Meeting His Family

*End of Li Wei's memories. Beginning of Arc 4*

The enchanting sounds of a flute called to her.

Li Wei's eyes opened and the haunting memories vanished. Her body was placed against the trunk of a large tree overlooking a grassy field. Nearby, Khan Bojing casually sat on a rock, his legs dangling freely and his hands playing a heart wrenching tune.

After a moment, Khan Bojing noticed her and strolled over. "Finally you're up, sleepy head. Did you not get a good sleep last night?"

She watched him dazedly, not responding as he wiped the sweat off her neck. That's right, she couldn't sleep at all last night. Her mind replayed the words he said to her continuously until morning came.

For the longest time, Li Wei was stuck with one conclusion. Li Zhilan was his first love, the one he was too late to meet. Khan Bojing was too good of a man and hence, forced himself to marry her out of guilt when she had his child. Eventually, he slowly let go of his first love to be a good husband and father. After many years together, he miraculously developed feelings for her.

After his answer to her question, Li Wei finally realized the details she overlooked in her past life.

Khan Bojing may be a gentleman, but he had never been afraid to stand up for himself. If he was unwilling, who could change his mind? She initiated it, but he accepted it too. He allowed things to go so far between them that night because he loved her from the beginning. The loveless marriage in which she saw them both as unwilling parties was one sided.

In their first love story, it was only her who was late to love him.

Li Wei shifted her body and looked up. In the branches above, there were colorful ribbons flying in the air. "Yebai, what are those?"

"Ah, have you not heard of the Wishing Tree before? In this town, the Wishing Tree stands by the entrance as a guardian to the villagers. Every year, they'd come and make a wish by tying ribbons on the branches."

"Really?" There was such a thing?

"It's only a myth, no one knows. But there is something interesting though. The Wishing Tree is eternally green, even on the coldest nights of winter. Hence, there's another belief that those who fall asleep under the Wishing Tree are blessed with a long life."

"Is that so?" Li Wei snuggled against herself, suddenly unwilling to get up. "Let me sleep some more then."

Khan Bojing pulled her hand. "We have to go or else it'll be dark when we arrive. Next time we'll come back, okay?"

Only with his compromise did she nod happily and went along with him. In the carriage, Li Wei hurriedly looked out the window at the majestic tree becoming smaller and farther away. "Khan Bojing, we can't leave yet. We didn't get to make a wish!"

"I didn't have anything to wish for so I forgot." He brushed her hair aside. "Do you have a wish?"

"You have no wishes?"

He shook his head. "I have everything when I have you."

He had everything when he had her... As expected, his mind was simply beautiful. The best person was already by her side. She snuggled close to him. "If I made a wish, it'd be to have you. You're all I wish for."

He leaned his head onto hers. "Thank you, Xiao Wei. It's my greatest honor to be with you."

When the carriage came to a stop, they were in front of an inn. The streets were busy as villagers hurried on their way home.

Khan Bojing only strung a bag of belongings on his back. "Xiao Wei, sorry but we can't take all that you brought. Having a carriage attracts too much attention when we're not in the markets anymore. To avoid suspicion, Ye Dequan will stay here until we return. It's you and me from now on out."

Li Wei was a bit sad to depart with the things she packed, but she understood. Without complaints, she obediently followed Khan Bojing. They walked away from the crowded streets into the quiet outskirts of town where houses were distantly spaced out.

Eventually, they hiked up a trail in a bamboo grove. The evening sunlight filtered through and the bamboo leaves shook in the breeze. Khan Bojing reached out to hold her. Every now and then, he glanced back to check on her.

When the trail came to a stop, there was a small house. Three people sat in the porch drinking tea and conversing happily.

"Mother!" Khan Bojing called out.

When Mother Xu stood up, Li Wei hid behind Khan Bojing shyly. They met once before, but this time was different. She was no longer that random girl who showed up to find Khan Bojing. She was now the woman he would marry. Once they wed, she'd be the elder woman's daughter in law...

"Don't be scared, my parents don't bite," He teased her.

Li Wei sent him a glare as he pulled her along towards his family. "You're not helpful."

Mother Xu, Father Xu, and General Lian all stood up to welcome them. Mother Xu smiled warmly at the young girl. "Yebai, this is...?"

