He smiled: "What is it that's so important?"
“I want to…” she opened her mouth to say, but then swallowed it back and lowered her head, saying, “It’s not a big deal.”
"It's nothing serious?"
She struggled for a while, looking as if she had something on her mind but couldn't speak, before finally kneeling down with a thud. "Let me tell you the truth. I made a promise with someone. I won't do anything else until I see him and fulfill that promise. I must find that person. Please grant my request, Your Majesty."
He looked at her with a mixture of emotion and amusement, bent down to help her up, and said, "You can say whatever you want while standing, there's no need for such formalities." He then gently brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear.
Her whole body stiffened, staring at him in disbelief. "You, what do you want to do..." Seeing his eyes drawing closer, she took a deep breath and pushed him away forcefully. "What are you doing? I... I already have someone I love."
He laughed out loud, stopping his teasing. "Ah Fu, were you looking for me?"
She stood there, looking completely bewildered. "What did you call me?"
“Ah Fu.”
Tears welled up and overflowed her eyes, then fell hesitantly. She called out weakly, "Mu Yan?"
“It’s me.” He smiled.
"Mu Yan?!"
“It’s me.” He reached out and pulled her into his arms, a thousand words condensed into a single complaint: “You’re so mean. Why didn’t you come to see me during those seven years you were gone…”
She tightened her arms around his waist, choking back tears as she said, "My mother won't allow it. She says that after my tribulation, I shouldn't go back to the mortal realm. So I have to wait here at the Bridge of Helplessness, but I don't know when you'll die..."
He chuckled softly, paused, and replied, "I just died too late..."
After a moment of silence, she peeked out from her arms, looked him over, and asked hesitantly, "Are you really Mu Yan? Or is it just that my mother deliberately asked you to say this in order to keep me here?"
He couldn't help but chuckle, and without answering, he picked her up and leaped onto the clouds.
She asked, completely bewildered, "Where are we going?"
He lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, "Didn't you suspect me? I'll take you to verify your identity."
How can we verify someone's identity?
He leaned down, whispering in her ear, his breath sweet as orchids, "Then naturally we'll use a method only the two of us know..."
===The End===
The Third Prince, Lian Songjun, of the Nine Heavens, had been somewhat depressed lately. He didn't know why, but the other familiar deities—Emperor Donghua, Emperor Taihao, and others—had all returned from their mortal journeys with beautiful young fairies, happily cultivating together. Only he, with his unrequited love for the carefree Cheng Yu, remained unrequited. People say that one should reciprocate kindness with affection, but his heartfelt feelings had been met with nothing, let alone a precious gem. Therefore, he found those deities particularly irritating, and whenever he encountered them, he was filled with complaints.
At the Imperial Banquet on the Jade Terrace that day, Lian Song was particularly displeased. Watching as Xiao Fengjiu busied herself serving food and wine to the stern-faced Donghua Dijun on one side, and Taihao Dijun and the young Wenchang were exchanging affectionate words on the other, he couldn't help but say, "If we don't consider the messed-up seniority and the tens of thousands of years of age, the two venerable emperors and these two little fairies are indeed a perfect match." When he spoke, he deliberately emphasized the words "seniority" and "age," making sure his pronunciation was clear and articulate.
The Eastern Emperor opposite him looked up at him, gracefully put down his wine cup, and solemnly recited to him: "In the chaotic times of calamity, sentient beings are heavy with defilement, greedy and jealous, thus cultivating all kinds of evil roots."
"What do you mean?" Lian Song asked, looking confused. Donghua Dijun didn't answer and took Feng Jiu to admire the flowers by the Yaotai Terrace. On the other side, Taihao Dijun smiled innocently and explained gently, "He said you are jealous."
A short addition on a weekend evening—about names.
The Wanxiang Pavilion in the backyard of Dongyang Palace is the study of Emperor Taihao. It has always been a quiet place and is also Emperor Taihao Fuxi's favorite place. Although the palace has become lively after the female mistress moved in, and even the Wanxiang Pavilion was not spared, Fuxi still enjoys this liveliness. He likes to see her smile and hear her laughter fill the originally quiet space.
So, when hurried footsteps sounded outside the Wanxiang Pavilion, Fuxi put down the book in his hand, listened for a moment, and then habitually turned to the table to pour himself a cup of tea. The door opened, and a figure in light green robes swayed in. "Muyan, Muyan, I've thought of something very important."
He smiled and handed her the tea, watching her gulp it down in a few mouthfuls before asking, "What important thing is it?"
"Have you heard? The young grandson of Lord Ye Hua has run away from home."
"So what?"
"I heard the reason he ran away was because his mother wanted to give him the nickname 'Blackie'." She paused, looked at his clueless expression, and gave him a hint, "The nickname 'Blackie' is really, how should I put it, a bit... well..."
"Perhaps the goddess Bai Qian follows a style of appearing clumsy yet skillful, and wise yet foolish."
"No matter what, you see, a child's name is still very important. If you give a child a name they don't like, it might drive them to run away from home. You see how serious that is."
"so?"
"I've just decided on a name for our child."
He paused for a moment, looking at her smug and expectant expression, a hint of tenderness flashing in his eyes. He smiled gently as she talked on and on about her ideas. "I really like the name Afu, but now we can't use it anymore. It's such a pity that only you call me that in private. How about we give it to our daughter? If it's a daughter, how about we name her Afu too?"
"not good."
"Huh? Why?" She was surprised that he would object.
“My Afu can only be one of a kind,” he said softly, but seeing the regret on her face, he continued, “Since you want to use this name so much, let’s change it. How about the character Mi? Ami means to stop or be still.” As he spoke, he wrote another character Mi on the paper.
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