Chapter 11

The Oath of Bihua

Unfortunately, just after I parted ways with Kai Xuan Jun, I encountered Second Sister in the corridor. She looked at me suspiciously. “What are you doing out here again?”

I replied, “I miss our parents, and I can’t sleep. Second Sister, can’t you sleep either? Why don’t we walk around the yard?”

“I have things to take care of. You go ahead and wander.” Second Sister looked troubled, but was much gentler than before.

Seeing her hurried departure, I quickly climbed onto the roof and made my way toward the dungeon. Since the spider demon incident, I had been practicing the heavenly ascension technique, and my speed in leaving Zhi Chao Palace had improved significantly.

But to my surprise, when I arrived at the dungeon in the western part of the palace, I saw Second Sister’s figure again. She quickly entered the dungeon, and half an hour later, two jailers escorted her out. One of them said submissively, “Your Highness, please rest assured. Before the execution tomorrow, we will make sure to get all the information.”

Second Sister said, “Keep an eye on him, don’t let anything slip.”

The two jailers repeatedly assured her, and then they started whispering. I hid behind a tree, listening to their conversation:

“Did you see? The Second Princess and Prince Chenzhi have completely torn their faces. It turns out the emperor was killed by Prince Chenzhi. Sigh, human nature is terrifying...”

“Yeah, now the emperor is replaced by the former king, and we, the Sùzhāo clan, are in the dark. It seems like the young lady will have to rule. Looks like we won’t have a good life for decades to come.”

“Shh, what young lady? Soon, she’ll be the new king. Be careful, the walls have ears. You might end up sweeping the streets!”

“Whether sweeping the streets or guarding the death prison, I honestly can’t tell which is worse.”

“Speaking of the death prison, this is a real turn of events. I never thought that one day I would be guarding Master Chen’s cell, and helping the second princess torture him. I really don’t know what he’s thinking. He was already on par with the two princesses in Sui Zhao, yet he still wants to help the Heavenly Realm eliminate us. Seems that immortals truly have a special advantage.”

“Enough, with someone like him, he’s dead tomorrow. Look at the torture instruments the second princess gave us. You probably haven’t seen this ice-spike whip before. If it strikes, the flesh would be ripped off in strips. The spikes automatically embed themselves in the flesh, and when some are pulled out, new ones grow back, so if this continues, it’s truly worse than death. But I think this Fu Chen is really deserving of it! He killed our king and queen. Let’s go, let’s get in there and beat him until he confesses everything!”

Just as they were about to enter, I jumped down and walked over: “Hey, both of you.”

“Ah, the little princess.”

“Greetings, little princess.”

“Second sister is worried about you two, so she sent me to personally interrogate Fu Chen.” I stretched out my hand. “Give me the whip.”

“This...” one of the guards hesitated.

“What ‘this’?” I shouted, scaring the guards into handing over the whip. “Don’t follow me in, or if you overhear any state secrets, no amount of heads will be enough to chop off.”

Fortunately, second sister hadn’t ascended the throne yet, and they didn’t know who to listen to. With a little persuasion, I managed to enter smoothly. By the time I reached the deepest part of the prison, it was almost the time for the first light of dawn. The prison was silent, only the moonlight like water poured through the window, casting silver bars onto the ground.

At last, I saw Fu Chen in the deepest part of the prison. The celestial star of the day shone particularly brightly, bathing him in its cold and clear light. He slouched in a corner, with his hands and feet shackled by heavy chains. His robe was torn in a hundred places, revealing bruises from being tortured. When he heard footsteps, he didn’t make a sound.

I grabbed the bars and called out, “Brother...”

He suddenly looked up, staring at me in confusion. A streak of blood was at the corner of his mouth, but no matter how disheveled he looked, he still exuded a cold, fragrant scent: “Weiwei... why...”

I glanced behind me, quickly used the key to open the cell door, knelt down in front of him, not knowing what to do. “Aren’t you going to explain anything? Just going to wait to die?”

He smiled, “I’ve explained, but no one believes me.”

“You’re an immortal, with powerful magic. You can escape!”

“No, if I escape, it means I truly have a guilty conscience. Then, you will be disappointed in me.”

