Chapter 267

Winter passes, spring arrives, the accumulated snow melts, and all things revive.

Since the newly appointed magistrate of Jingyun County took office, perhaps having received some instruction, he deliberately waived three years of taxes for Dongjia Village, allowing the villagers to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Dong Fu, who knows a bit of the inside story and feels both fear and guilt, wants to seize the opportunity to make amends, and also latch onto the mysterious Young Master Yu.

He purchases the cloth woven by Dong Yong and the Seventh Fairy Maiden at a price ten percent above market, while selling them fine linen at a price twenty percent below market.

This monetary "loss", if it can buy a good fate, in Dong Fu's view is worth countless times its cost.

Thus Dong Yong's pace of accumulating wealth quickened considerably. By early February, his new house was bustlingly built.

Though not luxurious, it also bid farewell to the previously low, dilapidated earthen house, becoming a solid, spacious wooden house with a warm homelike appearance.

The hired fengshui master carefully calculated and set the auspicious wedding date for mid-March.

Villagers, seeing Dong Yong circling the Seventh Fairy Maiden all day with a goofy grin, assumed he was only attracted to the woman's astonishing weaving skill.

After all, Dong Yong is considered a handsome, upright, and sincere young man among the nearby villages, and he is famously filial, never lacking prospects for marriage.

He couldn't possibly be truly enamored with the Seventh Fairy Maiden's… overly plain appearance, could he?

Yet, how could they know that whenever night falls and the lanterns first glow…

Even after months of sharing a roof, whenever Dong Yong sees the Seventh Fairy Maiden shed her disguise and regain her breathtakingly divine beauty, he still feels his breath seize, his heart pound like a drum, his face flush like a boy.

Waking at dawn and looking at the tranquil sleeping face beside his pillow, he sometimes can't help but secretly pinch himself, letting the sharp pain remind him—this is not a dream, it is real! This woman, like a celestial maiden descended from the Nine Heavens, has truly become his wife!

He often daydreams that if they later add a few lively, adorable children, life would be perfect and he would have nothing more to desire!

Thinking of this, Dong Yong's happy smile falters slightly, and he can't help recalling his hard‑lived father.

If his father could live two more years, even one, to see him settle down, move into a new house, marry such a virtuous wife, and taste a bit of life's sweetness, how wonderful that would be…

But his father, having suffered and toiled all his life, at his death felt only worry and received no blessings…

"Alas…" a barely audible sigh revealed the regret in his heart.

Facing the mirror, the Seventh Fairy Maiden combed her hair‑like tresses, keenly sensing her husband's subtle emotional shift, set down the wooden comb, turned, and asked softly:

"Husband, what's wrong? Is there something on your mind?"

Dong Yong came to his senses, shook his head, carefully concealed that melancholy, not wanting to dampen the mood on the eve of their wedding, yet his tone still carried a hint of sorrow:

"It's nothing… just, suddenly I miss my father… if he were still alive…"

The Seventh Fairy Maiden understood, walked to his side, gently clasped his hand, her warm palm conveying silent comfort.

"Today we will go see him, so that he may rest peacefully even underground."

Dong Yong returned the grip, nodded, and said, "Hmm."

"Wife, thank you."

The Seventh Fairy Maiden said little more, merely staying by his side.

Just as the couple were sweetly together.

Elsewhere, in the Heavenly Court, the rear garden of the treasure hall.

The sea of clouds was ethereal, and immortal aura swirled.

The Jade Emperor, hands clasped behind his back before the white jade railing, gazed as if piercing through layers of clouds, landing on some place in the mortal realm.

He slightly frowned, turned to look at a figure not far away who seemed even more leisurely and carefree than the ruler of the three realms.

"Yu Lin," the Jade Emperor began, his voice carrying a barely perceptible helplessness:

"In your view, when should I… capture that girl who descended without permission and lingered without returning, back to the Heavenly Court?"

He paused, his tone slightly solemn:

"Lately, the Heavenly Court Immortals see that she has not returned for a long time, nor has she been severely punished; privately there are some… endless rumors, restless thoughts, quite unsettled."

Where his gaze fell, Yu Lin lay comfortably on a lounge chair carved from warm jade.

Beside him stood four ethereal, peerlessly beautiful celestial maidens.

One slender jade finger lifted a peeled celestial fruit or delicate pastry, carefully placing it in his mouth; another held a banana‑leaf treasure fan, gently fanning a soothing cool breeze; a third stood behind, her jade hand lightly massaging his shoulders, neck, and arms; and a fourth half‑kneeling applied just‑right pressure to his legs and feet.

In this posture, in this indulgence, if the setting were not inappropriate, others would probably think.

"You are the Jade Emperor, aren't you?!"

Hearing the Jade Emperor's question, Yu Lin sat up, laughed, and said, "Great Heavenly Venerable, don't be impatient."

"Now is not the time. The timing is not right; acting rashly would yield poor results."

"In my view, better to wait a while longer. Wait until she formally marries Dong Yong, even bears children, the family becomes complete, and they are at the peak of happiness and immersion…"

He paused, as if pondering, and continued:

"Then, Great Heavenly Venerable, you will thunderously act, personally issue a decree, send heavenly gods and generals to the mortal realm, and in front of Dong Yong and his child, forcibly seize her back to the Heavenly Court."

"Make her see the earthly happiness that seemed within reach shatter instantly, like flowers in a mirror, the moon in water—visible yet forever untouchable."

Yu Lin's lips curled slightly, giving off a hint of devilish charm:

"Great Heavenly Venerable, imagine when the Heavenly Court Immortals witness this scene, what will they think?"

"They will naturally relate it to themselves; if one acts on a mortal impulse, descends without permission, the outcome would likely be even worse than that of the Seventh Princess."

"Seeing a perfect marriage and familial bliss within reach, only to dissolve into a bubble in an instant, leaving only lingering regret, forever separated by the heavenly river. Such a deterrent is far more profound than a simple Heavenly Decree."

"How about it? Is this method still feasible?"

The Jade Emperor, hearing this, sighed slightly; he naturally understood Yu Lin's deeper meaning. Though this method is somewhat cruel to the Seventh Fairy Maiden, for upholding heavenly law and deterring the Heavenly Court Immortals, it is indeed a potent remedy.

Thinking of Dong Yong's genuinely sincere and kind nature, and his true feelings for the Seventh Fairy Maiden…

A moment later, he slightly nodded, thereby approving the plan:

"Hmm… what you say is not without reason."

He let out a gentle sigh, his tone tinged with a hint of pity,

"Fine, then as you say, give them a little more time."

"Since Dong Yong's conduct is decent, it shall be… to let him linger in thought a while longer."

"Those who can sacrifice their lives for the one they love are few."

He nodded, affirming Dong Yong.