1970. In the military compound in Jingshi.
"Those bastards tried to force you to submit, and when that didn’t work, they slapped a spy charge on you?"
Old Marshal Theodore Hargrove of the Hargrove family brought his palm down on the table with a hard smack.
His eyes had gone red with anger.
"These people have lost all sense of law and decency!"
Selene Ashford sat on the sofa with her head lowered, both hands resting neatly together, looking so obedient it was almost pitiful.
Mr. Franklin, the guard, stood off to the side, back ramrod straight.
The scene he had rushed in on was still flashing through his mind.
That brute had one fist tangled in the girl’s hair, while the other was yanking at her collar.
If they’d arrived even a little later, he truly didn’t dare think what might have happened.
Mr. Franklin sneaked a glance at her from the corner of his eye.
The girl’s skin was so fair it practically dazzled.
He’d lived this long and honestly had never seen a girl grow into looks like that.
Well... with a face like hers, stuck in some remote countryside village, trouble was bound to come knocking.
No one noticed that the fingers resting on Selene Ashford’s knee moved ever so slightly.
By the tea table,
the clivia sitting there, lush and full of life a moment ago, suddenly didn’t look quite so proud and upright.
A thread of plant essence, invisible to ordinary people, slipped quietly into her palm.
It felt wonderful.
She had only taken human form not long ago. Her demon power still wasn’t strong enough, and right now she badly needed the essence of fine flowers and healthy plants to build herself back up.
Since the founding of the nation, spirits weren’t supposed to come into being anymore.
But she was no ordinary thing. She was a queen of the night cactus flower brought to life by her grandmother through a strange twist of fate.
The only spirit left in this whole world.
And a flower like that had a hard nature. If someone wronged her, she would pay it back.
If her grandmother hadn’t, on her deathbed, warned her again and again to do good and build up virtue, that brute from the countryside would’ve long since been turned into feed at the roots of her flowers.
Still, before she left, she had already driven one of her sharp thorns into the man’s body.
By her count, in a few more days, the ugly bastard’s lower half would be finished. For the rest of his life, he’d do nothing but lie in bed and groan.
"Good child... you’ve suffered."
Theodore Hargrove held that last letter and the jade clasp from their old pledge of love, forcing his tears back with all he had.
"From now on, the Hargrove family is behind you. No one gets to bully you again!"
"Selly, don’t be scared. This is your home now."
Mrs. Hargrove moved over to Selene Ashford’s side and took her hand in hers.
It was cold, that hand, cold as if no warmth lived in it at all.
The second Mrs. Hargrove thought about what this girl had gone through out in the countryside, her heart clenched tight.
"Don’t you worry. In this Beijing compound, as long as the two of us old folks are still breathing, let’s see who dares lay a finger on you!"
"But putting that aside, this matter has to be planned for the long run. You need a proper standing. That’s the only way to be secure."
"I was thinking before, maybe we’d take you in as a god-granddaughter, and later on find you a decent man to marry. But once you leave the Hargrove family, it still wouldn’t sit right with me."
"As it happens, this generation of the Hargroves has three grandsons, and none of them is married yet."
"So since that’s the case, you might as well marry into this family. That way, we can keep protecting you."
"Once you’re the Hargrove family’s granddaughter-in-law, I’d like to see who still dares set their sights on you!"
Selene Ashford lifted her head.
Her eyes looked black at first glance.
But once the light caught them, a dark inky green showed underneath, deep and thick, like a whole primeval forest hidden inside.
On the surface, she looked obedient enough, but her mind was already turning things over.
Her grandmother had told her long ago that in the human world, what mattered was settling down and building a life.
If she found a dependable family to lean on, then a flower spirit like her could live in peace and comfort.
Marriage itself was no trouble. The key was picking a man with some brains, not some fool who’d get in the way of her earning merit.
Seeing that she stayed quiet, Mrs. Hargrove turned at once and called to Mr. Franklin.
"Go on. Bring over the photos of the three boys."
Three black-and-white pictures were placed side by side across the coffee table.
Mrs. Hargrove pointed to the first one.
"This is the eldest, Ethan Hargrove. He’s thirty, a regimental commander stationed on an island."
"That boy’s temper is like a rock, hard and cold. He hardly comes home a few times a year."
Selene Ashford gave it one glance, then looked away.
Too much killing intent around him. And an island was damp and muggy too, bad for roots. No good.
Mrs. Hargrove then pointed at the one in the middle.
"This is the second one, Adrian Hargrove. He’s twenty-eight, a political commissar with the regiment in the far northwest."
"He’s been stationed around Helan Mountain year-round. He’s steady enough by nature, but he’s got a lot on his mind. Hard man to read."
Selene Ashford’s eyes lit up at once.
The far northwest?
Other people figured that place was too bitter, too hard to live in. But for a king flower like her, that was the kind of land where she’d grow the best. She lowered her eyes and studied the man in the photograph.
His brows and eyes looked gentle, with a quiet, bookish air about him.
His face, at least, suited her taste.
Mrs. Hargrove lifted a hand and tapped the third photo, her tone warming right away.
"This is the third boy, Sebastian Hargrove. Twenty-three this year. He’s an orthopedic doctor at the Jingshi hospital."
"He’s the closest to you in age, and he’s cheerful, quick on the uptake. Most important of all, he could stay by your side every day. That would put our minds at ease."
