From now on, you are my dao companion.

Spring days lingered, and the vegetation grew lush and green.

On this day, an uninvited guest arrived at the Sweet Dew Pavilion.

The newly favored concubine, Nobleman Yu, relying on the Empress's recent rewards, barged in here with arrogant ignorance.

"Oh, so you are the rumored trash who hogs the Sweet Dew Pavilion but hasn't served in the bedchamber for three years?"

Dressed in luxurious brocade, Nobleman Yu fanned himself with a folding fan, looking with utter disdain at Ye Xuan, who was sitting by the stone table reading a book.

Ye Xuan didn't even look up. He turned a page and said flatly, "Get lost."

"You dare tell me to get lost?!"

Nobleman Yu flew into a rage. He kicked over the stone table, splashing tea all over Ye Xuan. "You shameless wretch! You're nothing but an ant at the Qi Condensation realm, taking up space without doing anything useful! Her Majesty only spares your life out of past affection. Do you really think you're a master here?"

Saying that, he raised his hand to deliver a slap.

"Stop!"

A sharp female voice rang out.

The Embroidery Maid, who had just arrived, rushed in carrying a food box.

Seeing this scene, her eyes widened in fury. The eyes hidden beneath her ordinary appearance instantly erupted with a chilling murderous intent.

"Where did this dog come from, daring to run wild here!"

The Embroidery Maid rushed over and protectively shielded Ye Xuan behind her.

Nobleman Yu was taken aback for a moment, then looked at this woman in coarse clothes, his anger rising even further. "Where did this lowly maid come from? You dare meddle in my business? Men! Beat this dog couple together!"

However, before his attendants could make a move...

Ye Xuan moved.

Slap!

A crisp sound of a slap echoed.

No one saw clearly how Ye Xuan moved.

They only saw him pull the Embroidery Maid behind him and, with a backhand, slap Nobleman Yu viciously across the face.

This slap, though lacking spiritual energy, carried all the physical strength Ye Xuan could muster.

Nobleman Yu was stunned by the blow. Holding his face, he shrieked, "You dare hit me? I am at the Foundation Establishment realm..."

"I don't care who you are."

Ye Xuan casually drew the fine steel longsword he always kept at his waist, pointing the tip directly at Nobleman Yu's throat.

At this moment, his eyes were as cold as ice, and his whole body exuded a resolute, murderous aura that would make even a Foundation Establishment cultivator's heart palpitate.

"You can humiliate me, and I can endure it."

"But if you dare touch her, even if I have to die, I will drag your entire family down to the grave with me."

"Get lost!"

At this moment, Ye Xuan's figure appeared so tall and grand in the eyes of the Embroidery Maid that it felt like he could hold up the entire sky.

She looked at Ye Xuan standing tensely in front of her, her heart beating wildly.

She was the Empress.

She could crush ten thousand Nobleman Yus with a single hand.

But now, she was hiding behind a Qi Condensation realm youth, being protected by him with his very life.

This feeling of being cherished and guarded at the very center of someone's heart made her eyes sting with tears, causing her to sink into it, unable to extricate herself.

The next day.

News spread from the inner palace.

The arrogant and domineering Nobleman Yu had suddenly contracted a severe illness last night and died a sudden death.

Along with him, the family backing him was raided overnight due to corruption and perverting the law.

When he heard this news, Ye Xuan was peeling an orange for the Embroidery Maid.

"He got his karma."

Ye Xuan fed a slice of orange into the Embroidery Maid's mouth and said with a smile, "People like that have done so many wicked things that even the heavens can't stand it. Sister, if anyone bullies you again in the future, just hide behind me. Although my cultivation is low, I still have the ability to fight for my life."

The Embroidery Maid chewed the orange, the sweet and sour juice spreading in her mouth, sweetening all the way to her heart.

"Mhm."

She nodded obediently, looking at Ye Xuan with eyes so gentle they seemed ready to drip water. "With you here, I'm not afraid."

In order to give Ye Xuan more of a sense of accomplishment, and to enjoy this feeling of being protected...

The Embroidery Maid began to occasionally create some trouble.

On a summer afternoon.

The Embroidery Maid ran into the Sweet Dew Pavilion with disheveled clothes and crying, saying she had been harassed by a passing drunken guard.

Ye Xuan was taking a nap at the time. Hearing the crying, he rushed out without even putting on his shoes.

"Who? Which bastard?!"

His eyes were bloodshot, and he grabbed his sword, ready to rush out and kill. His murderous appearance frightened the Embroidery Maid into quickly hugging his waist.

"Don't go... Little Ye, don't go... He's already left..."

"Even if he left, I'm going to kill him! Daring to touch my person!"

Ye Xuan trembled with anger. He turned back and tightly hugged the Embroidery Maid, his hands shaking. "Sister, don't be afraid, don't be afraid... As long as I'm not dead, no one can even think about touching a single finger of yours!"

