Liwei held me, guilt in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have protected you better. I’ll expose their conspiracy and see you vindicated.”
I squeezed his hand in reassurance.
Jianyu brushed past Liwei, malice in his voice. “Second brother, are you hoping to see justice for Liuzhu? Don’t bother. Once my son hatches, Father will declare me the next Phoenix Emperor. You’ll spend your life in my shadow, bowing every time you see me.”
I glanced at Meiyun, who stood not far away, and lowered my voice. “How can you be so sure you’ll have a rainbow phoenix?”
Jianyu’s face twitched, but he quickly regained his composure. “I just know! You’ll see—when our rainbow egg hatches, you’ll be the ones crying!”
“If neither our egg nor yours hatches a rainbow phoenix, what then? Even if your white egg is rare, I’ve never heard of a high-ranking phoenix hatching from a white egg. Maybe you’re carrying another freak!”
Liwei shoved him aside, his expression darkening. “When the chicks hatch, we’ll settle all scores—old and new—once and for all.”
After seven days, the two phoenix eggs were placed in the grand Phoenix Deity Hall as ordered by Emperor Fengchen. The entire court watched in tense silence as the eggs shimmered with radiant light.
Suddenly, a crack appeared on the rainbow-hued egg. Jianyu leapt to his feet, his eyes fixed on the fissure, barely daring to blink. With a faint, weak chirp, a tiny beak broke through the shell. A frail, rainbow-feathered phoenix chick fluttered into the air, its seven-colored plumage dazzling under the hall’s lights.
Tears welled in Meiyun and Jianyu’s eyes as they gazed up at their airborne chick, pride and relief etched across their faces. The courtiers dared not breathe, their joy palpable. Meiyun mouthed triumphantly at me, “Sister, I’ve won.”
But just as the little phoenix soared, it suddenly plummeted to the ground, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Emperor Fengchen rushed forward, catching the chick in his arms. The newborn was limp and feeble, its vitality nearly spent.
“Father, perhaps the early birth left the chick weak. Why not grant it a surge of your imperial phoenix power to restore its health?” I suggested.
Before the words had fully left my mouth, Meiyun and Jianyu both cried out, “No!”
Their faces were pale, panic written in every line. The hall turned to them in confusion.
Liwei, ever perceptive, spoke up. “Only a high-ranking phoenix can withstand the emperor’s true power. An ordinary phoenix would be destroyed. But this is a rainbow phoenix, isn’t it? What are you afraid of, brother?”
Meiyun’s voice trembled, “No! My child is a true rainbow phoenix!”
I stepped forward, seizing the moment. “If that’s so, why the worry? Sister, why not let us test the chick’s bloodline with the Ancestral Stone?”
Jianyu snapped, “No need! Stop sowing doubt!”
Feigning innocence, I replied, “It’s just a simple test. It won’t harm the chick.”
Liwei supported me. “Indeed, Father, I’ve read of a forbidden spell that can disguise an ordinary phoenix as a rainbow one for a year. After that, the illusion fades and the true form is revealed.”
Jianyu, enraged, lashed out at Liwei, but Liwei easily deflected him. “Why so anxious, brother? Unless… you really did use the forbidden arts?”
Meiyun’s lips quivered. She could not meet anyone’s eyes.
Emperor Fengchen’s voice thundered, “Bring the Ancestral Stone!”
“No!” Jianyu fell to his knees, stammering, “Please, Father! Don’t do this! It will shame our family! The chick will be mocked for life!”
But the more he protested, the angrier the emperor became.
A drop of blood fell onto the stone. Light flared, and above it appeared the spectral image of a creature—half phoenix, half peacock.
Meiyun fainted on the spot. Jianyu collapsed, muttering, “It’s over. Everything is over.”
Phoenix fire blazed in the hall as Emperor Fengchen’s fury erupted. The courtiers fell to their knees, begging for calm.
At that moment, a faint cracking sound came from the other egg. Before anyone could react, a brilliant cry echoed through the hall. Dazzling, prismatic light filled the chamber. From the sky, a host of birds arrived, circling the newborn chick.
“Supreme Liuli Celestial Phoenix!” someone shouted in awe.
The entire court gasped, overwhelmed by the spectacle. I stood frozen until the chick landed in my arms, transformed into a plump, adorable baby girl who called out in a sweet voice, “Mother!”
“She’s hatched and already taken human form—truly the Supreme Liuli Celestial Phoenix!” exclaimed the elders.
Emperor Fengchen laughed with joy. “The heavens favor our clan! I, Fengchen, have an heir at last!”
With Liuli’s birth, Jianyu’s hopes of succession were dashed. He and Meiyun were confined to the Morning Glow Palace, forbidden to leave. Their two earlier-born chicks were sent to be raised by clan elders, away from their parents’ influence. The half-phoenix, half-peacock newborn was left in Meiyun’s care.
