"Cu Xing," I felt Teacher's fan hit my head.

"Ah!"

"Pay attention," he ordered.

"Yes," I obeyed.

"Where are your thoughts today?" he tapped my head with his fan. I put the bamboo scroll down.

"Teacher."

"Yes?"

"Teacher... when am I going to get big like you?" my limbs were still short.

"Cu Xing, you are still a child. Celestial Beings like us take at least 50,000 years to grow into a form resembling a young mortal adult."

"Why does it take so long?"

"Because our bodies take much longer to develop due to our longer lifespan. Why do you want to grow up so fast anyway?" he bent down so he was looking at me eye to eye.

"Because... Mother's body aches... but I don't have enough strength to massage her. I feel bad," Mother is getting fatter each day. The doctor says it's because she's pregnant and that I will be going to get a younger sibling soon. I didn't want any more siblings. They hurt me a lot. I don't want to get hit or called bad names anymore.

"Cu Xing," Teacher smiled as he patted my head, "you are a very good daughter. Your mother must be very happy to have a daughter like you." Happy? Was mother happy? She never looked happy at me. "Cu Xing, why don't you smile more? If you smile more then your mother would be happy seeing how happy her daughter is." Smile? I touched my cheek. No. I shook my head.

"No... I'm fine," I said. A chime echoed throughout the palace and I stood up from my chair. I gave my Teacher a bow. "Thank you, Teacher. I will see you tomorrow."

"Alright, I will see you tomorrow. It will be your birthday, right?"

"Huh?" that's right, "yes. It's my birthday tomorrow."

"How old are you turning?"

"10,000 years old."

"That's good. Teacher will bring you something nice," he patted my head, "and, Cu Xing, what do you say before you leave?"

"Forgive people. Give them chances. Don't hold grudges. Be kind. Your kindness towards others will eventually come back to help you. To be sincere and genuine is to be true to yourself," I recited. He nodded his head.

"Good job! You can get going now," he gestured toward the door. I didn't want to leave... but I know that Teacher is busy. I gave him another bow before walking out the door. I looked around and saw no one. This was a good sign. I started to run back to my room. Ah! I fell to the ground as I hit someone. I rubbed my forehead and when I looked up I saw my thirteenth and fourteenth brother looking down at me.

"I am sor-" before I could finish thirteenth stomped down on my feet. I clenched my teeth so that I wouldn't scream. If I screamed, then they would get meaner.

"Damn cursed brat. How dare you run into me?!" thirteenth brother hissed as he glared at me with his yellow eyes. I stood up and I bowed to him.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I kept bowing my head.

"Do you even mean it?" thirteenth kicked me on my shoulder as I fell back, "you always sound so emotionless! Do you even mean it?!"

"Older brother, please stop," I watched as fourteenth brother held onto his arm, "let's get going, older brother! Forget her," Fourteenth brother pushed him forward. Thirteenth glared at me as they stepped over me and walked away. Fourteenth turned back and in his green eyes shone a pitiful look but he didn't do anything. He never did. I picked myself up from the ground as I patted the dirt off my plain robes.

"Forgive people. Give them chances. Don't hold grudges. Be kind. Your kindness towards others will eventually come back to help you. To be sincere and genuine is to be true to yourself," I whispered to myself as I limped back to my room.

I returned to my mother's quarters without much trouble. My mother's quarters was located the farthest from any of the important halls. I looked inside and when I didn't see anyone I took a step inside.

"What are you doing?!" I stood in place as I heard my mother's voice. My hands were shaking, but I told myself everything will be alright. I turned around and made sure that I didn't make any faces. I bowed.

"Greetings, concubine mother," I bowed. I made sure to have no emotions in my voice. Mother has taught me to speak this way. If I didn't... I kept my eyes on the ground.

