As they were strolling past the swamp, Fengjiu decided to seize the opportunity to insist that Wenchang again help her to do her homework. Wenchang sighed. This was the umpteenth time that he had taught her how to do the mathematical questions, but again, she either forgot the formulae he had given her, or simply couldn't be bothered to do the work. Like Bai Qian, she was a very lazy person, and furthermore, she was forgetful as well. 514Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCFX3xhmHdW
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Even after Wenchang had rejected her and insisted she do the work herself since practice made perfect. Fengjiu still continued to approach him, this time offering him one of her Sorrowless Cakes in return for his help. Wenchang ignored her and strode away faster, only to hear a loud sound from her as she tripped and fell, lying on the ground groaning in pain. She insisted that she had sprained her right ankle and couldn't walk, and so Wenchang tried to help her up, but she was still mad over the fact that Wenchang had refused to do her homework. According to her, it was his fault for not helping her that had caused her to sustain an injury to her ankle.
"If that's what you insist, I'll help you, but only this one time," he said grudgingly. This woman was hopeless, even after continuously teaching her on so many occasions, she wasn't getting it. Fengjiu grimaced, probably from the pain, and effortlessly, Wenchang lifted up her up and carried her on his back, piggyback style. Fengjiu was stunned when Wenchang carried her on his back, and for a few seconds she recalled how the mortal emperor Song had carried her while she was in Consort Chen's body the same way, during Donghua's mortal trial. A familiar feeling lingered in the air around him, and she asked herself if there could be a possibility that he could be Donghua. While both of them had a slight similarity and owned silvery-white hair, she could sense some familiarity in his energy. She quickly snapped out of her trance, as she reminded herself that he was Wenchang, not Donghua.
While she pondered on the similarities between the two of them, she felt sympathetic towards the young immortal that she would not be able to reciprocate his love and admiration for her, as she only loved Donghua all her life, and their union had been but an act and a marriage of paper. She would just be his wife in name, and she was unwilling to be romantically involved or have sexual relations with him at all. Her mind, body and soul belonged to Donghua, and Donghua alone. Like Donghua, Wenchang also possessed a strong sandalwood fragrance on his body, which would constantly remind her of Donghua. As Wenchang carried Fengjiu, they happened to pass Bai Zhen, who was accompanied by a visiting Zhe Yan. As usual, the duo tried to tease them. Zhe Yan observed how Wenchang was developing similarities to Donghua as he was growing older, recalling slightly how Donghua looked when he was around Wenchang's immortal age.
Back in Fengjiu's den, Wenchang set down Fengjiu on one of the sofa-like seats in the living room and leaned beside her. He then started yawning, faking tiredness and an aching back as an excuse for staying around in her abode, instead of returning to his own cottage. Fengjiu took it that he was blaming her 'weight' since he was carrying her, and argued that she wasn't fat. Wenchang took it as a chance to tease her further, and this time, he called her 'bai-chi' (chi in this aspect meant eat, and has a different pronounciation from chi meaning stupidity in the previous chapter), Bai who loves to eat. Fengjiu was not satisfied with the nickname he had given her, and threw a tantrum, saying that he was the one who was weak, and she is not fat. This immortal was so annoying that she really wanted to punch him, she thought. And at the same time, Wenchang was taking joy in seeing her annoyed.
He teased her further for being such a nag and called her 'mommy', and as she turned away from him, he grabbed her hand instead and pulled her closer towards him, so that their bodies were at a close proximity. He then moved to place his head on her lap, knowing that she would not move or run away due to her ankle injury. He whispered gently that he was feeling so comfortable that his headache would soon be gone, since he was with her, and further teased her by calling her his sweetheart. Fengjiu was angered to the point of speechlessness. I can't be bothered to start a quarrel with this book sage, she told herself. He probably memorised the entire library of Grandpa Mo Yuan and that of Taichen Palace. Picking a quarrel with him was fruitless.
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When she was having her lessons at the immortal academy, a message for Fengjiu materialised on her study desk. Recognising her father's perfect handwriting at once, she quickly read the contents of the message. Her father informed her that someone would be escorting her to her parents' den. Since her appointment as the queen of Eastern Qingqiu, Fengjiu had been hesitant to return home. She feared that her father would come to her with the stick that he had often used to beat her since she was a cub, if it had come to his knowledge that she was having difficulty in getting along well with Wenchang. Usually, her family members would send her uncle's Jingwei bird to fetch her.
