Chapter 59 Chapter 59 "From now on, young ladies are my friends...

Being suddenly grabbed by the hand by a man, especially a man with a stunning appearance.

Jiu Zhao couldn't describe his current feelings.

The last time Zhu Yan held his feet in his hands, they were covered by a soft and thick handkerchief.

Now, the barrier was only a thin piece of talisman paper, and the two young skins suddenly touched each other——

Jiu Zhao then realized that the hand that looked flawless from a distance was actually covered with many rough calluses on the fingertips. There was also a long scar near the palm that was the same skin color as the surrounding skin, but it felt particularly uneven to the touch.

Jiu Zhao was used to a life of luxury, and her whole body was delicate.

These calluses and scars rubbed against each other as they walked hand in hand, almost scraping them with every step.

At first Jiu Zhao could still bear it, but when she walked to the shadow outside the palace wall, she finally stopped.

The scratched, tingling, slender fingers curled up in the young man's palm, twisting back and forth, making an uncomfortable protest. Zhu Yan quickly relaxed a little, but didn't let go of Jiu Zhao's hand completely. He apologized softly, "It's all my fault for being too rough. I hurt you, young lady."

"With the power of a god, it would be easy to remove these minor injuries and scars - why would you want to keep them?"

Jiu Zhao pursed his lower lip, his tone was bad and difficult to understand.

In her entire life, she had hardly ever seen a god who didn't pay attention to his or her appearance.

After all, spiritual practice is to purify the body and mind, and achieve inner and outer perfection.

It is hard to say when the heart can be completely cleansed, but it is very easy to remove old scars from the body.

Zhu Yan and Ying Luo both have top-notch looks that are unmatched in the Three Pure Ones Heavens.

Yingluo was particularly fond of beauty. When she was a woman, every time she met her, she would put on makeup and try her best to look radiant.

Only someone like Fuxu would be the opposite, believing that if one pursues outward perfection too much, one's inner self will be correspondingly neglected and lost. He even forbade others to talk about his appearance at one point.

Bah. Bah. Bah.

Why did I think of that bad guy again!

Jiu Zhao bit the tip of his tongue hard, and in the intense pain, he deliberately blocked out Fu Xu's name from his mind.

She naturally assumed that Zhu Yan's current reputation in Sanqingtian was partly due to his good looks, and that he should be cherished. Meanwhile, Zhu Yan, after a silence as long as her own, spoke of a truth he had never revealed to anyone else:

“Although my mother passed away when I was young, I felt I was no worse than others because I had Aunt Yuejian’s love and care.

"At a New Year's Eve family dinner at the Divine King Palace, I performed a magical technique in front of my father that Meng Chu and his companions had long since failed to master. This earned my father's admiration, and I became even more determined to prove to the world that I was better looking than Meng Chu and had greater talent."

This is obviously a somewhat long story.

Seeing Zhu Yan ready to confide in her, Jiu Zhao leaned against the palace wall and listened to him attentively.

"Aunt Yuejian once advised me, as a bastard, not to be so competitive, lest I be targeted. I wasn't convinced, so I naturally didn't want to listen. Unworthy of studying with Meng Chu and the others, I spent my days and nights in the backyard of the side hall, poring over a few old manuals on immortal arts.

"What happened next was just as I expected. At the second and third family banquets, I repeatedly stole the limelight from Meng Chu. My father looked into my eyes with increasing satisfaction.

"When I thought I had stood out among my brothers and sisters, that my father would cherish me and train me with all his might, Meng Chu finally lost his patience. He was dissatisfied with a mere bastard who dared to bully him. Burning with jealousy, he teamed up with several of his half-brothers and sisters who usually followed his lead and summoned me to the martial arts arena in the name of practicing magic.

"When I got there, I realized there was no sparring, only that they wanted to use me as a punching bag.

"It started with me fighting Meng Chu one-on-one. Seeing he couldn't defeat me, he abandoned his plan to fight me in a round-robin format and simply called on the brothers and sisters nearby to join in. My two fists were no match for the many, and after my immortal energy was exhausted, they pinned me to the muddy ground of the martial arts arena and beat me up.

"The sword scar on my hand was also left there intentionally by Meng Chu at that time."

The younger self Zhu Yan described was a stark contrast to the personality he displayed during his interactions with Jiu Zhao. If it weren't for the fact that he had been the center of attention since childhood and had never been bullied, Jiu Zhao would have thought he was a different person.

She couldn't help but feel curious.

So, what kind of experience must have made him develop such a good temper that he could just throw a punch as if he had hit cotton.

Or maybe, the way he appeared in front of her was not his true self?

Zhu Yan continued to narrate, his tone deeper than any previous conversation. "Miss, do you know what? Even if objectively speaking, the enemy outnumbers us, and losing is nothing shameful—I still refuse to accept it. I refuse to accept why we are all our father's biological children, while we, the illegitimate children, have no chance of success and can only grovel and fawn over Meng Chu like slaves."

