It had been two days since Qian Lan last visited the king. After returning from the palace, everyone was now treating her different. Even Yuhan began drawing a distance from Qian Lan. Although nothing changed, everyone came to believe Qian Lan was going to be joining the king's harem as a court lady.
"Yuhan, how many times do I have to say it? I'm not joining a harem!"
"You will if the king orders for it."
"Relax, the king isn't like that."
"Oh, really? Have you not heard the rumors?"
"What rumors?"
"After he killed his father, he took his fathers favored consort and made her the crown princess. Make sure you don't draw too much attention or it'll be that crown princess coming after you."
"Ew…...isn't that messed up?"
"It is. You have no idea how much problems that caused. Everyone was against it, even if she was the young daughter of the prime minister."
"Bleh! Are all women in the world dead? For him to want someone his father used to dote on?"
"I don't know. I find it revolting too."
Qian Lan felt even more grossed out after finding out more about the king. With only a few hours to go before they were to go to the palace, Qian Lan felt she was better off not paying any attention to the king.
"Alright, I've made up my mind."
"On what?"
"I will ignore the king from now on! I don't want him to think I have a thing for him. The last thing I want to do is join some depressing harem."
"Ha Ha! You're so funny Qian Lan."
"I'm serious!"
Just as the girls were chatting in their bedroom, the head maid walks in with new clothing and two other maids.
"knock Knock."
"What is it head maid?"
"Qian Lan and Yuhan, it's time to get ready."
The head maid and other maids helped Qian Lan and Yuhan changed into a pair of clean white hanfu. It had to be one of the plainest dress Qian Lan had seen and worn since she's been dragged into the past.
"Head maid is this a joke?"
"What do you mean, Qian Lan?"
"Aren't we going to the palace? Normally you make us overdress. Isn't this too plain?"
"It came from the royal temple. The shaman prepared it and requested for all the girls to wear it You will be going to the temple, not the palace."
"What? Since when did that change?"
"I don't know. Save your questions for when you get there."
Once the girls were dressed in the plain white hanfu, the maids all had the girl put their hair up into a plain ponytail.
"There, you're done. Please follow me to the carriage."
Qian Lan couldn't understand what was going on. Unable to shake the bad feeling she was getting; she grabs hold of her bracelet and rubs it to calm herself down. Unsure of what to do, Qian Lan did as she was told. Yuhan slowly followed behind Qian Lan as she leads first. After following the maid for fifteen minutes the girls could see a beautiful carriage waiting for them. Qian Lan glances around and realizes the duke was no where in sight.
"Where's the duke?"
"He's busy and will not be coming to see you off."
"Really? We're going to compete in a tournament and he won't even wish us luck? Talk about rude."
Qian Lan quickly heads inside the carriage and helps Yuhan in. The girls sat in silence until the carriage took off. Qian Lan unable to suppress her worries anymore express her concerns with Yuhan.
"Yuhan, don't you think something's wrong?"
"Qian Lan, you feel it too?"
"Yeah! As the maids dressed us, they all looked sad or something. The duke didn't come to see us off either. Isn't that suspicious?!"
"I thought so to. Not to mention, why are we heading to the temple instead of the palace? I thought this competition was going to be held at the palace?"
"That's what I thought to, but now everything's different from what we were told."
For some unknown reason, Qian Lan couldn't help but think about the story she had heard from her sisters a while ago in regards to the water god.
"Yuhan, do the people here all worship the water god?"
"Well, yes. Of course, since water is a part of life."
"Can you tell me what you know about the story?"
"I don't know much since I can't read or write, but I did overhear my father talking to your adopted father about something not too long ago. He said the water revisor was drying up and soon there would be no water left."
"Wait, Yuhan that has nothing to do with the water god."
"But it does! It's been two years since we've last had any rain! Other kingdoms are running out too, so it's not just affecting us. Do you know the story of how this world got water centuries ago?"
Qian Lan pauses for a moment as she remembers the story. With her right hand on her chin and her legs crossed, everything finally made sense.
"Oh my god! Why didn't I think of this before!"
"Wha…what. What is it Qian Lan?"
"This isn't some competition! I bet you they're going to chose the next bride of the water god from the women today!"
"How do you know that?"
"It only makes sense! Think about it! Centuries ago, they sacrificed Chenguang and got rain in return! Why do you think they're summoning so many women of different backgrounds today?!"
"To choose the next sacrifice....?"
