Zhai Zi Zhong Guo

Verdant Green Maiden settled down by the Luo River bank.

Ji He would deliver everything she needed for food, clothing, and daily use, and she would occasionally head into the surrounding mountains and forests to find a Wild Rabbit that had willingly offered itself to improve her meals.

In her spare time, Verdant Green Maiden picked up her old trade again.

She set up a Fortune Telling Stall by the Luo River.

From this, Ji He learned that Verdant Green Maiden was not a daughter of the Jiang Qi Imperial Clan, but the name "Green Robe Immortal Maiden" was far more resounding than any Imperial Clan title!

So Ji He treated her even better, and he also came to her for fortune-telling from time to time.

Over two years, the two of them grew quite familiar.

Early one morning, Ji He rushed excitedly to Verdant Green Maiden's dwelling, knocked on the door, and shouted, "Verdant Green Maiden, get up, open the door! It's me, Ji He! I need to talk to you!"

Inside the house, Verdant Green Maiden covered her ears, rolled over, and kept sleeping.

Outside, Ji He kept knocking, with the clear intention of not leaving until she responded.

"So noisy, can't you let a snake sleep!"

Verdant Green Maiden yelled, got up in a huff, pulled open the courtyard gate, and glared at Ji He standing at the door with an excited expression, grinding her Fangs.

"What's wrong? Did you see a Ghost?"

Ji He shook his head with great agitation. "What Ghost! It's the Great King!"

Verdant Green Maiden asked again, "Did the Great King become a Ghost?"

Ji He's expression turned startled, and he quickly looked left and right, lowering his voice. "You can't say things like that!"

Watching Ji He's alarmed reaction, Verdant Green Maiden looked up at the sun and squinted.

"You're all worked up so early in the morning—what exactly do you want?"

"Luoyi has been completed, and the Great King rewarded me with Thirty Peng of Cowrie Shells and Thirty Jin of Gold!"

Ji He said excitedly to Verdant Green Maiden, "My father's achievements were also affirmed by the Great King. This is an immense grace. I plan to cast a piece of Goldware. You're well-traveled and knowledgeable, so I came to ask your opinion."

"I suggest you give it to me!"

Ji He: "..."

Seeing Ji He's slightly speechless expression, Verdant Green Maiden waved him off and said, "Go do whatever you need to do. The Great King rewarded you—just do what you want with it. Why bother waking me up so early?"

"Then after the Goldware is cast, I'll bring it over for you to see!"

Ji He didn't linger; he was still caught up in the excitement of receiving the reward.

Verdant Green Maiden went back inside. She wanted to go back to sleep, but after being woken up, she couldn't fall asleep no matter what. She punched the bed and stormed out to go hunting in the mountains.

Today, those animals were out of luck—she had quite a bit of morning anger.

Ji He had the Thirty Jin of Gold the Great King rewarded him cast into a Zun, and he had an inscription engraved on its bottom.

After it was cast, he excitedly brought it to show Verdant Green Maiden.

Looking at the Zun placed on a wooden platform and carried over by people, Verdant Green Maiden walked around it once, then leaned in to peer inside.

"What did you write?"

Verdant Green Maiden asked.

Hearing her question, Ji He puffed out his chest and said solemnly, "I inscribed the Great King's words and my father's achievements."

"It was when the King first settled his residence in Cheng Zhou, and again received the blessings and rituals of King Wu from Heaven..."

"I shall dwell here in Zhai Zi Zhong Guo, and from there govern the People..."

Ji He recited the inscription he had carved beside Verdant Green Maiden. She reached out her hand and traced the characters at the bottom of the Zun as he recited.

When Verdant Green Maiden heard that line from Ji He's mouth, her hand stopped.

It stopped on the two characters "Zhong Guo."

She knew that at this time, "Zhong Guo" meant the center of the world, not what it would mean three thousand years later.

Verdant Green Maiden had witnessed the earliest written record of "Zhong Guo."

"Not bad."

After Ji He finished reciting the inscription, Verdant Green Maiden nodded slightly.

