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

Pick a Day

The next day, Fengjiu awoke alone in the bed, where she had laid with Dong Hua. She chuckled, shaking her head, thinking of how stubborn they had both been. She sat in the tea room alone and sipped on cup after cup, until Si Ming came.
"I think you will have a very busy day today." He told her and she raised her eyebrows in shock.
"Really, why?" She asked, not being able to fathom what kind of business she would have.
"I believe people are stepping over one another to come and greet you." He nodded out to the gates of the palace.
"Greet me?" She repeated and he nodded.
"You are the saviour of all the realms, you have become a very valuable friend." He told her and she pouted down at her cup of tea.
"Now tell me why you would be sad about that?" He asked and she huffed.
"I just want an easy life with Dijun. I don't want to have to face any of the politics he deals with."
"And you won't." Dong Hua told her as he entered the tea room, sitting beside her.
"I told the guards to not let anyone you don't know through the gates." He stated, brushing her hair over her shoulder.
"Thank you." She smiled up at him and he nodded.
"But slowly, you will have to begin to greet people. You will be the wife of the Dijun, it is a very powerful role." He told her and she nodded.
"I can start today. I want to be a good wife." She spoke with determination and he chuckled with Si Ming.
"You are a lucky man, Dijun." Si Ming noted and he nodded.
"Yes, I believe so."

Dong Hua sat beside her the whole morning, telling her who people were as they introduced themselves. They all laid themselves on the floor in a bow of thanks and she would immediately ask them to stand. Ye Hua's Mother took her hands and kissed her fingers.
"I will never be able to repay you." She told her, guilt in her voice.
"There is nothing to repay. Seeing Ye Hua and Gugu happy is enough for me." She told her and she looked up at her with adoration.
"You are such a good girl." She told her and Fengjiu smiled down to her.
"I hope we can be friends in the future." She smiled and she nodded.
"It would be my honour."

Dong Hua was in awe of Fengjiu as she spent the day greeting people and accepting gifts.
"You bring light to the heavens." Zhe Yan stated as his familiar face graced the tea room.
"Why are you here? You didn't have to come all this way!" She cried out and he chuckled, shaking his head.
"And miss out on the most shocking engagement in all of history? Never." He smiled to Si Ming, who understood his thirst for drama.
"You do love to gossip." She chuckled, shaking her head.
"Thank you for the trees." She stated, nodding out to the courtyard.
"You are more than deserving of them." He told her and she blushed from his compliments.
"You grew most of them from saplings, so if anything they are more yours than mine." He explained and she thought back to all of the times she planted a new tree in the peach forest.
"I suppose you are right."

In the end, it was Dong Hua who called off the greetings.
"I am tired of this." He told her and she chuckled.
"Do you not do this every day?" She asked and he laughed loudly.
"No, I thank the heavens this has never happened to me before. I am sure I would have grown very tired of it all if people revered me as they do you now." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead.
"Even half listening to them all has made me tired." He told her and she placed a hand on his arm.
"Perhaps you should go and rest, I can do the remaining on my own." She told him and he cocked his head to the side.
"Are you sure?" He asked and she giggled.
"I am Queen of Qin Qiu, I know how to listen to people all day, it is my job." She reminded him and she nodded, smiling down to her.
"I will go and study for a while. Call for me if you need anything." He told her and she nodded, watching him leave for his quarters.

Si Ming decided to stay with the little princess as the adoring fans kept filing into the palace.
"You really want to please him, don't you?" He asked, shocked by her dedication.
"You know me, it is in my nature to want to please him." She told him and he nodded in agreement, remembering all of the times she had hatched plans to make him smile even for a moment.
"I am sure you will be a good wife." He told her and she blushed a deep shade of pink.
"But I think you will have to teach Dijun how to be a good husband. He is still made of stone." He told her and she sighed, thinking of her husband to be.
"I think he is doing a fine job at the moment, but I am sure you are right, there will be times when being alone would be easier than being with me." She stated and he sat back and thought about her clarity.