Below the city wall lay the various families' temporary rest stations.
The Winged Dragon Family's banner stood by the roadside. Xiao Ning'er's father, Xiao Yunfeng, stood beneath it, ledger in hand, checking the medicinal supplies and Inscription Scrolls they had used up. Several stewards stood beside him, reporting one by one on casualties among the family's younger members and the supplies consumed.
When he saw the two approaching hand in hand, Xiao Yunfeng's pen paused, and he looked up.
His gaze first fell on their clasped hands. His brows shifted almost imperceptibly, then relaxed again. His face betrayed neither pleasure nor anger.
In truth, quite a few thoughts ran through Xiao Yunfeng's mind.
Back when he had agreed to this betrothal, he really had been left with no other choice. That year, the Winged Dragon Family's trade routes had been intercepted one after another, and problems had arisen with the medicinal supplies in their storehouses. Their cash flow had broken off without warning, leaving the entire family teetering on the brink.
He had pleaded with every family he could. Only the Sacred Family had been willing to help, on the condition of this betrothal.
At the time, everyone had said Shen Fei was an out-and-out wastrel. He spent his days idling, took no interest in cultivation, and had no hand in family affairs. There were even rumors that he chased flowers and dallied with every pretty woman he found, never behaving properly.
Xiao Yunfeng had been utterly unwilling. He knew better than anyone what his daughter was like: gifted, proud, and possessed of an understanding of inscriptions rarely seen in a hundred years. A far broader future should have awaited her. How could she marry someone like that?
But the family's crisis stood right before him, and he had no