Khan Bojing squeezed Li Wei's hand. "This is Li Wei, the woman I wish to marry."

"Ah, the one that came out of the blue asking to see you?" Father Xu bluntly asked. Out of the two, he was the one with the unfiltered mouth. With a glare from his wife, Xu Qingsheng quickly clarified. "Of course, it's nothing wrong. We especially admire honest and straightforward people. Hearing that Yebai wanted to marry, we couldn't wait to meet you."

"We were worried he would end up alone," Mother Xu added.

Khan Bojing pulled her to sit next to him, his hand still holding onto hers. "En. Good thing you came, Xiao Wei. You saved me from the life of becoming a lonely old man."

Li Wei's palm were slightly sweaty from her nervousness. She couldn't respond to him and only smiled respectfully to his parents.

"What did you said to scare the girl so much, you brat?" General Lian scolded. To Li Wei, the old man softened his voice, "We're all good people here. Your father, Yue Shangwu and I go a long way back. When I heard it was his daughter this brat would marry, I thought there couldn't be a better match."

Father Xu chimed in excitedly, "In all honesty, we thought it was too good to be true. We had to be told twice to believe it. Are you sure you really want to marry him? You can still reconsider."

"..." Were these people his family? Khan Bojing casually reminded them, "Remember I'm your son. If you scare my bride away, you won't get a daughter in law."

"Oh, right. In that case, let me rephrase..."

Mother Xu pinched her husband. "Don't listen to this old man. You both must be tired, let's have a meal together first."

"It's okay." Li Wei smiled.

"See, see, my daughter in law likes me already. She doesn't mind." Father Xu retorted back in defense.

Mother Xu filled his mouth with a bun, forcing him into silence. "Eat now, you can brag all you want later."

Throughout the meal, Li Wei watched the endearing bickering of the couple in amusement. It was clear how much they loved each other, teasing and playing back and forth. She couldn't help but wondered, would Khan Bojing and her be like that too when they get old?

After dinner, Mother Xu handed them a basket and then went back into the house. Khan Bojing took Li Wei into the forest.

"Where are we going?" She asked. It'd be dark soon.

"To take a bath."

"How?"

He stopped and turned back. "Where else?"

Li Wei hadn't been to such a remotely located house before. Her eyes looked at the stream suspiciously. "Here?!"

"En."

"..." She took a step back. Okay, maybe she could take that, but there was another issue. "Not together, right?"

He captured her waist and leaned close. "Not right."

"W-wait, I'm not ready. Give me a moment to prepare myself." Li Wei's face suddenly burnt as ambiguous images filled her mind.

"Okay, come in when you're ready." Khan Bojing casually took off his clothes and left only his trousers on. He even took the time to stretch his arms, neck and shoulders.

With unsure steps, she tapped his back. "Yebai, are you sure about this? Your parents and everyone else know what we're doing..."

Khan Bojing broke into laughter. Her serious face was too adorable. "Did you think my mother would allow me to lure an innocent maiden to the river? Silly, it's a marriage custom. In our village, couples take a bath together before their wedding day to symbolize cleansing away the negative things. Once married, the couple would only accept good things into their life."

"Oh. Why didn't you said so in the beginning?"

"I wanted to tease you so I could see that blush on your face."

Li Wei placed her palms over her cheeks. "You're mean, you're not allowed to see it."

He placed an apologetic kiss on her forehead and explained patiently, "We can keep our undergarments on and follow the basic requirements. You can take a proper bath later in the house."

"I don't understand. We're not getting married tomorrow."

Khan Bojing's forehead touched hers and their gaze met. "Xiao Wei, I wanted us to have something we can cherish away from the public eye. It may also be a while before we can officially wed. Things are complicated now and in case something comes up, I asked my parents to prepare a small wedding ceremony tomorrow."

She understood words he said and words he left unspoken. Li Wei wrapped her arms around his waist. "Let's do as you planned."

"You're not mad?"

"Not at all," She told him. "I'm most happy to marry you."

Those words touched the deepest parts of his heart and took away all his worries. No one knew him more than her. Only her, his lovely sweetheart, could make him feel this way.

Khan Bojing carried her in his arms and together, they went into the water.