Mistakenly Connected to the Jade Flower Branch

Luo An remained still and did not reach out.

Nianyao gritted her teeth and stuffed the divorce papers into his clothes, then took down the Han Guang hanging on the wall: "Five taels of silver, pay me if you like."

Luo An looked away.

Nianyao angrily grabbed Han Guang and left, slamming the door shut before she left, making the windows rattle.

After making up her mind, she should have felt relieved and been able to sleep comfortably. But Nianyao tossed and turned in bed thousands of times like a hedgehog, only drifting off to sleep when the prickles on her body were worn away.

Nianyao dreamed of many forgotten old stories.

In her dream, Nianyao was a child with two pigtails sticking straight up, soaring through the clouds to the ninth heaven. The Heavenly Gate Guards blocked her way with their spears crossed: "Where did this little thief come from, daring to trespass into the Heavenly Palace?"

Nianyao sobbed, "Mother, I want my mother, I'm looking for my mother..."

Seeing her crying pitifully, the guard squatted down and said, "This is the Heavenly Palace, there is no mother here. You've come to the wrong place, go back quickly."

The guard gently pushed her, and she fell from the sky, screaming in terror with her eyes closed.

Someone caught her and held her tightly in their arms: "Yao'er, it's alright..."

Nianyao burst into tears: "Father is lying! Mother isn't in the Heavenly Palace! Yao'er wants Mother! Yao'er just wants Mother..."

Father held her as they sat on the deck, pointing east and saying, "Mother misses Yao'er so much that she secretly ran away from the Heavenly Palace and turned into a star to hang there, so that she can see Yao'er every day."

Nianyao rubbed her eyes and looked at the brightest star in the eastern sky. The star seemed to sense her gaze and wink at her, as if it were speaking to her.

Nianyao sobbed, "Father, what is Mother saying?"

Father said, "Mother is saying that Yao'er should be good, sleep well, eat well, and listen to others..."

Nianyao asked, "If Yao'er is good, will Mother come down from heaven?"

As she gazed at the stars and drifted off to sleep, she heard her father whisper, "Yes, it will."

The stars streaked across the sky and vanished in an instant; before she could react, she heard the sound of pouring rain. She was sick and lying pitifully in bed.

Father walked to the bedside with a woman in his arms: "Yao'er, your mother has come down from heaven to see you."

Her mother smiled sweetly, but the girl didn't like it and turned her head away. Her mother's smile remained unchanged as she fed her medicine, chatted with her, and told her stories. She could tell many, many stories, unlike her father who only knew the tale of Jingwei filling the sea.

Nianyao quickly grew fond of her mother, and they spent a long, happy time together. Until one day, her mother fell ill and vomited frequently, which worried Nianyao greatly.

Ji Kongming secretly told her, "That woman is pregnant with your father's child."

She exclaimed excitedly, "Then I'll have a younger brother?"

Ji Kongming said, "Perhaps it's your younger sister. That woman isn't your biological mother, she's your stepmother. Stepmothers become very vicious after having children; they won't like you or care for you, like the stepmother of the ancient sage emperor Shun..."

She knew about Emperor Shun's stepmother; her mother had told her stories of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Shun's stepmother set fire to him while he was repairing a granary, and then buried him alive while he was digging a well…

Seeing her fear, Ji Kongming lowered his voice and said, "A stepmother with her own children will harm you, and your father will favor your younger siblings over you. Go tell your father you don't want any younger siblings, and then they will always love and care for you..."

Ji Kongming was about ten years old, taller, stronger, and more knowledgeable than her. He watched over her, protected her, and made her happy. Every time he returned from the dock, he would bring her some interesting little trinkets.

Ji Kongming was a little hero. The little hero said mysteriously, "You can't tell your father that I told him, otherwise your father will throw me to sacrifice to the river god, and I won't be able to stay with you or buy you anything."

