Shocking! In this matriarchal society, every man wants to marry me!

Song Jinshu immediately understood, wrote a letter to his friend, packed his belongings that very night and left without daring to linger for even a moment.

On New Year's Eve, the news reached the Xia family.

As Ding Yucheng was recalling this, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. It was a servant from the manor, coming to deliver a wooden plaque.

Xia Fang's wooden plaque has been made. One copy will be kept in the ancestral hall, and the other will be placed in Ding Yucheng's room for frequent worship.

This was carved from an excellent wooden board, painted with gold ink. Ding Yucheng took an incense stick, lit it, and the fragrant smoke of incense drifted into the air.

Ding Yucheng looked at Xia Fang's name on the wooden plaque and thought for a moment. If people really have spirits, her soul shouldn't be looking for him.

Why did they choose to elope when the snow was melting and the ground was slippery and difficult to traverse? Why were they so unlucky that they were assigned a group of servants who had a grudge against them and were eager to make a name for themselves?

What a twist of fate! Their lives have been filled with hardship; they can't blame heaven or others!

He placed the incense stick in front of the wooden plaque and asked Liang Yun, who was standing respectfully to the side, "Where is Song Jinshu's body?"

“Zhong Niangzi secretly took it away.”

"Okay." Ding Yucheng nodded, not feeling surprised. Zhong Tian was a good person, and she wouldn't let Song Jinshu die such a tragic death.

If Song Jinshu were to be left to rot in the wilderness, he would feel a pang of guilt. After all, there is nothing wrong with loving someone. For example, now that he is free, there is nothing wrong with starting to love Zhongniang again.

……

"Dig slowly and don't make any noise." Although Zhongtian's hands couldn't move, his mouth kept talking, giving instructions from the side.

Two or three plump and strong servants were digging the grave with heavy breaths.

Xia Muning looked at Zhong Tian with a cold expression, unable to give him any pleasantries.

Tonight, Xia Muning is in the house directing a group of people to embroider a wedding robe. He knows how to embroider, but time is tight. The embroidered robe he wants to wear is gorgeous and exquisite. Even if one person goes blind, they can't embroider it well.

So he hired 30 embroiderers to embroider day and night. Occasionally, he and Shishu would lend a hand. He calculated the time and figured the embroidery should be finished before the wedding.

Then they heard someone knocking on the window.

He opened the window and his expression changed.

Zhong Tian stood outside the window, carrying the already cooled body of Song Jinshu on her back. Her arm was injured, and she didn't know how she managed to carry Song Jinshu's body on her back with difficulty.

She was afraid of scaring others, so she covered herself with a cloak, but it still frightened Xia Muning so much that her face turned pale.

Xia Muning glanced into the room and saw that the embroiderers were all focused on their work and hadn't noticed them, so she waved them away.

"what are you doing?"

Zhongtian said apologetically to Xia Muning, "Muning, I need your help!"

How can I help?

Find a few people to open Xia Fang's grave, distract the cemetery staff, and then put Song Jinshu's body down there.

But though we cannot be together in life, we can be buried together in death.

Xia Muning had never done such a thing before. Looking at Song Jinshu's corpse, his face remained pale.

He thought, "This is what Zhongniang told me to do, so I'll endure it. If it were anyone else, I would whip them until their mouths bleed."

Until Xia Fang and Song Jinshu lay side by side in the tomb. Zhong Tian stared longingly at Xia Muning.

Xia Muning's heart tightened: "What are you doing?"

"Go and put their hands together."

"..."

Xia Muning used a handkerchief to connect Song Jinshu's arm with the hand in Xia Fang's hand. If the surroundings were ignored, the two would look like a pair of lovers fast asleep.

Xia Muning expressed his opinion: "Sister Xia Fang is soft-hearted and fickle, and she is most prone to getting bored with the old and seeking the new. If they were both alive, perhaps Song Jinshu would be the next one to be abandoned, just like Ding Yucheng. Time is the cruelest thing."

Nakata thought for a moment and said, "You're right, but they must have been in love when they died."

“Do you know? When Song Jinshu and Xia Fang left, they wrote me a letter, telling me the recipe for Hongsu Shou (a type of hand-held dessert), and entrusted the shop to me as well. Song Jinshu…” Zhong Tian hesitated, “I can’t let him die such a tragic death.”

Until the last handful of soil covered their bodies.

Zhong Tian held Xia Muning's hand and felt that her palm was extremely cold.

"Why is it so cold?"

Xia Muning glanced at Zhong Tian and said reproachfully, "You still have to say that? There was a charcoal fire in the room, burning very brightly. You called me out in such a hurry that I didn't even have time to put on a thick coat."

"It's my fault! It's my fault!" Nakata repeatedly admitted his mistake.

Nakata has difficulty with his hands.

"Hold me close, and put your hands inside my clothes. It's warm inside."

Zhongtian thought Xia Muning would be shy, but she wasn't. She hugged Zhongtian openly and pressed her face against her chest, where a heart was beating vigorously.

The two were very close, and the heat from Zhongtian's clothes passed into Xia Muning's hands and then into Xia Muning's heart.

When Xia Muning looked up, he could see Zhong Tian's face, which was red from the cold. He wanted to bite down and slowly leave his mark on her face. Thinking of this, Xia Muning's face turned slightly red.

He knew that Zhongtian's heart was missing a piece because of Xia Jin'an's departure. Although Zhongtian didn't say it, he could feel it. But it didn't matter; he would use all his love to make up for it.

……

Springtime brings gentle mountains and beautiful waters, and the city is bustling with prosperity and splendor. The snow has finally melted away.

Spring has arrived, and Zhongtian's arm has fully healed. She waved her arms twice in the air, and the whistling wind could be heard.

This winter has not been a good one for the Xia family. Xia's mother suggested that Zhongtian and Mu Ning get married as soon as possible to dispel the recent decadence in the mansion.

Nakata agreed.

Zhongtian married into the Xia family, but the Xia family did not allow her to move to the Xia residence. Instead, they hired craftsmen to break down the wall between Zhongtian's house and the Xia residence and open a road, thus achieving the best of both worlds.

Zhongtian and Xia Muning are not allowed to meet before their marriage.

Zhongtian was somewhat uneasy, but in the end he decided to write a letter to Xia Muning.

He kept asking her, both openly and secretly, whether everything would go smoothly tomorrow, and that if anything happened, he should not hide it from her. If he regretted it, she should explain to Xia's parents on his behalf, and he should not leave without saying goodbye.

Xia Muning found the letter somewhat amusing and unbelievable at first. She didn't know what he had gone through to marry her.

Later, I felt heartbroken. Xia Jin'an, Xia Jin'an, do you regret it? You really hurt Zhong Niang.

So he put aside his joking intentions and replied to the letter seriously.

Nakata opened the letter, and a smile appeared on her lips as she read its contents. Reassured, she put the letter down and went to her bedside.

She can get a good night's sleep tonight and be refreshed and ready to marry her husband tomorrow morning.

The wind blew in from outside, making the paper rustle. The moonlight seemed curious as well, wondering what was written on the letter.

The above is an old love poem.

"Until the mountains crumble, the rivers run dry, winter thunder roars, summer snow falls, and heaven and earth unite, only then will I part from you!"