"You wench... you dare to walk into my room? You want to die?!" before I knew it I ended up on the ground, my cheek stinging with pain, "what have you ever done to help me?!" a foot landed in the spot that thirteenth brother kicked earlier and I fell backward. "You useless child! You curse! If it wasn't because of you, His Highness would've visited me more often! This is all your fault! You have no right to be happy! You have no right to any feelings! You ruined my life!" I put my arms up to cover my face. It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!

"Your Highness," Zhang Bing called out as she came to grab my mother, "please calm down Your Highness, it's not good for the baby if you act like this."

"Zhang Bing, drag her out of here! Hurry! Get her out of my sight!" my mother screamed. I felt Zhang Bing's puffy hand grab my wrist.

"Princess, leave," she pulled me up and pushed me out of the room. I watched as she closed the doors to my mother's room. It was alright. I was used to this. I wanted to take a shortcut through Mother's room so I can get to my room faster, but this was alright.

"Forgive people. Give them chances. Don't hold grudges. Your kindness towards others will eventually come back to help you. To be sincere and genuine is to be true to yourself," I muttered to myself.

I walked around my mother's quarters for an hour before reaching my small room. It usually only took about half an hour but it took longer as I dragged my feet along with me. I pushed the squeaky door open and walked up to my bed. This room used to be a servant's room, but now it belonged to me. It may be small and a bit dirty, but it was my haven. Here, I was safe. My vision started to get blurry and I wiped my eyes. I wasn't sad, my eyes were just tired. I thought to myself.

"Forgive people. Give them chances. Don't hold grudges. Be kind. Your kindness towards others will eventually come back to help you. To be sincere and genuine is to be true to yourself," I told myself again. Teacher is always right. I need to listen to him.

-

I woke up the next morning and carried my favorite doll with me. Zhang Bing told me that mother made this doll for me before I was born. Usually, I kept this doll by my bedside but today I wanted to show my mother. The robes on the doll were starting to wear off as holes were starting to form. I wanted to ask her to sew it up for me. I stood in front of her door and waited.

Since she was pregnant she had what the healer called morning sickness. So, her schedule was a little bit unpredictable these days. After two hours, the doors opened and I stood up. My legs felt a bit numb from sitting on the cold ground, but I felt fine. I made sure to stay behind the line that separated her room to the palace as I held onto the doll tightly. My mother saw me and her golden brown eyes shot me with hatred. I knew I made her life bad. I knew I deserved this... but I just wanted her to sew my doll. Is it okay for me to be just a little selfish? It should be right? It's my birthday today... other princes and princesses received birthday ceremonies but I just want the clothes on my doll to be resewn... it should be alright... right?

"What are you doing there?!" she yelled, "take her away, Zhang Bing."

"P-princess," Zhang Bing rushed up to me.

"Mother," I got on my knees, "mother... do you know what today is?" Zhang Bing paused before moving away so I could see her. My mother glared at me.

"Go away! What are you doing, Zhang Bing?"

"Mother... today is my birthday," I held up the doll, "can you... fix the robes on this doll for me?" I saw her get up from her seat as she approached me. She snatched the doll out of my hand and looked at it for a couple seconds. She turned back to me and smiled. I gently tapped my thigh. I made her smile. If mother is happy, then I am happy.

"You want me to resew the robes on this doll as your birthday gift?" she asked. I nodded my head. She gave me another smile as she bent down. "You," the look in her eyes changed as her smile disappeared, "you don't get to ask these things!" she tore the doll apart as she threw its body on the ground.

"My do-"

"Who do you think you are?!" she pushed me back, "you are a curse! That mark on your forehead tells everyone you are curse! I should've never given birth to you!" she continued to scream but I didn't pay attention. I reached for the broken doll. I grabbed the broken halves and held them to my chest. My doll... my doll... I looked back at my mother who continued to yell at me. Her blue hair came down as it became loose from all her shaking as she continued to point at me. I just stood up from kneeling and walked away.

