is opportunity and could now show off back home."Gentlemen," a bearded man holding a torch walked in front, raising his voice, "We gather here today with one goal: hunting the female demon. So I hope...Chapter 66 Who Chose Whom (Exclusive on 17K)

"Be careful, the floor is slippery," Bai Qianye held Qi Lin tightly, afraid that she might slip and fall.

Qi Lin nodded, feeling very uneasy. Just as Bai Qianye had warned her about the slippery floor, she had slipped and knocked both herself and Bai Qianye into a wall.

"Are you okay" Qi Lin asked casually, wondering when Bai Qianye became so weak. But before she could ask, the crying from inside grew louder, causing Qi Lin to look at Bai Qianye worriedly.

"I'm fine, let's go," Bai Qianye pulled Qi Lin and quickened their pace forward.

After turning several corners, they finally saw a door. However, today the door was wide open, with the cries coming from within.

Qi Lin thought that Bu Yao must have seen Long Ye again and burst into tears, hitting him in her emotional turmoil. But judging by the sound, Qi Lin felt very uneasy. Before Bai Qianye could say anything, she had already rushed inside.

Bai Qianye stopped there, his brows furrowed as he placed a large hand over his heart and discreetly wiped off the blood from his mouth corner with his sleeve. He then took out a pill to swallow before slowly stepping in.

"Ye, you are so cruel."

When Qi Lin entered, Bu Yao was sitting on the ground beside an ice bed where Long Ye lay. His appearance hadn't changed; he seemed asleep and would wake if moved slightly. On his pillow was a brocade box unopened at this moment. Bu Yao knelt by the ice bed, holding Long Ye's hand tightly, her tears streaming.

On the other side, Empress Dowager wept in Ziyin’s arms, while he stood there helplessly, shaking his head sadly. Qi Lin's unease was confirmed but she wasn't prepared for this sudden turn of events.

"What is going on here" Qi Lin voiced her confusion. Although Bu Yao had once said that Long Ye might still be alive, Qi Lin hadn’t believed it. She had thought Long Ye could have been living somewhere unnoticed.

After all, she had seen Feng Changqing's brotherly love for him.

A strong hand grabbed her shoulder; Qi Lin knew it was Bai Qianye’s.

"Are you stupid Don't you know I've been searching for you When I found out that you might still be alive, I almost went public with my love for you and told everyone that Bu Yao loves Long Ye and wants to be his queen, no, just to be your wife by your side, even if it means death."

Zi Lin didn't know what kind of scene she was in, nor did she know the emotions she had while looking at everything. She only felt that her heart hurt.

"Look," Bu Yao took out Phoenix Imprisoning the Queen and placed it in Long Ye's hand. "Do you know I've always kept it with me. I can't bear to wear it on my head because I'm afraid I'll lose it due to my careless nature, but every night I hold it in my palm as if you were by my side."

"You still dare to say that, you witch! If not for you, he wouldn’t have died." The Empress Dowager angrily pointed at Bu Yao and staggered over, pulling Bu Yao’s hand. "This is the last time. If you hadn't distracted me, I would have arrived on time. Do you know this is the last time As long as I give him this antidote on schedule every day, he will wake up. All because of you, you killed him."

The Empress Dowager grabbed Bu Yao and beat her while pointing at Zi Lin and roaring angrily, "All of you, you two witches have killed my son, making me send off a black-haired person with white hair. You witches, if not for you, I wouldn't be like this. All because of you, I want your lives."

The Empress Dowager suddenly choked Bu Yao and shook her violently as though this would wake Long Ye up. But Bu Yao didn’t struggle; she only tightly held onto Long Ye’s cold hand without letting go.

Finally, Zi Yin stepped in to pull the Empress Dowager away, saving Bu Yao from suffocation. She collapsed beside the ice bed, coughing weakly when she suddenly saw a red string around Long Ye's neck. Bu Yao forced herself up and went over, touching the string that slowly came out.

The red string was just an ordinary rope tied around Long Ye’s neck; however, what was hidden under his clothes made Bu Yao feel pain in her heart.

Holding a cracked jade-colored finger guard gently, she feared it would break if she pressed too hard. But by then, tears had already flooded her eyes. She climbed onto the ice bed and kissed the finger guard softly.

This was about their wedding night when she mentioned the custom of exchanging rings in the 21st century to Long Ye. The finger guards represented the exchange of sincerity. So on that night, Long Ye lifted her red veil and gave her a pair of finger guards, though they couldn't compare with diamond rings. Later, she found out that Long Ye had personally crafted this pair over five days and nights.

When Long Ye placed it on her hand, she was reluctant to help him put his guard on. So he said, "If one day you give me your true feelings, then you would wear mine for me. From then on, I will wear it around my neck until you take it off and place it on the ring finger of my left hand. At that time, I will make you happier than any other woman in this world."

But one day, Bu Yao accidentally heard a female voice coming from Long Ye's study room. Out of anger, she threw her own finger guard into the pond. When Long Ye came to explain, she didn’t listen and even pulled his finger guard off his neck, slamming it on the ground. The guard had broken; still, she wasn't bothered at all, shutting herself in a room without seeing him.

