Legend of Fu Yao

“This is a song written for you, called “Phoenix Dance of Fuyao.” I finally had the chance to play it today.”

He smiled as he plucked the zither strings. The melody was sharp and clear as if reflecting his feelings.

“If you like it, I’ll play it for you every day of my life.”

On the third day, third month, the thirtieth year of Tiancheng, Xuanji, the two pillars of Xuanji, the Amethyst Cape Knights and the Iron Guard disregarded their superiors and began to fight each other, the generals from both sides dying or suffering grave injuries, both armies taking heavy damage. Some of them died directly in Qixing River, their bodies floating up several days later. This conflict resulted in several days of chaos, and 10,000 people were embroiled in the civil war, creating a massive mess.

The Eldest Imperial Princess and Third Prince were busy resolving the conflict between their subordinates and were absolutely exhausted; hence, they didn’t care about playing their petty assassination games.

Hence, a certain group of people snuck out of the city and left the mess for the royal family to resolve, and happily went on their way, moving out at night.

On the tenth day of the third month, a messenger hurriedly sent an urgent memo to the Ministry of Rites; causing the ministry to move in a frenzy.

“Crown Prince Wuji and King Meng of Dahan have suddenly appeared, they are arriving at the capital with a troop of 3,000 men, please receive!”

On the tenth day of the third month, the “missing” Crown Prince of Wuji and King Meng of Dahan finally appeared in public on Xuanji.

It was said that the reappearance of these two people who had mysteriously disappeared was even more mysterious; the little watchguard at the Jingjiao Watch Station had just woken up from his sleep when he saw a person covered in dirt stumble in, acting as if the place was his home and grabbing whatever he found on the table and began to eat and drink to his heart’s content. The little watchguard was shocked motionless by the person’s actions, and upon closer inspection, he confirmed that the person as not one of the aristocrats from the capital. Although his position was low, the Jingjiao Watch Station was located in a special place, and the guests it saw were always aristocrats, even the Emperor himself would pass through often. Hence, the little watchguard gathered his courage and shouted, “Who are you, how dare you trespass the Jingjiao Watch Station of Xuanji!”

However, the person simply threw a fruit pit at him and glared, shouting even louder than him, “Who’s that on the bed? How dare you raise your voice at me?”

The little watchguard was stunned again by the person’s exclamation, his occupational hazard acting up again as he thought hard to recall if he had missed out on any nobleman. This person’s behavior was even more pompous than the Twelfth Prince, Feng Jingsong, and based on many years of experience, one’s behavior often determined one’s position.

“Dare I ask who you are?” the little watchguard asked carefully.

“A missing person!” The person waved his hand nonchalantly.

When the little watchguard finally found out who this pompous person was, he immediately wrote a letter with trembling fingers and sent it to the Ministry of Rites. The infamous great King Meng had suddenly appeared in his bedroom without letting him even change out of his sleeping gown as he wrote the message, even writing on the letter himself: ‘Ministry of Rites! How disrespectful! How dare you not personally welcome me? This King is very angry, this is too much!’

The little watchguard immediately dispatched the letter. Once the 3,000-strong army heard that Meng Fuyao had finally arrived, they immediately left the city to receive her. Upon seeing them, Meng Fuyao happily waved at them and said, “Tomorrow, I want all of you to change your robes, wear red! Best if you have new boots! We must shine brighter than the most dazzling gemstone! I’m done with keeping a low profile! From now on, I want to be high profile!”

Upon hearing that King Meng insisted on being high profile, Xuanji’s ministers did not know what to feel about it. The good news was, the officials from Dahan and Wuji would no longer pester them incessantly over the disappearance of their king and crown prince; moreover, the Dahan officials kept discussing over tea, whether Xuanji’s borders should be reduced further south? Since the nations surrounding Xuanji were already unified by Dahan, why not erase Xuanji from the map completely? The Wuji officials were also in agreement of Dahan’s view, raising their desire to unify the nation under the leadership of their Crown Prince and their allies—the Xuanji officials had suffered a full month of such terrifying talks, and as of now, they were finally free.

However, the bad news was, the one arriving was not arriving in good faith; the few officials from Dahan and Wuji were already horrible, what else was in store now that the leaders were here? How would the infamous King Meng react? Even if they didn’t use their brains, they could already tell that King Meng, who had been “ambushed and disappeared, suffering tremendously to escape and finally arrive,” would definitely not let the matter rest.

As such, the Prime Minister of Xuanji especially entered the imperial palace to seek advice from His Majesty on how to deal with her; once Meng Fuyao raised the incident about being ambushed, how should they respond?

Ever since the Xuanji Emperor had fallen ill, he had not attended the imperial court for a long time, permanently resting in the Longquan Palace. The Prime Minister could only greet him separated by a screen, the faint smell of medicine drifting in the air and the quivering silhouette of His Majesty the only indication of his illness. After kneeling for almost half a day, he finally gained a response from behind the screen. The faint sound of labored breathing punctuated the silence, and there was a faint scuffle behind before a eunuch popped out from behind the screen and relayed the message, “Welcome with a feast, accede to their requests.”

