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About 140 kilometers to the east of Chifeng was Cuiwei Pass. It stood majestically tall above the landscape, like a mountain.

Zhuge Yue was on horseback, with over a hundred horses following behind him. His personal bodyguard, Guo Huai, led around 20 to 30 soldiers at the back, guarding the royal carriages. The wind was blowing from the east, bringing with it the scent of the earth, whose soil had laid the foundations for another blossoming summer in the vast land that was Qinghai.

By the time they had reached the pass, the guard on patrol was already expecting his arrival. Upon seeing Zhuge Yue, he saluted and greeted him before opening the heavy city gates.

Zhuge Yue calmly faced the carriage and said, “Third Uncle, forgive me for not sending you off.”

The curtains of the carriage were rolled up, revealing a face whose old age was as apparent as his clarity of mind. His expression was of that of confusion and despair. Raising his head, he pleaded for a final time, “Your Majesty, it was a moment of folly from me. Please forgive me for once.”

Zhuge Yue remained silent, his eyes as if encased with a layer of ice, coldly reflecting the elderly man’s desperate pleas.

The elderly man continued to plead in sorrow, “Xia has ceased to exist. The brothers have all accompanied Seventh Royal Highness to the northern regions. With the territory of Hongchuan under the role of that little scum, Yan Xun, how will I manage if you send me back there?”

“That is your problem, not mine.”

Tears began to well up in the elderly man’s eyes, as he kneeled on the floor of the carriage, begging in sorrow, “Your Highness, Third Uncle has let you down. But, I did it for the sake of your lineage, hence I wanted to betroth Chou’er to you. I didn’t have any ill intentions towards her, I just...” The elderly man had not finished his statement when Zhuge Yue turned around without hesitation, his resolve firm as steel.

Stunned, the old man exclaimed, “I didn’t do anything! It was just a thought!”

“Even those thoughts are too much,” Zhuge Yue calmly replied, his voice echoing across the wind like a leaf drifting aimlessly across a pond.

“It is my wife and children that we are talking about here. Those ideas being floated about in your head and found out by me is also too much.” As he finished, a white bird flew over from the plains of Qinghai, in its mouth a tree branch. It was a bird that had just finished building his nest.

“Guo Huai, send them out.”

The gates were opened, before closing not long after. Without uttering a single word, he led his team back, as the footsteps of horses and sounds of eagles flying overhead were heard. It was serene and peaceful again.

Qinghai was his home, one that he would rule and protect at all means necessary. Anything that represented a threat to that peace would be ruthlessly eliminated, even if it was just an idea or thought.

Suddenly, the crisp sounds of horse steps were heard. Zhuge Yue looked up, only to see her approaching on horseback, dressed in her yellow shirt.

“Yu...” Chu Qiao stopped the horse and looked afar puzzled, asking, “Has your third uncle left?”

Zhuge Yue nodded, “Yes.”

“Why didn’t you ask me over to send him off?”

Zhuge Yue smiled, “He is reluctant to leave his old home. He wants to go back there. There wouldn’t be any point in troubling you.”

Chu Qiao frowned, “He is your elder, after all, it wouldn’t be nice for me to not send him off.”

“What’s there to be nice about?” Zhuge Yue casually shrugged, before getting onto his horse, “I wasn’t close to him to begin with.”

With him already gone, Chu Qiao could only reluctantly sigh in reply, “But, you didn’t give me a choice. Don’t say I embarrassed you if this ever comes up again.”

The couple began walking back towards their home, chatting about daily matters. Flowers blossomed on both sides of the road, bringing along their fragrant scent. The road was the only way to regions outside the pass. The situation in Hongchuan had been resolved and Yan Bei had entered the eastern regions. The civil conflict in Tang had subsided, which meant that Song was now a part of the Yan empire. The stable political scene meant trade was beginning to flourish once again. As Qinghai began to open its doors, trade relations were established with Tang. The bustling trade activities meant that the road was heavily used, with over ten merchant carriages traveling over it in a short period of time.

Both Zhuge Yue and Chu Qiao were dressed in ordinary civilian attire, while their guards behind accompanied them without their plated armor. From far, the pair looked like any other couple touring and visiting the area.

Not long after, the sounds of drums filled the air. As they looked up, a bride in her red carriage and white horse rode down the road. Seeing this, Zhuge Yue smiled, “Today is a joyous day. Fancy bumping into civilians holding a wedding the moment we stepped out.”

As he finished, Guo Huai was also told by him to let a path through, as everyone walked to the side of the road. As the celebratory entourage walked down from afar, the groom atop on his horse gestured to thank him, with Zhuge Yue nodding in acknowledgment.

As Chu Qiao looked at the celebratory entourage, she couldn’t help but feel slightly dazed as she vaguely recalled how what seemed to be an eternity before, she once sat on a carriage going down a freshly completed road in a similar festive atmosphere.

She was pregnant then, to the point where it was beyond doubt from an outsider’s point of view. Knowing the culture there, a pregnant woman getting married was bound to cause rumors spreading around the community. Yet, he was insistent that she would receive a formal ceremony even before the child was to be born. Hence, Chu Qiao had become potentially the most discussed bride in history yet again, as she rode in the royal carriage wearing her wide robe into the majestic palace gates.

It was weird how things in life sometimes panned out. One could muster all his or her effort into something and come up short, yet in other times try something casually and have an inseparable bond for life.

