Before going to sleep that night, I couldn’t help but secretly ask Mother Queen what that word meant. Mother Queen was tucking me in and originally opened her mouth to speak, but Father King suddenly came in and called her out. Then, he leaned against the bedside, his fingers combing through my hair, rarely wanting to coax me to sleep.
Father King was always busy with countless affairs and seldom accompanied us like this, so this gesture instead made me feel somewhat overwhelmed by his favor.
At this moment, the window faced the moon, and the moon filled the tall tower. Clear, moist light mixed with flower petals fell on the bedside. Father King said: “Eloping refers to two people in love who, because their romance cannot gain others’ approval, flee together to a very distant place…”
Father King had an upright and resolute face, but when gentle, he was the most tender father in the world. I tilted my head and coquettishly placed my head in the center of his large palm: “Eh, isn’t that a good thing?”
Father King said, “For some people it might be a good thing, but for a Suozhao princess, it’s very bad.”
I thought for a moment and said: “Then, I must never do such a thing in the future, right?”
Father King didn’t answer me directly: “Wei’er, when you were little, you loved hearing Father tell stories. Do you still remember the story of Divine Lord Yinze and his sister?”
“I remember!” I immediately perked up, “But tell it again! I love hearing this story most.”
“Good.” Father King fell into contemplation for a moment, then slowly said, “In ancient times, beside the Heavenly Emperor was a Cangying God with boundless magical power. His name was Yinze…”
This divine lord governed all water sources in heaven and earth, could freeze vast seas into deep ice, and was revered by all gods of the upper realm. However, he was also the most selfish, proud, and unloving among all divine lords. The only person he cared about was his sister.
Because his sister suffered from unrequited love for her beloved, unable to obtain what she sought, she washed her face with tears daily. So, to make her happy, Divine Lord Yinze drew water sources from the divine realm above the North Sea. Using this divine water power, he built an empty city near the moon and had the divine realm’s waters circle the city, calling it “Luoshui.” This capital city was named “Suozhao,” possessing scenery rare among the six realms: every fifteenth day of the month, lotus flowers bloomed magnificently, fallen petals scattered chaotically, and the full moon would occupy most of the starry sky, illuminating all of Suozhao in silver-white. This ultimate beautiful scenery finally drew a heartfelt smile from the divine lord’s sister.
Regrettably, this smile couldn’t make her rally. After some more years, the sister finally died of melancholy. Divine Lord Yinze, overcome with grief, never came here again.
The Luoshui River originally possessed spiritual energy. Suozhao was located in the land of the supreme immortals and retained the divine lord’s magical power. Over time, this accumulated and nurtured life gradually brought this empty city to life. A hundred years later, the Suozhao Clan was born here. They were beautiful with azure hair and snow-white skin, inheriting Divine Lord Yinze’s divine power and born with water-channeling techniques. They quickly built Suozhao into a prosperous and thriving capital. After experiencing his beloved sister’s death, Divine Lord Yinze also learned how to treat others kindly, simultaneously transforming into Suozhao’s god, protecting the people of this city…
At the end, Father King touched the top of my head: “You see, Divine Lord Yinze was originally a selfish person, but ultimately decided to protect us. This shows that each of us doesn’t live for ourselves alone.”
I was getting sleepy and nodded drowsily.
“Wei’er, listen well. No matter what happens in the future, don’t forget that you are Luowei, Suozhao’s princess, my daughter. This is your fate and your responsibility.”
I heard these words but didn’t take them in, much less understand them. I yawned, softly hummed “mm,” then burrowed into Father King’s arms and fell deeply asleep.
After this day, as the sun and moon chased each other in succession, I gradually became aware of two terrible facts: first, my eldest sister had indeed left, never to return, with no news whatsoever. Second, my newly arrived brother had made up his mind to solidify his status as elder brother. His determination was absolute, and he would stop at nothing to achieve it.
One night, the General Marquis brought his entire family to visit Zichao Palace. He and Father King played chess all night, his wife strolled with Mother Queen in the garden, admiring flowers and the moon, and his son played games with us three in the corridor, eating pastries.
I was quite happy because the pastries included my favorite Su Lian cakes, though naturally, these cakes were only made from ordinary lotus petals, not real Su Lian flowers. Su Lian was a rare lotus flower I’d only seen in legends. Even so, this night’s Su Lian cakes had a soft, glutinous texture and rich, delicious flavor that made me eat many with great appetite.
Unfortunately, that Hanmo boy had the same taste as I. We escalated from verbal arguments to physical combat. Fu Chenzhi was quite conscious of his duty and righteously came out to protect me. In the end, Hanmo got his face covered with mud ice blocks, thanks largely to him.
