广记不如淡墨 - a powerful memory cannot compare with pale ink; history is written by the winners.
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It was near midnight when, from a tiny window high in her cell, Zéyì heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, dàjiě, are you creating demonic energy in there?"
Zéyì smiled with relief. "Why don't you come inside, Your Highness? You can see for yourself."
A dark trail of cloud seeped through the window and reformed on the floor of the cell as the slim, elegant form of Prince Fàn Bìān. He sniffed at her surroundings. "Why are you in here? You could leave any time you like."
"I don't... Will you allow me to use that favour you offered me?"
The prince looked at her, his dark eyes confused. "You want to waste that on a situation you could leave yourself?"
Zéyì sighed. "I don't want use my abilities in this situation. Please understand."
The prince shrugged. "Well I don't, but whatever." He snapped his fingers at the lock on the cell and it corroded instantly, scattering away.
"Thank you." Zéyì pushed the door open, dusted herself down and calmly left the prison. She realised, halfway across the courtyard, that the demon prince was right beside her.
"Are you coming with me?"
"Yep! You're always up to something interesting. I can't miss out on the fun."
Zéyì sighed, resigned, then put her recently obtained powers to practice, summoning a giant flower. The glowing white lotus, softly lit from within, hovered above the ground, and she leapt into its centre.
"Let's go."
The whole manoeuvre was performed without a single guard noticing. The demon prince, floating beside Zéyì on a dark cloud of his own creation, hummed to himself.
"How interesting. Why are you showing me how easy it is to travel in and out of the stronghold of your kin?"
"Because it's so easy that you'd be bored. Don't you like a challenge?"
The prince cackled. "You're so much fun! You look like a white lotus but you're very sharp, aren't you? Is that why you're interested in that other dàjiě?"
Was I that obvious? Zéyì shrugged blandly. "Who wouldn't be interested in her? Miss Fén is a capable and attractive person. I admire her greatly. In addition, she helped me at the worst time of my life, for which I will be eternally grateful."
The prince glanced sideways at her. "Perhaps it's the strong affinity you have with demonic power, but I can't tell if you're being misleading or genuinely don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"Who that dàjiě is. Or more like, what she is."
Zéyì halted her lotus. "What do you mean?"
"Ah, so you don't know? Hm, I'll have to think about whether to tell you or not. Which would be more interesting...?"
Zéyì's mind raced. What she might have done the next moment was unknown even to her, for the sound of raucous shouting suddenly reached their ears. For a moment, she thought they had been found, but she realised the voices were coming from a nearby road, out of view. Still, it was safer to come down to the ground.
She jumped down, the lotus dissipating into a thousand glowing specks of light, then slipped through the trees, close enough to the road to keep an eye on the noise-makers, but far enough that she wouldn't be seen. The demon prince followed with avid anticipation.
The shouts were coming from some garden-variety bandits, thuggish-looking men with crude weapons who would not pose a threat to either Zéyì or Prince Fàn Bìān. Zéyì was about to walk on when another voice stopped her.
"Let me go. Now."
The bandits laughed, and circled, and as they moved, Zéyì could see the person they were surrounding. Their silver hair shone in the moonlight.
"Zhū Yī Shēng?"
The doctor was prone on the ground, propped up on her hands and glaring at the men around her. Her clothing looked rumpled and her cold face beaded with sweat, as if she had been running, but she showed no fear. Zéyì couldn't leave this be. She began to step forward, flicking back a sleeve to free her arm, but a dark shape flashed past her before she could raise her hand.
"Prince Fàn Bìān, at your service, beautiful lady." The demon prince was kneeling elegantly before Zyu Ji Sang, one hand held out to her. The confused bandits couldn't speak a word. "Could I have the honour of learning your name?"
Zéyì worked hard to keep her jaw from falling open, although the bandits did nothing of a sort. With a flourish, the demon prince lifted Zyu Ji Sang from the ground. It was finally at this point that one of the bandits found his tongue.
"Hey, you-"
"Shut up."
The prince clicked his fingers at the bandit and instantly he began to age, muscles withering. He shrieked in horror, dropping the knife he carried as his fingers wrinkled and crabbed, his whole body stooping as strength and flexibility left him. Then his body started to disintegrate as the cell lock had, flesh rotting back until all that was left was white bones.
This all happened in a few moments. The bandits were frozen with fear, unable to move or say a word. The prince smirked and began to leave with his prize. Zyu Ji Sang had watched the whole thing without a single change in expression. Her hair and clothing were a mess, but she remained glacially calm. Zéyì rushed out to meet them.
"Yī Shēng, are you alright?"
For the first time, a wrinkle appeared between the doctor's brows. "Miss Cultivator - No, Your Highness."
"Did they do anything to you?"
"No."
