Her words struck me like thunder. Xia Zhiyuan was a parricide who fled Qi Kingdom, and An Jin was a traitor long sought by Qi Kingdom. If the people of Nan Rui learned of this, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Are you threatening me?” I murmured.
“You threatened me first,” she replied, calming down and releasing her grip. “If you can unconditionally protect An Jin, why can’t I protect him?”
She turned, walking slowly. “I met him when I was fourteen, but we missed our chance. At the time, I didn’t know his identity. When I first officially visited Qi Kingdom at eighteen, I discovered he was the Crown Prince. Had I not been married with a child, I would have begged my father to let me marry him as a royal consort. Alas, fate had other plans.”
“Over the years, whenever I had the opportunity, I would visit Qi Kingdom just to see him. Year after year, I suppressed my longing and infatuation, letting no one discover it, including him.” She looked melancholic. “This internal strife in Qi Kingdom made him lose much, but inadvertently fulfilled me. Now—I just want him to be happy.”
I stared at her, my heart heavy. Weren’t we actually very similar? For An Jin, I would also fight for power. Was this truly a fate inherited through blood?
“A Yao,” she said seriously, “I will do everything I can. This time, I truly didn’t arrange anything. But next time will be different. I’ll do everything to prevent the divine bird from choosing you.”
Thinking about this filled me with anger and frustration. Just for Afu and the Marquis of Cen, I must stop her from making another mistake.
She vowed to stop me from passing the second trial, the Bird’s Choice. Que’er and An Jin already learned that this divine bird was a white peacock with a unique golden crest, worshipped for generations in the temple.
The people of Nanrui believe in the Phoenix God Bird, and peacocks are respected as its messengers. Raising peacocks shows devotion to the Phoenix God Bird and symbolizes hopes for good fortune. The golden-crested white peacock in the temple is said to be particularly spiritual, able to choose the destined monarch from among the people.
Originally, only I was to participate in this selection.
