"Chen Qing?"
Of the four noble consorts, only Noble Consort Dong had a principal palace of her own. This was because she had borne the most children for the imperial family-two sons and a daughter-and ranked second only to the empress in the harem.
Though she had not borne a prince who inherited the Golden Crow Bloodline, the Xiao Household had always had few descendants, and conception was exceedingly difficult. Having borne the emperor three children proved her exceptional ability to conceive, which naturally made the Xiao Household value her.
A child's standing rose with her mother's prestige. Princess Yong'an, Xiao Mingxue, was also highly valued by the emperor, and was the only imperial princess who had not been matched for marriage to one of the four ancient fiend nations.
Now, hearing her mother bring up her marriage again, the sheltered young maiden was terribly shy, yet could not resist coming to ask...
"Mother, is it true? Does Father really intend to marry me to that Chen Qing?"
"There's no mistaking it..." Noble Consort Dong looked at her daughter's blushing face, amusement in her eyes.
Back then, she had pleaded for who knew how long, and only with the empress interceding had that cold-hearted emperor finally relented and agreed not to send her daughter away in a marriage alliance.
Her daughter was frail, without the slightest manifestation of the Golden Crow Bloodline. If she went to an ancient fiend nation, how could she withstand the torments of those uncivilized barbarians?
By the harem's rules, princes could not be raised beside their birth mothers. Only this girl had been raised by her own hands from her babbling infancy, so their bond was naturally different. How could she bear to let her child suffer like that?
Yet after she had finally begged for that favor, her mischievous daughter had been dissatisfied with every match she picked. At last, her daughter had taken a fancy to the newly appointed third-place examination graduate for his handsome looks-but just as His Majesty was preparing to issue the decree, he had died!
Those damned charlatan sorcerers had insisted this was a warning, that those of the Golden Crow Bloodline must not marry mortals. With their bellies full and nothing better to do, they had joined forces with the ministers to submit memorial after memorial urging that her daughter be married off to Northern Yan.
What kind of joke was that?
She had lost her temper over it, something she rarely did, yet inwardly she had been terribly worried about her daughter's future.
Who would have thought the winding mountain path would turn again? Cui Yan had died, and Chen Qing had appeared.
"That Chen Qing... what sort of person is he?" the princess asked cautiously.
She also knew that after the third-place graduate she had fancied died, she now risked being sent away in a marriage alliance. Naturally, she no longer dared be picky, but this was, after all, the husband who would accompany her for the rest of her life. She still hoped he would be somewhat to her liking...
"A young man with manly spirit!" Noble Consort Dong took her daughter's hand with a smile, recalling how Chen Qing had looked when he identified them.
That boy had quite some nerve, daring to take such liberties with noble consorts like them right in front of His Majesty.
At the thought, Noble Consort Dong's own face reddened slightly.
Still, to give credit where it was due, the boy truly had courage. Even in that situation, he had dared bargain with the sovereign. Though she had not watched closely, she had vaguely sensed that he seemed to feel no fear before His Majesty. In all her years beside the emperor, she had seen that quality in only two people.
One was Liu Yu, the Duke of Song, and the other was Lu Ming, the Duke of Qin. Both were among the finest men of their age. Even if that boy merely resembled them, he was still a rare young man.
"Then... then..." Princess Yong'an's face was crimson as she hesitated over her question.
Noble Consort Dong rolled her eyes. "Just ask whatever you want to ask. Why be so coy with your own mother?"
"What does he look like? Compared... compared to Cui Yan?"
Noble Consort Dong rolled her eyes again at that. Her daughter was gentle and sweet, without either of her two elder brothers' violent tempers, but she was rather shallow. What use was a man who merely looked handsome?
Could she eat his good looks? Cui Yan had been handsome enough, hadn't he? And hadn't he still turned out to be a short-lived wretch?
"Naturally, he isn't as handsome as Cui Yan..."
"Oh..." Princess Yong'an was a little disappointed.
"But he isn't bad, either." Amused, Noble Consort Dong stroked her daughter's head. "Fair and refined, with a scholar's elegance. The sort you like."
"Mother..." Yong'an immediately protested, hugging Noble Consort Dong and acting spoiled.
What did she mean, the sort she liked?
She merely disliked hulking brutes like Yuchi Peng, who even took their body odor as a mark of manliness. When had she ever said she liked those... pretty boys?
"All right, all right. What are you so shy about? He'll come to meet you before he leaves the capital. Won't you know what he's like once you see him yourself?"
