Chapter 14 - The birthday party of Queen Mother

Chapter 14: The birthday party of Queen Mother

Translator: Xu Kun

Proofread by Zhu Yuan

On that day, I slept until I woke up naturally as usual and found it was already late in the morning. I rubbed the quilt, had my head poking out slowly, opened my eyes and looked out. I was so surprised to find Bai Qingqing around my pillow.

“Qingqing, you should know that a fox appearing suddenly will frighten others to death!” I looked at the fox face of Bai Qingqing and said helplessly.

Bai Qingqing suddenly changed to be a person. She still lay down on my pillow, looked at me with a smile and said: “My little sister, do you know what day it is?”

I shook my head blankly.

“Today is the birthday of Queen Mother. In heaven there is going to be a grand birthday party. All the immortals will be invited.” Bai Qingqing scratched my hair and said.

“How old is Queen Mother?”

“As old as Emperor of Donghua, I guess. By the way, do you know how old is he?” Bai Qingqing asked me doubtfully.

I looked at her speechlessly.

“She must be several thousand years old anyway. She is just an old lady. Why do you care about her?” Bai Qingqing shrugged her shoulders and said with indifference.

I thought for a moment with my hand propping my head. According to Bai Qingqing, Emperor of Donghua was an old man who had lived tens of thousands of years. However, if every old man could have the same appearance as that of him, they would be so delightful to watch!

Seeing me laughing without any reason, Bai Qingqing knocked me on the head and sneered: “What are you laughing about? Are you missing your boyfriend?”

I got up from the bed, gave Bai Qingqing a look of infinite sadness and said: “You see, I’m an old lady now. I’m no longer the little girl longing for love.”

Bai Qingqing flung himself on me and pinched me severely. She looked at me tearfully and said: “Are you old? Are you old? I’m older than you! My sister, you are so unkind that you insult me all day long!”

I managed to get away from Bai Qingqing. I yawned and asked: “What do you want to see me about?”

On hearing this, Bai Qingqing stopped joking with me. She adjusted her clothes and sat down on my bed, saying: “Of course, it’s for Queen Mother’s birthday. Every fairy has to give a gift. Let me see what gift you’ve prepared.”

I was just thinking about what gift I would like to prepare when Bai Qingqing suddenly cried out and said: “Alas! I almost forgot that you’ve not yet become a fairy, and you’re a guest invited by the Emperor. You don’t need to attend the birthday party of Queen Mother. You see, I was really confused just now, but you can save the gift for yourself!”

I finally knew why Bai Qingqing was in such a good mood, and she was ready to irritate me. I caught a glimpse of her, deeply ashamed of her pride. Alas, I didn’t expect that there was still discrimination in heaven.

However, I was always curious about everything. If she didn’t tell me, I would not participate in it. Since I already knew this big event, I must join in the fun. So when Bai Qingqing left, I brought my wooden casket and ran to Donghua Hall.

As soon as I arrived at Donghua Hall, I caught a little fairy and asked him: “Where is Emperor of Donghua?”

The little fairy in Donghua Hall was familiar with me, so he honestly reported his whereabouts to me. However, he was still tied up while speaking to me: “He is bathing in the Pure Spring Pool.”

I quickly rushed to the pool. Pure Spring Pool was a good place. The spring water was so clear, and it was warm in winter and cool in summer. A bath there could not only boost one’s practice, but also prolong his or her life. After the bath, people would feel relaxed, happy and refreshed. However, it was a pity that this was the personal belonging of Emperor of Donghua, and no one else could bathe in the pool. I once coveted it for a while, and till that time I was still wondering how to get this privilege.

Around the Pure Spring Pool there was a small garden, which was so quiet that no one would break in, and naturally there would be no fairy guards outside, so I walked in gracefully.

“Your Majesty, I have something to tell you.” Holding my big wooden casket, I slowly approached the pool and saw that the Emperor was reposing in the pool with his head leaning against the edge of it.

Hearing my voice, he suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing that I was still approaching recklessly, he sighed and said: “Li, I’m taking a bath.”

“I know, you can continue to bathe.” I found a stone, sat down and looked at him unblinkingly: “Just listen to me.”

He was surprised and said: “Li, it is so inconvenient for you to stay here. You can come to me when I’m done. Would you mind stepping outside?”

When I looked at him, I suddenly noticed his chest exposed on the water surface. My eyes were suddenly frozen and I couldn’t look away.

How white his skin was! It seemed to be very tender and smooth. Looking up along the chest, I found his face more and more ethereal with the dense vapor around it, making people dare not profane it. I looked carefully at him again, only to find his angry face.

