But when she returned to Qingqiu, she still pretended to throw herself into Bai Jiuxiao's arms and cry for a while.
Bai Jiuxiao had no feelings for Liu Tuan. She said that there was a difference between immortals and mortals, and that she would have to face the separation of life and death with Liu Tuan sooner or later. After comforting Liu Ying with this, she stopped crying.
Although Liu Ying settled down in Qingqiu, she no longer enjoyed the same respect she once had and could only work hard and cultivate diligently every day, just like the other fox clan members.
Many years later, having lived at the bottom of society for so long, she had become accustomed to looking up at the great figures of Qingqiu, especially the empress sitting on the throne.
In fact, she always felt that someone had stolen her throne, and she always believed that the Nine-Tails was hers and that she had the right to take it back.
However, she and her mother Bai Jiuxiao were not strong enough, and everyone was opportunistic, so no one was willing to speak up for her. This is why the woman on the throne has been able to occupy what belongs to her.
Unfortunately, she had lost all hope of reclaiming her throne and the Nine-Tailed Fox. Later, Bai Jiuxiao arranged for her to marry an honest, ordinary fox. She could only complain every day, blaming the heavens and the world for their injustice towards her, becoming a universally disliked grumbler.
However, Bai Jiuxiao was quite discerning; the fox-woman husband she found for her was very honest and had always treated Liu Ying well.
However, Willow Oriole never took a liking to this honest and simple fox. Although foxes, both men and women, are all incredibly beautiful, this fox had no future and could not bring her power and glory, so naturally she looked down on him.
At first, the fox-man treated her with great care, but as time went on, he realized that she looked down on him at all, and his relationship with her became distant. He was not the same as before, but because of his honest nature, he never bullied her.
Liu Ying actually had good potential. Although she had lost her nine tails, her future was uncertain as long as she cultivated diligently. However, cultivation was an extremely arduous and tedious process, and her enthusiasm for it waned after a while.
She lived the life of an ordinary fox spirit, but secretly longed for the day when the current empress would fall or suddenly die, so that she could regain her former status and life as a princess.
But her own mother had been an empress for thousands of years, so how could the current empress die so easily? Besides, Chu Nian didn't want to die.
One day, Chu Nian overheard her chatting with a few fox-women. When they talked about the Empress, she recounted some amusing (and pathetic) stories from the original owner Liu Nian's childhood, speaking with great relish. Then she laughed with a mocking and disdainful tone—probably the only way she could find some psychological comfort in such stories now.
The other fox-women were hesitant to respond, firstly because they knew nothing about these matters, and secondly because the Empress was a symbol of reverence in their hearts, and they dared not act like Liu Ying.
Not only that, one of the fox spirits got up first and left under some pretext. Seeing this, the other fox spirits quickly got up as well and disappeared in a flash.
Seeing that her friends had all suddenly left while she was having a great time, Liu Ying's embarrassment and disappointment were palpable. She also blamed Chu Nian for this and muttered a vicious curse under her breath.
Chu Nian found this person extremely boring, so after thinking about it, she gave it to her, or more accurately, to amuse herself.
So, just as the warbler was gritting her teeth and muttering curses, a sudden "chirp!" came from above.
The sound... Liu Ying was immediately horrified, her face turned pale, and she dropped the pile of freshly washed clothes in her hand and ran desperately towards Bai Jiuxiao's place.
It's unbelievable that after so many years, and even though she's a fox with hundreds of years of lifespan, she still only knows how to turn to her mother when she's in trouble; and her fear of the Golden-Winged Roc is clearly ingrained in her very bones.
"Mother...Mother...It's the Golden-Winged Roc! The Golden-Winged Roc!" Liu Ying was so terrified that she became somewhat hysterical. She desperately used her wind magic to rush back to the fox people's settlement, stumbling and falling.
She had been by the river where few people lived. The river was only crowded in the morning when the foxes were washing clothes. After that time, it was very quiet. She had been delayed getting home because she was chatting with some fox women, so she was now alone by the river.
However, even if she were alone, she was still from Qingqiu. She didn't consider that the entire outer perimeter of Qingqiu was protected by a barrier; how could the Golden-Winged Roc possibly appear here without reason? It was she who secretly ran outside the barrier, which is why the Golden-Winged Roc caught her.
However, as she approached Bai Jiuxiao's residence, something occurred to her: as a female official, Bai Jiuxiao lived a distance from the fox pack. She wondered, what if Bai Jiuxiao herself was no match for the Golden-Winged Roc?
Actually, this wasn't a "what if" scenario; she was quite certain that her mother was no match for the Golden-Winged Roc.
So she took a detour and rushed to the market as fast as she could. She figured there were plenty of foxes at the market, and even if the Golden-Winged Roc wanted to eat a fox, it might not target her; it would likely prey on other foxes instead.
However, when she rushed into the foxes in the market, she encountered Bai Qing.
Out of recognition of Bai Jiuxiao's achievements as Empress, Bai Qing still treats the mother and daughter with great courtesy. Seeing Liu Ying's unusual expression, he asked with concern, "You look so frightened, what happened?"
Liu Ying pointed to the sky above, her eyes welling up with tears, and said, "It's the Golden-Winged Roc. He loves to eat us foxes."
Bai Qing looked in the direction she pointed, but didn't see any golden-winged roc.
Bai Qing's follower was close to Liu Ying's husband and knew that Liu Ying's husband was often bullied by her and looked down on her.
He couldn't help but frown and say, "Yingying, since you know perfectly well that the Golden-Winged Roc loves to eat foxes, why do you deliberately come to our market? There are so many foxes here, aren't you just providing the Golden-Winged Roc with a delicious meal?"
Liu Ying cried pitifully, "It's all my fault! I was so scared I forgot everything else. What should we do, Uncle Qing? Will the Golden-Winged Roc eat us all?"
"Chirp!"
At that moment, everyone heard a loud bird call from above and looked up to see what was happening.
Then they saw a large golden bird with wings that seemed to cover most of Qingqiu, its eyes blazing as it looked down at the foxes.
Liu Ying turned and ran in fright, fleeing with all her might towards the edge of the fox pack. Suddenly, she heard Bai Qing's voice behind her, showing no fear whatsoever, but rather a hint of excitement, calling out, "Hey, Little Jin!"
Liu Ying couldn't help but stop and turn to look at Bai Qing. She saw that the Golden-Winged Roc had already transformed into human form. Even though all the foxes present were extremely beautiful, many foxes still sighed at his handsome appearance.
Bai Qing chatted with him with a smile, asking, "Little Jin, what's wrong with Her Majesty the Empress today? Why did she actually let you out?"
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