On the day Feng Li and Yingzhu were officially united, immortal music floated under the phoenix tree, nine-colored divine birds flew wing to wing, and brilliant rosy clouds covered the sky. Almost all the divine beings from the Ninth Heaven attended.
The Moon Goddess told him that he and Yingzhu were destined lovers and immortal soulmates, meant to be together from birth. Their bond could not be severed unless one’s soul was scattered. They would be spouses for all lifetimes.
The couple’s names were written on the Wutong tree that blooms once every 40,000 years and bears fruit once every 40,000 years. Their names were hung high, reflecting their supreme status in the Ninth Heaven.
The grand wedding ceremony was held in the White Jade Capital.
It was the first time the divine beings had seen the White Jade Capital.
Lingxiao Palace’s cinnabar gates, immortal mountains and pavilions, rare flowers and plants, and ever-changing clouds and mists – the majestic and sacred immortal palaces were layered one upon another, dreamlike and illusory. It was truly unparalleled in the Three Realms.
Even divine beings who had seen famous mountains and rivers were struck speechless by the grandeur and magnificence of the White Jade Capital.
“What is this?” The classmates from Penglai Academy were so shocked they could barely speak…
“I don’t know either,” Feng Li said, looking up.
“This is the residence Senior Yingzhu gave you before your marriage. Why do you say you don’t know?” a classmate asked again. “Didn’t you coax your husband to give this to you?”
Feng Li pondered for a moment and explained, “I didn’t ask him for any White Jade Capital.”
He hesitated a bit and said slowly, “…I just said I wanted a bigger cage.”
Classmates: …This is way too big!!
In any case, Feng Li settled down in this “big cage.”
Afraid he would miss home too much, the White Jade Capital was built next to the Divine Wood Forest, so Feng Li could return to live there anytime.
The official union and grand wedding were a million times more complex than he had imagined.
After all, Yingzhu’s status and position were what they were.
Just the preparations alone took half a year, and the grand wedding lasted for three days and three nights, exhausting Feng Li so much he could barely keep his eyes open.
Wearing his wedding attire, he first arrived at Lingxiao Palace.
The wedding attire, while looking lavish and intricate, was unsurprisingly heavy when worn. It felt as if he had been tied up by ten celestial binding ropes. Especially the even heavier wedding crown on his head, adorned with several rows of dragon pearls from the deepest parts of the East Sea, which only form once every thousand years, hanging before him as if they cost nothing.
When sitting on the beauty couch, Feng Li regretted getting married for a moment.
He thought he shouldn’t have been so confused and listened to this clingy snake’s sweet talk. He felt like he had been scammed onto a pirate ship.
It was hard to say.
But thinking about it, at least he could come back and rest for a while now.
Yingzhu’s attire was no less cumbersome, and he still had to deal with the divine beings outside.
…Alright then.
If he was on a pirate ship, so be it.
The table was set with exquisite fruits and pastries.
Feng Li lifted the beaded curtain and secretly sat at the table, picking up a few pastries with his fingers to eat. He was quite clever – Old Xuanwu had told him that on his wedding day, he must strictly observe etiquette, not only to avoid embarrassing himself but also to not embarrass Father God.
So he only ate one piece of each type of pastry.
After eating, he smartly rearranged them, creating the illusion that nothing had been touched.
As he was happily sneaking bites, a light cough came from the entrance of the palace.
Feng Li looked over, with some pastry crumbs still at the corner of his mouth.
His gaze was bewildered at first, but when he saw it was Yingzhu standing at the door, he suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.
Feng Li didn’t speak.
After a while, he opened his mouth. “I think I can explain.”
Yingzhu smiled and said, “Explain what?”
Feng Li spoke, “I was just too hungry, so I ate a little bit. Besides, I rearranged the pastries on the table, so you can’t tell they were touched.” I shouldn’t have embarrassed you.
Yingzhu smiled as he looked at him.
Because the beaded curtain blocked most of his view, Feng Li didn’t see Yingzhu’s mischievous smile.
He didn’t hear any response and thought Yingzhu was angry.
Feeling a bit defiant, he spoke up, “I don’t think you should be angry.”
Yingzhu deliberately teased him. “Why not?”
Feng Li said, “Because you’re the one who wanted to marry me. By rights, your status in the family should be a bit lower than mine.”