That night, word spread that Jianyu had killed the child. No one in the palace was surprised—not even Emperor Fengchen, who had never intended for the child to live, as its existence was a stain on the royal bloodline.
Once again, the peacock clan’s plot to harm the phoenix heirs was raised. This time, no one believed Meiyun’s innocence. She was bound and dragged to the Execution Platform. My father, Lord Qinghe, and Meiyun’s mother, Lady Lu, were summoned to witness the punishment. Lady Lu wept bitterly, but Lord Qinghe held her back with icy resolve.
King Kongque of the peacock clan stood trembling, begging for forgiveness. He threw the battered, broken matron who had tried to kill me before the emperor.
“Who ordered you to harm the phoenix heir?” Emperor Fengchen demanded. “Speak, or your soul will be destroyed!”
With her last breath, the matron confessed, “It was Lady Lu and Miss Meiyun.”
Lady Lu screamed her denial, but in her panic, she struck the matron dead.
My father, enraged, declared, “You wicked woman! The Azure Luan clan will not tolerate you. From this day forth, I sever all ties with you!”
He turned to Emperor Fengchen. “Your Majesty, punish her as you see fit. But please believe, the Azure Luan clan harbors no treachery.”
The emperor nodded. “Liuzhu has given us the Supreme Liuli Celestial Phoenix. As her father, your merit is great. I will not blame your clan.”
Relieved, my father turned his back on Lady Lu.
Meiyun, in tears, pleaded with Jianyu, “Husband, save me! How can you let me die?”
But Jianyu, face cold, declared, “You must pay for your crimes. If I had known your heart was so cruel, I would never have accepted you!”
I handed Jianyu the page from the ancient text detailing the forbidden arts. His face twisted in disbelief as he read about the poison that could turn an unborn phoenix into a black-feathered monster.
Quietly, I told him, “My mother carried the rainbow phoenix bloodline. That child you killed… might have been a true rainbow phoenix. But Meiyun’s poison turned it into a monster, and you killed it with your own hands.”
Jianyu’s eyes filled with hatred as he struck Meiyun. “Wretch! I’ll kill you!”
Meiyun laughed maniacally. “Yes, I’m vicious! But you—are you any better? You knew I used forbidden magic, and you allowed it! For the throne, you lied and schemed just like me!”
Meiyun and Lady Lu were reduced to ashes by the emperor’s true fire, their souls destroyed. My father and King Kongque withdrew from court, spending years in seclusion.
Jianyu, broken, was publicly flogged and imprisoned for life in Morning Glow Palace.
The farce finally ended. Cradling my daughter, I returned to Vermilion Hall with Liwei.
“Liwei, is there anything you haven’t told me?” I asked.
He smiled, tweaking my nose. “Nothing escapes you, Zhu’er. My mother was the last Supreme Liuli Celestial Phoenix.”
I had guessed as much from the moment Liuli was born. My own bloodline was pure, but the birth of a Supreme Liuli Celestial Phoenix required the father’s lineage as well.
Liwei sat me on his lap and told me the truth: “Long ago, in the ancient secret realm, my mother lived as the last of her kind. She left the realm by chance, fell in love with my father, and disguised herself as an ordinary phoenix. But when he took Jianyu’s mother as consort, she left, heartbroken, and later discovered she was pregnant. She hid my true lineage and sent me back to the palace before vanishing.”
I sighed, understanding at last. “So you always knew Jianyu and Meiyun could never produce a true rainbow phoenix?”
Liwei nodded. “Jianyu’s mother was just a fire phoenix. Even with a stroke of luck, his bloodline was never pure. As for Meiyun, her blood was even more diluted. There was never a chance.”
Three days later, Emperor Fengchen declared Liuli the royal princess and Liwei the next emperor. But Liwei refused. “Father, I have no wish to rule. The future of the phoenix clan is important, but I am not the one to bear this burden.”
The emperor was furious, but there was nothing he could do. Bloodline was everything, and even he could not challenge the Supreme Liuli Celestial Phoenix.
Not long after, Liwei took me and our daughter away from the Phoenix lands. We traveled the world, exploring mountains and rivers, living freely.
A century later, following clues left by his mother, we found the ancient secret realm. Liwei was reunited with his family at last. His mother doted on little Liuli, showering her with treasures. “Sweet granddaughter, you are now our little empress. No one will ever dare bully you.”
She waved us away. “Go, enjoy your life together. Leave us to bond as grandmother and granddaughter.”
Liwei turned to me, feigning distress. “What now? Our little girl’s been stolen. Maybe we should have another?”
I pinched him playfully. “Nonsense! You’re too much.”
He swept me into his arms. “Nonsense? I’ll show you! I’ll fight for three hundred rounds if I must—let’s give Liuli a little brother or sister!”
And so, laughter and love echoed through the secret realm, the wounds of the past finally healed, and a new chapter for our family began
End
Chapter 04
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