Mo Yuan, Bai Qian, Ye Hua

Part 11

Ye Hua had spent the rest of the day walking about Qing Qiu, getting to know the lay of the land with Zhe Yan. Pointing to the Lean-To, Zhe Yan explained that it was a young Xiao Wu and Mi Gu who had built it.  "It used to be a swimming platform, that her father had made for her to dive off."   Telling him, that whenever she had been particularly naughty,  she would hide at the bottom of the lake for hours.  "After one too many times,  her father removed the platform." he laughed.

Having reached the Lean-To, they sat down and looked out over the lake sitting in silence for sometime, both lost to their own thoughts.   Sighing, Zhe Yan turned to Ye Hua and smiled.

"Ye Hua.  I'll be honest with you."  he said, his tone serious as he looked at him.  "The only reason why I agreed to your marriage arrangement with Xiao Wu, is because I believed you were the reincarnation of Mo Yuan."  

Ye Hua didn't say anything, but he was listening as he took in the beautiful natural surroundings of Qing Qiu.

Looking up, he took in Ye Huas calm and passive manner.  "Ye Hua.  Must you continue this?  Their love spans thousands of years, do you honestly believe you can win her in a month?"

Ye Hua didn't say anything for a while as he pondered on his answer.  Taking a deep breath, he rose and moved away to look out at the lake.

"High God Zhe Yan.  When I first met Qian Qian at the East Sea Banquet, I felt an immediate connection to her.  It felt old and familiar.  However, I knew, we had never met before, so I put it down to her easy going manner and her ability to put one at ease." 

"When she smiled, her whole face lit up, one couldn't help but feel an instant kinship with her."

 "Then there was her non conformist attitude which also seemed familiar, but I put that down to her lack of association with her fellow immortals, having of course spent most of her years away from them."  

  Reflecting on his meeting with his brother, Ye Hua continued. 

"Since that day,  Mo Yuan explained my relationship with him, and my association with not only Kunlun Mountain, but also Qian Qian."

Seeing Zhe Yans eyes brows raise at that comment, Ye Hua began to wonder if he knew of their relationship, but continued regardless.   

And as he talked, the memories that had remained locked within him, suddenly came flooding back.

"For 20,000 years, Qian Qian nurtured my soul.  She loved to talk to me, to play with me, and sometimes just sit in silence, but I knew she loved me in my spirit form."  And as his memories of those days came back to him, his frown deepened.

"I was also with her, when Mo Yuan died.  My soul nourished hers as she wept beside me and my spirit held her in my arms, and I was with her when she took the knife and ................."

As the memory of Qian Qian feeding Mo Yuan her hearts blood came back to him, his face paled considerably.  Stumbling back to the Lean-To he sat heavily as Mo Yuans words also came back to him. ........."you will never win her heart, not when it flows through my veins."

They made sense now.  In that instant, Ye Hua knew, if he had any chance at all of winning her heart, he would have to change his game play, because he was not going to let her go.

Noticing Ye Huas sudden change in demeanor, Zhe Yan wondered if he had suddenly taken ill, that he rose quickly and began to check him over. 

Shaking him off, Ye Hua suddenly smiled at him.  Nodding his head to himself he rose and went back to the side of the lake lost in thought.  Yes, he thought.   He knew how to win her love.