“Hmm. Indeed, it should be,” Yingzhu agreed.
“So even if I made a tiny mistake, it’s your…”
Yingzhu asked, “It’s my what?”
Feng Li looked at him. “It’s what you deserve.”
Yingzhu couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
“It’s not what your husband deserves,” Yingzhu said. “It’s the blessing your husband earned from his previous life.”
Feng Li blushed a little.
But in his heart, he thought randomly that this clingy snake, born of heaven and earth, had no previous life and was just saying some flowery words.
Yingzhu conjured a few light dishes from his hand and coaxed him, saying, “I was afraid you were hungry, so I brought you these.”
Feng Li decided to forgive him at that moment.
Yingzhu spoke again, his tone a bit frivolous. “After all, you need energy for tonight when you’re well-fed.”
Feng Li then decided to make him crawl away at that moment.
—
His words became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
On their wedding night, he indeed used up all his energy.
The grand wedding ceremony was held on a massive scale.
Even hundreds of years later, when divine beings recalled it, they could still recount everything that happened that day without missing a single detail.
Feng Li’s married life was also very happy.
Yingzhu didn’t restrict him much. When he had nothing to do, he would still transform into his original form and frolic in the Divine Wood Forest.
In this way, the long lives of the divine beings were slowly whiled away.
Being with Yingzhu, he didn’t feel bored.
As for when they would have a child, that’s another story.
After the wedding, many divine beings’ eyes fell on his belly.
They hinted many times, both openly and subtly, but Yingzhu wasn’t in a hurry, and neither was he.
After all, he still felt like a little bird himself.
He wasn’t at all ready to be someone’s mother.
Yingzhu didn’t say why he wasn’t in a hurry.
At first, Feng Li worried that he might not like children, and he became a bit gloomy, even eating fewer of his favorite crystal cakes.
Until one time when Yingzhu had drunk a bit too much and held Feng Li in his arms.
He sighed, “I’ve heard that it’s very difficult for the phoenix race to conceive offspring. This lord can’t bear to see Ah Li suffer.”
Feng Li heard this but didn’t say anything.
But inside, he was delighted.
Later, the daughter of the West Sea God became pregnant.
The old Dragon King had lived for ten thousand years and only had this one precious daughter, cherished like a pearl in his palm. Now that he was to have a granddaughter, he wanted to announce it to the Three Realms and Nine Provinces. He invited Yingzhu and Feng Li to his little granddaughter’s hundred-day celebration with a thousand thanks and ten thousand bows.
It was Feng Li’s first time observing such a small dragon egg up close.
After looking for a while, he suddenly said to Yingzhu with mischievous intent. “Were you like this when you were little?”
Yingzhu smiled and said, “This lord was born from the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and never stayed in a dragon egg.”
In short, when he was born from the Biluo River, he already had the appearance of a youth.
Yingzhu asked, “Was Ah Li like this when you were little?”
Feng Li muttered. “I wasn’t like this.”
“Hmm,” Yingzhu said. “You must have been prettier than her when you were little.”
Feng Li punched him lightly. “This is someone else’s granddaughter’s hundred-day celebration. How can you say such things?”
Yingzhu: “Even if it’s the truth?”
Feng Li said, “It’s impolite!”
Yingzhu helplessly said: “Alright. Is it okay if I secretly think my Ah Li is prettier?”
Feng Li: “.”
Smooth talker!
To show his apology, when preparing the red envelope, Feng Li gave the old Dragon King of the West Sea an enormously large one.
The old Dragon King was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, kowtowing again and again, and then pulled Feng Li to bless the little dragon girl.
While blessing, Feng Li curiously examined the dragon egg again.
The feeling in his hand wasn’t too bad. The shell was a bit soft, with a new life brewing inside.
Feng Li’s heart began to race.
It seemed that having such a little phoenix egg would be nice too.
****
What one thinks about during the day, one dreams about at night.
Not long after returning to the White Jade Capital from the West Sea, Feng Li’s body, which had been inactive for ten thousand years, finally showed signs of pregnancy.
This again became a big event for all the divine beings.
The news spread throughout the Three Realms as if it had grown wings.
Feng Li himself felt that this pregnancy wasn’t quite real.
