Chapter 3

　　The wheel of fate began to turn that day. Last night, I dreamed about Emperor Li excitedly writing at his desk with a brush. I felt like meat hung on a bamboo stick, where people applied soy sauce on it with a brush……

　　I pulled the quilt over my face to force those ugly images to disappear. When I felt like I was out of breath, I lifted the quilt and sat up.

　　No! I couldn’t surrender to fate. That was a waste of the evil me. That was a waste of my memories, of my previous life in the immortal realm. I needed to fight against fate.

　　I bit my finger and pulled a long face. and thought about the future. Was there a way to get rid of that Chu Kong bastard?

　　Suddenly, a light flashed in my mind. The play that Emperor Li was writing was seven lifetimes of love. If one of us died early and reincarnated while the other person waited for his demise in any of those lifetimes……. If that was the case, we didn’t have to avoid each other; we’ll naturally miss each other in every lifetime.

　　When I figured this out, I ran to the mirror and gave my reflection a kiss.

　　My identity as the daughter of the prime minister gave me a justified reason to be lazy. I didn’t want to give up on this kind of life. Then…

　　I looked at my reflection and laughed. “Dear Lu Hai Kong, for our happiness in the next six lifetimes, can you go die, ah?”

　　After days of detailed planning, I excitedly ran to the General’s mansion. Now that there was no one, it was a good opportunity.

　　Lu Hai Kong lay calmly in the cradle. Compared to a few days ago, he was more beautiful now. Soft white skin, long thick lashes. I couldn’t keep myself from poking his pouting lips. He woke up from my poking. He looked at me with those big watery eyes. My heart quivered, and I stood there in shock.

　　“Ah!”

　　He yelled and with his small hand full of saliva, he pulled at my braid.

　　“Ah!”

　　He had pulled so hard that my scalp hurt. It made me think of the red dressed, hateful bastard.

　　I kept myself calm and put my hand around the child’s neck. The soft and fragile feeling made me think that I wouldn’t need to use strength. If I touched it a few times, it would break. He was, after all, not that rough-skinned young man…

　　I became soft-hearted again when I looked at his innocent eyes. How could this poor thing know why I was holding his neck? He released my braid and grabbed my finger instead. Like last time, he brought my finger to his mouth, sucking on it like it was the happiest thing in the world.

　　He kicked to show his excitement.

　　I also wanted to kick. Little brat, don’t be so sweet ah! With you like this, how can this big sister bear to kill you, ah?

　　I was fighting my inner turmoil when the wet nurse and a group of people came in.

　　“Oh, why is the daughter of the prime minister here?”

　　“I…” I coughed to calm myself.

　　“I came to look at my little husband.” Everyone laughed. Suddenly, the wet nurse caught me off guard. “We’re going to bathe the little young master now. Miss Song, do you also want to stay?”

　　“No. I’ll…” I took my hand back, but Lu Hai Kong began to cry. I looked at him. After a while, he cried harder. Tears were streaming down. He looked so miserable that I couldn’t help but look in horror.

　　I was scared out of my wits. In Heaven, I haven’t seen anyone cry so miserably.

　　Subconsciously, I put my finger back in his mouth. The moment my finger was in his mouth, he quieted down and lay there with a happy face.

　　The wet nurse smiled and said, “This is good. Now the young master can’t be without Miss Song.”

　　I looked at these foolish humans.

　　Next, I was forced to see the naked Lu Hai Kong bathing. I didn’t have any dirty thoughts, as it was more like an aunt washing pigskin. No matter what, I had wasted an opportunity to kill Lu Hai Kong just because of my soft heart.

　　Every day from then on, I went to the General’s mansion. I saw Lu Hai Kong every day, but the wet nurse and the servants were always by his side. They didn’t even give me a chance.

　　I was wondering if I should let the child grow a little. I could then go play with him alone and get rid of him.

　　This wait took five years. Every time I looked at Lu Hai Kong, my eyes would shine with a hidden meaning. Seeing me looking like that, the General and the General’s wife would joke, “Has this child been poisoned by Hai Kong’s poison? She’s always here. No need to rush. You have a lifetime to be with each other.”

　　A lifetime was too long. I only wanted to seize the day and get rid of him. Only then would I be at ease.

　　When I was ten years old, I was really wild.

　　Father Song gave up on me completely. He didn’t care about what I did anymore. It had its advantages. I even received the name  the ruckus devil in the capital.

