Qingnu had no intention of getting married; she wanted dragons, to become a dragon!
Did the Black Ice Platform think they could catch her? Not in their next life!
However, it was unclear if Ying Zheng had told them about her little habits, because this group certainly had a knack for finding her. After hiding for over a year, Qingnu finally found herself cornered at a crossroad. She planted her hands on her hips and barked, "Are you all lunatics? Don't you ever take a break and rest?"
The men looked at each other before bowing deeply to her.
"Queen!"
Her fists clenched.
Her fists were itching for a fight.
Qingnu pinned the men to the ground and gave them a thrashing. About fifteen minutes later, their leader finally arrived at the scene in a panic.
He leapt off his horse and ran toward them, shouting as he approached, "Teacher! Teacher, please calm your anger!"
Qingnu held one man down while pointing at the approaching leader. "You! Are you here for a beating too? Get on the ground..."
The leader frantically waved his hands in explanation. "Teacher, you've misunderstood!"
"Misunderstood?"
Qingnu narrowed her eyes. "If you aren't here for a beating, then what are you here for?"
The leader hurriedly pulled a silk scroll from his robes and handed it to her, saying respectfully, "The King ordered us to give this to you once we found you. His Majesty is about to perform his crown rite in Yongcheng, and he hopes you will be there."
"The King said that regarding everything before... he was wrong."
It was rare for Ying Zheng to admit he was wrong.
When saying this to Qingnu, the leader was practically crawling on the ground, terrified that she might get annoyed, tear up the silk scroll, and refuse to go.
If that happened, they would be completely out of options. After all, they couldn't exactly force her.
Qingnu finished reading the contents of the scroll and kicked the men on the ground who were still struggling to get up. "Scram!"
The men scrambled back to their leader's side.
Qingnu crumpled the silk scroll and stuffed it into her small bag. "Go back and tell him I'll be there! It's good that he knows he was wrong."
With that, she turned to leave.
"Um... Teacher!" the leader called out.
Qingnu looked back, a chill flashing in her eyes as her pupils turned into fierce vertical slits. "Kid, what else do you want to say?"
"We have carriages. We can escort you back."
Qingnu waved her hand. "No need. Your horses aren't as fast as I am! Traveling with you would be boring!"
The men didn't dare force her and could only nod as they watched her depart.
Hongluan landed on Qingnu's shoulder. Before it could speak, Qingnu grabbed it and complained, "They say the clumsy bird flies first, but you can't just fly off every single time! Can't you help me hit people when we fight? It would make us look more intimidating!"
"You silly snake, are you sure I can hit people?"
The bird was exasperated. How big was it? Catching wild rabbits or ritual meat was one thing, but fighting people? The scene would be too chaotic; it couldn't help at all.
Qingnu stared at it for a long time before letting go with a sigh. "When will you be able to turn into a human? Do mountain spirits and monsters really cultivate this slowly? It's been six or seven hundred years! You're still just a bird, and I can't even fatten you up no matter how much I feed you."
"Then when did you turn into a human?" Hongluan asked, hopping back onto her shoulder.
Qingnu did a quick mental calculation and said solemnly, "Probably... the day after Huangdi pulled me out of the Wei River?"
Hongluan's eyes widened.
"The second day? How old were you?"
Qingnu counted on her fingers. "Probably... less than a year old."
Her memories of being a snake were blurry, not nearly as vivid as the twenty-odd years of her previous life. But she clearly remembered that the day after Huangdi lifted her from the Wei River, she woke up in the tribe's camp in human form. The tribespeople hailed it as a miracle and embroidered her likeness onto their totems.
She was the original form of the Youxiong dragon totem!
After Qingnu finished speaking, Hongluan fell silent. After a long while, it hopped toward the edge of her shoulder and turned its head away, refusing to look at her.
Qingnu glanced over. "Sister Bird, are you angry?"
"I refuse to speak to a creature like you!"
The cold war between the snake and the bird lasted until they were almost at Hangu Pass. Every time Hongluan brought back a wild rabbit, it dropped it straight from the sky without caring if Qingnu could catch it. When Qingnu roasted the meat, the bird wouldn't eat it, choosing to find berries instead. Even when sleeping at night, it refused to stay in Qingnu's arms.
On this day, Hongluan was about to go out and find meat for Qingnu again when she grabbed it.
"What are you doing?" Hongluan squawked.
Qingnu forced its small head around to face her. "Sister Bird, I was wrong! This silly snake shouldn't have shown off her talent. Please, be the bigger bird and don't be mad at this little snake, okay?"
Hearing the apology, Hongluan grew flustered.
"You... why are you apologizing!"
"Eh?" Qingnu tilted her head. "Didn't I make you angry?"
Seeing her dazed expression, Hongluan muttered reluctantly, "No... I just feel useless. After all these years, I can't even transform. Other than finding food for you, I can't help with anything."
"Hongluan!!" Moved, Qingnu pulled the bird into a hug.
Hongluan shook its head and shouted, "Agh, stop hugging me, this is so sappy..."
Qingnu kept hugging it, murmuring, "Even though you really can't help with anything besides finding food, I won't look down on you! Let's spend the next few thousand years together..."
As soon as those words left her mouth, Hongluan pecked Qingnu's earlobe.
"You stupid snake! Go to hell!!"
"This snake wants to live for a few thousand more years, I don't want to die..."
Bickering all the way, the snake and the bird climbed over the small paths of Hangu Pass and headed toward Yongcheng.
Yongcheng had been the capital of the State of Qin centuries ago, long before Yueyang or Xianyang. The ancestral temples of Qin were all located there. The crown rites of successive Qin rulers were also held in this city.
Inside the ancestral temple, Ying Zheng offered sacrifices to his ancestors. He walked out alone and turned to look at Afang and the others waiting outside. He asked in a low voice, "Is there still no news of the Teacher?"
Afang shook her head. "A message came from the Black Ice Platform. They saw her, but they couldn't convince her to return with them. However, the Teacher said she would come! Please put your mind at ease, Your Majesty. Perhaps she has already arrived in Yongcheng and we simply don't know it."
Hearing this, Ying Zheng sighed and looked at the others.
"Is everything I asked you to prepare ready?"
At his question, everyone bowed and replied, "Rest assured, Sire. Everything in Yongcheng is prepared! With the Prime Minister in Xianyang, nothing can go wrong!"
"The Prime Minister again..." Ying Zheng sighed softly. "Gua Ren understands."
He dismissed his attendants, leaving only Afang to follow him. As they walked through the palace grounds of Yongcheng, they suddenly spotted a young girl dressed in a green quju sitting atop a palace wall.
She lightly waved a piece of ritual meat, her voice clear and soft.
"Ying Zheng, King of Qin! How have you been lately?"
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