Xiao Niao has completely given up the possibility of developing an intimate relationship with other people and is prepared to be single forever.

In fact, even if he is not half-human, Xiao Niao will most likely not establish a close relationship with anyone. He will have to go home sooner or later. Under such a premise, he still wants to mess with an innocent girl. From Xiao Niao's moral standards, it is too irresponsible.

But from now on, she still made a mistake. She didn't realize in time that Gwen was serious about her. When she finally realized it, it seemed to be too late.

The wise and intelligent Shrike who could stop children from crying at night was still distracted and completely forgot that he should answer his newlywed wife's questions as soon as possible.

Seeing Xiao Niao's eyes closed, Gwyneth thought she had fallen asleep again.

Perhaps because calling her Butcher wasn't effective enough, Gwen thought about it, leaned over to her ear, and whispered a new name.

"...Little bird?"

Well, at least this time, the Prime Minister's reaction was pretty good.

All in all, although the process was quite tortuous, the two people finally got up.

Gwyneth rang a bell and had a tub and hot water brought to the bedroom.

The place they lived in was spacious enough, and there was an inner room specifically for bathing. Gwyneth dismissed the servants, reached into the bathtub to test the water temperature, then turned her head and naturally set her eyes on the bird.

As soon as Xiao Niao saw Gwyneth's expression, he knew that this guy was going to say something shameless again, so he stood up very decisively, rolled up his clothes and some miscellaneous items with one hand, and walked straight into the inner room.

You can easily replace the word "straightforward" with "in a panic". In short, Xiao Niao calmly said, "I'll wash it myself!" and then turned around and went into the bathroom.

Gwyneth looked a little disappointed - the innocent girl who would blush and have her heart beat fast at the sight of her beloved had completely disappeared!

It is true that the world is declining and people's hearts are not as old as they used to be.

About half an hour later, Xiao Niao came out after washing himself. His bangs were wet and stuck to his forehead, and his light-colored feathers stood out from his short hair. He looked like a wet little bird.

Gwyneth looked at her cheeks which were red from the heat, and naturally took the towel to wipe Xiaoniao's dripping hair.

After taking off her cloak and outer garment, the former Prime Minister of the Empire seemed to be thinner, and she even looked healthier during the time when she was on the expedition with the army.

Gwyneth thought that after everything was over, she might bring Xiao Niao to Highgarden to live for a while. The climate here is much milder and more livable than that in the capital, and is very suitable for recuperation.

In order to grow more meat, Gwyneth quietly used her arms to measure Xiaoniao's waist, so that it would be more comfortable to hold him.

She made a plan for the future, but things didn't turn out the way Gwen expected.

.

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In fact, according to the original customs of this world, Xiao Niao and Gwyneth's marriage was very hasty. Their wedding omitted the whole year of waiting from engagement to the ceremony, and did not follow the tradition of issuing three announcements to all relatives and friends around them.

Because the bride's father had just passed away, all the noisy and festive ceremonies were simplified, and the remaining contents were mostly solemn, serious and indispensable.

The ceremony also followed the principle of simplicity as much as possible. Gwyneth wore plain traditional clothing during the ceremony and did not wear too many gold and silver jewelry.

For the Tudor family, which has a rich historical background, this was a rather simple wedding. Anyone who knew a little about the inside story and figured out the key points would think that this was a political marriage through and through.

They felt more or less sympathetic towards Gwyneth: poor girl, she was going to be married off to a half-human with feathered wings.

By the time Xiao Niao and Gwyneth had washed and dressed, it was already late. A steward came to deliver a message saying that Lady Tudor was waiting for them.

If we were to ask who among the people attending the wedding was most worried about Gwyneth, it would surely be Gwyn's mother.

Lady Tudor actually had a very good impression of Xiao Niao. When the Duke was still alive, Banur praised the Prime Minister of the Empire in his correspondence with his wife.

Later, during the coup d'état by the eldest prince in the capital, Xiao Niao tried her best to save the Tudor bloodline. She rescued Gwyneth, uncovered the royal conspiracy to discredit her husband's reputation, and brought back Mrs. Tudor's youngest son when she almost gave up hope.

But judging from the above points, Xiao Niao has basically pushed the reputation and favorability of the Tudor family to the peak - and because of this, when she proposed a marriage proposal as a half-human, she was understood by almost everyone in the family, and the Tudor family did not feel insulted.

Lady Tudor was brought up under the traditional education of aristocratic women. She fully understood the necessity of marriage, and she had no choice even if she had to "sacrifice" her own daughter in the process.

Her husband had mentioned to her many times before he died: Prime Minister Butcher had noble character and profound knowledge, and his appearance, age and social status were impeccable. The only thing he had wrong with him was that he was half human.

