Fiction: Little Moon's Matchmaking Mission! (Prologue + Chapter 1)

    Dear readers, my health has been quite poor in May and unfortunately I have not fully recovered. Work has been very busy and I have actually updated my blog for about two weeks plus using entries I had prepared in my backlog. Now, there's only one more drama recap and one Heavy Sweetness translation saved up :(.

 I will be translating at a slower pace till my health recovers and my translating mojo is 100% again. Meanwhile, I thought I would share an original ancient c-novel romantic comedy that I wrote in English. Haha. I actually started writing this in April when I was going through a reading novel drought, there were many long angsty and dramatic c-novels and I just wanted short romantic funny fluff to read. So, I thought, ok why don't I try writing one myself? Haha. 

  This "c-novel" is called Little Moon's Matchmaking Mission and concerns the niece of the Moon God. I love the xianxia genre (gods/immortals), and wanted to write using my favourite trope, matchmaking! I've actually planned the whole story, it has three arcs and will consist of 16 chapters. I've written the first 9 chapters and sketched out chapter 10 and 11, these chapters will make up the first two arcs. You can be rest assured that it's just a fluffy romantic comedy that will end with a very happy ending. I thought it would be interesting to get feedback as I write the third arc of the story. 

 I would like to thank Hui'er for first encouraging me to write this and helping me name the first lead, Moonblossom for also encouraging me and being such an awesome co-blogger of this blog. Thanks also to Sherry who gave so many helpful editorial comments (seriously, her own c-novel in the making is really professional.)

  Finally, thanks to all the readers, whose comments and support make the blog such a lovely place to unwind whenever daily life gets too stressful or bleak. I hope this story brings you some heart tingles and chuckles! *does tiny head bow*

     Prologue

(i)

     Few gods knew what they wanted to do in life, but the moment Little Moon could think, she knew. She wanted to be just like her uncle, the Moon God, the ruler of the Temple of Matrimonial Bliss, the controller of all romantic fates, the tyer of the red threads.

   She watched as she was a little goddess, toddling along her uncle’s feet, watching as he tied a red thread between a male and female figurine – and there it was, a connection. Two strangers’ fate were now tied together – in that red thread, was the possibility of something beautiful, for two mortals to create something that was greater than their one life could hold.

  Sometimes the thread was especially thick, almost iron-clad, it was impossible to break. She looked at the red thread in awe, her uncle chuckled, “Ah, this red thread, this red thread was borne out of generations and generations of fate.”

  And, then she knew, she too was borne out of generations and generations of fate in the Moon Family. And that, she knew that the real magic in all the realms was not the Jade Emperor’s ability to cast god-shattering lightning bolts or her childhood friend, Prince Sun’s ability to burn down most countries, it was the ability to create connections. Something that cannot be seen, but only felt.

  Today was the fulfillment of all of Little Moon’s desires! Her first day on probation as a Moon Maiden helping her uncle. Her uncle was especially distracted today, his usually silver tinted hair seemed almost white, he told Little Moon to just watch the figurines and threads and not to connect anything till he returned. Her uncle left in a hurry.

  Little Moon watched as the other Moon Maidens busily whirled around the Temple, each focused on their respective tasks. She felt a little left out so she decided to go to the highest level of the temple, it was the easiest level to watch, the red threads connecting the male and female figurines were the strongest on the highest level. These threads were born instantaneously as the male and female mortals were born on earth, these threads were akin to divine fate, they were born with it and not connected by the Moon God.

  As usual, her eyes were bedazzled by the glow radiating from the different red threads. Some were red as blood (which always made her think that this fate, though strong, had the potential for disaster), some blazed like fire (a passion strong enough to burn up one life, or two) and some were just simply red, like the last evening glow from the setting sun (a quiet promise of the remains of the day).

