“It is our honor to serve the Crown Princess!” As he spoke, Chu Zhenshan’s gaze fell upon Chu Yuan beside her. The Chu Clan had always placed great importance on their Holy Son. This was a good opportunity for them to make contact in advance. Especially the maidservant Su Xuanxuan beside him, who regarded him as the apple of her eye. Seeing her own Yuan’er again after so long, the woman Su Xuanxuan was disguised as couldn’t hide her joy. Don’t worry, Yuan’er! Today, this venerable one will take you home!
Before she could think further, Ji Xuanyuan spoke directly. “Where are the auction items?”
The Great Elder of Chu cupped his hands. “Your Highness, they are here!” As he spoke, he gave Su Xuanxuan a look.
Su Xuanxuan and the other maidservant each presented the auction items. One maidservant carried a tray holding the jade slip for that set of Sleeping Art techniques; the other, larger box was handled by Su Xuanxuan, containing the Black Dragon Egg that Chu Yuan had just won at auction.
Seeing this, Chu Yuan perked up, sitting up straight. Finally! Finally, they were about to meet! Staring at that box, his gaze was so intense it seemed like it could burn through it. Su Xuanxuan was startled by his look and quickly lowered her head. Could Yuan’er have recognized this venerable one’s identity? No! In the past, this venerable one always approached him disguised as various identities. Logically, he shouldn’t recognize me! He must be interested in the dragon egg inside the box.
Su Xuanxuan suddenly recalled the intelligence from the Demonic Path Alliance—that her own Yuan’er might have been possessed by “Shenbao,” with the target being the dragon egg. If that were truly the case… Killing intent surged in Su Xuanxuan’s heart, but she quickly suppressed it. Carefully placing the brocade box on the table, she retreated behind Chu Zhenshan.
Chu Yuan quickly walked over and was the first to open the box. Looking at the dragon egg, he was filled with countless emotions. Seeing him like this, Ji Xuanyuan felt a mix of complicated emotions and couldn’t help but ask, “Young Master Yuan, this dragon egg is about to hatch and be reborn. If it hatches, have you thought of a name for it?”
Reborn? A name?
Hearing these two words, Chu Yuan felt somewhat dazed for a moment. Yes! In this life, that dragon would no longer be chained or whipped. The Sovereign could start over, have a different life. He fell silent for a moment, unconsciously murmuring, “Gu Su Die.”
This was one of the pseudonyms the Sovereign had used in the past. The Dragon Emperor had once asked him why he chose this name? Chu Yuan had then told her about breaking out of a cocoon to become a butterfly, coming from darkness and moving towards the light.
Crack!!! The moment his words fell, a tiny fissure suddenly appeared on the surface of the dragon egg, winding its way down from the top.
Chu Zhenshan was astonished. “It’s hatching already? That’s two or three days faster than expected!”
Chu Yuan held his breath. Crack, crack, crack. More and more fissures appeared, denser and denser, like an invisible net enveloping the entire eggshell. A faint light glowed from within the egg, flickering on and off, as if something was struggling to squeeze its way out.
Everyone was curious. What exactly would hatch from this egg? Even as an inner elder, Su Xuanxuan only knew that the Alliance Leader was born from this egg, not what her true form was. Driven by curiosity, everyone silently stared at the egg, their expressions varied.
Inside the eggshell, a life was gradually awakening. Gu Su Die curled up inside the egg, listening to the calls from outside, and suddenly recalled her own ironic life.
For her, from the moment she hatched, this world was cold. Whips, hunger, pain, day after day, year after year. That hook-nosed man was her master. He locked her in a cage, chained her neck, and whipped her back. He beat her when she disobeyed, beat her when she obeyed; he beat her when he was happy, beat her when he was unhappy. She didn’t know what she had done wrong. Each time, she could only instinctively curl up, protecting her vitals. Gradually, she grew numb. Because screaming was useless, crying was useless, begging for mercy was even more useless. That man enjoyed seeing her suffer. She thought this life would be one of endless darkness, without end. Gu Su Die even began to look forward to the day she would be beaten to death, so she could be free and no longer have to endure the beatings.
This went on for two hundred years. However, the more she was beaten, the tougher her skin became, and the harder she was to kill. Until that day, when that handsome, divine Holy Son appeared. He held a food box in his hands, carrying fragrant osmanthus cakes. At the time, she had been starving for many days and instinctively snatched the food box from him. Sweet, soft, melting in her mouth—it was the first time in two hundred years she had tasted something other than raw meat. It tasted like spring.
From that moment on, Gu Su Die made the first spontaneous decision in her two-hundred-year life—even if she was later brutally beaten and abused by the eagle-nosed cultivator, it didn’t matter. She appointed that Holy Son as her imperial chef.
Until this secret was stumbled upon by the Holy Son, and he defeated the eagle-nosed cultivator she had thought was invincible. That sword strike to the throat was clean and swift. Watching that cultivator fall, a very strange feeling suddenly surged in Gu Su Die’s heart: So he can die too?
As the Holy Son crouched before her, his gaze as gentle as a spring pool made Gu Su Die feel for the first time that she had found a kindred spirit: Then, does that mean… I don’t have to be beaten anymore?
After that, she finally discovered that this world could be beautiful. That chef always brought her all sorts of delicious foods, things she had never even heard of before. He made them for her, one by one. He also took her to various places to play: watching the sunrise from mountain peaks, listening to the tides by the sea, chasing fireflies in the forests. For the first time, she learned that the sky was blue, the sea was salty, and firefly light was cold.
But deep down, Gu Su Die understood very clearly: The Holy Son’s heart always held another person. She felt as if she had been reborn, but she also noticed that whenever he made delicious food, the Holy Son would always serve it to that snow-haired fairy first. Yet, every time, that woman’s expression was cold and aloof, never looking directly at him. He would respectfully present the food box, and she wouldn’t even glance at it, just waving her hand to dismiss him. He never got angry, just smiled slightly, carried the food box out, and only then would those pastries come to her.
She ate the pastries he made, her heart feeling both sweet and sour. Sweet because he made them; sour because she was just a substitute, getting what that woman didn’t want. Gu Su Die once thought that as long as she was useful enough, the Holy Son would look at her more. But later, she discovered that no matter what she did, the way the Holy Son looked at her and the way he looked at that woman were always different.
When he looked at that woman, there was a light in his eyes. When he looked at her, the light was gentle, but more than that, it was pity.
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