In that instant, I felt that having a brother was truly wonderful.
However, it was only for an instant.
Because I ate too much, I later became so drowsy I couldn’t even open my eyes. As night deepened, Mother Queen sent someone to take us back to rest, but I refused in every way, driving them away. Fu Chenzhi also came to persuade me to sleep, which I naturally ignored as well. After repeated futile attempts at persuasion, he did something remarkable: he expressionlessly pulled flower branches from the vase and poured all the water on Hanmo’s head.
I heard Hanmo roar once. He reinserted the flower branches into the vase and put it back in its original position. Then he circled behind me and pinched both sides of my waist several times.
“Haha, hahahaha…” I was extremely ticklish, and my frantic laughter echoed through the night sky.
Mother Queen came running with the General Marquis’s wife. Seeing Hanmo drenched like a drowned rat, the vase emptied of water, ice shards all over the floor, and my shocked expression, she cast a gaze cold as frost moon upon me.
I couldn’t defend myself with a hundred mouths, but Fu Chenzhi said, “This isn’t the younger sister’s fault. I did it all.”
Mother Queen had been half-believing, but now firmly identified me as the culprit.
In the end, she carried me back to my room like holding a puppy, personally escorting me to bed. On the way back, she scolded fiercely: “Why are you pouting? Why are you glaring at your royal brother? He wanted to take the blame for you, but I saw through it—are you going to blame him for that?”
I continued glaring at Fu Chenzhi sideways. Fu Chenzhi raised his eyebrows, pinched my face behind Mother’s back, moved his mouth soundlessly saying “so what,” and continued his excellent performance: “Younger sister is so adorable, even her anger makes people love her so much.”
As long as the trouble-maker lives, the state’s troubles won’t end. I’ll remember this grudge!
Thereafter, Fu Chenzhi and I were irreconcilable, openly competing and secretly fighting, deceiving each other. Unfortunately, he could always cover the sky with his hand and kill invisibly. His coffin-like face was indeed a sharp weapon, always so coldly upright, causing others to always tend to believe him when choosing between us. I waited and waited, finally waiting for a great festival—Pearl Diving Day.
As the name suggests, Pearl Diving Day was the day to dive into the sea for pearls. On this day, the Suozhao Clan would gather in groups, leave the city to descend to the mortal realm, collectively perform water-channeling techniques above the North Sea to make seawater form whirlpools leading directly to the seabed, then others would jump to the ocean floor to search for shell pearls. In the “Ode to Suozhao,” the line “wild geese bearing pearls fall to the vast sea” comes from here.
My conspiracy would also originate here.
On this day, under bright clear skies with spiritual scenery illuminating the azure sea, parents brought hundreds of officials to perform the pearl diving ceremony. Second sister, Fu Chenzhi, and I were in one team. We rode on the same Yiniao’s back and reached the North Sea’s sky.
After the ceremony ended, tens of thousands of Suozhao Clan members simultaneously cast magic. Instantly, slender water streams flew up from the sea surface. From a distance, it looked like hundreds of hooks pulling silk threads—an indescribably beautiful scene. When the seabed rocks were exposed, many people jumped to the ocean floor, pulled out fresh shells, opened the cases, and revealed the snow-white, gleaming pearls inside.
Yiniao was a five-colored bird whose wingspan could shade an entire village. Running from one end to the other still required some effort. Taking advantage of sister diving for pearls, I dragged Fu Chenzhi to the bird’s tail and grinned evilly at him: “Steamed Bun Fu, now you’re at the end of your rope—time for my rise! Go down!”
Then I jumped in place and dove headfirst into the sea.
Before falling, I heard Fu Chenzhi gasp.
What does it mean to damage yourself by a thousand to harm the enemy by eight hundred? This was it. When they fished me out, I’d frame Fu Chenzhi, that turtle bastard steamed bun, and see if he’d dare play dirty with me again. While thinking this, I spread my arms, preparing to embrace the seawater…
Who knew that just then, a tsunami rolled over. Within several dozen li radius of seawater, a huge whirlpool appeared. From the center of the separated waters, a monster’s bloody maw stretched out!
That mouth was enormous, almost comparable to the whirlpool below. I couldn’t help crying out in alarm, wanting to dodge, but the monster suddenly rushed upward, extended sharp claws, and seized me. When it slowly revealed its entire body from the water, I realized this was a dragon.
Moreover, it was four zhang long, alternating blue-black colors, with golden pupils like fire and red bands like brocade, exactly matching descriptions of Panlong dragons in past books.
