Chapter 49 Chapter 49 "Your Highness, do you like my current appearance?"
The "surprise" given by Yingluo was too huge.
Jiu Zhao was so shocked that he forgot how he spent the rest of his birthday party.
She only remembered that after the hairpin-scale ceremony was over, King Liuge joyfully announced that Yingluo had transformed into a man and his name had been changed from "Ying" to "Ying"—
From then on, he became the prince of Xihai.
The Four Divine Kings govern the four directions of Yiqingtian, namely the east, south, west and north, and already enjoy a high degree of autonomy.
It is in accordance with the rules to appoint a future heir on your own, and you only need to submit a petition to the Ziwei Palace to report it afterwards.
But these are no longer the most important things.
Seeing Yingluo—no, Yingluo in his youthful form—clinking glasses with the immortals at the banquet, engaging in lively conversation, Jiuzhao felt lost in thought. Finally, when the banquet was over, she pulled him into a deserted side hall and demanded, "What's wrong with you?!"
The young man in front of him was still the same gentle and dignified person, as if nothing had changed except his gender.
He held Jiu Zhao's wrist with a good temper and asked with a smile: "Your Highness, do you like the way I look now?"
The lower than normal body temperature touching the skin, the hand-holding action that often happens between same-sex friends, caused an inexplicable shudder.
Jiu Zhao shuddered and shook his head decisively: "Girls are so much better!"
Some inappropriate memories came to my mind as my body reacted instinctively.
For example, when they were teenagers, they swam and played together, and after playing, they bathed together in the bathing pool of Lihentian.
For example, during the rest time every six days, they would always talk by candlelight until dawn, and then sleep together without any scruples.
…
These things are naturally nothing to women.
But when one of the women turned into a man, things suddenly changed.
Before Yingluo could say anything, Jiuzhao's face turned red first and he slapped his hand away.
"Why would you want to become a man without my permission?"
Changing gender was not a sudden impulse. Yingluo had been planning it with the Western God King for a long time.
Hearing Jiu Zhao's question, he replied calmly, "Your Highness, please forgive me. Although I am a legitimate son, my half-brothers and sisters are equally outstanding. If I cannot find a good marriage, I am afraid that my position as heir will be difficult to secure.
"Looking across the entire Sanqing Heaven, there are too few men of my status and family background, but there are quite a few suitable women... Therefore, in order to facilitate marriage, I have discussed with my father and decided to become a man."
In Jiu Zhao's mind, who believes that love is supreme, there is no option of consolidating one's status through marriage.
She never imagined that the truth behind the transformation of "Yingluo" into "Yingluo" would be so naked and real.
She was persuaded by the young man's helpless words, but still felt it was a pity: "You become a man, then we will-"
The conversation stopped here and he didn't continue.
It was because Yingluo suddenly bent down and moved closer to her, and his cool breath gently brushed against her nose.
Jiu Zhao stared blankly at this handsome face, which was known as "the double best" together with Zhu Yan, and got closer and closer. His mind went blank for a moment.
After a moment, her already red face swelled up with heat enough to boil an egg.
It's really, really a bit unfair—
Back then, as both were women, it was fine. Although she was struck by the other's beauty, it was only from an admiring perspective. Now, the female companion had become a young man, and the gender difference amplified the attraction, causing her heart to beat non-stop.
Jiu Zhao knew clearly that this was his subconscious physical reaction when faced with beauty as he was obsessed with looks.
She was a little embarrassed and put her hands on Yingluo's shoulders, trying to keep some distance between them.
Ying Luo, however, remained motionless, even holding her wrists and pressing her between his chest and the wall: "Don't move, Your Highness."
"Huh?"
How dare you be so rude.
If he turned his head to avoid the sight, he might touch the other person's skin. Jiu Zhao could only maintain this stiff posture, and then looked at Ying Luo's face as he moved closer again, but his watery eyes passed over her eyes and glanced to the side.
The other free hand appeared in the peripheral vision, with thin joints and as white as jade.
It reached out to the loose part below the bun, brushed the earlobe very quickly and lightly, and fell down again before taking something off.
"W-What happened?"
Such a strange action attracted some of Jiu Zhao's attention.
Ying Luo shook his head. "I was mistaken just now. I thought there was some dust in your hair. I didn't expect it to be rice beads from your jewelry."
As he spoke, he stepped back and returned to the safe range that a subject should abide by.
The ambiguous atmosphere that seemed to be there before also disappeared silently as Yingluo left.
Jiu Zhao's subtle awkwardness faded away a lot. She didn't think anything of it and thought Ying Luo was joking with her. She couldn't help but glare at him: "What dust and rice beads? Don't make fun of me - don't think that I can't beat you just because you are a man!"
The young man quickly begged for mercy: "Yes, yes, Your Highness is a man of genius and wisdom, how dare I provoke you without reason?"
After a series of banter, it felt like they were back to their close past. Jiu Zhao began to care about his friend again, and the important life event he mentioned earlier: "So, which female fairy did you fall in love with? You would even change your gender and identity for her."
Yingluo pursed her lips and smiled without saying anything.
From his perspective, the foreign object in Jiu Zhao's hair, which he called "dust", was still there.