Feeling the violent heaving of the youth's chest, and feeling the cold sweat he shed from anger and lingering fear...

Wu Lingxiao felt both guilty and sweet in her heart.

She greedily breathed in his scent, silently saying in her heart:

Ye Xuan, in this life, only you can make me this crazy.

Autumn passed and winter came; an auspicious snow promised a good harvest year.

The red plum blossoms in the Sweet Dew Pavilion bloomed, reflecting against the pure white snow, breathtakingly beautiful.

Tonight was New Year's Eve.

Outside, the sound of firecrackers rang out, lively and extraordinary. Inside the Sweet Dew Pavilion, a warming stove was lit, and a pot of good wine was warmed.

After a few rounds of drinks, blushes appeared on both of their faces.

Ye Xuan looked at the Embroidery Maid's delicate yet gentle face under the lamplight, looking at the tenderness in the corners of her eyes when she lowered her brows and smiled lightly. The impulse in his heart could no longer be suppressed.

"Sister."

Ye Xuan suddenly spoke, his voice a bit tight.

"Hmm?" The Embroidery Maid looked up, her drunk eyes hazy. "What's wrong?"

Ye Xuan put down his wine cup. His hands were tightly clenched inside his sleeves, his palms full of sweat.

He took a deep breath, as if mustering all the courage of his lifetime, and asked:

"How old... is Sister this year?"

"Twenty-three." The Embroidery Maid casually made up an age.

"Then... in Sister's family, is there any marriage arrangement? Do you have... a Dao companion?"

When he asked this sentence, Ye Xuan's heartbeat was so loud that not even the sound of the wind and snow outside the window could cover it.

He stared intently into the Embroidery Maid's eyes, terrified of hearing the answer that would make him despair.

The Embroidery Maid froze.

The hand holding her wine cup trembled slightly, spilling a drop of liquor.

Dao companion?

She was the Empress. She had three thousand beauties in her inner palace, and her nominal Dao companions were as numerous as hairs on an ox.

But, looking at Ye Xuan's eyes full of hope, nervousness, and even pleading, the word "yes" could not be spoken no matter what.

An inexplicable panic instantly swept through her entire body.

She was afraid. She was afraid that if she told the truth, this beautiful illusion before her eyes would instantly shatter.

Therefore, she shook her head.

"No... I don't."

The Embroidery Maid's voice was a bit weak. She lowered her head, not daring to look into Ye Xuan's eyes. "A lowly Embroidery Maid like me who toils all day, who would take a fancy to me..."

"I do!"

Before she could finish, Ye Xuan suddenly grabbed her hand.

His voice was loud and urgent, as if afraid she would go back on her words:

"Sister, I have fallen for you!"

"I, Ye Xuan, although I am currently a cripple and a prisoner locked in a cage, I swear that I will treat you well. I will give you my very life!"

Ye Xuan stammered, his words incoherent. That usually articulate mouth was now adorably clumsy:

"I... I am willing to become Dao companions with Sister. From now on, if I have a bite of solid food, I will never let Sister drink thin gruel. If one day we can get out, we will roam the world together. If we can't get out..."

Ye Xuan's eyes became incredibly resolute and deeply affectionate:

"If we can't get out, this Ganlu Palace will be our home. I will stay by your side, sister; we will share the same bed in life and the same grave in death."

"Sister... are you... are you willing?"

Silence.

Deathly silence.

Only the occasional crackle of the charcoal fire could be heard.

The Embroidery Maid stared at him blankly.

At this moment, Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of Great Xia, found her mind completely blank.

She had received the kneeling worship of ten thousand nations and the courtships of countless noble young masters.

Those scenes were grand, with ritual music playing in unison, yet never once had she felt as at a loss as she did now, feeling so happy that she was about to faint.

This was a marriage proposal.

This was the most sincere invitation from a pure youth to an "Embroidery Maid."

"I..."

The Embroidery Maid was trembling all over. It was from excitement, but also from fear.

She knew she was lying, knew she was playing with fire. But facing this fiery love, she was like a moth drawn to a flame; even knowing there was an abyss ahead, she could not bear to turn back.

"I... I am willing."

As these words left her lips, two trails of clear tears instantly slid from her eyes.

"Great! This is great!"

Ye Xuan was as excited as a child. He picked up the Embroidery Maid and spun her around in circles.

"I have a wife! I have a home!"

Since the decision was made, there was no more hesitation.

There were no guests, no wedding banquet, no red tape.

Ye Xuan pulled the Embroidery Maid into the courtyard. Facing the sky full of flying snow and a cold, clear moon, he set up a simple incense altar.

"With the heavens above and the earth below."

Ye Xuan pulled the Embroidery Maid to kneel in the snow. His expression was solemn and grave, as if conducting a sacred ceremony:

"Today, I, Ye Xuan, and... and..."

He suddenly froze and looked at the Embroidery Maid somewhat embarrassedly, "Sister, I still don't know your full name."