Nianyao listened to the little hero and ran to find her father. Her father was in the cabin handling some errands, and her mother was sitting next to him embroidering.

She hugged her father's neck and recounted Ji Kongming's words in bits and pieces: "She's not my biological mother, she's my stepmother... My stepmother will kill me after she has children... Father will love my younger siblings more than me... I don't want any younger siblings..."

Nianyao cried as she spoke, saying that her stepmother would set her on fire and bury her alive.

Her father put down his pen and told her firmly, "Your mother is not pregnant, she's just not feeling well. You are my only child, and I will always love you, no matter what happens."

Nianyao happily ran to the deck to tell Ji Kongming, unaware that her mother had pricked her hand with a needle, the blood making the red plum blossoms on the embroidery cloth appear exceptionally vibrant.

After that day, many things quietly changed. First, his mother fell seriously ill and didn't get out of bed for a long time. Then, Ji Kongming was severely scolded by his father and sent to Uncle Li Bingjun's boat, where he was not seen for a whole year.

Finally, they sailed the Pangu ship down the Jingjiang River and docked at Chongming Island. There, they built a wharf and houses, and set an auspicious day to move. On the night of the move, everyone celebrated with a fire at Xianzhou Courtyard.

Nianyao seemed to have forgotten something and ran back to the Pangu Ship alone. Since her legs were too short to cross the ship, she climbed over. As she was about to move her leg while holding onto the ship with one hand, she somehow fell into the water.

As Nianyao thrashed about in the water, she seemed to see her mother's back. She immediately remembered what Ji Kongming had said: a wicked stepmother.

When Nianyao woke up, she was lying in bed in a brand new house with brand new blankets. She was still groggily adjusting to the familiar yet peaceful environment on land when she heard her mother's excited voice coming from the small living room.

She quietly got up and peeked through the crack in the door at her mother kneeling before her father: "I don't want anything, I just want my child. I will take him away from here forever and never appear before you again. Ming-ge, for the sake of my sincere love for you, for the sake of how I've taken care of Nianyao these past few years, for the sake of your own flesh and blood, please let us go, mother and child. I'll kowtow to you..."

Father said coldly, "I'll give you a boat; whether you live or die is up to fate..."

The stepmother staggered away. Her father walked towards her, picked her up, and carried her to the bed: "Yao'er, it's alright..."

Yao'er, it's alright now...

Her father always told her that he was her omnipotent god.

As the child grows up without a biological mother or a stepmother, the child's spirit grows old day by day.

Time suddenly sped up. Her father's hair was gray, he was bedridden, and his voice was weak. The scene froze on the bed, the very bed she was sleeping in now.

Her father held her hand and pleaded, "If you agree, I can reunite with your mother in heaven without any worries. If you don't agree, I will die with regrets."

The bamboo raft was covered with flowers. She lit the fire herself and pushed the raft out. The burning raft went downstream and disappeared from sight.

Her spirit is gone. No one in this world will ever again say to her, "Yao'er, it's alright."

She remembered the day her father left, there was a huge crowd behind him, all looking at the bamboo raft and even more so at her. She didn't cry. She wasn't a child; she had no mother, no stepmother, no father—what right did she have to cry?

But in her dream, there was no one behind her. She stood by the river and wailed, like a child pushed down from the heavenly palace by the guardians of the heavenly gate.

When Nianyao woke up, it was already bright outside, and her face was wet. She touched her face, opened her eyes, and stared blankly, unable to distinguish between dream and reality, until she was startled awake by the soft sound of the door closing.

Nianyao sat up and then remembered that she was going to Yuezhou today, and Luo An was going with her.

She murmured, "Father, I'm sorry, please forgive my terrible daughter."

God's daughter inherited God's position, but not His prestige. She didn't even last three months, let alone three.

The small hall was empty. A divorce agreement lay on the table, the little flower tucked inside marking its place untouched. Luo An didn't look at it; he was always aloof and disdainful of her.