And that was it. Zéyì sighed, and the demon prince stared with shining eyes at the woman in his arms. Zyu Ji Sang turned her cold gaze on him. "Could you put me down, Your Highness?"
The prince reluctantly let her feet drop to the floor, then began to tidy her hair without asking permission. Zyu Ji Sang ignored him. "What is happening here, Your Highness?"
"I've decided life in the palace isn't for me," Zéyì replied with an airy smile. "His Highness is someone who Miss Fén and I met on our journey here, and he has... Well, apparently I'm keeping him entertained, so he's following me for that reason."
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Although I think your appearance has changed things.
"I see. If that's the case, I have somewhere else to be." Zyu Ji Sang retrieved the bag she had dropped, and began to leave, to the prince's shocked sadness.
"Miss-"
"Yī Shēng! Wait! Did you come here for a reason?"
"It doesn't matter now."
"Then you were here to check up on me."
"You seem... fine." Zyu Ji Sang cast a look over her shoulder. "And stronger. I'm not entirely able to gauge-"
"Third Dantian-Novice," Prince Fàn Bìān offered helpfully. He looked heartbroken when the doctor continued to ignore him.
"So I have no reason to be here."
"Did Miss Fén send you?" Zéyì finally asked, a little nervous. With the briefest of nods, Zyu Ji Sang disappeared back down the path.
"Wait! Pretty doctor, wait for me!" Suddenly, the demon prince was gone too.
And once more, Zéyì was alone.
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She found a small cave well off the road, where she could finally sit and think on what had happened.
She had found her family and lost her family. Had they ever actually truly believed she was Princess Zéyì, or was that simply a strategy to find a good actress to marry the Zhàng Crown Prince and secure an alliance? Zéyì pressed her hands together, wished her family well, but prayed that they would never meet again.
And now what? She had got what she had wanted for over one hundred years - freedom, to go where she wanted, not tied down to that dark lake water.
And yet her mind kept wandering back to those warm days by the lakeside, where she sat in the sun and ate berries with a young woman with grey-brown eyes and chestnut-coloured hair.
She was well aware that it was likely that, having been alone and cold for so long, Miss Fén's warmth was such a blessing that she was mistaking it for something else. Yet right now, all she wanted was to see the demon hunter again, walk together wherever the road might take them.
"That's over," she said softly to herself. "Miss Fén has done her job, and these feelings I have will pass in time. In the meantime..."
There was one more thing.
She had pushed it to the back of her mind, but now that she was alone, with no other plans ahead of her, the image of her mother's face appeared once more. Carefully, she piled rocks and sticks at the entrance of the cave mouth, closing it up. With a little of her energy, a tiny white lotus bloomed in a small puddle nearby, its roots leading back to one of her fingers and spreading out around the cave. A detection array. If someone came nearby, the vibration of their movements through the flower would travel back to Zéyì and alert her.
At last, preparations done, she seated herself and closed her eyes.
What do I need to remember? What happened, Regal Mother?
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Chun Kingdom, 109 years ago.
The water was deep here.
A small figure was carefully moving through the floodwaters towards two children crouched in the fork of a tree, shivering with cold and fear. Their mother watched anxiously from dry ground not far away, clutching a third child, only a baby, close to her. A group of mainly elderly villagers waited with her, being wrapped by monks and nuns in waxed cloth to keep off the rain. Most of their eyes were fixed on the small but purposeful figure of the woman moving towards the children, a straw hat on her head to keep the rain from her eyes, but her borrowed peasant's clothing soaked to the skin.
She reached the children and coaxed them over. One clung to her back, while she lifted the other in her arms, showing amazing strength for her tiny stature, and slowly began to walk back. A sudden surge of water brought debris spiralling across her path and she tripped, the children screaming and inhaling water instead of air.
"Pull!" roared one of the monks over the drumming of the rain. The monks and nuns seized a rope tied to a nearby tree and began to pull at it – moments later, the woman and the children re-emerged. The pulled rope was attached around her upper torso, and with it she fought upright, ignoring the sharp fingers of the panic-stricken children clawing at her as they choked and cried for air.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when she reached them, willing hands lifting the children and pushing them immediately into the arms of their desperately sobbing mother. They were all too exhausted to cheer, just nodded gratefully at the young woman, who nodded in return, wiping away rain and blood. A nun handed her a cloth to staunch the scratches.
"Your Highness, you've been working all night. You need some rest."
Zéyì's clear dark eyes met the nun's, and she shook her head. "My cultivation has made me stronger than a normal person. I should use my abilities to help people. Let's get to shelter."
The monks and nuns shepherded the villagers to the only remaining high ground in the area. If the rain did not stop soon, even this small hill would soon be underwater. They hoped the rescue boats would arrive soon.