"Exactly! Hah! And I thought my adopted family liked me, but no! I was merely used as a scape goat. I should've known something was up from how they were acting."
"Qian Lan what are we going to do?"
"I don't know…. I don't even know what's going to happen or how many women there's going to be at the temple."
Qian Lan runs her hand through her now messy hair. With no way out, Qian Lan knew her and Yuhan would have to take part in whatever the temple wanted them to do. Taking a deep breath, Qian Lan grabs Yuhans hand; who was sitting across from her.
"No matter what, Yuhan. Stay low and don't attract anyone's attention."
"Oh…okay. I can do that."
"Our goal is to get through this and return home. Well…at the very least get you home. I don't have a place to return now."
"What're you planning to do, Qian Lan?"
"I don't know. If I'm not killed, I'll beg the duke to help me find work in the capital. I refuse to return to that village anymore. I'm not their real daughter so they wouldn't care whether I live or not."
Yuhan could see Qian Lan holding her tears back and putting on a strong face. Feeling bad for Qian Lan she places her hand on top of Qian Lan's clenched hand and whispers to her.
"Let's do our best and go home together. If you don't want to stay with the village elder you can stay with me and my family. It's just me and my parents now after all."
Qian Lan breaks in a smile and thanks Yuhan for her caring words.
"Thank you Yuhan. If it's the last thing I do, I'll make sure you at least return to your parents. I can't have your parents losing you, their only child now."
All of a sudden, the carriage came to a sudden stop. The guards from the temple came and opened their carriage and orders the girls to get out and join the other women. Qian Lan stepped out first and helped Yuhan out. Quickly scanning their surroundings Qian Lan could the large temple. Like in those ancient drama she had seen, the temple was forged from a large stone rock with the inside of the temple resembling a cave. Qian Lan notices that she was the tallest one there. Easily able to see over the other women, Qian Lan estimated there to be at least one hundred women in the area.
"Holy crap…. I didn't think there would be so many. Stay close to me Yuhan, we don't want to get separated."
Yuhan quietly follows Qian Lan around as she walks around the temple ground. Everyone was dressed the same, with their hair all in ponytails as well. Just as Qian Lan was about to wander off into another part of the temple, the old shaman walks out with the king. The shaman was old and short with gray hair and a hunched back, she was dressed in a long dark dress with a black cloak on.
"Welcome to the royal temple. We will be beginning the maiden selection tournament soon."
Qian Lan locks eyes with the king. Feeling anger and annoyed she turns away quickly and ignores the king who was about to call out to her. Qian Lan knew that the king was a part of everything. He was the ruler of course, meaning he knew about why everyone was summoned in the first place. Qian Lan knew she couldn't trust the king anymore. With a deep sigh she walks further away from the front and towards the back of the crowd.
The king was shocked to find Qian Lan ignoring him after thinking they were friends. It hadn't even been that long since they last saw each other. Worried that Qian Lan might have caught onto what was happening, he quickly assigns guards to keep an eye on Qian Lan and Yuhan.
Soon, servants of the temple came one by one and took the girls in the waiting room into separate rooms. Qian Lan and Yuhan made sure they stuck together in pairs. The girls followed three middle-aged woman who worked inside the temple into a small clean room with a bed in the center.
"What're we doing here?"
"Don't worry, we're just checking to make sure you're still pure."
"Excuse me? Still what?!"
"Pure."
"Now who would like to go first?"
Qian Lan was against the idea so Yuhan went first. Slowly laying on the bed with her legs slightly held up by two other women. After Yuhan was given the okay, it was Qian Lan's turn.
"Sigh…okay Qian Lan, just remind yourself that this is like going to the gynecologist back home."
The three-woman looked confused as Qian Lan continued to blabbered out words, they weren't familiar with. After Qian Lan was given the okay, one of the women took the two girls to a different room.
"You're both good to go."
Qian Lan and Yuhan quietly follows the woman into a larger room with about twenty other women waiting inside. Once they opened the doors; all the girls turned around to look at them. A loud and obnoxious woman walks up to Qian Lan and Yuhan.
"Looks like you two made it past the first round!"
"First round?"
"Of the competition, what else."
"Ah…..I see. Is this all that's left of us?"
"I guess so. You're the last one to come and it's been over thirty minutes already. By the way, call me Ah Ying."
"Hi Ah Ying, I'm Qian Lan and this is Yuhan."