After receiving these eight words, the Prime Minister felt even more anxious. “Accede to their requests?” Was His Majesty not aware of how shameless the other party was? What if she wanted Xuanji to compensate with three cities, should they accede to her request then?

The Prime Minister immediately regretted coming to seek advice; if he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have come. His Majesty was clearly stricken by his illness. After cradling the memo carefully in his bosom, he retreated from the palace.

Even if he wanted to ignore the last four words, he still had to obey the first four; hence, the Prime Minister specially invited the two highest-ranking members of the royal family, Second Prince and Tenth Princess, to receive her—of these two, one was the eldest son of Consort Rong, the other was the eldest daughter of the Empress. Adding on the officials who were of the third rank and above, it should suffice.

After getting busy for a whole night, the next morning, the city gates opened wide and the prince and princess, along with several hundred officials, headed ten miles out of the city to receive King Meng.

A huge assembly of people donning colorful robes stood in front of the city, their banners fluttering in the wind. However, after a long time, there was still nobody in sight. The sun beat down on the officials as sweat dripped down their necks, shining like fish scales. Apart from the two royal members who were on horses, the rest had come on foot and were all officials of the third rank and above. Having been used to a sheltered lifestyle, how could they bear to stand for so long? And under the sun, no less? After waiting for a long time, they sent a messenger to the watch station only for him to come back and relay, “They are brushing their teeth.”

After the time taken to brush one’s teeth a hundred times, the messenger was sent again. This time, he relayed, “I’m masking.”

Masking? Mask?

After a while, the messenger left and returned again, relaying, “I’m washing my face.”

Washing his face while wearing a mask?

After the time taken to wash one’s face a thousand times, and then some, the messenger relayed, “I haven’t washed off the cleansing milk yet, this step is very important, there will be serious consequences if it’s not washed off properly.”

The officials stared at each other in confusion—Cleansing milk? Was that some kind of high-grade medicine?

After waiting a while longer, they invited her again, only to have the messenger relay, “Hang on, I’m waiting for my toner to dry.”

Toner?

After the toner dried, pearl essence had to be applied, and after it was applied, sunblock lotion had to be applied, and the messenger had returned with a broken leg as he asked, “The king said, his sunblock lotion wasn’t SPF 50, he’s afraid of getting tanned, is there any SPF 50 sunblock in the city?”

The young Tenth Princess threw the whip aside and shouted, “What are you talking about! How arrogant!”

The Second Prince smiled bitterly. After all, he was older and more mature. Turning to the Minister of Rites, he said, “Go and tell King Meng, it’s almost noon and the sun will be even hotter, wouldn’t he be caught under the sun?”

This line seemed to have worked; at least the official didn’t come back crawling like a dying dog.

After a while, an orderly line of soldiers clad in armor appeared at the end of the road.

An extremely grand and eye-catching army of red began marching towards the city.

An army of red! Fully decked in red robes with gold trimming! Their sabers polished until they reflected the sky! Their boots were shinier than jewels! The calvary in an orderly line!

3,000 soldiers, every one of them handsome, cold, fierce. They carried the aura of a war-ready and bloodthirsty battalion!

And behind the guards, were two casually dressed individuals.

When the Xuanji officials looked up at them, they all lost their voices.

On the white horse sat a man in lilac robes with silver embroidery, his hair tied up in a white jade hairpiece and purple and gold ribbons. The lower half of his face was covered with a silver mask, but his appearance was virtuous, and he looked extremely regal. His eyes were deeply mesmerizing, and when one looked at it, one couldn’t tell what he was thinking, yet it was captivating and soul-provoking.

Sitting on the black horse next to him was a young man in white robes, simple and clean. Faint purple embroidery decorated his collar and sleeves, and his hair was pulled back in an ornate jade hairpiece. His entire appearance was elegant and simple, yet his aura was formidable, especially his pair of bright, shining eyes that seemed to sparkle brighter than the sun and seemed to miss nothing.

They were clearly looking at two men, yet at that moment, everyone’s hearts thought, ‘What a pair of celestial beauties!’

King Meng of Dahan was known throughout the world, and although they had yet to see his face, based on the shape of his eyes alone, they could tell that he was definitely a beauty, except…

It was rather different from what they had heard in rumors!

Such a shameless and arrogant person actually looked so elegant and virtuous!

It was truly ironic!

The Xuanji officials were still cursing internally over the unjustness of such a development as the music began to play and they all bowed down respectfully.

“We welcome the Crown Prince of Wuji and King Meng of Dahan!”

Meng Fuyao watched them from her horse, not in a hurry to get down. She raised her whip above her head and sighed. “Sitting on a horse is still more comfortable, poor me had not had a single horse or carriage the past half month!”

The moment she spoke, everyone sighed a breath of relief—Indeed! The moment she opened her mouth, they knew that she was definitely King Meng of Dahan!