"The eldest princess."
When Shui Yiyao entered the central hall, an old woman in the middle of the hall was chatting with the chief elder. She must be the elder of the Sea Turtle Clan who had been invited as a guest, an elderly grandmother with white hair.
It was obvious that she really had a large blue-gray turtle shell on her back.
She walked towards Shui Yiyao with a kind smile on her face.
"Senior." Shui Yiyao greeted politely.
"Yaoyao, you're getting more beautiful as you grow older." The old lady looked up at her, assessing her gently. "I heard you got all five of these purifiers for your tribe. You're quite capable."
Shui Yiyao: "Thank you so much."
The Great Elder laughed at the side. "We couldn't have imagined that. We thought they would die in the pollution. But the princess brought back five purifiers!"
The Great Elder spoke with pride. "We have five purifiers, while other tribes only have two, and both were allocated by the Jiaolong Tribe. Only the Mermaid Tribe built them themselves."
After the elder finished praising her, he introduced Shui Yiyao: "This is the Third Aunt of the Sea Turtle Clan. You can just call her Aunt."
Shui Yiyao called out to her, "Auntie."
The Third Aunt nodded with a smile: "Okay, okay."
The Third Aunt pulled a young man over and said to Shui Yiyao, "This is my grandson. You should have heard of him. He's here to celebrate your birthday."
"Hello, Princess. I'm Gao Yan." The young man nodded slightly towards Shui Yiyao.
"This is my granddaughter, Gao Buna." There was a little girl behind the third aunt, and she introduced her as "Gao Yan's younger sister."
Gao Buna smiled at Shui Yiyao and said, "Hello, Princess."
It turned out that there was more than one person from the turtle tribe, but the third aunt and her grandchildren.
Shui Yiyao lowered her head and smiled: "Hello, Miss Gao."
Her tail was three meters long, and the entire fish was about four meters tall. She looked a bit dwarfed by the two-meter-tall sea turtles across from her. But Shui Yiyao didn't show it. She tried to adjust her floating posture and keep her eyes level.
"Happy birthday, Princess Yiyao." Gao Yan said to her again.
"Thank you."
Gao Yan smiled and said, "Princess, you are so polite. It's nothing like what was rumored."
Shui Yiyao: "Rumors?"
Gao Yan: "Rumor has it that you're arrogant and unruly. I think those rumors are wrong."
"Whoever spread it said that," Shui Yiyao immediately frowned and said, "It's definitely not about me."
How did it get spread like this?
"Really?" Gao Buna, standing nearby, suddenly interrupted, "I heard that before... in the Bull Shark Tribe, you forcibly took a lot of red algae clams and even clashed with the Bull Shark Princess, Hai Tiantian. Is that true?"
Shui Yiyao understood a little after hearing what she said and asked, "Do you know Hai Tiantian?"
If Hai Tiantian spread this, it would not be surprising at all.
Gao Buna wasn't defensive at all, she nodded, almost proudly, "We're friends!"
Shui Yiyao: "Oh, friend."
No wonder you ask this.
Shui Yiyao replied, "I've never been to the Bull Shark Tribe, so there's no such thing as forcing red seaweed."
It was Ao Li who asked for a lot of red seaweed from the bull shark tribe, so why was it blamed on her? But Ao Li also paid her, so how could she say such nonsense?
"As for the conflict with Hai Tiantian, that's fair enough. Because she's so arrogant and unreasonable, I can't stand her."
When Gao Buna heard Shui Yiyao's words, she frowned and was about to say something, but stopped.
She then asked, "Princess, do you like us turtles?"
"It's okay, I like it very much." Since they came to celebrate her birthday, of course she had to give them some face.
Gao Buna smiled and said, "Will the eldest princess be happy if she lives in our sea turtle tribe in the future?"
What's the question? Why is she living in the Turtle Clan?
Shui Yiyao: "How would I know if I haven't lived here before?"
Gao Buna: "That's true. Then why not go stay here when the eldest princess has time?"
"They young people can get along quite well," said the Third Aunt.
The great elder next to them didn't say anything, just looked at the two of them and nodded slightly.
Shui Yiyao chatted with the Gao Yan siblings for a while, but found that something seemed amiss. The Third Aunt and the Great Elder beside them had certain looks in their eyes. Was this the legendary...blind date?
Gao Yan looked young, about the same age as her, and had a very handsome appearance, not bad at all, but the look in his eyes when he looked at her was always a little dazed.
She had heard that some elders would be arranged to go on blind dates by their own younger generations, but after she became an adult, there were almost no elders around her, and she was not very old, so no one helped her with blind dates.
"I don't like land. I like staying in the sea." Gao Yan suddenly said.
Shui Yiyao: "Unfortunately, I like land very much."
"You actually like land?" Gao Yan seemed incomprehensible and looked at Shui Yiyao in confusion, wanting to get an explanation.
Shui Yiyao didn't explain: "Yes."
Gao Buna frowned. "But the girls and ladies of our tribe all stay in the sea. Our tribe's defenses are very strong, and we're not afraid of pollution at all. We don't need to go ashore at all."
