In bihai cangling, it had been upwards of two months since dong hua and feng jiu came here after their wedding. For them, this was their time to enjoy themselves before the demands of their ranks and positions took away all their attention. Or as they like to call it in the mortal realm, the honeymoon. They had spent all this time wrapped up in each other. Both of them had had fun and discovered their spouses in a way they haven't had the chance to do before. This chance to be truly alone with the one they loved was something, they desperately needed and wanted at the same time. It had brought them closer than before. But they both realized that they would have to leave soon. Their duties were calling. Letters had started pouring in, weeks ago, starting with feng jiu's grandfather. Bai zhi was getting impatient to retire. From his perspective, he had had a long run and just wanted to hand over the command of Qing qui over to his only granddaughter, feng jiu and go exploring with his wife. The way he saw it, feng jiu was not only fully capable of handling the demands and responsibilities of the Qing qui empire but also had dong hua beside her. Her experienced husband was more than enough to guide her if she was to ever get stuck. Not to mention her father and uncles who will still remain as kings of their own lands, under her reign as the new emperor of Qing qui, to guide her along. So, the day their two months had ended, bai zhi had started sending in daily letters to discuss the process of her taking over the reins to Qing qui.

On the other hand, feng jiu wanted to go a little slow on this process. Although she understood her roles and responsibilities towards her family, her kingdom, and her people, she wanted to enjoy her time as a newlywed with dong hua. So, she had been a little slow on the uptake of duties and obligations her grandfather was trying to hand over to her. But with the way things had been going, they knew they would have to return to Qing qui in the coming few days.

Their plans, however, changed completely on this particular day. They were just about to get out of bed, when a gold-plated foling flower appeared in front of dong hua. He held out his hand to catch it in his palm. As he stared at it, feng jiu was confused as to what it was. Unaware of its significance, she asked, "what is that golden foling flower for, dijun?"

Holding up the flower, he answered feng jiu, "this is a cry for help, little fox."

"what does that mean? Who is in trouble?" She asked perturbed.

"Only two of these foling flowers exist in the universe, one golden and one silver. I gave the golden one to lian song and the silver one to si ming. They were instructed to use these to call for me, only if they were in an inescapable, life-threatening situation. these were to be used only in the scenario where I was their last possible hope for help. They indicate a serious issue, xaio bai. Lian song must be in some huge trouble that he had to resort to this."

Understanding the severity of the matter, feng jiu nodded her head and tried to push him out of the bed, while she said, "then hurry up. You need to go help him now. He needs you, dijun. You can't be late, so quickly get up."

Dematerializing the flower, he looked at her with his eyes full of respect and admiration. Caressing her lightly on the cheek, he said in a soft voice, "thank you for understanding, my love. I am sorry that I have to leave suddenly like this. Will you be okay while I am gone?"

Placing her hand on top of his, she snuggled her cheek against his hand as she replied lovingly, "of course, I understand, dijun. How could I not? Now, you don't need to worry about me. I will just return to the fox den in the meantime. I know we planned to stay here for a few more days, but let's take this as an indication to return back to the world. You can come there directly after you are finished with your duties. Before you go, I just want you to remember one thing, you are not alone anymore. You can share your burdens with me. I am always here for you." She turned her face and placed a soft kiss in the center of his palm before saying, "now, go. Lian song needs you."

As dong hua dressed and prepared to leave, he heard si ming's voice over the internal communication pathway between them. This connection was courtesy of the fox queen, who had gifted it to the star lord that day in the valley. He heard him say, "third prince and cheng yu had been taken to court by tianjun's personal guards. Reports say that they are about to be put under trial. Tianjun is planning something, dijun; all the courtiers were brought in immediately."

Donghua took in the gravity of the situation and simply replied, "meet me at the celestial palace." Closing off the communication channel, for now, he disappeared from bihai cangling.

Meanwhile, in the celestial court, ye hua watched as all the courtiers settled down in their seats before tianjun walked in. He had a smug look on his face as he took his seat on the throne. Ye hua wanted to shake some sense into his grandfather but knew it was of no use. The man was simply, too arrogant for his own good. He was actually thinking that he will be able to condemn dijun's only friend with no intervention from the almighty god. Not to mention the fact that the person he was aiming at, was his own son. No matter how stealthily tianjun thought he might have orchestrated all this, nothing had ever remained hidden from the old god. So, even the thought of lian song being punished right under dong hua's nose, was absurd to ye hua. He just sat there waiting for the show that was about to unfold there.

