Three Lives, Three Worlds: A Fated Love (Dong Hua/Bai Fengjiu)

Following Tradition

The next day, all of the realm was aflame with gossip. Qian Qian had never heard her niece's name be mentioned so much before. She stayed and found her at Kunlun.
"Little Jiu, I think we need to talk." She called to her when she found her, sitting by the lily pond.

Fengjiu walked on a cloud of bliss that morning. She had never felt so in love before and her Gugu could see it.
"Are you sure about this, little Jiu?" She asked and Fengjiu sighed, letting a small smile grow on her face.
"I resisted it, Gugu. I knew I had given up my only chance of love. But I had a dream where fate told me to trust Dijun and then he started acting so differently and he isn't getting sick around me any more and-" She was talking so quickly and animatedly that she didn't notice when Dong Hua entered the room. He placed a hand on her head, stopping her rambling.
"Take a breath, Jiuer, you will make yourself sick." He told her, looking down at her with concern.
"Can you explain what is going on?" Qian Qian asked and he sighed.
"I cannot. All I can say is I would never hurt her. You have to trust me." He told Qian Qian and something about the way he looked down at Fengjiu made her believe him. She could have never imagined it, but it seemed that Dong Hua cared for Jiu even more than she had imagined.

When he returned to the palace, he felt an emptiness there.
"Let's go to the fox den next week." Dong Hua suggested to Si Ming, who was delighted by the idea.
"The weather will be very nice there at this time of year. I think it is a fine idea." He told him and Dong Hua nodded.
"Very good, I need to go now, but I will come back later today." Si Ming was left no time to respond as Dong Hua left the room.

Bai Yi had always loved his daughter in a strict and authoritarian kind of way and when he watched her ascend to Queen, he knew his efforts had paid off, no matter how much she cried and pouted, he had instilled in her the values needed to be a ruler.

But nothing had pained him more than watching her throw away her happiness into Dong Hua Dijun. He had never met a man so cold in his life. She had fallen so quickly, yet so passionately. He had even gone so far as to beg the Dijun to marry his daughter, to make her happy. But no, Dong Hua Dijun was not a man to beg from. If he did not want to do something, he was like a stone, unmoving and unfeeling. That day, he had broken Bai Yi's heart by rejecting his daughter, and he was sure he would never forgive the Dijun.

Dong Hua thought back to the time the Prince had begged him to marry his daughter. It was one of the most painful moments of his life, having to reject the woman he loved, for a reason he could not disclose. He knew it would not be easy to convince Bai Yi that his position had changed, but he would have to at least try a civil conversation before resorting to less savoury methods.

The prince had not spoken personally with the Dijun since that day, when he had been rejected. So now, sitting opposite him, drinking tea, sent fear through his spine.
"Do you remember the last time we spoke?" Dong Hua asked and Bai Yi turned his face from him.
"Please do not mention it. The things fathers will do for their daughters." He remembered his embarrassment and shuddered.
"I admired you." He told him, sipping on his tea.
"Fengjiu was so in love. I knew she would not be able to marry another happily." He stated and Dong Hua nodded.
"It is admirable that you want your daughter's marriage to be for love. Others would have used it as a tool for alliance." Dong Hua told him and he smiled, shaking his head.
"Not Jiu, I couldn't do it to her. She is already a Queen, I could never force her into a marriage. But I do fear she will now live her life alone." He admitted and Dong Hua sipped his tea, allowing him time to think.

He had not gone with the intention of telling Bai Yi everything. But, Dong Hua could see the love he had for Fengjiu in his eyes and he knew he needed his blessing, even as the Dijun, to marry his daughter.
"That day, when you came and asked me, what did you think I would say?" He asked and watched Bai Yi squirm with humiliation.
"I knew you would deny her, but I could not face Jiu without knowing I had exhausted every option." He told him and Dong Hua nodded.
"I am not an emotional man. But I remember being touched by your display that day." He reminisced and smiled thinking back to him pleading.
"There is so much I have to tell you." He prepared Bai Yi.