The Nine Heavens, Main Palace.
Inside the palace, singing and dancing filled the air as cups and glasses clinked in revelry. A few svelte immortals danced gracefully on stage, their light water sleeves lightly brushing past Shi Xuan’s cheeks and releasing a burst of fragrance.
“General, come on,” an immortal giggled, covering her mouth. As the dance concluded, she twisted her graceful waist and retired from the stage.
“Alright, where are you taking me?” Shi Xuan’s cheeks were flushed red. She drained her fruit wine in one gulp and staggered out of the hall, following the faint scent.
“I’m saying, the Gouchen Army is swift and fierce. In just one month, they neutralized the Northwest Waste—a wild land for ten thousand years—and accomplished great feats. The Heavenly Emperor held a banquet for three days because of this, which really is…” A heavenly soldier clad in armor let out a wine burp. Unable to finish his sentence, he simply raised a thumb.
“Your loyalty lies elsewhere, doesn’t it? Aren’t you from Prince Chengting’s camp? I remember your prince didn’t join this battle,” another heavenly soldier said, getting tipsy. He continued to pour wine into a glass cup and passed it to a fellow soldier beside him.
“I’m telling the truth… how is that turning my coat? Oh right, I remember after returning victorious, the Heavenly Emperor conferred the title of general upon a woman… what was her name?”
This soldier felt dizzy, his vision blurring. Before he received an answer, his eyes were caught by a vague figure.
“Where is Shi Xuan? Has anyone seen Shi Xuan?” The Immortal Lord of Fate, Xue Shen, rushed into the hall in a fluster, asking everyone she met for Shi Xuan’s whereabouts.
“Oh no! The General… she… she’s tangled up with the dancing immortal right now!” a timid immortal maiden answered.
Xue Shen closed her eyes and froze in place for three whole seconds before giving instructions: “Clean her up quickly and drag her to the front hall. The Heavenly Emperor wants to reward her. At a time like this, she… sigh.”
“What are you standing there for? Go!” She rubbed the center of her forehead, unable to suppress her temper. Scared half to death, the immortal maiden nodded repeatedly and retreated.
Sat upon his throne, the Heavenly Emperor was overjoyed by the pacification of the Northwest Waste. Upon seeing Shi Xuan step forward, his smile broadened.
“Shi Xuan, they say during the pacification of the Northwest Waste, you were brave and fierce in battle, slaying the ancient divine beast, the Sand-Tooth Beast, all by yourself. You truly live up to being a descendant of the Yuheng Clan, sharing the spirit of your ancestors when they helped me conquer the world!”
“Conferring only the title of General upon you feels somewhat unfair. How about this: I shall bestow upon you an ancient artifact—” The Heavenly Emperor held a long sword in his hand. Its jade-green light flickered, and its blade naturally bore a faint emerald aura, hiding a cold gleam within the green. The jade luster was restrained yet carried an intimidating sword intent.
“This sword is named Qingming, an ancient divine sword. I bestow it upon you today, hoping that in the future, you will make me look at you in a new light.”
Shi Xuan was not yet sober, but she knew better than to joke before the Heavenly Emperor. She accepted the Qingming Sword with utmost respect.
“By the way, I conferred the title of General upon you, but you haven’t chosen an honorific title yet. Do you have a favorite title in mind? I shall bestow it upon you right now.” The Heavenly Emperor looked at Shi Xuan, increasingly regarding her as a rare and capable talent in the Heavenly Realm, his appreciation deepening.
Shi Xuan had no mind left to think of a title; her head was still filled with the lingering fragrance of the immortal maiden. The scent, deep to the bone, was a fragrance unique to women, leaving her enthralled and unable to extricate herself.
“Tsk, Shi Xuan!” Xue Shen, standing nearby on standby, reminded her in a low voice.
“Oh… Qingming, then. Qingming, yes, that one,” Shi Xuan blurted out.
Once spoken, words could not be taken back.