In her heart, Mrs. Hargrove was leaning toward the youngest grandson. She was just about to say a few more words when the door was pushed open.
Sebastian Hargrove still had his white coat on.
"Grandma, you’re setting me up behind my back again—"
He only got halfway through before he looked up and saw Selene Ashford. His voice stopped dead.
The girl lifted her eyes and looked over.
The corners of her eyes tipped up just a little, and her gaze looked soft and damp, almost pure. But under that innocence, there was something quietly tempting about her.
Sebastian Hargrove’s breathing hitched.
He had seen plenty of pretty girls before, but not one of them came close to the one standing in front of him.
"Grandma!"
He hurried over in a few quick steps, and that bit of resistance from a moment ago had vanished clean away.
"I think the family’s arrangement makes perfect sense."
"When it comes to marriage, listening to the elders is never wrong."
But Selene Ashford didn’t look at him again. Her finger came down on the middle photograph.
"I want him."
Her voice was soft and sweet, but every word came out plain as day.
Mrs. Hargrove sucked in a sharp breath. Even Theodore Hargrove froze for a moment.
Sebastian Hargrove jumped right up on the spot.
"Pick him? You picked Second Brother?"
"Don't let that face of his fool you!"
"He's the most scheming one in this whole family. When we were kids, he could sell me off and I'd still be standing there helping him count the money!"
"He's a real old fox, all smiles on the outside and knives tucked away behind his back. If you go with him, he'll chew you up till there's not even a scrap left!"
He looked ready to spill out every bit of Adrian Hargrove's dirty laundry from childhood till now.
"You little brat! What nonsense are you spouting!"
Mrs. Hargrove lifted her hand and smacked him on the back of the head. She was scolding her grandson out loud, but in her heart, she had already started worrying.
That second boy was deep, all right. What if this good, obedient girl really got bullied badly by him?
After hearing that, Selene Ashford tilted her head and thought it over for a second.
Bullied? That was still hard to say. Who would be bullying whom?
She was a king flower spirit, after all, with a whole bundle of secrets tucked inside her.
If she really picked some dumb, hot-blooded fool, it would be easier to let something slip.
An old fox was fine.
Better, really. A smart man was exactly what she needed, someone who could help her smooth out every bit of trouble.
"Grandpa, him. That's the one I want. I want to go to the Great Northwest."
Selene Ashford said it again, firm and steady this time.
Theodore Hargrove took one look at her and burst out laughing.
"Good. You’ve got a sharp eye. Adrian may be full of schemes, but when it comes to his own people, he protects them to the hilt."
"If he says yes, then for the rest of your life, he’ll keep you safe, tight as a wall around you."
The old man moved fast once he’d made up his mind. He turned on his heel, went straight into the study, and put in a long-distance call to the Northwest Military District.
...
Far out in the Great Northwest, at the foot of Helan Mountain.
The wild wind drove yellow sand through the air, thudding against the barracks windows in heavy bursts.
Adrian Hargrove sat behind his desk, long fingers holding a fountain pen, eyes lowered to a report he was only halfway through.
Then the telephone rang out sharp and sudden.
He set the pen down and picked up the receiver.
The old man’s strong, commanding voice came crackling down the line.
"Adrian, I’ve arranged a marriage for you. It’s Mrs. Ashford’s granddaughter."
"I owe Mrs. Ashford a debt. She even saved your grandmother’s life once."
"Now she’s gone, and this girl is all she left behind. No matter what, our Hargrove family has to see that she’s properly settled."
"The girl’s already staying at the compound. Find a time and have her come join you with the army."
Theodore Hargrove knew this grandson well. There was no point beating around the bush with him, so he laid it out plain and straight.
Adrian was the only one among the younger generation who knew the old ties and debts between the two families.
He had met Mrs. Ashford before. What stayed with him most clearly was the huge patch of queen of the night flowers growing in her yard.
But as for any granddaughter, he had no memory of one.
The pen in his hand turned soundlessly half a circle.
"Grandpa, if she’s Mrs. Ashford’s granddaughter, then of course I ought to look after her."
"There are plenty of ways to look after someone. It doesn't have to mean marriage."
"The Northwest is nothing but desert and sand. Sending her there would be doing that girl wrong. I can't sit easy with that on my conscience."
The old marshal answered at once, his tone sharp and annoyed.
"You think I wanted her to follow you off to that barren place and suffer? The Hargrove family has three grandsons standing right here. I told the girl to choose for herself, and she set her sights on you. You've stumbled into pure luck, boy."
"Second Brother!"
Sebastian Hargrove had been waiting for his opening. He hurried to the receiver, leaned in, and shouted into it.
"If you don't want this, then just say it."
"Selly only just turned eighteen, and you're already twenty-seven, twenty-eight. Isn't that plainly holding the girl back? Stop squatting on the spot and doing nothing with it. Why not let me take care of her instead?"
Adrian Hargrove's hand, which had been idly turning a pen, suddenly went still.
Since when had his odd-tempered younger brother ever shown this much enthusiasm toward any girl?
Just then, a voice drifted over from the other end of the line.
Soft. Gentle. And carrying a trace of hurt that brushed right against the heart.
"Does he... dislike me that much?"
The line crackled with static without pause, yet those few words somehow cut through every bit of noise and landed in his ear, clear as day.
The fountain pen in Adrian Hargrove's hand stopped completely.