Xu Yongde had once served closely beside the late emperor and so he knew well the hidden truth behind the legend.
That so-called dragon had first appeared when the late emperor was only eleven years old, during a grand palace celebration attended by all the civil and military officials. In the midst of the clamor and the golden glow of the lanterns, a strange creature crawled into the hall, straight toward the young prince.
Upon its head were two budding horns, glimmering faintly in the lamplight. The emperor of that time rose in astonishment, and the entire court gasped. The creature slithered up the boy’s leg, climbed to his shoulder, and affectionately rubbed its head against his cheek as if it were greeting an old friend.
The vast hall fell utterly silent. The courtiers exchanged uneasy glances, recalling the ancient tradition of the Ling Dynasty, of divine beasts descending to bless the chosen ruler. The creature had the shape of a dragon; could it be a heavenly omen, a sign that the gods themselves favored the Great Xuan Empire?
From that day on, the ordinary prince was elevated overnight, granted the title of Prince Xiao.
Yet the young prince had never been particularly gifted. It took him three full days to memorize an essay barely five hundred words long.
Worse still, he was fond of wine and women, often seen reeking of alcohol and perfume. His indulgence nearly cost him his title several times, for the reigning emperor was furious at his lack of discipline.
But the boy bore a divine sign. Whenever the emperor’s anger rose, that dragon would appear, coiling around the prince, its scales shifting from green to violet. Then it would open its blood-red mouth and spit out a single crystal stone.
The stone possessed miraculous properties. Anyone gravely ill who held it would recover completely within days. Thus, each time the emperor’s wrath flared, it was soothed by the creature’s gifts.
Later, whenever calamities befell the Great Xuan, floods, droughts, or earthquakes, the dragon would let out a mournful cry that echoed through the palace, foretelling disaster. Thanks to those warnings, the empire escaped ruin time and again.
One year, during a fierce war with the barbarian tribes, the empire’s armies struggled, the outcome uncertain. Then, one night, the dragon raised its head and uttered a single word,
“Victory.”
The emperor was shaken. Three months later, triumphant reports poured in from the borders, Great Xuan had indeed prevailed.
Overjoyed, the emperor asked the dragon what reward it desired.
Resting its chin upon the prince’s shoulder, the creature rasped in a hoarse voice, “Crown Prince.”
The emperor hesitated. But in the end, he named the young prince as heir.
After ascending the throne, however, the new emperor accomplished little. Taxes rose year after year, and he surrounded himself with flattering ministers.
He neglected court affairs, drowning in wine and beauty. At one time, he had over a hundred sons and daughters, scattered among his many consorts.
And yet, there were two things the late emperor cherished more than life itself.
The first was his eldest son, the Crown Prince, his only true concern in his later years. The second was his dragon.
He reigned for fifty-two years, forty-one of which he spent side by side with the creature. When he was not surrounded by his concubines, he was with the dragon, eating, sleeping, and even hunting together.
During one autumn hunt, the emperor was mauled by a tiger. When he awoke, the first thing he did was not to check his own torn flesh, but to search anxiously for the dragon. Seeing that it had lost a single scale, he wept with grief.
The emperor loved the dragon more than he loved his family, his throne, more than anything in the world.
So when the current emperor, his own son, Fu Chui, rose in rebellion and pressed a sword to his father’s throat, asking, “Will you save your son or your dragon?”
The Crown Prince knelt, tears streaming, begging for mercy. But the late emperor turned away and clutched the dragon in his arms.
Fu Chui killed the Crown Prince before his father’s eyes. Then he asked again, “Will you protect yourself, or your dragon?”
The late emperor said nothing. He picked up the dagger from the table and pressed it to his own neck.
Before he could act, the dragon struck him unconscious. Its once-bright eyes were now a deep, dull gray. Staring straight at Fu Chui, it calmly reached up, snapped off its own horns, and lay down, motionless.
The new emperor watched in silence. He sat outside the palace for a full day and night, no one knowing what thoughts haunted him.
But the dragon’s sacrifice was in vain. Fu Chui spared no one. The late emperor was imprisoned atop a high tower and left to starve to death.
When Xu Yongde was brought before the emperor, trembling in fear, he was asked, “What was that dragon, truly?”
Shaking, Xu confessed everything.
The creature, he said, was not a dragon at all, but a slender python from the royal hunting grounds. During one hunt, the young prince had shot down an eagle that was carrying the snake away. Miraculously, his arrow struck true. The python escaped, diving into a pond.
Some time later, the creature obtained a stroke of fate, it swallowed a drop of golden blood from the wounded Dragon King of the rivers. That single drop transformed it: horns sprouted from its head, and it gained a measure of power.
Out of gratitude, it returned to the prince who had once saved it and thus began the legend of the divine dragon.
The late emperor, foolish as he was, betrayed his people and his kin but to the python, he gave his truest heart.
After hearing this, Fu Chui began hunting obsessively. He killed hawks to save snakes, slew foxes only to release rabbits, drove tigers into traps and fed deer to wolves. Within a year, he had encountered several spirits and monsters.
