Mistress of the Underworld and Her Little Celestial Wife - Chapter 101

“Princess Ah Qin was the last princess of the West Moon Kingdom. Though not as dignified and graceful as her elder sister, she was still exceptional cheerful in temperament and just as beautiful in appearance.”

“After hearing that the original wife from the Central Plains had died, it was customary to have the younger sister take her place to maintain the alliance between the two families. Such traditions existed here as well, but Princess Ah Qin refused.”

“She attempted to flee and tried many methods, but none succeeded in escaping the West Moon Kingdom. In the end, the wedding procession from the Central Plains arrived and took her away.”

After finishing her words, the woman quietly looked at Ni Miaoyuan before continuing, “Upon arriving in the Central Plains, Princess Ah Qin lived alone in the small courtyard her sister once inhabited. She watched as her husband indulged in nightly revelries outside. Fortunately, Princess Ah Qin had never liked this man to begin with. She remained secluded in the palace, neither venturing out nor receiving visitors, living her days in quiet resignation.”

“Unfortunately, the women of the Central Plains’ harem were always consumed by jealousy. Even if Princess Ah Qin did not provoke them, those twittering songbirds would still visit her chambers every now and then, spouting venomous words. At first, Princess Ah Qin paid them no mind until she accidentally knocked over a cup of tea someone had sent her and discovered she had long been poisoned.”

“Thankfully, it was caught in time. Only then did Princess Ah Qin realize her sister had been silently murdered in the same manner. But to preserve diplomatic relations between the two nations, the Crown Prince merely disposed of the servant who had administered the poison, and the matter was swept under the rug. Unable to accept this yet powerless to change it, Princess Ah Qin resolved never to receive outsiders again, keeping only the servants she had brought from the West Moon Kingdom by her side.”

“But peace did not last. During a Mid-Autumn reunion banquet, Princess Ah Qin found a child from the West Moon Kingdom on the road. It was then she learned that since marrying women from the West Moon Kingdom had failed to grant them immortality, the people of the Central Plains had devised another method refining the people of the West Moon Kingdom into human pills.”

Ni Miaoyuan frowned upon hearing this. “Human pills? That must be dark sorcery. How could such a thing spread openly?”

The woman chuckled softly. “Is there anything the imperial family cannot obtain? Mere dark sorcery means nothing, if they desire it, they shall have it.”

Ni Miaoyuan fell silent, gesturing for her to continue.

“Only then did Princess Ah Qin realize the Central Plains’ alliance with the West Moon Kingdom had always been for the secret of immortality. The people of the West Moon Kingdom were born with this trait, but outsiders could never achieve the same. Consuming refined human pills was the only way to gain even a fraction of its effects. Thus, they lured merchants from the West Moon Kingdom to the Central Plains under the guise of trade, only to refine them into pills. The child had been spared only because he was too young they intended to raise him before refining him, but he had escaped during the Mid-Autumn festivities when families gathered for reunion.”

“This revelation shattered Princess Ah Qin. She had resigned herself to growing old in the Central Plains as an ordinary woman, never imagining they would treat her people so cruelly. She confronted the Crown Prince, cursing the Central Plains with her own life wishing for the empire’s downfall and for the emperor and Crown Prince to meet ruin and desolation. Enraged, the man flew into a fury.”

“The Crown Prince ordered the capture of Princess Ah Qin to be used for the next batch of human elixirs. Fortunately, the guards and maids she brought from the West Moon Kingdom were loyal. They secretly retrieved the corpse of Ah Qin’s elder sister, who had been buried in the mausoleum, and used it as a substitute for Princess Ah Qin before fleeing back to the West Moon Kingdom overnight. The Crown Prince consumed the elixir refined from the sister’s corpse and died of poisoning. The emperor then used this as a pretext to send troops to attack the West Moon Kingdom.”

The woman sighed deeply at this point and said to Ni Miaoyuan, “Though the West Moon Kingdom possessed the secret of immortality, it lacked the strength to resist a powerful nation. The city couldn’t hold out for long. Watching her homeland crumble, Princess Ah Qin ultimately chose to sacrifice herself.”

“She extracted her heartbone and spine, using these two magical artifacts along with her own soul as energy to hide the West Moon Kingdom in a place no one could find. To honor Princess Ah Qin, the people of the West Moon Kingdom buried her body in the mausoleum originally prepared for her sister, leaving the now-powerless heartbone as a burial offering. The spine, however, was kept as the kingdom’s national treasure, vanishing along with the West Moon Kingdom and its people from this world.”

The woman looked up at Ni Miaoyuan and said, “This is the last recorded account of the West Moon Kingdom.”

After hearing this, Ni Miaoyuan frowned and asked, “Where was the West Moon Kingdom hidden?”

“I don’t know,” the woman shook her head and smiled. “No one knows its location. Except for Princess Ah Qin, who hid it, no one in this world should ever find it again.”

A place only Ah Qin could know.

Ni Miaoyuan silently committed this to memory and inquired further, “Did the Central Plains emperor give up searching for the secret of immortality after that?”

The woman shook her head. “Of course not. They never stopped seeking a way to achieve eternal life, but even by the emperor’s death, nothing was discovered. Perhaps Princess Ah Qin’s curse came true not long after, that once-prosperous Central Plains empire suddenly collapsed. The entire royal family was slaughtered. The new emperor had naturally heard of the West Moon Kingdom’s legend but could never find it.”

