-

"It was I who made a request to your Majesty to see you. Princess Thea invited him to sit down in a chair in front of the fire," ...... I guess, do you know why?"

Mo Shi sat down and leaned the staff in his hand against the back of his chair.

"I didn't think about marriage. I have all that I have to God, to the Church, to the King, and to the people of the Northernmost Kingdom. He looked up at the high-ranking Heyal woman, "I'm not qualified to stand side by side with you under the empty wheel. ”

Thea didn't dodge, her eyes met him.

She looks very quiet, far more magnanimous than Mo Shi expected, her background and life have brought her many waves and experiences.

"I have heard of your piety. "But, as you may know, this is what my father, His Majesty the King, fears. ”

"......" Mo Shi quickly understood what the other party meant.

She found him, not to talk about marriage, but to talk about politics.

In this case, it is just a waste of time.

"It is a great pity that, given my origins and all the other things I have done in the past, Your Majesty cannot fully trust me. I fully understand this. In the eyes of His Majesty, I am not an easy pawn to control. ”

Xiya smiled dryly, and her attitude was kind: "Your Majesty wants you to be his right and left hand because he values you." ”

"Yes, of course. ”

"He wants you to stay in the capital. But I've heard that you still want to leave for the Southlands?"

"Or the Northlands. I haven't decided on my itinerary yet, and when I think about it, I'll report it to Your Majesty as soon as possible. ”

Mo Shi knew in his heart that Xiya said that he had "heard", but obviously it could not have been Xiya Golden Lion who heard it, but Manka Golden Lion asked Xiya to beat him.

"In that case," said the princess calmly, as if she were talking of two unrelated men, "it is necessary to make a marriage." You also know that even saints who serve God wholeheartedly like the Holy Priests are self-denying, and they have companions and children—obligated to continue the snowwalkers. ”

Mo Shi gritted his teeth.

He sighed, lowered his gaze and raised it again, his expression changed: "Your Royal Highness Princess, can you assume that you and I are friends, and then let us talk about this matter, that is, your marriage." ”

Thea was stunned.

And when Mo Shi acquiesced, she continued: "I am not the right person for marriage. I was born with a weak constitution and was so sick that I probably couldn't conceive children at all, and I had received an oracle by the sea, and it was true that God did not show me a clear path in my life, but I knew that it was a tortuous and arduous road...... In any case, I will not be able to give you the happiness that a noble lady of Hejar deserves. ”

He will "tell the truth" what he "experienced" when he met the Lord of the Empty Wheel at the time of his trial in the Holy Wheel, so that it is impossible for him to make up other words to refuse marriage now.

Thea blinked and looked at him, her ears drooping slightly.

"It is said in the Holy Book that 'the wife is her husband's bed and stove.' She paused, then added, "If I belong to you, I have no right to ask you what to do with me." ”

Thea's face was expressionless, but her voice trembled almost indistinctly.

Mo Shi took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair.

"You know, it's not just that you don't have a better choice. Thea looked at him, and finally said the unvarnished truth, "It's not you, it's someone else my father thinks is right for me." And to you, if it were not me, it would be something else—what bad is marriage to you than to continue to make the king think about how to keep you in control? I will not take away what you have, and I will even bring you a rich dowry. ”

With no turning point in time, getting married is the most appropriate option for everyone.

-

Moshi made a request to the king to marry Princess Xiya, who is now widowed.

Manka gave him a hug that nearly crushed Moshi's fragile ribs.

"How just right you are. He said to Mo Shi with a smile.

Although Moshi was only a new nobleman who had just received the title, and Princess Thea was a woman who had once had a husband, the wedding was still largely organized by the king as a show. The music at the feast played for three days and three nights, and the Holy Priest personally blessed them, all in order to confirm again and again that Moshi Toyo Yeyao and Thea Golden Lion had bound each other firmly for the rest of their lives.

On the last night of the wedding ceremony, they were finally able to face each other and stand in a quiet room.

