To the Sky Kingdom

by Tang Qi

  The Eastern Sea Emperor was so proud of this son that he invited everyone between the sky and earth—even me, Bai Qian of Qingqiu—for a banquet to celebrate the boy’s first month of life.

  Father and Mother had been out of Qingqiu for hundreds of years now, wandering far and wide. And my brothers—Big Brother, Second Brother, and Third Brother—had settled down one after another to start their own families in each of their portioned-off sections of the kingdom. Fourth Brother was off in the Eastern Mountain, looking for his bird steed, Bi Fang, who had flown off. That left me alone in the foxhole, mistress of the house.

  I took the invitation over to the curtain of water outside the cave and held it up to the light. I remember hearing that my birth had been difficult for Mother, and the great-grandfather of this Eastern Sea Emperor had sent their family’s midwife along to help ease her suffering. I decided it was time to repay this favor. I picked out a night pearl and prepared to travel to the Eastern Sea. The night pearl, with its warm green glow, was the size of a pumpkin. It would be my gift to the Eastern Sea Emperor.

  My sense of direction was terrible, so before setting off, I went next door to Mystic Gorge’s place to ask for a twig from the Mystic Gorge tree.

  The Mystic Gorge tree had black-grained wood and lustrous multicolored flowers that could be used to light the way at night. As long as I had a twig from the Mystic Gorge tree on me, I would not lose my way. In the early days of the huge mists, Old Mystic Gorge actually used to be a Mystic Gorge tree growing on Zhaoyao Mountain in the Southern Desert.

  While Mother was pregnant with Fourth Brother, she and Father had an argument. She ran from the house and got lost, ending up on Zhaoyao Mountain. Father eventually found her, but he was so worried about her getting lost again that he dug up the only Mystic Gorge tree on Zhaoyao Mountain and carried it back to Qingqiu, where he planted it on our doorstep.

  Qingqiu is an immortal paradise, and after three thousand years of bathing in the sun and the moon and swirling in the energy of the seasons, this Mystic Gorge tree had cultivated enough spiritual energy to transform into human form. Another three thousand years passed, and he became an earth god.

  Father gave Mystic Gorge a couple of bundles of bamboo as a celebratory gift, which Mystic Gorge used, along with some thatching, to build himself a three-room hut next door to the foxhole, thus becoming our closest neighbor.

  Mystic Gorge handed me my twig with a despondent look on his face, though I couldn’t imagine what might be bothering him. I considered asking but knew that if I did, I would probably be trapped there listening to him for a long time and so decided not to meddle. I took the twig and summoned a lucky cloud, which I jumped aboard, and soared in the direction of the Eastern Sea.

  Third Brother had heard that I was going to the Eastern Sea to attend the banquet, and he had asked if I would go first to Zhe Yan’s peach grove to ask for two bottles of peach blossom wine.

  When I was small, Mother told me that Zhe Yan was the first phoenix to be born after the sky was split from the earth, back in the age of primal chaos. He had been raised by Father of the Universe, and he was several ranks higher than the present Sky Emperor.

  When I was a child, Father and Mother took me to see Zhe Yan. He raised an eyebrow when he saw me before giving Father a smile and saying, “Is this your new baby daughter? How lovely they are at this age.”

  Tens of thousands of years before, Zhe Yan asked Mother to marry him, even sending a betrothal gift to her family home. But Mother had her heart set on Father, a man so stubborn and unyielding he found it hard even to nod his head. Zhe Yan and Father had a hearty battle over Mother, after which they became close as brothers. Father and Mother got married on New Year’s Day. Father sent a sedan chair with eight carriers to welcome her to Qingqiu, and Zhe Yan was invited to act as master of ceremonies at their wedding.

  Zhe Yan was an exceptionally skilled wine maker, even though he himself did not indulge in feasting, gambling, or drinking. “A mysterious god who has shunned the three unwholesome roots and retreated from the mortal world, who has refined interests, and even more refined tastes” was the way he saw himself.

  Anytime an immortal invited him to drink and make merry with them, he would simply give a laugh and ignore it.

