Rio Timaná

Chapter 7

01.

Spring in the Imperial City always arrived later compared to the flourishing scenery of the south. After viewing camellias at Guanchen Palace, the cruise ship returned to the capital, just in time for the late- blooming cherries and magnolias. Streets and towns were awash in blossoms; it was such a pleasant sight.

Yet however lovely the spring scenery was, Fengjiu's sentiments could not be moved into noble generosity. Ever since she returned to the royal palace, she regularly kept herself behind closed doors, wondering how her two sisters Junuo and Changdi were going to crawl back from the pit. Changdi had waged war with her in the Jiuqu Cage. Then without waiting for her to even rest, Junuo had come to give her another kick of lovesick drug.

In all her life, this was the first time she ever got victimized by others time after time again; it had given some blow to her pride.

Shangjun had placed the two princesses under house arrest. He did not say he would punish them, nor did he say he would not punish them. Considering Shangjun's affection for Changdi, Fengjiu reckoned this matter would be blowing over in a few days. But obviously, it wasn't something she could get over, and so she waited for the time when they would be released.

She carried this intention out with her whole body and mind, and eagerly counted each day on her fingers until her waiting was alas proven to be in vain.

On the 27th of March, a message issued from within the palace declared that Princess Junuo had not adhered to boudoir conducts, that she had

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committed fornication and begot with an illegitimate child, and as such she had greatly shamed the Imperial Family and was thus sentenced to be beheaded; her immortal name was to forever be erased in the book of merits and she was soon to be executed.

As for Changdi, although nothing was mentioned on the surface, a few vague private words had come from behind the curtains. It was said Princess Changdi had broken Shangjun's beloved lamp a few days ago and was to be exiled to the desolate frontier to reflect on her sin.

Fengjiu was somewhat dumbfounded when she heard this news.

A pregnancy out of wedlock... yet the child in the womb seemed to have had the king and queen's favor. She had been dubious at first, wondering if perhaps the Biyiniao folks were more broad-minded than their own Qingqiu. After asking Su Moye, she came to know that Junuo's conceived child wasn't an ordinary child, but that he was thought to possibly be the next Archmage of the clan. Throughout history, all Archmagi had been born from unmarried maidens who were impregnated through the absorption of divine essence. This was why despite carrying a child out of wedlock, Junuo could flaunt around righteously and was even able to invite Xize to leave the mountains to especially take care of her. Fengjiu could still remember the day when she had lamented that Junuo had been too blessed. But now, somehow her unborn child was instead said to be produced from an affair.

Before she could send people out to inquire, Chacha had brought Su Moye into the room.

Ever since the lovesick spell incident, Mo Shao had rarely looked for her alone in order to avoid unnecessary rumors. Yet he came so suddenly today, showing that there must be some pressing matters.

Sure enough, Mo Shao wasn't as calm as usual. He offered much fewer roundabout words, and after clearing his throat with the warm tea in his hands, he came straight to the point: “I said to you last month that there were several major events which decided Aranya's ending and that I

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needed you to make the same choices as she did. Do you still remember these words?”

Fengjiu nodded.

Mo Shao was contemplative: “The first event is here.” Fengjiu cleared her throat to rally some spirits.

“Perhaps you won't be happy with this,” Mo Shao said with knitted brow, “but right now we must look at the big picture.” He looked at her and lowered his voice: “Save Junuo.”

Fengjiu widened her eyes at him.

In reality, Fengjiu had much of Qingqiu's strength of character. If you treated her with one part respect, she would treat you with ten parts respect. If you treated her with one part contempt, although not quite ten times the return, she would definitely pay back in some way.

Always trying to strive for virtue, the nine-tailed foxes of the Qingqiu Kingdom were never tolerant of shady business nor did they forgive treachery, still less did they use kindness to repay evil such as this.

Mo Shao had always been the smartest person in the West Sea and one of the best strategists among his immortal peers. He had smartly recognized that this world was operating according to the past. Junuo's beheading on the execution scaffold by the order of Shangjun was only a matter of time. He cleverly considered that the queen had previously handled this matter inappropriately, leaving her without leverage which led to the unmasking of Junuo's pregnancy. Taking this into account, he had thought to leave enough time for Fengjiu to first resolve her personal feud with Junuo and Changdi. Then when Junuo was brought to the scaffold, he would ask Fengjiu to keep her promise to save her. With her genial easygoing personality, this was going to go as planned.

Despite calculating hundreds and thousands of things, however, Mo Shao miscalculated Donghua Dijun.

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In the past, Junuo's pregnancy was uncovered on April 17th, but the outgoing message from the palace came all of twenty days early this time. A thought flashed across his mind in that instant. In the small kitchen, Dijun had serenely mentioned to him something about tidiness.

Now that they arrived to this point, he finally knew what Dijun meant when he spoke of tidiness.

Dijun must have already known this secret behind the Biyiniao royal family.

