Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 358 The Dragon Emperor No One Has Ever Seen

No one in the Dragon Clan's high command ever imagined that His Majesty, upon returning from the battlefield, would first arrange for the man to be taken to the Empress's palace, then hurriedly come out to give everyone a few casual instructions, and afterwards actually go shopping hand in hand with the man.

The people of the Demon City never imagined that the tall woman strolling hand-in-hand with her lover in the crowd, smiling broadly, was none other than their revered Dragon Emperor, whom they treated with utmost awe and respect.

Most people had never even seen her before. She was usually aloof and dignified, the kind of person who wouldn't dare to breathe loudly when she came to pay her respects... Who could believe that the woman holding her lover's hand and looking around with a curious expression was the same person?

"It seems you haven't really explored your own capital city before," Lu Xingzhou said.

Her hand was now lightly clenched, and she could no longer feel the hardness of the person she had lifted earlier, nor could she see the terrifying power that had destroyed half a city with a single claw. Her hand felt soft and boneless, slender and long, with a slightly cold, jade-like feel, which was very comfortable.

Long Qinghuang said, "Of course not. Would your Gu Zhanting go out shopping? He probably doesn't even know what his own capital looks like."

"That's true, but I need to correct one of your mistakes."

"what?"

"He's not from my family."

"So you have no loyalty to the Great Qian Dynasty, why don't you..."

"Stop... This is a topic only the Demon Emperor would discuss, you are not one."

Long Qinghuang pouted angrily.

Lu Xingzhou knew that she was different from Ye Tinglan. Ye Tinglan was someone she herself wanted to set aside her identity as the Holy Lord to be with, to briefly forget the responsibility that had oppressed her for a lifetime. But Long Qinghuang never considered that she was proud of her identity as the Demon Emperor and could not truly separate herself from it.

This differs significantly from the records of the Tianyao Holy Land.

She was really just accommodating him and trying to be "more equal" with him.

However, the controlling desire that has been cultivated over a long period of time cannot be suppressed, and it is unlikely that equality can be achieved through conventional means. It is also unknown when she will get tired of it.

Lu Xingzhou knew his own nature; deep down, he was extremely tough and never wanted to be subservient. Even if he occasionally seemed like a puppy, it was intentional, a way to mask his wolfish heart. Ye Tinglan, who had initially seen him as a puppy, was now completely captivated…

If you're willing to be kept as a "concubine," lying down and waiting to be fed by a rich woman, then why bother leaving the underworld?

Therefore, we cannot rely solely on Long Qinghuang's current willingness to accommodate us; we must leverage her current goodwill and various requests to seize the initiative.

When people have desires, they also have weaknesses; look how honest she is now.

But Lu Xingzhou still felt a little conflicted.

He could tell that Long Qinghuang's affection for him was genuine, and growing stronger; it was no longer the casual fling he'd had when they first met. Perhaps it hadn't reached the point of love yet, but at least she was starting to show some instinctive possessiveness… He felt a little guilty for using her affections to scheme against her, like a con artist.

But there's nothing I can do about it; I can never stay here as a concubine.

This matter is irreconcilable... I hope we can reach an ending that is acceptable to both sides.

These thoughts flashed through his mind, but Lu Xingzhou still smiled and said, "Since you're not even familiar with your own capital, how can you show me around?"

“I’m not familiar with the capital now, but I knew it very well before I ascended the throne,” Long Qinghuang snorted. “It’s just that things have changed a bit now… You wait, I’m sure I can find the familiar places again.”

He grabbed a passerby and said, "Hey, this used to be Chanlong Street, where did it go? Where did it move to?"

"Chán Lóng Jīng?" Passersby looked at her as if she were a miracle: "Never heard of it."

Long Qinghuang: "?"

An old man from Longtou who was passing by peeked out and said, "I didn't expect there would be young people who know about Greedy Dragon Street."

Long Qinghuang asked, "What?"

“That street was renamed three hundred years ago,” the old dragon said. “It seems that His Majesty said that such a name made people think that dragons were greedy, so it was changed.”

"I didn't..." Long Qinghuang paused, then glared and said, "When did His Majesty ever say such a thing? Nor did he give such an order!"

"Well, so there are others who are afraid His Majesty will think that way, so let's just change it."

"How could Your Majesty think that way!" Long Qinghuang jumped up and down: "I...she clearly loved the food here when she was young! She didn't even think there was anything wrong with the name, so who's making such a fuss?"

Old Dragon: "?"

"Ahem." Lu Xingzhou quietly squeezed Long Qinghuang's hand, signaling her not to scare her, and whispered, "The emperor may not be worried, but the eunuchs are. The emperor often takes the blame too."

Long Qinghuang snorted, still quite displeased. Lu Xingzhou then asked Old Dragon, "Since it's just a name change, how much do they sell magical artifacts on this street?"

