The lady in blue screamed out loud in pain; involuntarily releasing her grip of the golden ruler. Coincidentally, the ruler dropped and hit her hand.The sharp edge of the ruler cut through the flesh on the back on her hand, seemingly severer than the injury that Long Siye had suffered. Blood streamed down.
Gu Xijiu moved very swiftly, so the lady in blue could not see her coming at all. When she finally got a grasp of what was happening, a small bottle of medicine hit her on her head. "Use this. It is better than the one you have."
Bewildered, the lady tried to consume the medicine with fumbling efforts. She could feel the pain on her face where the bottle had hit. The back of her hand hurt too.
The lady had never been treated that way before, so she paused in disbelief. Soon, she started to complain and threw the bottle back at Gu Xijiu. "How dare you! Where did this rude woman come from? How dare you attack me! This is outrageous! Outrageous!"
Before she was done with her complaints, a figure flashed before her eyes. She stood, transfixed, unable to see.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Three crisp slaps could be heard on her face, stopping her from clamoring any further. She was obviously baffled. She took a few quick steps backward and looked at Gu Xijiu in disbelief. "You… You…"
The three slaps were enough to cause her to have a b.l.o.o.d.y nose. Her cheeks were ashen and swollen. Gu Xijiu stood upright in her black attire that fluttered in the wind. "I am teaching you a lesson for your arrogance and impoliteness," Gu Xijiu answered with a cold tone.
She waved the bottle in her hand. "I see that you have refused my kind offer. I hope you will not regret it." Swiftly, she kept the bottle back in her sleeve.
"Who do you think you are? You are not ent.i.tled to teach my servants!" An authoritative voice could be heard coming from the carriage. A lady in a purple robe emerged from behind the curtains.
The color of her robes was in pale purple. The lady was exquisite, but with an att.i.tude of conceit. By the looks of her poise, she seemed like a royalty. As soon as the lady emerged, all the men in white kneeled and bowed before her. "Princess Ya."
The rest of the people in green and blue robes kneeled as well. They looked at each other in bewilderment but decided to follow the gesture of the men in white. She was a princess!
The social ladder in heaven was no different from Earth. Royalty was at the top of the pyramid. Princess Ya was not interested in the men on the floor. She turned and gave Gu Xijiu a sharp look. "Why didn"t you bow before me?"
The injured lady in blue was the princess" servant. Her master"s appearance gave her a boost. She stood glowering at Gu Xijiu and demanded. "Kneel!"
Gu Xijiu would not kneel. She was not a member of heaven. Why should she have to kneel? Gu Xijiu answered coldly, "I find no reason why I should kneel or bow before you."
"Princess, she is the Lord of the Starry Crescent Land. This is the first time for her to be here, so she is unaware of the customs. I implore you to show mercy, Princess Ya. Please excuse her for her misbehavior." The man in white started to explain on her behalf.
Princess Ya gave her a scornful look and smiled sarcastically. "I do not want to bother myself arguing with the likes of her. Ming Lang, tell her about the customs here, so she knows how to behave."
Hesitantly, Ming Lang agreed. He braced himself and proceeded to share with her more of the general knowledge about this place.
From his explanations, Gu Xijiu could finally get a grasp of the general structure of heaven.
In the Celestial Kingdom, there was a king, known as the Emperor Immortal. The customs were more or less the same as the ones in the mortal world. The royalty had the most power. In the Celestial Kingdom, almost every other celestial being, regardless of their ranks, was required to kneel and bow before royalty.
There were another two major groups- the native group and the ascendant group. The native group consisted of the immortals that were born and nurtured in the Celestial Kingdom.