Wang Zhaojun lay sprawled on her back in the courtyard's tall peach tree, holding the Flute of a Hundred Birds Saluting the Phoenix. Both her parents were dead, and ever since she could remember, the Flute of a Hundred Birds Saluting the Phoenix had been with her—the only thing her mother left behind.
"Little White, do you miss home?"
Resting her head on one arm, Wang Zhaojun glanced at Little White, who was dozing on a branch. Peach blossoms drifted down in a flurry. She reached out and caught a petal in her palm, holding it as a look of contemplation crossed her face, her thoughts drifting who knows where.
Little White was extremely fastidious, rising early and sleeping late every day just to bathe in the morning dew among the pines.
After a period of time, its once-dull feathers now shone like fresh snow, and its body was much larger than it had been at first, having now grown Phoenix Feathers.
"I told you it would look nice," Wang Zhaojun chuckled softly, stroking its snow-white feathers. After raising it for so long, it finally looked good—its carriage light and its form graceful. If it had looked like this from the beginning, how could she possibly have mistaken it for a little chick?
After dinner, night had already fallen. She gently placed it on a soft pallet before returning to her bedroom to rest.
In the dead of night, Wang Zhaojun suddenly felt the bed sink and her waist tighten. There was someone else in the bed!
"Get lost!" Wang Zhaojun pushed him away instinctively, but to her surprise, she couldn't budge him. Her delicate eyes were filled with coldness.
In the bright moonlight, Wang Zhaojun could see he was wearing a moon-white robe, exuding an air of casual, crisp elegance amidst his graceful nobility. His silvery-white long hair was spread across the bed like a moon god descended to the mortal realm.
That face, which should have been breathtakingly beautiful in her imagination, turned out to be as tender and childish as a toddler's!
Embedded in his exquisitely carved face was a pair of clear, watery eyes, veiled in a thin layer of mist that obscured his mature composure, reflecting a pure and innocent gentle light.
His face exuded an innocence entirely at odds with his temperament. The stark contrast was such that if you covered his face, he was an unmatchable, peerless man of heavenly beauty; but if you uncovered it, he was a soft, adorable baby.
"I can't sleep by myself," the toddler muttered.
That single sentence abruptly yanked Wang Zhaojun back to reality from her utter bewilderment.
His long, curled eyelashes cast a faint shadow under the moonlight, and his peach-colored lips were slightly pouted, making him look particularly endearing.
Wang Zhaojun looked at his unfamiliar face, which faintly exuded a familiar aura. Her pretty eyes suddenly widened as she asked, "Little White?"
Before her voice had even faded, Wang Zhaojun's gaze drifted uncontrollably toward Little White's nest. The prepared pallet was clearly empty.
"Mm-hmm, I'm Little White." He tilted his innocent little head, looking stupidly at Wang Zhaojun as he obediently snuggled into her arms.
"Go away, go sleep in your own bed." Wang Zhaojun abruptly picked him up and tossed him aside.
"I don't want to go. Just let me sleep here." He bit his lower lip pitifully, his clear eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Anyone walking by would have thought she was bullying him!
"No way!" Wang Zhaojun glared at him with a fierce expression.
"Why not?" He looked at Wang Zhaojun in bewilderment, blinking unceasingly, his clear voice carrying the babyish lisp proper to a child.
"Men and women should not touch when giving or receiving things." Wang Zhaojun frowned slightly. Although this little fellow was just a little brat, he was still male in essence.
"I don't care! I want to sleep with big sis!" He was extremely unhappy with Wang Zhaojun's undisguised aversion.
This willful tone gave Wang Zhaojun a splitting headache; she wanted nothing more than to slap him to death.
She gritted her teeth and said, "Just this once."
He nodded obediently, consciously burrowing back into Wang Zhaojun's arms and rubbing his face—blessed with peerless, heavenly beauty—against hers.
