The first thing
Consort Dan's return to Peacock Sacred Mountain was an entirely different experience this time. When she had left before, her heart had been full of uncertainty, brimming with confusion.
But now she came back with everything she could have wished for. Every knot in her heart had been untied.
The people of Peacock Sacred Mountain, upon learning that the adopted daughter of Great Emperor Peacock—Miss Dan'er—was actually an old acquaintance of Young Master Jiang Chen and had come from the Myriad Phenomena Region's Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance, were utterly astonished. They marveled again and again at the workings of fate. It seemed that their Peacock Sacred Mountain and the Myriad Phenomena Region were truly connected by destiny.
The Young Master himself hailed from the Myriad Phenomena Region, and now the adopted daughter of the Great Emperor turned out to come from the same place.
Most astonishing of all was that the two of them had a daughter together.
This news not only surprised the people of Peacock Sacred Mountain but also left Jiang Chen's personal guards speechless with shock.
Dongfang Gouyu had been in high spirits these past few days, ever since her niece Dongfang Zhiruo had been brought back. When she heard that the adopted daughter of the Great Emperor—Miss Dan'er—was none other than Consort Dan, whom she had once known in the Tiangui Kingdom, she felt a complicated twist in her heart.
Back then, Gouyu and Consort Dan had often engaged in subtle verbal sparring. Though their relationship had never been truly bad, there had been a certain tension between them—the kind only women seem to create.
At this stage in her life, whatever feelings Gouyu had once harbored for Jiang Chen had long since faded. She had fully embraced her role as a retainer in the Young Master's household.
Because of Huang'er's arrival, Gouyu had come to realize the gulf between herself and Huang'er, and in doing so she had come to terms with reality—understanding that there was simply no match between her and Jiang Chen.
Of course, in the depths of her heart, Gouyu still regarded Jiang Chen as a monument, as something almost divine. If Jiang Chen ever asked anything of her, she would agree without the slightest hesitation.
"Auntie, is something bothering you? You don't seem happy." Dongfang Zhiruo had lived in seclusion within the Eastern Kingdom, almost entirely cut off from the outside world, so her personality remained as innocent as it had been when she was twelve or thirteen. She could tell that Gouyu's mood had shifted, but she had no idea why.
Gouyu composed herself and forced a smile, reaching out to touch her niece's innocent face. "Zhiruo, Auntie is fine. Back then, I pressed you every day to train your body and strengthen your health, and I nearly ruined your life because of it. Do you hate me for that?"
"Why would I hate you, Auntie?" Dongfang Zhiruo's face was full of puzzlement. "You wanted me to strengthen my body. That was for my own good."
Seeing her young niece still so pure and kind, Gouyu felt both a surge of tenderness and a pang of guilt.
"Zhiruo, Auntie was selfish back then. I didn't take you away from the Eastern Kingdom. These ten years, shut away in the palace—your days must have been dreadfully dull."
Gouyu could see it plainly: after ten years, Dongfang Zhiruo was almost exactly the same as she had been a decade ago—innocent, practically a blank slate.
"Auntie, there were times when I felt bored, when everything seemed so dull. In those moments I missed you so much, and I missed Father Emperor, and I missed Brother Jiang Chen… The only people in this whole world who truly cared about me were those three." At this, Dongfang Zhiruo's expression dimmed slightly, as though she were thinking of her late father.
"Sometimes, I would talk to Caocao, pretending Caocao was you, or Father Emperor, or Brother Jiang Chen…"
Gouyu's heart ached. For ten years, her niece could only talk to Caocao—what a desolate existence that must have been. A princess in name, but in truth no different from a prisoner.
…
Duomei Dojo was as serene and beautiful as ever, like a realm beyond the mortal world. The perpetual snow covering the mountains lent the dojo an air of otherworldly refinement, stripping away the garishness and vulgarity of the secular world and replacing it with an ethereal purity.
"Brother Chen, you've been here before, haven't you? Have you seen
"Once, to pay my respects to the Duomei Sovereign. Nian'er has a mount called Dabai—a snow eagle. Fierce creature, but Nian'er tamed it so well it's completely obedient." Even now, Jiang Chen felt as though he were caught in a dream. That delicate, porcelain-like little girl—the one who had sparked an inexplicable sense of warmth in him, who had drawn him to her without reason—was actually his daughter!
Keek! Keek! Keek-keek-keek!
The tranquil sky was suddenly pierced by a series of sharp cries. When Jiang Chen and Consort Dan heard the sound, their faces lit up.
"She's here!" The two exchanged a glance, both hearts beating with excitement.
A streak of white light shot down from the valley like lightning, great wings beating as it landed not far in front of Jiang Chen and Consort Dan.
The features were as delicate as a porcelain doll's, the skin smooth enough to break at a touch, and those bright, luminous eyes were as endearingly innocent as ever. But Jiang Chen could see that after a few years apart, Nian'er had grown noticeably taller.
"Nian'er!" Consort Dan could no longer contain herself. Years of guilt toward her daughter, years of longing—all of it surged to the surface at once.
Nian'er heard the call and turned her beautiful, unblemished eyes toward them. After the Duomei Sovereign had returned, he had told her that someone was waiting for her at the valley entrance and asked her to go out on her own.
Nian'er had been trying to guess who it might be.
In Nian'er's gaze was the kind of pure, clean innocence that belonged only to her age.
With that innocent, childlike curiosity, Nian'er looked at Consort Dan. At first she froze. Then, as though finding a thread of memory deep within her mind, something stirred.
An instinct born of blood and bone—the unbreakable bond between mother and child—made Nian'er's eyes redden. "Mother?"