Beside her, Xue Shen’s eyes widened as she stared at the drunkard in utter disbelief.
“Usually, a sword matches the person. How is it that the person matches the sword?” the Heavenly Emperor muttered to himself, though his admiration still won out. “Then as of today, you are Sovereign Qingming.”
Leaving the main hall, Shi Xuan was dragged along by Xue Shen. She had drunk too much fruit wine; not vomiting when receiving the award earlier had been her absolute limit.
Having trained in military camps since childhood, she rarely drank. Returning victorious this time, she found wine to be quite special—not only rich and fragrant, but also leaving a subtle sweet aftertaste. Thus, she had chugged several jars.
“To the Hall of Fate first. Stop acting like a crazy drunk outside,” Xue Shen said, supporting her with one arm while holding the heavy Qingming Sword with the other.
“Shi Xuan, oh Shi Xuan, you’ve really done it now. First, fooling around with an immortal maiden after drinking, then making a fool of yourself with your honorific title in the main hall. When you return to the army tomorrow, how are your brothers supposed to look at you…” Before Xue Shen could finish, Shi Xuan collapsed entirely onto her back.
“Xue Shen… I’m not acting like a crazy drunk,” Shi Xuan murmured blearily, closing her eyes and leaving Xue Shen standing bewildered on the spot.
Xue Shen: …Sleeping anywhere you like is not allowed here.
Hall of Fate.
After settling Shi Xuan in a side room, Xue Shen hurried to the main hall to organize the Destiny Scroll for the Heavenly Emperor’s thirteenth daughter, Princess Miaohua, who was going down to the mortal realm to undergo her trial. Beside it sat a stack of documents awaiting her review for mortals about to join the ranks of the immortals.
She rubbed the space between her eyebrows and propped her head on her hand, looking at the mountain of documents and destiny scrolls, at a loss for what to do.
Ever since she became a civil official, every single day was filled with these tedious, exhausting chores. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Xue Shen wanted nothing more than to throw the writing brush in her hand away. Yet, after weighing her options, she simply squeezed it tightly between her fingers until her knuckles turned white.
The candlelight flickered, and a cold night breeze slipped quietly into the hall through the gaps in the window lattices. An immortal servant walked into the main hall holding a bowl of soup.
“Lord of Fate, this is soup made by the kitchen to relieve your fatigue. You’ve been busy for so long; please rest a bit,” the servant respectfully presented the soup bowl.
Xue Shen took it as usual. As she read through the document in her hand, she took a small sip. With just that tiny sip, she sensed that something was deeply wrong.
“Is this the soup the kitchen made for me?” she asked seriously, her brows furrowed into a deep ‘川’ shape.
Before the servant could answer, the hall door was suddenly kicked open with great force, followed by a burst of arrogant laughter reaching Xue Shen’s ears: “Hahaha… Lord of Fate, this is fruit wine I personally poured for you! Do you like it?”
Xue Shen’s brow furrowed even deeper. She slammed the soup bowl heavily onto the desk, causing a few drops of ink from the inkstone to splash up. Sensing her master’s fury, the nearby servant immediately lowered her head—unable to advance or retreat—standing frozen in place, her light-colored gauze dress trembling slightly.
“Why are you angry? I just wanted you to drink some fruit wine to clear your head. Fine, I know you don’t like drinking,” Shi Xuan sat on the daybed nearby, casually kicking off her boots. “Then I’ll trouble this servant to take the fruit wine back to the kitchen and exchange it for the soup your Lord of Fate actually likes.”
The servant peeked sideways at Xue Shen’s expression, only to see her still indifferent, head down reading her documents. She had long grown accustomed to such pranks; the moment of anger earlier had merely been going through the motions.
Hesitating momentarily, the servant reached out to take the soup bowl. Midway through, however, she found the bottom slippery from spilled wine. Losing her grip, she let out a gasp as the entire bowl of fruit wine spilled over the official documents and destiny scrolls on the desk with a loud crash.
