Yin Lingxi wished for the ground to open up and devour her whole as she endured the teasing of all the girls and older women of the village while Da Wei was talking with the men separately.

  And leading this horde of women in trying to get all the details about her relationship with Da Wei was none other than Grandma Lian, Lian Yuxi, the wife of Old Feng.

  Thankfully, she found respite when most of the women ended up too drunk to stay up and returned home despite the celebration lasting the entire night, with the men spending the entire night drinking away.

  However, once morning came around, Yin Lingxi was once again ambushed by Grandma Lian and Grandma Li, the wife of Chief Chen, right after breakfast.

  Without even giving the young empress the time to catch her breath, the old woman asked her all the questions that they could not ask since there were too many people around her last night.

  After what felt like hours of interrogation, this group of women finally fell into a lull before Grandma Lian finally asked the main question that the two old women had been thinking about all night.

  “So? When are you two planning to hold the ceremony? We need to prepare gifts, and if it is too soon, we won’t have the time to travel to the town and get a few things. Especially since Da Wei is an orphan and needs either my husband or Chief Chen to act as the representative for his side in the ceremony.”

  Yin Lingxi tried hard not to blush, but couldn’t do anything as her face lit up in embarrassment.

  “We decided to delay it until things settle down between my empire and the Baihu Empire.”

  “See, this is the issue with you young people. You are always so focused on your goals that you don’t realize when you slowly lose what is most important to you.”

  The old woman looked at the empress with a serious look.

  “Take my word for it, you should get the ceremony out of the way as soon as possible. You can delay the marriage, but the ceremony must be held soon so that you two don’t end up straying from each other. Especially Da Wei.”

  She gave a heavy sigh and glared towards the other side of Chief Chen’s house, where Da Wei was holding a meeting with the old man in question and Old Feng.

  “Heavens knows how many times I had to beat up that idiot of mine before he got it through his thick skull that I wanted him to become my husband. It also did not help that he was too popular for my liking back in the day. So much so that I had to always carry around a sword and develop a reputation as a madwoman to keep the hoards of bugs away from him.”

  Yin Lingxi got instantly hooked on her words as she stared at the experienced old woman intently, wishing to learn more wisdom from someone better than her in a field she had no experience.

  Grandma Li nodded at Grandma Lian’s words as she released a similarly heavy sigh.

  “Same. However, in my case, I had to threaten my idiot with castration since he was the pervert in our relationship.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “…Then, what do you two suggest I do? Da Wei has told me that he is monogamous and he will never look at any other woman aside from me.”

  The two women had an astonished look in their eyes before they looked at her seriously.

  “While I have faith in Da Wei and he never goes back on his word, you should still remember that he is a man, a cultivator, and a powerful one at that. This means that there will always be shameless women out there who will covet what is yours.”

  A flash of killing intent passed through Grandma Lian’s eyes, making Yin Lingxi shiver as an ominous atmosphere descended on the trio.

  “Should something like that ever happen in the future, the best thing you can do is get rid of the problem from the roots.”

  “..You mean-?”

  “Exactly what I said. Get rid of the problem from the roots and remove any chance of retaliation. As a royal, you should be aware of that much, yes?”

  Momentarily taken aback by the sheer ruthlessness displayed by this kind old woman, Yin Lingxi quickly regained her composure before nodding with determination.

  There was no way she was going to let her love be destroyed by some outsider who wanted to take what was hers.

  After all, she was always taught that once a royal claimed something as theirs, they must never allow others to covet it.

  Grandma Li smacked Grandma Lian on the head before glaring lightly.

  “Enough ominous words. Don’t ruin such an auspicious atmosphere with your tendencies.”

  Then, she turned with a happy look towards Yin Lingxi.

  “Putting that aside, have you informed your family yet? Who is going to represent your side in the ceremony?”

  “…I haven’t told them yet, but I think my Aunt will represent my side in the ceremony.”

  “Your Aunt? Oh! You are talking about Miss Yao?”

  “Yes. She is the only one I trust not to ruin things for me and the only one who would be genuinely happy for me, even if she doesn’t approve of my choice based on her past interactions with Da Wei.”

  The bitterness within her tone when she talked about her family instantly made Grandma Li look at her with sympathy while Grandma Lian just gave her an understanding look.

  The two older women gave the empress a gentle hug before they guided her deeper into the house.

  “Don’t think too much about dark things. You can’t change the past by thinking about it. Instead, you should focus on the bright future in front of you.”

  “Li Na is right, don’t think about those things. Instead, you should start thinking about how you are going to deal with your Aunt. The last time she came here, she was most vocal about her disapproval of Da Wei.”

  Yin Lingxi winced as she remembered that time when she regularly tried to clash with Da Wei, provoking him into attacking her in some way so that she could prove something that only she believed about him.

  Thankfully, Da Wei never fell for her traps and kept a distance from her shenanigans.

  “Yeah, that is going to be a headache and a half.”

  “What about your siblings? I heard you had two brothers, right? One older and one younger?”

  A cold light flashed within Yin Lingxi’s eyes at the mention of her older brother,r as sheer disappointment filled her mind at the mention of her younger one.

  “They don’t matter. At least, in this issue. As siblings, their only role in the ceremony would be to act as my guides, but that is a role that can be fulfilled by those I consider my friend,s so those two are not really necessary.”

  The two old women shared an understanding look with each other at those words before diverting their talk to a safer topic.

  The two women were married to very remarkable people in the past and had experienced a lot of what this world had to offer, so they knew the difficulties that Martial families and sects face when it comes to familial ties and love.

  That is why they did not want this young empress to endure what they did in their youth.

  With those thoughts in their mind, the two silently communicated with the voice transmission technique and finalized a simple plan.

  No matter what, they must make this upcoming ceremony between Da Wei and Yin Lingxi a memory that these two young ones will never forget in their lives.

  Author Notes: Read 8 chapters ahead on Patreon. Use the Patreon button below the chapter.