“Naming her?” Jiang Huai looked down at the swaddle in his arms.
The newborn baby girl cried only a few times when she first arrived in the world, and had now completely quieted down, as if she had naturally inherited the cold temperament of the White Dragon Clan.
She opened a pair of clear and pure light blue eyes, not crying or making a fuss, just nestling obediently in Jiang Huai’s arms, her tiny fingers curling unconsciously.
White Dew moved silently to his side, their arms lightly touching, and the warmth from each other’s bodies could be felt.
But her face still maintained its usual coldness; those ice-blue eyes, when looking at the child, were filled with an inseparable tenderness, forming a subtle contrast with her detached aura.
Not far away, Su Yingman and Zhu Siyao exchanged a look, both curling their lips and watching this seemingly harmonious family of three with their arms crossed.
Chiyun’s gaze shifted between White Dew, Su Yingman, and the others, a faint smile curling at the corners of her lips, though she didn’t say much.
“Do you have any ideas? Or do you plan to just hand the child over to me?” Seeing Jiang Huai’s long silence, White Dew’s elegant brows furrowed slightly, a hint of worry showing in her tone as she asked softly.
She knew very well that her initial methods were not honorable; an ordinary man encountering such a thing would probably find even looking at her once more repulsive.
But she observed carefully and found that Jiang Huai didn’t seem to show any loathing toward her, which gave her the courage to try and get closer.
“Hmm? Hand her over for what? What are you going to do?” Hearing this, Jiang Huai almost subconsciously pulled the child in his arms a bit tighter, looking at White Dew with alertness.
This woman bore a sea of blood and deep hatred; she couldn’t be thinking of giving this newborn child some kind of inhumane “Save the World Special Training,” could she?
“Then give her a name, why are you just standing there in a daze.” There was a trace of extremely faint blame in White Dew’s tone as she tried hard to maintain her cold expression.
“I’m thinking about it.” Holding the child, Jiang Huai’s brows were tightly knit as he fell into deep thought again.
After a moment, his eyes brightened slightly, and he said:
“How about calling her Jiang Jianjia.”
The reeds are lush and green, the white dew turns to frost. The so-called person is on the other side of the water.
White Dew was stunned at first, her snow-white skin turning a faint pink at a visible speed from her neck, eventually even her earlobes stained with a seductive crimson; her fingers tightened unconsciously, clenched into small fists.
Her beautiful eyes stared fixedly at Jiang Huai, her lips lightly pursed, first into a stubborn straight line, then trembling slightly, as if she wanted to say something but it was stuck in her throat.
Su Yingman, Chiyun, and the others all turned their gazes toward the pair, their brows slightly raised, faces showing playful expressions as if watching a good show.
“Hmm? Is it not good? Actually, this is a poem…” Seeing her reaction was off, Jiang Huai tried to explain.
But before he could finish, he felt his hands lighten; White Dew had swiftly yet gently “snatched” the child back, holding her tightly in her arms.
She turned her head, her voice carrying a forced composure, yet weakening due to a lack of confidence:
“She’s called Bai Jianjia! Her surname is Bai! She cannot be surnamed Jiang!”
She paused, her voice even lower, almost inaudible:
“I am not becoming your that. . .”
“Hmm?” Jiang Huai looked at his empty hands, then at her.
Su Yingman spoke at the right time, her laughter carrying a bit of mockery:
“My child can be surnamed Jiang, but Qin Qingyue’s child must be surnamed Qin.” In this world, the status of a concubine was generally lower than that of the primary wife and the husband, and the children followed the father’s surname.
For an existence with such transcendent status like Qin Qingyue, her offspring would naturally take the mother’s surname.
White Dew clearly did not consider herself to be in the position of a concubine.
She knew clearly the weight Qin Qingyue held in Jiang Huai’s heart, and she also understood that her actions back then were not upright, so she inevitably weakened a bit on the matter of the surname, appearing somewhat lacking in confidence.
“Is that so. . .” Jiang Huai’s gaze fell back onto the baby girl in White Dew’s arms.
It seemed a bit tricky indeed.