  Suddenly, her eyes were almost blinded by a strong ray of gold. Gold? She curiously walked towards the further end of the corner. How strange! There was a male figurine connected by gold threads to three other female figurines. She bent closer to look at it, she had never seen any thread that was a colour other than red, unconsciously, she reached out to touch it……

     As if she had been bitten by a poisonous snake, she retracted her hand quickly for she felt a sharp burn. She watched, stunned, as the gold threads had disappeared and there laid only one male figurine and three other female figurines.

  She did not have a good feeling about this. Well, she would not have a good feeling about this if she had not fainted.

 (ii)

   When Little Moon awoke, she was lying in her bed, her uncle hovering worriedly over her.

   Her uncle, the Moon God, seemed to have additional lines furrowed into his forehead.

  “How did I end up here?” Little Moon asked, as she quickly sat up. She felt perfectly fine except on the palm of her right hand were three red dots that seemed to have been scorched into her skin.

  “You fainted in the divine chamber,” the Moon God said.

   Little Moon looked sheepish, “I didn’t plan on touching anything… I was only watching the divine chamber because I didn’t know what to do… then I saw this gold flash and saw a male figurine with three gold threads and then suddenly I fainted, but now, I have three red dots on my right palm.”

  The Moon God shook his head, “You have messed with divine fate, Little Moon, and if you don’t fix it, your divine soul will receive karmic retribution. The male figurine was to be the future Emperor of the Yan Kingdom, he was fated to be the ruler that would usher them into a golden era. He has to marry the three female figurines he was connected to in order to become the Great Emperor… but now you have broken their fates, and possibly changed the destiny of the Yan Kingdom.”

  Little Moon thought that that seemed to be a bit drastic considering she had only “kind” of touched the golden thread and if this fate was supposed to be so life-altering, it shouldn’t have broken so easily, but she decided to keep this to herself.

  Little Moon looked worriedly at the three red dots, “So, what should I do?”

  The Moon God sighed, “You need to go down to the mortal realms, find this male, and connect back his fate with the three other female figurines before it is too late. Once the three red dots turn black, then…… that is when you will face karmic retribution.”

  Little Moon gulped, “Does that mean I have to make him marry three women before the dots turn black or make him an Emperor?”

  The Moon God looked thoughtful, “I’m not sure. But it’s probably best to do both.”

  Little Moon looked hopefully at the Moon God, “Do I get to bring love potions down to help them connect together again?”

  The Moon God laughed, “No, just the good ole traditional way of falling in love.”

    

     In the Heavenly Realms, Little Moon will be her name, but when she is in the mortal realms, she will be known as Yue Er （月儿）, which is the chinese pinyin (sound) for Moon Child. After the prologue, the chapters will be in first person.

Chapter 1: In Which Destiny Starts

Little Moon/Yue Er  

    I was mildly surprised when I looked at my surroundings. Uncle had sent me down to the mortal realms where Hsiao* (逍), our fated future Emperor, was supposed to be. However, instead of the grand manor with the thousands of servants I imagined, I had landed in a forest in the middle of nowhere. 

   “…….” I was speechless as I looked around. Have I changed his fate so drastically?

   A soft beautiful flute sound started to travel from afar, and so I followed the flute sound and saw a spring and a man in white robes playing a flute, a fishing rod at his feet.

  I gave a light coughing sound, and he turned. He had a classic handsome face with a distinguished nose, but it was his eyes that struck my interest. A pair of clear eyes like the break of dawn, as if he was born with the knowledge of all that was lit in the world.

  “Greetings, young gentleman,” I said as I shamelessly walked up towards him, carrying my huge “grand fortune teller” flag behind me.

    I had decided to take on the disguise of a great wandering fortune teller so that it would be convenient for me to inform Hsiao about his fate. I was in male garbs of course, though I decided not to prematurely age my face. To a normal mortal’s eyes, I would appear to be a dashing young gentleman, though next to the elegance of Hsiao, I did appear slightly like a young ruffian.