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"Forgive people. Give them chances. Don't hold grudges. Be kind. Your kindness towards others will eventually come back to help you. To be sincere and genuine is to be true to yourself. Forgive people. Give them chances. Don't hold grudges. Be kind. Your kindness towards others will eventually come back to help you. To be sincere and genuine is to be true to yourself. Forgive people. Give them chances. Don't hold grudges. Be kind. Your kindness towards others will eventually come back to help you. To be sincere and genuine is to be true to yourself," I kept repeating to myself. My hands were trembling as I continue on my way to class.

"Hehe... who do we have here?" I heard a high pitch voice call out, "stop," the voice ordered but I continued walking as I mumbled to myself. "Stop!" the voice yelled but I kept ignoring her. I heard footsteps behind me and then I felt nails dig into my shoulder. I turned around and hit the hand away. My eyes landed on a female who was wearing a light pink robe engraved with golden flower stitchings. Her brown hair was tucked into a headdress as her long earrings dangled up and down. I wanted to pull those earrings down. Her purple eyes looked at me with mockery as she pushed my shoulder back. Behind her were two maids who gave me the same look. She was a witch. A witch that has tormented me all my life.

"You dare to ignore me?" she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Leave me alone," I turned back to head to class. I didn't want to deal with her but she pulled me back.

"I'm talking to you here!" she hissed.

"I don't want to talk to you right now. Let me go," I shrugged her off. Why can't she just leave me alone? She didn't seem happy as she slapped me across the face. I fell to the ground and dropped my doll as I touched my cheek.

"You damn cursed wench dare to ignore me? Huh? What's this?" I turned to see she was picking the doll up from the ground.

"Give it back," I launched myself at her. She took a step back and I fell to the ground. I picked myself back up. That doll was mother's gift to me. She held the doll up in the air. She was too tall for me and even if I jumped I couldn't reach it.

"Wench," she pushed me back, "I picked this up from the ground. It's mine now."

"Liar! It's mine! Give it back!" I yelled.

"Oh ho ho! You're finally showing some feelings," she held the torn up doll up to her face and gave me a wicked smile, "since it's mine. If you want it, then you have to give me something in exchange."

"Give it back to me!" I pushed her but she didn't even budge.

"If you really want it back, then give me something in exchange... or else, I will burn it," she threatened. I nodded my head.

"Wh-what do you want?"

"Hehe... kowtow to me," she looked down at me. Kowtow? Me? But we are both princesses... we don't kowtow to anyone other than our imperial father, empress, and our mother. "You don't want to?" her harsh voice pierced through my thoughts.

"Older sister, we are both princesses. How can I kowtow to you?" I hoped she'd reconsider.

"You? You think you're a princess? Hahaha!" she laughed and her servants laughed with her, "she thinks she is a princess... Hahahaha! Hahaha!" she took a breath before bending down. She grabbed me by my collar and looked at me with disgust. "You are not a princess," she hissed, "you are a useless waste of a person. You are a curse! Hahaha! You are the daughter of a whore!" she screamed and that was when I had it.

"Stop," I yelled, "you can insult me all you want... but you can't insult my mother!"

"Hahaha... why? What are you going to do? I am the Imperial King's favorite daughter... you are the whore's daughter who he doesn't glance toward. If you do anything to hurt me, your mother will have to bear the consequences... So, I dare you to do something, I dare you!" she taunted. Mother... I can't have Mother be hurt anymore. Hold it in, Cu Xing. Do what teacher says. Forgive people. Give them chances. Don't hold grudges. Be kind. Your kindness towards others will eventually come back to help you. To be sincere and genuine is to be true to yourself.

"Alright. I will kowtow then," I got on my knees. She chuckled.

"Hmph! You're just a whore's daughter. It's only right that you kowtow to me you ugly wench," and that was when I had enough as rage filled my conscience. I lunged up from where I was and I pulled her robes down. She let out a yelp as I pulled on her hair and snatched the long dangling earring from her ear. I pulled down with all my might and I saw blood gush out of her ear as I fell back. I looked at the earring in my hand and felt a sense of satisfaction. She deserved it. For these 10,000 years I've been alive, she has tormented me to no end. She deserved all of this!

