Fragrant City Spring Capital lay in the central region, where the four seasons followed a regular cycle, unlike the Northern Territory, buried in snow and bitter cold year-round, or Blaze City, covered in sand and unbearably hot.
When Hera had first chosen a site for the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage, it was the climate and mountains here that had caught her eye.
It was not far from Hot Spring Ravine. More precisely, it encompassed the entire ravine.
Fragrant City owed its name to the local farmers, whose households made their living growing vast numbers of laurel trees. Laurel provided excellent timber, could be used medicinally, and had petals that could be made into food.
Every July and August, the fragrance of golden blossoms filled the entire capital.
Spring Capital came from the land's predominantly warm-water geothermal fields, where densely clustered little springs converged into larger ones. This place also had more spring sources than anywhere else in the mortal world.
The locals named things simply and bluntly, combining its two distinguishing features and calling it Fragrant City Spring Capital.
Wherever one of the twelve divine sovereigns built a temple, that place would receive their protection. This was also an understanding ingrained in the people.
Hera did not have the energy to govern an entire capital, so she had simply adopted an electoral system, unlike the hereditary systems of the other divine sovereigns, where a single dominant family provided worship.
Its core principle was, "Let the capable rise, the average yield, and the incompetent step down."
Elections were held every three years, and those who enjoyed strong public support could serve consecutive terms. Regardless of age or gender, only ability mattered.
The capital was well governed, prosperous, and peaceful.
The moment Li Jia and Winslow appeared in the capital, Li Jia was drawn to its bustling everyday life.
It was not much different from modern society, like a primitive version of a huge marketplace.
Small vendors lined both sides of the streets.
Woven bamboo baskets crowded together, holding vegetables still beaded with morning dew. Fine fuzz clung to glossy, fresh green cucumbers, and purple eggplants gleamed.
A vendor draped a sweat towel over his shoulder, his voice ringing like a brass bell hanging from an eave. "Local cucumbers! Just one copper coin a jin! If they don't taste good, you don't pay!"
Fresh beef steaks swayed from iron hooks outside the butcher's shop, their red-and-white marbling glistening. The butcher swung a gleaming blade, splitting a bone with a clang, and flecks of grease spattered his hemp apron.
Li Jia continued farther in. None of these raw ingredients interested her.
The sun climbed steadily until it hung fully overhead, and a fragrance brought her to a halt.
Clouds of white steam rose from sesame bread rings in a frying pan, coiling together above the market, sweet and rich, wrapped around the purest desire in the human world.
Appetite.
She looked at Winslow, who understood immediately. "Take whatever you want. I have plenty of money."
Having a rich backer really was different. Before long, Li Jia's hands were laden with delicious food: layered cinnamon pie, milk pudding, grilled meat skewers...
She also tucked a few doughnuts into her bag, intending to take them back for Doreen to try. Gods did not need to eat anyway.
Passing a blacksmith's shop, Li Jia remembered something and asked Winslow for a few gold coins. She lowered her head and whispered a few words to the blacksmith, who thought her request could not have been simpler. She paid a deposit and would return to collect it in a few days.
When Winslow asked what she had bought, Li Jia hemmed and hawed, saying she liked playing around and had bought a few tools for shooting birds.
After buying some illustrated books, Li Jia felt a little sleepy and wanted to return to the palace to rest. Winslow checked the time and saw that it was getting late, so she told Li Jia to wait for her at the city entrance while she went to relieve herself.
Li Jia held a sugar pancake between her teeth, licked it twice, and squatted on the ground, bored as she waited for Winslow to return.
"Lovely young lady, I see you look troubled. May I tell your fortune?"
An old woman in ragged clothes, her eyes covered with gauze and tarot cards in hand, appeared before Li Jia from somewhere.
An astrologer.
Li Jia felt pity for her. Apparently, every era had people who made their living begging and telling fortunes.
She took the last gold coin from her pocket and placed it in the old woman's hand. The old woman froze for several seconds, looking astonished.
The old woman laid the tarot cards out in a row, asked Li Jia to draw one, and had her read out the astral inscription.
"The griffin weeps blood, the serpent-hound bears a blade. Save one life and lose your own."
Li Jia obediently read out the inscription, then asked, "Granny, what does that mean?"
Although Li Jia did not understand what it meant, she recognized the word "perish." Didn't that mean dying?
The old woman shook her head, her twiglike fingers brushing over the divination shell. "Miss, you do not belong here. In the stars, life and death devour one another. Your fate is entangled with hers. It was always an empty illusion, flowers in a mirror and the moon on water-a destiny that will not end well."
"Who is she?"
Li Jia's heart plunged into an ice cave. She stared at the old woman, her voice as faint as spider silk in the wind.
How did the old woman know she did not belong here?
"From the day she was born, confinement has accompanied her. All who approach her will be burned to nothing. Your soul holds a spiritual light. You could have lived out your natural lifespan. Finish what you must do, then leave. Do not become entangled in this field of slaughter..."
The old woman sighed deeply. "Miss, cherish your life."
"Pah, pah, pah! Scamming her is one thing, but you dare come onto my turf and cause trouble?"
Winslow had returned just in time to hear the conversation between the old woman and Li Jia. Furious, she snatched the inscribed card from Li Jia's hand, threw it to the ground, and pulled Li Jia around to leave.
"The stars cannot be reversed, unless... unless someone willingly trades their life for another and severs this karma." The old woman's words haunted Li Jia's ears like a ghost, refusing to fade for a long time.