“In the end, the new emperor declared the tale of the West Moon Kingdom to be nothing but rumor.” The woman chuckled. “Once the imperial edict was posted, everyone came to believe the kingdom’s immortality was merely a figment of the previous dynasty’s imagination. If eternal life truly existed in this world, why had no one achieved it after all this time?”

Having finished her tale, the woman looked up at Ni Miaoyuan and asked, “That’s all I have to say. Do you have any other questions, young lady?”

Ni Miaoyuan pondered for a moment before shaking her head. “Not for now. Thank you for your wisdom.”

The woman laughed softly. “You Central Plains folk have such pleasant speech instead of saying ‘thank you,’ you call it ‘your wisdom.’ Well, I like it.”

She gazed at Ni Miaoyuan with a smile and said, “Once you finish your current tasks, you might consider heading south.”

Ni Miaoyuan looked at her in confusion.

The woman added, “Who knows? You might just find the thread that ties you.”

Meanwhile, as soon as Si Lingqing returned to the Underworld, she was met by a frantic little ghost rushing toward her with a towering stack of documents.

Sweating profusely, the ghost stumbled to a halt and bowed deeply. “Ghost King, you’ve finally returned! There’s so much work awaiting your attention. When will you officially resume your duties?”

Si Lingqing had been away for several months this time, and the documents requiring her personal review in the Underworld had piled up beyond measure. They simply had to find a way to make her stay now!

“What’s the rush?” Si Lingqing flicked her sleeve dismissively and strode forward, with the little ghosts immediately scurrying after her.

“My Lord, you really must assume your duties. The Underworld truly cannot function without you, my Lord.”

“Wasn’t the Underworld perfectly fine when I was undergoing my tribulations before? How come it can’t function without me now?”

Si Lingqing said lightly, “Just do as you’ve always done before. It’s just the usual cycle of birth, aging, sickness, death, and reincarnation. Follow the rules, and there’s no need to consult me about everything.”

“But—”

The little ghosts hastily scrambled to block Si Lingqing’s path, holding up the documents in their hands. “My Lord, when you were absent before, we managed affairs as we saw fit. But now that you’ve returned from your tribulations, these naturally require your personal review!”

When the little ghost looked up again, the space before them was empty Si Lingqing had somehow already bypassed them and was heading toward her palace.

“My Lord, my Lord, slow down! Wait for us.”

Si Lingqing arrived at her study and frowned at the towering stack of documents piled on her desk. She turned to glare at the little ghosts and scolded, “Did you all just laze about the entire time I was gone? With this much backlog, what if important matters were delayed?”

Hearing this, the little ghosts immediately perked up and said eagerly, “My Lord speaks truly! That’s exactly why you must return at once! We’re all counting on you to take charge!”

Si Lingqing shot them a sidelong glance and sprawled lazily in her chair. “Let’s set that aside for now.”

“What? No, that’s not—”

“I already said, handle these documents yourselves. We’ll talk after I’ve rested enough.”

Si Lingqing cut them off, flicking her fingers to make the massive stack of documents float into the air before distributing a pile to each little ghost.

“Start reviewing them now,” Si Lingqing said, leaning back in her chair and propping her feet on the desk. “Hurry up.”

The little ghosts glanced at Si Lingqing, then at each other, before pitifully pulling out their brushes and crouching on the floor to review the documents. Every now and then, they would peek up at Si Lingqing, wondering what this Ghost King was planning returning suddenly yet refusing to work.

With the little ghosts no longer bothering her, Si Lingqing leaned back and picked up the Book of Life and Death from her desk.

The book wasn’t thick. By channeling spiritual power and focusing on the person one sought, their records would automatically appear on its blank pages. This time, Si Lingqing had come specifically to trace clues about Ah Qin.

It wasn’t as though she hadn’t considered checking here before, but she had always been interrupted by other matters, delaying it until now.

Moreover, she had obtained the bone string from Mu Yin. Barring any mishaps, these should be Ah Qin’s bones. With this as a medium, even if Ah Qin existed beyond the Five Elements, some traces could still be uncovered.

The study was utterly silent, the little ghosts lined up on the floor reviewing documents while Si Lingqing searched for information about the West Moon Kingdom.

What couldn’t be found in the mortal realm didn’t necessarily mean the Underworld had no records. As long as someone died and their soul returned to the Underworld, the Book of Life and Death would meticulously document every action they had taken.

However, Si Lingqing frowned as she looked at the Book of Life and Death, which remained empty no matter how much spiritual power she poured into it.

Resting her hand on the armrest, she stared blankly at the blank pages, lost in thought.

At that moment, a minor ghost who had already finished its tasks carefully placed a document on the table and said to Si Lingqing, “Ghost King, I’ve taken care of everything.”

“Hmm.” Si Lingqing lifted her eyelids to glance at it, then suddenly raised a hand and beckoned for the ghost to come closer.

Confused but obedient, the ghost took a step forward and asked, “My lord, is there something you need?”

Closing the Book of Life and Death, Si Lingqing asked, “Tell me, under what circumstances would the Book of Life and Death fail to record someone’s birth, aging, sickness, and death?”

The ghost replied in puzzlement, “No human, demon, or ghost can escape being recorded in the Book of Life and Death.”

Si Lingqing pondered. “Then, aside from humans, demons, and ghosts.”

The ghost interjected, “Only deities wouldn’t be recorded in the book.”

Si Lingqing froze for a moment before looking at the ghost and saying, “You may leave. I’ll be away for some time handle the affairs of the Underworld among yourselves.”

The ghosts watched as Si Lingqing departed from the Underworld, exchanging bewildered glances.

Their Ghost King had skipped work again.

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