   “It is also a kind of destiny for us to meet in this… remote place,” I said as I took out a stool from my traveling chest (in which I could conveniently magick anything I want), and pretended to examine Hsiao’s face.

   Hmmm… well he was handsome enough to hopefully get the three women, I thought.

 

   “Gentleman, I see a golden destiny before you...... with the right steps, you will be able to rule this country and bring it to a future more glorious than any before,” I intoned dramatically.

   Surprisingly, Hsiao seemed unimpressed, though he appeared mildly amused, he put down his flute, “Greetings, Mr Fortune Teller, but I have no interest in ruling this country. I am just a simple traveler, playing the flute, fishing, that is all I can ask from life.”

  My eyes slightly narrowed at Hsiao, then I turned to his fishing rod, he was using a straight hook! “May I ask what you are fishing for?”

   “Nothing,” Hsiao said, “I am just fishing.”

   Great, just great, the man I need to turn into the Emperor is a man that wants for nothing. Where was the ambition! The passion, the hunger?!

    Hsiao suddenly cocked his head to the other side, “I think you best leave, Mr Fortune Teller, I think you should be able to tell that something bad is going to arrive…”

  Before I could respond, several black-robed masked figures swooped in from tree tops from afar. They were all armed with swords. I looked at Hsiao and he still appeared unruffled.

   I was irritated! Does he want for nothing so much that he did not even want to live? I shook my head, even if he wanted to die, I didn’t want to die!

   I didn’t actually have any martial arts skills besides my low level of cultivation as a goddess due to my young age and limited experience. But, there was one skill I had almost mastered, which was the ability to see the exact point in a person’s heart in which the thread needs to be connected. It is a point that would incapacitate a mere human, or even kill if necessary.

  Since I was a goddess, albeit a young one, I was still able to move much faster than the average mortal, even if he was a highly trained pugilist. So, I quickly dashed around and incapacitated the black-robed figures.

 I grabbed Hsiao’s hand, my small traveling chest, and cried, “Let’s run!”

    I wasn’t sure how long I would be able to incapacitate these black robed figures and I didn’t want to wait to find out.

Hsiao

  

   At first, I was mildly perturbed that a strange young man dressed up in white fortune telling garb had appeared in the remote place I had picked to meet Big Brother’s assassins, but now any mild irritation was replaced with amusement.

   We ran for a while until this young man was clearly lost and he stopped. He turned to me with flushed cheeks, “I saved you! I am now your benefactor.”

  This young man had large playful eyes and with his flushed cheeks, he looked like a young maiden in her flush of youth. However, I spied an Adam’s apple at his throat, so he couldn’t be a “she”?

  “Hsiao gives his gratitude to Mr Fortune Telling, may I have the honour of knowing your name?” I asked.

  “Oh,” He paused, “You can call me Yue.” Then he brightened up, “Since I saved your life, I have some say in your life now, don’t I?”

  I hid a chuckle, “I thank Yue for his deep concern in my life.”

  “You don’t want for nothing, right?” Yue asked.

   I nodded.

  “Then, you won’t mind if I gave you anything?” Yue smiled.

   Was there such reasoning?

   Yue patted my back, “Don’t worry, of course, I will only give you the best.”

   Yue did some calculations in his hand, “Ah! We had better leave fast. We need to get to Zi Town. The most beautiful lady of Zi Town, Miss Mei Yun (美云-Beautiful Cloud), is going to get betrothed!”

   I looked curiously at Yue, “How does this concern me?”

   Yue looked at me like I was an idiot, “To marry her of course!”

*It was a deliberate choice to use Hsiao instead of Xiao. 逍 means free without any binds or restraints. 

Little Moon's Matchmaking Mission!

Chapters: Prologue + 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
COMPLETED Author's Note 
Epilogues: An Chi Hsiao&Yue Xi Yang The Moon God

For the accompanying story (sequel):

The Sun's Dark Love

Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
COMPLETED Author's Note