Chapter 14 Chapter 14 "Put on my shoes."
The scattered golden light condensed bit by bit, and a tall male figure suddenly appeared on the deserted grassland behind Jiu Zhao.
It’s Zhu Yan.
Even though he was there to help testify in the God King's residence, the ice in Jiu Zhao's eyes remained unchanged.
"Why are you following me stealthily?"
While the young man was bowing, she wiped her face with her hand and asked in a calm voice.
Zhu Yan spread out his palms, and a silver-white birdcage appeared suspended in the air. Inside was a pair of birds of paradise that had originally perched on the eaves of the Divine King's residence. "My father guessed that it would be inconvenient for Your Highness to meet me again after returning to the Heaven of Separation and Sorrow, so he sent me to deliver this pair of birds before you board the Heavenly Chariot.
"When I chased after you, I saw you finish talking to Zhu Yingxianguan and fly away in the opposite direction, so—"
Zhu Yan's words made it clear that he just happened to knock someone down, and he did not intentionally hide his body and follow Jiu Zhao.
"You are not allowed to tell anyone that I didn't go back to confinement immediately."
Looking at his innocent face, Jiu Zhao bared his fangs, threatened viciously, and turned to look at the weak creature in the birdcage.
Two colorful little birds.
All together, they are only the size of Jiu Zhao's palm.
It flew back and forth in the cage, chirping softly, as if it didn't understand the situation it was about to face.
…
Capturing the Bird of Paradise was just an excuse Jiu Zhao used to deal with the Northern God King.
I was just immersed in self-harm and hadn't really thought about what to do with it after I got it.
She pondered for a moment, then asked the young man, "Birds of Paradise need to live in extremely cold places, but our Lihentian Heaven is spring all year round. Tell me, how can we keep them alive in Lihentian Heaven?"
Zhu Yan's eyes were filled with surprise. "So Your Highness wants to crush them right away and use them as dye."
Jiu Zhao frowned: "How could I possibly do such a brutal thing——"
Jiu Zhao's words were cut short. He thought, why reveal his true intentions to someone he didn't know well? He abruptly changed his words, "It will take some time for me to complete this gift. Coloring is the last step. I don't want them to die too early and ruin the final effect."
"So that's how it is."
Zhu Yan's certainty about Jiu Zhao's inner thoughts was hidden behind his surprise. He pretended to be suddenly enlightened and a smile appeared on the corner of his lips.
He did not expose Jiu Zhao's stubbornness, but instead gathered golden light at his fingertips, adding a layer of magic to the birdcage.
"Give."
Zhu Yan handed the birdcage over. Jiu Zhao's fingers touched the edge of the base and he felt a bone-chilling chill. "I have placed a frost barrier inside the cage. As long as we don't let them leave, this pair of birds of paradise will survive safely in the cage."
"Also, Your Highness, just send someone to feed them some cold dew infused with fairy spirits every day."
Jiu Zhao, feeling a bit cold, didn't try to take the cage with her hands. With a flick of her sleeve, she sealed the cage into her storage ring. She couldn't bear the tragic fate of the birds of paradise trapped in a cage for their entire lives, and she thought to herself that when her confinement was over, she would release them back to the northern border.
She was thinking to herself, and when she came to her senses, the young man who had completed the task assigned by the Northern God King was still not gone.
His overly tall body stood in front of Jiuzhao, blocking the bright sunlight pouring down from the top of Sanqingtian.
"Why don't you leave?"
A shadow fell on Jiu Zhao's face. She raised her head, feeling depressed and a little impatient.
Zhu Yan stared at her for a few moments, then smiled and said, "I was just wondering if Your Highness is really as kind-hearted and compassionate as I suspected."
Soft-hearted.
Good?
Jiu Zhao was so tired of hearing these two words used to describe Ying Luo that his ears were almost callused, but when it came to himself...
Jiu Zhao suddenly felt quite surprised, but considering Zhu Yan's previous behavior of preferring to defy Meng Chu to help him, it was difficult for him to define whether the young man was truly fair or just trying to curry favor with the powerful. He stared at him warily and said, "I just whipped your brother to death with the Divine Whip more than half an hour ago, and you turn around and praise me for my kindness. Even if you want to lie with your eyes open, don't be too absurd." The sarcasm in Jiu Zhao's words was very obvious, and anyone with subtle intentions would be hurt.
Zhu Yan simply listened to her calmly, then curved his narrow eyes, his blue pupils seeming to reflect two soft waves. "Rewards are due for merit, and punishments are due for faults. Your Highness's impartiality in judging people is not the standard by which others judge your character."
"Didn't you hear what Father God said? Even if Meng Chu was wrong, I shouldn't resort to lynching him."
Jiu Zhao never expected that one day the situation would be reversed, and she would be the one blaming herself for her mistakes, while the other party would desperately try to make amends for her.
Zhu Yan continued to speak to her seriously, "Your Highness, I don't blame you for being angry. If I were in your position and heard someone brazenly using my deceased mother to poke at my pain, I would definitely not let that person off easily."
Some words, although they are said by others, are actually meant for yourself.
Jiu Zhao looked at Zhu Yan's expression and noticed that when he mentioned the words "mother who passed away young", a gloom flashed across his brows.
