The Mermaid’s Tranquil Days and a Princess’s Rebellion

After returning to the Mermaid tribe, Su Xiaoxiao’s daily life became fixed and tranquil.

Aside from her increased sleepiness, her appetite had also significantly improved.

Each morning, it was typically the young Mermaid delivering her meals who would wake her. The one bringing her food was Jingling.

She was no longer the timid, tearful child Su Xiaoxiao had encountered in the Ghost Tribe. Though her disposition remained shy, and she spoke in a soft murmur, gone was her former gauntness, where she seemed as if a gust of wind might topple her.

Now, her complexion was ruddy, and she had gained a noticeable amount of weight. While still reserved and quiet, she would occasionally offer Su Xiaoxiao a gentle smile.

She delivered Su Xiaoxiao’s three daily meals, a task she had, by all accounts, volunteered for.

Sometimes she came alone, but more often than not, Dailin would accompany her.

During a meal, Su Xiaoxiao recounted the events of that time, only then learning that after Xiyue had taken her away, Yunfa had actually gotten into a heated argument with Emperor Weili, almost resorting to blows.

“Almost came to blows?!” Su Xiaoxiao was utterly dumbfounded, her chopsticks nearly slipping from her grasp.

“Yes, indeed,” Dailin replied, propping her chin on her hand. She sat on the stool directly opposite Su Xiaoxiao, watching her eat with a somewhat smug expression.

“Wh-why?” Su Xiaoxiao instinctively asked, then immediately clamped her mouth shut. She felt she had pried too much; how could she inquire about an elder’s private affairs?

Dailin, however, instantly perked up, looking as if she were about to shout the news through a megaphone.

With the proud air of a housecat that had just won a street fight, she declared, “Because my mother dotes on me!”

Bound by blood, Yunfa was her birth mother. As a child, Dailin adored being close to Yunfa, yet at the same time, her heart ached for her.

From the moment Dailin had first formed memories, Weili had sent her away to cultivate. At an age meant for play, she was instead forcibly compelled to train and study.

Weili had hired many masters for her, but they were all pedantic old men who would puff out their beards and glare.

She would still want to get close to her, but after being punished by Weili several times, she no longer dared.

She loved Yunji the most, yet she rarely saw her. At such a tender age, separated from her mother, her life was nothing but monotonous cultivation, day after day.

When she did manage to return and visit Yunji, she could never stay for long before being forced to leave again.

During that period, Yunji’s spirits were exceptionally low, a fact even young Xilin could perceive. Every time Xilin saw Yunji forcing herself to be cheerful while speaking to her, she felt an overwhelming urge to cry.

On one or two occasions, she couldn’t control herself and truly burst into tears, which utterly terrified Yunji.

Yunji anxiously asked Xilin if she had been wronged in some way, or if her cultivation was too arduous.

But Xilin was too young; she couldn’t possibly comprehend the subtle dynamic between Yunji and Weili.

At that moment, she wailed, declaring that she didn’t want to leave her mother’s side so soon.

Yunji was heartbroken. The immortal maiden who came to collect Xilin that day was blocked outside by Yunji.

Several hours later, Weili herself arrived.

Xilin, having eaten her fill and listened to Yunji tell stories by her side, soon drifted off to sleep, feeling hazy and content.

Later, the usually gentle Yunji got into an argument with Weili after her arrival.

Their argument wasn’t particularly loud, but Xilin hadn’t been sleeping deeply, so she was naturally roused.

She didn’t make a sound, instead quietly crawling out of bed, intending to find Yunji.

She ended up witnessing the scene of her Empress Mother and her own mother arguing. It was the first time she had seen Yunji so red-faced with anger.

It was also the first time she had heard her speak in such a tone.

Subsequently, Xilin was still taken away the very next day. In fact, nearly a year passed before she saw Yunji again after that incident.

It seemed she hadn’t resisted, but at her tender age, like a child of merely a few years…

Weili, towering over her, delivered a cold warning: “This is the punishment you deserve for avoiding cultivation.”