She was quite popular in the academy. Despite the knowledge of her engagement and her older age, she had matured quite well, like a blooming flower in spring. Due to this fact, she often received love letters from her classmates and sometimes, bouquets of flowers. Since she was young, she had always been receiving unwanted attention and trouble from the opposite sex due to her good looks. To resolve this, she was fond of stitching up lies to turn away her unwanted suitors, until she met Donghua. Other than her suitors, she would also invent lies to excuse her mischief.
To her relief, the Jingwei Bird wasn't waiting at the entrance to the academy. However, she was taken aback to see three younger immortals, sitting in the corner, eagerly waiting for her. They were the triplet sons of the Fire God, known as Little Red, Little Green and Little Yellow. Fengjiu found it absurd that the triplets had a common interest in her. As if she would be interested in a marriage with three young boys.
"High Immortal Fengjiu, no, Queen Fengjiu, we would be honoured if you could bring us for a tour around your lands," the youngest among the three piped up.
Fengjiu pulled out a notebook from her sling bag. "It has just came to my knowledge that I am in the need of a chambermaid, a cleaning lady and a kitchen helper. Perhaps the three of you could do me a favour to take up these jobs for about forty days, and I will be glad to show you around my lands."
The oldest braced himself. "Okay, we are up for the jobs."
Fengjiu smirked. "Perhaps I shall go into details about what these jobs entail. As my chambermaid, you clean all the mess in my bathrooms, my bedrooms as well as all my nap and play rooms. Since a cub, I've never had to do any work at all. And I've been having this vacancy for a long time, so think about all the debris in my rooms you have to clean. And that goes for the cleaning lady's position too. I have about a few hundred rooms in my palace that has not been cleaned for about a few thousand years since I went to the mortal realm. I've not been known for being a neat and tidy person." She watched as the older and younger immortals' mouths were left gaping in shock, and turned to the second-youngest immortal. "Perhaps a kitchen helper would sound much easier for you. But I am after all, a gluttony fox. I need to be fed about ten times a day, and that doesn't include snacks. Every time I eat, I absolutely need new kitchenware and utensils. I don't eat with recycled stuff. Let's say, about 30 times a day. So that's about the number of dishes you need to wash a day, and the amount of food you need to assist in cooking. But there are days when I just want to binge."
No sooner had she gotten rid of the immortal boys, a fourth suitor appeared. This one wasn't like the others, he was practically a charming narcissist. Little had she known that Wenchang had just arrived, and was watching the charmer carefully.
"What makes you so positive that I will like you?" Fengjiu had asked, with a sarcastic laugh.
"Unlike the others, I am handsome, I am smart, and I am from a noble family background comparable to yours," the immortal stated confidently.
"Then?" Fengjiu repeated after him. "What's so great about that?"
"I will make you happy," the immortal declared. "We will be the happiest couple on earth-"
The immortal had barely completed his sentence when a flash of lightning flew across and hit him squarely on the chest. He doubled over in pain, before yelling at his attacker, "Hey, no fair! You attacked without warning!"
"Think of it as a lesson before you bother MY Fengjiu," said Wenchang jealously. "She is MY fiancee, and soon to be MY wife. She is mine and only mine." With that, he took Fengjiu's right hand and led her away from the now-crying and whimpering mess on the floor.
"You went a bit overboard there," Fengjiu said after they had been walking for some time. "I could have handled it easily myself. You didn't have to zap him."
Wenchang coldly replied, "Well, he deserved it. He dared to try to court you."
Fengjiu looked at him strangely. "Are you jealous, Lord Wenchang?" She suddenly recalled how Donghua had been jealous of Siming when he had just carried her in her fox form when she was injured. That look in the eyes, the tone in their voice, the way they crossed their arms across their chest when they were mad. It had to be pure jealousy. While neither of them would admit it, that was how the jealous Donghua acted. Donghua's Achilles Heel had been his jealousy, and it had been his jealousy that triggered those fateful moments with her, which had been his undoing. While Wenchang was to her, a younger and 'improved' version of Donghua and definitely more socialised and humorous, he had been such a mean bully when he was mad and jealous. This time, he zapped someone, next time, would he put his dagger through someone's heart? Fengjiu questioned herself.
