"What's wrong?" Ye Hua asked his wife as he sat beside her on the bed where she was still wrapped in the blanket, eyes closed.
"I just feel a little off. It's nothing to worry about" Bai Qian replied taking his hand in hers without opening her eyes
"Qian Qian, let me see your eyes" Ye Hua asked
"There's no need. The light makes my head hurt that's why I'm keeping it closed. You should get back to work, I think I'll sleep some more"
Ye Hua smiled, anytime she wanted to get rid of him, she said she wanted to sleep. It was funny that while he recognized it, she never did. He'd laugh and tease her but he was really worried about her eyes, they had been red and swollen after their encounter with the Ghost Empress and had been getting worse rather than better since then. He suspected she was trying to keep him from realizing how bad things had gotten. He pulled the blanket around her, placed his hands around her face and gently raised her lids before she realized what he was doing.
"Qian Qian! Why didn't you say something!" Her eyes were the color of blood, you could barely see her iris and pus pooled at each corner.
Bai Qian sighed, she knew how bad they looked, unfortunately, they felt even worse which given how bad they looked meant she was in the worst pain she'd experienced in recent history.
"I'll get the medicine king..."
"No, Zhe Yan" She replied
"I guess it's great that I'm here then" Zhe Yan replied "Your maid said you were here. I hope I'm not interrupting" Zhe Ya said.
"High god Zhe Yan" Ye Hua stood in greeting as Zhe Yan walked towards them
"Xiao Wu, how are you feeling?"
In response, Bai Qian opened her eyes.
Zhe Yan sighed deeply. "I need to get those eyes out of your sockets. I suspected that they'd be sensitive to magical underworld light but never expected you would have any reason to be exposed to that" The second part of the statement was directed at Ye Hua.
"Xuan Nu beamed some light at her" Ye Hua replied
"I cannot say how glad I am that girl is finally dead. Still we need to deal with those eyes sooner rather than later"
"I want my own eyes. If I'm going to go through the pain of replacing my eyes again, I want my natural eyes back"
"Those eyes need to come out within 24 hours, you two do whatever you need to do. I'll come back to deal with it then." Zhe Yan said as he walked out
"I know it's a short lead and last minute prep but we have a plan that will work, we just need to get everyone together" Bai Qian said when Ye Hua sat beside her again
"I can just get your eyes from Su Jin"
"Then I won't get justice for the rest of it, she will go around spreading false tales and for reasons I still don't understand, the immortals of nine heavens tend to believe her. I won't live under the shadow of her tales for taking what is rightfully mine"
"Qian Qian ..."
She stroked his face. "Let's end that chapter once and for all"
He covered the hand on his face with one of his own and nodded.
"I'd offer to help plan the dinner but I can only see by magic and that is draining so I'm going to stay in bed the rest of the day"
He nodded.
The dinner was planned for the main hall. By the time Ye Hua and Bai Qian got there, the fox emperor, his wife and fourth son had joined Ye Hua's family. Zhe Yan and Di Jun were also in attendance even though both seemed engaged in their own discussion. After the greetings and kotows, everyone was seated.
"Xiao Wu, you don't look too well. Are you ok?" her mother asked
Bai Qian smiled at her mom and wondered what it was about mothers that made them know when you were hiding something. Zhe Yan had used magic to make her eyes look normal, there were few people in the room who had the cultivation to see how her eyes really looked and if she distracted them enough they wouldn't notice. Her mother was one of those.
"I'm fine, mother. It's just been a long day. How have your travels been? Where did you go? She asked
Her mother took the bait and regaled the entire room with their travels.
"I see you come by your sense of direction naturally" Ye Hua whispered as her mother talked about her they got lost and ended up in a different place than they'd planned. She laughed and everyone turned back to them.
"You two are so adorable, when are you going to give me another grandchild" Le Xu asked
"Xiao Wu is still recuperating from her ascension trial" her mother replied
"What was your ascension trial?" Lian Song asked
"I had a mortal love trial" Bai Qian replied "That's how I met Ye Hua"
All the chatter in the room stopped and everyone stared at her. Su Jin looked even frailer than she had been coming into the dinner.
"When I fought Qing Cang and resealed him in the emperor bell, he got a shot in. He sealed my immortal essence and my memories and dropped me off on mount Junji, no doubt hoping that the Golden Lion Beast would finish me off. That didn't happen and one day, I found an injured Ye Hua in front of my door."