After all, that was Gwyneth's lifelong happiness. Most of the elders who cherished the family bloodline would not be satisfied with marrying her to a half-human whose lifespan was only half of that of an ordinary person.

What's more, Lady Tudor is Gwyneth's mother, how could she feel at ease?

*&^！ q@qun...*%~(五)±５~!齐∠㈥∑凌∵領?/>ⅶ≈无∵０∑ Since childhood, her daughter has been very sensible, more mature than her peers, and very outstanding and self-disciplined, never causing her parents to worry about her. Lady Tudor was proud of her, but at the same time worried that Gwyneth would be wronged.

But now the matter is done, the wedding has already taken place, and it is impossible to break the contract. Lady Tudor has no choice but to accept it.

The Tudors have formed an alliance with Levi Butcher, and the implications of this humble wedding will affect the existing political situation.

The most intuitive manifestation is that Pembroke Castle has restored the basic organization of the Knights. They have dispatched troops to attack the nearest speculative vassal, successfully suppressed the other party's rebellion, and recovered the valuable mines.

The money and manpower brought by Xiao Niao also greatly eased the difficulties currently faced by the Tudor family. The problems caused by the loss of craftsmen were alleviated. Lucas's return home and the alliance with Butcher also stabilized people's hearts to a great extent.

Xiao Niao and they are now firmly tied to a boat and cannot turn back.

Although she was not satisfied with this half-human son-in-law, Lady Tudor did not show any negative emotions. She entertained Xiao Niao as attentively as possible, and even treated him with double the standards and the most solemn etiquette.

The mother did this for only one purpose: she hoped that the notorious shrike would treat her daughter well in recognition of her consideration and respect.

When she got up early in the morning, she asked the servants to go to the water room to boil water and prepare it. She also told the chef to prepare some light and easy-to-digest food and bring it to the table. Then she waited at the dining table for her daughter and son-in-law to arrive.

It was not until she saw the two men walk into the restaurant and greet her while she was sitting at the main seat that Mrs. Tudor felt relieved.

Her daughter seemed to be in a very good mood. Her every move seemed natural and casual. She didn't look forced at all, but seemed to be genuinely happy.

As for Levi Butcher himself... he wasn't as vicious as the rumors described him to be. He was very respectful and polite when speaking to her, and didn't act arrogant just because he took the initiative in the alliance.

Although the two of them didn't express anything special when they walked in, their shoulders were close to each other and they both had smiles on their faces, which seemed to indicate that they had a good relationship.

This is good. The child has a good home, and as a mother, she feels a little more at ease.

The only thing that made Mrs. Tudor feel a little strange was that in the normal scene of meeting the parents, the son-in-law did not want to show off in front of his mother-in-law. Instead, her daughter

She has been taking care of her new son-in-law intentionally or unintentionally.

Not only did she pour the drinks and set the table, Gwyneth also carefully cut foods like bacon and ham into small pieces and put them on Xiaoniao's plate so that she could easily eat with just a fork.

Although the son-in-law is not very clumsy and there seems to be nothing wrong with his behavior - but it always makes people feel that something is not right.

Mrs. Tudor looked at her silly daughter with a beautiful smile in a very delicate mood.

Chapter 98: Avoiding Problems is an Essential Skill for Adults

Perhaps happy days just pass by quickly. Gwyneth has never felt that time passed so quickly. It was as if it flowed past her like running water, leaving her unable to react.

After the wedding ceremony, Lady Tudor announced that she would step back from the spotlight and promoted her eldest daughter Gwyneth to be the acting head of the family, who became the de facto leader of the Tudor family.

The wedding and the alliance with Butcher consolidated Gwen's position in the family, and she quelled the vassal rebellion in the territory with thundering means, and also demonstrated the military strength of Pembroke Castle to those around her.

At least on the surface, no one raised any objection to Gwyneth being the boss, but it was hard to say what these vassals were thinking in private.

A few days later, something happened down there.

The nature of this matter is not complicated. It is just a conflict between vassals of two neighboring territories.

After learning more about the situation, Gwyneth discovered that the reason for their conflict this time was extremely trivial, and if she tried to explain it, it was essentially no different from "you took an extra head of garlic and he took two onions."

If you trace it back more carefully, you will find that the grudge between the two vassal states has been going on for a long time. They have been trying to gain advantage over each other for who knows how many generations. This time it was just because of a fuse that ignited the conflict. There is no question of who is right or wrong at all.

At first, there were only occasional frictions and provocative verbal greetings between them, but later it gradually developed into a fight and was escalating into a bloody incident.

Gwyneth was busy preparing food and fodder for the army at this time. After learning about this, her first reaction was to use her status as the head of the family to mediate and prevent both parties from making things worse.

This was not the first time Gwyneth had handled affairs in the territory, but this was her first time taking charge as the head of the family.