There was power, there were women, there were disputes in this vast world, and thus there had also been secrets. There was always some sort of secrets like this in each monarchy, and there was nothing new about the secret of the Biyiniao clan. Everything only ever boiled down to two things of relevance: power and women.

This tangled past was actually quite simple. Legends had it the incumbent Shangjun, Xiangli Que, had usurped the throne from his brother. His beloved queen, Lady Qinghua, was none other than the sister-in-law he had stolen from his older brother.

In stories passed down, Lady Qinghua had been faithful that year. She originally wanted to follow her husband in death, but since she was pregnant with Junuo, anxious with love, Xiangli Que promised he'd allow her to keep his brother's blood if she would only stay alive, and thus she survived. Qinghua gave birth to Junuo as wished and raised her like a precious treasure. Afterward, she gave birth to Aranya who was Xiangli Que's flesh and blood. But because she had hated Xiangli Que in those days, she personally threw the newborn child into a snake pit the moment she came out of her mother's womb. This was also the beginning of Aranya's pitiful fate.

Keeping Junuo was a reluctant tactic Xiangli Que used that year as a last resort. The more he saw how clever and beautiful the child was growing up each day before his eyes, the longer the thorn in his heart grew. Xiangli

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Que was soon determined to get rid of her. Unfortunately, Lady Qinghua guarded her child almost too carefully.

Junuo was also to blame in this matter by having an illicit relationship with her writing teacher and begetting his child. The Biyiniaos had a unique constitution; it was difficult for them to conceive, and even more difficult for them to abort; a small mistake could take both lives. Abortion meant death, having Xiangli Que know also meant death. In order to protect the only blood of her ex-husband, after much mulling, Lady Qinghua had no other option but to plant this blatant lie.

Su Moye sighed. These things had really happened in the past; no matter how tightly covered a wooden box was, air flow still could not be prevented. If Dijun wanted to find out something which had a form and shadow such as this, there would always be a way to find out.

With his daily image of planting trees and throwing baits, Dijun had appeared to be unmindful of worldly affairs. Nevertheless, he had heard that the universe's master once helmed the six realms with an iron fist, and naturally did not believe that after falling into this place, Dijun wouldn't question the causes and consequences.

To know everything without seeing anything, to know the end by seeing only the beginning, this was Dijun. Dijun had not said much that day in the small kitchen, but he had likely already foreseen today's outcome in his mind.

Su Moye stared absently at the cup of green tea. Junuo could never die; if she died, how would this opera be sung in the future? Since it was Dijun who called the shots and dangled Junuo's matter before Shangjun's eyes, it was Dijun who wanted to punish Junuo using Xiangli Que's blade. Then didn't this mean that whoever to come out and save Junuo would become Dijun's enemy?

Whatever the case might be, he unsurprisingly still had to rely on Fengjiu. When Mo Shao came back from his thoughts, he saw Fengjiu sitting there staring at him, her brow creasing into a 川 . She said in puzzlement,

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“Although Aranya didn't cause as much trouble as I did, wasn't she at strife with Junuo in the past? Why would she want to save Junuo's life at this junction? I don't really get this logic. If you can convince me today, I'll do whatever you say, but if you can't convince me, I'll have to think about it.”

Mo Shao was glad she actually knew she was causing troubles. He pulled a stool over to sit, sipped half a cup of tea, and continued with a storyteller's appearance: “The one Aranya wanted to save wasn't Junuo, but rather Chen Ye.” He then asked her, “How much do you know about Aranya and Chen Ye?”

Fengjiu lifted her little finger, her thumb pointing to the tip of it to show Mo Shao. “Only this wee much.”

Mo Shao held the teacup, and after a long time, said, “Then I'll tell you a wee more.”

02.

In life, the most helpless thing was in the form of but four words: 'if at the start'.

In Mo Shao's memory, 'the start' was April 27th of many years ago on the scaffold where Junuo was executed, and the 'if' pertained to the fact that he had led Aranya to see the execution that day.

The month of April as mentioned in the mortals' poetry inevitably contained a certain sorrow of parting, or perhaps the separation of life and death. In Siming's words, April was the month of demise. (‘four’ and ‘death’ sound similar in Chinese /si/ )

Although Fanyin Valley was far removed from the troubled dusty world, April that year had also been blanketed under a bloody atmosphere. First, the Royal Academy had executed the teacher who taught the eldest princess penmanship. Then, the palace took care of several servants who served the eldest princess. Soon after, even the eldest princess was to be executed on Lingshu Terrace.

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She bore two felonies: one being deceiving the Crown, the other, adultery. Whose blood ran in the eldest princess’s veins? Although the clansmen for many years had kept silence, they finally had to ask themselves whether this was Shangjun's thunderous scheme. Those who didn't know the truth took umbrage with the eldest princess for being shameless and praised Shangjun for being strict and impartial. In this matter, Xiangli Que had gotten his cake and eaten it too.

