Foreword
Compared to his two older brothers, His Royal Highness the Third Prince Liansong was a lot more humbler. His refusal to compete with his second brother for meaningless fame made him less influential in the eyes of the immortals in the Sky Kingdom. Unlike his elder brothers, he had been born underwater, and the auspicious omen that hence followed his birth had been different from that of his elder brothers. Instead of birds flying in the air, fishes were swimming in the water around him. Also, the immense flood which had been the cause of Hao De's headache those days had suddenly subsided following Liansong's birth.
- Three Lives, Three Worlds, the Pillow Book, Tang Qi
Meanwhile at the Ten Miles of Peach Blossom, Bai Zhen and Zhe Yan lifted their heads as a feminine figure gracefully approached them, interrupting their game of 'go' momentarily. "What brings you here, my beautiful niece?" Bai Zhen teased. Fengjiu was clad in her 'princess' casual attire. While Fengjiu had seldom appeared in this manner while she was in Qingqiu, she had chosen to wear a simple and casual pink dress devoid of any embroidered patterns and sequins, topped with a plain white cloak to shield herself from the cold. She had chosen to dress in her simple attire to remind herself of the days she had followed Donghua in the Sky Kingdom without a single care for her noble status, and also, the days she had been living in seclusion in the desolate mountains in the mortal realm.
Fengjiu expressed to her uncle and Zhe Yan how she had missed the peach blossom orchard, as she accepted a jar of wine readily.
"Xiao Jiu, it won't be long before your aunt becomes the Sky Queen (Tianhou). No matter how busy you are, you have to go to the Sky Kingdom."
Fengjiu pulled a long face. "But Uncle, the Sky Kingdom reminds me of him. Those days when I was with him, there. And..."
Bai Zhen patted her gently on her back. "Aren't you dressed in this manner to remind yourself of your days with him?" he pointed to her pale pink dress and her braided locks. "My dear niece, what is deemed to happen, will happen. And it has. What you need to face, has to be faced. Be strong. We are here for you."
Fengjiu placed her hand on her heart. "He will always be here, in my heart. I'll listen to you this time, Uncle. I'll go."
"That's my good niece," Bai Zhen said. "You're still young, and there is so much to be experienced as the Queen of Qingqiu. Never give up."
Fengjiu nodded. "I won't. I'll go on living for the sake of the Bai family, and Qingqiu." In her heart, she softly continued, and him. She lifted up the jar, and took a sip of the sweet nectarious wine. The taste had been so exquisite, that she almost lost her breath. "This wine.... it's not like any I've tasted before in Ten Miles of Peach Blossom."
"Aha," Zhe Yan said. "This was brewed by a former apprentice of mine, Mo Yuan's seventy-third disciple. He lived with me for some time, and mastered the skill of wine brewing. His skill in brewing is even over me, but sadly, he doesn't have my tolerance to alcohol."
Fengjiu laughed at Zhe Yan's story. "That's new, you took an apprentice? When did it happen? Why didn't I hear of it?"
"You were asleep," came the old phoenix's reply. "It looked like I missed a lot when I fell into a deep slumber," Fengjiu responded. "Why didn't you wake me up, then?" She smirked, then magicked a plate of hot cakes on the table before them. While Fengjiu had been drinking and engaging in casual conversation with the duo for a few hours now, they had still not completed their game.
"In return for your apprentice's fabulous wine, here are some sweet treats from me," she said with a smile. "I've made it sweeter for the sake of my sugar-loving Uncle."
They started to discuss about Fengjiu's position as the ruler of Qingqiu. Fengjiu was a very committed ruler, but yet, due to her laziness and procrastinating ways, she was lacking in her knowledge of Buddhist sutras and the ways of Taoism. Due to this, it was essential that she had to return to having lessons on immortal magic (xianshu) as well as having make-up lessons in private on her weaker subjects like precision as well as theoretical lessons on religious studies to improve her knowledge in those areas.
At the same time, in Taichen Palace, Lord Wenchang was painting his perspective of the stars of Qingqiu on parchment paper, while Siming watched him calmly, sitting beside him. As he was running out of coloured water-based ink, he put down the brush and started to look for more ink sticks in the cabinets beside him. As he opened one of the cabinets, he was bewildered to see an ornament drop out. The ornament had caught his attention, mainly because it had been made of a crimson-red coloured fur of some exotic kind. Piqued by curiosity, he asked Siming of its origins.
Siming inhaled deeply, and explained to him. "This belonged to the former lord of Taichen Palace."
"Former lord?" Wenchang responded with another question. "Are you referring to the white-haired, purple-robed (ziyi baifa) lord, Donghua Dijun, who was formerly known by the title Donghua Zifu Shaoyang Jun?"
Siming sighed. "Yes, you are absolutely correct, My Lord. The passed Emperor Donghua once had a fox by his side. The fox could do a lot of magical things and even make balms out of herbs. So when the fox left one day, the Emperor made an ornament out of some fur from one of its tails that it left behind. He has been wearing it on his belt as a keepsake."
"One of its tails?" Wenchang repeated curiously. "How many tails does this fox have?"
