Chapter Two: The Omen of Crisis

The woman in white removed her veil, revealing a massive scar across her left cheek. Everyone stared blankly at her face; without that scar, she would have been considered a rather lovely woman.

“What happened to you?” Fang Zhe asked with concern.

The woman in white gave a cold laugh. Her story was this: she had once been the sovereign of the Daughter Kingdom. Because she had been elected by the people of the city, she had devoted herself to governing, but the Daughter Kingdom under her rule had remained mediocre and unremarkable. Then, one day, the Divine Granny divined that a new king would descend from the heavens, and that this new king would bring prosperity to the Daughter Kingdom.

For the sake of the Daughter Kingdom’s flourishing, the woman in white was willing to abdicate. Yet she waited and waited, and the heavenly king foretold by the Divine Granny never appeared. Though she longed to witness the new king’s arrival, she continued to work tirelessly in the meantime, doing everything she could to help the Daughter Kingdom rise again.

Under her leadership, the Daughter Kingdom finally began to show signs of improvement, and its people had grown accustomed to her rule and were beginning to live and work in peace and contentment. But just as everyone had nearly forgotten about the new king, a woman suddenly fell from the sky.

Speaking of this, the woman in white grew sad, for she had never imagined that the woman who fell would not lead the Daughter Kingdom to prosperity, but instead plunge it into an abyss. To this day, the Daughter Kingdom remained listless and downcast.

“Then, Your Majesty, what exactly did you bring us here for?” After hearing so much, Han Tianyue still had not understood the reason she had brought them to the Daughter Kingdom.

The woman in white no longer wished to be addressed as queen, for she was no longer one. She was now merely an ordinary citizen of the Daughter Kingdom. Everything she did was for the nation, for the sake of its flourishing; she was willing to sacrifice everything.

“I brought you here this time because I want you to bring hope to our Daughter Kingdom, to bring hope from men. Women will always be women; they need men!” Her voice was firm and resolute.

At those words, Feng Shang immediately grew excited and shouted, “We need women too!”

Fang Zhe gave Feng Shang a cool glance, then said, “Why is it called the Daughter Kingdom? Because every person in it is a woman, that is why it is the Daughter Kingdom. But if we follow your way of thinking, then what meaning would the Daughter Kingdom have at all?” Fang Zhe was somewhat opposed to the woman in white’s view.

The woman in white gave a cold smile. “The Divine Granny said the same thing, but so long as it is for the good of the Daughter Kingdom, I am willing to try any method. For I do not believe in divine calculations, nor in destiny. I only believe that human resolve can determine heaven itself!” Hearing such words from a woman, Han Tianyue and Mao Xuanzi could not help but be startled.

Fang Zhe listened and said, “But you are no longer queen!”

Those words struck the woman in white like a knife to the heart. She bit her lip. It had been that day, the day the new king descended, when she, who had worked so hard to make the Daughter Kingdom prosper and who did not believe in fate, was dethroned by the very people she loved most. It was then that her face had been slashed.

Yet she had never complained, because she believed this was the punishment the gods who manipulated fate had arranged for her, punishment for her disbelief in destiny.

“I want to change all of this. I want women to be women and men to be men!”

Seeing the woman in white like this, Fang Zhe felt some concern for her, yet did not know how to help.

Just then, a series of cries rang out from outside.

“Terrible news! The queen has died!”

The moment the news spread, the entire Daughter Kingdom seemed to explode at once.

Upon hearing this, the woman in white put on her mask and left the inn.

Watching her depart, Han Tianyue said with a smile, “What a clever queen she is, though her thinking is somewhat extreme. I suppose that must be because of what she has suffered over the years.”

“Should we help her?” Mao Xuanzi asked.

Fang Zhe glanced at Han Tianyue.

Feng Shang hurriedly offered his opinion. “I think we should help her. We really should help!”

Han Tianyue nodded. “Helping her would be fine, but our own matters...”

“Put them aside for now,” Fang Zhe said, unusually enthusiastic.

For the first time, a crack appeared in the hearts of Han Tianyue, Fang Zhe, Mao Xuanzi, and Feng Shang. And with it, the crisis among the four of them began to quietly descend.

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