Chapter 1

I woke up as the Queen Mother of Heaven.

The previous Queen Mother said her staff were impossible to manage. The young fairies were all wavering in their spiritual devotion, and she needed some peace and quiet.

So she grabbed me—freshly dead and down to nothing but a soul—to fill in for her.

Well. All right, then.

Among all the immortals in Heaven, the Queen Mother answered to one person and outranked everyone else.

I was coming out ahead here.

Besides, what was the problem? A few fairies yearning for mortal life? I came from the mortal world. No immortal knew its business better than I did.

“The Seventh Fairy is about to descend. Deal with it.”

“On it!”

I guaranteed the Queen Mother would be satisfied.

With that, the Queen Mother left her body and went off on her travels.

I took full control of her immortal body and the boundless magical power she had cultivated over countless ages.

One teleport, and I was standing right in front of the Seventh Fairy.

Having magic was amazing!

The Seventh Fairy jumped.

Then she dropped to her knees before me with a thump.

We young people of the modern age didn’t go in for that sort of thing.

I pulled her straight back up.

She gazed at me with brimming eyes and pleaded softly, “Mother…”

What a beautiful fairy she was, all tears and delicate loveliness!

How could anyone say no to her?

I made the call at once. “You want to go down to earth? No problem.

“We’ll arrange everything exactly as you want it. Satisfaction guaranteed!”

Taking her soft little hand, I teleported us back to the great hall at the Jade Pool.

Then I told the attendants to fetch Fairies One, Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six.

By the time everyone arrived, the Seventh Fairy had calmed down considerably.

“What do you want to do down there?” I asked. “Don’t be afraid. Speak freely.”

She glanced at her six elder sisters, then at me. Desire finally won out over caution, and she boldly spoke. “Dong Yong sold himself to pay for his father’s burial. Such a devoted son! I have come to love him, and I wish to marry him and live as a mortal wife.”

Her six sisters were stunned.

But mixed with their shock seemed to be traces of admiration and envy.

No wonder the Queen Mother said her staff were hard to manage!

Apparently, all these fairies had ideas of their own.

I wasn’t the old Queen Mother. Why stand in their way?

Once a daughter grew up, she needed to learn something about how dangerous the world could be.

Our family had a throne to pass down. We couldn’t keep sheltering them forever.

At that thought, I nodded emphatically. “No problem!”

“…I beg you to grant my… wish?”

I’d agreed so readily that she couldn’t quite believe it.

That was fine. I’d show her how sincere I was!

“You just want to experience married life as a mortal. A small matter.”

With what I considered a very friendly smile, I stepped down from the lofty throne.

The Queen Mother’s great hall was magnificent, but it really did place one too far above everyone else. I wasn’t used to being so removed from the people.

Fortunately, I now had tremendous magical powers. A wave of my hand produced an oval jade conference table and eight white-jade chairs.

“Come, let’s sit down and discuss an implementation plan for the Seventh Fairy’s descent.”