"You cursed brat!" she cried as she held onto her ear. One of her maids ripped off a piece of her robe and pressed it on the witch's ear. The other one walked up to me.

"You dare to hurt our princess!" she screamed as she kicked me in the gut. I felt the breath get knocked out me as I wrapped my arms around my stomach. "You brat!" she continued to kick me as I tried to protect myself.

"What is going on here?!" a low voice roared throughout the hall. I felt shaken to the very core. The maid stop hitting me.

"Your Highness," she and the other maid quickly said.

"Imperial Father! You must help me! Look what she has done to me!" I heard the witch cry as she ran past me. I put my arms down and turned my head. I saw my father's deep blue eyes staring me down. I took in breaths to calm myself down. I looked around to see the other princes and princesses surrounding us.

"What happened here?!" he demanded.

"Younger sister dropped her doll. So, I picked it up and tried to give it to her but she just pulled off my earring. I didn't do anything wrong! I don't know why she did that!" she spouted nonsense. You're a liar! I wanted to scream but my voice was caught in my throat. My hands started to tremble. I felt like I couldn't breathe as I started to pant for air. I heard whispers around me. Stop! Shut your mouths!

"Cu Xing," my father called out, "why did you pull out your sister's earring?"

"I... I..." say something, Cu Xing. Say... ah... I can't breathe... someone help me... anyone... please! I grabbed my chest.

"Cu Xing?" I heard Teacher call out. I looked up to see Teacher walking toward me. "Cu Xing, what happened?" he bent down.

"T-teacher..." I could barely utter.

"It's true, Imperial Father! You must bring justice to me!" she pulled father's sleeve. I tried to shake my head but I couldn't move.

"Oh no! Look at that birthmark on her forehead! No royal child has ever had that before? She must be a curse!"

"You're a curse! Why did you have to be born?"

"You deserve to get hit! You useless piece of trash!"

"You are a disgrace to our family!"

"Kill her! Let's kill her!"

"Die!"

People's voices echoed through my head.

"Cu Xing?" I saw a hand reaching out toward me and I pushed it away.

"Don't touch me!" I yelled. I looked up to see Teacher's shocked light blue eyes look back at me. "T-teacher... I didn't mean t-"

"Punish her! It's must be her fault!" Thirteenth blurted out.

"Yes! Punish her!" my other siblings started to yell out!

"Mei Lan!" a deafening scream came out. I looked behind Teacher to see the witch's mother running toward us. She turned the witch's head to face her as she looked her up and down. "My precious daughter! Who dare do this to my precious daughter?!"

"Concubine mother!" she cried, "she did this to me. She did!" the witch pointed to me. Her mother turned her head and gave me a look of death.

"You dare to do this to my daughter! Do you want to die?!" her face was red with fury, "Your Highness, please get justice for Mei Lan."

"Your Highness!" I heard my mother called out from behind me. She stopped by my side and gave my father a bow.

"Yu Nen!" the witch's mother hissed, "how are you going to take responsibility for this?"

"Wh-what happened?"

"Your brat ripped my precious daughter's earring out causing her ear to get ripped! How are you going to take responsibility for this?" I looked up to see my mother staring down at me. Her eyes burned with hatred. No... I didn't want this to happen. I didn't mean for this to happen!

"Yu Nen," my father started, "how have you been raising Cu Xing that she acts like this toward her older sibling?" No! Don't do this!

"Y-your Highness... this i-" I forced myself to stand. I continued to pant for air and my knees shook but I couldn't burden my mother anymore. It was my fault for being born. I am a curse.

"Imperial... Father," I pushed my voice out, "it's all my fault. It's not concubine mother Shi's fault. Older Sister Mei Lan and concubine mother Han, please forgive me. I'm sorry. It's all my fault," I bowed.

"You..." the witch's mother could barely contain herself. Why? I apologized. "You don't even sound sorry! Are you mocking us?!" huh? No... I really mean it... but... how do I sound like I mean it? I've always spoken like this. If I spoke differently mother would hit me... how does someone speak correctly?