"Huh?" The princess's face went from flushed to scarlet. "We... we have to meet?"
"Of course you do." Noble Consort Dong laughed. "He has to wait while you observe three years of mourning. Can't he at least have a look at his future wife?"
"What are you saying..." Embarrassed, Yong'an kept burrowing her head into the noble consort's arms.
The noble consort shook her head in amusement, happy for her daughter yet reluctant to part with her. If possible, she would actually have preferred her daughter to marry within the capital. Whenever she missed her terribly, she could summon her into the palace for a visit.
Though Chen Qing was a good match, she had heard he would be sent to serve as an official in Liuzhou. With the current shortage of local officials, no matter how highly His Majesty valued him, he would not be promoted back to the capital without ten years of service. Who knew when she would next see her daughter?
And that was not even her greatest worry. What worried her most was why the emperor had bestowed a beautiful concubine upon that boy before the wedding.
Since ancient times, when the imperial family married off a daughter, when had there ever been any sense in granting a beautiful concubine to the household before the princess even married into it?
For some reason, this unusual action by His Majesty kept stirring a thread of unease in her heart...
"My lord, wait for me. You're walking so fast I can hardly keep up..."
Hearing that soft, cloying voice, Chen Qing felt his scalp prickle.
Of all the appearances this creature could have settled on as her final form, why had she chosen the one she had worn as Cui Yan's wife? What was that supposed to mean?
Whenever he thought of how that gracious, beautiful sister-in-law had actually been a man-eating demon, and how he had spent several years around her, a wave of lingering fear washed over him. Thank goodness he had seemed ordinary back then, or wouldn't he have met the same end as Cui Yan?
Now Cui Yan was dead, and she had taken that appearance again to become his concubine?
What the fuck...
What was going on inside that emperor's dog head?
"Don't be afraid..." The fox demon wrapped herself around Chen Qing's arm, her eyes silky with allure. "His Majesty's sorcerers placed a restriction on me. I can't cast any illusions or hurt anyone, or my flesh will rot away and I'll die. I certainly don't want such an ugly death."
"Sister-in-law... please conduct yourself with dignity!" Chen Qing pulled his hand free and recoiled as though she were a snake or scorpion.
Still, credit where it was due, that had felt really good...
"Sister-in-law? Hehehe..." The fox demon shook with laughter like a flowering branch trembling in the breeze. "You want your sister-in-law to be more serious? So that's what you're into?"
"I..." Chen Qing's face turned red. In his previous life, he had been a longtime shut-in; in this life, he was a bookworm. Though he had lived twice, he was still a virgin. How could he withstand teasing like this?
He could only lower his head and keep walking.
"Oh, my lord, you mustn't ignore me..." She caught up again. "I've lost my abilities now. I'll have to rely on you to support me."
"You're too kind, Sister-in-law. This little brother holds a lowly post with a meager salary. I can't afford to enshrine a great Buddha like you!"
"But the emperor wants you to support me?"
"The emperor wants me to support the one in your belly!" Chen Qing said coldly.
"Oh?" The fox demon froze, then narrowed her eyes. "So you know..."
"What's so hard to guess?" Chen Qing sneered. "After what you did to the empress, the only reason His Majesty hasn't torn you apart is that you're carrying the Xiao Household's seed. What other possibility is there?"
"You really are quite unusual..." The fox demon's voice was soft and distant. "Don't you humans hold your sovereign in great awe? Why are you so bold and casual when speculating about His Majesty's affairs?"
Chen Qing: "..."
"You..." The fox demon touched Chen Qing's cheek. "You don't seem human at all."
"Then what do you think I seem like, Sister-in-law?" Chen Qing's brows knitted tightly.
"Like us..." the fox demon said with a seductive smile. "Like us demons who can reincarnate. You seem to have a bit of that feeling of playing in the mortal world. Speaking of which... how did you learn about reincarnation?"
"You want to know, Sister-in-law?" Fed up with her teasing, Chen Qing looked around and touched the Mirror Demon inside his robes. After confirming no one was nearby, he smiled. "How about a trade? I'll tell you how I know, and you tell me something too."
The fox demon paused, then asked curiously, "What?"
"How did you make His Majesty believe..." Chen Qing leaned closer. "That the child in your belly... belongs to the crown prince?"
"You..." At last, the fox demon's expression changed!
"Heh..." The sneer on Chen Qing's face deepened. Just as I thought!
A child of a Golden Crow and a nine-tailed fox? If I weren't the designer, I really would have fucking believed it!!