Shui Yiyao: "Amazing, awesome."
After hearing Shui Yiyao's words, Gao Buna was slightly stunned and then frowned.
What's so great? Shouldn't she have said that if she married into the sea turtle tribe, she wouldn't even think about coming ashore? What does "so great" mean?
The Great Elder cleared his throat and said, "Princess, your crown is beside the throne. Please allow me to put it on you."
Shui Yiyao: "Okay."
In her memory, this was a part of every birthday. The crown proved her identity as the leader of the mermaid tribe.
Every year, the crown is new, prepared by the Great Elder. It's adorned with crystals, gems, and pearls; the more gems, the more grand the ceremony. However, the crystals and pearls are actually provided by the mermaids, so it's not particularly grand; it's pretty much the same every year.
The mermaids around watched Shui Yiyao and the Great Elder walk towards the throne. Those who were originally talking fell silent, stood in neat rows, and all looked towards Shui Yiyao.
The Third Aunt took out a gift box and handed it to the Great Elder: "This is a gift for the Great Princess."
"Happy 24th birthday to you."
The Great Elder opened the box on the spot, and inside was a small white stone.
Seeing what was inside, the elder's eyes showed satisfaction and he nodded to the third aunt: "Thank you."
Third Aunt: "It should be."
Shui Yiyao glanced at the Great Elder's hand.
The small stone is pure white, slightly translucent, and has some fine growth lines on it. Judging from the whiteness and texture, it looks like a giant clam.
Giant clams are made from shells, and their quality and price vary greatly. High-quality, jade-like specimens are very expensive, while poor-quality, rough specimens are much cheaper.
It is famous for its "whiteness" and because of its flawless whiteness, it has become one of the sacred objects of Buddhism.
If the one that Sangu Tai brought out was a real giant clam, the market price would be around 20,000 yuan because it is small. If it were carved with something, such as a white elephant, the price would double.
The Great Elder took out the giant clam and walked to the side of the throne.
On the high throne, there is a bright and dazzling crown, which looks colorful.
He floated to the side of the throne and gently placed the giant clam next to the crown. He didn't know what he used to glue it in place, but it was placed firmly.
The Third Aunt said, "This is a good thing. Gao Yan spent a long time searching for it."
As she spoke, she looked at Shui Yiyao beside her: "I hope you like it."
Shui Yiyao: "Thank you very much."
The third aunt continued to talk about how difficult and amazing it was for her grandson to find the giant clam.
In fact, giant clams are indeed precious, but not to that extent.
It is indeed difficult to find giant clams, because giant clams have a certain size. They are generally very large. The big ones can be as big as a bicycle, and the small ones are not very small either.
So they just chiseled out a small piece from a large giant clam and gave it to her.
Gao Buna said, "Ordinary people simply don't get to see such a beautiful giant clam. This one is truly of exceptional quality. People like us sea turtles only receive gifts like this on our wedding day."
Shui Yiyao looked at the Third Aunt and Gao Yan. The two of them didn't say anything, as if they agreed with Gao Buna's words.
Shui Yiyao frowned.
What the hell.
Shui Yiyao sneered, "It's not easy for you sea turtle tribe's brides."
She looked at the crown in the elder's hand, on which a giant clam was stuck. "Great elder, this thing is so precious, can you take it off and return it to Third Aunt?"
The Great Elder: “…”
He held up the crown and looked at Shui Yiyao: "Come here."
Shui Yiyao floated towards the high throne.
The Great Elder said to her, "Chief, please sit down."
Shui Yiyao obeyed him and sat upright on the throne, her tail hanging down naturally. There was a very high foundation stone under the throne, and Shui Yiyao felt like she was sitting on a refrigerator, not a chair, or a large refrigerator, very high.
Shui Yiyao was sitting high up when she heard the great elder in front of her whisper, "The Sea Turtle Tribe's defenses are very strong, and we have been friends for generations. It's something you might consider."
Shui Yiyao: “…”
Oh, it really is a blind date.
The Great Elder said this in a low voice, and quickly returned to his serious composure. Just as he was about to put the crown on her head, he heard someone suddenly come in from outside, shouting.
"Great Elder! Someone is coming to our door!"
"They're from the Jiaolong tribe, and they said they're here to celebrate the eldest princess' birthday!"
Shui Yiyao tilted her head slightly and looked towards the door.
The Jiaolong tribe? Did Ao Li call someone over?
Under the throne, the Third Aunt's face changed: "Why are the Jiaolong people here?"
She frowned and asked the Great Elder, "I heard that the marriage between the Jiaolong and Mermaid tribes was in name only...I wonder if it's true?"
The Great Elder said, "I did declare the engagement void before. Since then, the Jiaolong Clan has never mentioned the engagement again."
He wondered, "I don't know why you came here so suddenly this time."
The mermaids who came to report were all excited, but their tone was tinged with fear: "The Jiaolong tribe brought a lot of things!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
