Looking at the three people kneeling before him—especially his daughter Shini, and the little fellow beside her who called him Grandfather—Zhang Tie found his feelings impossible to put into words. Before the battle at the Nether Sea, this youngest daughter he had cherished most had still been acting spoiled in his arms. Yet now, upon his return, his daughter was already a wife and a mother...
No parent could remain untouched upon seeing their own children become parents as well.
The marriage between Zhang Changlei and Princess Shangping had been purely a political union, the bond of the alliance forged between the Golden Crow Hall faction and Crown Prince Changying. Zhang Tie had arranged it before the battle at the Nether Sea. There was nothing more to say about that marriage. Now, Zhang Changlei and his daughter-in-law, Princess Shangping, treated each other with respect and courtesy. They already had three sons and a daughter, and both sides were very satisfied with the marriage.
Zhang Shini's marriage to Xuanyuan Yunfei, however, had not been a political arrangement, but the result of a relationship that had developed freely and naturally.
Xuanyuan Yunfei was Princess Shangping's younger half-brother on her father's side. A few years after Princess Shangping married Zhang Changlei, she gave birth to two sons. Then, she and Zhang Changlei took their two boys back to Xuanyuan Hill to visit family. Zhang Shini had accompanied her elder brother and sister-in-law to Xuanyuan Hill for sightseeing, where she met Xuanyuan Yunfei. Both were young in those days. As they spent more time together, affection quietly blossomed between them, and their hearts became one.
Later, although Zhang Shini had left Xuanyuan Hill, the two remained in frequent contact and could still meet once or twice every year.
When they grew up and it