Capping Ceremony

Verdant Green Maiden had no intention of getting married. What she wanted was a dragon—a dragon!

The Black Ice Platform wanted to catch her? Not in their next life!

But whether Ying Zheng had told them about Verdant Green Maiden's little habits or not, this group was certainly good at tracking her down! She'd been hiding for over a year, but she really couldn't evade them any longer. She blocked them at a crossroads, planted her hands on her hips, and yelled, "Are you all crazy? Don't you ever clock out and get some rest?"

They exchanged glances, then bowed to Verdant Green Maiden.

"Your Majesty!"

Her fists clenched.

Her fists were itching for a fight.

Verdant Green Maiden pinned them to the ground and beat them. About a quarter of an hour later, their leader finally rushed to the scene.

The man jumped down from his horse and hurried over, shouting as he ran, "Master! Please calm down, Master!"

Verdant Green Maiden held one man down with one hand and pointed at the leader running toward her with the other. "You! Are you here to get beaten too? Get down on the ground..."

The leader hurriedly waved his hands and explained, "Master, you've misunderstood!"

"Misunderstood?"

Verdant Green Maiden narrowed her eyes and demanded, "If you're not here to get beaten, what are you here for?"

In a panic, the leader pulled a Silk Book from inside his robes and handed it to Verdant Green Maiden. "The Great King told us to give this to you once we found you! The Great King will soon hold his Capping Ceremony in Yong City, and hopes you'll attend!"

"The Great King said that he was wrong about everything that happened before."

It wasn't often that Ying Zheng admitted he was wrong.

As the leader said this to Verdant Green Maiden, he nearly prostrated himself on the ground, afraid she'd take offense, tear up the Silk Book, and refuse to go!

Then they'd truly be at their wit's end. After all, they couldn't beat her.

After reading the Silk Book, Verdant Green Maiden kicked the men she'd beaten, who were still sprawled on the ground. "Get over there!"

The men scrambled back to their leader.

Verdant Green Maiden rolled up the Silk Book and tucked it into her little bag. "Go back and tell him I'll come! It's good that he knows he was wrong."

With that, she turned to leave.

"Um... Master!"

The leader opened his mouth.

Verdant Green Maiden glanced back, a chill flashing in her eyes, her slit pupils fierce. "What else do you want to say, boy?"

"We have a carriage and horses. We can take you back, Master."

The leader bowed as he spoke.

Verdant Green Maiden waved a hand at him. "No need. Your carriage and horses aren't as fast as I am! It'd be boring to travel back with you."

They didn't dare force her to do anything, so they could only nod and watch her leave.

Hong Luan landed on Verdant Green Maiden's shoulder. Before the bird could speak, Verdant Green Maiden grabbed her and chided, "They say the clumsy bird flies first, but you can't fly ahead every single time! Couldn't you help me beat them up? We'd look more imposing together!"

"Stupid Snake, are you sure I can beat anyone up?"

The bird was at a loss. She was so tiny! Catching a hare or something was one thing, but beating people up?

With all that chaos, she couldn't do a thing!

Verdant Green Maiden stared at her for a long while, then let go and sighed. "When will you ever turn into a human? Do Mountain Spirits and Wild Monsters cultivate this slowly? It's been nearly six or seven hundred years! You still look like a bird, and no matter how much I feed you, you never get fat."

"When did you turn into a human?" Hong Luan hopped onto Verdant Green Maiden's shoulder and asked.

At that, Verdant Green Maiden counted on her fingers, then said solemnly, "Probably the day after the Yellow Emperor pulled me out of the Wei River?"

Hong Luan's eyes widened.

"The next day? How old were you?"

Verdant Green Maiden counted on her fingers and said, "Probably... less than a year old."

My memories of the years I spent as a snake were hazy. They weren't nearly as vivid as the memories of the twenty-odd years from my previous life.

But she clearly remembered that the day after the Yellow Emperor lifted her from the Wei River, she woke up in human form inside the tribe's tent. The people of the tribe hailed it as a divine miracle and embroidered her onto their totem.

She was the original form of the You Xiong Clan's dragon totem!

After Verdant Green Maiden finished, Hong Luan fell silent. After a long while, she hopped toward the outer edge of Verdant Green Maiden's shoulder, then turned her head away and stopped looking at her.

Verdant Green Maiden glanced over and asked, "Bird Sister, are you angry?"

"I refuse to talk to you, you rascal!"

Hong Luan turned her head away and wouldn't look at Verdant Green Maiden.

The cold war between one snake and one bird continued until they were nearly at Hangu Pass.

Whenever Hong Luan brought back a hare, she dropped it straight down from the sky, without the slightest thought as to whether Verdant Green Maiden could catch it. When Verdant Green Maiden roasted the meat, Hong Luan wouldn't eat it and went off to find fruit instead. Even at night, she no longer stayed in Verdant Green Maiden's arms!

That day, Hong Luan was about to go out and find meat for Verdant Green Maiden again when she was grabbed.

"What are you doing?"

Hong Luan cried out in surprise.

Verdant Green Maiden forced her little head around to face her. "Bird Sister, I was wrong! Stupid Snake shouldn't have bragged about her talents. You're the big bird, so please don't hold the little snake's mistake against her. Stop being mad at me, okay?"

Hearing Verdant Green Maiden apologize, Hong Luan panicked a little.

"You—you—you... Why are you apologizing!"

"Huh?"

Verdant Green Maiden tilted her head. "Didn't I make you angry?"

Seeing her dazed expression, Hong Luan hesitated, then said reluctantly, "No... I just feel useless. After all these years, I still can't turn into a human. Apart from finding food for you, I can't help you with anything."

"Hong Luan!!"

Verdant Green Maiden hugged Hong Luan, deeply moved.

Hong Luan shook her head and cried, "Oh, stop hugging me! This is so embarrassing..."

Verdant Green Maiden kept holding her and muttered, "It's true that you can't help me with anything except finding food, but I won't look down on you! Let's spend the next few thousand years together..."

As soon as she said that, Hong Luan pecked Verdant Green Maiden on the earlobe.

"Stupid Snake! Go die!!"

"Snake still wants to live for a few thousand years. I don't want to die..."

The snake and the bird bickered as they crossed Hangu Pass along a little road and headed for Yong City.

Yong City had been the capital of Qin several hundred years earlier, long before Liyang or Xianyang. The Ancestral Temple of Qin stood there.

The Capping Ceremonies of successive Kings of Qin were also held there!

In the Ancestral Temple, Ying Zheng paid his respects to his ancestors.

He walked out alone and turned to look at Afang and the others waiting outside the Ancestral Temple. He asked quietly, "Is there still no news of the master?"

Afang shook her head. "The Black Ice Platform sent word. They did see the master, but couldn't persuade her to come back with them. However, the master said she would come! Your Majesty, please rest assured. Perhaps the master has already arrived in Yong City; we just don't know it."

Hearing this, Ying Zheng still sighed and looked at the others.

"Have you prepared everything I asked you to?"

At his question, everyone nodded and clasped their fists. "Your Majesty, everything in Yong City is ready! The Prime Minister is in Xianyang, so nothing can go wrong!"

"The Prime Minister again..."

Ying Zheng sighed. "I understand."

He dismissed everyone except Afang. As he strolled through the palaces of Yongcheng Palace, he and Afang suddenly spotted a young woman in a blue curved-hem robe, sitting against the palace wall ahead.

She lightly swung the piece of roasted meat in her hand, her voice clear and tender.

"King of Qin, Ying Zheng! How have you been lately?"