No matter how jealous Wenchang was, he would never be mad at Fengjiu, because he was already madly in love with her. With that, almost five years passed with Wenchang accompanying Fengjiu every day. Wenchang had invited Fengjiu on one occasion to revise and go through her homework and assignments with him while he was fishing at the river bank. Fengjiu watched queerly as he continued to fish for almost an hour without catching a single fish, and curiously asked him why.
"Its you," he replied cheekily. "You're too noisy that you're scaring away all the fishes." Fengjiu retorted with a glare, and then he continued to think to himself, because the biggest fish which is so hard to catch is in Qingqiu, and I have to give myself time and patience, including love, in order to catch her.
Sunset arrived before they realised it. Fengjiu told Wenchang if he was intent on seeing for himself the beauty of the sunset, with the sparkling sunlight illuminating the clouds over a pink backdrop, then they probably should make a trip to the mountains for a better view. Instead, Wenchang retrieved a luminous pearl from his sleeve and recited an incantation which caused a mist shrouding the surroundings, so that they could focus on the beautiful scenery before them. With the surroundings eclipsed from view, a flower with petals as white as snow materialised in his palm. He held Fengjiu's hands and pulling her close to him, tucked the flower behind Fengjiu's right ear. As they walked, he mentioned that she looked lovely with the flower behind her ear, causing her to touch it curiously, suspicious that he had played a trick on her.
They continued to walk while guided by the illumination of the pearl, and after a few metres they approached a small boat. Wenchang paddled as Fengjiu sat relaxedly in the boat, and as they reached the middle of the lake, Wenchang dimmed the pearl and replaced it in his sleeve. It was so dim now that the moonlight was curtained by the mangroves, allowing them to indulge in the beauty of the night. Fengjiu was interrupted by a few splashes of water to her face by no other than the audacious Wenchang himself, and annoyed by the wetness of her face and outfit, she sought revenge by returning the favour to Wenchang. She observed how the ripples in the water had a particular glow, and as they continued to splash water on each other, Wenchang had to remind her that her careless movements, which were now causing the boat to wobble around unstably, would cause the boat to capsize and they might end up swimming in the river during this cold night. Quickly, Fengjiu sat down properly and stopped shaking the boat.
As the night grew darker, Fengjiu was taken by the sight of fireflies glowing in the darkness. Wenchang pointed towards the direction a tree where fireflies had assembled on, and watched as her eyes eagerly followed the direction he was pointing to. As he watched Fengjiu smiling happily from the beauty of the fireflies, Wenchang produced a flute from his inner chest pocket and chose a sweet melodic tune that he believed Fengjiu would enjoy. As he blew into the flute, he cast an enchantment spell with his free hand, attracting the fireflies to fly towards them. Fengjiu was captivated further by the view of more and more fireflies joining them while he continued to play his musical instrument. It looked like they were stargazing into an universe of thousands of fireflies. In her heart, the sight before her was even more beautiful than the view from the best stargazing point in Qingqiu. Time went by without the duo realising it, as they were having so much fun. It was definitely a very memorable night, she thought.
When Fengjiu woke up the next day, she found that she had fallen asleep with her head in Wenchang's chest. Moving an inch away from him, she realised that over time, in contrast with the looks of the young immortal in the past, Wenchang had now evolved into a splitting image of Donghua, especially with his new hairstyle. As she scrutinised him closely, she could now no longer tell a difference between them, with the exception that Wenchang sported a braid in his silvery-white hair, while Donghua bound his hair without a braid. In all angles, he just resembled Donghua, and the previous image of the young, white-haired innocent-looking apprentice was gone, now replaced with this purple-robed immortal bearing a striking resemblance to Donghua. It now confused her as to how could two different people have looked so alike. While Wenchang had been living in Qingqiu, she had not cared to take a second look at him, and hence she had failed to note how he had been gradually growing into the exact likeness of Donghua himself. Now that he had Donghua's image and that familiar scent of sandalwood about him, how could she believe that he wasn't Donghua? Fengjiu could not think of any answer to this phenomenon.
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Footnote of Chapter 15: From this chapter onwards, Wenchang will now truly resemble Donghua, but Fengjiu only notices their striking resemblance in this chapter (before that it was only a slight resemblance). Stay tuned for further updates!
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