Someone had built a very rudimentary shelter out of bits and pieces that had washed along with the water. They all huddled inside, too close for comfort, but too tired to notice or care. Zéyì crouched next to a shivering old lady, rubbing at her arms to try and raise her body temperature.
"A boat!"
There was a light coming over the water towards them. Through the driving rain, a remarkably elaborate boat was approaching, made of high quality wood from stem to stern to cabin. Several strong men were carefully punting with long, sturdy poles towards where the survivors crouched. Numb with cold and tiredness, the villagers simply stared in a sort of trance as the boat arrived. Zéyì hurried down to greet them.
The cabin door of the boat opened, releasing a rush of warm air and the light of several lanterns. A woman in rich robes, glowing in the light, stood framed in the doorway, eyes anxious. "A Lián?"
"Regal Mother!"
The Queen gestured for Zéyì to board, which she did with a light hop, and she was immediately swept into her mother's warm embrace and out of the rain.
"A Lián, please, enough! I can't lose you."
"You won't, Regal Mother. I'm strong enough for this. Quickly, we must rescue these people."
"Bring the monks and nuns aboard. There is a second, larger boat coming for the villagers. There are some other survivors from the village."
One of the monks, hearing this, bowed respectfully. "Requesting that I may be permitted to stay with the survivors until the second boat arrives."
"We'll all wait," Zéyì interjected, smiling at his sense of duty. "A Guì (1), there's no need to take this on alone."
"Your Highness," one of the boatmen interjected, bowing, "your strength and talent are well known, but I fear it is dangerous for Her Majesty to remain out here. She was desperate to find you and bring you home."
"A Lián," the Queen said tearfully, tugging Zéyì's sleeve. "The boat is almost here, they will be fine. Please let's go home."
"Go, Your Highness," Guì agreed, bowing once more. His dark eyes glinted with determination. "We will see you shortly."
Reluctantly, the rescuing monks and nuns boarded the boat, slowly retreating to a second cabin separate from the Queen's, constantly looking over their shoulders as the boat pulled away and Guì disappeared behind the lashing rain.
Zéyì stood at the door, watching even after she could no longer see anything. Her mother draped a big cloak over her. "What a fine handsome gentleman. A pity he's a monk, what a waste!"
"Regal Mother!"
The Queen smiled and led her daughter from the door. "A Lián, I have some dry clothes for you. Please wear them."
Zéyì eyed the fine clothes but diligently changed into them. She did feel better now that she was dry.
"The monks and nuns?"
"There has been some dry clothing provided for them too."
The Second Princess finally sighed with relief and sat down on a chair fixed to the floor to prevent it moving. Her mother took a seat beside her and poured some tea.
"Drink, A Lián. How are you feeling?"
"Physically, fine. But Regal Mother... we can't go on like this. I can keep saving people, but where do I take them? Our country is so flat, there's only so far that we can go before we are up against the borders of Zhàng or... well."
The Kingdom of Zhū had collapsed in on itself only five years prior, after a thousand years of glorious existence under the protection of supernatural entities. Demons, everyone whispered. It was truly due to demonic power that the Zhū had reigned so prosperously for so long, and now the demons were taking back that power. All that remained was a barren, cursed wasteland, and even though several kingdoms, including Chūn, bordered Zhū, nobody wanted that terrible place.
"I'm glad you mentioned Zhàng, A Lián." Her mother took a sip of tea. "We... we may need to request asylum from them."
"It's... it's hard, but that may be the only option left, Regal Mother."
She was surprised to find her hand suddenly gripped by the Queen's.
"Daughter... In order to receive their help... we will have to give them something. You know they won't assist us for nothing."
"But we have nothing... Ah."
"A Lián, the Third and Fourth Princesses are already married, and the others are only children."
"Won't Zhang think me too old?"
The Queen shrugged helplessly. "We must try, we have no other choice. A Lián, I know you have always wanted to devote your life to the people-"
"Doing this will be good for the people. If it's something I can do, I... I will do it."
The Queen cradled her daughter's face between her hands. The physical similarities between them were few – they had the same shape of ears, and small, elegant noses, but Zéyì resembled much more her grandmother, the Queen's own mother, Lady Mǎn Máogèn (2). Zéyì had never met her, and her mother never spoke of her much, except to once show her a picture.
"... You'll have to leave us."
"I know."
"You might... never come back."
" I know."
The Queen's lips quivered, then she suddenly burst forth recklessly, "Make your mark on them, Zéyì!"
"Regal Mother?"
"Don't become another submissive concubine. You're our Princess Zéyì, our Divine Lotus. Show them the strength of a royal woman of Chūn! Don't ever let them look down on you."
Zéyì laughed softly, placing her own hands over her mother's. "I won't."
"Promise me."
"I promise."