Finally, after sleeping for 20,005 years in Qingqiu, Fengjiu opened her eyes.
All were delighted by the fact that their beautiful fox queen had come back to them, especially Zhe Yan who had seen her as his own niece. He had seen her from birth till she was grown up, and she definitely had a place in his heart. The loyal tree spirit was also glad that they didn't have to endure any more terrible cooking very soon. Fengjiu had been the chef of the Bai household, and when she was in a deep slumber, Migu's cooking had been far from unpalatable, it was simply horrendous. Similarly, Bai Qian was not of the cooking type either, so when Qian Qian had been in Qingqiu, she had no choice but to eat raw and under-cooked food, just as she did when she was Su Su, and just before she had met Yehua.
The first thing she had asked was where was her Donghua. Right, Donghua had been with her when she had collapsed, and they had been together. Not just together, but together as a couple. It broke her to know the truth of what had happened. If they had not broken Donghua's oath of never being in love and if they had not succumbed to carnal desire for each other, perhaps he would still be very much alive. She also learned that she had passed the trial by taking the six strikes of lightning, and had ascended to be a high immortal. But because she had indulged in intimacy with Donghua, she had been punished by having to suffer the additional three strikes of lightning. Yet, it was Donghua who had given his life for her.
Seeing the state of devastation and despair she was in, the Bais and Zhe Yan decided to leave her to her thoughts. Bai Zhen had felt so painful to see the state she was in, but he understood very well what it meant to be in love. He had felt such deep feelings of admiration and love for Zhe Yan in their special relationship, and yet nobody would ever fathom his situation. He would silently and deeply love Zhe Yan. At this moment, the most he could do was be his niece's pillar of support, while she repaired her broken heart. But he knew, deep down in her heart, there would be a part of Donghua which she would never forget.
Zhe Yan decided to keep the reality of the silvery-white haired boy a secret from Fengjiu. He didn't want Fengjiu carrying false hopes in her mind that he was Donghua, and risk her getting hurt further. There was no actual proof that he was Donghua, and every immortal that knew of Donghua's death had just simply speculated that he had to be Donghua as he appeared after Donghua's passing, but the assumption had been mainly due to his silvery-white hair. Time would be the best medicine. Fengjiu was strong, and although she wasn't able to control herself from harbouring feelings of love for Donghua and giving herself wholly to him, she was a good queen. She would place her subjects over her own needs, and in time, Qingqiu would flourish under her reign.
After some ninety days had passed, with Bai Zhen's encouragement, Fengjiu brushed away her tears and began to stand on her feet again. Her body was numb from all the pain she had went through, and if not for Bai Zhen not giving up on her, she probably would be still hiding in her bedroom, escaping from reality. With Bai Zhen and Zhe Yan's help, she started cultivating to account for the years she had been asleep. Now that she was far more formidable than before, it was time for her to make a decision that would change everything.
Fengjiu gathered her courage to speak to her parents about her decision about living in the mortal realm. It had been part of their Qingqiu culture, as following a queen's coronation, the queen would spend years in the mortal realm to gain experience so as to become a better ruler. As she was a young queen at 32,000 years old when she was crowned, Fengjiu had spent the three hundred years prior to the royal wedding, in studying and learning everything she could about the history of the world, the customs of the realms, and the ways of the Sky Kingdom. In addition, she also studied Buddhist scriptures and texts to enhance her knowledge and skills on the religious beliefs of Qingqiu. Thus, she had never had a chance to explore the mortal realm to gain actual experience that would benefit her, with the exception of the time she had inhabited Consort Chen's body with the assistance of Si Ming, for Donghua's love trial. Since falling into a deep sleep, her chance to learn from the mortal realm had been delayed for tens of thousands of years.
She was devastated, feeling pain and guilt for the loss of her beloved, but she knew deep in her mind that there was nothing that could be done to prevent the calamity from befalling them on that day. He had sworn to protect the world by giving up his destiny, but yet he had paid for breaking his oath with his own life. Understanding that she had grown up and was a mature High Immortal now, her parents and Bai Zhen gave her their blessings for her departure to the mortal realm. Perhaps this way, Bai Zhen thought, she could forget her pain and find happiness somehow.
Before she departed Qingqiu, she handed a magical parchment to her trusted housekeeper Migu, so that in the case of an emergency, he would be able to contact her, regardless where they both were. The parchment was equipped with the power to be able to contact her in the mortal realm.
"Donghua," she whispered, "I live for you. Since you gave up your life for mine, I will live happily for your sake, and repay you with my life."
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Meanwhile in the Kunlun Mountains, a letter from the Sky Kingdom arrived, addressed from Yehua to Mo Yuan. In the letter, Yehua desperately asked for help from Mo Yuan to provide him with a reliable assistant as he was getting overwhelmed with the weight of his duties in the Sky Kingdom. The Kunlun Mountains have been providing assistance to the Sky Kingdom in the past, and one such example had been Yehua's personal guard, who is now tasked to protecting Ali with his life. After much consideration and given Seventy-Three's accomplishments in the Kunlun Mountains and his potential, Mo Yuan decided to assign Seventy-Three to the Sky Kingdom as Yehua's assistant and right-hand man.
The first person he was introduced to in the Sky Kingdom after being assigned to Yehua's office, was Yehua's wife, Crown Princess Bai Qian. He witnessed the beauty of the woman said to be the most beautiful in the whole world, and noticed that while there had been no other woman in this world who could ever compete with her in her beauty, he felt no inclination to her. Perhaps it was how it registered in his mind that she was Yehua's wife and his senior in Kunlun Mountains, factors that made him respect her, but he was not physically attracted to her. Zhe Yan had also described her as one of the two Bai beauties who would bug him often, but she was now far from the description as a mischievous white fox in his stories, being the future empress and a role model in all the beauties of the world. At the same time Bai Qian thought in her mind, she would rather be in Qingqiu than be in the Sky Kingdom. If not for her love for Yehua, she probably wouldn't be here.
After countless introductions to the officials in the Sky Kingdom, Seventy-Three sat at Yehua's work desk and assisted him in clearing out the papers on his desk. Yehua gave him a briefing on what he did and needed to do, and Seventy-Three had been very sharp and decisive in helping him with his next course of action.
Following ten years of being Yehua's right-hand man, Seventy-Three would go on to be promoted to assist the star gods in the registry. The star gods were mainly the Highest General (Shangjiang), Assistant General (Cijiang), Noble Premier (Guixiang), Controller of Destinies (Siming), Controller of the Middle (Sizhong), and Controller of Wealth (Silu), all of who liked and enjoyed the company of the young immortal (young here pertains to Seventy-Three's age). Seventy-Three eventually became closest to Si Ming, as if they had known each other for a very long time. When he had leisure time to spend, he would be seen hanging around in the Star Lord's personal library, lost among books as Si Ming was said to have a vast collection of books and stories, as opposed to the other star gods. Due to this reason, Si Ming gave him the nickname "Shu Tong" (book boy, also meaning an assistant or servant to a scholar who studied with him). The two would later forge a very powerful friendship, in years to come.486Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrVIOWQXce
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Please stay tuned for the next chapter, on Fengjiu's life in the mortal realm. I realized this chapter is much shorter than the previous chapters, but I hope you enjoyed it!486Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeWuHx3vvGu
486Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUq0dlTI8uH