"Don't listen to that old woman's nonsense. She specializes in swindling young people like you. If she's really that accurate, why can't she predict her own fate? I bet she tells everyone she meets that they're facing a bloody calamity," Winslow said irritably.
Li Jia nodded and told Winslow not to be angry.
After all, she had already died once. Life and death were just that to her. Living would be better, but if she really had to die, there was nothing she could do.
She was just a salted fish. How would she dare defy heaven's will?
The old woman must have mistaken her for someone else. She was hardly capable of anything that significant.
It was already afternoon when they returned to the palace. When Li Jia came in, Doreen was resting to one side, while Hera was still reading marriage petitions.
Li Jia took two of the doughnuts she had bought out of her little backpack and pushed them into Doreen's hands.
Doreen looked a little embarrassed, but she accepted them with a shy smile and thanked her.
Li Jia thought Doreen was very reliable-not that she meant Winslow was unreliable. One was outgoing and the other reserved, but Doreen was cold on the outside and warm within, quietly getting things done.
Winslow was warm both inside and out and easy to get along with, but her success rate was not high.
Perhaps that was how they complemented each other, sharing blessings and hardships alike. Good food should naturally be shared with everyone; it helped build team bonds.
They all worked in the same workplace. One was a kindred spirit, while the other was decisive and efficient.
Perhaps this was what they meant by three cobblers rivaling one Zhuge Liang.
Li Jia had bought four doughnuts in total, two frosted and two with osmanthus jam.
She gave Doreen one of each, then carefully put the remaining ones back in her little backpack, planning to have them as a late-night snack when she returned that evening.
Winslow had eaten with her at the market until she was burping from how stuffed she was, so she would skip dinner.
As for the god.
Gods did not need to eat.
That conveniently saved her from cooking when she got back.
By the time Hera finished handling the marriage petitions, night had fallen. Li Jia and Winslow were dozing in a corner, exhausted and sleepy after a whole day of running around having fun.
Hera looked at the two sleeping in a disheveled heap and felt a slight headache coming on.
This was just adding to her workload.
Together with Doreen, she carried them onto the open-top peacock chariot. Deeply asleep, they did not fidget, nestling obediently in Hera's arms.
Hera pinched Li Jia's little belly, rounded from all she had eaten. The sweet scent of food still clung to her, and Hera could not hold back a quiet chuckle.
Did going out to play really make her that happy?
Standing behind Hera, Doreen looked as though she had seen a ghost.
Could Winslow have been telling the truth?
Since Li Jia had arrived, the divine sovereign had smiled more often than she had in the past hundreds and thousands of years.
A woman's heart was a needle at the bottom of the sea-hard to fish out.
When they returned to Hot Spring Ravine, the two disappeared before Doreen could say anything. She could only carry Winslow back to her palace.
"Well? Everything I said was true, wasn't it?"
Halfway there, Winslow tugged at Doreen's hair ribbon and spoke smugly.
Doreen had tied her hair into a ponytail that day, securing it with a black-and-gold ribbon embroidered with a subtle pattern.
The embroidery was crooked.
The workmanship was poor, as though a beginner had made it.
Winslow had given it to her many years ago.
"Why do you always insist on wearing this one? Didn't I give you lots in different colors? You could switch them around."
Doreen's hair was very long, already extending past her waist. She was a saber wielder, and leaving it loose would have been inconvenient.
Winslow thought Doreen looked beautiful with long hair and did not want her to give up the beauty she ought to have just because she had become a saber wielder.
So she had sewn her many hair ribbons in different styles and colors, which could be used to tie all sorts of braids.
This was also the only needlework Winslow was good at.
Practice made perfect. After so many years of sewing, she ought to have improved a little.
"Won't change it."
Two cold words.
Winslow pursed her lips. Fine, then. She could keep wearing it.
"So you knew all along that I was pretending to sleep?" Her hand swung back and forth, still holding Doreen's hair ribbon, and she made no attempt to get down.
Doreen said nothing, but held her tighter and slowed her steps, walking gradually toward the palace.
What a blockhead.
Seeing that she would not join the conversation, Winslow chattered on by herself.
"I was making an opportunity for those two. I told you ages ago, Her Majesty definitely feels something for Li Jia."
"If I hadn't pretended to sleep, imagine how awkward it would have been for Her Majesty."
"Her Majesty never used to have breakfast, let alone send me a verbal decree late at night telling me what food to prepare the next day. And the divine sovereign actually let me set the food out in the main hall."
"Pfft, pfft, pfft. Forget food-even a fly couldn't get into the main hall before. Her Majesty's obsession with cleanliness is absolutely terrifying."
"And think about it. How far is Hot Spring Ravine from Fragrant City Spring Capital? Was taking the chariot necessary?"
"Hmph, don't think I didn't see it. You flew three laps around the wheat fields before heading to Fragrant City Spring Capital."
"Normally, Her Majesty can reach the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage with a single shadow escape. Why go to all that trouble? She just wanted to show her that imposing chariot, and how impressive it was to become her attendant disciple."
"..."
Winslow rambled on at length, reminding Doreen of the parrot butler at Artemis's residence, chirping away.
A little bird that loved to fuss.
When they reached the entrance to Winslow's palace, Doreen pushed open the door and gently set her down.
"Don't you think what I said makes perfect sense?" Winslow released her hair ribbon and stood firmly on the ground. Her analysis was clear and logical, and she eagerly sought agreement from the person beside her.
Doreen glanced at her, then gave a "Mm."
"Get some rest."
"Remember to wipe off your drool."
Before Winslow could react, the door shut with a clack.
Winslow stamped her feet in her room in fury.
She would draw a few more circles to curse that unromantic blockhead.