Weili was a Dragon, the sovereign of Shanghuatian, an Emperor whose noble demeanor bespoke a born ruler.

“I want to see my mother,” Xilin retorted, despite having always feared her.

Weili’s voice turned frigid. “You will remain here for the entire year.”

That entire year proved exceptionally arduous. Xilin devised numerous plans, yet none allowed her to escape.

She was too weak. Due to her resistance to cultivation, her palms were swollen from rattan cane strikes.

Her cultivation master, watching her, sternly declared, “What does it matter if you are a young crown princess? With such low cultivation, what right do you have to negotiate? You are trash, not even comparable to a common demon beast…”

That year, she never returned to Shanghuatian, nor did she see Yunji.

When they finally met again, Yunji appeared even more haggard. Xilin asked her, “Mother, are you sick?”

Yunji shook her head, denying it. With a faint smile, she said, “My little Lin’er, you seem to have grown taller, and you’re even more beautiful.”

Xilin then asked her, “Mother, are you very unhappy? I haven’t seen you go out at all. Shall I take you out to play?”

Yunji shook her head once more, simply raising a hand to stroke Xilin’s hair and murmuring, “My little Lin’er, you are truly so well-behaved.”

From then on, a rift formed between Xilin and Weili. Xilin never grew close to her, rarely spoke to her, and always wore a cold expression.

Merely addressing her as “Empress Mother” – without adopting the more informal “Empress” used by others – was already showing Weili considerable respect.

As she grew older, Xilin gradually uncovered truths about events from thousands of years ago. She learned that Weili had even manipulated the circumstances of her birth, using it to threaten Yunji.

She discovered that Yunji’s tail, the most prized possession of a Mermaid, was covered in countless scars that could never heal, all due to Weili.

Yet, Yunji had endured, endlessly enduring, for thousands of years, never once returning to the Mermaid tribe.

‘What difference was there, then, between this and being a captive, a puppet, or a hostage?!’

Xilin became even more steadfast in her loyalty to her birth mother, Yunji, growing increasingly disgusted with the villain who oppressed her.

It was on her journey to the Ghost Tribe that Xilin, having read in a book about the powers of the Jade Dew Clear Lotus Frost, decided to venture there alone.

It was there that she encountered Jingling, who had been sold into servitude.

Xilin hadn’t wished to get involved, but considering she also possessed the bloodline of the Demon tribe, she thought that if her mother were present, she certainly wouldn’t stand by idly.

She rescued Jingling, and later, by a stroke of luck, stumbled upon Su Xiaoxiao.

Remembering how her mother had often argued because of Su Xiaoxiao, she decided she wanted to rescue Su Xiaoxiao as well.

However, she had severely overestimated herself. Having been praised by many immortal clans for her high cultivation, she genuinely believed she had achieved mastery.

As a result, if Yunji hadn’t arrived in the nick of time to save her, Xilin would have long been slaughtered by Xiyue.

Her corpse would have been sent to Shanghuatian as a display of defiance to Yunji and Weili.

“It feels like a dream, even now,” Xilin excitedly told Su Xiaoxiao. “I had never seen her outside of my mother’s palace before.”

“She actually did it for me! For me!” Xilin thumped her chest, brimming with proud astonishment. “My mother was worried about me, so she left her sleeping chambers, and even left Shanghuatian!!!”

Seeing her so agitated, Su Xiaoxiao quickly poured her a cup of water, urging her to calm down lest she bite her tongue and hurt herself.

Xilin took the cup but didn’t drink. Instead, with even greater dramatic flair and a touch of smugness, she told Su Xiaoxiao, “Empress Mother immediately tried to punish me, scolding me for being so old yet still so foolish as to cause trouble.”

“Of course, my most magnificent birth mother protected me!”

Su Xiaoxiao looked up at Xilin, who was sitting on the chair, beaming foolishly, and couldn’t help but think.

‘It would only seem normal if a golden tail were wagging behind Xilin in mid-air right now.’