His way of thinking almost made me dizzy with anger. “Does it matter if you disappoint me? Your life is more important! Even if you’re an immortal, you don’t have nine lives. You’re just arguing with yourself in front of a mirror!”

He smiled gently again, but only said one word: “It matters.”

“You’re crazy, you’re really crazy!” I grabbed his hand and said seriously, “I believe you. No matter what you say, I believe you. So next time, if something like this happens, don’t think about what I might do. Just escape first, understand?”

Fu Chen was stunned, staring at me without blinking. I knew my brother must be deeply moved by what I said, but I couldn’t help myself and sighed, “Why didn’t you tell us earlier that you were an immortal?”

“To be honest, I only discovered it after meeting my current master. It was the first time I left Sui Zhao. He told me that my biological parents had erased my memories and abandoned me in the Nine Provinces for some reason. Before discovering the truth, I couldn’t reveal my identity.”

“Who is your master?”

“He holds a very high position. I can’t say.”

I tested, “Could he be an immortal lord?”

Fu Chen silently shook his head. I said, “Could he be an immortal emperor? That’s not possible, right?”

He still shook his head.

“Then... it must be a god, right? No way.” Seeing Fu Chen remain silent, I was momentarily stunned and waved my hand, “Stop teasing me, I don’t believe it.”

He didn’t answer. With little time left, I didn’t press the matter further. After checking that no one was coming, I opened the chains on Fu Chen’s hands and feet with the key.

The two guards were asleep. I was about to open the cage when Fu Chen stopped my hand. “Don’t. You can’t stop here.”

“Better than you dying!”

“But...”

“But what? If you don’t get out now, you really will die. If you die, I’ll be very sad. Do you want that? Stop being so stubborn.” I pushed his hand away, quickly unlocked the cage, and knocked a few times in the place that Kaixuan had told me about, finding a hidden passage.

By the time we escaped the prison, it was almost the second watch, and there was still no word from Kaixuan. It seemed second sister was determined to execute Fu Chen. I sighed, “It looks like you really can’t stay in Sui Zhao anymore. Run.”

But he didn’t move. “Weiwei.”

“Hmm?”

“Come with me.”

“I can’t. I’m the daughter of the king, I can’t leave Sui Zhao.” Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, I was in a hurry, “Stop being willful. I can’t go with you. Hurry up, if you’re late, we won’t escape.”

Fu Chen said, “I will come back. One day, I will become very powerful, return to Sui Zhao, and prove my innocence.”

I smiled, “Good! That’s the brother I know!”

“I’ll also learn the Water Control Technique,” Fu Chen took out the little ice sculpture of a deer I gave him and waved it in front of me. “When I return, I’ll make an ice sculpture for you, and we’ll enjoy the moon by the Luo River, drink wine under the peach trees. If you want to fly, you don’t need to control water or ride the Shadowbird. I can carry you, flying through the clouds, traveling thousands of miles a day, visiting the most beautiful rivers and mountains in the world.”

“Good!” I didn’t expect my brother to be so romantic. I was touched and a little tearful. “I just hope you don’t marry someone else so soon.”

“I won’t. So, until I return, you can’t marry anyone.”

“Then come back soon.”

“Okay.”

I extended my pinky. Just like when we were children, he hooked it with mine twice. I said, “It’s a pinky swear, and if you break it, you’re a little dog.”

He raised his eyes and looked at me seriously: “Weiwei, I like you.”

Those eyes were filled with the light of the stars and the moon, yet they were even more dazzling than the sky itself. I had read countless poems and literature as a child, describing eyes as “cutting autumn water” or “dazzling autumn waves,” but none of them could capture the beauty of his eyes at this moment. I couldn’t help but become a little entranced, thinking how beautiful my older brother was. I smiled and said, “I like you too, brother.”

“My liking for you is different from yours,” he suddenly held my hand, lowered his head, and said in a low voice, “My liking for you is the love between a man and a woman.”

“Ah?” That was just a subconscious reaction; in truth, I had stopped thinking. His sudden closeness made my cheeks heat up. I stammered, “W-what kind of joke is this...”

