“Mingxi… you guard everyone else and forget yourself. I vow to protect you, too. I vow to love you in every storm and every silence. To be your partner, your defender, your equal—and to choose you every day that follows.”
Mingxi’s breath hitched, and something inside him broke open like a star.
“Seal your vows,” Yunlian said softly.
Mingxi didn’t hesitate. He leaned in, kissing her with reverence and wonder—soft, certain, unhurried. Foxfire flared. Lanterns brightened along the rafters. The clan erupted into cheers.
Lysandra screamed, “Finally! Take him. He’s yours now.”
Caelan shouted through a water gate, “I can’t believe I missed it. Show me again…”
Poppy laughed into Mingxi’s shoulder.
He kissed her temple and whispered, “Wife.”
She kissed him softly. “Husband.”
The fox clan’s bells rang in celebration.
After the ceremony, there was feasting. There was dancing. There was foxfire spinning in the night sky as warriors performed blessing rituals.
Children ran around Poppy shouting, “Auntie Poppy.”
Mingxi hovered behind her like a protective shadow, smiling but overwhelmed.
Lysandra choreographed a wildly inaccurate wedding parade, and Caelan nearly died trying to stop her.
Minghua stuffed food into Poppy’s hands every four minutes.
Poppy stuffed some into Mingxi’s because he forgot to eat.
The night glowed.
The clan celebrated.
The celebration blurred into warmth and foxfire.
Chapter 91
At some point, Poppy wasn’t sure when, someone slipped a cup of plum wine into Mingxi’s hand—and then another.
Lysandra yelled, “Bottoms up, Fox Boy,” and that sealed his fate.
He was pressed close to Poppy’s side, warm and loose-limbed, smiling far too softly for a man who usually guarded every emotion like a state secret. His sixth tail kept brushing her hip.
“Yueguang…” he murmured, voice low and honey-sweet against her ear. “I think I’m drunk.”
She smiled, fingers sliding into his. “You think?”
He blinked at her like she was the moon. “You’re beautiful.”
“Mingxi,” she whispered, cheeks warm. “Come inside with me.”
He followed instantly.
The moment the door slid closed, the outside world faded—music, lanterns, laughter—leaving only the soft glow of a foxfire lantern and the golden hush of moonlight.
Mingxi leaned against the doorframe as if it held him upright.
