Hao De was shocked to see Dong Hua so soon.
"Did she decide on a day?" He asked and Dong Hua chuckled.
"It seems she doesn't want a large wedding. Bai Fengjiu would like to be married tomorrow." He announced and Hao De broke into loud laughter.
"I am serious." Dong Hua interrupted.
"Invite the most important people who can arrive in time. We can use the ancient marriage chariots and I will ensure the weather is fine." He told him and Hao De rubbed a hand down his face.
"You cannot be serious." He sighed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I do not care about the niceties. I am a patient man, but I have been waiting over a millenia to marry." He informed him and Hao De nodded.
"Very well. I will see what can be done." He told him with determination.
"Let me know where I can help." Dong Hua offered his services.
Si Ming could not believe it when the Dijun returned and announced the news.
"What do you mean tomorrow?" He asked, his soup poised just below his mouth.
"I cannot wait a moment longer!" Fengjiu cried out, beaming with anticipation.
"Bai Fengjiu said she wanted to get married tomorrow and go to Kunlun mountain. So we will be married and then go to Kunlun mountain." He stated plainly and Si Ming was so impressed with the romantic nature shown by the Dijun.
Fengjiu was whisked away for dress fittings and other wedding related activities.
"Would you like to pick the fruits, your majesty?" One of the maids asked.
"No, I have said that Dijun can pick all of the food and drink. You can ask him." She told them and the girl nodded.
Fengjiu worked to hang peach blossom garlands all around the palace and in the street."It is getting late, Jiuer, let's go to bed." He called to her, looking up at her perched on the ladder.
"Let me do one more!" She called to him, wanting to make it perfect.
"Very well." He compromised and watched as she tied one final garland. She had no idea but he had the plan to make the sky pink with soft sunrise all day, and cultivate endless blossoms on their marriage road. It seemed that her plan of marrying quickly made everything less stressful. There was no time to dwell on things and in twenty four hours, she would be his forever.
He held her that night and pressed his nose against the nape of her neck.
"Are you sure about this, Jiuer? If we had longer we could have a more auspicious ceremony." He told her and she shook her head against his nose.
"I want to be with you, that is all that matters to me." She told him and he was touched by her love for him.
"Ever since that day when you saved me in the forest, I knew we were fated to be together. It just took awhile for us to get there." She told him and he pulled her a little closer.
"How are you so smart?" He asked and she shrugged her shoulders.
"Maybe I learnt it from you." And before he could reply, he felt her deep slumbering breaths against his chest. He smiled to himself knowing that this would be the last night he would walk his fated life alone, from tomorrow onward he would always have a companion, someone to look to when the days were hard, when he just wanted to lay his head on someone and cry. He wouldn't be alone anymore and that thought brought him more bliss than he had ever felt before.
Fengjiu was whisked away as soon as she awoke. She felt more nervous than ever before in her life.
"This is what you always wanted, enjoy this day." Qian Qian told her as she braided her hair. Fengjiu had requested that they forgo the traditional red garments and instead wear purple as she had always associated their love in soft tones of lilac.
"Do you not think it is bad luck to wear any other colour on your wedding day?" One of her maids asked her and Fenjiu chuckled, shaking her head.
"I have already had one wedding with Dijun in red. I want this to be special."
They dressed her in tones of pink and lilac and Qian Qian couldn't withhold her tears when she saw Fengjiu standing in her wedding robes, lavender braided into her hair.
"You are a bride the realms will never forget." She told her and Fengjiu couldn't look at herself for too long.
"It is perfect." She agreed.
Dong Hua worked all morning to ensure that the sky was suspended in an eternal sunrise. The sky shone in tones of pastel pink and purple and he rubbed a hand over his face as he looked down at the foxtail, his most prized possession.
"How did I get this lucky?" He asked himself, looking into the mirror, dressed in his finest robes.
Bai Fengjiu gasped when she looked out at the sky.
"I can't believe it!" She exclaimed, placing a hand over her mouth.
"Dong Hua did this all for you." Qian Qian told her, gesturing to the endless blooms.
"I don't want the chariot, I want to carry my own torch." She decided, looking up at the sky.
"Are you sure? It's a long way." Qian Qian reminded her, but Fengjiu stood resolut.
"I want to carry my love flame, I want to be the one to do it." She announced and Qian Qian was inspired by her niece.
"Very well." She nodded to one of the maids to go and tell Si Ming and Dong Hua's party to not use the chariot. It would be highly uncomfortable if Fengjiu carried her own flame and Dong Hua arrived in a carriage.
Si Ming leant down to the girl who whispered to him that the Little Princess would carry her own flame.
