**In the mortal realm

His Majesty, Dong Hua sighed softly as he looked at the hundreds of scrolls, appeals and court matters lying on his desk. He had ascended the throne at 22 years old. And now, at 32 years, he felt as though he had lived a hundred years instead of ten. He felt… Lonely, he supposed. Which was odd considering he was constantly surrounded by people -his servants, soldiers, courtiers, consorts and the such. Funny, how he had a strange feeling he had been missing something, something he couldn’t put his finger on for a long time.

Recently, there had been a disturbance in his harem. One of his consorts -Consort Chen, he thought, had almost drowned in one of the many lakes within the palace. Rumours were that when she woke up, a birthmark had mysteriously appeared on her forehead and that it contained spiritual power. Dong Hua rolled his eyes. He strongly doubted that claim. It was most likely his empress trying to get that consort either banished or executed to further strengthened her claim to the throne.

It was of no news that the current empress felt threatened by Consort Tai whose son had been named Crown Prince, the heir to the throne. Although Consort Tai had left the palace to become a nun, it appeared as though the empress still felt insecure due to the lack of sons. He sighed, he would just avoid going to Consort Chen’s chambers until the unrest had settled down. However, coming to think of it, he had only visited Consort Chen’s chambers twice since she entered the palace as his concubine. And one of those times was because she was absolutely excellent in playing Go. Other than that, he couldn’t remember anything else about Consort Chen.

‘Your Majesty, your lowly servant wishes to remind you it is time to choose a consort to spend the night with.’

Dong Hua silently stifled a groan. Every night, he went to a consort and while he could perform the acts mechanically in order to bless his nation with sons and daughters, he would rather sit in his study and read his scriptures. Heck, he would rather sit in court and listen to his mind-numbing courtiers simper and cower before him.

Sitting on his palanquin, his servants automatically lifted it up, careful not to jolt anything in fear their heads would roll on the floor. Dong Hua’s mind drifted as he was carried along the chambers of the imperial consorts. The nation was at peace, his son was growing up to be a fine man… and still he had to produce more sons. It was his duty as the father of the nation.

Suddenly, a movement caught his eye. One of his consorts and her maidservant. He glanced at her dismissively and stopped. She was beautiful. He noticed the striking red flower on her forehead -Consort Chen. But that was ridiculous, Consort Chen had never been famed for her beauty. His heart beat faster. That flower -he had seen it before. In a dream, or a dream within a dream. He rarely had those dreams anymore but in those, he had seen a white haired man who wore his face hold a beauty with that exact mark on her forehead in his arms.

He gestured for his servants to pass the place card to Consort Chen, noting her every reaction. She seemed surprised and slightly alarmed but quickly, a composed façade fell over her face and she bowed. As she rose, their eyes met. A feeling of great familiarity and longing rose up in him. He would see her tonight, regardless of the rumours.

However, as fate would have had it, a new uproar happened in his harem. His empress had bribed a priest to deem Consort Chen’s birthmark as demonic, causing them to keep her under house arrest. He growled. But for her safety, he would stay away. Late that night, as he laid next to one of his concubines, he dreamed again of a white haired man who was in love with a fox princess.