Li Mo's journey into the dream was unusually arduous. Getting someone as hot-tempered as him to fall asleep was no small feat, and even Qin Yuzhi had to exert considerable effort.
Now, he stood dumbfounded before a snow-capped palace adorned with lanterns and ribbons, greeted by an unfamiliar scene of jubilant celebration, with guests coming and going.
Li Mo glanced at the large red flower pinned to his chest and questioned his very existence.
He dreamed he had crossed over—from Blue Star to a realm known as the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.
"Ridiculous. How could something like transmigration happen to me? This must be a dream..."
Good news: it was indeed a dream.
Bad news: when he woke up, he realized he had actually transmigrated—and had been living in this world for a long time.
A textbook orphan start, made even more classic by the fact that, at the brink of life and death, he was picked up by a peerless powerhouse and brought back to their sect.
"So this is the groom chosen by the Lord of the Moonfrost Palace?"
"Damn it, I can't stand this."
"What’s there to hate? They’re a perfect match—talented, beautiful, destined for each other. Who are you, some monster, to oppose it?"
"I hate that I can’t take his place!"
"Empress Phoenix, aloof and transcendent, overlooking all living beings, ranked first on the Hundred Flowers List, with beauty that rivals the heavens—what does she see in this guy? What, his hammer?! I don’t get it! I just don’t get it!"
The guests' murmurs buzzed incessantly in his ears.
Little Li himself didn’t get it either.
Yeah, even in his wildest dreams, he wouldn’t dare imagine something this good. Could there be some mistake? It all felt a little too unreal...
A sudden shout snapped him out of his thoughts.
Since the wedding was being held at the Moonfrost Palace, it wasn’t exactly a conventional ceremony—after all, the two had once been master and disciple, and now they were marrying in the same place.
Yet, by title, it wasn’t a matrilocal marriage either.
So fetching the bride was just a formality.
"Junior Brother Li, why are you just standing there? Hurry up!"
Shang Qinqing appeared out of nowhere behind him, patting his shoulder with a grin.
Pushed forward, Li Mo reached the bridal sedan and lifted the curtain, his clear eyes betraying a hint of bewildered stupidity.
Inside sat a vision of elegance, draped in noble crimson bridal robes. The red veil didn’t fully conceal her face, offering glimpses of vermilion lips and phoenix eyes shimmering with a light that made her features all the more ethereal.
She, who seemed untouchable and cold as ice, was now clad in passionate, fiery red.
Softly, she extended a delicate hand.
The moment Little Li hoisted her onto his back, he gave up thinking altogether.
Who cares if it makes sense?!
"How exactly does a wedding go again...?" Qin Yuzhi, weaving the dream, suddenly hit a snag.
She had never been married herself, and after sleeping for so long, she had no idea what the customs of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands were like now.
So she turned to the goddess of matrimony in the Great Shang Dynasty.
"Straight to the bridal chamber!" Shang Qinqing declared without hesitation.
Qin Yuzhi leaned back slightly, baffled. "Is that how weddings work now? That can’t be right... Is this the normal procedure?"
Shang Qinqing grinned like a shameless pervert. "It’s the procedure I want to see. The other steps are just for show."
Qin Yuzhi: "...This kind of dream is too illogical. It might collapse."
"Fine, fine, I’ll tell you the proper steps."
Even if it was just going through the motions, she eventually used the Dream Path to construct the ceremony according to Shang Qinqing’s instructions.
The atmosphere in the Moonfrost Palace grew even more fervent.
Though it still didn’t seem entirely normal...
"Bow to heaven and earth!"
The first bow was the most conventional part. But when it came to bowing to the elders, things stalled.
Under the guests’ gazes, Little Li was at a loss.
He was an orphan. The only elder present—his master, the Palace Lord—was about to enter the bridal chamber with him.
This... this couldn’t be right.
"Bow to each other!" Shang Qinqing skipped ahead.
Clan Leader Shang disliked tedious formalities, and since she hadn’t officiated a wedding in ages, she went straight for the most entertaining part.
Like the couple’s bow.
In the grand hall of the Moonfrost Palace, Little Li stood stiffly in formal attire, a large red flower pinned to his chest, while the ice-cold beauty stood beside him. When their eyes met, candlelight flickered in their gazes.
His sunny demeanor couldn’t hide his shyness. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮•𝓷𝓮𝓽
Her frosty aura couldn’t mask her blush.
"Perfection. Absolute perfection."
Shang Qinqing clutched her chest, her heart struck by an arrow of delight, as her speed of snacking on melon seeds skyrocketed.
"And after the bows?" Qin Yuzhi asked.
"I, Qingluan, say so!"
And so, the final act of the ceremony became exactly that. Li Mo and Ying Bing stood together, surrounded by cheers, as he lifted the corner of her veil.
When he leaned in, Ying Bing instinctively pressed a hand to his forehead.
Before she could wonder where this habit came from, her world was engulfed in warmth, accompanied by a dizzying sense of weightlessness.
Time itself seemed to freeze.
And it really did—because the dream’s architect had momentarily lost the ability to think.
"Will the dream collapse?" Qin Yuzhi still felt this was too illogical, worried they might have gone too far.
"Relax, they’ll figure it out! Don’t you know how terrifying love-struck idiots can be?"
Shang Qinqing remained utterly unfazed.
After countless illogical wedding details were glossed over, the ceremony finally concluded—even the toast was skipped—and he took the ice queen’s hand.
Leaving the hall, they traversed a long corridor.
In the bridal chamber, candlelight bathed Li Mo and Ying Bing, blurring their vision and casting everything in an indescribable, delicate haze.
Shang Qinqing rubbed her hands together, watching eagerly from the shadows with Qin Yuzhi...