Mao Changji had already guessed her question; in fact, she wasn't surprised by it.
After patting Yin Zhu's head, Mao Changji sighed: "You know, many legends can become strangely distorted over time."
Yin Zhu nodded vigorously.
Of course she knew about this situation; the myth of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in China was a perfect example. Ancient poems once sang of "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, separated by the Milky Way." Back then, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl were just celestial beings, and the story associated with them was that they neglected their work after an office romance, were separated by the gods and emperor, and could only yearn for each other across the Milky Way.
However, as time went by and plagiarism became rampant among scholars, the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was incorporated into the legend of the Feathered Maiden from the land of cherry blossoms, and the Cowherd became a mortal who stole the Weaver Girl's clothes.
In the original ending, the Feathered Maiden received the feathered robe from the children and returned to heaven, while the children on earth missed their mother. When the story reached the Dragon Kingdom, it was adapted to local customs by adding the role of the old ox. The ox was skinned, and the Cowherd took the children to heaven to find their mother and reunite with the Weaver Girl on the Magpie Bridge.
What Yin Zhu found most unacceptable was that not only was the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl stitched together, but this story was later stitched together with the Seven Fairy Maidens and Dong Yong.
Now that Mao was mentioned as a prostitute, Yin Zhu instantly imagined everything—
The courtesan did not die after the age of 15. On the contrary, she met a samurai because of her beauty and talent. He helped her escape life in Kabukicho, but then disguised her as an abandoned baby he had adopted and presented her to the emperor of Japan. Later, when the emperor fell seriously ill, she was falsely accused of being a nine-tailed fox spirit...
Although this story might have been pieced together by Hirano Sane based on the legends of the Cherry Blossom Country, it inexplicably relieved Yin Zhu.
Perhaps they felt somewhat relieved to know that the young girl hadn't met a tragic end.
After telling Mao Changji his guess, she smiled, nodded, and then shook her head: "You're mostly right, except for one thing. Do you know that monsters can be 'created'?"
Know.
Moreover, it is created by torturing life through extremely painful means.
Seeing the slight change in Yin Zhu's expression, Mao Changji suddenly stopped smiling, her face filled with sorrow: "I was indeed not born a nine-tailed fox demon. The group that offered me to the Emperor sealed the nine-tailed fox demon they captured inside me in order to make me more beautiful and alluring. Afterwards, relying on the Emperor's favor, my power grew, and I tried to break free from their control, so they brought in the Onmyoji..."
Yin Zhu knew the rest of the story.
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