A fox spirit entered his dream one night, weeping tears of blood, cursing him to suffer a hundred illnesses and die rotting in the wilderness.
The emperor, furious, struck the fox down in the dream, cleaving its spirit apart.
Another time, while traveling in disguise, a flock of bloodthirsty hawks swooped from the skies. Fu Chui frowned, drew his bow, and shot every last one from the heavens.
Soon after, a tiger demon sought revenge, slaughtering villagers by the dozens. Their vengeful spirits haunted the capital, crying for justice. Enraged, the emperor exterminated the entire tiger clan, ten generations of them.
It was said that humanity punishes nine generations; Fu Chui’s wrath annihilated ten.
Only when the Daoist priests of the Xuan Temple begged him to stop did a few tiger cubs escape into the wilderness. Since then, no wild tiger had ever been seen near the capital again.
Xu Yongde shuddered as he finished recounting the tale. Gazing at the emperor beneath the pavilion, he bowed deeply and said, trembling,
“Your Majesty is wise and valiant. Even without divine omens, you can subdue the demons and rule the empire. You are blessed by Heaven itself, your very presence makes evil tremble and reveal its true form. Those who see such power mistake it for a sign of divine favor.”
Fu Chui chuckled softly. “You do know how to flatter.”
He rose and walked toward the imperial garden. Somewhere in the distance, he heard the faint call of a bird. Looking up, he spotted a dark shape fluttering among the branches.
“Omens,” he murmured, “are nothing more than toys to comfort the hearts of men.”
The palace was silent and cold. Night deepened, its chill seeping into the bones.
Fu Chui watched the bird settle on a high branch and motioned to a eunuch. “Go see what it is. Don’t frighten it.”
The eunuch climbed the tree and soon descended, kneeling with a trembling hand extended. “Your Majesty… there was no bird. Only this.”
In his palm lay a brittle, dried leaf.
Fu Chui looked down. The leaf had already crumbled into several pieces.
“Place it in the garden,” he said softly.
Their footsteps faded away. The vast palace returned to its haunting stillness. Other than a few eunuchs and maids, there seemed to be no living creature left within its walls.
Far away, in Song Village, in the home of the Yuan family,
Within a small cave, a faint light flickered. For such a hidden place, even that little glow was precious.
Yuan Rutan knew that dawn had come. He ought to head into the county soon to continue treating patients.
But the young dragon was weak by nature, and after staying up late the night before, his eyes ached with fatigue.
He tried to lift himself but managed only to raise his tail stiffly into the air.
Sighing, Yuan Rutan cast a spell and took two pieces of peach crystal cake from a cloth pouch. After chewing slowly, he finally felt alert again.
He glanced at the carved wooden dragon he usually sat upon, it was starting to smell faintly musty.
Pressing his lips together, he thought for a moment. The two patients from yesterday should be mostly healed by now. If each paid him fifty copper coins, perhaps he could finally afford to order a new dragon seat.
Before leaving, he cast one last glance toward his family’s distant farmland. Sensing no trespassers, he relaxed, spread his wings, and flew toward the county town.
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Little DragonChapter 2 · Selling FishChapter 3 · DraughtChapter 4 · Giving LifeChapter 5 · MeritsChapter 6 · Dragon can summon Rain?!Chapter 7 · Wicked Dragon?Chapter 8 · Dragon likes sweetChapter 9 · Dragon WineChapter 10 · Snow Mountain ElixirChapter 11 · The official forced the dragon to rebelChapter 12 · Ministers kneel down and confess their sinsChapter 13 · Court struggle, faith is the dragonChapter 14 · Why do others have auspicious signs, but I don’t?Chapter 15 · Corrupt officialsChapter 16 · The dark side of officialdomChapter 17 Part 1 · Transforming into a golden dragon in full view of all!Chapter 17 Part 2 · Transforming into a golden dragon in full view of all!Chapter 18 · Wrath of the True DragonChapter 19 · Give him a ninth-rank official position!Chapter 20 · The days of being loved by Longlong have begunChapter 21 · Pamper the little dragon, finally full!Chapter 22 · It’s perfectly normal for humans to like dragonsChapter 23 · Avenge Longlong against corrupt officialsChapter 24 · Is being an official like the Dragon King difficult?Chapter 25 · Dragon-shaped woodChapter 26 · Emperor felt the vibrancy of lifeChapter 27 · Do you like the obedient and affectionate little dragon?Chapter 28 · Your Majesty’s PastChapter 29 · A ray of light in a noisy worldChapter 30 · Let’s give the dragon a lake!Chapter 31 · Dragon, don’t run aroundChapter 32 · YaunBaoChapter 33 · Recruiting soldiers and buying horsesChapter 34 · Expand Dragon armyChapter 35 · Longlong is in a dilemmaChapter 36 · Being a king is difficultChapter 37 · Attended the morning court session.Chapter 38 · Secretly feeding the dragonChapter 39 · The restless little golden dragonChapter 40 · Your Majesty foreshadowed thisChapter 41 · Fostering teacher student bondsChapter 42 · Now that the dragon has an official positionChapter 43 · If a dragon wants to become an official, why not touch it?Chapter 44 · Longlong enters officialdomChapter 45 · The Emperor’s disciple?Chapter 46 · Long day’s laborChapter 47 · Being a dragon is comfortableChapter 48 · Thank you, YuanbaoChapter 49 · Very sleepyChapter 50 · The Dragon Who Saves the WorldChapter 51 · Strange storiesChapter 52 · Dragon God saying it wanted to eat peach crystal cakesChapter 53 · The tree is aliveChapter 54 · We can just hold a family feastChapter 55 · What kind of worship?Chapter 56 · Don’t be naughtyChapter 57 · Why does Teacher always avoid my human formChapter 58 · I will be an indifferent learning machineChapter 59 · Jinlong made a fortuneChapter 60 · Ten thousand taelsChapter 61 · FamilyChapter 62 · Will you accompany the dragon?Chapter 63 · What did you hunt, sir?Chapter 64 · From fifth rank to proper fourth rankChapter 65 · Orange PeelChapter 66 · Great Xuan may have enough to eatChapter 67 · Poisoned GrainsChapter 68 · The balance of the mortal world is about to changeChapter 69 · Teacher’s lap truly was very comfortable.Chapter 70 · Caught the little dragonChapter 71 · Only he alone could see that golden lightChapter 72 · Great King must not declineChapter 73 · The top scholarChapter 74 · I do not like other defying meChapter 75 · Great Xuan truly has quite a number of martial expertsChapter 76 · What was there to fear?Chapter 77 · Then Teacher can raise the dragonChapter 78 · Little Dragon Steals Peaches.Chapter 79 · Resentment and Poison.Chapter 80 · Male PartnerChapter 81 · How about choosing a human?Chapter 82 · Young Lord Zhen has a friendChapter 83 · Morning DewChapter 84 · Earth DragonsChapter 85 · Greetings, Your MajestyChapter 86 · Then what am I allowed to do?Chapter 87 · What exactly Happened?Chapter 88 · Praise The golden Dragon!Chapter 89 · ComplexionChapter 90 · Gift is almost readyChapter 91 · Surely Sir would no longer refuse himChapter 92 · Seven YearsChapter 93 · She is really just a childChapter 94 · Good YuanbaoChapter 95 · Ten Thousand year old JadeChapter 96 · They were overwhelmed with griefChapter 97 · Villain: So what if I use magic?Chapter 98 · The Dragon Clan MeetingChapter 99 · The Big reveal!Chapter 100 · The prototype of His MajestyChapter 101 · Autumn HuntChapter 102 · This painting was created by the Emperor’s consortChapter 103 · They gave themselves away and caught the plush rabbit doctor.Chapter 104 · The Rabbit gangChapter 105 · The scars on the fox spirit’s handsChapter 106 · Wang JinzhongChapter 107 · I don’t believe the White Tiger doesn’t protect its foodChapter 108 · Karmic SinChapter 109 · Yuanbao, would you take me a thousand li away?Chapter 110 · Pear FrostChapter 111 · If Yuanbao ever loses sight of the road ahead, then come find meChapter 112 · Let’s take a step at a time..Chapter 113 · The imperial marriage was announced to the public.Chapter 114 · The army, navy, and air force are preparing to attack the Yujing River.Chapter 115 · The attack on Yujing River-humans should not spread rumors!Chapter 116 · King Golden Dragon ascends the throneChapter 117 · Sir, would you like a bowl of dragon soup?Chapter 118 · Wedding celebrationChapter 119 · Establish the Demon RealmChapter 120 · Lord of the Demon RealmChapter 121 · Flourishing and decliningChapter 122 · The Ling Dynasty was defeated, and father and son fought amongst themselvesChapter 123 · The gentleman’s is dragon-themedChapter 124 · People from HeavenChapter 125 · The truth behind the White TigerChapter 126 · Azure Dragon, WarChapter 127 · A great war is about to break outChapter 128 · Victory in the great battleChapter 129 · Side Story (1)Chapter 130 · Side Story (2)Chapter 131 · Side Story (3)Chapter 132 · Side Story (4)Chapter 133 · Side Story (4)Chapter 134 · Side Story (5)Chapter 135 · Side Story (6)Chapter 136 · Side story (7)Chapter 137 · Side Story (8)Chapter 138 · Side Story (9)Chapter 139 · Side Story (10)Chapter 140 · Side Story (11)Chapter 141 · Side Story (12)Chapter 142 · Side Story (13)Chapter 143 · Side Story (14)Chapter 144 · Side Story (15)Chapter 145 · Side Story (16)Chapter 146 · Side Story (17)Chapter 147 · Side Story (18)Chapter 148 · Side Story (19)Chapter 149 · Side Story (20)Chapter 150 · Side Story (21)Chapter 151 · Side Story (22)