Bao Si

"The moon shall rise, the sun shall set; the mulberry bow and arrow bag shall nearly bring down the Zhou state!"

This was a prophecy.

It packed the dying Western Zhou into a coffin and buried it in the earth.

Deposed Crown Prince Ji Yijiu allied with Marquis Shen and the Quan Rong, storming into Hao Jing. Zong Zhou fell. Those barbarian soldiers, seeing such a prosperous city for the first time, looted goldware and grain everywhere.

They even paid a friendly visit to the graves of successive Zhou kings on the Zhou Plain.

Verdant Green Maiden wept!

She hadn't even gotten around to robbing those graves herself. Who knew how many treasures lay inside, all handed over to the Quan Rong.

In the royal palace, Ji Gong Sheng was dead.

Bao Si clutched a short dagger, her tearful eyes fixed on the green-clothed girl before her.

"Qing Gu!"

She looked at Verdant Green Maiden, the dagger slipping from her hand.

Verdant Green Maiden crouched beside Ji Gong Sheng, poked him, and asked softly, "Really dead?"

"Stupid Snake, could he be faking it?"

Hong Luan flapped her wings, glanced back at the rampaging Quan Rong soldiers outside the palace room, and urged, "Hurry up, those guys are about to come over."

"The organization has decided—you'll lure them away!"

Verdant Green Maiden immediately entrusted the task to Hong Luan.

Hong Luan: "..."

"If you don't find me a few good fruits to reward me, I'll peck you to death, Stupid Snake!"

After Hong Luan left, Verdant Green Maiden shuffled over to Bao Si.

"Qing Gu, I'm sorry..."

Bao Si lowered her head.

"What does this have to do with you? Why are you apologizing?"

Verdant Green Maiden tilted her head, raised a hand to ruffle Bao Si's hair, and comforted her, "I'm here. Come with me?"

"If I had listened to your advice back then and not entered the royal palace, perhaps none of this would have happened today."

Verdant Green Maiden tilted her head again. "What kind of reasoning is that?"

Bao Si was an abandoned infant she had rescued outside Hao Jing back then. Coincidentally, a bow-making couple was being chased by someone, and she saved them too. Snake Girl couldn't nurse a baby, so she entrusted Bao Si to the couple.

The family went to live in Bao State.

When Verdant Green Maiden learned they had named the child Bao Si, she already foresaw all of this.

Later, Bao State was defeated and had no choice but to offer up Bao Si.

Did she have a choice?

No!

There was no Beacon Fire Joke in history.

It was just that after Bao Si entered the palace, her favor grew daily, stirring Ji Gong Sheng's thoughts of deposing the crown prince and the queen. But the original queen wasn't a soft persimmon either. Ji Yijiu directly fled and called on his maternal grandfather to seek justice for him.

The maternal grandfather was a warm-hearted man, so he came straight to have a heart-to-heart with his son-in-law.

Outside, the Quan Rong soldiers chased the bird across most of the royal palace. By the time they gathered at the palace room, only the dead Ji Gong Sheng, Verdant Green Maiden, and Bao Si remained—even the bird they had been chasing was gone.

Verdant Green Maiden took Bao Si eastward until they reached a valley. The scenery there was quite nice.

"Decision made—I'll settle down here!"

Snake Girl waved her hand grandly.

News didn't travel fast in the small valley. By the time word came from outside, over ten years had passed. Marquis Shen and Marquis Jin had supported Ji Yijiu, who defeated Ji Yu Chen of Zong Zhou and became the rightful ruler of the realm.

Leading troops to kill one's father was hardly a good reputation.

Ji Yijiu, whose rise to power was less than glorious, couldn't restrain the lords of the Feng Hao region. He never dared to fight his way back to Zong Zhou in his lifetime, so he sent the horse-breeding Qin people to clash with the rampaging Quan Rong and other lords there.

Win, and you're master of the Zhou Plain; lose, and you're a handful of dust.

When Bao Si heard this news, she was silent for a long time, then burst into laughter.