Old Dragon said, "Oh, later it was because of the expansion of the capital that the plans were changed, and all the food vendors moved to different places."

“Uh…” Long Qinghuang’s voice softened this time, and she whispered to Lu Xingzhou, “I did this. But I didn’t use that name when I gave the instructions, I don’t know… um, but I know where it is, come with me.”

Lu Xingzhou shook his head and chuckled, then stumbled along with her, being pulled along. This kind of urban planning was quite common in Daqian, but he hadn't expected the Demon Capital to do it this way. It was quite different from the stereotypical image of demons as barbaric.

This was likely done by Long Qinghuang after she came to power.

Lu Xingzhou suddenly realized that the first passerby he had been stopped by was a human, not someone like Long Qinghuang who had transformed into human form and was unrecognizable, but someone who was originally human.

Humans in the Demon Capital were not as miserable as originally imagined, nor were they slaves or flesh-eating people. Instead, they could stroll around the streets at will.

It was because of the existence of these humans that she and Long Qinghuang strolled around the streets without feeling out of place, standing alongside other monsters whose forms were all crooked and deformed, creating a unique scene.

Looking back now, I realize that the monsters hadn't shown any hostility or discrimination towards me while traveling with the monster army. I initially thought they were just being nice to me as an envoy, but now I wonder if they were really that polite to an envoy? They were just used to interacting with humans and didn't have any particular attitude towards me.

Thinking of this, Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but ask, "Speaking of which, after your defeat back then, didn't you become hostile towards the humans within your territory?"

“Hmm…” Long Qinghuang looked up and thought for a moment: “There are some, but at most some restrictions have been added, mainly to prevent treason, nothing else.”

He paused, then chuckled, "I know what you want to ask... There are so many races of demons, and many of them are natural enemies. When would it be human turn to be in conflict? The natural enemies would be fighting each other to the death first. As for defeats, before I unified the demon realm, guess how the various races fought each other, and how many they lost? The dragon race has also been defeated before, it's not a big deal."

He then added with a touch of smugness, tilting his head back and saying, "I've reclaimed the lost territory in this battle, so I haven't lost. Ten years is nothing; in the long span of a lifetime, this grudge is practically never forgotten. Give me another ten years, and I'll beat that Gu fellow to a pulp!"

You could call this a domineering declaration of an emperor... but it somehow manages to evoke a strange sense of girlishness.

Lu Xingzhou turned his head to look at her. The city of Yao was brightly lit at night, and the empress's perfect profile seemed to shine under the lights.

There weren't many people around, but the area was near a food street and noisy, yet Lu Xingzhou felt everything was distant. On the contrary, the Dragon Emperor, who had always seemed somewhat unreal in his mind, gradually came to life, becoming more three-dimensional and vivid.

"You..." As if sensing his gaze, Long Qinghuang's bold words caught in her throat, and she hesitated: "What are you looking at?"

Lu Xingzhou snapped out of his daze and smiled calmly: "It looks good."

Long Qinghuang's expression was extremely strange, as if she wanted to punch someone but held back: "Is this how you flirt with palace maids?"

Lu Xingzhou chuckled, not answering the question, but quickened his pace and pulled her into the side street.

"You haven't answered me yet...!" Long Qinghuang protested, as she was pulled along unconsciously.

Lu Xingzhou turned around and said, "Yes, I just wanted to see if I would get beaten up if I talked to you like that."

"It turns out it works!" Long Qinghuang kicked him in the butt, but Lu Xingzhou dodged quickly. He avoided the kick, but his arm was grabbed. "Come with me. You don't know the area, so why are you running around like that!"

"You talk like you know this place well, but you haven't been here since the street was relocated, have you?"

“I recognize the sign. You’re supposed to be smart, so why are you acting so stupid?” Long Qinghuang pulled him into a restaurant. “I wonder if the taste is still the same after all these years.”

Lu Xingzhou glanced at her. This street has been relocated for three hundred years, so the taste in her memory must be more than three hundred years old. If she only ate it when she was a young dragon, it might have been eight hundred years ago.

A centuries-old brand... The original owner certainly didn't have such spiritual cultivation; he must have died long ago.

The ancient and weathered look of the immortal being was strangely combined with her girlish charm. Lu Xingzhou sat in his seat and turned his head to watch Long Qinghuang ordering, finding it quite amusing.

I was scheming about how to hook someone up, but in the end I got hooked myself – quite a unique experience.

After taking the order and handing it to the waiter, Long Qinghuang frowned and looked at him: "Strange, why do you keep looking at me like that since we came out?"

"It's nothing, I just feel very honored."

"Is it an honor to be invited to dinner by me?"

"I am honored to have seen the Dragon Emperor, which no one in the world has ever seen before."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: 100,000 words in 12 days, all burned out. Less tomorrow, time to catch my breath.

(End of this chapter)