Her Last Words[Completed]

Chapter 12: Bad Timing

Life flows away with time, turns old with gray hair
Leaves with you, no news of happiness
Fades away with the past
Falls asleep with dreams
Leaves with the numb heart
I miss you, I miss you, but no trace is left

I'm still tiptoeing in missing you
I'm still letting the memories hover/spiral over me
I'm still shedding tears with my eyes closed
I still pretend not to care

I miss you, I miss you, but I deceive myself

I miss you, I miss you, I'll just make it a secret
I miss you, I miss you, so I hide it deep in my heart

- Lyric translation of Sodagreen - I miss you

Su Moye silently watched the tipsy Chen Ye as he downed bottle after bottle of wine. Fengjiu and Donghua were probably enjoying their lives to their content right now, he thought. He had met and recognised Donghua not long ago. Donghua had bidden Mo to keep his identity a secret from everyone, including Fengjiu.

Basically it was because Fengjiu had been hurt by Donghua's actions in Fanyin Valley, according to what Donghua had said. Donghua had also found out, prior to entering the Dream, from His Highness The Third Prince Liansong that Fengjiu had been the baby fox he had been eagerly searching for after its disappearance, and also the missing maid from his Taichen Palace whose cooking he had enjoyed several hundreds of years ago. This discovery had not been particularly pleasing at this stage, as now what mattered to Donghua was getting the three of them out safely.

The cruise ended, and it was time for the royal family, Xize and Chen Ye to return to their various residences. However, Xize had childishly and shamelessly asked to stay over at her manor for a few days to relax and enjoy the scenery before he returned to Qinan Palace. Fengjiu readily agreed as his presence would be a distraction from being annoyed by her two sisters.

Back when they had been on the cruise, Xize had invited Aranya and her sisters for breakfast at his quarters on the ship. It ended up as a silent war when Fengjiu had put down her sisters and sarcastically remarked, "Xize is my legally wed husband and not yours. Are you not ashamed of harbouring ulterior motives on your own brother-in-law? As you two have such a big appetite, are you sure you are able to fully digest your meal?"

A long silence between the two sisters ensued, while Fengjiu continued to  scoop up food from her plate and transfer them slowly to her bowl, calmly drinking from her drinking cup as if she had said nothing. When Chen Ye turned up uninvited, the two sisters had already stormed off in rage. Fengjiu had initially planned on letting Changdi have her way in courting Xize and taking him from her in the hopes she could be released from Aranya's marriage, but with Changdi's impoliteness and mean demeanour towards her, in addition to her change in heart towards Xize, she decided she was not a person to give in so easily. She wasn't going down without a fight.

She thought about Donghua and how she had waited for him for hundreds of years before they officially met her Auntie Bai Qian's wedding. At this point, she was torn between Donghua and Xize, not knowing they were the same person. A part of her wanted to hold out for Donghua, another part of her wanted to give up on the non-existent relationship and go after Xize instead.

She recalled how Donghua had never noticed her and how he almost married the Demon Princess Ji Heng. When Fengjiu's primordial spirit transitioned into Aranya's shell, she had lost some of her memories between herself and Donghua. Before getting trapped in the Dream, she and Donghua had a disagreement over the Saha fruit, which she had struggled to win during a competition. Yet Ji Heng had used her illness as an excuse to ask for the fruit as an antidote from Donghua. When she had entered the current day Aranya-snake pit area to steal the fruit, she happened to have discharged her cultivation, and subsequently entered the Dream.