The court proceedings were already underway when dong hua pushed open the doors with a blast of wind from his hand. As the wind carried inside the court, dong strolled in with a royal gait. Every immortal present in the court rose to bow to the old god, except for tianjun. Donghua waved his hand indicating for them to sit down as he sauntered in.

"I am surprised to see that the celestial court is so underworked that they even have time to look over one of the third prince's escapades."

The perfectly timed jab at hao de and his corrupt courtiers made its mark. Everyone started shifting and turning in their seats at his remark. Meanwhile, dong hua calmly ignored everyone including the small crowd standing in the middle of the hall alongside lian song and cheng yu. He calmly walked up the stairs towards his seat. On the left side of the throne, there was only one seat which was established on a raised pedestal of its own, a few feet from the throne and just one step below it. That seat was dong hua's. This seat was the live representation of the fact that though dong hua had retired himself, his words still carried the most power and conviction.

After he was fully comfortable in his seat, he turned his attention towards the silent court. Everyone understood that what tianjun had been trying to do moments before, was about to crash horrifically. These proceedings would now be overlooked by the ultimate ruler himself. So, everyone held quietly to their seats. 

Scanning over the faces, dong hua finally came to a stop at the small group standing in the middle of the court. Apart from lian song and cheng yu, who were the reason for this proceeding, he recognized the first prince, yang cuo among the crowd. Others, he thought should be the witnesses of the event si ming had informed him about. His gaze singled out one female immortal, who looked wiser and more mature than the others judging from their ill-concealed hunger for gossip. Pointing at her, he spoke, "explain to me, the entire sequence of events."

The woman was intelligent indeed. She had known what was happening when they had been brought in as witnesses and she had read the change in the room when dong hua had come about. So, intuitively, she knew what she should say and how she should go about it. With proper grace and etiquette, she began, "your majesty, I was passing through the street when I saw immortal god, cheng yu run into the street. A few seconds after that, his highness, the third prince came in and embraced her from behind. He seemed to whisper something to her before she stepped out from his embrace and turned around to face him. From what I could hear, she urged the third prince to understand. Her exact words were, 'you should understand by now, that we are not possible. Your father will never let us be together. He will hate me more because I am just an immortal god that can bring no benefit to you. What will you do then?' after her question the third prince had asked her to believe in him. I do not remember his exact words but throughout his entire dialogue, he told her that he would never leave her. If the situation arose, he would walk out on his family but not on her. Third prince told her he cared very much for her which was quite apparent from their intimate interaction. While he again, pleaded for her to believe in him, immortal god, cheng yu surprisingly kissed him to which he responded with equal vigor. Few seconds later, they broke apart and departed from the street..."

Interrupting in between, yang cuo began to speak, "he said that he- "

"were you physically present there, at that time, first prince?" Dong hua cut him off with a hard voice.

"no, your majesty." Yang cuo answered with a downward tilt of his head.

"then I recommend you to take your seat," dong hua ordered.

As yang cuo went back to his seat after being reprimanded, dong hua turned back to the lady, "continue."

Nodding her head, she began at the part she was cut off. That was all I heard and saw before the two left the street. I, too went back to my home where a couple of royal guards were waiting to escort me here as a witness to that incident. When we walked in the court, the proceedings had already begun. We were unaware of what exactly those proceedings were for. The first prince just asked us specific questions that we were bound to answer. We didn't know what exactly was happening until we heard the verdict."

"and what was that verdict?" Donghua pointed. He watched as the woman eyed hao de and his soldiers. He understood her hesitation and reassured her, "rest easy and complete your statement. No harm will come to you."

Satisfied by the assurance dong hua gave, she answered, "third prince was sentenced to a mortal trial of hundred immortal years, along with the dissolution of his royal title and his status as the member of the royal family. Immortal god, cheng yu has been sentenced to have her immortality and powers striped away. She is to be sent to the mortal realm in the form of an animal for a hundred lifetimes."