Once upon a time, there was a princess in the world named Xu Qingqing.
"Wait, why does the princess have the same name as Mom?" Xu Youluo, lying in bed, suddenly spoke up.
Xu Qingqing tapped her on the head and said, "Passerby A shouldn't ask so many questions!"
The princess was proud and willful, possessing glittering jewels and owning vast, endless lands. She lived in a castle with countless servants.
However, the beautiful princess attracted much envy. Later, a wicked witch came to her kingdom and cursed the land. She gradually became unhappy.
Until one day, a mage named Xie Lianqing arrived at the castle. He was utterly mysterious and promised he could help the king solve his troubles.
Amidst the kingdom's joyful anticipation, he then said in a deep tone, "But as payment, I shall take your king's most precious treasure."
Although this country was still somewhat prosperous, it was only one of the most ordinary kingdoms in the magical world. If they had any most precious treasure, it would surely be the princess of this kingdom.
Legend had it she was beautiful and exquisite, a treasure bestowed upon this land.
The king and his family trembled with fear, torn between the threat of the vicious witch and their beloved daughter. But in the end, they chose to accept the mage's help, for the sake of the kingdom's people.
Princess Xu Qingqing was very saddened when she learned of this. She believed she would be taken away by an evil mage and live a miserable life.
The good news, however, was that she had never left the kingdom and had long wanted to see other parts of the world. Yet, being weak herself and under the care and worry of her family, she had never dared to mention this wish.
But if she followed this mage, perhaps she could fulfill her long-held desire! The princess found an alternative perspective and became less averse to the mage.
When the mage dealt with the witch, she even secretly took her maid to watch. Then she discovered the mage was quite handsome, much better-looking than the princes from neighboring kingdoms who came to propose.
The king and his family remained anxious until the problems left by the swamp witch were resolved. The king and queen mustered their courage to try and negotiate with the mage, hoping to avoid the outcome of their daughter being taken away.
Everyone was on edge, worried that going back on their word would offend the mage and bring greater disaster to the kingdom...
Just as everyone was tangled in distress, the mage contentedly took away the jewels and gold coins from the castle, saying it was the agreed-upon payment.
Everyone: ...!!
So the kingdom's most precious treasure wasn't Princess Xu Qingqing, but that wealth?!
It seemed to make some sense, yet also felt somewhat off.
Having narrowly escaped calamity, the king and others celebrated that their little princess wouldn't have to leave with this fearsome mage. However, the princess herself was very unhappy!
She had already prepared herself to wander and adventure with this detestable mage, only to find that in this unappreciative mage's eyes, she was actually less valuable than a pile of jewels and gold coins? How outrageous!
On the day the mage was leaving, she bravely stopped the black-cloaked mage and said indignantly, "You, this mage with no taste, actually failed to see this princess! I am the most precious treasure in this kingdom!"
The mage was taken aback for a moment. Upon learning her identity, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
He removed his hood, revealing fair skin, and looked her up and down before saying, "How could that be? Everyone says you're willful and narcissistic, asking every day with a mirror in hand who the most beautiful princess in the world is..."
The originally furious princess blushed crimson, so angry she almost jumped up to hit this infuriating mage.
As if oblivious to her displeasure, he continued leisurely, "Many suitors have come to the kingdom for you, but you always drive them away. You disliked the prince from the neighboring kingdom because he wouldn't peel grapes for you; the prince from the sea to the left was willing to do anything for you, but you didn't like his golden hair..."
"I hear you demand people to peel grapes for you personally, to drink water at just the right temperature, to have glittering jewels and gorgeous dresses... You truly are a picky princess! Even though I've traveled to many places and seen many countries, you are still the pickiest princess I've encountered."
The princess was nearly fuming with rage and couldn't help shouting, "Because I'm worth it!"
She crossed her arms and snorted, "If they like me, shouldn't they make an effort for me? Anyway, if you were patient and got to know me, you'd find I'm a very lovely princess!"
The mage threw his head back and laughed, saying, "How can someone praise themselves as lovely? You really are as narcissistic as they say."