“This is no joke. From the beginning, I knew how I felt, and I’ve never had the slightest hesitation.” He lowered his gaze, his long eyelashes unable to hide the emotions that seemed to burst out. In the end, all he did was lightly kiss the back of my hand. “I will come back and marry you.”

In the clear moonlight and gentle breeze, his figure turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared into the misty clouds.

I suddenly gripped my own hand.

What just happened? Did he say… he wanted to marry me? Was it just a hallucination? At that moment, my body felt as if something had pulled me strongly. No, this wasn’t the time for wild thoughts. I shook my head, clearing my mind, and hurried down the nearby alley, trying to return to Zichao Palace. But just then, I heard someone shouting from behind: “Fù Chénzhī is over there! Hurry, catch him!”

A large group of prison guards pointed at me and yelled. I looked up at the sky and didn’t see Fù Chénzhī’s figure, so I shouted at them: “Go back, Fù Chénzhī isn’t here!”

But they all rushed towards me, surrounding me. “What are you doing? Are you trying to rebel?” I asked.

“Fù Chénzhī, you betrayed the country and your family, and now you’re trying to escape? Come with us!”

“Quickly, inform the Second Princess! This traitor is trying to flee.”

I pointed at myself: “Are you drunk or under some spell? Look carefully at who I am...”

No, my fingers felt wrong. I lowered my head and saw that my hands had become much larger, my fingers long and defined. This hand, though not mine, felt familiar. It was Fù Chénzhī’s hand. Moreover, I realized that the ground beneath me seemed farther than usual, likely because my legs had grown longer. I touched my face, and the baby fat had disappeared, replaced by sharp and slender contours. When I traced my forehead, nose, mouth, and chin, it was clear—this was not my own face.

Finally, before they took me back to the cell, I saw my reflection in a water pool by the roadside—I had really turned into Fù Chénzhī!

Back in the darkness, one of the prison guards roughly pushed me to the ground, spat on me, and rolled up his sleeves. “Fù Chénzhī, you dog, where have you been all these years? Who have you been meeting?”

At this moment, if I said I was the Little Princess, no one would believe me; instead, it would only anger them further. Who had turned me into this? A chill ran down my spine as I said, “Go call the Second Princess. I want to speak with her directly.”

“Bah, the Second Princess is very busy. She doesn’t have time to see you! Are you confessing or not? If not, we’ll take action!” The guard kicked me hard in the leg, making me tremble in pain. “Speak! Who are you conspiring with? Who else is coming to Zichao?”

“I confess, I confess, I’ll answer honestly.” I raised my hand in surrender.

I had to make something up, and the lie had to sound convincing. However, before I could say anything, the two guards who had escorted the Second Princess out earlier came in. One of them held an ice-spike whip and stopped in front of me, shaking the whip. The spikes collided with a ringing sound, glowing blue in the dark.

He sneered, “How can it be that easy? This shameless little pretty boy deserves to die a hundred times. Let me whip him once first to enjoy myself.”

“Big brother, this joke isn’t funny.” I stepped back, “If you beat me, I might die. What will you say when the Second Princess finds my corpse in the morning?”

He didn’t respond but simply raised the whip and struck me. How sharp were the ice spikes? Before I even felt the pain and cried out, I saw blood splattering on the wall, mixed with bits of red flesh...

I thought, no matter how much time passes, this night would remain the most unbearable memory. I fainted several times during it, only to be revived by saltwater. A few times, I even considered biting my tongue to end it all, but the guards held my jaw shut and forced something into my mouth to block it. I couldn’t even crash into the wall or slit my wrists with the ice spikes without being stopped from bleeding... In the end, after that night, decapitation in public would be just the final breath.

The next morning, when the first light of dawn spread across the land, I was locked in a cart and pushed toward the market. Along the way, nearly all of Zichao’s citizens gathered by the roadside, throwing vegetables and eggs at me. Tsk, what a waste. The executioners were sharpening their knives, and the Second Princess was surrounded by ministers like stars around the moon, sitting on the high platform. Kaixuan Jun stood beside her, looking as nervous as ever.

I had thought that after the pain had numbed, I would feel nothing, but after all these hours, the wounds on my body still hurt terribly. What emotional pain, the grief of losing my parents—under such extreme physical torment, everything had become numb. I just wanted to die quickly, to end it all.