  Knowing this, any immortal who invited him to come and make merry did so merely as a gesture of affection for a god who enjoyed a high ranking within the immortal realm despite serving no great function. He had become far too settled in his own surroundings. Gradually other immortals came to understand this, seeing him as an idle god who was to be respected but not approached, and over the years, they lost enthusiasm for sending him invitations.

  Zhe Yan lived a pure and simple life and was wholeheartedly devoted to his peach grove.

  I arrived at the edge of the Eastern Sea and counted off the hours using my fingers. I still had a day and a half until the official start of the banquet. I considered Third Brother’s request and decided to stop off at Zhe Yan’s first. My plan was to ask him for an earthen jug of peach blossom wine, which I could use to fill two bottles to take back to Third Brother, as well as a third bottle to give to the Eastern Sea Water Emperor as a celebration gift along with the night pearl. Even after parceling out these gifts, I would still have some wine remaining in the jug, which I could drink at my leisure back at the foxhole.

  It was the height of the peach blossom season, and the Ten-Mile Peach Grove was awash with flowers. The blossoms covered the mountains and plains with their lustrous brilliance.

  I made my familiar way into the depths of the peach grove, where I found Zhe Yan sitting cross-legged in a clearing, taking bites out of an enormous peach. In no time at all, he was left with only the stone.

  When he saw me, Zhe Yan beckoned me over with a wide smile on his face. “Well, if it isn’t the little girl from the Bai family come to pay a visit. You just get more beautiful. Come.” He patted the space next to him. “Sit down and let me take a proper look at you.”

  There were not many gods between the sky and earth who were old enough to call me little girl, and hearing the address made me feel as if I were still very young. I felt filled with a mixture of great sadness and great joy.

  I sat down as instructed, and Zhe Yan reached out and stroked my hand. I was just considering the best way to ask for that jug of wine when Zhe Yan started to chuckle. “You’ve shut yourself up in Qingqiu for thousands of years now. What a coincidence that you choose now to come out.”

  I was slightly baffled by his comment but did not ask him to explain. I just gave a polite smile and said, “The peach blossoms look glorious.”

  He gave an even deeper laugh. “The Northern Sea Emperor brought his wife here a couple of days ago to admire the peach blossoms. It was the first time I’d seen his wife. She really is rather enchanting.” I was unable to even force a smile.

  Shao Xin was the Northern Sea Emperor’s wife. I was the one who had chosen this name for her many years ago. My four older brothers and I had gone for a day out to Dongting Lake where, there in the reeds, we discovered a little ba snake a couple of feet long who had been tormented to within an inch of her life. I felt so sorry for her that I begged Fourth Brother to let me bring her back to Qingqiu with us.

  This little ba snake had already transformed into a snake spirit, but she still moved by slithering on her stomach. Eventually she managed to cultivate enough spiritual energy to turn into human form, and that human form was Shao Xin. Shao Xin spent two years in Qingqiu, recovering from her injuries. Once she was better, she told me she wished to stay with me and repay my kindness.

  Father and Mother had already left Qingqiu by then, and Fourth Brother was in charge of the foxhole. He arranged for Shao Xin to become my serving girl. We had never had servants in the foxhole before that, and I had been the one doing the sweeping and all the other housework.

  I was so happy with my newfound leisure time that I was rarely inside after that. Instead I spent morning
to night out, either at Second Brother’s, Third Brother’s, or Zhe Yan’s. I spent two hundred years of carefree days, until Father and Mother returned with the news that they had found me a husband.

  Sang Ji was the Sky Emperor’s beloved second son, who lived with him in the Ninth Sky (he had not been banished to the Northern Sea at that point). The Sky Emperor announced my engagement to Sang Ji in front of the entire Four Seas and Eight Deserts. There was not a single immortal who did not hear the news. Following this there was an endless stream of visitors to the foxhole who came around for a chat and to congratulate me.

  Fourth Brother and I found this so annoying that we made a bundle of our clothes and went over to Zhe Yan’s to hide out in the peach grove. It was while we were hiding out that calamity struck.

