Into The Sea

At first, no one noticed that the Sea Empress had gone missing. Looking at the empty Red Coral Palace, Feng Yi even felt rather relieved.

Her Majesty, who always woke up earlier than the roosters, had finally learned to take a break.

But by the afternoon, there was still no movement in the white jade-carved palace. Feng Yi began to have a premonition that something was wrong.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty?” The young mermaid stood at the door, whispering like a thief. “Your Majesty, are you awake?”

Turning around, she saw a group of merfolk guards staring at her expectantly. Feng Yi cleared her throat, knocked on the door, and hesitated. “Your Majesty, I… I’m coming in.”

Creak—

The heavy door slowly opened. Feng Yi carefully swam inside, but soon, a scream came from within. The woman swam out, her face panicked. “Her Majesty! She…”

Her voice trailed off as she noticed the presence of several elders. Feng Yi froze, her voice trailing off.

The Grand Elder frowned. “What’s wrong with the Empress?”

“The Empress,” Feng Yi stammered, “Her Majesty, uh… Her Majesty is not feeling well and wants to rest today.”

“Is that so? Let us see her.”

Feng Yi was shocked and quickly reached out to stop them, her face full of apologetic smiles. “The Empress said she just wants to rest today and doesn’t want to see anyone. Elders, please come back another time.”

The First Elder looked at her suspiciously. “Is the Empress really unwell? Or is she deliberately hiding from us elders again?”

“Of course not! The Empress has always held the elders in the highest regard.”

“It had better be,” the old man frowned with some displeasure. “Every time we try to discuss the matter of leaving a pearl with her, she brushes us off with a few words. Tell her that this matter cannot be delayed any longer and that she should make a decision as soon as possible.”

“Understood.”

The Grand Elder nodded and turned to swim away. Then, he looked back. “By the way, I heard representatives from the Three Immortal Sects will be arriving tomorrow for discussions. Make sure the empress is in good spirits. We cannot afford to lose face in front of the humans.”

Feng Yi nodded vigorously. “Of course, of course.”

Finally, the white-robed elders left as quietly as they had come. Feng Yi breathed a sigh of relief and turned her head. “Quickly, send for the High Priestess.”

“Yes.” one of the guards replied. Then, the young girl who often followed Lan Yuan around mustered the courage to ask, “Minister Feng Yi, is Her Majesty really unwell? Is it serious?”

“Unwell? She’s perfectly fine,” Feng Yi hissed, rubbing her temples. “I couldn’t say it in front of the elders, but the truth is… Her Majesty is missing.”

“Missing!”

“Yes. For now, we’ll have to ask the High Priestess to use the Soul Lamp to locate the empress.”

The merfolk exchanged glances. After a moment, a hand tentatively went up. “But if we can’t find the empress, what do we tell the Three Immortal Sects when they arrive tomorrow?”

“Well…” Feng Yi bit her lip, racking her brain. Suddenly, she remembered something and her eyes lit up. “Since it’s the Three Sects, will the Eldest Princess come with Haochen Mountain?”

“…”

“You… you can’t be thinking…”

“Ah, it’s just for a little while! It’s better than telling them the Empress is missing, isn’t it?”

While the Sea Palace was in chaos, the autumn breeze on the grasslands of Xizhou was gentle and refreshing. The sound of hooves echoed as a woman leaped gracefully from her horse, her robes fluttering in the wind. “Here.”’

A fluffy rabbit suddenly landed in Lan Yuan’s arms. She lowered her eyes and glanced at it lazily. “What am I supposed to do with this? I don’t eat rabbits.”

Meng Changge was taken aback. “Eat? Isn’t this rabbit cute? I thought most girls like keeping them as pets.”

Lan Yuan raised an eyebrow. “You’re mistaken. I’m neither human nor a young girl. Why would I like such cute things?”

“Then, then give it to me.”

“Too late.” Lan Yuan smiled and dodged. “What kind of person takes back a gift after giving it away?”

As the two were talking and laughing, the neighing of horses came from afar. Several laughing and playing young people galloped across the vast horizon, their clothes fluttering in the wind, covered in golden sunlight. Lan Yuan narrowed her eyes and gazed at them for a while, unable to help but sigh, “Human children seem so carefree from a young age.”

“Not everyone is so free,” Meng Changge said, leading her horse as she strolled with her. “Take the children in the capital, for example. They study day and night to pass the imperial exams. Even though they’re young, their burdens are heavy. It’s enough to drive them mad.”

Lan Yuan hummed. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“How did you spend your childhood?”

“Me? Actually… I was born on the grasslands. I rode horses and grazed cattle from a young age. I hated reading those tedious books. But then my mother sent me to Haochen Mountain, where I met my strict master. I had no choice but to start studying. You have no idea how hard it was for me back then. I always thought about running away, but I never succeeded.”

Lan Yuan couldn’t help but laugh. “I always thought you were the trusted senior sister and admired by your juniors.”

“How could that be?” Meng Changge looked at her smiling face, feeling encouraged. She was about to ask her what she was like when she was young, when the several teenagers who were still in the distance had already galloped over, calling out into the wind, “Sister Meng, is this your friend?”

Meng Changge nodded. “Yes, isn’t she beautiful?”

“Beautiful!” One of the girls looked at Lan Yuan and said shyly, “She’s the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

Meng Changge raised an eyebrow. “But just a few days ago, you said I was the most beautiful person you’d ever seen.”

“Ah, well… you’re both beautiful!”

“Forget it,” Meng Changge sighed, then glanced at the mermaid beside her, who had taken on a human form. She cleared her throat. “You have good taste. I also think she’s… the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

Lan Yuan blinked, turning to stare at her.

It wasn’t until the children rode their horses away again that Meng Changge said shyly, “What? Can’t I compliment you on being beautiful?”

Lan Yuan shook her head. “It’s just that the word ‘most’ implies no one can compare to me. But Lan Wu looks exactly like me, so no matter what, I can’t be the most beautiful.”

Meng Changge was silent for a long time, hesitating. “You… I…”

“Hmm?”

“Never mind!” She sighed and strode forward. “I can’t talk to you!”

Lan Yuan followed her slowly. “Speaking of which, I do have a problem recently.”

“Oh? What could possibly trouble the esteemed Sea Empress?”

Lan Yuan scoffed. “It’s precisely because I’m the Sea Empress that I have problems. The Elders of the Merfolk Clan have been pressuring me to leave a Pearl. Lately, they’ve been getting more and more insistent.”

“A Pearl?” Meng Changge frowned. “What is it, leaving a pearl?”

“Leaving a Pearl,” Lan Yuan explained calmly, “is, in simple terms, having a child.”

The sound of footsteps suddenly disappeared. The woman turned her head and stared at her.

Lan Yuan said indifferently, “However, there is another way for the Merfolk Clan to have children besides the mother personally giving birth. We can take a Flower Pearl from Guanyin Mountain and merge the essence of both parents to create a child. That’s how Lan Wu and I were born.”

Meng Changge subconsciously clenched the reins in her hand. After a long while, she asked, “So… will you agree to it?”

Lan Yuan didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she lowered her gaze and gently stroked the rabbit in her arms.

“What do you think? Should I agree?”