It was a bunch of embracing vines, hidden in the most hidden part of the black hair like a thin snake, with double-petaled purple flowers the size of rice beads blooming on the top.
Yingluo was well-read and learned, and he realized that this flower had a monitoring function. It also imitated the posture of the sacred flower Fuxu, so anyone could know its origin without thinking.
He sneered in his heart that even someone as respectable as the God Fuxu could resort to such a lowly trick.
Love brings sorrow, and sorrow brings jealousy.
Seeing that Fuxu cared more and more about Jiuzhao, he could no longer continue to follow his initial step-by-step plan - he had to use other means to speed up his journey to Jiuzhao and destroy their relationship at the same time.
Thinking about this, an idea quickly came to my mind.
He pretended to be mysterious, waiting for Jiu Zhao to lose his patience and slap him to hurry him up, then he asked, "Your Highness, do you still consider me a friend?"
“…You’re asking even though you already know the answer.”
Jiu Zhao rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Then I will speak my mind to Your Highness."
Seeing this, Ying Luo put on a worried look, "Actually, I don't want to get married so soon, but my father has been in the position of Divine King for too long, and he loves to have fun. He wants to choose a suitable person to hand over the responsibility, so he keeps urging me to get married."
It is the tradition of Xihai to get married first and then start a career.
Only by balancing your own backyard can you govern a larger territory with ease.
Jiu Zhao went in and out of the West Sea far more often than he went in and out of the other three places, so he had heard of this custom.
"So, what does this have to do with whether I consider you a friend? Do you want me to introduce you to someone?"
There was a clear blankness in her eyes.
“…”
Occasionally, Yingluo would feel speechless and choked by the train of thought of his beloved.
The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and then he put on a more innocent and sincere smile: "How about Your Highness help me and take me as your concubine? In this way, I can not only complete the mission entrusted by my father, but also use Your Highness's power to firmly sit on the position of the Western Divine King.
"With this minister here, from now on, everyone in the West Sea will obey your Highness's orders."
Yingluo spoke quite skillfully.
He did not act from his own heart, and blurred the emotional factors in marriage, distorting it into mutual help between good friends.
Jiu Zhao immediately waved his hand and refused: "How can this be possible? I already have Fuxu——"
"But didn't every previous God Emperor marry several God Consorts?"
Ying Luo suppressed his emotions and continued to look at her with a soft and harmless look. "Besides, I am not asking for love or favor from Your Highness. This is just a purely cooperative relationship. After marriage, I will live in the West Sea territory. Your Highness can just treat me as a decoration."
Decoration, this is even more outrageous.
It's simply no respect for him, and no respect for yourself.
Jiu Zhao said without hesitation: "Don't mention it again, this won't work. Even if I agree, Fuxu won't-"
Jiu Zhao only said two words: "I won't agree" and then slammed on the brakes.
A voice from deep within my heart asked quietly: Will he really not agree?
Fu Xu had clearly conveyed to him not long ago that he wouldn't mind and would get along well with her concubines.
It was this moment of uncertainty that created an opportunity for Yingluo to take advantage of the situation.
He observed her gloomy expression, her brows furrowed for a moment, then relaxed quickly as if nothing had happened, and once again, he probed her in a negotiating tone, "Will the High God Fuxu really not agree? Your Highness, why don't you go back and ask the High God what he thinks—"
"After all, I have served in the army for a thousand years. I know that the Supreme God has always been conscientious and dedicated to defending the Three Pure Heavens. He has long since put aside romantic feelings. Otherwise, he would not have personally rushed to the immortal-demon border and stationed there for five hundred years with all the immortal generals present."
…
Lihentian, side hall.
Fuxu, who could no longer bear it, snapped his fingers, and the divine light connected to the holy flower quickly disappeared at his fingertips like crushed foam.
He placed his hands back on his knees, attempting to continue meditating.
After several months of joint cultivation, the spiritual center finally returned to a peaceful state, but it began to fluctuate violently again.
He suddenly began to regret why he had destroyed the magic in advance.
Faced with Yingluo's temptation, what will Jiuzhao say?
According to the topic before the destruction of the sacred tree, which jumped from the "rice beads" in the hair to marrying a concubine, he repeatedly reminded himself that Yingluo deliberately put forward this condition in order to provoke the relationship between them because he discovered the Fuxu flower secretly placed on Jiuzhao's hair.
Jealousy, hatred, murderous intent, love, possessiveness...
These dark and dirty emotions still flowed out along his skin bit by bit like the rising tide at night.
Excessive emotions can easily lead to obsession.
Excessive obsession will turn into endless inner demons.
Fuxu kept reciting the meditation technique silently, forcing himself not to think about anything that might have happened on the other side of the West Sea.
However, when he closed his eyes, the scene of Jiu Zhao exchanging his life for another's reappeared clearly in his mind.
She died with Lan Qi.
Only I was left alone.
If he really only wanted me, why didn't the vow of lovers to live and die together come true in me?
…
The uncertain answer became Fuxu's obsession and was about to become his inner demon.
The warm liquid quickly rose from his throat, and after a slight puffing sound, he tasted a fishy and sweet taste.
Regardless of whether Jiu Zhao loves her or not.
He only knew that he was about to become a demon.
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