"What the...that cruel princess of Qingque. I can't believe she sent me in muddy waters of the fifth lower realm." Yan wined as his feet were in the muddy water. He placed his hands on his waist and was fuming with anger. He was really irritated. That's when he spotted the white lotus and bent down to touch it. It reminded him of Ji Heng.

"Although it's beautiful. But you are more beautiful Ji heng." He murmured, staring at the lotus. He looked up into the evening sky.

"Where are you?"

---

Di jun entered the room. The heavenly lord and Ye Hua, the crown prince of the celestial tribe both greeted him. He sat down and poured himself some tea. He stared at the teacup.

"Green sea. Mermaids?"
(The mermaid clan in this story is different from the one showed in eternal love in history and characters)

"Yes, this tea set was a gift from the mermaid clan." Ye Hua announced.

"Oh, do they need our help?" Dong Hua asked.

"Yes, Ye Hua will be going there after the wedding. They have reported that the Five Vish Serpent clan has been causing riots." Heavenly lord said.

"But they have been in seclusion for as long as I remember. What caused them to suddenly come out?" Ye Hua spoke contemplatively.

"Or maybe someone provoked them. Do you know why they had secluded themselves?"

"There hasn't been a clear reason. But there are a lot of rumors. They haven't shown themselves in tens of thousands of years."

"Interesting." Di jun said placing his cup down.

"There is another matter emperor. Someone has been stealing the spirits of young immortals. At first, only week immortals were victimized. But now whoever it is has become stronger and is collecting spirits of high immortals."

"How many cases?" Di jun asked.

"Around a thousand in one weak."

"Oh. Were all the bodies burned automatically after the spirit was sucked out?"

"Yes, yes in all the cases. How do you know Di jun?" Ye Hua asked.

"Is it what I think it is?" Heavenly lord asked Dong Hua.

"Most Probably. Let me go to the Five Vish Serpent clan. I'll send Si ming to secretly investigate it first."

"Yes, but won't that be a trouble Di jun?"

"Since I'm no longer the co-owner of heaven, I have nothing better to do anyway."

"Di jun, do you know something? Or do you suspect that..." Heavenly lord asked looking at the flawlessly handsome lord Dong Hua. Di jun shifted his gaze to the heavenly Lord who was probably younger than Di jun but Dong Hua still looked like his son's age, accept his demeanor. He stood up and just shrugged. Heavenly lord furrowed his brows.

 Even he respected Di jun and didn't dare ask him something.

---

Feng Jiu was sleeping in the class and then woke up when a butterfly sat on her nose. She rubbed her eyes.

"Ayy Jingwei." Feng Jiu kicked him as the teacher was teaching them about casting important spells. "When will the class be over?" She yawned.

"Half an hour is left, sister Feng Jiu," Jingwei replied.

"Let's skip it!" She said, her eyes shining with mischief.

"No no, your highness, what if your father knows."

"He won't. Come, let's go for a spin."

"I'm afraid I'll be punished again." He said. Feng Jiu gave out an exasperated breath and decided to sneak out on her own.

She changed herself to a fox and bunked school to go to Zhe yan's Ten miles of peach blossoms for some wine. Since no one was ready to go for a stroll with her. Probably because all of them had been punished severely when they stole the pears from the master's farm, except her. After all she was from the royal family of Qingque and was the next empress. Everyone liked her but no one dared to mess around with her for a while.

Thankfully Zhe yan was out somewhere with her uncle Bai Zhen. The two of them had been inseparable since Bai Zhen was born. He hadn't even married yet. Bai Feng Jiu roamed around in the peach blossoms savoring the best peach wine that she had dug near a tree.

"If nobody wants to play with me I'll just play alone." She murmured, walking in a drunken manner. She sat near a tree and emptied the bottle of wine, and took out another one. She laid her head on the grass and stared at the cloud-filled sky, which was very blue. Her father had told her that being an empress is a great responsibility. She can't just do anything. She can't go around following a person. But in QingQue people's love life was pretty simple. Once they laid eyes on one person, they never looked another way. But Feng Jiu had fallen for an unreachable rock. Her love was an obsession and her obsession was love.

One day I'll get over you Dong Hua.

As she lay there she felt someone's gaze on her. She sat up using her arms, but her head spun. She ambiguously saw a young lad walking towards her. She looked up at him and smiled.

___________________
TBC...