Under the gazes of everyone, either curious or teasing, White Dew only felt a burst of mental confusion, a sense of embarrassment she was extremely unfamiliar with and not good at dealing with, surging from all directions like a tide.
From the Primordial Era to the present, in her life, besides cultivation, becoming stronger, expelling foreign enemies, and bearing the blood sea of hatred of an entire era, when had she ever had a moment of leisure to think about these trivial matters of romance and status?
The moment before she was frozen in ice, what she thought of was only her clansmen and hatred.
Now, she felt a sense of discomfort and pressure, only wanting to immediately escape from this situation that left her at a loss.
“It’s the same no matter what she’s called,” White Dew said in a low voice.
“It’s not the same.” Jiang Huai suddenly reached out, and without allowing any argument, took the child back.
He looked directly into White Dew’s somewhat dodging eyes, his tone serious.
“Of course it’s not the same! Otherwise, what will she be called in the future? How should she conduct herself while growing up?” He said righteously.
“White Dew, it is different.” White Dew turned her head away, maintaining her cold facade:
“What’s different? Whether I am called White Dew or another name, am I not still the same me?” She even thought pessimistically that by the time this child grew up, she might not even be alive in this world.
What she was called didn’t matter; anyway, her responsibility was to inherit Jiang Huai’s protection of this world.
Yes, nothing was important; these trivial matters, these statuses, were not important.
Jiang Huai looked at the pure and innocent eyes of the infant in his arms, his tone involuntarily becoming a bit heavier:
“Because in the future, she is not destined to go to her death, nor must she bear everything.”
“She is just my daughter. How can a father let his own daughter even have an ambiguous surname and belonging?” “I don’t want her to repeat your era, regardless of whether she is a Yin-Yang Body or not,” he said in a low voice.
“She should have the right to choose her own future.”
“Even if the price for this future freedom needs to be borne by me.”
This sentence had already clearly stated Jiang Huai’s attitude.
He would block all the wind and rain for her, opening up a future for her that didn’t need to be bound by fate and responsibility.
At the very least, it was different from the original intention of her birth.
White Dew’s heart trembled, as if a soft corner deep inside that had never been touched was fiercely hit by Jiang Huai.
An unspeakable mix of sourness and a warm current surged into her heart, making her involuntarily turn her head back, her gaze falling on his face again.
‘I can take him into the house now.’ A thought passed silently through her heart.
Jiang Huai didn’t notice the waves in White Dew’s heart; he lowered his head and began to clumsily yet affectionately tease the child in his arms.
Little Jianjia was exceptionally well-behaved, staying in his arms without crying or making a fuss, just using those clear blue eyes to look curiously at this strange world.
Su Yingman, Zhu Siyao, and the others also gathered around, temporarily putting aside the subtle atmosphere from before, looking at this new life with curiosity.
“She’s so well-behaved, she looks so much like her mother. These eyes, these little Dragon Horns. . .” Zhu Siyao couldn’t help but reach out a finger, very lightly touching the pair of small, exquisite Dragon Horns on Jiang Jianjia’s forehead that shone with the warm luster of white jade.
They felt slightly cool to the touch, with a jade-like texture.
“Does she have a tail?” Zhu Siyao asked curiously.
Chi Lian answered with a smile:
“Logically speaking, she has one, but it’s very short and small now, hidden in the swaddle.” “Half-human, half-dragon; except in the Dragon Palace, it’s actually quite popular in other places.”
Su Yingman was even more direct, carefully taking the child from Jiang Zhun’s hands, cradling her in her arms and rocking her gently, humming a tune that wasn’t quite a melody, a soft smile on her face.
No matter what, the second generation of Nine Heavens Palace had someone.
This noisy and warm scene dispersed the previous embarrassment.
Everyone seemed to have temporarily forgotten the child’s origin and the complex relationship of the parents, simply feeling joy for the arrival of this new life.
This was a natural human trait, to celebrate a newborn creature.
White Dew watched this scene quietly, looking at Jiang Zhun, who was surrounded by everyone, looking somewhat at a loss yet with a gentle gaze, and looking at that tiny life connected to her by blood.
Her heart, frozen by the long years and heavy hatred, seemed to be melting bit by bit, becoming soft.
