Chapter Thirty-One: Cinderella’s Transformation

Heartbroken, Cinderella came to her mother’s grave and burst into loud sobs.

As she wept, the hazel tree behind the grave began to sway wildly, its branches and leaves thrashing in the wind.

The tree had once been given to her by her father. One day, before setting out on a journey, he had asked his daughters what they wanted.

The elder stepsister had said, “I want beautiful clothes.”

The younger had said, “I want pearls and diamonds.”

But Cinderella had replied, “Dear Father, when you are on your way home, please break off for me the first branch that brushes against your hat.”

Her father brought beautiful clothes for his two stepdaughters, along with pearls and diamonds.

On his way home, he passed through a thicket, and a branch from a hazel tree brushed against him, nearly knocking off his hat. So he broke off the branch and carried it home, where he gave each of his three daughters her gift.

Cinderella took the branch to her mother’s grave and planted it there.

Whenever she was mistreated, she would run to the grave and weep. Each time she cried, her tears fell endlessly upon the branch, watering it.

Before long, the branch had grown into a great, thick hazel tree.

Now, whenever she wept, the tree’s branches and leaves swayed, just as they had when she first came to the grave, as though comforting her.

What she did not see was the indistinct face that had appeared upon the trunk, silently watching her with an expression full of sorrow and tenderness.

“You need not grieve. I can prepare a beautiful gown and shoes for you.”

At that moment, Mu Rongxun came to her side.

Yet as he spoke, his gaze was fixed on the face in the tree trunk.

He wondered whether killing that entity might earn him an extra reward.

But after glancing at Cinderella on the ground, he abandoned the thought.

The girl was already miserable enough. He could not bring himself to destroy the last thing in which she had placed her heart.

The face in the tree, meanwhile, had no idea that it had just escaped death by the narrowest margin. It continued gazing lovingly at the weeping Cinderella.

Hearing Mu Rongxun’s words, Cinderella raised her head. Clearly, she did not believe him.

Looking at the girl with tears still clinging to her lashes, Mu Rongxun forced himself to form a smile.

“Give it to me!”

He held out his hand toward Aladdin.

Reluctantly, Aladdin took out the magic lamp and handed it over.

Mu Rongxun did not hesitate. Once he had the lamp, he rubbed its surface three times.

“How may I serve you?”

With a loud bang, the translucent figure of a man appeared, startling both Aladdin and Cinderella.

The man had only an upper body; his lower half was made entirely of smoke.

When Aladdin saw him, the figure seemed strangely familiar, but he could not remember where they had met before.

“My wish is for Cinderella to become the most beautiful girl at the ball during these few days. Prepare an extravagant gown, shoes, and carriage for her—everything she needs!”

Mu Rongxun stated his demand directly.

“As you wish, my master!”

After the genie spoke, an exquisite carriage suddenly appeared on the ground. Precious jewels were embedded everywhere across it, making it incomparably luxurious.

Two perfectly pure white horses stood before it, their coats entirely free of any other color.

“As you command, the gown is inside the carriage. She will become the most dazzling girl at the ball. But as the price, when the clock strikes midnight, she will return to the way she was before.”

After saying this, the genie vanished with another loud bang.

“All right. Now you can change into the gown you like and go to the ball.”

Mu Rongxun encouraged Cinderella as he spoke.

At the same time, he tossed the lamp back to Aladdin.

The man had been staring at him with such burning intensity that it made Mu Rongxun deeply uncomfortable.

Cinderella happily ran into the carriage to change, while Mu Rongxun turned to Aladdin and issued one final warning.

“If you want the genie to bring you all the treasure, you had better think about where you are going to put it.”

Aladdin had been preparing to summon the genie at once and have him transport the treasure. Only then did he remember that he had nowhere to store such an enormous fortune. If it were brought here immediately, someone would certainly steal it in the end.

He hurriedly abandoned the idea.

After some time, Cinderella finally stepped down from the carriage.

“Do I look beautiful now?”

She smiled like a blooming flower and descended gracefully, as though a fairy from a painting had stepped out of the unreal and entered the world.

“She’s beautiful!”

At the sight of her, Aladdin’s mouth fell open. He was so stunned that he did not even notice the drool slipping from his lips.

Cinderella, however, paid him no attention. Her eyes remained fixed on Mu Rongxun.

“Very beautiful,” Mu Rongxun said with certainty.

Hearing his answer, Cinderella finally broke into laughter.

Her smile was so radiant that even the sunlight around them seemed dimmed.