  After eating our fill of peaches, we returned to Qingqiu to discover that Shao Xin was nowhere to be seen. All I found in the gloomy and dusty foxhole was a letter from Sang Ji, pressed with his seal, breaking off our engagement. He explained that he had developed feelings for Shao Xin and that she was the one he was destined to be with. He apologized for all the upset he had caused.

  I did not actually take the matter too much to heart. I had never even met Sang Ji and had no affection toward him. Shao Xin and I had not known each other for all that long, and although we were friends, it was not a friendship that ran especially deep. Even the livestock grazing in the woods are allowed to choose their own mates, and all being equal under the sun, there was no reason why Sang Ji should not be allowed to do the same.

  I responded politely, telling them they seemed a well-suited couple. When news of this fiasco finally reached the Sky Emperor’s ears, it had not come from me. Apparently it was Sang Ji who dragged Shao Xin into the Sky Emperor’s court, and they both knelt down before him, pleading with him to accept their relationship.

  This news shook the Four Seas and Eight Deserts. Those with kind hearts said things like, “That poor Bai girl. It was destined to be such a good marriage. Engaged for three years before being abandoned like that. How will she find a husband now?” There were malicious wagging tongues too, saying things like, “Can you imagine having a ba snake as an empress? Or perhaps the ba snake has more allure than the nine-tailed white fox?”

  It was at that point Father; Mother; Big, Second, and Third Brothers; and Zhe Yan discovered I had been jilted. Zhe Yan came straight over to find Father and Mother and dragged them all the way to the Ninth Sky to seek justice from the Sky Emperor, although what exactly that entailed I am not too sure.

  All I knew was what followed: Sang Ji fell out of favor with the Sky Emperor and was immediately appointed as the Northern Sea Emperor, an even lowlier position than that held by his younger brother Lian Song, the Four Seas Emperor. Any discerning person could see that he had effectively been banished. His marriage to Shao Xin was never recognized.

  Father only made one comment on the subject: “That son of a bitch has gotten off far too lightly.” Zhe Yan was more philosophical. Both enjoying the drama while also feeling sorry for me, he said, “Ruining his life prospects over a woman—what a fool.”

  I was young and naive and felt as if Sang Ji and Shao Xin were two protagonists in a drama that had nothing to do with me.

  Later the Sky Emperor stood before his court and issued a sky decree that stated that the future Sky Emperor, as yet undecided, would marry me, the youngest daughter of the Qingqiu Kingdom’s Bai family, making me the Sky Clan’s future empress.

  It was a grand gesture, made with kindness. But it was too grand, and to avoid in-family rifts and rivalry, all the Sky Emperor’s other sons categorically ignored me. Naturally I was given no input in the matter. To avoid getting on the wrong side of the Sky Clan, no other immortals dared to send betrothal gifts to Father to ask for my hand in marriage either. I was left high and dry, an unmarriageable immortal maid.

  Eventually, the Sky Emperor named his oldest grandson, Prince Ye Hua, as his successor. I knew nothing about him. All I heard was that the Sky Emperor had become despondent following Sang Ji’s banishment, unsure of which of his remaining unremarkable sons should succeed him. Fortunately, three years later, his oldest son gave him a grandson, an astonishingly bright and talented boy, and the Sky Emperor, an old man now, was freed from his despondency and able to feel joy once again.

  Ye Hua was that bright and talented grandson.

  According to the Sky Emperor’s earlier decree, as heir to the Sky Throne, this young immortal prince Ye Hua was also my future husband. I had heard that Ye Hua already had a concubine named Su Jin, who had been bestowed on him by his grandfather as a display of favor. Ye Hua had a young son too, and I assumed that he was not going to be brimming with enthusiasm at the idea of our marriage. Even though I had no other love interests, I could not get past the fact that he was ninety thousand years my junior. In terms of seniority, he would be referring to me as Your Highness, but in terms of age, it would be more like Ancient Ancestor. Because of the age difference, I found it impossible to actively pursue the marriage.

  The fact that we had been engaged for so long without giving any sign of getting married had become something of a joke within the Four Seas and Eight Deserts.

  I blamed Sang Ji more for causing me so much loss of dignity. I kept my animosity hidden, but my hatred became so intense that I often had thoughts of killing him.

