Sabre Cyclone - Chapitre 7
“He didn’t go anywhere. He was at the bottom of the Jing River, but I don’t know where he is. He hid himself in a very deep place, and few aquatic creatures could find any trace of him.”
Why is this happening?
He gave a slight, cold laugh: "Because he doesn't want to see me, doesn't want to see my mother, he hates us."
"No!" I shook my head firmly: "There are no parents in the world who hate their own children."
"He hates me, I know." He said this with a calm and objective expression, as if he were talking about someone else.
"Why?"
"The reason is simple: I was born to a woman he didn't love. The woman he loved lived at the bottom of the South China Sea, and for that reason, he once aspired to become the Dragon King of the South China Sea. But do you know why the Dragon King of the South China Sea isn't him now, but your father?"
"Why?" I couldn't help but ask again, why is there such a complicated matter?
"It's only because your father was a sea dragon, while my father was a river dragon. Seven hundred years ago, the Heavenly Emperor publicly recruited the Dragon King of the South Sea. They were good friends and went to answer the call together, but he became the new Dragon King of the South Sea simply because your father was a sea dragon."
I remained silent. Isn't it only natural for a sea dragon to be the king of the ocean?
As if he knew exactly what I was thinking, he said, "Do you think this is perfectly natural? Why are there hierarchies from birth? Why can't a river dragon ever become a sea dragon?"
I yawned; I couldn't care less about thinking about that!
He looked at me thoughtfully: "You don't worry about these things because you were born to be the noblest of all dragons."
I chuckled and said, "Even so, I'm still annoyed because I'm skinny and ugly, not even as good-looking as you, the river dragon. My brothers and sisters are all much prettier than me. I'm a complete failure as a dragon."
---janeadam
Reply [14]: He remained silent for a long time before saying, "If my mother were a mermaid goddess, that would be wonderful."
Actually, what he wanted wasn't the pearl; perhaps what he truly desired was the mermaid goddess. He wasn't entirely sure of his own thoughts, just like me.
I began to doubt why I eloped with him. From the first time I met him, I already knew he had ulterior motives.
The clouds in the sky are ever-changing, and perhaps not only is this mortal world like a fleeting cloud, but a person's heart is also like a fleeting cloud. Indescribable, one never knows what thoughts will arise in the next moment.
He sealed my ability to fly, allowing me to freely enter and exit the Jing River.
After I could no longer fly, he didn't need to worry about me running too far, and actually, I didn't intend to run too far myself. Because the male sword was in his hand, and the female sword was by my side, no matter where I ran, he could find me.
Every day I herd a flock of sheep along the Jing River, just like a shepherdess.
Sheep are considered rain gods; when they strike rocks with their horns, thunder and lightning can be heard.
Occasionally, young children would pass by me, and their playful sounds brought me a sense of joy. But they couldn't see my body or hear my voice. I knew that Jingyangzi had tampered with me; he had used many tricks to guard against me, but there was really no need for him to do so.
I still consider him the only man in my life, and that is indeed the case.
He would occasionally bring his beautiful concubines back to stay, and these concubines were of various kinds: some were fox spirits, some were flower goddesses, and some were just fish spirits. He also had ambiguous relationships with human women, which he never hid, and I didn't care at all.
All bodies are fleeting and illusory; I don't know when I came to realize this.
I also sensed that his fleeting happiness was like a mirage, and the happiness he sought only plunged him into a more sorrowful state.
I am different. I am only half dragon and half human. This is what makes me different from any other dragon.
One day, while I was herding sheep by the river, a young scholar came from afar.
I watched him pass by indifferently, assuming that he would be just like anyone else, completely unaware of my presence, and that he would even pass right through me, as if passing through the void.
However, things suddenly took a turn. He inexplicably stopped beside me, stared wide-eyed at me, looked me up and down, and then almost screamed, "Princess Dongting, is it really you?"
I looked around and saw that there was no one else there except me, and of course, there were the sheep. Could he be calling the sheep princesses?
I reached out my hand in confusion. Could he see me?
For so long, he has been the only one who can see me.
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What is love in this world that makes people willing to die for each other?
Flying across the north and south, their old wings have weathered many winters and summers.
Joyful moments, bitter partings, and among them, foolish lovers.
You must have words to say, across ten thousand miles of layered clouds, amidst a thousand mountains covered in evening snow, to whom does this solitary figure turn?
---janeadam
Reply [15]: Three
On the day of Princess Dongting's seventeenth birthday, Empress Wu, the wife of Emperor Gaozong, sent a congratulatory gift.
The gift was a string of pearls from Siam.
The pearls were perfectly round and lustrous, each about an inch in diameter. The person giving the gift said they were pearls collected from the bottom of the South China Sea, transformed from the tears of the mermaid goddess, and were the most precious pearls in the world.
Along with Pearl came a decree. Pearl was both a congratulatory gift and a marriage gift. Three months later, she would have to marry into the Kingdom of Siam in the South China Sea.
Like all the princesses of the Tang Dynasty who were sent to marry foreign rulers, this order fueled Princess Dongting's resentment. She was Emperor Gaozong's youngest sister and the youngest daughter of the great and wise Emperor Taizong.
She thought that her brother's new wife, Empress Wu, would probably marry all the princesses in the palace to the border.
She had heard many rumors about this woman, and she was willing to believe that her existence was a calamity sent by heaven to punish her warlike and bloodthirsty Li family.
After the imperial edict was read, she did not express her gratitude as usual, but instead ran out of the palace in a flash. Many palace servants chased after her and called out to her, but she ignored them and, just like when she was a child, hid herself behind the peony bushes in the artificial hill.
The footsteps of palace maids and eunuchs passed by the peony bushes in a flurry, and whether they did it intentionally or unintentionally, none of them saw the princess hiding behind the flowers.
She sat quietly behind the flowers, looking up at the sky. It was the height of summer, and white clouds drifted across the sky. Someone once said that clouds are the reflection of the world in the sky.
Overwhelmed with sorrow, she wondered why she had to be married off to those barbarian lands. Were Tang princesses only meant for political marriages?
A slender hand gently parted the flowers, and when she looked up, she saw her young and beautiful aunt, the princess, smiling.