Sanqingtian has always been known as the "Two Wonders of the Northwest", referring to Yingluo of the West Sea and Zhu Yan of the North Territory, who are famous for their looks and talents. Compared with Yingluo's noble bloodline and the status of the next Western God King, Zhu Yan is just the illegitimate son of the Northern God King, and his mother died ten thousand years ago.
Considering Meng Chu's resentful attitude towards Zhu Yan within the Divine King's Residence, it seems he frequently taunted Zhu Yan with this incident. Accustomed to the days of tyrannical oppression within his own small sphere, Meng Chu felt so unscrupulous within the Divine King's Residence of Erqingtian.
Jiu Zhao suddenly understood why Zhu Yan spoke for him.
I also sincerely believe that it was too lenient to reveal Meng Chu's true form.
"I understand your true meaning." However, despite sympathy, Jiu Zhao wasn't so naive as to simply accept someone's surrender and take them under her wing. She simply spoke frankly, "I never like to owe favors to others. You've helped me, and I make you a promise, but don't try to use me to interfere in the internal strife in your northern border."
"I dare not have such intentions."
Zhu Yan bowed again, and the white hair tied behind his head immediately fell to his shoulders, pouring down like silver from the sky. "I stand in your palace today and speak the truth, not with the intention of making Your Highness owe me a favor. What I do is, first, for the sake of fairness, and second, for empathy."
Pulled by the wind, a few strands of naughty hair were lifted up and floated towards Jiu Zhao, like countless hands that longed to touch but then pulled back.
Jiu Zhao didn't ask him to get up. He kept his hands folded in front of him, maintaining the most humble posture.
A mere bastard son born to a concubine, born without regard for others, and because of his testimony in the hall, he completely offended his eldest brother who already disliked him. He was not worried about his own fate when he returned to the northern border, but instead sympathized with her, the most noble goddess in the Three Pure Ones Heaven.
Should we praise his integrity and courage, or laugh at his naiveté?
After staring at the plain green jade hairpin on the young man's head for a moment, Jiu Zhao crossed his arms and stepped forward, suddenly grabbing his jaw.
She lifted up Zhu Yan's stunning face and asked abruptly, "Do you know why I'm unwilling to tell the truth?"
Zhu Yan was stunned for a moment, not expecting Jiu Zhao to do such a bold move. With his body bent down and his neck raised awkwardly, he replied in a low voice, "Your Highness, I cannot speculate on your majesty's state of mind, but I think that Your Highness would not wish to have his sorrows revived before everyone."
"You are very considerate of me."
The more understanding Zhu Yan showed, the more Jiu Zhao wanted to break his shell.
She sighed indifferently, then changed the subject, "Unfortunately, you guessed wrong. I don't care at all about his fantasy that the Mother Goddess died because of my difficult childbirth. Back then, when gods and demons were fighting, the Mother Goddess was seriously injured and could not heal because she blocked the sword for the Father God. This is something everyone in the Three Pure Ones knows. It's not like I killed the Mother Goddess. Why should I be sad about such groundless evil words?"
"As for Lan Qi, four thousand five hundred years have passed, and I can hardly even remember what he looks like.
"I beat your brother half to death simply because I dislike him!
"If Father God and the Northern God King had not arrived earlier, this palace would have taken his life—
"Your heartfelt testimony at the Divine King's residence was in vain. Unfortunately, I am a wicked person who acts solely on my own likes and dislikes."
Facing Zhu Yan's changing and flickering eyes, Jiu Zhao vented all the pain and resentment that had been pent up in his heart.
Pinching Zhu Yan's chin wasn't enough, so she concentrated her magical power on her palm and violently pulled him to the ground.
The young man knelt down on his knees, and the obvious height difference between the two of them was no longer visible.
Jiu Zhao brushed his fingers off in disgust as if he had touched something dirty, then raised his bare feet and stepped on his shoulders.
"What kindness, what soft-heartedness.
"I only know that being naive will lead to being deceived, and being easy-talking will lead to being bullied—
"I am the future master of the Three Pure Ones Heavens. What's the point of having these useless qualities?
"The more fearful and trembling they are, the happier I am!"
A translucent barrier of concentrated immortal energy rose from the ground, blocking Zhu Yan's way. With Jiu Zhao in front of him and no escape behind him, he was trapped in a chasm. He stared at Jiu Zhao's face as it drew closer. That bright, graceful face, adorned with a wanton smile, filled his entire field of vision.
“Look, you’re really stupid.
It's so easy for you to sympathize with and trust others, and hope that if you help others, they will repay you with gratitude. You have lived for tens of thousands of years and still haven't realized that there are not so many good people and good things in the world - no wonder even though Meng Chu is so useless, you are still suppressed by him.
"Now, let me teach you a few ways to truly please me."
Bullying the inferior, trampling on his pride, and crushing his expectations can always eliminate some of the unhappiness in one's emotions.
The bent waist straightened up again, and all the frustration, sadness and confusion in Jiuzhao's body disappeared.
She half-raised her chin, squinting her eyes, and slid her foot down to her shoulder, gently stepping on Zhu Yan's jade-like left hand. "Put on my shoes."
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