Bao Si

"Moon Rises, Sun Sets; Mulberry Bow and Arrow Bag—how close the Zhou State is to its doom!"

It was a prophecy.

It bundled up the Western Zhou, already on its last legs, and buried it in the earth.

The Deposed Crown Prince Ji Yijiu joined forces with Marquis Shen and Quan Rong, and they stormed Hao Jing. Zong Zhou fell. The barbarian soldiers had never seen such a prosperous city before, and they ransacked it from end to end for gold vessels and food.

They even paid a friendly visit to the tombs of the Zhou kings of ages past on Zhou Plain.

Verdant Green Maiden wept and wept!

She hadn't even thought of robbing those tombs yet. Who knew how many treasures lay inside? Now Quan Rong had gotten it all for free.

In the Royal Palace, Ji Gong Sheng was dead.

Bao Si held a short dagger in her hand, her eyes brimming with tears as she gazed at the Green Clothed Girl before her.

"Qing Gu!"

She looked at Verdant Green Maiden, and the dagger slipped from her trembling hand.

Verdant Green Maiden crouched beside Ji Gong Sheng, poked him, and asked in a low voice, "Is he really dead?"

"Stupid Snake, how could he be faking it?"

Hong Luan flapped her wings and glanced back at the Quan Rong soldiers rampaging outside the palace chambers. "Hurry up. Those guys are almost here."

"The organization has decided—you're going to lead them away!"

Verdant Green Maiden immediately turned to Hong Luan and asked her to do it.

Hong Luan: "..."

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

After Hong Luan left, Verdant Green Maiden edged 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, then reached out to ruffle Bao Si's hair and comforted her. "I'm here now. Come with me, all right?"

"If I'd listened to your advice back then and stayed out of the Royal Palace, perhaps none of this would have happened."

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

Bao Si was an abandoned baby Verdant Green Maiden had rescued outside Hao Jing years ago. By chance, she also came across a husband and wife who made bows and were being hunted down. She rescued them on the spot. Snake Girl didn't know how to 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 had already foreseen all of this.

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

What choice had she had?

None!

Historically, there had been no Beacon Fire Joke.

It was simply that after Bao Si entered the palace, the king's favor for her grew day by day, stirring Ji Gong Sheng's desire to depose the Crown Prince and the Queen. But the former Queen was no pushover either. Ji Yijiu ran off at once and called on his maternal grandfather to uphold justice for him.

His grandfather was a warm-hearted man, too. He went straight to have a heart-to-heart with his son-in-law.

The Quan Rong soldiers outside chased a bird around most of the Royal Palace. By the time they gathered at the palace chambers, all that remained were the dead Ji Gong Sheng, Verdant Green Maiden, and Bao Si. Even the bird they had been chasing was gone.

Verdant Green Maiden took Bao Si eastward and came to a mountain valley with lovely scenery.

"Decision made. We're settling down here!"

Snake Girl waved her hand grandly.

News didn't travel quickly to the Small Valley. By the time word from the outside world arrived, more than ten years had passed. Ji Yijiu, backed by Marquis Shen and Marquis Jin, had defeated Ji Yu Chen of Zong Zhou and become the rightful ruler of all under Heaven.

Patricide was hardly a good reputation to have.

Ji Yijiu had seized the throne in a less than glorious fashion, and he couldn't keep the vassals of the Feng Hao region in check. He never dared march back to Zong Zhou for the rest of his life, so he sent the Qin people, who raised horses, to Zong Zhou to fight the rampaging Quan Rong and the other vassals there.

The lord of Zhou Plain won, and lost a handful of yellow earth.

After hearing the news, Bao Si fell silent for a long while, then burst into laughter.

"Stupid Snake, she isn't... going mad, is she?"

Hong Luan crouched on Verdant Green Maiden's shoulder and whispered.

Verdant Green Maiden reached out and tapped Hong Luan on the head. "That's not madness. She's finally let go!"

But Bao Si's health kept getting worse. A year after the news arrived, she fell seriously ill. Leaning against her bed, she looked at Verdant Green Maiden. "Qing Gu, after I die... could you bury me with my parents?"

The worry that had gripped Verdant Green Maiden at the first half of Bao Si's words eased away when she heard the second half.

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

Bao Si gave a helpless smile and shook her head. "I hate him."

"You ought to hate him."

Verdant Green Maiden muttered, then patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. I promise."

Bao State had long since fallen, and finding the grave of a commoner couple would be difficult. But that didn't matter. Verdant Green Maiden had all the time in the world.

If she couldn't find it in a year, she'd take ten years, a hundred!

On the former lands of Bao State, Verdant Green Maiden carried her pack and looked up at the sun. She cursed, "Damn Heaven! That's ridiculous. Do you even know what ridiculous means? You really expect me to search for this long? Wind and sun beating down, not enough to eat—I'm starving..."

"If I'd known, I should've eaten that old man's Green Ox when I crossed Hangu Pass!"

"Stupid Snake, this is your fault for not remembering the way!"

Hong Luan preened the feathers on her shoulder as she scolded the snake.

"You used to visit Bao Si every few days. How come you can't remember the way?"

Verdant Green Maiden planted her hands on her hips and asked.

Hong Luan tilted her head. Her tiny, bead-like eyes filled with immense confusion as she asked, "Are you serious? It's been more than a hundred years. This place has turned into a wasteland. Even the most capable bird couldn't find the way!"

Verdant Green Maiden stopped and clenched her fists.

She pulled the Turtle Shell out of her pack. Its markings were worn, and it was clearly very old.

"Turtle Elder, sorry to trouble you and ask you to come out of retirement again!"

Verdant Green Maiden picked up a few pebbles, put them inside, and began to divine.

She hadn't expected the divination skills she'd learned from Jiang Ziya to come in handy again, hundreds of years later! With Turtle Elder's generous help, Verdant Green Maiden finally found the grave of Bao Si's parents.

Calling it a grave was generous. It was just a patch of desolate earth.

More than a hundred years of wind and rain had worn the mound flat. Who could have guessed that beneath this ordinary yellow earth lay a couple who had raised Bao Si—the woman the Zhou Heavenly Son and Under Heaven Vassal Lords now branded a disastrous, country-wrecking enchantress?

Verdant Green Maiden opened Bao Si's grave and moved her remains here to rest.

"A hundred years, all for the sake of one promise. You really are a Stupid Snake."

Watching Verdant Green Maiden shovel the earth back into place, Hong Luan sighed. She landed on Verdant Green Maiden's shoulder. "But I really admire that about you! Stupid Snake."

As she spoke, she raised a wing and patted Verdant Green Maiden on the cheek.

"Small bird, big ego!"

Verdant Green Maiden muttered and shrugged, shaking Hong Luan off her shoulder.

"Go on, bring back some offerings~"

Hong Luan: "?"

The Green Bird flew far and wide, carrying grains in her beak to soothe the departed souls.

Bunch after bunch of rice fell, covering the newly raised grave. Verdant Green Maiden had never paid attention to the funeral rites of this era, but she understood one thing: nothing mattered more than a full stomach. May the road to the next life be paved with rice, and may she be born into peaceful times.

"Rest well."

Snake Girl murmured, then turned east.

As she headed east, Verdant Green Maiden suddenly asked, "Should I bow my head?"

"Give me a break! If you bow, what if their whole family's graves explode?"

Hong Luan shot her an eye-roll.

Verdant Green Maiden nodded. "Mm, fair point. By the way... where did you get all this excellent rice?"

Hong Luan said, "I stole it..."

Verdant Green Maiden: "..."