Even if it wasn’t a glorious matter, the beheading of a princess nevertheless needed to be recorded into the history annals. The sentencing official pulled his hair for days on out on how to euphemize the written words for future generations’ sake. Those in attendance for the execution that day were all clansmen; the location was chosen with much deliberation to be Lingshu Terrace outside the Holy Shrine; even the executioners were carefully selected from three-generational families of executioners.

Even his own West Sea and Jiuchongtian couldn’t match up to such attentive preparation for a beheading. On the day of the execution, he eagerly prepared a packet of melon seeds and brought Aranya to the execution arena, finding their way to the first row.

He watched the show with genuine interest, but Aranya wore a solemn expression. In her hands was a reincarnation sutra as if she had come to send the sister whom she never got along with on her final journey.

Originally a ceremonial terrace where the Archmage prayed for blessings, the execution Lingshu Terrace floated above ground. Behind it and slightly higher was the sacred shrine surfacing vaguely in the sky. With Buddhist hymns ringing outward, the entire scenery was that of an ethereal fairyland. This was the Holy Shrine of Qinan.

In the wind was a scent of wildflowers; on the sky were small drifting clouds. Junuo stood on Lingshu Terrace dressed in all white. She didn't resemble a criminal awaiting her death penalty, but rather a stunning dancer dancing atop the clouds. Although her condemned shoulders slumped in abjection, her face innately bore a certain aristocratic air.

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In the arena, everyone had taken their seats. Men separated into two lines on the execution scaffold. They carried out a mighty sabre the length of three persons. From it reverberated the intermittent sounds of a tiger's roars. This sabre a holy execution device belonging to the Criminal Bureau. The blade was to be unsealed by the blood taken from the beheaded's wrist, releasing its guardian double-winged white-headed tiger. After devouring the beheaded's flesh and soul, it would trap the soul inside the sabre and keep the dead from reincarnating for many years. 'Beheading' was written just so in the mortal realm, but this was what made the execution a bit different.

The moment the sabre was mounted and the blood from Junuo's wrist was sacrificed to the magical blade, the light breeze around the grounds suddenly turned into blasts of wind. A roar bellowed. Within the shiny sabre was a clear reflection of a tiger. Dark clouds rolled in before their eyes as daylight hid away. A ferocious tiger broke free from the blade. Junuo staggered, color draining from her face. A white flash appeared, followed by a piercing sound of a sword.

By the time this sound ended, a long sword had stabbed seven inches into the large tiger, neatly forcing it back into the sabre.

No matter how ‘rescue the princess’ is performed, it would always be a great play and never too outdated.

The atmosphere weighed heavily; gusts picked up on four sides. The injured tiger breathed raggedly inside the sabre. After the changing storm, the tightly closed doors of Qinan Shrine unexpectedly creaked wide open. Black feathered wings casted a faint shadow on Lingshu Terrace. The young Archmage stood on the stage. On his face was an icy detachment. Yet to retract the wings at his back, he shielded a shivering Junuo behind him and looked to the distance where Shangjun sat. His voice was clear yet not without restraint: “I did some research on our punishment laws and came upon the chapter on the Holy Sabre penalty. It is written that once the Holy Sabre was released, if the punished could seal the tiger back into the blade before his soul dispersed, it meant the heavens were merciful of his

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life and regardless of what felony he committed, clemency would be given for the death sentence. Wise sovereign, will the same judgment apply to Princess Junuo's punishment on this day?”

The white knight was not reckless; he was courageous as well as intelligent. He knew when to advance and when to retreat. Shangjun stonily considered his options. Criminal statutes were set by the ancestors, and the witnesses present were all clansmen. Needless to say, refusal wasn’t an option.

On the other hand, the double-winged white-headed tiger was notorious for its tenacity. Once the sabre was released, never would it let go until it had had enough blood to drink. Despite there being a clemency clause, and some execution robberies had happened in the past, no one had ever escaped from the white-headed tiger’s fangs. Just because the white knight's sword was able to push it back a little didn't mean that the tiger would be so useless. It was but a matter of seconds before it would regain its strength and continue to break free again.

Whether the courageous and intelligent knight could save his princess or not would have to depend on his luck.

The wind blew chillingly. With a wave of his arm, the black-robed Archmage summoned his sword back into his hand. The white-headed tiger was released from the sabre once more. Junuo was pushed into a corner. Shangjun stroked his chin in silence. In contrast, those who came for the spectacle looked to the stage energetically.

The struggle between the young man and the tiger came to a deadlock. Blade flashed bitingly, wings swirled in the sky. With each having been wounded, it was difficult to see who was actually winning. It was a brilliant fight, and worth every penny paid. Nevertheless, the white- headed tiger was formed out of hostile energy. The tiger form was merely one of its shapes. Besides the outer injuries on his body, nothing else seemed to be severe. Compared to him, the Archmage seemed to be doing a little worse. However, each of his strikes was still full of chivalry, giving no disgrace to Qinan Shrine.

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Aranya leaned back against her seat and said to her teacher, “He is to deal with the white-headed beast while concentrating his energy at the same time to find the enchantment seal. It is rather difficult for Chen Ye to