First Love: Mo Xue (29)

"Mistress, our letter of intent have been received by them."

"Good, then prepare the necessary. The youngest and most pampered princess of the Western Nation must not be presented lightly, right."

The body that owns the flirtatious voice come out from behind the silk screen. Previously, this lady is the same lady that wore the skimpy red outfit, far in the desert. Right now, inside a highly decorated mansion, in the neighbouring state of her intended destination, this lady is wearing a proper western attire, a pale pink silk muslin gown, suitable for those lady with noble upbringing.

She no longer wears an organza mask to hide her face, but her real face is still hidden beneath a layer of skin mask that she have put on. Her new face resembles the full moon, clear and innocent, which would easily grip the hearts of any man. However, the glint on her eyes, sneaky and fierce, betrays her whole look.

"Mistress, everything will be done as ordered."

Her servant bow as he leave her room. The lady flick her wrist, swiping on her face in an upward motion, letting the skin mask fall on the floor. Her real countenance shows, a devilishly charming lady, with a long but faint scar on her left cheek. She struts to the window, looking away to a certain place, with a dark smirk in her face.

Far from the mansion, in the neighbouring kingdom, a meeting between father and his sons occurs. Inside the palace, in the Emperor's office, the head of the kingdom is sitting behind a large table, staring intently on a few piece of paper. His sons, the Crown Prince Mo Tang and the Fourth Prince, Mo Xue, is standing solemnly in front of him.

"Princess Jia Ru from the Western Empire will becoming for a visit. They wish to enter our kingdom to replenish their supplies before continuing their journey to the Southern Hemisphere. They are already at the neighbouring state, waiting for our permission."

The two brothers exchange a look after listening to their father. Both princes hold their tongues, letting him to finish as they both know there's more to come.

"Western Empire is much bigger than Tian Mo Kingdom. The ruler have manage to unite the whole Western continent some years ago. Along with their letter of intent here, they send along the official letter of purpose, stating that they are sending their youngest princess to a journey to the South, to search for a cure for their Empress Dowager." He stops for a while, gauging the reaction in his sons before he asks, "What do you both think?"

"Your son thinks that there is more to it, Royal Father." The Crown Prince started, "With permission, Royal Father, your son wants to share his opinion."

"Granted."

"According to your son's resources, there is a princess name Jia Ru in the Western Empire. She is the illegitimate daughter of the ruler and her first wife's maid. The maid is from this kingdom, Royal Father, as she is one of the tribute that you have sent to congratulate the ruler on uniting the Western continent."

The Crown Prince paused for a moment, taking a glance at the Emperor before continuing further.

"Nobody have ever seen this princess, Royal Father. All that was heard was this princess does exist and that is it. Over the past few years, there are news from our spies sending information about which country's heir want to send a hand in marriage to the ruler's princess, but none of them are for this princess. If your son's calculation is correct, Princess Jia Ru should sixteen now, perfect age for marriage talk."

"What about you, Fourth Prince? What do you think about this?" the Emperor asks again after digesting what the Crown Prince has said.

"Your son share the same sentiment as the Crown Prince, Royal Father. Your son believe we must be very careful in receiving them to this kingdom, in case Royal Father decided to accept their request."

The Crown Prince nod his head, agreeing with his younger brother. The Emperor take another minute, trying to think of a solution for this. In one hand, he wants to deny their request, wanting to prevent any mishap from occurring in his kingdom, for his subject's safety.

However, he might incur the wrath of the Western Empire later on. He have long notice the lust of the Western Empire Ruler on his kingdom. If it's not for their location that is too far away and the fact that their army is filled with masters that can control element, or as the ruler believe, magic, Tian Mo Kingdom might already cease to exist.

"Alright, this is what we will do. I will accept their request. Crown Prince, tighten the security as soon as they step inside the kingdom. Monitor their every move and don't let any of them escape our attention, including their maids and slave."

"Your son received your command, Royal Father."

"Fourth Prince, you will be in charge on assembling a reception. It must be grand and decent. Don't give the Western Empire any reason to say we are not giving them any respect."

"Your son received your command, Royal Father."

The Emperor give out a small smile before letting his sons leave the chamber. They both fisted their palm in salutation, before turning around to leave. However, before they even reach the front door, the Emperor call them back with another command.

"Fourth Prince, I almost forgot. You are married now, so let your consort entertain the princess when she comes."

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"Who would have thought? Thank you father-in-law."

I smirk knowingly upon listening to my system's report. So many important incidents have change, far different from the original. In the original, based on what my system has shared with me, the Emperor didn't even hesitate in accept their request of visit and directly command the Fourth Prince to receive her.

But now?

"Well, is this a way for the universe to help me? As a compensation for sending me to this forsaken place?"

"...no information about that, host."

I can feel my facial muscle getting numb by all the smirking I'm doing right now. Hopefully, no one will realize it as I'm holding my chin down, seemingly concentrating on my painting. I'm letting this original body's muscle memory to flow its talent as I'm continuing my conversation with Zero Three.

"My dear."

My attention got drag back to reality, upon sensing a pair of hand grabbing my waist from behind. I turn my head around, greeting him with a smile. Who? My- ehem...

The Prince.

"Xue Er, you're back."

"Hmm."

He drop a kiss on my lips, making me stunned a bit. I turn my face to the front, feeling the heat that start to spread on my face. He tighten his hold on my waist and perch his chin on my shoulder, looking across to what's in front of me.

"You paint well, my dear."

I can barely hear him as he trail kisses on my neck, passing behind my ear. I have to grip my brush tightly before moving it away from my painting as I'm afraid to ruin whatever I'm painting before.

"But I think, it lack something."

He takes back the brush that I put aside, before writing something on the upper right corner of my painting. As I watch him write, I gasp in disbelief. Not only because of his immaculate calligraphy, but also because of the painting.

This original body was painting black ink on white paper, but the detail in each stroke is so lively, making the non-existing colours scream to his eyes. Mountain and bird, lakes with fishes jumping in the air and a bridge at the center of the lake, with a pair standing on it, gazing to the moon. Gosh, this is a pure artwork!

"Zero Three, can I attain this original body's talent after I leave this world?"

"Yes, host. This is one of the benefit given to you. You can bring this talent to the next world and you will be able to do so with any talent in the other body that you will reside later. That is, as long as you complete the main mission."

"Which mean, if I didn't complete the main mission but still manage to get that 1000 points and decided to leave, I won't get to keep this talent?"

"That is correct, host."

Tsk. I know those loophole are too good to be true.

"My dear. Look. See if the poems fits."

I turn my attention again towards my painting. Upon reading his four lines poem, my heart jump erratically before clenching in pain. I turn around and hug him close, before crying on his chest.

"My dear?"

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'Once you see the ocean,

There's no other body of water that can compare.

Once you see the clouds of mount Wu,

No other clouds can compare.'

«A/N: This poem is the first part of a love poem by Yuan Zheng. The meaning is, once you have found your fated one, no other can be compared with. This poem is written by the author for his dead wife.»