"That night, after I got beaten up and went back home, I didn't tell Aunt Yuejian that Meng Chu and the others were targeting me. Luckily, Meng Chu and the others knew that my face was for others to see and couldn't be hurt, so they only hit me on the part of my body that was covered by my clothes.

"I spent two days healing myself while thinking about the weaknesses of the attacks of those who attacked me.

"After I had some insights, Meng Chu and the others called me to the martial arts training ground.

"This time, it wasn't so easy for them to win. Meng Chu and the other two who hit me the hardest were badly beaten back by me.

"Just like the regular magic performances at family banquets, this sparring session also had its second, third, and fourth rounds... I thought it would continue like this until I defeated them all and won once and for all. Then Meng Chu would give up and stop bullying me.

"But what I didn't expect was that Meng Chu, unable to defeat me, would go back and complain. The Divine Princess, knowing this, sent people to arrest Yue Jian. In front of everyone in the harem, she declared Yue Jian guilty of a grave crime, saying that she had taught me to be ignorant of human ethics and how to respect my brothers and sisters.

"That day, she nearly beat Aunt Yuejian to death. I threw myself on her back, taking dozens of blows for her, and only then spared her life. By the end of the torture, I was vomiting blood and nearly fainting. The Divine Princess realized that the death of a slave was not a big deal, but the death of a talented bastard would surely incur the wrath of my father, so she ordered us to be spared.

"I brought Yuejian back home, knelt beside her bed, crying, and said many sorrys.

“She said I shouldn’t have disobeyed her and stepped in, causing her to be beaten like this by the Divine Princess.

"But she didn't blame me. She just looked at me with an expression I couldn't understand and told me that it was her and my mother who were wronged. One gave birth to me, and the other took care of me, but both of them were unable to protect me."

The story stopped briefly here, and Zhu Yan slowly exhaled as if he couldn't bear it anymore.

Although his voice was low, the emotion in his eyes was the emptiness and tranquility left after thousands of years had passed and the pain and sadness had long since faded away.

“From then on, I understood.

“When I lack the ability, I feel anger, resentment, rebelliousness, impulsiveness… these are not emotions I should have.

"If Meng Chu wants to hit me, then hit me. If the princess wants to scold me, then scold her. You must first stay alive and protect the safety of those around you before you can think about anything else.

"So, the victorious Meng Chu left this scar on my restored skin just as it was."

The broad palm slightly closed, and Jiu Zhao was forced to feel the long scar under the talisman paper, which stained the white jade.

Zhu Yan's sadness only briefly surfaced when he spoke of the beatings and suffering suffered by Aunt Yuejian for him. When he mentioned the final beatings and injuries sustained by his vengeful brother, he actually curled up the corners of his lips and laughed out loud, as if amused by something funny. "Like the young lady said, we are all immortals. What are these mere scars and sword calluses? One day, I can use magic to remove them."

Jiu Zhao was speechless for a moment.

She instinctively thought that Zhu Yan shouldn't be as calm and composed as he is now, as he had been oppressed and bullied since childhood.

"Don't you hate Meng Chu? When I spoke to you earlier, you clearly supported him in becoming the future Northern Divine King."

Zhu Yan still answered sincerely: "Miss, I really don't hate my brother. He is just a pitiful man."

"What's pitiful?"

Jiu Zhao was confused.

"Poor thing, probably because his abilities never match his status, he suffers all day long."

“…”

This answer leads to a direction that Jiu Zhao had never imagined.

A person who has a hard life himself actually has the mood to sympathize with others.

She couldn't tell for a moment whether Zhu Yan had truly let it go or was just pretending to save face. But the only thing she could be sure of was that when interacting with people, one should avoid being too intimate with others. It seemed like she and Zhu Yan weren't that close yet.

If you have any doubts, just ask them directly and don't keep them in your heart overnight. This is the principle that Jiu Zhao follows.

She thought so and asked so.

Zhu Yan stared at her again, his eyes becoming increasingly gentle. "I have lived for over thirty thousand years and have met countless people. A large number of them despised and suppressed me, while a small number valued and appreciated me. But they all have one thing in common, which is that they regret my lowly status as a concubine of the lowest rank.

"I understand that this is normal in the Sanqing Heaven, where bloodline and family background are extremely important. I can't blame others. Therefore, the young lady is the first person I have met who treats my mother as an equal and tells me that my mother in heaven will definitely be proud of me.

"I am very grateful to you, Miss, so I made a decision in the Imperial Study not long ago."

The God Emperor has only one wife, Tai'e, and Jiuzhao is their only daughter.

She had never experienced the struggle between legitimate and illegitimate children, so she didn't care much about these sensitive aspects.

But facing Zhu Yan's generous praise, she felt a little embarrassed after all, so she chose to ignore it: "What's the decision?"

Zhu Yan curled his eyes.

The dazzling sunlight of the midsummer afternoon fell on his body, but the heat and sharpness were completely dissolved by this sincere and natural smile.

"I have decided that no matter how the young lady views me, from now on, she will be my friend."