The Embroidery Maid's heart tightened. In her panic, she casually said, "Wu... Wu Ling."

"Alright, Wu Ling."

Ye Xuan held her hand tightly and continued to swear:

"Today, I, Ye Xuan, and Wu Ling become Dao companions. The heavens and earth serve as witnesses, and the sun and moon as our testament."

"From now on, I will be wholehearted and unfailingly loyal."

"Whether in poverty or wealth, in sickness or in health, I will never betray and never abandon."

After speaking, he turned to look at the Embroidery Maid, his eyes full of expectation, "Sister, it's your turn."

The Embroidery Maid knelt in the snow, her knees freezing, but her heart felt as if it were on fire.

She looked into Ye Xuan's eyes, so clear they couldn't tolerate a single grain of sand, and hearing the words "unfailingly loyal," her heart suddenly contracted.

Loyalty...

These two words were so ironic to her.

She tremblingly raised her hand, her voice as dry as if it had been ground by gravel:

"I... Wu Ling, am willing to become Dao companions with Ye Xuan."

"From now on... wholehearted..."

At this point, she paused, large tears smashing into the snow.

She suddenly turned her head, carrying a trace of imperceptible despair and probing:

"Little Ye."

"If..."

"I mean if. What if in the future... I am forced by circumstances?"

Ye Xuan was stunned for a moment, "What forced by circumstances?"

The Embroidery Maid lowered her head, not daring to look at him, her voice trembling:

"You also know that for servants like us, our lives are as cheap as grass. If a powerful noble forces me..."

"If one day, to survive, or for something else I have to do, I fail to keep my chastity..."

"Would... would you blame me?"

This was a hypothesis, and also Wu Lingxiao's greatest fear regarding her past and the future moment when her identity was exposed.

She was testing Ye Xuan's bottom line.

The smile on Ye Xuan's face slowly faded.

He looked at the Embroidery Maid, his eyes becoming unusually calm, a calmness that was frightening.

He reached out and gently wiped away the tears on the Embroidery Maid's face. His actions were gentle, but his words were sonorous and forceful:

"Sister."

"If it's like when I was abducted by the Empress and forced by violence... in that situation, I wouldn't blame you."

"Because that is victimization, not betrayal. If you suffered such pain, my heart would ache, and I would hate the abuser, but I would never despise you."

A trace of hope had just risen in the Embroidery Maid's heart when Ye Xuan's tone shifted.

"But."

Ye Xuan stared into her eyes, enunciating every word:

"In this world, apart from absolute violent coercion, there is no such thing as being 'forced by circumstances'."

"If it is to actively offer oneself for power, for profit, or for the so-called 'greater good'..."

"Then that is a choice."

"Since a choice is made, the price must be paid."

The Embroidery Maid's face turned deathly pale, "Then... then what is the price?"

Ye Xuan released her hand, straightened his body, and his voice was as cold as snow:

"I won't hit you, nor will I kill you."

"But I will leave."

"The reason Dao companions are Dao companions is that both soul and body belong only to each other. This is a contract."

"If you are unfaithful, no matter the reason, as long as you become dirty, our Dao companion relationship ends."

"I will leave, even if I have to walk to the ends of the earth, even if I die on the road, I will absolutely never look back at you again."

"Because..."

Ye Xuan looked at her, his eyes carrying an almost mysophobic stubbornness:

"My love must be completely clean. I give you a complete me, and you must also give me a complete you."

The Embroidery Maid trembled all over, feeling as if she had plunged into an ice cave.

Looking at Ye Xuan's resolute eyes, she finally understood—he was serious.

In the heart of this youth who seemed as gentle as jade, love was a piece of flawless colored glaze. It tolerated not a speck of impurity, much less deception and betrayal.

"Then... then what if it is to save you?"

The Embroidery Maid didn't give up, gritting her teeth to continue pressing, like a sinner trying to find excuses for herself:

"If someone threatened me with your life, making me... making me serve them in bed, then what should I do?"

Ye Xuan smiled.

He cupped the Embroidery Maid's face, rested his forehead against hers, and said softly:

"Fool."

"If that day really comes, you absolutely must not agree."

"I would rather die than have you suffer that kind of humiliation for my sake."

"If you gave yourself to someone to save me, then every day I lived would be a fate worse than death. I would hate myself, and... I wouldn't be able to face you."

"So, promise me."

Ye Xuan kissed her cold lips:

"No matter what happens, protect yourself. And protect our love."

"From now on, you will remain chaste for me, and I will be your only one."

The Embroidery Maid closed her eyes, her tears breaking like a dam.

She lost.

Lost completely.

In the face of this youth's principles, all her schemes, all her excuses, all her emperor's arts seemed so pale, so dirty.

"Alright..."

The Embroidery Maid choked with sobs, and amidst the sky full of wind and snow, made the vow that was destined to doom her beyond redemption:

"I promise you."

"From now on, only for you."

Three bows and nine kowtows.

The ceremony was complete.