“Forgive me, Lord of Fate! Forgive me!” Realizing she had committed a grave error, the servant immediately knelt on the ground to plead for mercy.
Xue Shen paid her no mind, methodically pulling out the documents from the mess.
“Go out and receive your punishment!” Xue Shen managed only four words with an unstable breath before continuing to salvage her hard work from recent days.
“Looks like your luck isn’t so great today, Lord of Fate,” Shi Xuan was already lying on the daybed, one eye closed and the other open to observe Xue Shen’s reaction. To her disappointment, other than the brief annoyance earlier, the woman showed no further emotion.
How boring.
She rolled over and was about to go back to sleep when Xue Shen suddenly spoke up, her voice calm and unbothered: “Princess Miaohua is about to descend to the mortal realm to undergo her trial and ascend. The Heavenly Emperor certainly won’t let her go alone. Guess who she will ask to accompany her?”
Shi Xuan sat up abruptly like a carp leaping from the water: “It can’t be me, right? I remember Princess Miaohua loves clinging to me the most—what a headache!”
She had just picked up a boot when Xue Shen’s next words halted her mid-motion: “Princess Miaohua is already on her way to the Hall of Fate. If you go out now, you’ll run right into her.”
“Xue Shen, you did this on purpose!” Shi Xuan wanted to struggle further, but before she could take two steps after putting her boots on, a delicate, sweet voice sounded outside the hall doors. Terrified, she instantly turned her back.
“Shi Xuan! I know you’re in here!” Princess Miaohua pushed open the doors of the main hall, flashing a relieved smile upon seeing Shi Xuan’s back.
“You really made me search for you,” Miaohua stepped forward, first nodding politely to Xue Shen. “Immortal Lord of Fate, please take good care of me regarding my trial in the mortal realm.”
“Of course. We minor deities will do our utmost to assist you in a smooth ascension, Princess.” Xue Shen bowed slightly, answering with utmost respect while casting a side glance at Shi Xuan.
“Xue Shen!” Shi Xuan practically gritted her teeth.
“Bidding farewell to Princess Miaohua and Sovereign Qingming.” Xue Shen bowed slightly, watching as Miaohua dragged Shi Xuan by her sleeve out of the main hall amidst a flurry of noise.
Having seen off her two major guests, she collapsed back into her chair like a deflated balloon, pressing her right hand against her left fingers until they made several snapping sounds.
These past few days had been spent either handling Princess Miaohua’s descent to the mortal realm or processing documents for the new batch of mortals entering the immortal ranks. Even a martial god with three heads and six arms would be tired enough to roll around on the ground, let alone a mere civil official like her.
She turned her head to look out the window. The evening clouds had bloomed into the likeness of golden and jade lotus flowers, with a few birds flying into them before fluttering their bright-edged wings and soaring into the distance.
She couldn’t help but whisper softly: If I hadn’t chosen this path back then…
Xue Shen suddenly caught sight of a bronze mirror hanging nearby. Reaching out to unhook it, she brought it closer to stare at her face—there was a layer of dark circles beneath her eyes, and fine lines crawled around the corners.
“Lord of Fate,” an immortal servant called out softly.
Xue Shen had been staring so intently that she hadn’t noticed the light footsteps. She only snapped back when the voice spoke, revealing the servant already standing before her.
She cleared her throat and hung the bronze mirror back up, feeling increasingly awkward about her own actions.
“What is it?” She looked up, her right hand picking up the writing brush to review documents once more.
“Princess Miaohua has just left for the mortal realm to undergo her trial.”
Xue Shen nodded and said softly, “I know that.”
“However… Sovereign Qingming was supposed to go with her, but for some unknown reason, before they even arrived, she suddenly made a fuss demanding to relieve herself…”
The servant’s voice trembled slightly; she simply didn’t dare to continue speaking.
“Shi Xuan ran away?” The brush in Xue Shen’s hand slammed heavily onto the golden thread millet desk, splashing a few drops of ink from the edge of the inkstone onto the dry marks left behind earlier.