“Li, you can go out when you have seen enough!” Just when I was totally attracted by his smooth skin, he shouted at me again, and there were also a little helplessness and embarrassment in his voice.

I looked at him and smiled innocently at him. I solemnly replied: “I haven’t seen enough.”

“You …” He seemed to know that it was impossible to let me out. He cast a spell and stood on the shore in a blink. I was just about to take a good look at his body, but I saw him standing in front of me neatly dressed.

I looked at him in regret and said: “Your Majesty, I don’t mind if you keep bathing.”

He smiled weakly and said: “Li, you’d better get down to business! What do you want to say to me?”

Reminded by him, I immediately recalled my purpose to come here. I gave my wooden casket to him and said: “Your Majesty, this is a little gift that I want to give Queen Mother for her birthday. I know that I’m only a fox demon and I’m not qualified to send her a gift. Therefore, I want to ask you to take this gift to her.”

After that, I looked expectantly at him and found that he was also staring at me. I couldn’t help feeling guilty and gave a dry little cough. I said: “Your Majesty…”

“Li, I didn’t expect you to be so thoughtful. Don’t worry, I will definitely give your present to Queen Mother.” For a long while, he finally looked away and said.

My smile froze slightly. This was not the answer I expected. He should have said: “Since you’re so thoughtful, why don’t you come with me to the birthday party?”

“Thank you very much!” I walked out sadly.

“Li, if you want to attend the birthday party, just tell me. How can I refuse?” Suddenly, the voice of Emperor of Donghua came from behind, making me stop at once.

“Really?” I turned around and pretended to ask him calmly, trying to hide away my excitement.

“When did I lie to you?”

“Thank you, Your Majesty. I should go back and get ready now!” I immediately ran out joyfully. How could Bai Qingqing still look down upon me this time?

“Wait a minute!” He suddenly stopped me.

I turned back plaintively: “Do you want to go back on our word?”

He was surprised by me and smiled: “Of course not. I just want to remind you that you’d better prepare a new gift.”

I didn’t understand: “Why? Bai Qingqing said that colorful glaze beads were rare treasures and Queen Mother must love them.”

“Queen Mother will love colorful glaze beads, but if they are made up by fox fur, I don’t think she would regard them as treasures.” Emperor of Donghua just pointed at the beads randomly, and they all turned to be my white fur.

I scratched my head and looked awkwardly at the fur. Well, I just thought it was too wasteful to give away the treasure beads, so I used my fox fur to make some knockoffs. But I didn’t expect that Emperor of Donghua was so savvy that he knew what was inside even if the box was not opened.

Since I’d been spotted as a liar, I felt a little embarrassed. So after a while, I turned around and ran away.

“My lady, where have you been? Today is Queen Mother’s birthday, and Emperor of Donghua had asked me to dress you up.” As soon as I got back to Tsinghua Garden, Fairy Willow came to me hastily. However, she was so weak, which made me worry about her.

“I went to see the Emperor.” After a pause, I said, “By the way, Fairy Willow, I’m going to prepare a present for Queen Mother. Can you give me some suggestions?”

She blinked, and asked me doubtfully: “Emperor of Donghua has already prepared the gift for you. Why didn’t he tell you?”

I was shocked and asked: “Do you mean that he was originally going to take me to the birthday party?”

“Of course. You’re his honored guest. How can you miss such a grand gathering?”

What Fairy Willow said made sense, but I felt terribly ashamed. How could I hold a wooden box, rush to Donghua Hall and try to get his promise? These were all redundant.

I sighed in a low voice. Emperor of Donghua was so calm even when he was lying to me. There was no sign at all that indicated he was lying. Immortals of higher ranks were even more capable to lie than we demons!

After complaining, I let Fairy Willow take me back to my Yueluo yard. I sat in front of the dresser and she started to paint my face and decorate my hair. Ingenious and skillful as she was, she dressed me up just like a celestial fairy. At first glance, I couldn’t recognize myself at all. I looked at the huge white peony on my hair, and I was much like a flower fairy.

“Fairy Willow, why do you put such a big white peony on me head?” I asked weakly.

“Emperor of Donghua told us that in your previous life you were Fairy Peony in heaven. Fairy Pine happened to find a peony from somewhere, and I thought that no one was worthy of this flower decoration except you!” Fairy Willow said softly.

I kept silent. Fairy Pine must want to follow me to the party. I could have borne it if it had been a real flower, but I guaranteed that this flower was the incarnation of Fairy Pine. His pine needles, right on my scalp, were so scratchy!

