The sunlit courtyard of the Frost-Pine Farmhouse smelled of simmering five-spice pork broth, sweet autumn osmanthus blossoms, and home.
As the weathered wooden front gate swung open with its familiar creak, Gu Changsheng and Empress Luo Qingxue stepped out onto the front veranda side by side. Meanwhile, Grandpa Fu, Auntie Qin, and Grandpa Yao stood beaming beside the bamboo tea table.
Walking down the clean stone garden path beneath the ruby-red pomegranate tree was twenty-five-year-old Gu Nian (Rank 10 Benevolent Chaos Guardian Sovereign).
At twenty-five, Gu Nian stood tall, broad-shouldered, and handsome in his black-and-gold Sovereign tunic. Every trace of the pale, malnourished eight-year-old boy from Page Three long since replaced by the warm, steady radiance of a young man who had grown up surrounded by unconditional love.
And walking right beside him, her small hand held gently and securely inside Gu Nian’s left hand, was a twenty-three-year-old young woman in a neat, sky-blue homespun linen dress.
She didn’t wear flashy immortal phoenix hairpins, nor did she radiate any artificial “Ice-Cold Sect Saintess” arrogance or scheming ambition. Her dark hair was braided into two clean plaits tied with red cotton ribbons, her fingers had tiny smudges of watercolor paint and chalk dust at the tips from teaching elementary school children. Her bright, crescent-shaped eyes shone with genuine, humble warmth.
