Chapter 22
Lady Fate
A lady in light blue robes sat on a rocking chair as she waited for the Fox Queen to wake up. She was humming softly as she embroidered a red Yueling flower beside the white moon. The red thread seemed vibrant as it glowed. There was a soft movement from the bed in front of her. She smiled knowingly. "Awake?"
Fengjiu opened her eyes to see a ceiling that was not familiar. She was confused. Did she dream about everything? Was she dead? She raised her hands in front of her and wiggled her fingers. Am I dreaming? Was everything just a dream? Her head was starting to ache as she kept thinking. She turned her head to the direction of the unfamiliar voice.
A lady was sitting on the rocking chair, embroidering something. Her eyes were drawn to the glowing red thread. It was so pretty. She came back to her senses when the lady cleared her throat and stood up. Fengjiu furrowed her brows in confusion. Who is she? She didn't voice the question out loud but stayed calm and asked instead, "Where am I?"
The lady smiled as she walked to Fengjiu. "Where do you think you are?" Fengjiu just looked at her and thought about it. "Am I dead? Is this the underworld for deities?" The lady laughed at her words before sitting on the stool beside the bed and pouring a cup of tea. Oddly enough, Fengjjiu didn't feel any danger from the lady in front of her. She took the teacup the lady was offering and slowly drank it.
"Do you know who I am?" the lady asked as she sipped her tea. Fengjiu shook her head as she placed her finished tea down. The lady refilled her cup before gesturing her to drink some more. Fengjiu obeyed and drank some more tea. "I am Lady Nuwa."
Fengjiu's teacup fell on the ground with a clatter, breaking into many pieces. Lady Nuwa didn't fuss and conjured another one. Fengjiu stared at the lady in disbelief. "Lady Nuwa? You're fate? The mother goddess?"
Lady Nuwa calmly offered the new teacup to Fengjiu but she refused. All traces of comfort on her face was gone replaced by hostility. Fengjiu stared at Lady Nuwa- Fate's infuriating face, refusing to take the teacup. "Was it fun? Was playing with our fate fun? How can you sit there calmly knowing you took someone's chance at love?" Fengjiu's words were sharp but Lady Nuwa's calm expression didn't change.
"Donghua decided to remove his name from the rock, I already told him it came with a price."
Fengjiu felt like her head was going to explode because of her anger. "He needed to remove it because of chaos in the first place! I know he was arrogant for thinking love wasn't much, but he's united all the realms and brought peace! Isn't that enough for him to get a chance to live happily? How can you be so heartless to let him live in loneliness for so long?! Don't you know? He's so lonely! He doesn't show anyone, but I know he is!" Fengjiu cried as she felt her heart ache as she thought of Donghua.
Lady Nuwa's hand paused before she put down her teacup on the table. "Tell me, if I rewrite his name on the stone with someone else, would you allow it?"
"If it means he won't be lonely for the rest of his life! If it means he will be happy! I don't care!" Fengjiu said without hesitation as she felt tears stain her face. She didn't like thinking of Donghua with other girls, but if it meant he would be happy, then she'd allow it.
Lady Nuwa looks a bit surprised with her words. She sighed before waving her hand, causing the teacups to disappear. "Queen of Qingqiu, it seems you really love Donghua Dijun?" Fengjiu furiously wiped at her tears. "What's it to you? No matter how much I love him, it won't matter! Because he has no fate in love! I know he erased his name from the rock himself, but couldn't you have been nicer? Don't you know? Donghua deserves so much love! You're supposed to know that! You're fate, aren't you?!" Fengjiu said huffily.
Lady Nuwa laughs at Fengjiu's tone making her even more angry. She was about to say some more when Lady Nuwa's words made her freeze. "I can see why Donghua Dijun loves you," She murmured. Fengjiu felt her heart skip as she felt a tingly feeling in her stomach.
"What did you say?" Fengjiu asked anxiously afraid that she heard wrong. Lady Nuwa smiled knowingly before conjuring a bronze mirror. "Donghua loves you very much Fengjiu," She said softly as she gave the mirror to Fengjiu.
