Status Updates From The Dragon and the Sun Lotu...

"Àn' ying, I brought you here to make you a deal. Help me take the mortal throne and become emperor of the Kingdom of Rivers, and I vow to formally appoint you to a seat by my side—to help me protect it. Hard as it is for you to believe, I love the mortal realm, too, and it is, in some ways, my home. I never wanted this war. Help me end it, Àn 'ying. Help me save your realm from the Kingdom of Night.*

We r getting to the good part

The empress's eyes narrow to slits. "The very reason you exist," she hisses with sudden venom, "is to claim that mortal throne for our realm. The girl was close to the mortal heir, who confided in her through that jade pendant for years. She may be our only chance to understand why the mortal land does not accept you, and the secrets to claiming that throne.

"I am not prey" I GET IT OMGGGGG I GET IT STOP PLEASE HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL

Cliffhanger of the century omg

Stay,
" I whisper. "Please, stay with me." For half my life, Ho' yáng has been the steady presence by my side, a warmth like sunlight. And now, finally, possibly too late, a realization spills from my lips, falling like teardrops: "I can't bear the thought of a world without you, Ho yáng."

An eternity of this—in exchange for Àn'ying's life.
I hold my icy stare. "A covenant. Spare her life and ensure that no harm comes to her, and I pledge myself completely to you. No more disobedience, no more betrayals; my life would be yours to command." I pause, then add, to seal it: "For as long as I live, I live to serve you."

"Should you give your blessings, I will ask Àn' ying for her hand as a political alliance only. She has agreed to fight with me and grant me access to the Heavenly Army that her birth mother was entitled to. I will care for her, but once the war is over, I will annu the marriage so that she may choose the life and the love she wishes. This I promise you."

"Yes, Lady Hé," Hào yáng says quietly. "I love Àn' ying. Ilove her more than anything else in this world. More than my own life. I have for all of nine years."

"I know why the land couldn't accept you," I tell him.
Hào yáng's eyes cut to mine. "Because of Yừ chén," he says, and everything in me tightens. "You told me he was the hal-fling child of my father and the demon queen. I wasn't certain before whether he would be eligible for the mortal throne, but it seems he is."

Before the Immortality Trials ended, I learned my true heri-tage. I am the daughter of Lady Shiya-one of the legendary Eight Immortals—and as her sole surviving heir, I have the right to call upon an army of immortals pledged to her name.

Ho yáng, my boy in the jade. Rightful heir to our realm,
the Kingdom of Rivers.
And now, my betrothed.

I hate myself for missing him.
Yừ chén is the son of the Kingdom of Night's demon queen, Sansiran-and the mortal emperor, as I found out a few days past. Half mó and half mortal, he tricked the wards of the immortal realm, sneaking in to compete in the Immortality Trials in the guise of a mortal... and enabling the Kingdom of Night's demonic army to cross into the previously impenetrable Kingdom of Sky.

😳😳😳