Chapter 1
"Your Highness, it's getting late, please go back to your room and rest." Granny Shen took out a white cloak and draped it over Princess Mo Yinghuo of Yunxiu Kingdom. The cloak was slightly too big for the newly crowned princess.
However, Mo Yinghuo liked this feeling very much. It fit her so well that it always gave her a sense of unease, as if something was about to disappear.
Granny Shen looked at the princess in front of her with a melancholy expression. She had delicate features and beautiful eyebrows, and the royal daughter was growing up.
However, this heavy cloak seemed to be hinting that many, many things would have to be shouldered on those shoulders that were not yet fully developed.
Granny Shen sighed silently.
"Granny, tell me, what is it over there that Father always looks at at night?" The eldest princess pointed to the starry sky in the upper left corner, asking a question, but it sounded more like she was talking to herself.
“Perhaps the stars over there are brighter and prettier,” said Granny Shen, her face kind and gentle.
"But if the stars are shining brightly there, what can you see on a rainy night?"
Mo Yinghuo quietly raised her eyes and looked around. Time passed silently, and no one spoke.
She suddenly had a similar feeling: if someone stands behind another person for a very long time, and it eventually becomes a habit, perhaps they will understand the emotions that the other person is trying so hard to hide in silence.
Loneliness. Helplessness. Fear.
And then there's waiting. Hope.
Mo Yinghuo took off his cloak, which was quickly taken by Granny Chen. A gentle breeze blew, his robes fluttered, the Milky Way stretched out before them, and a sense of unease filled the air.
Mo Yinghuo turned around and went inside.
Seeing that the Princess had finally settled down on the bed to rest, Granny Shen breathed a sigh of relief and carefully closed the door. Through the crack in the closing door, Granny Shen glanced again at the small silver knife that the Princess had placed on the bedside table.
The silver knife was clear and transparent, light and sharp, and named Chang Geng.
When Chang Geng appears, the world will be at peace. [1] The silver knife was a gift from her father to her upon her birth, and her father named her Chang Geng.
When Mo Yinghuo was born, there were flickering lights in the sky, which some ministers said was an ominous sign. His father executed those ministers and their entire families, and from then on, no one dared to utter a word in their defense.
"Huo'er, your father named you Yinghuo because you are the hope of Yunxiu Kingdom. Do you know that Yinghuo also has other meanings? Your father wants you to remember that no matter what difficulties or desperate situations you are in, you must always remember: truth is born in the realm of Yinghuo. Do not be afraid to overturn your existing thinking. As long as you have the courage to face confusion, nothing is scary."
"Huo'er, Yinghuo also has another meaning: your father hopes you will be healthy. You will understand in the future."
"Huo'er, don't care what others say. Mars guarding the heart and Venus accompanying the moon are the same thing."
Granny Shen felt a pang of pain in her heart. As the crack in the door slowly disappeared, she sighed softly and sighed silently.
Ever since that incident, Your Highness has needed to hold this small knife, which can cut through iron like mud, to fall asleep. That silver knife is as cold as snow; doesn't it feel cold in your hand? Alas, it's getting better. Now, although Your Highness carries it with you all day, you only hide it by your bedside at night, so your hands don't get cold anymore.
"Be sure to stay inside the room, not even for a moment," Granny Shen solemnly instructed the two guards standing at the Princess's door.
Guard: "Yes!"
The night was so dark, so boundless. Mo Yinghuo slowly opened her eyes and found herself floating in a deathly silence. She lightly touched her feet, and her whole body swirled aimlessly like willow catkins. All around was darkness, yet she could see her hands and feet, her jet-black hair, and her silk undergarment.
Mo Yinghuo looked up and around, and saw so many stars, so far away, yet so close.
"You can pluck the stars with your hand" [2]... This line of poetry flashed through her mind, and she unconsciously reached out her hand. She grabbed nothing, as expected.
Mo Yinghuo floated silently in the vastness. She parted her thin lips slightly, wanting to make a sound, but the surroundings were eerily quiet. Apart from the silence, there wasn't even the sound of the wind.
Mo Yinghuo remained completely silent.
Perhaps this is why one dares not speak loudly, lest one disturb the heavenly beings [3], and this is the feeling of being in the vast Milky Way!
It's too desolate, too lonely...
Suddenly, she saw a broad and steady figure with a white robe beneath his black attire. He was apprehensive and uneasy, and his almost inaudible murmurs echoed in the loneliness, burning intensely near the ears of the young Mo Yinghuo.
She swallowed hard, letting the saliva slide slowly down her throat, afraid of making even the slightest sound and startling the two of them.
Mo Yinghuo tried hard to see clearly and quietly approached, but he was too light and didn't know how to exert force, so he drifted away again.
Suddenly, Yuebai rolled over and grabbed the neck of the person on top of her, revealing a handsome face with delicate features to Mo Yinghuo.
Her breath hitched!
That face had gained three parts maturity and seven parts depth; all ten combined, at this moment, it exuded tenderness and affection.
But that's her, the dignified Princess!
A deep, heavy breath escaped from Mo Yinghuo's mouth!
Two guards at the door immediately rushed in.
A flash of lightning illuminated the dawn, and a sharp, white blade pierced the darkness. Mo Yinghuo sat bolt upright in bed, deftly and swiftly drawing the Chang Geng sword from the bedside table, and coldly asked, "Who!"
"Your Highness." The two guards immediately knelt on one knee and gripped their swords.
