Qian Lan had just finished her bath and dressed herself in a clean hanfu when the maid comes back knocking on her door.
"Knock Knock."
Without waiting for a reply, the maid quickly enters her bedroom and places trays of food on the table for Qian Lan. She was amazed at how well they were feeding her; a complete stranger. There had to be half a roasted duck, a tray of fluffy rice, stir fried meat and vegetables and even a bowl of ripe peaches.
"This will be your dinner. Once you finish eating you can leave the dishes and trays outside your bedroom. I will come around later to pick it up."
"Wait, can you tell me what the water god is like?"
"You'll see for yourself tomorrow."
"Please! I don't want to do something that might offend a god tomorrow!"
The maid looks at Qian Lan with a worried look. Feeling pity for her, she sighs and motions for Qian Lan to take a seat and eat as she tells her things.
"Sigh, what do you want to know?"
"Well, why don't you tell me the things I should never say to the water god?"
"Very well, just a friendly warning whatever I tell you; stays in this room. One, you must never mention his first wife. Two, avoid meeting his gaze as much as possible. Three, he's a man of few words so don't probe him for answers more than necessary."
"Wow, I might as well not meet him then. I can't talk and I can't look at him then what's the point of meeting him? Not talking about his first wife, I think I understand enough of that to not ask that."
"My lord already knows you're here. He's granted you an audience, so I will come back in the morning tomorrow to help you get ready. If you have nothing else to say, I have other things to do."
Before Qian Lan could ask anything else, the maid had already quickly exited her bedroom. Qian Lan quickly stuffs her face as the food had begone to go cold. After eating she placed out her dishes outside her bedroom door as she was instructed to do so.
With nothing to do, Qian Lan decided she needed some fresh air at least. Quickly pushing her chair in, Qian Lan runs to the only window in the bedroom and props one side open. To her surprise, Qian Lan could see everything. The moon, stars, and other gods and goddess homes; floating above the endless sky.
"What do you know, I'm above the garden."
Qian Lan sticks out half of her body to breath in the fresh air. Just as Qian Lan was about to close her window, she spots someone clad in white walking inside the garden.
"Wait…. that's not a ghost is it?"
Qian Lan watched as the mysterious figure removed it's cloak; revealing a beautiful face. Qian Lan had always had good eyesight and seeing in the dark was something she had grown accustomed to from years of being locked in her closet as punishment. Qian Lan squints her eyes and watched as the figure turns to its side.
Unlike anyone she had seen before, Qian Lan couldn't even tell If the figure was a man or a woman. Beautiful translucent skin, long and shiny white hair that flew in the wind, and light blue eyes. Even from a distance Qian Lan could see the figure crying and walking towards the bridge in the center of the garden.
"Oh my god, they aren't going to kill themselves, right?"
Qian Lan brushes it off and laughs at herself until she saw the figure leaning in towards the bridge.
Instinct kicks in and before Qian Lan realized it, she was already bolting out of her bedroom door. Running as fast as she could, she makes her way towards the garden. Qian Lan didn't even realize she didn't have her shoes on.
"Wait! Don't do it!"
Qian Lan runs and hugs the figure from behind and pulls them back; catching the figure off guard they both fall to the ground and land on their bottoms. As the figure quickly threw their cloak back on, Qian Lan was gasping for air as she hadn't run that fast in years.
"Gasp…Hah…Don't do it."
Qian Lan grabs the mysterious clad figures left hand and cries without even knowing why.
"No matter how tough life is right now, choosing death as the easy way out is never the answer! My grandma taught me that the dead can't do anything, but the living will always have the chance to change their situation!"
"I wasn't trying to kill myself."
The mysterious figure breaks away from Qian Lan's hold and stares at her. Qian Lan listened as they spoke with a voice unlike anything she'd ever heard. A voice that wasn't too high or too low, a voice that could resonate with the tides of the ocean. Qian Lan was so mesmerized she had no idea she was staring so strongly at the figure.
"If you weren't trying to kill yourself, then why did you look so sad?"
"Sad? Me?"
"Uh…yeah if not you, then who? I saw you leaning over the bridge and thought you were going to drown yourself."
"Ha Ha! Water cannot harm me. What a funny human."
The figure continues to laugh and quickly stands up to leave. Qian Lan watched as the figure quickly disappeared into the darkness. Realizing she was barefoot; Qian Lan quickly runs back and finds her room. Once she was back in her room; she quickly runs to wash her feet and hide under her bed covers,
"Gosh, life really is unfair. A beautiful face and voice, what else is next?"
Qian Lan forces her eyes close and soon dozes off. Once again, Qian Lan dreams about the same figure. In a vast field with flowers, Qian Lan watches from the distance as the man hovers over a grave and cries. Just as the man was about to turn around, Qian Lan was awakened by the maid knocking on her bedroom door.
"Knock Knock."
"Time to get up and get ready."
Qian Lan groans and stretches her legs and arms as she sits up from her bed. With her bed hair and disheveled clothes, Qian Lan walks out of bed and walks to the wooden bath bin. Breaking the blue bubble; Qian Lan quickly undresses and hops right into the bath as the maid laid out makeup and a hanfu for Qian Lan.