Fairy Pine, I was going to complain to Emperor of Donghua!

In the evening, Emperor of Donghua came to Tsinghua Garden on time and took me on a cloud ride to the Kunlun Mountains of Queen Mother. Although Qiyun Mountain was located at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, I had never seen what it was like, let alone setting my foot on the mountains. I was so excited that I could finally broaden my horizon.

Of course, it was more exciting to watch a bunch of immortals, senior or junior, all trailing behind Emperor of Donghua, as well as Bai Qingqing at the end of the troop. With my keen eyesight, I saw Bai Qingqing’s grievance at a glance. I couldn’t help but grinning. It felt good to have Emperor of Donghua with me!

As soon as I entered the Kunlun Mountains, my sight became blurred. There was mist all the year round, which was so unreal that people couldn’t see the place clearly. If it weren’t for Emperor of Donghua, I would definitely lose my way.

I didn’t know how many places had been bypassed, but with fairy kids guiding us along the road, I finally saw a palace towering into the sky. Emperor of Donghua led me to the palace slowly. I found that the banquet had been arranged in the palace and all the fairies were waiting for the guests.

“Emperor of Donghua, I have been waiting for you for a long time!” While I was looking around, a gentle voice sounded. I looked up and saw a middle-aged woman dressed in fine clothes walking slowly down from the hall. Her posture was elegant, and her smile was soft but dignified. I shuddered. Was she Queen Mother?

“May you live forever, Queen Mother!” He said calmly, and then gestured for Fairy Willow to send for our gifts.

“You are so thoughtful!” Queen Mother nodded with a smile, but whatever she did, there was a kind of dignity in her gestures.

I secretly looked at Queen Mother. Bai Qingqing said Queen Mother and Emperor of Donghua were about the same age. But they looked so differently. Although Queen Mother seemed to be younger than she actually was, she still looked like a member of my mother’s generation. While Emperor of Donghua seemed to be of the generation of her son. Did female fairies seem to be older than male fairies?

“This Lady must be…”

“Yes, she is the reincarnation of Fairy Peony.”

While I was still brooding over this matter, the topic between Queen Mother and Emperor of Donghua had changed to be Fairy Peony and me. I quickly gathered up my mind, bowed my head and said: “May you live forever, Queen Mother! It is my great honor to meet you here.”

“Bai Li?” Queen Mother repeated my name and sighed softly, and her voice became gentler. “Two thousand years have passed in a blink. Fairy Peony, you must have suffered a lot!”

I was shocked to know that Queen Mother was talking to me. I was so flattered that I could not say a word. After a long while, I managed to reply to her: “Thank you for your consideration, madam.”

“In this life Fairy Peony was born as a fox by mistake. Now that you have found her, you should have told me earlier and I could have helped her to be a fairy again as soon as possible.” Queen Mother said, and she turned to look at Emperor of Donghua.

“You don’t know, Queen Mother. Although Li is a fox demon, she has practiced for two thousand years. Her practice is extremely slow because she loves freedom, and she is not interested in becoming a fairy. It took several months for me to bring her to heaven, and you could finally see her today.” He seldom said so much, but it was really a pleasure to listen to his voice. So I automatically ignored his negative comments on my “extremely slow” practice.

“Oh? Fairy Peony had always been an excellent fairy and had quick understanding towards practice. How can she be so…” Queen Mother looked at me and stopped. Maybe she wanted to say that “How can she be so stupid in this life”, but I had to thank her for not saying it out to discourage me.

“Queen Mother, I want to ask you for one thing.” Emperor of Donghua caught a glimpse of me and said suddenly.

“Just tell me what you want me to do.”

“I hope to keep Bai Li by my side.”

This remark surprised not only Queen Mother, but also me. Should Queen Mother decide where I would stay? If it weren’t for Emperor of Donghua’s charming appearance and attracting voice, I would never have come to heaven!

Queen Mother was silent for a long time. There was a hint of pity that I could not understand in her eyes. She asked lightly: “All things are decided by the destiny. Even you cannot escape from it.”

Hearing this, Emperor of Donghua suddenly smiled gently. His smile was as bright as the sunlight on the horizon. “Queen Mother, you and I were both born in the beginning of the chaos. Now, hundreds of thousands of years have passed in a flash, without ups and downs. Time has brought great changes to the worlds but these are just a blink in our eyes. I’ve never expected such a change in my life. In the past, I thought I would, as always, keep protecting the whole world for millions of years peacefully. However, God was still merciful to me and couldn’t bear to let me die in this way. Therefore, he brought this change to me. I didn’t know how to cherish it before, and the past two thousand years are the longest period in my life. Since there is still a chance to make up for it today, I will never let it go again.”

