Chapter 8
Chapter 8: As a Dowry
After being dragged around by that inhuman bird, Hu Qing hit the ground feeling like her scalp had separated from her skull. She scrambled up, trembling, and pawed at her hair like it was something dead attached to her head.
No one around spared her a glance.
It was the same way people in a market didn’t care what hairstyle a chicken had before they weighed it.
The surroundings were dazzling—luxurious to the point of pain. Everything glittered. Everything shone. Hu Qing’s eyes ached.
In her head, she muttered, Classic little-princess taste.
And sure enough—
A little princess came running, lifting her skirts. Her immortal robes were bright and layered, her jewelry delicate and extravagant. She took one look at Hu Qing and pulled her mouth into a disgusted pout. “So ugly.”
Hu Qing kept her face blank. [By bird standards?]
Around them, beautiful maids called out “Tenth Princess” and “Third Highness.”
Hu Qing hadn’t expected that her first real encounter in the Immortal Realm would be someone of this status. From what Juan Bu had said, the Tongbei Divine Eagle’s background was no small thing either.
“It depends on their clan’s numbers and the divine eagle king’s cultivation,” Juan Bu murmured. “My guess is the divine eagle king is at least heaven-grade.”
Hu Qing’s head throbbed. What kind of luck was this—crashing into demons with sky-high status the moment she arrived?
Third Highness spoke as if Hu Qing were an item that had washed ashore. “You’re getting married the day after tomorrow. This one is a cook. Bring her along. Humans like food.”
Hu Qing straightened, bowed toward Tenth Princess, and kept her voice humble. Immortal Realm speech wasn’t so different from Little Li Realm. “This lowly one is willing to go.”
Tenth Princess didn’t even look at her. She only turned to Third Highness with a sulky face. “Third Brother, I don’t want to go. Talk to Father King. Can’t you swap me with someone else?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Third Highness sounded tired. “Father King arranged this hundred-year marriage because he calculated that your ‘refining emotions’ and Wen Ting’s ‘testing the heart’ would complement each other.”
He waved it off as if he were discussing a seasonal outfit. “It’s only a hundred-year contract. If you truly can’t stand it, come back afterward. Marry whoever you want, marry whichever one you want, take whoever you want.”
Tenth Princess puffed her lips, red and stubborn.
Hu Qing, on the other hand, understood none of it.
Juan Bu’s voice slid into her mind. “I’ll explain later. For now, stay alive—and find a way to run back to Human Clan territory alive.”
Hu Qing’s headache worsened.
Tenth Princess, realizing she couldn’t fight it, snapped for someone to take Hu Qing to the kitchen and test her cooking.
Hu Qing followed two maids—both taller and stronger than she was—half-dazed, watching their bright feathered clothes flicker with shifting light as they walked.
The fashion here was… a lot. Bold colors, romantic cuts, pale skin flashing beneath thin layers. Even the male and female immortals she’d glimpsed in the Scorching Sun Blaze secret realm had dressed like this. Compared to it, Little Li Realm style really did look bland.
“This is the kitchen,” one maid said sweetly, smiling sweetly. Her eyes were empty, like she was looking at livestock. “Tenth Princess likes pastries. Use these ingredients. Prepare them yourself.”
Hu Qing smiled and bowed. “My lords, does Tenth Princess prefer heavy flavors or light? Sweet or savory?”
One maid lifted her chin and stared at the sky. The other lowered her eyes and stared at the floor.
Hu Qing kept smiling, but in her head she ground her teeth. Are you kidding me? I’m only polite because I don’t know a damn thing.
She asked Juan Bu, “What flavor does a Tongbei Divine Eagle like?”
Juan Bu went quiet. He knew they liked meat—especially dragon meat—but he didn’t know what dragon meat tasted like. He was an artifact spirit. He didn’t eat.
Hu Qing sighed and got to work.
She washed herself clean with spiritual energy several times, then scrubbed her hands repeatedly in the flowing water basin. The maids still didn’t speak, but she noticed they used the same water to wash their hands as well.
She turned to the room of hanging ingredients and started with what she recognized.
In her mind, the cookbook Hu Nuan had obtained for her—at the cost of a peach immortal opportunity—flipped open to the dessert section. Hu Qing had never had time to study it properly. Now it was a lifeline.
She picked up a bucket of milk and watched the maids’ faces closely. For a horrifying moment, she imagined this was bath milk.
If she served bath milk to the princess, she’d be chopped to pieces before she could blink.
But the maids didn’t react. Hu Qing let out a breath. It was the kitchen. The milk looked like immortal milk. It had to be for cooking… right?
Next, she grabbed a jar of richly fragrant red beans—an ingredient even Little Li Realm had. With milk, she could make a chilled bean jelly.
As she ground the beans, she scanned the cookbook in her head at top speed, matching ingredients to handling methods, moving as fast as she dared.
The maids watched the entire time, cold and silent. They didn’t even speak to each other.
Hu Qing was going to be trapped here for a long stretch. She needed allies.
So she plated an extra portion of dessert on a delicate tray and offered it with a friendly, careful smile. “My lords, please taste it. If it doesn’t match Tenth Princess’s preferences, I can adjust.”
Neither maid moved.
One finally spoke, flat as stone. “No one else may eat Tenth Princess’s pastries.”
Hu Qing didn’t let her smile crack. “I’m new. I didn’t know the rule. Where I’m from, we always taste first to make sure nothing is wrong before we serve someone above us.”
She lowered her voice slightly, just enough to suggest shared danger. “After all, if Tenth Princess isn’t satisfied and gets angry… the people closest suffer first.”
She wasn’t just flattering. She was reminding them they were on the same side.
It didn’t work.
Both maids lifted their chins and ignored her again.
Hu Qing smiled until her cheeks hurt, then cursed them in her head. Bird brains.
She made dozens of snacks and small dishes. When she finished, she stood a good ten meters away from the table, hands clasped, posture humble, face tilted up.
Tenth Princess tasted slowly, one bite at a time, bored and irritated.
Third Highness sat beside her but didn’t touch anything. He wasn’t interested.
The food wasn’t the problem. Tenth Princess couldn’t find fault with the flavor.
But she slammed the table anyway. “Why should I have to show goodwill to that old man?”
Third Highness didn’t even flinch. He sounded like he’d heard this tantrum a hundred times. “He’s younger than you. This isn’t ‘showing goodwill.’ It’s showing respect.”
He glanced at her coolly. “For the sake of Changdao Sect, our divine eagle clan must give face.”
Tenth Princess tried to flare again, but Third Highness’s patience snapped. “Divine eagle clan and Changdao Sect have been allies for a long time. Refining emotions and testing the heart isn’t limited to you. If you truly refuse, we’ll send someone else—but we will not offend Changdao Sect.”
Tenth Princess huffed. “This princess isn’t afraid of them.”
Still, she stopped throwing a fit. She set down her spoon and waved a hand.
A maid stepped forward. “Take her away.”
Hu Qing understood at once: she was accepted. She was now part of the dowry.
Back in the kitchen, the maids finally had plenty to say—arrogant orders, sharp instructions. She was to bring everything she might need. If anything was missing later, it would be her responsibility.
Hu Qing kept her temper buried under a polite smile. “Then where do we store all this? Some things need to stay dry. Some need soaking. Some need to be frozen.”
She’d been fished out of the sea with nothing on her. No bags, no rings, no visible storage at all.
She was certain that giant bird had scanned her the moment it caught her. There was no way it hadn’t noticed she didn’t even have an invisible storage ring.
And if she pulled anything from her space now?
She’d be exposing a secret that could get her killed.