After soaking for twenty minutes, the maid motioned for Qian Lan to hurry up as time was limited. Qian Lan quickly dries herself and watched as the maid helped her into a beautiful gold and white hanfu. Unlike anything she's worn, Qian Lan couldn't help but think it reminded her of the drama's she used to watch. Once she was completely dressed, the maid quickly drags Qian Lan to a chair and seats her down as she worked on her makeup and hair.
"Do I really need to do all this?"
"You're meeting a god and you want to look like a beggar?"
"No...."
The maid braids a portion of Qian Lan's hair up and pins it with golden hairpin and a small golden crown with large pearls in the center. Just as the maid was about to do her makeup, Qian Lan informs the maid she wanted to do it herself.
"Wait, can I do my own makeup?"
"Do you know how to?"
"I think I watch enough dramas to know. I'm good with my hands."
Qian Lan grabs the brush from the maid and colors her pink lips red and moves onto adding some in as red eyeshadow for herself. Qian Lan digs into the desk and found a pallet that reminded her of an eyebrow dip. Rather than using it on her eyebrows, she goes onto adding it as her eyeliner.
"There!"
"Hmmm…not bad. I'll give you that. If you're done, put on these shoes and follow me."
Just like the dress, the shoes were also made of golden cloth. Qian Lan quickly slips on the shows and runs after the maid. To her surprise there was more people in the palace than the night before.
"Why are there so many people now?"
"It's morning, people are working of course."
Qian Lan continues to stare at the beautiful palace grounds as she follows the maid into a room with a large entrance door. The doors were dark blue with a pale white dragon drawn on both doors. Qian Lan couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by such a large door and painting.
"My lord is beyond that door. He is in the middle of a meeting with the fire god and I am unable to go past this point. So, I will only escort you to here."
"What? I have to go on my own? Into such a large room?"
"Yes, my lord is waiting inside for you. This is the audience chambers, it's where his meetings happened."
The maid motions for Qian Lan to hurry up and enter the room, as to not keep the water god waiting. Once the guards opened the door; Qian Lan quickly walks through the door, but keeps her head down according to what the maid had told her the day before.
Qian Lan continues to keep her distance and her gaze down as she kneels in front of the water god.
"I am Qian Lan."
After a few moments of silence, a tall man clad in red walks out from the sidelines and pulls Qian Lan up. While holding onto her arm; In a deep voice the man smirks.
"Ehhhh…. So, this is the new bride?"
"Le…. let me go!"
Qian Lan breaks from the strange man's grip and throws him over. Although she was weak, Qian Lan at least knew enough judo to fight off any physical attacks. The man hits the floor and bursts out into an even louder laughter before walking to the mysterious figure who was sitting at a large chair located towards the opposite wall.
"Looks like you'll have your hands full. I got things to take care off."
The strange man blows a kiss towards Qian Lan before disappearing into thin air. Qian Lan watched as the mysterious man sitting in front of her removed his cloak; revealing his face.
"You…you're the water god?!"
Qian Lan was shocked to find out that the mysterious man from last night was indeed the water god. Realizing she was being rude; she quickly falls back to her knees and kept her gaze down. The man who was silent, walks towards Qian Lan before turning and walking to a nearby window.
"Why are you here?"
"Uh...I am supposed to be a sacrifice to you in return for rain. The human world is in a panic since the drought has gone on for two years already."
"It's only been two years and they're already complaining? This is why I hate dealing with humans."
Qian Lan couldn't help but feel a bit offended seeing the water god look down on people like her. She clenches her fists and bites back her lips before standing up.
"You may dislike humans because you think we're not worthy of receiving your blessings, but for a kingdom that has dedicated their lives to a god like you for centuries, how can you turn your back on them when they need you?"
The water god turns around and faces Qian Lan.
"You remind me of someone I used to know."
"Who? Your first wife?"
By now the water god was only inches from Qian Lan. Meanwhile, Qian Lan was screaming and lecturing herself internally for starting drama with the water god. As the water god walked closer and closer, Qian Lan would take a step back.
"Do you fear me?"
Qian Lan stares up into the pair of beautiful light blue eyes in front of her.
"No."
The man smiles and turns back to face the window.
"You may leave."
"What? Just like that? You're not going to kill me or eat me?"
"Just what kind of god do you think I am?"
"Nothing! Ha Ha! I'll leave!"
Qian Lan quickly runs towards the door and exits the room. Once Qian Lan was out of the room, the maid who was standing and waiting nearby quickly runs to her.
"Well? How did it go?"
"Uh…. he smiled. Should I be worried?"
"Sigh, no. Looks like he's allowed you to stay here for the time being."
"So…. what does that mean for me? Am I supposed to be his wife or just a stranger living here temporarily?"
"I don' know, you could've asked him."
"What? Are you crazy? Even if he was smiling, his eyes weren't! I felt a shiver go down my spine ok. I'm not going back in there."
Qian Lan runs back towards her room as the maid chased after her.