  When Zhe Yan mentioned the Northern Sea Emperor’s visit, I was baffled. It was clearly not his intention to taunt me. There must therefore have been something he wished to tell me, some morsel of gossip he wished to share. I tried to look cheerful and pricked up my ears to listen to what he had to say.

  The laughter lines radiating out from the corners of his mouth thickened. “That young girl is suffering from terrible morning sickness. In a few tens of thousands of years, she has given the Northern Sea Prince three children. This will be her fourth. Those ba snakes have remarkable reproductive capabilities. Her morning sickness has left her craving peaches, and she has been begging for them day and night. Peach blossoms are in abundance at this time of year, but finding peaches is a different matter. This is the only place in the sky and earth that has them . . . and that’s why the Northern Sea Emperor and his wife made their way shamelessly to my door. They had come such a long way, and I felt it would be cruel to refuse them.”

  I looked up at him and then lowered my head to smooth out the creases in my dress. I had always seen Zhe Yan as extended family and had imagined that he would see our enemies as his enemies too. His generosity toward the Northern Sea Emperor burned with betrayal.

  Zhe Yan looked at me and then burst into laughter. “Look at your face, you’ve gone green with anger! All I did was give them a couple of contraceptive peaches!”

  I lifted my head sharply just as he was lowering his, and we bashed against each other.

  He did not seem to notice. “Look at you,” he continued mockingly. “As soon as you heard that I gave this groveling young couple a few contraceptive peaches, your heart softened toward them. All those peaches will do is delay the Northern Sea Emperor’s fifth child for twenty thousand years or so. It’s not going to do them too much harm, and it doesn’t make me such a wicked person.”

  If it was just a matter of delaying the Northern Sea Emperor’s fifth child, I was not going to worry about it. A contraceptive peach was not going to kill anyone. And anyway, by jilting me, Sang Ji had brought this misfortune on himself. Zhe Yan had taught them a lesson, and for that I was grateful. Zhe Yan consoled me further with a string of curse words about the bastard Sky Emperor and his lineage of bastard children and grandchildren.

  When he finished cursing the Sky Clan, he asked after my family. Zhe Yan always had an endless supply of gossip, and whenever I visited him, I would ask him to indulge me, and receive an eclectic assortment of anecdotes. I had arrived there with my request for that earthen jar of peach blossom wine firmly in mind, but soon I was dizzy with conversation, the talk of families and secret
s pulling a veil over the reason why I had come to see Zhe Yan at all.

  Night had begun to close in when Zhe Yan reminded me of my purpose. “Your Third Brother asked me for two bottles of wine. I’ve buried them by the Jade Pool behind the mountain underneath that bare-looking wild ginger tree. Sleep there tonight, and you can dig out the wine and take it back to Third Brother. Those are the only two bottles, so make sure you don’t spill any, and don’t drink any on the sly.”

  “How mean you are!” I said with a pout.

  He leaned forward and stroked my hair. “You really mustn’t drink any on the sly. If you do want some wine, take it from my cellar tomorrow. You’re welcome to as much as you can carry.” Something occurred to him that made him smile, and he added, “I wouldn’t go walking around tonight if I were you either. There’s another guest staying here, and it’s probably for the best that you two don’t run into each other.”

  I bowed and gave thanks for the wine. Despite his warning, I had already made up my mind to indulge myself with the wine. These trips to the Ten-Mile Peach Grove took a lot more out of me than they used to. Tonight I would drink from the buried bottles; tomorrow I would go to his cellar and take as much wine as I could carry.

  His suggestion not to venture out was unnecessary. I was fond of neither drama nor roaming around at night, and I liked social interaction even less. I was not the slightest bit interested in who this other guest might be, and if I could avoid them, I certainly would.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A little thatched hut that Fourth Brother had helped Zhe Yan build was still standing precariously next to the Jade Pool. Whenever I came to the peach grove, this was where I stayed. It had always seemed run down, even back when I was coming to the grove regularly. Tens of thousands of years of blustering wind, pouring rain, and blazing sun had stripped the hut of any beauty, but still it stood.