Lijuan and the Long Hunt

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a man called the Bear Emperor.

The Bear Emperor wanted to get married, and Hose Siew had a pretty girl. The Emperor wrote to House Siew and asked for their pretty girl, and House Siew said ok. And that was good.

But then something happened.

House Siew didn't send the pretty girl, even after the Bear Emperor waited a very long time.

The Bear Emperor was very angry. And he was an Emperor. It is very bad to have an Emperor very angry at you.

Finally, the Bear Emperor tried to kill everybody in House Siew. And for a while, it looked like maybe he had.

...

But no! A very few survived, and they were very angry at the Bear Emperor.

They worked hard, for a long time, and never forgot that they were angry. Maybe magic or demons or spirits kept them alive and still angry, or maybe it was just good or bad luck.

Finally, House Siew tried to kill all of the Bear Emperor's family. And for a while, it looked like maybe they had.

...

Bear was very angry, and so were the pandas. If you know what pandas are like, you know it's very bad when they are angry at you. And they're pretty much angry at everybody all the time.

...

But still! A few of the Bear Emperor's family survived, and ran, and hid, and kept safe and alive for many, many years. Almost all the years until now.

...

At last, just a very few years before now, House Siew found almost the very last of the Bear Emperor's family hiding at House Sung.

So, House Siew helped House Zhen play a trick on the Warlord. The Warlord was fooled, and gave House Sung to House Zhen.

House Zhen was just a puppet, but they didn't know that, and they wanted House Sung. They tried very hard to kill everyone in House Sung. Who knows? Maybe they did.

But House Zhen was stupid and didn't kill almost the very last person in the Bear Emperor's family. That was me. I was very scared, and very angry at House Zhen, but you know that nobody much cares when a little girl is very angry at you.

So Ho and I ran away and joined the Circus.

...

And that's who the hunters were, and why they were hunting me. And I didn't even know why, and it's dumb to want to kill me because of what my great great many greats grandfather did to theirs. But you know, some people are dumb.

House Siew was even using angry pandas to help them hunt. That's how I got Kawaii. What kind of a hunter tracks with a beast that only kills people who aren't their prey? That's foolish and wrong. But you know, some people are dumb.

When I knew I was hunted, I hid. But finally they found me and brought me to them. And Butterfly tricked them, and told them I should marry Zhuai. I bet it was easy for Butterfly since it was a wedding that didn't happen that started everything off.

And so there was me being captured, and the wedding of the Emperor's Heir in the heart of the Hidden City, and House Siew that wouldn't rest until either all of me or all of them were dead.

...

Have I told you about Yoshi? It was Yoshi who met me and Ho and helped us join the Circus. He was always nice to me and gave me food and reminded me to wash my hands, even when Tokai-sama got angry.

And Yoshi taught me that what you do with your enemies is turn them into friends.

So a couple weeks ago, I married Siew Zhuai. With fruit, in a tea house -- nothing Imperial about it. And in many many years, when Siew and I have children and their children have children, and later, House Siew will have to stop trying to kill the heirs of the Bear Emperor because that will be themselves. And, you know, you'd have to be really, really dumb to try to kill everyone in your own family.

Dumber than house Zhen, even.