Little White's head was terribly annoying, tickling Wang Zhaojun's face as he rubbed against it. She felt somewhat irritated, yet hadn't the heart to beat him.
Wang Zhaojun reached out and pushed that annoying little head away, biting her lip as she said coldly, "Don't come near me."He hugged Wang Zhaojun's arm, gazing at her with an innocent look, trying every possible way to get close to her.
"But Sister used to hold me just like this..." His tone grew more and more aggrieved as he spoke, his head drooping and his pink peach-colored lips pouting.
"That's different." Wang Zhaojun helplessly massaged her temples.
Back then, he was just a clueless Little White Phoenix. Now, he was a living, breathing human being—and a male one at that!
Little White looked up at her pitifully and innocently, his beautiful eyes watery and his peach-flushed face making him look extremely well-behaved.
Wang Zhaojun helplessly covered her face with her hands. The more innocent and well-behaved he acted, the more she felt like she was in the wrong. She could never figure out why, after she had treated him so harshly before, he didn't resent her at all.
Little White nuzzled closer, begging for head pats. Unable to fully fend him off, she stroked his head while earnestly advising him, "Tonight is an exception. From now on, you are not allowed to crawl into my arms, and you are not allowed to hug me."
"Then when can I hug Sister?" He tilted his head, his eyes pure and bright.
"You won't understand right now. You'll figure it out when you grow up."
"When I grow up, can I hug Sister every day?" He looked up, his face possessing the features of a deity yet retaining a childish innocence.
"Time for sleep." Wang Zhaojun simply stopped talking, pulled him close, and closed her eyes to sleep.
If she kept talking with him like this, they would likely chat until dawn, as he would question her about everything. He obediently nodded and clung tightly to Wang Zhaojun like a little puppy.
Early the next morning, Wang Zhaojun's hazy eyes fluttered half-open, shimmering with sleepy mist. Freshly awakened, tiny droplets of tears hung on her long eyelashes.
"Sister, are you awake?" He suddenly sat up, leaning close to Wang Zhaojun, his clear, big eyes flashing with a dazzling light as he rubbed his jade-white cheek against hers.Wang Zhaojun’s face felt itchy from him rubbing his hair against her. Impatiently, she pushed his head away, then pinched his jade-like, glowing cheeks to pull him up, saying crossly, "Get up."
He blinked his innocent eyes, the tip of his straight nose brushing against her cheek as he mumbled in a soft, sweet voice, "No! I like you, sister. I want to stick to you."
Helpless, Wang Zhaojun tried to scare him: "Be good and get up. If you don’t get up now, I’m going to eat you."
Hearing this, he immediately sat up. He sat on the edge of the bed looking perfectly obedient, head bowed, his thin lips pursed. "Sister, please don’t eat me. I’ll be very good."
He still vividly remembered how, when she had first picked him up, she had thrown him into a pot to be boiled—yet he couldn’t help but want to be near her.
Seeing him like that, Wang Zhaojun couldn’t resist pinching his exquisitely carved, porcelain-like face, teasing him, "With skin as delicate and translucent as ice and jade, you must taste delicious."
His body shrank toward the head of the bed, trembling uncontrollably. His clear, limpid eyes, laced with a hint of naivety, looked at her in terror.
Watching him look as if he were about to cry—as if she had committed some heinous crime—Wang Zhaojun cupped his small face, which looked like that of a god descended to earth. With such peerless, unparalleled beauty, Little White would surely be breathtaking when he grew up. Who knew how many girls this little fellow would break the hearts of in the future?
"It’s time to get up."
Deciding not to tease him further, Wang Zhaojun took his small, soft hand, which was as white as mutton-fat jade and tinged with a faint pink.
Suddenly, he tilted his palm-sized head, his fuzzy temples looking adorable, and stared at her with wide, pure eyes. "You aren't going to eat me anymore?"
"I won't eat you," Wang Zhaojun said, tapping his smooth forehead with an amused smile.