Yue Lao first came to the mortal realm as a field trip. It was a mission every succeeding Yue Lao had to go through; to understand the men and women of the mortal world.

He diligently watched the couples on the streets, witnessed marriages, sad break-ups and even deaths. Fate and love came in different forms; a family, a pair of lovers, even the loyalty between a maid and her young lady. It was a beautiful feeling built on trust, on a parent's arrangement or a sense of belonging. In those days, your parent's decides your marriage. However, it was already fated to be. 

Yue Lao thought he had finally seen enough until, he met her. 

She was born into a rich family of 5 daughters and she was the 5th daughter of the 5th wife. She was Yue Lao's first mission. 

Ming Yue (明月*) wasn't exceptionally beautiful, but she was very cheerful and her bright eyes were filled with the purity of a young woman. Sixteen years into her prime, her father accepted the request to marry her to the third son of a merchant's family of a nearby town.

Ming Yue accepted it without a single word of unhappiness or resistance, as it was a child's duty to follow her parent's orders. 

Yue Lao had to tie her red thread to the merchant's third son knowing that she will only be the second wife. He also knew that the third son was a sickly young man who might not have long to live. But their fates had already been written, his job is to tie the thread.

He watched her as she prepared her own marriage. He even took a glimpse of her trying her bright red wedding gown. Even knowing that she was going to be married to a dying man, her eyes still shone.

He did not know when he began smiling when she smiled. He began getting worried when she poked her finger while sewing a handkerchief. He couldn't take his eyes off her even when she didn't even know he existed.

One day, he'd overheard her mother talking to her. The mother wanted to help her plan an escape knowing that her daughter was to be married to a dead man. It pained him, even more, when she only smiled and told her mother that everything will be fine. He could only watch knowing that he could never interfere with a mortal's fate. 

On the day of the marriage, she boarded the wedding carriage with a bright red veil over her head. The red was never this unsightly to Yue Lao.

A messenger from the Skies had told him to tie the thread quickly and return to the Sky Palace but he couldn't do it. He followed the wedding parade even the auspicious wedding band sounded awful to his ears. There was also a heavy feeling in his chest that was extremely uncomfortable. 

Mid-way in the mountain paths, the wedding carriage stopped. She had told the carriage to stop for a short break. Her maid helped her out carefully and informed the rest to wait in the same spot as they walked deeper into the woods, out of sight. 

Yue Lao only knew that something was wrong from when he heard a sharp cry.

He teleported there at once and saw her lying on the ground, a pool of blood around her wrist. Her maid had already fainted from shock of her lady taking her own life.

Yue Lao understood then, all the smiles he had seen on her was just a mask, she didn't want to marry but had no other choice. 

Then he did the unthinkable, something a deity should never have done. He went against the Skies, he went against the written fate and saved her life.

Half a century in the mortal realm was nothing but a few months in the Heavenly Realm, foolishly, he tied the ends of the red thread to