The Trial of Mortal Love - Chapter 3

I thought back to the night I’d saved him.

The black-clad men had all been top fighters, and there had been many of them. Outnumbered, he had lost.

I should have known he came from no ordinary family.

Suddenly, I didn’t want to go with him.

Mortals often said no family was more heartless than an imperial one.

An emperor had palaces full of consorts, dozens upon dozens of women.

But the Taotie were faithful to one mate.

I’d thought that if I loved him and he loved me, that was all we needed.

Even if he was only a short-lived mortal, I wouldn’t mind. I would stay with him for this life and wait for his next.

Now, though, he couldn’t belong to me alone.

Then I would let him go.

It was harder for an emperor than for an ordinary man to have only one partner for life. I didn’t want to force him into it.

So I told him I no longer wanted him.

“Why?” he asked, stunned. “Did I do something wrong?”

There was no reason to hide it.

“My people always have one husband and one wife.”

“You’re an emperor. You must have many consorts. That’s not what I want. Our bond ends here.”

I turned to go, but he caught my hand.

“Wait.”

He didn’t deny the custom of an emperor having a harem. Instead, he said, “I have never married, and I have promised myself to you alone. If one husband and one wife is what you seek, I can give you that.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to force you.”

His grip tightened. “I’m choosing this for myself!”

His feelings seemed so deep and sincere that I couldn’t help being moved. Still, I had another worry.

“Will your family and everyone else accept it?”

He drew me gently into his arms. “I can decide this for myself. I promise you won’t suffer the slightest grievance.”

I caught the faint scent of snow willow on him.

How strange. It was so familiar.

It was the same scent as the divine lord’s.

I knew Taiyuan was bound to investigate me.

On our journey back, we passed through Yuncheng. His people had already uncovered some of my history.

That night, he coaxed me to sleep before going downstairs.

But I wasn’t asleep at all. I wasn’t mortal, and my hearing was excellent. I heard every word they said.

“Your Majesty, she’s an orphan named Tao Tao.”

“Three years ago, she saved a woman from Spring Breeze House. The woman took advantage of her trusting nature, repaid her kindness with betrayal, and sold her to the establishment.”

“…She struck some people, wrecked Spring Breeze House, and fled.”

In my decades among mortals, this was the first person who hadn’t said outright that I was slow in the head. “Trusting nature” was much kinder.

“Those who bullied her can pay with their lives,” Taiyuan said. His voice sounded cold and unfamiliar.

“As for the others, if they want to live, they will keep their mouths shut forever.”

From then on, I had a new identity: Lu Taotao, daughter of the Prince of Yancheng.

Taiyuan said the prince was a trusted official of his. The new identity would protect me better.

The given name was mine; the family name wasn’t. That was all right. Taotie didn’t have family names anyway.

Ten days later, we returned to the palace.

Taiyuan announced that I had saved his life. Officially, I was a daughter born to the Prince of Yancheng’s principal wife.

I was a noble daughter and the king’s benefactor. No one at court objected when he named me queen.

Many palace attendants served me. Taiyuan personally chose my close maid, Qingqing.

She had a round face and two sweet dimples when she smiled.

I liked her especially, because she knew exactly what to say.

“Object? The whole court must be beside itself with joy!” she said.

“His Majesty is twenty-five and has never shown any interest in women. From the queen mother down to the ministers, everyone worried there would be no heir to the throne…”

“And now Heaven has sent Your Majesty to make him fall in love!”

“We’re the ones who should thank Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty, you’re an immortal maiden descended to earth!”

Just listen to her. What a sweet mouth! She knew how to make me happy.

Delighted, I rewarded her by letting her come fishing with me.

When I caught fish, I roasted them and shared them with her.

Qingqing was the first person ever to get food from a Taotie’s mouth.

What made me happiest, though, was that Taiyuan had kept his word. I truly was his only partner.

I liked the mortal world more and more.

If only I hadn’t happened upon the portrait of a woman that Taiyuan had hidden deep inside a secret compartment in a stone wall.