Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Do you have any idea how outrageous Yunyao is? I, a grand Immortal Lord, confessed my feelings to her, and the reason she gave for rejecting me was that immortals and mortals are worlds apart.”

“Ahem. Shaohua Immortal Lord, you hold the rank of Immortal Lord. How could you be a mortal?”

“Heh. She said by ‘mortal,’ she meant ‘mediocre.’ She really deserves to die!”

“Yunyao’s tongue really is vicious. Now that she’s descended to the mortal realm for her tribulation, who knows how many people have pulled strings with the Old Man Under the Moon and the Star Lord of Fate just to watch her suffer.”

More and more information appeared in the mirror. I stared at it blankly, feeling as if some familiar scene in my mind was trying to break through layer after layer of fog.

“Let’s go, Consort Yun-oh, my mistake. Auntie Yunyao.”

Liuli, the palace maid at Consort Li’s side, could hardly wait to urge me on. I nodded, then pointed at the mirror in front of me.

“Emperor, may I wear this bronze mirror?”

The mirror was only the size of my palm. It was a relic left behind by Lu Yunzhou’s mother, and it was also the first gift he had ever given me.

Lu Yunzhou said nothing. He gave me a cool glance, then left for the imperial garden with his arm around Consort Li. Since he did not object, that meant he had tacitly agreed. I reached out to take the mirror, and my finger accidentally brushed against the gold hairpin beside it.

A bead of blood welled up on my fingertip. I did not notice. But the moment I grasped the mirror, that bead of blood shot into it and vanished. Then a streak of light drilled into my forehead.

My entire body shuddered.

I followed Liuli to Yufu Palace, where Consort Li lived. Along the way, every palace servant and concubine we passed whispered among themselves.

“Consort Yun used to be a favored concubine too. Now she’s fallen so low that she’s become a lowly maid. It really is pitiful.”

“Pitiful? She brought it on herself. She relied on the Emperor’s old affection for her and dared to put on airs in front of Consort Li. Consort Li is the one the Emperor truly dotes on now. She deserves this!”

No matter what they said, I turned a deaf ear. In my mind, that streak of light tore through a small patch of fog.

It felt as if a shackle around my heart had disappeared. Even my emotional memories with Lu Yunzhou had grown very distant.

In a hazy way, I remembered that I was some sort of High Immortal who had come to the mortal realm to undergo a love tribulation.

I did not know what counted as successfully passing the tribulation. But I did recall one spell.

Gold was a substance of the Heavenly Realm. After it was heated, I could extract a thin strand of spiritual energy from it. If I accumulated enough, it would help me recover part of my immortal power.

“All right, you’ll stay here!”

“This room is filthy. Go get a rag from next door and clean it yourself.”

Liuli placed a handkerchief on a chair, crossed her legs, and sat down.

I looked around and realized this was a side room for maids. The bedroom faced north, the light was dim, and a thick layer of dust had settled everywhere. One glance was enough to tell that no one lived here.

I picked up the bronze mirror and looked into it.

“Here we go, here we go. Watching High Immortal Yunyao work is my favorite.”

“She looked like she had lost her soul the whole way here. Tsk, tsk. That pathetic, lovesick look really resembles Shaohua Immortal Lord back then.”

“Ahem, Liuxiu Star Lord, what nonsense are you spouting? I think she looks more like you back when she knocked you off the Star Arena in one move.”

“Good grief, at a time like this, she’s still busy looking in the mirror. It’s not like she’s that beautiful.”

Liuli snatched the mirror from my hand and tossed it onto the couch beside her. Furious, she barked, “Get to work!”

I glanced at the mirror, walked over, and stuffed it into a storage chest in the corner.

Liuli grew even angrier.

“Didn’t you hear me telling you to work, you wretch?”

Liuli charged at me, raising her hand high to slap me.

A cold glint flashed through my eyes. I lifted my hand to block her arm, then hooked my arm around hers and pinned her by the neck.

Liuli was terrified. Stammering, she said, “You wretch, what do you think you’re doing?”

I reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

“I am a deity who descended from the heavens to undergo a tribulation. Lend me that gold hairpin of yours to help me return to the Heavenly Court. When the time comes, I’ll add ten years to your lifespan.”

Liuli: “…”

Liuli began to struggle in horror.

“Have you gone insane?”

She wriggled free from under my arm, retreated several steps, then stared at me with suspicion all over her face.

“Or are you pretending to be crazy so you can avoid working?”

“Hah. No wonder you came from a third-rank palace maid background. To think you came up with such a shameless trick. Someone-take this wretch-mmph-”

I rushed straight over and chopped the back of Liuli’s neck with the edge of my hand. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed limply to the floor.

Sigh. No one believed me when I told the truth, so I could only borrow them first and explain later.

I moved Liuli onto the bed and covered her with a quilt. Then I reached out and pulled the gold hairpin from her hair, removed her gold earrings, and slipped the gold bracelet from her wrist.

“Don’t worry. Once I return to the Heavenly Court, I guarantee I’ll add ten years to your lifespan.”

Liuli was Consort Li’s most favored palace maid, so she had received quite a few rewards. She also loved showing off, so she had worn all her most valuable things on her body.

I found some firewood and lit it. Then I removed all the gold jewelry from my own body and threw the whole pile of gold items directly onto the burning wood.

The gold gave off a dazzling glow in the flames. A wisp of white mist slowly spread out. I leaned my nose toward it and greedily took a deep breath.

Ah-this familiar feeling. This was the smell!