Hearing his words, the princess pouted, suddenly feeling a bit sad.
She had bravely chased after him, but this mage simply didn't understand her.
Her eyes glistened. Even though she was the one being rejected, she still maintained a haughty posture, her back straight, her chin held high.
She said proudly, "Fine, it seems you're no different from those vulgar people."
Xu Qingqing snorted, turned her head away, and prepared to walk back into the kingdom, lifting her skirt.
The mage looked into her eyes, staring blankly at her retreating figure, his mind recalling the image of the young girl wearing a crown, lifting her skirt with a haughty air.
He suddenly called out to her and asked, "Did you chase after me just to say this?"
Xu Qingqing turned to look at him and said petulantly, "Originally it was more than that, but now I don't want to tell you."
The mage had to apologize to her, saying, "I'm sorry, I was wrong. May I ask if you can state your purpose now? Surely it wasn't that you wanted to leave with me?" By the end, his tone held some surprise.
Xu Qingqing ran back, frowning, and said, "Why is that so impossible? I have one year left until my coming-of-age ceremony. My father says after the ceremony, he'll marry me off to someone else... Before that, I want to travel with you!"
"I've never left this country. I want to see other places and, along the way, find a boyfriend to my liking!"
This world was full of dangerous and strange people—dog-headed men, dragons, undead, alchemists, witches. She was just an ordinary princess, possessing nothing but a bit of beauty.
Everyone said she was proud and spoiled, but she believed herself to be extraordinary. If she just stayed in one kingdom, never leaving, she would be no different from any other ordinary princess.
She didn't like any of the princes she had met so far, so she wanted to find a boyfriend who suited her tastes herself. She believed she should seize the opportunity.
The mage looked at her and said, "Now I rather agree with your extraordinariness."
Xu Qingqing nodded with proud restraint, accepting the other's praise. She suddenly felt this mage had good taste after all!
See, she understood adventure and was very brave! Of course she was extraordinary.
Mage Xie Lianqing and Xu Qingqing returned to the kingdom, and after obtaining the king and others' consent, they set off again with the princess.
Before leaving, the king and queen nervously held Xu Qingqing's hands and said, "Come home soon!"
Xu Qingqing nodded and said, "Don't worry!" She was just going out for a trip. She would return to the kingdom before her coming-of-age ceremony to fulfill her duty as a princess.
The journey of adventure was not quite what the princess had imagined. There were many interesting things, but also many difficulties.
They passed through a forest. Inside the forest were tall trees, with sunlight piercing through the gaps between branches, shining upon the flowers in the grass.
They crossed a river. It happened to be a rainy day. The princess held up the hem of her skirt as the two of them took shelter under a large leaf.
In the midst of the flurry, the mage shouted, "Princess! At a time like this, please stop holding onto your crown and lifting your skirt!"
"Oh, okay, don't shout so loudly!"
The two of them clumsily held up the leaf as they walked through the flooded lotus pond. A frog perched on a lotus leaf, watching them.
They braved a terrifying lair. Under the dragon's breath, the mage, having drunk a shrinking potion, quietly entered the cave and stuffed gold coins into his pocket.
The princess carefully kept watch, saying nervously and excitedly, "Why are you stealing other people's things?"
Mage: "...Shut up."
Thinking he hadn't heard, the princess asked again, "I asked why you're stealing other people's things? That's not very nice. And why do we always come to these deserted places? At this rate, when will I ever find a boyfriend I like?"
Mage: "...%&#$"
The princess frowned. "What did you say? Speak up, I can't hear you."
Just then, they suddenly noticed a huge shadow fall over them. Sensing something was wrong, they looked up to see that the dragon had actually awakened.
The mage stared at the dragon before them, speechless: "...I just told you to be quiet."
The princess also stared dumbly at the dragon and said, "...Why didn't you say so earlier?"
In any case, the princess could never be wrong. If there was a mistake, she would use her vast experience to pin the blame on someone else.
However, now was not the time to argue.