Panlong dragons carried deadly poison—one injury meant death.
Thinking of this, I dared not act rashly anymore, but couldn’t stop whimpering as tears of terror streamed down.
Regardless of whether others also recognized it, all Suozhao Clan members were frightened by its appearance, crying out in alarm and fleeing in all directions. Fu Chenzhi rushed back to Yiniao’s head, turned around to fly back wanting to fight it, but was struck back a hundred steps by Panlong’s palm.
The Panlong gripped me tightly, so tightly I couldn’t breathe. Then something even more terrifying happened: it let out a long roar, stirred up shocking waves, violently shook its body, and madly rushed toward the sea’s eastern face.
In just the blink of an eye, my clansmen had become countless tiny black dots. After another moment, they completely disappeared into the dim clouds and dark mist.
The vast ocean was as broad as heaven. Sea winds that could topple mountains and stir seas were like level ground to this Panlong. As the setting sun gradually sank and darkness arrived, I finally couldn’t endure my fear and began wailing. But no matter how I cried and made noise, it couldn’t affect its terrifying speed…
Several hundred zhang, or perhaps several thousand zhang. I didn’t know how far it had run, only that knife-like wind and rain scraped my face; whenever sea island shadows appeared around us, they were quickly left behind.
Until ice-cracking sounds thundered alarmingly. The sea water rippled gently, startled winds trembled, and vast waves surged three thousand zhang into the sky, suddenly condensing into an ice gate that appeared like knife blades in the moonlight, blocking the Panlong’s path and making all things still.
The Panlong gripped me tightly once, nearly making me vomit. Then it deeply inhaled and exhaled in place, slowed its pace, turned, and flew toward the seashore—a solitary, towering cliff. Hearing cracking sounds, I looked down and discovered even the seawater had frozen into ice blocks. That was precisely the sound of the Panlong’s sharp claws cracking ice.
Night had fallen. The bright moon hung high in the night sky, actually small as a silver-white disc. I’d never seen such a distant moon, so everything on the sea, including that deep blue solid ice, appeared ethereal and illusory, as if in a dream.
The Panlong floated leisurely up along the cliff, suspended and stopped at the precipice’s peak, respectfully and humbly lowering its head.
On the mountain peak directly opposite stood a pine ridge with a red pavilion containing jade vessels and jade cups. Before the pavilion stood a young man with his back to us—tall and straight in stature, with hair black as water, robes like smoke, and large trailing dark blue exactly like this night’s sea.
The young man commanded in a deep voice: “Release her.”
The Panlong instantly lost its previous imposing manner, gently and carefully placing me at the cliff’s edge. Then a golden pill floated from the young man’s robes and fell into the Panlong’s claws.
The young man said, “This is worth a hundred water spirits. Go.”
The Panlong looked down, and joy showed in its golden pupils. It bowed its head to the young man again, roared once, and in an instant rushed down the mountain cliff and disappeared into the deep sea.
I knelt on the ground with my soul scattered, looking at the young man’s back before me, wanting to say something but trembling so much I couldn’t utter a single word.
I was too young and didn’t know powerful magic yet. But this man’s divine power could be felt by instinct even from ten li away.
He didn’t speak to me either, only walked to the pavilion and poured himself a cup of wine.
Azure sky suspended the moon, and wine sounds gurgled.
His graceful figure was like an immortal, yet also like moonlight—aloof and distant above the clouds.
Finally, he glanced at me sideways, the corner of his mouth carrying a hint of mockery: “Little water spirit, your courage is quite something.”
At such a moment, ordinary people would probably ask who he was. But I said seriously: “I’m of the Suozhao Clan, not some water spirit.”
“A water spirit is a water spirit—why so many names?” Though he smiled, he was quite impolite, looking down on people.
My clothes were soaked through, my whole body covered in mud. I was already powerless to stand, yet I still used my sleeve to wipe my face and puffed out my small chest: “I already said, this princess is called Luowei, of the Suozhao Clan. Don’t randomly change my name.”
He finally stopped insisting, only chuckling: “Fine, I’ll call you Luowei then.”
I think that initial embarrassment and most meaningless dignity were the culprits behind all evil seeds.
This led to hundreds of years afterward—even when I’d forgotten his appearance and expression from this moment, I could never forget this moment’s feeling. That feeling of not wanting to submit or show weakness before him, wanting to prove myself.
Perhaps only by doing so could I forget how far the distance between myself and this person truly was.
That was a distance so remote that even burning through life, destroying body, and shattering bones could never catch up.