"To be accurate, ten," Siming said. Wenchang's eyes almost popped out. "The most I've ever heard of is nine, and even that is rare," Wenchang said. "How can it be possible that this fox has ten?"
"Ah," Siming said with an ingenious smile. "That, is what you don't know, as you weren't born yet. This fox is no ordinary fox."
"Where can I find this fox?" Wenchang asked inquisitively.
"Er," Siming looked around him, "I just remembered I have to write the book fate of Lord Jinxing's mortal trial." He teleported himself away in a flash, reappearing at his own desk.
After some hours had passed, Wenchang went over to Siming's desk, where he had seemingly fallen asleep and was snoring loudly. Hearing Wenchang's footsteps approach, Siming jumped up instantaneously. "My Lord, you are back." Siming must be a light sleeper, or be pretending to sleep, Wenchang thought. His intelligence knew no bounds.
Wenchang unrolled his artwork. "The painting is completed. What do you think of it?"
"Qingqiu?" Siming asked, recognising the scene in the painting.
"Yes, Star Lord Siming," Wenchang answered. "Do you still remember, the day we travelled to Qingqiu?" The memory of their visit to Qingqiu played clearly in Siming's mind.
Crown Prince Ali was soon to come of age. Siming and Seventy-Three had come to Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms to deliver invitations for the royal occasion. After High God Zhe Yan received his invitation, the duo decided to travel around and enjoy the vast scenery within, before continuing to their next destination to dispatch more invitations.
All of a sudden, Hao De had wanted to host a big banquet for Ali's coming of age. All the while, Ali's birthdays had been celebrated internally at the Nine Heavens, with only a few guests and the immediate families of Ali's parents. Despite the fact that the Bais, as the in-laws of the Sky Kingdom, are aware when Ali will come of age, Hao De had insisted that the customs of the Sky Clan be followed, and thus Siming and Seventy-Three had been tasked in delivering the invitations personally to the fox family.
The beautiful scenery before them delighted Siming, now Seventy-Three's tour guide as it was his first time to Qingqiu. The Lord of Destinies started sharing about how beautiful the princesses of Qingqiu had been, as well as their elegant natural forms. He added on how fate had allowed him to meet and befriend the youngest monarch of Qingqiu at one point. From his tone of voice, it had been evident that the relationship between Siming and this fox were not a normal friendship, as Siming had looked very emotional when talking about the fox. However, due to his young age, Seventy-Three had failed to notice the visible signs on Siming's face.
As they approached the hills in Qingqiu close to Bai Zhi Dijun's abode, Seventy-Three was captivated by a beautiful fox rolling around and playing in the soft, greenish grass. As a young and playful immortal himself, Seventy-Three couldn't contain himself and started to play with the adorable creature, gently cradling the fox in his arms and gently caressing its little chest. The fox which had been active earlier, had seemed calm and relaxed while nested in his arms. He asked the fox softly, "Do you want to join us?" The fox seemed to understand his question and closed its eyes, nestling its little head against Seventy-Three's arm. No sooner had the fox fallen asleep that Seventy-Three realised that Siming was out of his sight, and hasted to keep on track. Soon he found Siming waiting under a tree with his arms folded across his chest, seeming to be impatient. Fortunately, Siming was not a quick-tempered immortal, and they continued on their way.
Siming watched the fox in Seventy-Three's arms. Somehow, the red fur on the fox's body seemed familiar to him, but he wasn't sure if this fox was her. Furthermore, wasn't she supposed to be in the mortal realm? Maybe there were a lot of red foxes in Qingqiu. This one didn't have nine tails, but then Fengjiu had the ability to merge her nine tails as one. Hadn't Xuan Nu, the late queen of the Ghoul Clan, been of the fox clan herself? Siming saw how pleased Seventy-Three was with the fox, and another thought played in his mind. Perhaps they could bring this little fox back to Taichen Palace and keep it as a pet. It had been such a long time since they had last seen a fox in the Nine Heavens. Seventy-Three would also be so happy, as he appeared to be such a lonely person.
As they advanced on, they noticed another red spiritual fox, which was bigger in size, following them. The red fox opened its eyes, and seeing the bigger fox, it excitedly wanted to burst out of Seventy-Three's arms. The first thing that came to Siming's mind was that this bigger fox had to be the mother of the little red fox. Loosening his grasp on the little fox, Seventy-Three allowed the little fox to escape his hold and watched as it ran to the bigger fox. The little fox leaned on the bigger fox's belly, and the bigger fox responded by giving the little fox several licks of affection.
"This big fox must be the mother," Siming said. The little fox then ran towards them and encircled them happily. Seventy-Three bent down on his right knee and looked at the fox. Speaking in a soft and gentle voice as if he was talking to a child, he said, "I guess it's goodbye for now, since someone is here to pick you up." He then caressed the fox on its chin, followed by a little peck on its tiny forehead.
They had not seen the little fox after that, but Seventy-Three had wished for a chance to encounter the fox again. Now that it had been several years, it probably would be a mature fox now, he thought.
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