The way she looked at Jiang Zhun gained a bit of unspeakable complex emotion.
She no longer hesitated and walked straight toward Jiang Huai.
The white scaled tail behind her flickered slightly and unconsciously.
With one hand, White Dew skillfully took Jiang Jianjia back into her arms, while the other hand quickly grabbed Jiang Huai’s wrist.
Without allowing for any discussion, she turned and walked toward the house.
“What are you doing?” Jiang Huai was dazed by her sudden action.
“Feeding her something.” White Dew didn’t look back, her voice still cold.
“Also, taking you to do something.”
“What thing?” Jiang Huai didn’t react for a moment, but White Dew’s pace was extremely fast and her strength was great; after struggling only a few times, he was half-pulled and half-dragged away from the noisy courtyard and into the room.
As soon as he entered the room, Jiang Huai was instantly dumbfounded.
He saw that the inside of the room was completely different from the cold and minimalist style of White Dew he had imagined; it was actually filled with an intense and festive bright red.
Bright red silk hung from the beams and pillars, exquisite bright red Double Happiness paper-cuts were pasted on the windows, and two red candles stood on the table.
A carved wooden bed was set up exceptionally prominently, with a bright red Mandarin Ducks Playing in Water Brocade Quilt, bright red curtains, and even the footstool by the bed was covered with a bright red soft cushion.
In the air, there was even the floating scent of silk tree flowers.
Why was it a wedding room?
“This is what? When did you set this up?” Jiang Huai looked around, shocked.
With a soft “thud,” the door closed behind her.
At the position of the door bolt, cold air instantly condensed, silently growing a crystal-clear Ice Lock, isolating the inside from the outside.
But White Dew pulled Jiang Huai straight to the wedding bed covered with the bright red bedding.
Her free hand patted the bed, where a set of brand-new male wedding robes was neatly folded.
“Change your clothes and marry me.”
Having said that, she actually sat sideways directly on the edge of the bed and began to undo the buttons of her own collar, her movements natural.
Her collar was slightly open, faintly revealing the snow-white jade-like skin and the small, firm pinkness within.
Compared to the mature woman of the Red Dragon and the imperial sister of the Black Dragon, the women of the White Dragon Clan were practically like little squabs, only slightly better than the Azure Dragon loli.
White Dew gently adjusted Jiang Jianjia’s position.
The Bed of Soft Jade was a bit high; as she sat on it, her pair of slender, white legs hung in the air, swinging gently.
The girl’s Clear Spirit Qi appearance and physique were doing things that didn’t match her looks.
“No! Absolutely not! Marriage? This is too fast! No!” Jiang Huai snapped out of his massive shock, waving his hands repeatedly and subconsciously taking a step back.
He and Qin Qingyue hadn’t even held a formal wedding yet; how could such a major life event be so rushed and frivolous?
At the very least, they should wait until after the Heavenly Demon was defeated and the world was at peace, right?
White Dew didn’t argue with him either, just quietly, with her eyes lowered, focused on feeding the child in her arms, as if Jiang Huai’s protest was an insignificant matter.
An extremely faint “crack” sounded.
Jiang Huai looked down and saw a layer of ice crystals as thin as a cicada’s wing starting from the cuffs of his trousers, spreading upward rapidly as if they possessed life, instantly covering all the clothing on his body.
Immediately following that crisp sound, all the clothes on his body, along with his shoes and socks, turned into countless tiny ice crystal fragments, fluttering down piece by piece and dissipating into the air, leaving not a single thread.
In an instant, he was without a stitch of clothing, standing naked in this bright red wedding room filled with an ambiguous warmth.
“You… you!” The sudden sensation of coolness made Jiang Huai’s whole body stiffen; he pointed at White Dew, who was still sitting quietly on the edge of the bed as if nothing had happened, so angry that his tongue was tied, unable to say a complete sentence for a long time.
White Dew finally raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping over him for a split second before looking away as if nothing was wrong.
Her throat moved almost imperceptibly.
“Change your clothes and wait for me.”
“Otherwise, I’ll freeze that thing of yours.”
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