As Mo Yinghuo exhaled the breath she had been holding in her chest, her body relaxed instantly. The blanket she had been clutching slipped from her hands, revealing deep, creased marks. Her fine, dark hair, characteristic of a woman, was scattered about. The cold knife in her hand seemed rather ruthless. She said weakly.
"It's nothing, you may leave."
Guard: "Yes."
Mo Yinghuo rubbed her forehead. As a royal princess, she had already reached adulthood, and there were already personal maids, stewards, and even eunuchs in the palace secretly guiding her in matters of love and sex beforehand. In fact, in Yunxiu Kingdom, not only royal princesses, but also common women were all guided in advance before their coming-of-age ceremonies.
After all, romantic feelings between men and women are a natural human emotion.
Mo Yinghuo sighed, a casual smile playing on his lips, and slowly walked to the door, opening it.
"Have the nanny bring me a bucket of water into the room; this princess wants to take a bath."
Taking a bath, taking a bath in the middle of the night!
The guards thought they had misheard, looked at each other, and were certain from their questioning glances.
Despite her advanced age, Granny Shen immediately perked up upon hearing the Princess's instructions and promptly had the servants prepare a large tub of hot water.
"Granny, please go out. I can do it myself," Mo Yinghuo said calmly.
"Your Highness, are you sure you don't want to go to Moonlit Pool?" Granny Shen asked again to confirm. Moonlit Pool was the place where Mo Yinghuo bathed in the princess's residence.
Mo Yinghuo shook his head: "No need."
"Hmm." Granny Shen, with a serious expression, thought for a moment and then said very solemnly, "How about we find a few personal maids for the Princess?"
"Forget about the maid, just send a few more guards."
After saying this, Mo Ying turned and went inside.
Guards! Guards again! The whole mansion is full of guards, and she's the only nanny, and she's a middle-aged woman.
Granny Shen sighed. Ever since that incident, the maids around the princess were all killed inexplicably. From then on, the only people around her and in the princess's residence were the highly skilled guards from Yunxiu Kingdom.
Even the cooks are top-notch experts from Yunxiu Kingdom!
But surely it's not that serious! So much time has passed! What's the point of having so many guards? Granny Shen felt that Her Highness the Princess was being too sensitive. Reluctantly, she withdrew, closed the door, and stood between two highly skilled guards, arms crossed, face dark, looking every bit the sullen, resentful old woman.
The two guards stared at him, not daring to breathe, their backs ramrod straight.
Amidst the swirling smoke, Mo Yinghuo lowered her eyes, the mist dampening her eyelashes, while the warm water evaporated the heat from her body.
Suddenly, a pair of earth-red boots fell into Mo Yinghuo's moist eyes, and she abruptly pulled out Chang Geng, which was always within her reach.
"Your Highness, how have you been lately?" The man, dressed in exotic frontier attire, wearing only a shirt and trousers, sizing up the beauty in the room with a wicked grin.
Mo Yinghuo immersed his hands in the water, his knuckles cracking, but fortunately the trembling sound was drowned out by the water, so that no one in front of him noticed anything amiss.
She tried her best to appear natural, her face glowing after a bath, making her seem even more composed, and said leisurely, "Whether I'm good or not, don't you know..."
Before she could finish speaking, Mo Yinghuo gently raised her hand to wipe the water droplets from her neck, and continued, "Does Your Excellency not visit this princess often?"
"It's good that the Princess knows. Why is Your Highness still bathing in the middle of the night?" the man said quietly, as if he had seen an acquaintance.
Mo Yinghuo stared intently at the person in front of him, remaining silent.
"I wonder, has Your Highness's mother been found?" Seeing that the princess ignored him, the man lowered his voice and asked in a deliberately sinister tone.
Mo Yinghuo gritted her teeth, "Where...where exactly did you take my mother?"
"Didn't I say it was in the royal palace of Yunxiu Kingdom?"
"No, I can't find it... I can't find it anywhere." Mo Yinghuo's voice was trembling with a faint sob. She felt that she would break down if it happened again.
"How could there not be? I've already said it's in the palace, right here in the palace." The deep, dark voice was extremely certain, like someone coaxing a child.
Mo Yinghuo pursed her lips, and after a moment, slowly squeezed out a sentence, "How exactly did you manage to appear and disappear in an instant?"
“Of course, someone taught us.” The man approached gracefully, cupping a handful of water. “Princess, the palace of Yunxiu Kingdom is connected to the Northern Frontier. Don’t even think about invading it. Remember to remind your father, I’m afraid he’s forgotten. The people of Shiling Kingdom are not to be trifled with.”
After saying that, the person vanished into thin air. It was as if this person had simply come to kill time in the middle of the night out of boredom.
Mo Yinghuo's tense body relaxed again, and Chang Geng, which was tightly gripping the water, quietly slipped away.
The people outside the door were completely unaware and continued to stand guard quietly.
She was used to it; judging from their clothes and appearance, she knew they were Northern Barbarians. They killed her maids and guards one after another, saying that besides the princess, they would kill everyone else around her who knew them. Mo Yinghuo didn't want anyone by her side, not wanting to cause any more casualties.
From as far back as she can remember, these people have haunted her like a nightmare.
But how can two places that are thousands of kilometers apart be connected?
Mo Yinghuo couldn't understand it.
Who is Father waiting for, and what is he gazing at? The gods in the heavens, the people on the Milky Way? Will someone come to help them invade the Northern Barbarians and see who these people from the Stone Spirit Kingdom really are?
Mo Yinghuo submerged himself completely in the water.
Outside, Mars streaks across the Milky Way. One dynasty is about to end, and another is about to begin.
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