Long Xiyue shook her head. "Yingyue has never considered marrying. Please grant my wish, Your Majesty."
Long Xuanjiao said, "I have given it some thought. Keeping you here in the Green Shadow Pavilion forever is no lasting solution. How about this? I will announce that I have adopted a daughter, then confer on you the title of Green Shadow Princess. Would you agree?"
Long Xiyue said, "I don't want to be a princess again. All I ask is to live out my life in peace. In truth, Yingyue's heart has never been as tranquil as it is now. Being an ordinary woman would be the greatest blessing Yingyue could ask for." From beginning to end, she refused to address Long Xuanjiao as her aunt or admit that she was Long Xiyue.
Long Xuanjiao said, "You need not concern yourself with this now. I will arrange everything."
Long Xiyue's heart sank. She knew her aunt well enough. There had to be another purpose behind adopting her and making her the Green Shadow Princess. Yet she could not change anything her aunt had decided. What could she do besides voice her refusal?
Hu Xiaotian stood quietly at the entrance to Shuijing'er Alley. Before him was the place where his parents had temporarily lived when calamity struck them years ago. Now the door was locked, spider silk thick beneath the eaves, and green moss stained the steps. Time had slipped away; returning to this old haunt, he found the place unchanged but its people gone. Hu Buwei was probably living together with his old lover in the Fragrant Kingdom now, while Xu Fengyi lay forever beneath the earth. Hu Xiaotian had finally established a power base of his own, securing a foothold in the Yong River basin through his own abilities.
The sound