"No. That is not my intentions. I'm really sorry. Please forgive me," I got on my knees and kowtowed.

"You are mocking us! You're not sorry at all! Your Highness, please get justice for Mei Lan! She did nothing to deserve this! Please help us!" she cried. No... your daughter deserved it! She... she hurt me! She has tormented me for 10,000 years! I get slapped! I get kicked! I get insulted! I wanted to say something... but I couldn't. How could I retaliate? My own mother treats me the same way... so I probably deserve to get treated this way. Right?

"Imperial Father! Please help me! Mei Lan didn't do anything wrong!" the witch continued to lie.

"Your Highness, I suggest that to help Mei Lan's ear heal and repair itself to the way it was, we take five of her scales. Please, hear my cry for justice!" her mother said. I froze. Five dragon scales? I was a Celestial Seadragon. Our scales and blood are known for being a miracle remedy but only works if the owner of the scales takes off the scales themselves. If someone else takes it off, then they will get poisoned due to the body's reaction. Taking scales off are also very painful, and some say it is a pain worst than death. Each year a new scale is grown, but one scale equals 500 years of cultivation. She wanted me to give up 2,500 years of cultivation for her daughter's ear? I... I...

"Cu Xing," my father called out and I felt the hair on my neck stand from the coldness of his voice, "everyone must pay for the wrong they do. You hurt your older sister without reason. You deserve to get punished... but you are young. So, I will ask that your mother take off five scales instead." Huh? No... not mother! I stood up and shook my head.

"No," my voice shook but I continued, "m-mother is pregnant. Doing that to her will affect her pregnancy. I will take off five scales. It is my punishment. I will accept it," the lower half of my body transformed into my animal form. I looked at my scales which were a deep blue color. I was still young so the scales were also small. I placed my hand over one of the scales and closed my eyes. I started pulling my scale out of its place. Ahhhh! I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from screaming.

I felt sweat trickling down my face. It hurts! It hurts! Ahhh! The scale finally came off and I looked down to see blood trickling down my tail. I placed the scale on the ground and continued. Ahh! I started to feel light headed. I threw the second one on the floor. The taste of iron filled my mouth as blood gushed through the wound on my cheek. Then the third. Then the fourth. And then the fifth. My hand was now sticky with blood as the lower half of my body turned back into legs. I felt like throwing up but I pressed my lips together so the blood wouldn't escape. I got my knees and gave the witch another kowtow. I forced myself to swallow my blood.

"Please... forgive... me..." I breathed out. I heard footsteps as someone picked the scales up from the ground.

"The punishment is done... Yu Nen... I'm disappointed in how you've been raising her... let's go," my father ordered. I looked up to see him give a glance of disapproval to mother before turning, and walking away. Everyone else also left the hallway. It was just Teacher, my mother, Zhang Bing, and me. I turned to face my mother.

"Mo-" before I could get anything out I fell back. My cheek burned with pain.

"You useless child! Look at the problems you've caused me! Why did you have to be born?! Why?!" she yelled.

"Your Highness," Zhang Bing held my mother back.

"Don't let me see your cursed face anymore! Go die! Go do whatever you want... just don't appear in front of me ever again!" she screamed, "Zhang Bing... let's go."

"Y-yes, Your Highness," I heard their footsteps walk away. My head spun uncontrollably as I tried to stay awake.

"Cu Xing," I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Teacher.

"Teacher... I didn't do anything wrong... she's started it... please believe me," I tried to explain, "she took my doll... she told me to kowtow to her... she offended my mother... I couldn't let her insult my mother... please... believe me..."

"Cu Xing," Teacher looked at me with sad eyes as he pulled me in for a hug, "Teacher believes you. Teacher... believes you," he rubbed my back. Teacher's touch was the only gentle touch I've ever felt... if Teacher believed me... then I was alright... I... was... alright...