"Dijun, the Little Princess has decided, upon seeing the beauty of the day, she wishes to walk to the ceremony." He announced and Dong Hua chuckled, shaking his head.
"Of course she does." He wondered when she would stop surprising him.
He took his flame of eternal love and began walking, with Si Ming his only companion. There was so much he wanted to say to Si Ming in that moment, to unload all of his stress onto him. But Dong Hua stayed silent and focused all of his energy on thinking of Fengjiu and reminiscing on all of the times that he had scorned her and scolded her and shunned her and yet she had still fought for him, never given up until she hurt herself trying to alter fate. But in the end, she had found a way, his silly little maid had managed to alter a fate he was sure he had been cursed with for eternity. It was with these thoughts, that he kept his flame alight as they walked towards the ceremony hall.
Fengjiu couldn't believe he had done this all in one day. He had forced thousands of flowers to bloom, all for her enjoyment. She loved him so much, she couldn't imagine her existence without him. She enjoyed every step of the walk, every inch she came closer to being his wife.
Dong Hua gasped when he saw her. He had never seen anyone as radiant as Fengjiu that morning. He forced one foot in front of the other as he walked towards her and he purposefully pushed back his tears. He had never been an emotional man but the thought that his eternal curse was about to be lifted was overwhelming.
Everyone who could make it to the wedding arrived just in time. People pulled out every stop in order to not miss the most auspicious marriage the realms had ever seen. The entire room was alive with wonder as Bai Fengjiu and Dong Hua Dijun met outside of the hall.
She looked up to him, feeling tears well in her eyes.
"I love you so much." She whispered to him and that was all it took for the tears to break the surface of Dong Hua's eyes. He beamed down at her as she giggled with glee, seeing him so happy.
"I cannot tell you how much I love you." He told her and they turned and made their way into the ceremony hall.
They stood at the altar and handed their flames to Si Ming and Qian Qian.
"This marriage is the most auspicious this realm will ever see." The efficient began.
"Two souls, willing to give up everything for the realm, fated together through their sacrifice. We shall tell stories of this day for the rest of time."
Dong Hua turned to Fengjiu and took her hands. They had decided upon an ancient ceremony that included time for the pair to express their feelings.
"Bai Fengjiu, Queen of Qin Qiu, when I met you, I was an old lump of stone, not even really alive. But that day, in the forest when you began to follow me, you changed my life." He began. He struggled to keep his composure as he watched her delicately shed a tear, but pushed forward.
"I tried everything to push you away, but still, everyday you took on the guise of a lowly maid, just to repay the debt and make me smile. I could have never imagined you would give so much for me, you gave your tail and then later your fate, I could have never hoped that someone would care so deeply for me. I suppressed my emotions for too long, because I knew I had no right to feel them. But you awoke in me a man I thought was long dead and I will never be able to truly repay you, but I hope that an eternity of worship and servitude will be enough." He vowed to her. She squeezed his hands and there were several women and even a choice few gentlemen crying in the hall.
Next it was Fengjiu's time to speak.
"I will never be able to match your intellect, but I will speak from the heart. I have been a princess, a goddess and a queen but my fondest memories are when I was your maid, bringing you tea and washing your clothes. Most girls would have found this lowly work but I had never felt so fulfilled before. Because everytime you would glance my way or chuckle at my misfortunes, I would feel closer to you. I could have never imagined that I would gain your attention, much less your affection. When I gave up my marriage, my fate, I had no idea that our fates would be interlocked. I did it with the sole purpose of saving my own heart. I am a foxtail and I love only one, for all of my life. I am sure fate did not expect us to find one another, but you interceded everything I had ever known and imprinted yourself on my heart, dooming me forever. And although i gave a lot, I would give it ten times over to ensure that we walk the path of life side by side. I love you, and I will forever be indebted to you for awakening a love in me I never dreamt of experiencing."
He should have waited, the efficient had more vows to say, more words of promise, but he couldn't restrain himself. He pulled her hands close to him and kissed her purposefully, deeply, placing his forehead against hers.
"Let it be known they are bound in the eternal love of marriage." The efficient pronounced and the room erupted. They quickly joined the eternal flames, but everyone knew they needed no symbolism, they were more in love than any couple that had been seen.
Bai Fegjiu had waited a relatively short amount of time, compared to Dong Hua. But still, sitting beside him, intertwined in the eternal bonds of marriage soothed an ache she had learnt to dismiss for hundreds of years. She quietly pinched the skin of her forearm between her forefinger and thumb, and was pleasantly relieved to find herself remaining in the same reality.
"This is not a dream, Jiuer. This is our life now, forever." He whispered into her ear and she sighed, allowing her eyes to fall closed softly. He sensed her insecurity, even in the smallest of ways.