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 the person I’d been thinking about was the Crown Prince of Qi. If I hadn’t already 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, and I lost my chance to marry him.”
“Over the years, whenever I had the opportunity, I would visit Qi Kingdom. Not for any other reason, 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.”
If power can make him happy, I’m willing to fight for it.”
I stared at her, my heart complex. Weren’t we actually very similar? For An Jin, I would also fight for power.
“So 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, I couldn’t help but feel angry and frustrated. Just for Afu and the Marquis of Cen, I must stop her from making another mistake.
She said she would stop me from passing the second trial, which is the Bird’s Choice, at all costs. Que’er and An Jin had already learned the news that this so-called divine bird was a white peacock with a unique golden crest, worshipped for generations in the temple.
Therefore, raising peacocks not only shows devotion to the Phoenix God Bird but also symbolizes hopes for good fortune. Although many people raise peacocks, 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.