That day, Zhuge Yue would document his marriage atop the sycamore platform, in full view of the Qinghai region. He had used all his effort into organizing such a grand wedding on land that he had so bitterly fought for, to give her a haven and a home.

Chu Qiao was full of gratitude. After all, through the countless battles and escapes from the jaws of death, a man like him was what any woman would have wanted. A man like him was worthy of any woman in the world to love for a lifetime. Yet among all of them, she would be the chosen and lucky one.

That night, as he put on her makeup in the candlelight, they both realized that this was the day they were looking forward to. Like the winds that circled across the land and seas but would eventually return to the mountains, they had found the place they would call home.

“Xing’er?” Puzzled, Zhuge Yue asked, “What are you daydreaming about?”

Chu Qiao was suddenly brought back to reality, and smiled. “I was thinking, when we had our wedding, you weren’t riding a horse when you received me.”

Zhuge Yue looked thoughtfully at the departing celebratory entourage and nodded, “Yes, shall we do it one more time?”

“Alright, I’m okay with that.”

The couple joked with each other as they walked into Qiuye City, entering Xingyue Palace from the back door.

Yet, as they walked into Taihe Palace, they could hear commotion coming from within. Zhuge Yue raised his hand, frowning at what was going on just as the servant was about to report. As expected, the servants were all standing at the side of the courtyard, stunned at what they saw. Zhuge Yue’s son was dragging his items towards the palace door, whereas his father’s pillow had been thrown outside, as if he had been evicted.

“Zhou’er, what are you up to?”

The young child, who had just turned three and a half years old, was stunned upon hearing his father’s voice, as he immediately sat on the floor. Gingerly, he turned his head around, covering his eyes with his hands, only to see his father’s furious expression through the silts between his fingers.

What’s done has been done. I’ve been caught red-handed, what’s left to say?

Zhuge Yunzhou stood up and exclaimed proudly, “I’m moving house!”

“What house?”

His son retorted bullishly, “Father and I have five days each. Today is the fifth day!”

Zhuge Yue had indeed agreed to such terms. Though both he and Chu Qiao were elites and were well endowed, when it came to their child, they were entirely different from their normal selves. Therefore, until the child turned two, the family had all lived together. Yet, this arrangement brought certain inconveniences. One example was when they wanted to engage in physical intimacy at night, the child would stare at them.

In the end, Zhuge Yue could no longer tolerate it. Instead, he struck a deal with his son, where they would each live in separate quarters and have Chu Qiao’s attention for five days each, so that the couple would have time to enjoy each other’s company during the night.

Alas, Zhuge Yunzhou’s trust towards his father had dropped massively. Every few days or so, Zhuge Yue would find several excuses not to hand his wife over to his son. Eventually, thinking that no one respected his opinion due to his tender age, the child followed his mother’s words and took matters into his own hands, moving in all by himself.

With Zhuge Yue out of the home due to work matters today, the determined Zhuge Yunzhou used all his might to move all his items into his mother’s room, while throwing his father’s pillow out as a sign of his resolve.

“Ahem...” Zhuge Yue cleared his throat as he thoughtfully said to his young son, “Zhou’er, you’ve grown up. It’s time to be a true man and learn to be independent of your mother.”

The younger Zhuge scratched his head, looking attentively at his father. Thinking he had talked some sense into his child, Zhuge Yue shamelessly bragged on, “When I was your age, I was already shooting arrows, riding horses and studying poetry. Put your energy onto more useful and productive matters rather than these mundane issues, alright?”

The junior Zhuge nodded his head, obediently replying, “Understood.”

Zhuge Yue was thrilled. His child had finally matured and opened up.

“But, it sucks.” The young Zhuge pouted and reached his small tiny palms towards Chu Qiao as he said sheepishly, “Mother, my hands hurt. I’m tired.”

Seeing her beloved child in such a state, Chu Qiao’s usual steel nerve instantly became soft. She immediately rushed forward, ordering her servants to help the child carry his items. As Zhuge Yue stood in the courtyard, seeing his wife transform in an instant, this only made his heart ever colder.

As darkness fell, a person got up dressed and stepped out into the hall. Satisfied, the person outside asked, “Is he asleep?”

“Yes”, Chu Qiao nodded, “Hurry along, I have to wake up early tomorrow.”

“You little rascal. You dare oppose me?!”

“Keep your volume down. The child may hear you.”

As darkness further enshrouded the sky, a child peeked over the window, looking at the couple walking shoulder to shoulder, before sighing with sadness, “My mother has turned her back on me.”

The land that was now named Qinghai didn’t always have a name. It was a piece of unnamed territory, which when someone stepped onto and saw the vast landscape with greenery stretching beyond the landscape, that he/she decided to name the region Qinghai accordingly.

Zhuge Yunzhou was once named Zhuge Kongming. It was after his mother had a nightmare of an elderly man wielding a fan to strike her that made her change his name to what it was at present.

Xingyue Palace was once nothing but a barren piece of land. It was only after the arrival of a family that decided to settle upon this land and build a large compound for a peaceful did the palace take shape.

As the war heroes stepped out of the chaos of the battlefield into the mundane tribulations of daily life, happiness slowly but surely began to return back into their lives, undisturbed by the tribulations and uncertainty conflict.

After all, living was meaningless without enjoying daily life.