Chapter 2 — The Golden Crow Reclaims Her Fate

The laughter of Jiang Rou echoed throughout the Jade Pool, and the gathered immortals joined in, their mockery ringing like sharpened blades.

"It seems this slug truly does not know the divine majesty of the Heavenly Emperor, daring to masquerade as the Imperial bloodline. She truly has no regard for her own life!"

"Do not think that by stealing a name similar to the Princess, you can simply become her. After all, the nine princes bring Princess Jiang Rou to every banquet; yet this creature still dares to play the imposter."

Watching Jiang Rou preen with triumph, I lowered my voice and spoke coldly: "You do not truly believe you are the Princess, do you? Today is the ceremony of my coming-of-age, and my Imperial Father shall be in attendance."

A flicker of hesitation crossed Jiang Rou’s eyes. She swept her gaze across the immortals in the Jade Pool, her face clouding for a brief moment, yet she quickly masked it with a practiced, haughty composure. "My Father handles the affairs of ten thousand realms every day, his heart encompassing the nine heavens and the ten directions. How could he possibly deign to appear here?"

Just then, my personal maid, who had departed earlier, hurried back. She knelt beside me, head bowed, and whispered, "Princess, the Princes command you to apologize to Jiang Rou immediately. If you do not... if you do not, they swear they shall drag you to the Demon-Slaying Platform, hack your flesh from your bones, and cast your soul into the mortal realm."

That they could utter such words did not surprise me in the slightest. They had long grown accustomed to trampling upon me, treating my suffering as trivial. Jiang Rou, however, was the apple of their eye—more precious to them than the souls of all three realms combined. Jiang Rou let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

"Born of damp, filthy places, a mere common slug from the mundane world, do you truly believe you can summon my nine elder brothers? I advise you to be sensible, or I shall have you thrown into the dirt to eat mud for all eternity!"

At the mention of eating mud, my eyes turned crimson, and a torrent of hatred welled up within me. In my past life, those nine brothers forced me into the mortal realm, where Jiang Rou pressed my face into the mire. To earn the favor of their darling beauty, they had conspired to abuse and ruin me. Jiang Rou was, in truth, nothing more than a slug. After usurping my identity, her greatest obsession was to see me reduced to her true form, to force me to endure the wretched life she had once known. When my brothers discovered my defiance, they stripped me of my cultivation and buried me alive, leaving me to suffocate in the earth. I was their blood kin, raised within the Heavenly Court, yet they traded my life for the smile of a charlatan. Now, I understood—they never cared for the farce of sibling affection. If they sought to shatter my path, then let it be so. I would forge my destiny through the red road of slaughter. I gripped my sword tight and pressed the tip against Jiang Rou’s chest.

"I ask you one final time: who is the true Princess?"

Jiang Rou stared at me, eyes brimming with manufactured tears, but before she could speak, a blade of light flashed through the air, knocking my sword aside. A figure lunged forward and struck me across the face.

"Even if the Emperor is absent, this Heavenly Court is not a place for a lowly demoness like you to run wild! Daring to bully my betrothed—you are truly courting death! Men, cast this defilement out of the Heavenly Court and into the abyss of the mortals!"

He pulled Jiang Rou into his arms, his face a mask of doting concern. "My dear Rou, your husband has arrived late."

This was none other than my betrothed, the Great Emperor Gou Chen. His immediate validation of Jiang Rou caused the shifting crowd to instantly turn their backs on me, their gazes filled with nothing but contempt. Jiang Rou buried her face in Gou Chen’s chest, shooting me a look of triumph. I offered a cold, mirthless smile.

"Great Emperor Gou Chen, you are truly pathetic."

He had always hungered for the prestige of the Imperial bloodline. Upon learning that his "betrothed" was doted upon by the nine princes, he had attached himself to Jiang Rou like a leech, hoping to secure power through them. How unfortunate for him that he had chosen the wrong target. Jiang Rou was no princess, and the "brothers-in-law" he curried favor with were, in truth, his rivals for her affections. I was never one to be cowed. Feeling the sting of his blow, I unleashed a surge of divine fire that incinerated his hair.

"What are you? A mangy old cur at my Father's feet, daring to lay hands on me? Believe this: with one word, your grand illusions of power will crumble into dust."

Gou Chen scrambled to extinguish the flames on his head, his eyes burning with venomous hate. "Jiang Ning, you lowly creature, you dare strike me? I shall have you flayed!"

Jiang Rou acted the wounded dove, smoothing the few remaining singed locks on his head. "My lord, do not lower yourself to her level. She was a creature I rescued once; the karma of this affair should be mine to bear."

I looked at Jiang Rou with utter disdain. "Karma? A slimy, filthy slug like you daring to lecture me on karma? Do you even know what you are, or have you forgotten you are nothing but a pet raised by my brothers? If you wish to serve as their bridge, then take this creature and vanish from my sight!"

Gou Chen stared at me, his face turning an ashen, deathly shade of grey.