When I was forced onto the execution platform, someone bound my hands and made me kneel in front of the Qinglong axe. As my head was pressed down, I heard Kaixuan Jun sighing to the Second Princess: “Liuying, Master Fù has committed a great betrayal, but I had a gentlemanly relationship with him. I really can’t bear to witness this.”

The Second Princess replied, “This has nothing to do with you. If you don’t want to watch, then don’t.”

Kaixuan Jun said, “Alas, I just wish Lord Fu a safe journey.”

It was like suddenly being splashed with cold water, and my numb mind became clear.

Why didn’t Kaixuan Jun say this to me back then? What did he say at that time?

— “Lord Fu has the air of towering mountains and flowing rivers, how could he harm himself and his parents?”

Yes, that’s what he said!

The person who orchestrated everything was none other than Kaixuan Jun. This man is truly a smiling demon, sending me to the prison to rescue Fu Chenzhi, but when I returned, he made me take Fu Chenzhi’s form, only to use me as a pawn and eliminate two problems in one stroke. How malicious! As the great sword hung over my head, I suddenly raised my head and shouted loudly, “Second sister, I am Luo Wei! When we were young, eldest sister once hit you, and then you peed on her bed!”

The whole place fell silent, and the officials were all speechless.

My second sister looked incredibly embarrassed. She slammed the armrest of her seat, angrily saying, “Fu Chenzhi, you really have some guts! You heard some childish nonsense from Luo Wei and are trying to impersonate her here?”

Kaixuan Jun, show your true fox tail. Go persuade the second sister, tell her to hurry up and kill me, and then I can reveal more secrets, telling her: if you don’t believe me, go find Luo Wei and see if she has disappeared.

Unexpectedly, I miscalculated. Kaixuan Jun was indeed anxious, but what he said was, “Wait, Liuying, this person cannot be killed! She might really be the little princess!”

My second sister hesitated, “Why do you say that?”

Kaixuan Jun replied, “Last night, the little princess came to find me, saying she wanted to see her brother one last time before he was executed. I, in a moment of weakness, gave her a transformation talisman so she could turn into a jailer and visit Lord Fu. I feared she would use it to order his release, so I specifically chose a talisman that could only transform her into a man. So, if this person really is the little princess, disguising herself as Fu Chenzhi, and willing to endure his punishment, it’s not impossible…”

What is Kaixuan Jun even talking about? I don’t know what his goal is, but I am sure of one thing: he was already prepared for this, and I can’t fight him. I saw him step forward at my second sister’s gesture, pulling out a talisman and tapping it on my head. A burst of light surrounded me, and I felt my body suddenly shrink significantly.

Countless people gasped, and my second sister stood up from her seat, crying out, “Weiwei!”

It seems that I’ve changed back. However, due to the numerous injuries on my body, I was still unable to move. My second sister swiftly flew to my side and held me on her lap, her emotions incredibly agitated, “Why is it you? Where is Fu Chenzhi? Where did he go?”

I couldn’t speak, only closing my eyes and gritting my teeth as I endured the excruciating pain on my body. Soon, someone came to carry me away. Everything in front of me became blurry, and I didn’t know how much time had passed before I heard my second sister angrily rebuking someone.

Then, a man replied in terror, “To the second princess, after you left the other night, the little princess came to visit His Highness Fu Chenzhi under the pretense of interrogation. We waited outside for an hour and, seeing that she didn’t come out, we grew worried and returned to the prison to inspect. To our surprise, we saw the little princess... in there with him...”

My second sister asked, “With him doing what?”

The man said, “I... I really can’t say...”

My second sister scolded, “Speak!”

I forced my eyes open, turned my head, and finally saw the person kneeling before my second sister—he was one of the jailers who had beaten me with a whip. He knelt before the officials, looking at me with beady eyes, then dropped his head and kowtowed loudly, “The little princess and His Highness had an affair. They were in the prison together the day before yesterday. When we came in, the little princess told us to leave quickly and let them finish. She also told us to pretend we saw nothing, and if we didn’t, we’d be implicated and punished!”