His daily life was now entirely managed by Yingzhu. As soon as he became pregnant, everything was arranged meticulously.
It had always been difficult for divine beings to reproduce.
Just as Yingzhu had said, it was indeed very hard for Feng Li this time.
The little one in his belly wasn’t particularly naughty.
Most of the time, it was quiet and didn’t move.
But Feng Li still vomited everything he ate.
After three years passed like this, he finally produced a small phoenix egg.
The new parents didn’t even have time to breathe a sigh of relief.
A new problem appeared. The little one was indeed quiet, but perhaps too quiet.
Feng Li had seen other egg babies before.
Other babies would move a little while resting in their eggs.
But theirs was different.
It could be said that it didn’t move at all.
Feng Li was a bit worried.
He suspected he had given birth to a fast stone.
Behind Lingxiao Palace, there was a towering Wutong tree. Every day, Feng Li would cradle his face in his hands and stare at the little phoenix egg.
Yingzhu smiled and asked, “What’s making you look so worried?”
Feng Li sighed, “Senior, I think I gave birth to a stone.”
“What nonsense,” Yingzhu almost laughed out loud, casually comforting him, “Don’t worry. Even if my Ah Li gave birth to a stone, it would be the most beautiful stone in the world.”
…What kind of straight man comfort was that!
Yingzhu would often keep company with the little one and him, but he liked to say strange things. For example, after staring for a while, he would say, “Ling’er looks like you.”
Feng Li was speechless. “He’s still a phoenix egg. How can you tell who he looks like?”
“A father’s heart is connected to his child’s,” Yingzhu lied with a straight face.
“Besides, Ling’er doesn’t look like me. Grandpa Xuanwu said that when I was still an egg, I was particularly good at rolling around. I rolled all over the Divine Wood Forest, and he had to chase after me every day, afraid I’d crack myself. How is that like your son, who doesn’t move at all? Could it really be a stone?” The more Feng Li spoke, the more doubtful he became.
“How could it be a stone? Maybe he’s just growing slowly.” Yingzhu’s comfort didn’t work.
He had heard that egg babies who grew slowly were usually not very smart.
Feng Li was frightened by this casual remark from Yingzhu. The next day, when he went to see the little one, he was even more worried.
He poked the little one and said, “Son, don’t listen to what your Father God said yesterday.”
When no one was around, Feng Li reluctantly admitted, “You should still be more like your Father God, be smarter in the future, and have higher cultivation.”
After saying this, he felt it wasn’t right and added, “But you should look like your Dad, understand?”
He tried to brainwash the little one. “Dad is very good-looking. You should also be the most beautiful little bird, or I’ll eat you up in one bite!”
Whether it was really afraid of being eaten up by Dad or not, Feng Xuan’s birth process had a little accident.
But after hatching, he indeed grew into the cutest little phoenix in the Three Realms.
“Of course, Dad should know whose son I am!” Recalling this, Feng Xuan cuddled and rolled around in Feng Li’s arms. At two thousand years old, he was still like when he was a few hundred years old.
Feng Li was fond of this behavior, stroking his head as if grooming feathers.
After roaming the mortal realm for a hundred years, Feng Xuan finally remembered his identity as the Crown Prince of the White Jade Capital.
Moreover, with a grand divine celebration to be held in the White Jade Capital soon, Feng Xuan immediately dragged his family back to Qifeng Palace. Early this morning, he ran to Lingxiao Palace, bored and pestering Feng Li to tell him about his youth.
Feng Xuan listened with great interest.
Feng Li said, “The only thing Dad regrets is not seeing the moment you hatched.”
Because when Feng Xuan was little, he refused to break out of his shell.
This led to an accident where he was lost once, almost making Feng Li lose his head with worry.
When he returned, he was already a fluffy little phoenix.
Feng Li still felt resentful thinking about it now, gritting his teeth. “If this god ever finds out who that egg thief was, I’ll definitely have him torn to pieces!”
Qi Zhuoyu’s hand paused while playing chess with Yingzhu.
Feng Xuan listened with trepidation and quickly changed the subject. “Don’t be angry, Dad. I came back safe and sound, didn’t I? Rest assured, I won’t run off recklessly again!”
Feng Li took it as nonsense and said coldly, “Not running off recklessly? I see you’re like a married-off bird or spilled water. Do you even remember that the White Jade Capital is your home?”
