Tingzhe kept silent as he walked with Fengge. All the celestials that passed by murmured looking at them. Even without being told, he knew it was because he was a demon who was the sworn brother of the heavenly realm crown prince. Such hypocrites.
The banquet had ended so everyone was leaving the banquet venue. Just as they were about to head to Fengge's palace, they ran into two beautiful girls. Well, one because to him, Jiu Bao was the only beautiful mortal.
"Greetings Crown Prince" Su Ying and Jiu Bao both said bowing.
Fengge noticed the strange silence coming from his friend. Looking at him, he saw the awkward look between Tingzhe and Jiu Bao. According to Tingzhe, they had fallen in love but were separated due to a misunderstanding. Maybe if they had time to solve that misunderstanding, everything would naturally fall into place.
"Rise. The two of you must be the mortal king's daughters right?" Fengge asked.
"That's right. This is my sister, Su Ying." Jiu Bao said avoiding eye contact with Tingzhe.
"No need to introduce the two of us. We have met. I even saved her life." Fengge said smiling.
"Thank you, Your Highness. I wanted to thank you but, I saw you were with important celestials so I didn't dare to come close" Su Ying said.
Looking once more at his friend, he saw that Tingzhe was still looking sadly at Jiu Bao. That's when he came up with a decisive plan to make them reconcile. He had never failed at anything he set his mind to do. This would definitely work. Smiling to himself, he spotted the phoenix flowers at the back of his garden blooming.
"Well ladies, the phoenix flowers are about to bloom. Today is an auspicious day and I don't feel too tired. Would you mind keeping us company for some while?" Fengge asked.
"Of course not, Your Highness" Jiu Bao said stretching out her hand for Fengge.
Walking past her, Fengge went for Su Ying grabbing her hand to bring her to him. This left no choice for Tingzhe and Jiu Bao who were feeling very awkward with each other. Realizing his plan wasn't working, Fengge intertwined his hands with Su Ying.
"What are the two of you doing? Let's go" Fengge said showing them him and Su Ying's hands that were intertwined.
Tingzhe who was with a gloomy face slowly took Jiu Bao's hand intertwining it with his. Suddenly the two of them were struck with the same memory. The memory of how they used to play about in the dark realm.
Jiu Bao suddenly felt emotional but turned to the other side. If it was up to her, she would run away but today was the crown prince's birthday. Spoiling such an important day would be a major crime. She had no choice to obey whatever he said. She could feel Tingzhe tighten his grip on her hand as if he wanted to get a good feel of her hands. Their relationship had no future. That's what her father said and he was right.
"The heavenly realm and the dark realm hate each other. The mortal realm has stayed out of it for the sake of the people. I studied at the Raven sect therefore I don't have a good relationship with the heavenly realm. Its all up to you to make connections with heavenly realm. You cannot marry a demon or our relationship with the heavenly realm will be completely ruined." Her father once said.
He was right. The mortal realm was now depending on her to make sure everything went smoothly.
Fengge smiled to himself as he and Su Ying walked round his garden. Very soon his friend will be reunited with the love of his life. Meanwhile Su Ying was completely fascinated by the flowers in the garden of the crown prince. Even though she was completely aware of the crown prince's plan, she paid no attention to what was happening.
"Do you like the flowers here?" She heard the crown prince ask which made her flustered.
Her sister was right. She did like the crown prince. Since she could remember cultivating, she had fallen in love with the crown prince. That was why she had done her best cultivating but when she realized her father had started to place too much hope in her, she decided to slack off, falling short of everyone's expectations.
"I do. Its very beautiful." Su Ying said.
"Do you think your sister and Tingzhe will reconcile?" Fengge asked worried as he saw they were not talking.
Sighing to herself, Su Ying looked at her sister.
"No. I don't think so" Su Ying said.
"Why?" Fengge asked shocked.
"Because, they are not suited for each other" Su Ying said.
"Although everything has been predestined since the beginning of time, we have a choice to change it. Is it because he's a demon?" Fengge asked angrily.