　　On Lu Hai Kong’s fifth birthday, I finally found a method to fool the wet nurse and the servants. I sneaked out of the General’s mansion with Lu Hai Kong. I realized that there wasn’t many opportunities in the General’s mansion, but there were many opportunities outside. Like the edge of a slippery river or a fall from a tree. I could create any opportunities everywhere. I rubbed my hands in excitement. Lu Hai Kong was following me closely.

　　“Yun Xiang, let’s go back. Father said that there are many people outside. It’s not safe.”

　　Since he was an infant, this little child had been taught to follow the rules. When he went out, there were always a bunch of people with him. He had never been outside alone. Seeing all those people at the market, he tensed.

　　I was plotting where I could cause him to have an ‘accident’ when he pulled at my sleeves. “Yun Xiang, let’s go back.”

　　“Shut up.”

　　He obediently closed his mouth and uneasily looked around.

　　“Yun Xiang.”

　　He called me pitifully and stuck his hand out. I subconsciously held his hand.

　　Suddenly, I remembered what I needed to do.

　　“Brat, do you want to go to Tan Zhe temple?”

　　The temple was on a mountain. On the road to the temple, there weren’t many people. The road was small, narrow, and slippery. It was the area where a child was most likely to climb and fall.

　　He thought for a moment and said, “It’s too far and unsafe.”

　　“There’s nothing to worry about. We’ll be back soon.”

　　He stubbornly shook his head. I sighed. “Since today is your birthday, I wanted to get a talisman for you. I heard that the talismans at Tan Zhe temple are really effective.”

　　I let go of his hand and adopted a face full of disappointment. “It’s alright if you don’t want to go.”

　　Yun Xiang: “…”

　　He hesitated for a moment before he grabbed my hand and said, “We’ll go.”

　　My disappointed face turned into a happy face. I dragged him with me and said, “Alright, let’s go.”

　　Chu Kong, ah, Chu Kong, don’t blame me for being heartless. This is the best for us.

　　Don’t ask me why I didn’t go die instead. Suicide is a heartless thing. I’m a soft-hearted person…….

　　To go to the temple, we needed to pass the center of the capital. Lu Hai Kong had never been here before. He found everything interesting.

　　“Yun Xiang, what’s that?” I looked at where he was pointing.

　　“Tanghulu (candied fruit). It’s hard and sweet. It isn’t tasty.”

　　Lu Hai Kong’s eyes shined brightly. “It’s for eating…”

　　I felt that this could be Lu Hai Kong’s last meal. In these circumstances, I shouldn’t be saving the pennies to buy Tanghulu. So I generously took out my hard-saved money from my purse. Amongst a pile of coins, I found a yuan. I went to the man who was selling Tanghulu.

　　In the past, having so much money was impossible for me. Now I was someone who can buy Tanghulu whenever I wanted. How ironic was life…….

　　While I was thinking, a man bumped into me. I fell onto the ground. Lu Hai Kong panicked and held my back. “Yun Xiang, does it hurt? Does it hurt?”

　　I shook my head and realized that my purse was gone.

　　I remembered the days in Heaven where I bitterly needed to save money. A weng sounded in my head. That was my hard-saved money! That man wanted to steal it and stole it. That was more detestable than Chu Kong, who had broken my fan.

　　“You…!” (She was actually swearing here) I stood up, rolled up my sleeves, and yelled, “Stealing money, I hope that you get constipation for life! Thief, don’t run!”

　　After I yelled, I chased after the thief. I didn’t care if Lu Hai Kong, who had shorter legs, couldn’t keep up with me.

　　The thief didn’t expect that a ten year-old girl would dare to chase him. He had a guilty conscience and sped up his pace. There were many people on the market. The thief couldn’t get past them very fast. I, with my small body, caught up with him. After going through reincarnation, my power was gone, but I still had my fist. I couldn’t go against someone with martial arts, but against a thief, my fist was enough.

　　The thief was a middle aged man. His body was bigger than mine. A quick beating would certainly not do. So when I was chasing him, I snatched a rolling pin from one of the bread sellers. I took two steps back and struck downward. I heard dang. The thief moaned ying and was on the ground, hands on his crotch.

　　I threw away the rolling pin and from his pocket, I retrieved my purse.

　　“Humph, you dare to steal my money? Are you prepared to die?”

　　I counted the money and found that there wasn’t a yuan missing. With a contented smile I said, “Lu Hai Kong, let’s go buy Tanghulu.”

　　I didn’t get a reply. I closed my left eye and saw that I was surrounded by strangers.

　　“Huh?”

　　I was dumbfounded. Lu Hai Kong, where are you?