My Wife Is A PrincessChapter 1: Little Girl

Li Luyou walked through the streets with a great bundle on his back, one hand holding a silver-white wig, and one hand holding a giant black sword.

There were more and more unconventional people in this new millennium, and it was increasingly easier for people to accept all kinds of strange behaviors. Many were aware that some people liked to dress up as anime characters. Li Luyou’s appearance wasn’t so outlandish as to gather a crowd around him.

Li Luyou had just left the Demon Herd Wild Dance’s convention, and now he held his own props, ready to go back home. The black sword he had in his hand was made from wood smeared with carbon ink. It was very crude, but looked very heavy.

The vast majority of people merely glanced by when this kind of person walked through the streets. There were actually kids however who made a big fuss about which anime or video game his weapon came from.

Li Luyou would always be proud when he met such children. He would wave the black sword and make a pose or two, then the corner of his mouth would lift and expose a slight smile when he saw the small stars twinkling inside the children’s eyes.

Li Luyou came to the end of the street, about to reach his home. He halted his steps and looked back; the little girl he’d seen earlier in the convention was still following behind in the distance.

The little girl wore gorgeous palace clothes with a magnificent and lavish style. A complicated openwork of golden patterns, wide long sleeves of rivers and clouds, a gown made of a miracle of elegant texture dragging on the ground, everything on her displayed extreme wealth and gentle grace. This set of palace clothes didn’t have the distinctive cultural stamp of costumes from any of the dynasties in Chinese history at first glance. It looked more like the equipment of a boss-level xianxia character from some video game, or one could say it gave off the feeling of high-level equipment.

The things that most attracted Li Luyou’s attention were the unknown runic patterns filled with a mysterious atmosphere on the ribbon hanging below the little girl’s collar. It gave Li Luyou the sensation they belonged on an immortal cultivator’s apparels. They looked just like the real thing.

A dazzling bright necklace also hung around the little girl’s neck, inlaid with precious gems of every color. It looked just like the real thing.

The most eye-catching of all was her golden-bright cane that stood as tall as Li Luyou, the kind often held as a symbol of power by elderly lords in period dramas. The cane was dotted with sparkling precious gems all over, an incomplete ring in the form of a crescent sitting at the top. A wind chime hung from the tip of the crescent, making moving and melodious sounds.

Such a little girl was like a character that had come out of an eastern classical xianxia game or novel, to appear in the streets.

There was no clothing of shoddy make from head to toes. The gorgeous jewelry, the exquisite craftsmanship, the natural expression, she looked just like a professional cosplay contestant; she stung the self-esteem of a beginner contestant like Li Luyou. Her emergence had made Li Luyou’s cosplay party seem especially ridiculous.

This little girl’s appearance had actually attracted a small climax in the convention earlier. But the gathering’s atmosphere had then turned a little colorless, because this little girl fronted an arrogant expression from beginning to end, looking at others with contemptuous eyes while ignoring everyone. It had been just like during the second sword contest at Mt. Hua in "The Return of the Condor Heroes" when Yang Guo, Guo Jing¹, Revereng Yideng and so on watched those frogs at the bottom of the well struggle for the title of number one under the sky; Yang Guo had made those people piss in their pants with a loud laugh.

This little girl hadn’t made Li Luyou and the others so scared they’d piss in their pants, but they’d felt they were really too unprofessional, and they’d cut their activities short lest they somewhat became embarrassed.

Li Luyou had noticed this little girl was following him after he left. He had no idea what she wanted, but he hadn’t expected her to follow him all the way here.

Hence Li Luyou halted his steps and waved toward that little girl, indicating for her to come over.

The little girl had a head full of perfectly straight and supple hair floating gracefully against her delicate waist. Such long hair gave off a gentle and fresh feeling. It was only that there was too much cold indifference on her little delicate cheeks. Her slightly pointed chin matched her face’s mellow and round contours, but it seemed particularly haughty because of that expression lacking the slightest emotion. She stood there like a cluster of crystals, clear and transparent, the sharp sting intimidating people at first glance. She looked breathtaking seen from afar, but no one dared to approach and engage her.

The little girl’s haughtiness and indifference seemed to have been stung by Li Luyou’s waving that seemed to be teasing a child. Her fine and soft eyebrows frowned, then loosened. Her slender fingers lifted a skirt that seemed to flow like water as she walked forward neither slow nor hurried.

The little girl came in front of Li Luyou, keeping a safe distance of one meter away. She raised her head and looked at him. She only came to Li Luyou’s chest even if she’d straightened her body and held her head high, but her disdainful face seemed to be clearly looking down on Li Luyou. Her high and mighty expression faced Li Luyou with eyes that seemed to be overlooking tiny ants and crickets from an absolute height.

Li Luyou also observed her. It was rare to see such a beautiful little girl… Or one might say that apart from artistic portraits gone through unrecognizable changes in Photoshop or CG aesthetics, Li Luyou had simply never seen such an exquisite person in real life.