She stood up, took a pot of tea from one of the stands and started refilling everyone's tea. "Bear in mind that I was still completely mortal and could not sense anyone's immortal essence so I thought he was a mortal same as me. I nursed him back to health" She said as she knelt to refill Lian Song's tea.
"A young man and a young woman living together for months, granted it was mortal months." She continued, kneeling in front of Le Xu "Naturally, we fell in love and got married."
Le Xu shook her head "No" she whispered.
Bai Qian smiled got up and knelt in front of Yang Cuo "He wouldn't talk about his family, he would disappear for months on end but he never told me he was immortal."
She walked up to the heavenly lord and knelt to pour his tea "I got pregnant and he had to disappear again but while he was gone, I stepped outside the house and got dragged to the nine heavens." She stood up again, walked to the end of the hall and replaced the tea pot she had with another one.
"Of course I still had no idea where I was and what it meant. Given that I'd never been in the nine heavens even as an immortal, I had no chance of being recognized." She continued as she poured tea for her parents.
"I was frantic" she said as she knelt in front of her brother "you see, I got out of the house because I knew Ye Hua was hurt and I wanted to find him"
She walked to Su Jin and knelt to pour her tea "Yet here I was facing a battery of questions and accusations. Everyone had a scheme and I had to have one to trap the crown prince that I didn't even know was a crown prince."
She had moved again and was now kneeling in front of Zhe Yan "Nobody considered that I was just a clueless mortal or even possibly an immortal on trial which given how many mortal trials we get as immortal should be a consideration on everyone's mind when they interact with mortals."
She knelt in fron to Dijun "I believe I deserve justice for the things I faced in the nine heavens during those times. I was already engaged to the crown prince at that time and all of the things I faced were done to the crown princess. Nine heavens interfered with my trial, on mortal trial, I should never have been on immortal land. Everything that happened here was an error to me and I should get justice for that shouldn't I?"
"You are entitled ..." Dijunbegan
"Will you give me justice?" She interrupted
"Very well" Dijun replied
She bowed in thanks and went back to her seat.
"We're all family here and I am the one the crown princess has asked for justice. In the spirit of the bonds that tie us for eternity and in the interest of fairness. I would ask all parties to confess that they have to pay back in the way the crown princess was treated during her stay in heaven as the mortal Su Su. Bai Qian, you will let me know if they leave something out"
Lian Song stood up first "I knew she carried Ye Hua's child and heart but did nothing to interfere with the cruel treatments she was getting."
Le Xu stood up next "I treated her less than a slave, giving her no bed and just enough food to keep her alive. I cut off all avenues for her to interact with others and had her locked in the hall"
Yang Cuo stood "I pushed for her to be punished without listening to anything, I sought the worst punishments in the book and did not treat her like a daughter"
Su Jin stood shakily "I did not treat her with the respect due to the crown princess"
"Is that all?" Dijun asked and Su Jin nodded.
Bai Qian stood "Su Jin said to Su Su, if you jump from Zhuxian Terrace, you would end up back in the mortal world where you were taken - I believe that counts as lying to the crown princess unless there is truth in that statement"
"Su Jin lied to the crown princess with the aim of hurting her" Dijun replied
"Su Jin also threw herself into Zhuxian terrace and pretended the crown princess pushed her. The crown princess' eyes were therefore removed and given to Su Jin as replacement. This counts as framing the crown princess"
"Su Jin, is this true, before you answer remember that there is no worse crime than lying to the emperor lord when he is seeking justice"
Su Jin fell on her knees "Su Jin acted as the crown princess described. Su Jin is sorry for everything"
"This is my judgement for all concerned" Dijun started "Lian Song will be sent on 2 mortal trials to experience and understand mortal emotions. Yang Cuo and Le Xu, as Ye Hua's parents, you had a duty to love and welcome his chosen consort and in situations where you disagreed, you should take it up with Ye Hua not take it out on a pregnant woman. You will each spend the next 2 years in mortal trials."
All three bowed in acceptance.
"Given the nature of Su Jin's actions towards the crown princess, I will let her choose Su Jin's punishment"
"I would like my eyes to be returned to me. I want then to be removed from Su Jin's sockets by the heavenly lord himself"
Everyone turned to the heavenly lord who stared at Bai Qian while the latter held his gaze.
"I agree" He replied
"I will also like to offer Su Jin a choice: either to jump down Zhuxian terrace as she convinced me to do or to give up her immortality"
Su Jin looked pleadingly at the Heavenly lord then at Ye Hua, both of whom ignored her. "Su Jin will become mortal" she finally said.