Fengjiu glanced at the mirror and suddenly felt her heart ache. It was the night of her heavenly trial in Qingqiu. Donghua was standing in front of Zheyan and the Bai Family in her garden.
It was still raining. Donghua held the box tightly with shaking hands. Zheyan had just given him the box Fengjiu had entrusted to him in case Donghua looked for her. He opened the box and saw the bell charm she always wore on her ankle. He clutched the charm tightly in his hands as a heartbreaking sound came out of his throat. She returned the bells... Meaning... She won't call for him or bother him anymore. Zheyan turned away, afraid he would cry as well. The Bai family watched the former Heavenly Emperor break down as he clutched the bell charm his wife had left him.
"Jiu'er..." Donghua cried as he held the bell charm to his chest.
Liansong and Si Ming arrived to see Donghua kneeling on the ground crying. There was no sign of the cold and indifferent deity in the sight before them. It was simply the sight of a husband who had lost his most beloved wife.
Donghua stayed in that position for a very very long time. No one had the heart to tell him to move. Donghua didn't know what to do but hold what was left of Jiu'er. Even her body was gone. There was nothing he could hold on to except the bell charms.
"Jiu'er... I love you..."
The rain continued falling, drenching Donghua's kneeling form in the middle of her garden.
"Jiu'er I love you! Come back please... Come back..." His heartbroken sobs echoed through the realms. The former Heavenly Emperor has lost his Empress... his wife.
Fengjiu's tears ran down her face as she clutched the mirror tightly. Suddenly, the scene changed to Donghua walking out of their home in the Holy Blue Sea. He sat by the edge of the lake staring into space blankly. He was still holding onto the bell charm tightly as he stood up. Fengjiu's heart pounded nervously when she realized what was happening. She looked at Lady Nuwa in horror.
"Lady Nuwa what is he doing?"
Lady Nuwa sighed heavily. "It seems... I miscalculated. He wants to be reunited with you."
Fengjiu's heart should be happy at her words but all she felt was nervousness. Donghua was about to end his life! She looked at Lady Nuwa desperately. "Isn't there anything I can do?"
"You can't appear to him in your body yet. Only as a spirit." Fengjiu didn't notice the peculiarity of Lady Nuwa's words. She was panicking and thinking of ways to stop Donghua. "I will tell him to plant Peach Blossoms! More than Zheyan's! That will take him a long time, won't it?" She asked Lady Nuwa nervously, all signs of hostility forgotten.
Lady Nuwa's lips quirked into a smile. She nodded and waved her hand. Fengjiu felt dizzy before she blacked out. When she opened her eyes, she was looking at Donghua's back. Donghua suddenly turned around and saw her. Fengjiu immediately pretended she was playing with the butterflies nearby.
"Donghua! I want to plant peach blossoms over there! I want there to be more than Zheyan's!" She giggled happily as she looked at him. Donghua I miss you. Donghua stood up and slowly made his way to her.
"Alright. I'll do anything you ask." She smiled at his answer.
She clapped and pointed at the lake. "Donghua don't you think the lake looks so beautiful?" She wanted him to stop thinking about ending his life!
"Beautiful."
"I'm right! Aren't I?" She turned to him looking at her dotingly. She almost cried at his gentle look, but she pretended to be annoyed. "Donghua, you're not looking at the lake!"
"Mm. I'd rather admire you. Won't you let me do that?"
His words made her blush. She couldn't help herself... She confessed to him like she usually did.
"Donghua, I love you!"
Donghua reached out to caress her hair. She felt his hand touch her hair. "I love you too Jiu'er. More than you'll ever know."
Fengjiu's heart tingled at his words but she blacked out again before she could say anything else. She opened her eyes to see Lady Nuwa sitting in front of her again. She was in the same place she was at earlier.
Author's Note: DUN DUN DUN!!!!! What do you guys think happened to Fengjiu? Stay tuned for the next chapter~ I will be posting it soon! Also... What do you guys think of the thing Lady Nuwa was embroidering? I envision it to be something like the picture below:
Thank you all for your support and nice words! Thank you for 4K reads! It seems we're reaching 5K soon :D I will post extra chapters as well once we reach 5K~ Love you all! Stay safe <3
-Yunxi