Except for her haughtiness being a little rude, looking at her skin, looking at her facial features, there was nothing about her that wasn’t beautiful enough to give palpitations. The skin that exuded a smooth halo of light seemed to belong on a porcelain doll inside a cabinet. Under the lighting and the layer of her ornaments, she was gorgeous like a human portrait and didn’t resemble a real person.

There wasn’t any visible trace of make-up. Such a little girl’s beauty felt illusory and remote to Li Luyou… Normal people couldn’t possibly be flawless and perfect. How could her skin be so exquisite that it didn’t show any pore or hair, how could someone have eyes so penetrating they radiated a cold atmosphere like real crystals, how could someone’s little mouth be so tightly pursed and yet not show a wee bit of wrinkle, its tender moisture seeming to be wrapped at all time by a layer of water.

"Why are you following me?" Li Luyou wasn’t a pedophile. This little girl could definitely not be above fourteen years old, hence no matter how ethereal her beauty, it still wasn’t enough to make his state of mind fluctuate or make him show off a little bit to try and hit on a beautiful woman. His current attitude was clearly a little unhappy.

"Heavenly Clouds Divine Realm, Heavenly Clouds Empire, senior princess of the Annan imperial house, Annan Xiu."

The little girl held her head high as though if it were something very extraordinary, the pride leaking out from the corners of her eyes seeming to say she got double full marks at the exam. As if anyone should kneel and worship her as soon as she said that name.

"Annan Xiu? Where’s that character from?" Li Luyou racked his brains but couldn’t find any relevant information from his memories. There were countless games however, countless manhuas, all the characters… Usually you would use the character you dressed up as for opening introductions at a cosplay convention if it were a character without too high of a profile, or if there was too big of a gap between the cosplayer and the original character. Li Luyou only thought this little girl wanted him to interact with her… This kind of little girl always fantasized strongly about playing the role of a respected princess character doted upon by untold multitudes of people.

"In the divine realm, only the strongest empire can call itself Heavenly Clouds. The Annan imperial house has ruled the Heavenly Clouds Empire for ten thousand years. Only the most outstanding divine sorcerer is able to become heir to the imperial house, that is precisely the senior princess." The little girl’s small and delicate lip petals opened and closed without hurry nor slowness, exposing bright and lucid white porcelain teeth. Her tone carried a trace of proper pride and sense of honor, holding her head high as before. "You may call me Your Imperial Highness."

Li Luyou blinked and couldn’t help laughing. People would always feel that reality was too dull and would fantasize about every kind of status to satisfy the extraordinary desires their hearts thirsted for. That was why so many passionately loved the existence of characters from novels, manhuas, or games. The little girl in front of him was also clearly like that… As a fellow enthusiast, Li Luyou would occasionally also dream of holding a great sword, looking awe-inspiring fitted with thick armor. He would remember the feeling long after waking up.

"What are you laughing for? You don’t understand me?" The little girl frowned again a little. She lowered her head and thought a moment. "I’m speaking with this place’s local aboriginal accent though."

"What aboriginal accent… You’re talking common mandarin. When have we Chinese people been infected with Englishmen’s disease and think ourselves superior just because we talk with a whatever London accent or Oxford accent?" Li Luyou was dissatisfied. Some people indeed didn’t like speaking mandarin very much and preferred local dialects. That wasn’t a problem, but it was a little too rude to elevate yourself and lower others’ dialects as aboriginal accent.

"That’s not important… I need your help. Of course, I’ll pay you a reward you’ll be satisfied with as compensation." The little girl held her staff. She was asking someone for help, but her expression seemed to be offering that someone an opportunity instead.

"You tell me, if I can help I’ll definitely help." Li Luyou wasn’t a petty man. He was even less prone to haggle with a little girl not yet of age, not even mentioning this little girl’s brain seemed to have a few screws loose. Li Luyou thought a moment. She was probably someone who invested herself too much into her cosplay and had difficulties extricating herself from the fantasy world she immersed herself into.

"Before I go back to the Heavenly Cloud Divine Realm, I hope you can be my attendant." So saying, the little girl removed the necklace from her neck. "As for the reward, I’ll give you this necklace. In the Heavenly Clouds Divine Realm, the value of this necklace exceeds the entire output of a medium-sized province."

Li Luyou didn’t take her necklace. Now he felt this little girl wasn’t merely a little strange, she really took herself as Her Imperial Highness Annan Xiu of the Annan imperial house… She’d sunken too deep in her playacting, but aside from that, the most important thing was that necklace. Li Luyou could be certain those bedazzling precious gems were definitely not cheap plastic or glass products. This kind of fine cutting and embedding craftsmanship, plus the intrinsic uniqueness of the precious gems, those weren’t things that could be matched by any casual product from those luxury brands.

There were many astonishing things about this necklace even compared with valuable items from Bulgari, Tiffany, or any other jewelry brand.

1. The Return of the Condor Heroes is the second book in the classical Condor wuxia trilogy by Jin Yong. Yang Guo is the hero of the novel, while Guo Jing is the main character of the first book.