Immortal

After fleeing the palace grounds, Aunt Shou and Chengyin attempt to comfort Liyen in her grief over her grandfather’s passing. Aunt Shou claims that the pain will not go away but gets easier. Aunt Shou relates her own experience grieving her lost daughter, Damei. Though Liyen wants to blame the immortals for her grandfather’s death, she knows his heart was weak and his death was natural. Despite this, she still wishes to release Tianxia from its service to the immortals and bring down the walls that keep her people contained.

Liyen and Aunt Shou discuss the selfishness of the immortals, who show “little compassion or mercy when [mortals] falter” (19-20). Liyen claims that devotion like the immortals expect should be earned instead of demanded. Creatures called Winged Devils attack Liyen and Aunt Shou, attempting to take Liyen. The attack damages a nearby shrine to the God of War, summoning him to the area.

Lord Zhangwei traps the Winged Devils in fiery cages. He questions Liyen about her identity, learning she is the Lady of Tianxia. Liyen claims she fled when her home was attacked and only later learned of her grandfather’s death. Zhangwei questions the Winged Devils, asking if they do the bidding of the Wuxin. The Winged Devils answer vaguely that the Wuxin are still sealed in the Netherworld. Zhangwei kills all but one Winged Devil, offering to spare the life of the final one if he answers Zhangwei’s questions; the Winged Devil instead chooses to die by suicide. Afterward, Liyen implies that Zhangwei takes pride in bringing about suffering and death as the God of War. He perplexes her by claiming he does not feel glory or triumph in it, accusing her of judging him due to her own ignorance. Zhangwei asks what the Winged Devils wanted with Liyen, but she does not know.

Zhangwei informs Liyen she must return with him and share her loyalty to Queen Caihong, as every ruler of Tianxia has done before her. If she does not, she will not have her mandate to rule. Liyen requests one month to grieve her grandfather and set her affairs in order. Zhangwei grants this request, claiming an escort will bring her to the Immortal Realm in four weeks. Zhangwei gifts Liyen a sword like his own to protect herself against creatures like the Winged Devil, who do not fall to mortal blades.

Liyen passes weeks grieving. She also begins attending to matters at court. Minister Guo, one of her most ambitious courtiers, pushes for her urgent betrothal. Because of her poor health, he believes it is in her best interest to sire an heir in case she dies young. However, the men he suggests as potential suitors are all connected to him in some way, revealing his eagerness to seize power. Liyen swiftly dismisses the topic.

After a long day at court, Liyen returns to her study, where she flips through a book of her grandfather’s written by Lady Zhirong, one of the earliest rulers of Tianxia. The book describes how the Wuxin came to their kingdom. The Wuxin are humanoid beings who feed on emotions instead of food. When Queen Caihong ascended the throne of the Golden Desert in the Immortal Realm, the Wuxin refused to accept her rule, and war broke out. The Wuxin descended to Tianxia, where they fed on the people’s sorrow, inflicting loss and devastation on the kingdom.

The Wuxin signed a treaty with Queen Caihong, who claimed Tianxia’s service in exchange for protecting them during the war with the Wuxin. Tianxia surrendered a treasure, the Shield of Rivers and Mountains, to the immortals, allowing Queen Caihiong to erect an enchanted wall around Tianxia to prevent the Wuxin from invading the rest of their realm. Once the threat was fully vanquished, Queen Caihong would return the Shield of Rivers and Mountains and bring the walls down. This has not yet come to pass. The Wuxin managed to kill the queen’s consort but were eventually defeated and banished to the Wangchuan River, in the Netherworld.

Later, Liyen relates to Aunt Shou and Chengyin her desire to release Tianxia from their service to the immortals, bring down the wall, and retrieve the Shield of Rivers and Mountains. They caution her to remain vigilant.

The day Liyen is to be escorted to the Immortal Realm, a crowd of her people greets her. They appear to be starving, and she scolds her advisers for not relaying this information to her. She orders Minister Hu to open the reserves and send rice and other supplies to the people. Liyen leaves Chengyin to serve as First Adviser during her absence. She is surprised when Lord Zhangwei himself arrives on a cloud to escort her to the Immortal Realm. Instead of bringing her to Queen Caihong’s palace, into which intruders recently attempted to break, Zhangwei brings Liyen to his home.

Liyen expresses distaste for Zhangwei’s home. Though it is lovely, the opulence only reminds her of the starving mortals in Tianxia, who could make better use of that wealth. Zhangwei expresses interest in impressing her, suggesting that he should visit her home someday. Liyen invites him to visit when he wishes.

Zhangwei has his attendants prepare rooms for Liyen in the West Courtyard. Before going to his own chambers in the East Courtyard, Zhangwei informs Liyen that the South Courtyard is forbidden, but she may roam anywhere else she desires. In her chambers, Liyen forces herself to forget the kindness and consideration the God of War has shown her thus far. Instead, she observes the sword Zhangwei gifted her, planning to use it against him because “only an immortal weapon could hurt a god” (63).

The next morning, Liyen visits the South Courtyard out of curiosity. Though she finds it unguarded, the entrance is locked. Afterward, she visits the library. She is flipping through various books when Zhangwei finds her and inquires into how she is adjusting. Liyen asks him if he stores weaponry on the grounds, curious to learn more about immortal weapons that her soldiers might use in the future. She is surprised to learn that Zhangwei stores no weapons on his premises. Liyen makes a convincing argument to Zhangwei, insisting that if the immortals expect her people to fight for them, they should provide them with weaponry that can cut down even immortal enemies like the Wuxin or the Winged Devils. Not doing so only places her soldiers in unnecessary danger.

When Liyen notices a cut on Zhangwei’s face, earned during sparring with a fellow warrior, she seizes the opportunity to gain his affections by tending to the wound. Afterward, she invites him to play a game of weiqi with her. While playing, they compare mortals to immortals. Though immortals have the advantage of time, magic, and health, Liyen does not believe those gifts make them superior to mortals. Mortals’ hearts and minds, she argues, are just as strong. When Zhangwei asks if she would ever choose to be immortal, Liyen responds that she would only if she had someone to share it with; otherwise “eternity might be lonely” (73).

The mention of loneliness reminds her of her grandfather’s death, and she becomes emotional. Zhangwei’s offered comfort leaves her both unnerved and grateful. The moment is ruined when Zhangwei changes the topic to the Divine Pearl Lotus. He asks if her grandfather mentioned it to her. Liyen wonders if his affections were meant to make her vulnerable and get her to share her secrets with him. She feigns ignorance about the lotus. Liyen pretends to be less skilled than she is at weiqi and lets him win, much to his disappointment. Zhangwei reveals he will be away the next morning but invites Liyen to have dinner with him. Still seeking a connection she can use to aid her people, Liyen accepts.

The next morning, after Lord Zhangwei departs for the day, Liyen is eager to explore the estate. Her attendants seem equally eager to prepare her for dinner with Lord Zhangwei that night, but Liyen is annoyed that they think she wishes for anything romantic with the God of War. Though Liyen is curious to explore the forbidden South Courtyard, she instead opts for the East Courtyard, where Lord Zhangwei’s private quarters are. In the East Courtyard, Liyen overhears someone playing the qin. Drawn in by the melody of yearning and loss, she is surprised to discover Lord Zhangwei is the one playing. When he notices her, he accuses her of trespassing. He admits to sometimes lying about leaving the estate, preferring to rest without anyone knowing he is around. Liyen notes the key to the South Courtyard at his waist and orchestrates a clumsy trip that knocks them both to the ground, allowing her to steal the key without him noticing.