What If...I Remember?

Chapter 29

"Qian Qian, are you listening to me?"

Ye Hua's voice contained slight traces of irritation, and Bai Qian blinked, realising that he had indeed been speaking for quite a fair while, and that all of it had either bounced away from her or gone through one ear and escaped from the other. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Bai Qian gave him a sheepish smile, and he gently brushed her cheek with his thumb, "A penny for your thoughts, then?"

"..." Bai Qian stared into his calm black eyes, and even as the faint sounds of the night filled her room, Bai Qian gave a sigh, "Your mother...she-" "Did she taunt you again?" Ye Hua's voice grew chilly at once, and just from her lowered gaze, Ye Hua could already infer that Le Xu had, indeed, taunted Bai Qian again.

"She wouldn't be like this, if not because Su Jin has been feeding her theories that I was enchanted by you." Ye Hua looked tired as he grasped her hands under the covers, and Bai Qian's lip twitched into a sad smile, "I can't get rid of Su Jin; she's both your mother's favourite and the last of the Su Jin Clan."

The two of them laid in silence, only staring at each other as thoughts ran through both their heads, their eyes conveying a thousand words. Then, softly, Ye Hua spoke up again, "But let us ignore her. We are to be wed in a mere few days, Qian Qian. By then, no one can stop us from being together. No one." "But they will not make it easy, Ye Hua. They will still taunt me, as they do now." Bai Qian touched her forehead against his, their breaths mixing together in a steady rhythm, and Ye Hua matched the tip of her nose with his, smiling gently before he pulled her into his arms.

"Since when did I ever lead an easy life?"

And he pressed his lips to hers, sealing up her lips, taking away both her worries and her words.

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"Oh, Qian Qian, sometimes I do wish you would stop bargaining for the removal of accessories!" The Fox Empress came rushing in, a fretful expression upon her face as she forced another shiny item into Bai Qian's hair, and Bai Qian rolled her eyes as she sat up straight, waiting for Feng Jiu to be done with brushing through the hair that had been let down.

"Mother, you need to calm down. I am already more decorated than anyone in Qing Qiu's history..." Bai Qian finally couldn't resist herself, and the Fox Empress gave her a quick glance, before she nodded, "I think that's good enough. You're better decorated than that Su Jin, at least."

There was a bark of raucous laughter from behind as Bai Qian broke into a grin, and Feng Jiu was still laughing as she clambered over the side of Bai Qian's bed, "Grandmother, did you just cover Gugu in accessories because you didn't want her to lose to Su Jin?" "I- Of course not! Xiao Wu looks better with all these accessories now! But then, of course, Qing Qiu cannot lose to the Celestials, so...yes, Xiao Wu must look better than that Su Jin." The Fox Empress admitted, and Bai Qian was about to add on something when Bai Yi stepped into the room, "Mother, everyone has arrived. Are we ready?"

"Oh, yes, yes, of course. Is your Father ready?" The Fox Empress rushed out of her spot, and Bai Yi nodded, "Father's already waiting in the room." "Good, good. Xiao Jiu, bring Qian Qian to the room, will you?" The Fox Empress left the room hurriedly, and handing her arm to Bai Qian, Feng Jiu brought her after the Fox Empress to the room where Bai Qian would bid her parents and family farewell.

...

Bai Qian lowered her head respectfully as she entered the room, and both Bai Zhi and her mother beamed at her with pride in their eyes. Sinking onto her knees with caution to not mess her accessories, Bai Qian tucked her hands before her chest, before bending into half a kowtow. When she rose, Bai Qian met her gaze with her parents, who nodded at her encouragingly.