That time, Long Ye played zither and flute outside her door for two days and nights. In winter’s cold weather, he passed out on the ground and was brought back by the steward but as soon as he could get out of bed, he went to her door despite the doctor's advice against it. He talked to her all day long, not a single word being reproachful towards her. It was filled with funny jokes interspersed with stories from their childhood.

But on that day, Bu Yao went for a walk and didn’t stay in her room. By the time she returned home, it was pitch dark already. After eating, when she entered her room, Long Ye was seen talking there while shaking his body; she gave him a forced smile and walked over to take out the finger guard she threw away from inside his clothes and put it back on her hand herself. Then he shook the one around his neck at her with a silly grin.

But after laughing, Long Ye collapsed into her arms, still holding onto her hand tightly as he fainted.

This time Long Ye had a high fever and slept for five days straight. During that period of unconsciousness, whenever Bu Yao left him, he would scream like a madman; she was forced to hold his hand all the while sleeping beside him.

She still remembered that when Long Ye woke up and saw her, he was so excited that his body trembled, causing him to fall off the bed and wake her up. But upon seeing her, Long Ye acted like a child who had made a mistake, scratching his head and touching his ears.

“That... we... we slept together. Hahaha.”

Seeing his silly expression, Bu Yao couldn't help laughing but said nothing, just helped him back to bed and fed him some porridge she had prepared for him. Long Ye stubbornly ate all of it, saying that the porridge was delicious. However, when Bu Yao teased him by saying a certain woman had made the porridge for him, he insisted on vomiting it out. That time, Bu Yao laughed.

Snuggling in Long Ye's embrace was her favorite thing; each time, he would gently stroke her hair and tell her that this lifetime, he only loved her. But this time, his warm embrace felt icy cold. Bu Yao removed the ring from her finger and softly placed it on Long Ye’s ring finger before intertwining their fingers. Unfortunately, she had lost her own ring when entering the palace.

Seeing a brocade box by Long Ye's pillow, Bu Yao took it slowly and opened it; tears flowed down again. Inside was her discarded ring along with an unswallowed pill.

Bu Yao cried for a while before putting on her own ring and then linking fingers with Long Ye once more.

"I, Bu Yao, will marry Long Ye as my husband, in poverty or wealth, health or illness, youth or old age. I wish to accompany him and protect him all my life, be his most loyal friend, and closest family member. May God bear witness that I become his wife."

Bu Yao slowly recited the vows, then kissed Long Ye gently before lying beside him with her head on his shoulder; their fingers entwined as she envisioned a happy life of traveling the world hand in hand with Long Ye.

"Qi Lin, would you be our witness" Bu Yao asked softly.

“Mm.” Qi Lin stepped forward and said, "Bu Yao, do you wish to marry Long Ye as your husband"

Bu Yao smiled slightly at Long Ye; it seemed that he was looking back at her too. Finally she slowly replied, “Yes, I will."

"Congratulations, you are now officially a married couple."

Bu Yao happily smiled and helped Long Ye smooth his hair down before taking an accidental-looking pill in front of everyone and closing her eyes.

“I have finally married you.”

"Bu Yao!" Qi Lin wanted to rush over but Bai Qianye held her back, then hugged her tightly.

"Let them be," Bai Qianye said slowly, tightly hugging Qi Lin.

The Empress Dowager was weak and fainted in Zi Yin's arms. Zi Yin had no choice but to carry her away.

"Tell me what happened," Qi Lin asked.

Bai Qianye sighed and said, "Although I am at odds with Feng Changqing, I would never harm Long Ye; he is my brother. That day, in order to dispel rumors, he took a poison, but the poison was given by Feng Changqing. It only made him feign death temporarily, but if he doesn't take an antidote regularly, he won’t wake up."

"Of course, Long Ye knew Feng Changqing wouldn't kill him, so secretly, he took another poison that requires a regular dose of antidote to regain consciousness."

"Initially, it was Feng Changqing who delivered the antidotes on schedule. After that incident, it became the Empress Dowager."

"According to time calculations, today is his last scheduled dose."

"Who would have thought something like this would happen"

"This might be fate," Bai Qianye said.

Qi Lin voiced her confusion: "Why did he choose such a path If not dead, today he could truly see Bu Yao's true feelings. Why bother"

Bai Qianye softly replied, "That day, Long Ye thought Bu Yao liked Feng Changqing and would be happy as Empress. So, he gave his own woman to someone else. But without his beloved, who can bear to live This was merely a choice for himself, an opportunity for Bu Yao."

Choice Qi Lin looked at the two people lying peacefully on the ice bed, feeling it akin to Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai's fate.

Whose answer did this choice give

In the end, would Bu Yao rest eternally with her beloved And she—would anyone be with her at the end No, no one would. She needed to go back.d隨手 grabbed a snowball, throwing it at Qi Lin's face.The snowball landed accurately on Qi Lin's face once more. Qi Lin froze for a moment before falling backward straight to the ground, motionless in...