After Emperor of Donghua finished his speech, there was a long silence in the hall. I didn’t know what Queen Mother was thinking about, but her eyes were filled with shock. As for me, I was only frightened by the “hundreds of thousands of years” said by Emperor of Donghua. Bai Qingqing speculated that they were only several thousand years old. Unexpectedly, they were already hundreds of thousands of years old. If I lived to that age, I was afraid I would become an old hag. How could Emperor of Donghua keep his young and handsome appearance?

I touched the barely smooth skin on my face, and then looked at the white and smooth skin of Emperor of Donghua. I couldn’t help but swallowing saliva. It was too discouraging for foxes!

“Now that you have made up your mind, I can only give up my favorite fairy!” Finally, Queen Mother become normal and smiled generously. “I believe that you will never let the same thing happen again!”

“Thank you, Queen Mother.”

As soon as the dialogue between Emperor of Donghua and Queen Mother ended, other immortals came one after another. He brought me to one side of the hall and we took our seats. I still stared at his face. It seemed that age was definitely not a problem for him.

“Li, what are you looking at?” He suddenly turned his head and looked at me with a pair of clear and beautiful eyes.

I immediately turned away. This was definitely a seduction! I could only try my best to hypnotize myself. Bai Li, you were a mature fox. You should not do anything immature. You must control yourself!

“Li, what’s wrong with you?” Emperor of Donghua asked me doubtfully.

“Uh, I, that… I’m fine…” I tried to hide away from his sight and couldn’t say a word. I kept reiterating in my heart: “His beauty always hurts me!”

In order to hide my gaffe, I took the goblet placed on the long table and poured the wine into my mouth. However, just as I was drinking the wine, he suddenly asked: “Li, what are you talking about? Whose beauty hurts you?”

A mouthful of wine just gushed out. I closed my eyes and whined in my heart: “You must want to see me make a fool of myself, right?

“Make a fool of yourself?” He continued to ask.

I turned to him and stared angrily at him: “You must not listen to what I say to myself!”

He suddenly smiled and nodded obediently: “Well, since you don’t allow me to do that, I will stop right now!”

I covered my eyes, because his smile was so charming!

At last, the birthday party began, and all the immortals went to the hall to celebrate Queen Mother’s birthday. After the celebration, they greeted Emperor of Donghua one after another. He had already changed back to be the usual Emperor of Donghua, serious in speech and manner. He only nodded to all the immortals. For the first time, I realized that his status in the celestial world was so high that no one had even come close. He was like a human emperor, standing forever on the summit of the society. However, when he turned around and smiled at me, I suddenly felt that he was so close that I could touch him with my hand.

Bai Qingqing sat in the last row of the hall and stared at me with bitterness from time to time. I was very innocent. In the morning, she even got up so early to discourage me.

Therefore, I turned a blind eye to the bitterness of Bai Qingqing and began to appreciate the fairies in the hall. I had to say that there were so many beautiful women in the Palace of Queen Mother. All of them were extremely beautiful. There was no vulgarity of mortals or flattery of goblins in their appearances or gestures. They were as pure as the white peony on my head. They were indeed fairies! These fairies would come to pour wine for us from time to time. But I found an abnormal fact. Few fairies came to our table, although the wine had been poured, but I always felt that these fairies looked at Emperor of Donghua strangely, especially the fairy in red. I could guarantee that the emotion in her eyes were definitely not admiration, but resentment!

My curiosity was naturally aroused by this condition. It was supposed that in the whole world, few people would show this kind of expression towards Emperor of Donghua. As long as they saw his handsome face, common women would be attracted directly just as I did, let alone his status in the celestial world,

All of a sudden, it occurred to me that Emperor of Donghua might have abandoned the fairy in red in the past. I once again looked at that fairy, and then at Emperor of Donghua who was expressionless. My guess was very reasonable. The portrait of the beauty mentioned by Bai Qingqing came to my mind again.

I thought about this affair with my vivid imagination while pouring wine into my mouth. According to Emperor of Donghua, this was the unique nectar of Yaochi. I must seize the opportunity and drink as much as possible.

However, if I had known that I would behave so “immorally” and “unreasonably” after drinking so much wine, I would never have drunk it. After all, it was not a glorious thing to be the public enemy of the whole celestial world. It should be described as a tragedy, even more tragic than that of Bai Qingqing. Nobody wanted to talk to Bai Qingqing. But everyone wanted to spit on me. They were completely different treatments!