Feng Xuan: “.”
Feng Xuan didn’t ask Feng Li to continue with the later events.
He knew that shortly after his birth, the Three Realms faced a great calamity, and his Father God perished in it.
Even if he didn’t mention it, this event wouldn’t be forgotten.
Although on the surface everything seemed peaceful, for thousands of years, every detail of that calamity had been etched clearly in Feng Li’s memory.
At that time, when he married Yingzhu, he didn’t feel his love was very deep.
If he hadn’t married Yingzhu, Old Xuanwu would have arranged for him to marry someone else.
Feng Li thought, since he had to marry someone anyway, he would marry whoever bought him the biggest cage, carefree and clear-minded.
But the moment Yingzhu left him, Feng Li realized that the surging love buried deep inside had long since permeated every part of his heart through their mundane daily life.
What he once thought was the best and largest White Jade Capital, the most magnificent palaces, the most beautiful clothes, now seemed so small and insignificant.
When the news of Yingzhu’s death came, it felt as if half of his heart had been carved out.
At that time, if it hadn’t been for Feng Xuan…
He felt he wouldn’t have been able to go on living.
Thinking of this sad part, Feng Li fell silent.
By the time a game of chess was finished, Feng Xuan was already drowsy with sleep.
He couldn’t understand this game of Go, yet Qi Zhuoyu was still dragged along unable to leave.
Now his Father God had released his senior brother.
Feng Xuan was so happy he almost jumped up.
But he still had to pretend to be reluctant to leave.
Feng Li watched him acting cute, both amused and exasperated, pinching his cheek. “Alright. If I had known you didn’t want to keep me and your Father God company, hurry up and scram along with that stinky boy of yours.”
Feng Xuan chuckled and said, “Dad, I’ll come see you again tomorrow!”
Then he slung his little bag over his shoulder and ran to catch up.
Without even turning his head, Qi Zhuoyu knew Feng Xuan was about to jump on his back. He steadily caught him and walked forward step by step.
Perhaps even Feng Li himself hadn’t noticed.
At certain moments, Feng Xuan’s back view actually looked very much like his own.
In a daze, it seemed as if he was seeing that youth from Penglai Academy years ago.
In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of years had flown by.
That youth had now come into his own, becoming the Emperor of the Three Realms.
“Missing him already? Going to cry?” Yingzhu teased.
“Who’s crying!” Feng Li quickly glared at him.
After thinking for a moment, he added, “It’s just that I didn’t realize time passed so quickly. In the blink of an eye, even Ling’er has started his own family. I feel like I might have gotten old.”
“Not old,” Yingzhu said.
Divine beings remained eternally youthful.
Feng Li looked no less radiant than he did in those years past.
Yingzhu said, “Since you miss him so much, why don’t we…”
Feng Li looked at him, and Yingzhu continued, “Have another one?”
Feng Li angrily hit him once, glaring, “Dream on. Ling’er and I have been unfortunate enough in this lifetime. None of you who came out of that broken Primordial River are any good!”
Yingzhu laughed, “Ah Li may be angry, but there’s no need to implicate this lord as well.”
Feng Li retorted, “Isn’t it true?”
Thinking of how that stinky kid Qi Zhuoyu had made Ling’er suffer, he felt angry all over again.
“It’s not,” Yingzhu said with a straight face.
Feng Li looked at him, and Yingzhu spoke without hesitation. “I once heard a famous person say that in this world, apart from your senior, there isn’t a single good man.”
Feng Li hesitated. “Is there such a famous person?”
Yingzhu: “There is?”
He said frankly. “It’s me.”
Feng Li was both amused and annoyed by him, too lazy to argue. “So what else did this famous person say?”
Yingzhu took his hand and placed it on his chest. “He also said ‘I’m sorry’.”
Feng Li’s heart skipped a beat.
Yingzhu sighed, “All these years, you’ve suffered a lot.”
Feng Li’s eyes started to sting a little, his forehead resting against Yingzhu’s chest.
He mumbled, “It’s good that you know.”
He closed his eyes.
Thinking to himself, what could he do even if he was angry.
Wasn’t he just scammed by this clingy snake that fell from the sky?
Looking at his posture, it seemed like he was going to cling to him for a lifetime!
