Lord Kaixuan was very melancholy and very tragic. He decided to drink alone under the moon, raising his cup to the shadows to make three companions. Watching his forlorn and pitiful state, I wanted to go over and leave a few words of comfort, but I felt that the immortal under the moon was quite beautiful—if someone had to be inserted into the scene, it shouldn’t be me holding a tiger cub. After thinking about it, I decided not to be a brooding hen and prepared to leave with Xuanyue.
But after just two steps, I saw Second Sister appear behind Lord Kaixuan.
The cool moon shone through the window. Second Sister stood by the water holding a lantern, her crimson dress sash like rosy clouds. For a moment, with pine winds and stream stones, the sound of激激flowing water, it naturally formed a scene of autumn moon and spring breeze. Witnessing such a beautiful silhouette, Lord Kaixuan cast an even more sorrowful look, appearing quite pitiful: “Do you know that to you, I am merely someone you’ve just met? But to me, Princess Liuying has long been the beauty of old dreams.”
Second Sister said confusedly: “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Previously, I had already seen the Second Princess in the Kingdom of Dayou. This time coming to Suozhao was also for the Second Princess.”
Lord Kaixuan removed the hairpin from his head and opened his palm. It glowed and rose into the air, transforming into a scroll. The scroll slowly unrolled with glowing orange light, revealing a painting of a red-robed beauty. In the painting, Second Sister was holding a bamboo basket, crossing the river by boat, picking water chestnuts. Not only Second Sister, but I was surprised.
“The uneven water chestnuts drift left and right. The graceful lady, I seek in waking and sleeping.” Lord Kaixuan slowly recited, his tone sorrowful. “Seeking but not obtaining, I think of her waking and sleeping. Leisurely, ah, tossing and turning…”
The silence lasted for a long time. Second Sister, always gentle, said cruelly: “I’m sorry. I cannot marry you.”
“Because I am not of the Suozhao clan, is that right?” Seeing Second Sister remain silent, Lord Kaixuan continued: “Suozhao has royal laws—the heir to the throne must be of the Suozhao clan, and descendants must also be pure Suozhao clan members, correct?”
Second Sister closed her eyes: “…Yes.”
Lord Kaixuan seemed unable to bear this torment any longer and gritted his teeth: “Then, has the Second Princess considered the blessing of齐人?”
Wow, wow, wow! Sister beauty, what great fortune! To have a handsome immortal voluntarily offer himself, multiple husbands serving one wife! I clenched my fists, having already said “yes yes yes” a hundred times in my heart for Second Sister, never expecting to hear: “Don’t be ridiculous.”
God Cangying, what’s ridiculous about it, what’s there to be ridiculous about! Second Sister, have you been possessed by Royal Brother? Such a good thing, yet you won’t agree. At least have a nephew with an immortal bloodline, so when my Xuanyue grows up, it will have a companion… wait, this seems somewhat inappropriate?
Regardless, words could not express my disappointment. In my excitement, I accidentally squeezed Xuanyue. So it’s crying startled Second Sister and Lord Kaixuan.
The result was that Second Sister dragged me back to her sleeping quarters and scolded me thoroughly just like Father King and Fu Chenzhi. Xuanyue and I both sat on the ground, obediently listening to her finish scolding, then I said: “Sister, you still quite like Lord Kaixuan, don’t you? Then let him marry into the family.”
Second Sister became even angrier: “If others said this, it would be one thing, but Weiwei, even you don’t understand Second Sister’s heart?”
“I truly don’t understand.”
“For the sake of the Suozhao royal bloodline, if I want to inherit the throne, I definitely cannot marry Lord Kaixuan. At the same time, I cannot give up the throne either.”
I tilted my head: “Why not? Isn’t there still me?”
Second Sister looked at me, and after a long while, only sighed: “You go rest.”
I thought I had inexplicably angered Second Sister again and went back to discuss this with Mother Queen. Mother Queen shook her head: “Wei’er, you truly don’t understand Ying’er’s painstaking efforts. Your eldest sister has already left. If Ying’er follows in her footsteps, what impact would this have on you?”
I said: “No impact at all. Second Sister isn’t eloping—a proper marriage with matchmaker and ceremony would be perfectly appropriate.”
Mother Queen said, “No, you would think the throne is a mess that needs you to clean up. Even when your turn comes to inherit, you’d probably have ten thousand reluctances in your heart. Furthermore, she simply hopes you’ll marry well. For daughters, marriage is ultimately the most important matter. If you encounter a non-Suozhao man in the future, you wouldn’t need to worry so much and could marry smoothly, couldn’t you?”
So there was such reasoning—Second Sister was truly my good second sister. I was so moved, I wanted to run and embrace her. After thinking more, I said: “Then why doesn’t Second Sister accept the blessing of齐人?”
“Weiwei, you’re still a child after all. The Suozhao clan has always practiced monogamy. Think about it—if your second sister married two men, forget about stopping the people’s gossip, how would she explain this to her Suozhao husband? Should she tell him, ‘I married you just to have children’? After having children, how would she explain to the children? These are all problems. Better to cut through the mess quickly now, endure short-term pain rather than lifelong agony.”