There was a marriage bed between them.

Moshi has no real feeling. This was the first time he had married, both before and after coming to the land of the north.

A snowwalker's wedding is no different from a human wedding, with a complex ritual as a witness, and a sense of responsibility that has been passed down from generation to generation. Mo Shi felt that he had been just a puppet for the previous three days, and he was still a puppet who was not very cooperative. He didn't laugh a few more times, nor did he release his spirit powder during the ritual according to the old custom (extracorporeal pheromones, Mo Shi didn't know how to control this), but just numbly cooperated with the process.

Now, they are lying side by side in bed.

Xiya has the smell of the white powder that the women of Heyal like to use, and there is a residual fragrance of aromatherapy.

There was a candle at the head of the bed.

Mo Shi's body was sleepy, but his mind was still awake like a flowing stream.

Snowwalkers' wedding ceremonies are usually held before the couple's childbearing period.

Mo Shi did not have an estrus period, and Mo Shi did not know when Thea's estrus period was and what kind of situation it was.

He pondered a mess of things, as thin as miscanthus grass, but also unknown.

"...... with me" In the silence, Xia opened her mouth, "Why don't you tell me, Mr. Mo Shi, why do you want to go to the north?"

Mo Shi heard the sound of the futon rubbing. Thea adjusted her lying position and looked sideways at him.

"I can't do anything if I stay in the center. "I have to travel everywhere to know what I can do." ”

"What are you doing all that for?" Thea propped up her arms slightly.

"For example, revising the tax code. ”

"Tax law?"

"Tax laws need to be more precise and tailored to the specific circumstances of each region. The current tax laws of the northern country are too simple and crude, and there are also large loopholes in the implementation level. In my opinion, comprehensive reforms are needed to benefit the common people who are plagued by taxes, as well as the ...... of the regions that are trapped in taxes and cannot thrive."

Realizing that the more he spoke, the more excited he became, Mo Shi looked at Xia.

Their eyes met.

Thea smiled at him, "I guess you're going to face a lot of obstacles, right?"

"Yes. Tax reform itself is a huge undertaking that involves the interests of many vested interests. It may take a lot of time and energy just to explain and lobby one by one. But these are all for later, and if a reasonable first draft of the tax law cannot be drawn up, it is unlikely that the king will consider supporting me. ”

"So you need to travel all over the place?"

"Yes. ”

"How long do you think it will take, as you say, 'tax law reform'?"

"As short as five years. Long ......" Mo Shi fell silent.

For his part, he is not afraid of time. But he knew that everything but himself was short-lived.

"So, what do you want to do after that?" Thea asked. Her voice grew quieter and quieter, blending in with the night.

"After that, I want to go to the south of the North Country. ”

“...... Do you mean, the outside of the Gap of Kisses?"

"If you can. ”

Thea was silent for a while: "What do you think will be there?"

- Great question. It fits snugly...... It's far away.

"I wish there was everything written in the Holy Scriptures, and I wanted there to be rivers flowing with honey and milk...... There is spring, there is a sea of blooming flowers, there are butterflies, there is the dance of the lizard-headed people, and there is the blue water that can be touched. ”

"It's more like a dream than a dream. ”

"Yes. ”

"If you go to such a place that is like heaven, will you come back?"

"I want all snowwalkers to see that, not just me. ”

Thea laughed.

"It's a good bedside story, isn't it?" Mo Shi slowly relaxed.

Xiya smiled and said, "Mr. Moshi, I thought you weren't joking. ”

"I really didn't. ”

"They say you call yourself an apostle, is that true?"

"Truth is not in what I say with my tongue. ”

"Is it in someone else's tongue?"

"No," Moshi closed his eyes, and Thea moved closer to him, resting her forehead against his arm, as if they were close friends after what she had just said. He suddenly felt a sense of comfort, a very simple comfort. He whispered, "It's just that I do what the Divine Messenger is supposed to do." ”