The dragon was furious that these two thieves had come to steal its wealth. It roared, breathed a blast of flame, and charged towards the two tiny figures.
The mage immediately grabbed the bewildered princess's hand and sprinted towards the cave entrance. Pursued by the dragon, the two of them weaved and dodged erratically through the cave, their path snaking like a serpent.
Once outside the cave, the mage pulled a potion from his robe, took a sip himself and gave one to the princess, and their bodies rapidly grew to normal size.
He scooped up the princess and leapt onto his flying carpet. The two soared into the air, with the constantly roaring and pursuing dragon behind them.
The princess was nervous at first, then fell silent, before pulling out a notebook and pen from her robes and quietly writing something.
The mage was busy steering the carpet to dodge the dragon's flames. Snatching a moment amidst the chaos, he leaned over, astonished. "At a time like this, you actually have time to write in your diary?!"
The princess said calmly, "I'm writing my epitaph. By the way, do you need one? I can write one for you too." Although if they were burned to ashes by the dragon, they probably wouldn't get to use it.
Mage: "...Thanks, I'll pass."
The dragon chased them very, very far. Xu Qingqing finished writing her epitaph, ate a loaf of bread, and even took a nap. When she woke up, she found that the dragon was still following!
The mage was also getting impatient from the chase. He suddenly stood up on the flying carpet, took out his wand, and shot two balls of flame towards the pursuing dragon—each one twice the size of the dragon itself—which charged menacingly towards it.
The dragon let out a shriek, panicked, turned tail, and fled.
The princess was dumbfounded. "You could have beaten it?"
The mage sat back down, pulled out the stolen gold coins from his pocket, and said placidly, "Yeah." Otherwise, how would he dare to steal a dragon's gold? Did he have a death wish?
The princess was shocked. "What kind of logic is that! Then why didn't you act sooner? Why did you have to sneak around and..."
The mage said very calmly, "Because acting openly would be robbery."
The princess was confused. "What's the difference?"
The mage said, "If we acted openly, the dragon would not only lose its gold coins, but its spirit would also suffer great harm."
Princess: ...That sounded rather reasonable.
She suddenly thought of a question and asked, "Why do you use a flying carpet? I've seen other mages and witches use brooms."
The mage said, "Don't you think those things are hard on the rear end?"
The princess thought about it and found it very reasonable. As a noble princess, she had no desire to ride a broomstick flying around in the sky. A flying carpet felt much more comfortable!
Thinking of this, she felt very fortunate to be traveling with the mage.
...
Time passed little by little. The mage and the princess traveled to many places. Following behind the mage, the princess experienced many things.
She fulfilled her original wish, although she didn't find a completely satisfactory boyfriend. This was because that stingy mage was always busy hunting for gold coins all day, either going to other kingdoms to make a fortune or robbing dragons.
The princess now knew that the mage actually knew that evil swamp witch. He had even placed a tracking spell on her. Wherever she went to cause trouble, he would go to those places to "help," then charge an exorbitant amount of gold coins in return.
The princess didn't understand what the mage needed so much money for. He probably had more than he could spend in many lifetimes.
But the princess was still very satisfied with this journey.
Before her coming-of-age ceremony, the mage returned her to the kingdom. Before leaving, she said to him, "Thank you. The time spent with you was the happiest period of my life!"
...
Xie Lianqing and Xu Qingqing lay by the bedside, having finished telling this fairy tale to Xu Youluo. It was quiet outside now, with a moon hanging by the window and stars twinkling.
Xu Youluo was already very sleepy, forcing her eyelids open as she asked, "Will the mage come back to find the princess?"
Before Xie Lianqing could speak, Xu Youluo clenched her fist and muttered, "He will! If he doesn't come back for the princess, he's a big bad guy!"
Xu Qingqing asked, "Why are you so sure?"
Xu Youluo slowly closed her eyes. Before drifting into dreamland, she whispered, "Because raising a princess requires a lot of gold coins."
That's why the mage was so diligently gathering gold coins everywhere.