The adult world was truly troublesome. This was my greatest life insight of the day.
In the following days, seeing Lord Kaixuan lingering long, courting by day and drowning sorrows by night, truly embodying “growing thin for love without regret,” I thought this even more. However, Second Sister’s heart seemed made of iron mixed with stone—no matter how he tormented himself, she showed not the slightest wavering.
Two months passed, and Lord Kaixuan finally became disheartened, bid farewell to Father King, and left Suozhao.
Additionally, after the Grand Priest’s death, we unexpectedly discovered that all the scriptures were blank. The immortal realm path we were supposed to open also became a mystery. During this period, Father King ordered strengthened city defenses—any foreign tribes wanting to enter Suozhao must first be searched and registered, and if they caused trouble within the territory, they would be completely expelled and forbidden entry for fifty years.
Thus, peaceful days passed for several more months. I still attended Xuan Study Hall with my little companions daily, and Hanmo remained as irresponsible as ever.
One day, the teacher had us copy literary compositions. The passage happened to be a composition written by Beixiang during King Ling Jing’s reign:
“In former days, Jiuzhou’s maple steps were covered in dust, royal tombs defiled. All common people suffered; temple courtyards were piled with white bones. Now the moon city hangs high with heavenly brightness, secretly harboring evil stars… Only Cangying protects us, preventing the disaster of tribal extinction…”
After reading this composition, I could only say that talented people often lack sense. As a Suozhao clan member, using mortal examples to warn the ruler, saying there were evil stars in heaven and disaster was coming, while begging Cangying God to protect Suozhao, as if all the peace and prosperity had nothing to do with the ruler—wasn’t this asking for his head to hang on his neck too long?
Naturally, after King Ling Jing saw this composition, he soon exiled Beixiang. The previous king Xijian was an enlightened ruler who not only lifted the ban on Beixiang’s compositions but also listed him among the Five Suozhao Worthies. So now we had to memorize texts daily with no peace.
However, seeing the phrase “moon city hangs high with heavenly brightness,” I suddenly remembered an old matter from years past: when I was captured by the Panlong, that anonymous youth who controlled dragons had also said the old place only had heavenly brightness—I wondered if this referred to the sky above our Suozhao. If so, this heavenly brightness had hung too long, from King Ling Jing to Father King… why hadn’t disaster arrived yet?
I told this thought to the teacher, and his face became like August weather, cloudy and uncertain for quite a while.
One day, I suddenly realized: having a crow’s mouth was truly not good.
Since Yinze established Suozhao, our great Suozhao had never seen war, remaining stable and peaceful for over a thousand years. Previously, we never would have imagined that the Suozhao clan’s first communication with immortals would be in our era.
Naturally, we also wouldn’t have imagined that the first invasion by foreign tribes would also be in our era.
In the depths of winter, northern winds swept the ground, snow filled the city, and Luoshui froze into a river of smoky ice in the extreme cold.
This night, Mother was teaching Second Sister embroidery, Xuanyue lay on my legs, and I knelt beside Father King, massaging his legs. Suddenly, soldiers came to report that all guards at Canghai Gate had been killed. Besides foreigners slaughtering innocents in the city, two cloud shadows had swept in. No one saw clearly who the invaders were, only knowing that countless deaths and injuries filled the city in a scene of devastation.
Hearing Canghai Gate had fallen, Father King was so shocked he stood up abruptly and, without a word, flew out on water.
Canghai Gate was Suozhao’s main city gate with the strongest defenses, yet it was broken through so easily—what kind of divine beings were these invaders? I quickly followed Mother Queen and Second Sister out.
Wind and snow raged chaotically, beacon fires for thousands of li, countless battle cries within the city. More terrifying still, in such a short time, the invaders had already reached the sky above Zichao Palace. They were two men: one a black-haired youth with three eyes, holding a writing brush, wearing yellow robes; one a white-haired elder with a beard reaching his waist, holding a horsetail whisk, wearing white Daoist robes. Both had bound hair and wore crowns, appearing cold and arrogant as they rode clouds floating high in the sky.
There was no water around them. Which meant they weren’t Suozhao clan members. And foreign tribes capable of flight themselves could only be…
“Who are you?” Father King raised his head and shouted. “We have no grievances with you two—why harm our Suozhao people!”
Compared to Father King’s fury, that youth showed none of a young man’s frivolity, only looking down at us disdainfully, calm as the bitter wind and snow: “Audacious demons, you have run rampant in the North Sea for over a thousand years, yet dare to be so arrogant and disrespectful, committing insubordination.”
“What… what? What nonsense are you spouting?”
Father King was a benevolent, enlightened ruler who had never been spoken to this way in his life—he was probably stunned. I wasn’t so easily bullied. Holding Xuanyue, I stepped forward angrily: “What are you anyway? How dare you speak to my father king, in such a tone! Calling us demons—we great Suozhao clan, consider you the demons!”
The youth half-closed his apricot eyes, filled with even more coldness. That elder was suddenly furious, waving his horsetail whisk: “Ignorant little water demon! Do you know whom you’re shouting at? I am Purple Constellation Ruyue Weng, Huangdao Immortal Lord. Today, I come under the immortal sovereign’s command to end your lives!”