If you find this book good, to avoid losing it next time, please remember to add it to your bookshelf.

"Stupid Snake, she's not... gone crazy, has she?"

Hong Luan crouched on Verdant Green Maiden's shoulder, whispering.

Verdant Green Maiden reached out and tapped Hong Luan's head, saying, "This isn't crazy—this is letting go!"

But Bao Si's health deteriorated day by day. A year after this news arrived, she was completely bedridden. Leaning against the bed, she looked at Verdant Green Maiden. "Qing Gu, after I die... can you bury me with my parents?"

Verdant Green Maiden's heart, tense at the first half of her words, relaxed under the soothing effect of the second half.

"I thought you were going to ask to be buried with Ji Gong Sheng."

Bao Si sighed helplessly at this, shook her head, and said, "I hate him."

"You should hate him."

Qing Nü muttered, patted her shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, I promise."

The Bao State had long since been destroyed. Finding the graves of an ordinary commoner couple would be a bit difficult, but it didn't matter—Qing Nü had plenty of time.

If she couldn't find them in one year, then ten years, a hundred!

On the land that once belonged to the Bao State, Qing Nü carried her pack, looked up at the sun in the sky, and cursed, "Damn Heaven! Exaggeration, do you even know what exaggeration means?! You really made me search this long! Wind and sun, no food to fill my stomach, starving..."

"If I'd known, I'd have eaten that old man's Green Ox when I passed Hangu Pass!"

"Stupid Snake, it's still your fault for not remembering the way!"

Hong Luan preened her feathers on Qing Nü's shoulder, scolding the snake.

"Back then, weren't you visiting Bao Si every few days? How can you not remember the road!"

Qing Nü put her hands on her hips and asked.

Hong Luan tilted her head, her tiny mung-bean eyes filled with immense confusion. She shot back, "Are you serious? It's been over a century. This place is so overgrown and desolate now, even the best bird couldn't find the way!"

Qing Nü stopped walking and clenched her fists.

She directly took out the Turtle Shell from her bag. The shell's patterns were worn, clearly showing it had seen many years.

"Turtle Elder, I trouble you to Leave the Mountain once more!"

Qing Nü picked up a few stones, put them inside, and performed a divination.

This divination skill she had learned from Jiang Ziya—she never thought it would come in handy again after several hundred years! With Turtle Elder's generous sponsorship, Qing Nü finally found Bao Si's parents' grave.

Calling it a grave, it was just a patch of barren land.

The grave mound had long been leveled flat by the erosion of over a century. Who could have imagined that beneath this utterly unremarkable yellow earth lay buried a couple who had raised Bao Si—the woman now branded a nation-ruining seductress by the Zhou Heavenly Son and the Under Heaven Vassal Lords?

Qing Nü opened Bao Si's grave and moved her here to be buried.

"Over a Century just for a promise. Sure enough, a Stupid Snake."

Watching Qing Nü fill in the earth, Hong Luan sighed and landed on her shoulder. "But, I really admire you for that! Stupid Snake."

Saying this, she lifted her wing and patted Qing Nü's cheek.

"Little bird, big nerve!"

Qing Nü muttered, shrugged her shoulder, and shook Hong Luan off.

"Go, fetch some offerings~"

Hong Luan: "?"

Qing Niao flies far and wide, carrying the five grains to settle the soul.

Stalks heavy with rice were scattered and spread over the newly raised grave. Qing Nü had never cared about the funeral rites of this era, but she understood that of all things, eating was the greatest. Paving the departing path with rice—may the next life be born in times of peace.

"Safe travels."

Snake Girl muttered, then turned eastward.

As she walked east, Qing Nü suddenly asked, "Should I kowtow?"

"Cut it out! If you kowtow, what if their whole family's grave explodes?"

Hong Luan shot her a glare.

Qing Nü nodded. "Mm! Right, speaking of... where did you find such good rice?"

Hong Luan said, "Stole it..."

Qing Nü: "..."