Zi hour[1], along the banks of the Liu Li River—a major waterway running through the capital of Jian Kingdom, flowing through many cities before eventually emptying into the Long Tao Sea to the south. The surroundings were pitch black and deserted, with only a few shadowy figures standing about, and one young woman being forcibly stuffed into a cage just large enough to fit her body by male servants, preparing to throw her into the river.
"Wangye, this concubine swears she truly didn't do it! This concubine has been framed!" The weak, fading voice of the young woman inside the cage made Li Wang[2], who stood watching from the riverbank, feel confused and conflicted. But then another young woman's voice cut in sharply.
"My Lord, don't listen to this shameless concubine anymore. Everyone saw with their own eyes that she was being intimate with a man. How can she claim she was framed? Gag her. Hearing these ridiculous excuses over and over is unbearably annoying!"
Following that command, the servant girls attending Li Wangfei—Li Wang's primary consort—rushed forward to stuff the mouth of the caged woman with their own handkerchiefs. Then the remaining servants locked the cage shut, preparing to lower it into the water.
"Mmph, mmph, mmph..."
Those unintelligible sounds only made Chu Huiru feel even more satisfied. In just a few moments, this lowborn concubine who'd been a thorn in her side would disappear from this world forever. From now on, there would be no vixen left to seduce and steal Li Wang's attention away from her.
Since this lowly woman had climbed to such heights by saving Li Wang from drowning, even managing to enter Li Wang's manor as a concubine before her—the legitimate wife—then it was only fitting that when she departed, she should return to the water and remain submerged there for all eternity!
Li Wang, the husband of both women, stood watching the shadowy figure of the young woman he had once felt great affection for, his heart torn by conflicting emotions he could not name. The image of her lying naked with a strange man still lingered in his mind, and because there were far too many witnesses, he couldn't simply pardon her according to the customary punishment for an adulterous woman.
To prevent this scandalous affair from spreading widely, Chu Huiru, his primary consort, had proposed punishing this concubine quietly according to Jian Kingdom customs—namely, to lock her in a cage weighted with stones and drown her.
Though part of him felt it was a waste to lose such a rare beauty, another part still burned with anger and wounded pride. So now he could only stand still and watch his servants carry out the punishment ordered by his primary consort, not lifting a finger to help.
SPLASH!!! That was the sound of the human cage being mercilessly thrown into the water. The muffled sounds he'd heard before fell silent.
Once the weighted cage was thrown in, it slowly sank beneath the surface. Before long, the person inside would become nothing but a lifeless corpse. The beauty she once possessed would decay into foul, hideous flesh, never again able to offend Chu Huiru's sight.
Li Wang watched the water gradually calm after the cage was thrown in—a sign that the young woman who had briefly shared happiness with him was no longer in this world. He couldn't quite describe what he was feeling.
Chu Huiru, worried her husband might change his mind and order someone to retrieve the concubine's body, quickly spoke up.
"It's already very late, My Lord. Shall we return?"
Without waiting for a response, she grabbed Li Wang's arm as he stood motionless and quickly pulled him into the large carriage, leaving the scene.
The carriages and people departed, leaving behind only eerie silence and the cold night air.
Deep beneath the water's surface, a slender figure with bound limbs and gagged mouth lay still with closed eyes, sinking downward.
Suddenly, a flash of silver light burst from the young woman before fading into the darkness. That light caused the ropes binding her arms and legs to fall away, and the wooden cage imprisoning her shattered into pieces. Soon, the slender legs beneath her skirt gradually transformed into a shimmering blue-green fishtail, and she slowly drifted with the current heading toward the great sea.
***
At the banks of the Liu Li River in Heng Yang City—a major city adjacent to the capital to the south—Yi Tao, who was supervising his subordinates as they carefully loaded cargo onto a ship, suddenly sensed a power he recognized all too well. It was the power of the young woman he'd been searching for over a year now.
He tried to pinpoint the source of that power, and when he determined it was underwater not far from the ship docked at the pier, he didn't hesitate to dive in immediately.
"Huh? Why did your young master just jump into the water?" The foreman helping load the cargo watched as the tall, powerfully built young man with a fierce demeanor—who was actually the eldest son of the Yi merchant clan from Long Yu Island—suddenly, as if struck by some rash impulse, leaped into the deep, wide river without warning.
"Aren't you going to jump in and help your young master?" The portly middle-aged man couldn't help but wonder why, after seeing their master jump into the water, these people just stood there doing nothing.
"Our young master was probably hot, so he wanted to cool off in the water," Yi Tao's attendant said nonchalantly, while directing his people to continue carefully loading the cargo.
What kind of answer was that?
Yi Tao dove beneath the dark, frigid water with the skill and agility of a fish. After scanning the area for a short while, he spotted a young woman in common clothing but with a fishtail, drifting slowly with the current.
"Zhen'er!" After that shout—which only members of their race could hear at such depths—Yi Tao's large but nimble form shot toward the young woman at a speed nearly invisible to human eyes.
Yi Tao held the still-unconscious young woman, his heart racing with excitement.
"Zhen'er... Zhen'er..." After calling her name and lightly patting her cheeks a few times with no response, he frowned. "What happened to you? Where have you been for over a year? And why are you unconscious here?"
Naturally, those questions went unanswered, as she remained with eyes closed as if in a long, deep slumber. Yi Tao didn't know what else to do, so he retrieved a pill and fed it into the young woman's mouth. Soon, the large fishtail gradually transformed back into two slender human legs. He held her close to his chest before slowly floating up to the surface near his cargo ship.
"Have you cooled off yet, Young Master?" That was the casual greeting from his close subordinate who merely poked his head over to ask.
"Follow me to the main ship." With just those words, Yi Tao swam toward another vessel as large as the cargo ship, still holding the unconscious figure close.
When Yi Tao emerged from the water carrying a woman in his arms, his trusted subordinate exclaimed.
"That's Eldest Miss Yang, isn't it?!"
Yi Tao's expression was tense. He didn't answer the question, but issued another order.
"Investigate this for me. Zhen'er drifted here from the north. It's possible she came from the capital."
His trusted subordinate immediately understood his master's meaning. The young master's fiancée had been missing for over a year. No matter how they searched, they couldn't find her. Everyone had speculated that she must have swallowed a Dragon Scale Pearl to seal her own power so they wouldn't know her whereabouts. Who would have thought they'd find her in the Liu Li River in the middle of this city—and unconscious at that?
Yi Tao carried the young woman he'd loved since childhood into the sleeping quarters of the large ship, carefully instructing the maids to look after her well. Then he stood waiting outside, reflecting on the past year.
Over a year ago, the people of Long Yu Island discovered she'd disappeared from the island, and from that day forward, no matter how many people they sent to search for her, they found no trace or clues. But today she had returned to his embrace. He would never let her disappear again.
[1] Zi hour (子时) - 11:00 PM–12:59 AM in the traditional Chinese timekeeping system.
[2] Wang (王爷/Wangye) - A prince or nobleman who holds a princely title and territory, typically an imperial prince or a high-ranking member of the royal family. His wife is called Wangfei (王妃), or Princess Consort.