"Keep this well. It will be of great use in the future."

"The future?"

Hearing this, Ji He asked again, "Verdant Green Maiden, have you divined something else? Can you tell me about it?"

Verdant Green Maiden looked at Ji He, whose face was full of curiosity, and said with a smile, "If I told you that this Goldware of yours would become a vessel that guards the nation in the future, would you believe me?"

"A vessel that guards the nation?"

Ji He's expression was clearly shocked. He shook his head with a laugh and said, "I want to believe you, but that's too incredible. I only hope that my Later Generations will preserve this Goldware well, so that future descendants can remember the achievements of the Great King and my father!"

"They will remember!"

Verdant Green Maiden smiled and nodded. "Whether it's your Later Generations or someone else's Later Generations, they will all remember."

This vast land would be named after it as well.

"That's good, then!"

Ji He nodded heavily.

He trusted Verdant Green Maiden's divination skills!

If she said Later Generations would be proud of it, then he believed Later Generations would be proud of it!

He also believed the Great King's and his father's achievements would be passed down forever!

After Luoyi was built, King Zhou Ji Song moved Citizens from Hao Jing to live there, and Verdant Green Maiden's Neighbors gradually grew in number.

Ji He, who had thought he could stay in Luoyang forever, was transferred back to Hao Jing for a post.

He got a promotion—a pretty big one at that!

But he couldn't bear to leave Luoyang, the city he had overseen and built from scratch. Still, the King's Command could not be defied.

Before leaving, Ji He came to bid Verdant Green Maiden farewell.

The two drank wine for most of the day. Verdant Green Maiden didn't remember how much Ji He drank, only that this Stinky Kid got drunk and tried to snatch meat from her.

Meat was Snake Girl's Treasures!

Good thing Verdant Green Maiden didn't drink and stayed sober, or she'd have bitten his head off.

Ji He made a pact with Verdant Green Maiden: after returning to Hao Jing, he would send her letters regularly. But in this era, with the speed of a Cart and horse, the difficulty of delivering a single letter was easy to imagine.

What's more, Verdant Green Maiden didn't think Ji He would remember things here after he went back and got promoted.

Sure enough, after Ji He returned to Hao Jing, letters only came for the first year or two, and then gradually stopped.

Short-lived people were nothing but passersby in Verdant Green Maiden's long life.

She didn't care what happened to Ji He.

She was too busy being driven up the wall by the back-and-forth relationships among her Neighbors.

Verdant Green Maiden had gotten used to living in the wilds over the years; she never expected that neighborly relations three thousand years ago would already be so complicated.

Matchmakers trying to set her up had nearly worn down her doorstep!

But as time passed, the fact that Verdant Green Maiden's appearance never changed gradually came to light. Once the Neighbors noticed her peculiarity, fewer came to propose marriage, but more came to beg for blessings.

Things like praying for a good harvest in the fields, asking for protection when a Child was sick, or begging her to check if a family member who hadn't returned had been eaten by wild beasts outside.

This kind of thing happened every single day!

As time went on, Verdant Green Maiden realized one thing: it looked like she couldn't keep her home in Luoyang.

One morning at dawn, she packed her bags, ready to slip away.

The moment she opened the door, a Youth stood in the doorway.

The Youth had his hand raised, as if about to knock. When he saw Verdant Green Maiden come out, his expression was quite surprised.

"Who are you?"

Verdant Green Maiden frowned at this stranger striking a pose at her doorstep.

The Youth snapped out of it and quickly bowed with his hands clasped.

"I am Yao Jiang. Greetings, Immortal Aunt."

Here we go again!

Verdant Green Maiden said impatiently, "No Immortal Aunt here. There are mushrooms, though. If you want some, pick them yourself by the wall."

"The Immortal Aunt jokes!"

Yao Jiang laughed. He took a step back and bowed solemnly to Verdant Green Maiden.

"I have come to take the Immortal Aunt as my master!"

"Here is a small gift from me, unworthy of your regard..."