"What do you mean, Your Highness?" Su Ying asked surprised.
"Are you people looking on down on him because he's a demon? Tingzhe is my sworn brother. He is considered to be of a high blood even though he's a demon" Fengge said.
Jiu Bao stopped looking at the scene in front of her. The silence between the two of them had become extremely uncomfortable. But this time Tingzhe had not said a single word since they had started walking together. Had he forgotten about her? Or was he also uncomfortable around her?
Just as she was about to talk, she heard some people arguing. Without being told, her mind went for her sister.
"Su Ying!" Jiu Bao said removing her hand from Tingzhe's as she ran for her sister.
"Your Highness, its not what you are thinking. The issue between them is far too complicated for you to understand." Su Ying said.
"Just great. Now, you are saying I am not smart enough to understand things, right?" Fengge asked looking at Su Ying.
"Your Highness, is there a problem?" Jiu Bao asked.
"No. His Highness and I," Su Ying said but it was stopped by Jiu Bao.
"Your Highness, I don't know what my sister had done to offend you but, I beg you. Please forgive her" Jiu Bao said.
"I am not that petty minded" Fengge said leaving angrily.
Jiu Bao's heart ached when she watched Tingzhe leave with Fengge. That means he really didn't love her anymore. Shaking her head, she turned to her sister.
"What happened? What did you do to anger the crown prince?" Jiu Bao asked.
"I don't know. We were just talking about you and Tingzhe. Then he got angry all of a sudden. That crown prince is truly something." Su Ying said shaking her head.
"Greetings princesses" Jiu Bao heard someone say.
Turning around, she saw a heavenly maid dressed in light pink. Heaven was indeed such a nice place. Even their maids were dressed so beautifully.
"The heavenly king has summoned Princess Jiu Bao to the his hall" The maid said.
"Alone?" Su Ying asked shocked by the invitation.
"Yes, alone. But you may accompany her to the hall" The maid said.
"Please lead the way" Jiu Bao said as they followed the maid.
Fengge looked everywhere but Tingzhe as he thought of ways to lift up his friend's spirit. It was obvious his friend was feeling down. Meanwhile Tingzhe continued walking down the road following Fengge without a word. Earlier he had a chance to talk to Jiu Bao but he didn't.
Maybe it was because at that moment, he realized that their relationship indeed had no fighting chance. How funny it is, right? He had fought for thousands of years to try and have her hear his explanation but when he had the chance, he didn't explain.
"Why didn't you explain? You had the chance." Fengge asked.
"Maybe all it took was to see her as the mortal king's successor." Tingzhe said.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't allow you to lose the woman you love. I will go and ask my father to talk to the mortal king to arrange a marriage for the both of you" Fengge said.
"No need. Right now, we are walking on different paths. My mother is planning to send me to my father's palace for training. There is no place for romance right now in my life" Tingzhe said.
"Your father is corrupted. You cannot learn from him." Fengge said.
"Don't worry about me. I will be just fine. Just because I will learn from him doesn't mean I will get corrupted." Tingzhe said.
"Take care. And don't forget me." Fengge said hugging Tingzhe.
"You also take care. Be careful. The heavenly realm is not full of roses like you think. Watch your back. I love you." Tingzhe said making the both of them laugh.
"Ah, you are a demon. You should not be so emotional." Fengge said laughing.
Su Ying opened her mouth as they walked to the heavenly king's hall. The place was so beautiful and the flowers practically glowed in the night. Waiting outside with the maid, Su Ying watched as the doors opened automatically for her sister.
Jiu Bao entered inside admiring the bright light and clean place. The heavenly king was sitting down in front. Does he know she's here? He didn't show any reaction to her presence.
"Greetings heavenly king" Jiu Bao said kneeling down.
For the first time, she saw as he lifted up his head smiling at her. The heavenly king was indeed very charming. Even though he was older than her, he still looked very handsome. Too bad her heart was involved with another person.