Embrace the Serpent - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On the eve of the marriage alliance, the matrons brought over several volumes of the Fire-Aversion Manual and told me to study them well.

Above all, I was not to displease my future husband.

I nodded and agreed.

But the moment I turned to the first page, my heart lurched, and I snapped the book shut again. The men depicted in the Fire-Aversion Manual all had human bodies and serpent tails.

They were unlike ordinary men-even that part of them… came in twos.

Sure enough, good fortune never fell to me.

After my parents both died, my second uncle inherited the title.

I became an orphan girl living under another’s roof, cautious in every word and deed.

Half a month ago, at a palace banquet, His Majesty suddenly remembered my late father and specially granted me the title of Princess Yongning, sending me to marry the King of Western Shu.

The land of Western Shu was known for its fierce customs. Its people’s most peculiar trait was that, once stirred by desire, they found it difficult to restrain themselves.

They would twine their tails around each other.

Foreign women, however, often died of suffocation beneath that tight coiling.

No one was willing to go to Western Shu for a marriage alliance.

I spent the night in nightmares and terror, then boarded the carriage the next morning.

The journey from Luoyang to Western Shu would take more than a month.

Perhaps afraid I would flee the marriage, the dowry maids watched me without ever letting me out of their sight. And perhaps afraid I would seek death, they carefully inspected everything I ate, wore, and used each day.

I lay in the carriage all day with nothing to do, so I skipped through that Fire-Aversion Manual until I had finished it.

The day we arrived in Western Shu happened to be the Beginning of Summer.

I entered the Princess’s Residence, while the Marriage-Alliance Envoy Delegation went to pay their respects to the King of Western Shu-only to be turned away at the door.

That night, however, I had a dream.

In the dream, a young man with bewitching features and a red mole on the tip of his nose strode toward me.

When he saw me lift my skirts to flee, he revealed a serpent tail and swept it toward me, catching me around the waist.

I fell onto his tail and saw that the scales covering him were black and glossy; when they scraped against my fingernails, they made a piercing sound.

The tip of his tail brushed my waist through the thin gauze of my skirt. His hand gripped my jaw hard, and he licked away my tears.

“Your tears are sweet.” He clicked his tongue, his smiling eyes curving faintly.

When I woke, my waist was sore and my back ached.

The maid said that the people of Western Shu all liked sleeping with their tails hanging from trees; in the end, they did not know how to enjoy comfort as we people of Great Zhou did.

That was why the princess had slept so poorly.

I felt she was wrong, but I was also afraid last night’s nightmare had come true. I checked every part of my body, yet there was not a single mark.

Perhaps it really had only been a dream.

Still uneasy, I then heard that the envoy requested an audience, so I set the matter aside for the moment.

The envoy looked worried. “This King of Western Shu is arrogant and bloodthirsty. We have sought an audience for two days to no avail. I fear he means to break the agreement.”

“The heavy duty of this marriage alliance has fallen upon a woman. This old minister cannot bear it either, but Princess, you must endure all things. Do not anger him.”

I understood him. “My lord, rest assured. A woman’s heart, too, can hold her family, her country, and all under heaven.”

The envoy sighed and left. He seemed not to believe me.

That night, the young man entered my dream again.

He made no attempt to conceal himself, slithering in from outside the room without the slightest sound.

As if sensing something, I opened my eyes. He had already squeezed onto the bed, his enormous serpent tail taking up all the remaining space.

He propped his chin on one hand, holding the Fire-Aversion Manual I had hidden away in the other, leafing through it with great interest.

I snatched the book from him, only to be pulled into his arms instead.

He laughed low in his chest. “So this is what you people of Great Zhou like?”

I pushed him away. “Do not be insolent. I am your Princess Consort of Western Shu!”

“So what if you are the Princess Consort? The King of Western Shu dotes on me dearly. If I ask him for you, he will surely give you to me.”

He pinned both my hands, while his serpent tail wandered restlessly, climbing up along my calves before suddenly stopping at a certain place.

The serpent tail flicked. I trembled despite myself, biting my lip as I glared at him.

He smiled with lingering warmth and breathed against my ear. “Princess Consort, is this what they call teasing from the outside?”

Furious, I opened my mouth to bite him, but he dodged aside.

He leaned in and offered a kiss himself, smiling as he stuffed his tail into my hand for me to vent my anger on.

The scales on his tail were tough. I pinched them hard, yet did not leave even a mark. Instead, it smugly swept across my palm.

Seeing me gnash my teeth, he was delighted beyond measure. “Jiaojiao.”

How did he know my childhood name?

Startled, I woke.

From within the inner chamber, I could faintly hear the maids snoring.

So just now, it had been a dream again.