2026-03-20 14:40:13
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97
Ten days had slipped by since the grand wedding of Alaric and Yoni had captivated the city of Silverstream. The transition from late spring to high summer had been abrupt and unforgiving. The sun hung in the sky like a molten copper coin, beating down with a ferocity that threatened to crack the parched earth. Along the bustling docks of the Redwater River, the stevedores and trackers worked with their shirts stripped off, their skin glistening with sweat and turning a raw, angry red under the relentless glare.The local government offices, which had only recently been frantic with preparations for potential flooding, had performed a sudden and desperate pivot. Instead of bracing for rising waters, they were now mobilizing labor to dig irrigation trenches and divert streams, hoping to stave off a catastrophic drought before the summer harvest could be ruined. In the military outposts surrounding the city—the Iron Wall, Pale Wolf, and Black Armor garrisons—the soldiers had been ordered
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As the hour approached eight in the evening, the heavy iron-bound wheels of the carriage finally rolled into the main courtyard of the Xiao estate. Caelum stepped down, followed closely by Butterfly, their figures illuminated by the flickering lanterns that lined the walkway. Leo, the driver, remained seated for a moment, his gaze lingering on Caelum with an expression that sat somewhere between professional detachment and calculated curiosity."Master, will you be heading to the pharmacy tomorrow morning?" Leo asked, his voice carrying a subtle, rhythmic undertone. "If so, I shall have the horses prepped and ready before dawn."Caelum didn't turn back, merely offering a casual wave of his hand as he guided Butterfly toward the inner corridor leading to the Lotus Spring Garden. "No need to rush, Leo. I have matters to attend to here first."Leo watched Caelum’s retreating back, a furrow developing in his brow. He found the young man’s behavior increasingly baffling. Only yesterday, Ca
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The subtle sheen of the indoor lighting cast long, flickering shadows against the heavy wooden beams, which were already festooned with vibrant red lanterns for the celebration. Upon those beams, the characters written by Caelum seemed to float with an ethereal, effortless grace, their ink shimmering as if alive. Within mere moments, a dense crowd of wedding guests had swarmed behind Master Arthur, their necks straining to catch a glimpse of the scroll.Among the onlookers were those who had witnessed Caelum’s unorthodox semi-cursive script during the Lord Xiao’s birthday banquet, and those who had only heard whispers of its transformative beauty but had never seen it with their own eyes. Even the handful of students who had previously harbored petty grievances against Caelum were leaning in, though their lower social standing kept them relegated to the back of the room, unable to claim a vantage point near the front."This script... it is so fluid, so unrestrained," one elderly schol
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Alaric, resplendent in his emerald-green official robes and traditional black gauze hat, completed the triple-bow ceremony with a respectful and humble grace alongside Yoni, who remained veiled beneath a heavy crimson silk shroud. As the final bow concluded, they were immediately surrounded and whisked away by a flock of bridesmaids and elderly attendants toward the bridal chamber. There, the more intimate rituals—the lifting of the veil, the sharing of the ceremonial wine, and the traditional binding of the hair—would take place, far from the prying eyes of the assembled guests.Caelum stood on the outer periphery of the main hall with Butterfly, watching the retreating figures with a complex mixture of exhaustion and satisfaction. After all the political maneuvering and the subtle plays for influence, he felt a certain personal investment in this union. "May they truly grow old together in harmony," he thought to himself. However, he quickly added a cynical mental footnote: if they
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Before Caelum had even reached the threshold of Silk Robe Alley, the sheer magnitude of the wedding of the Wei Dynasty’s Third Rank Scholar began to weigh upon the very air of the city. Starting from the bustling Kangning Street, the entire northern sector of the Shuzhou provincial capital was transformed into a vibrant theater of celebration. The rhythmic thundering of gongs and drums echoed through the narrow corridors of the city, punctuated by the sharp, staccato explosions of firecrackers that left a hazy, celebratory mist hanging over the cobblestones.Every storefront and residence along the route was draped in festive lanterns and colorful ribbons, each adorned with the crimson character for "Double Happiness." Young men and women of high standing, dressed in flowing red robes and elegant skirts, moved through the crowds with radiant smiles, distributing candies, traditional cakes, and small tokens of good fortune to every passerby."The wedding of the Third Rank Scholar, Alar
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While Caelum was enjoying a peaceful and undisturbed slumber within his private chambers at the Residential Villa, savoring the profound tranquility that precedes a grand storm of social engagements, his older brother, Sylvan, was enduring an entirely different and far more jarring experience. It was not the kind of beginning any man would wish for when facing a day as pivotal as the wedding of the young and celebrated scholar, Alaric.The first rays of dawn had not yet dared to pierce the horizon when Sylvia, Sylvan’s personal maid, burst into his room with a sense of duty that bordered on the militant. She did not bother with soft whispers or gentle nudges. Instead, without a single shred of mercy, she took a heavy towel that had been soaking in a basin of ice-cold water until it was saturated to its very core, and slammed it directly onto Sylvan’s face.Sylvan jolted upright as if struck by a sudden bolt of lightning, his breath hitching in his throat as the shock of the cold seize
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