Mu Rongxun could not help recalling the famous line from an old legend:

A single glance and a smile could summon a hundred charms; beside her, the beauty of the imperial palace would fade to nothing.

That was probably much the same as this.

He was momentarily dazzled by her beauty, but otherwise felt no particular emotion.

Cinderella wore a gown woven with gold and silver thread, crystal shoes upon her feet, and countless ornaments adorning both her body and hair. The outfit displayed luxury to its utmost degree.

At that moment, even someone who knew her intimately would never have recognized her.

There was no difference in her features, but her bearing and aura were worlds apart.

Clothes make the person, just as a fine saddle makes the horse—and here, the saying had been proven with absolute clarity.

It was the same person, yet after changing her clothes, she looked entirely different.

Of course, Mu Rongxun also knew that the gown itself must possess some kind of magic, one capable of magnifying Cinderella’s charm. Otherwise, no matter how drastically a person changed, she could not possibly appear so transformed.

“Then let us set out. I will drive the carriage for you!”

Mu Rongxun helped Cinderella into the carriage.

He intended to escort her to the ball himself, in case anything went wrong.

After all, his own life was at stake. No amount of caution was excessive.

Only after personally seeing her into the ball and watching the task be completed could he put his mind at ease.

“Thank you!”

Cinderella was no longer the girl whose feet were always covered in dust.

Mu Rongxun accepted her gratitude. Once she had entered the carriage, he took the reins and set it moving.

Although he had never driven a carriage before, his immense strength and extraordinary control allowed him to master it in almost no time.

Watching the carriage disappear into the distance, Aladdin shrugged.

He had no other thoughts at present. All he wanted was to find somewhere spacious enough to store the enormous amount of treasure he intended to obtain.

Thinking about the dreamlike journey ahead, he still felt as though he were dreaming.

“I am going to marry a princess too!” he swore inwardly.

The mention of a princess reminded him of the sleeping princess.

Only then did he remember that if he could awaken her, would he not become the ruler of this kingdom?

By then, the entire wealth of the kingdom would belong to him. Why would he still covet the treasure guarded by demons?

Had that not been his original plan when he set out to find the magic lamp—to awaken the princess?

At last, Aladdin saw the light. He would awaken the princess, marry her, and become the ruler of the kingdom.

Mu Rongxun had spent a long time wandering through the city, so he was not unfamiliar with its streets. He drove the carriage swiftly toward the ball.

Along the way, carriages from every part of the city were heading toward the same destination.

Yet their magnificent carriage still drew everyone’s attention.

A carriage decorated so extravagantly with jewels naturally made people speculate about the identity of its owner.

But it soon passed by, leaving behind nothing but endless guesses and imaginings.

Many carriages were parked outside the estate of the Rose Prince. Amid the crowd, Cinderella’s stepmother and her daughters were completely unremarkable.

The stepmother’s bloated figure, with a waist as thick as a barrel, looked particularly repulsive in her formal gown. She resembled nothing so much as a hog dressed in clothes.

The way people kept their distance from her made that obvious enough.

The three women themselves, however, possessed not the slightest self-awareness. They swaggered into the estate as though they were inspecting their own domain.

The two daughters were even more arrogant than their mother. They held their heads high, as though merely glancing at anyone else would diminish their status.

Confronted with such lofty airs, strangers might have mistaken them for noblewomen. Unaware of their true identities, people could only step aside politely. To those who did not know the truth, this made the three women appear even more important, and no one dared comment further.

“Oh!”

“Which family does that young lady belong to? How can she be so beautiful?”

“My goodness, is she a princess from another kingdom? What a beautiful gown—and what a beautiful woman!”

“Good heavens, has the goddess of beauty descended among us?”

“Beautiful lady, I must meet you!”

Voices rose all around them.

Hearing the commotion, the stepmother and her two daughters stopped and turned around to see who had caused such a stir.

But when they saw the newcomer step down from the carriage and walk slowly toward them, they had no time even for jealousy. They hurriedly moved aside.

They were merely the daughters of a family of small merchants. The stepmother’s brother was only a tax official, hardly a powerful man. But the newcomer possessed such an imposing presence, and neither her clothing and jewelry nor the carriage she rode in was something ordinary people could compare with.

She was certainly the eldest daughter of some great noble family. If they offended someone of such stature, dealing with them would be effortless.

They had no idea that this person was the very Cinderella they had bullied all this time.

With her arm linked through Mu Rongxun’s, Cinderella passed the three women. Her steps faltered for a moment before she continued onward.

That brief pause nearly stopped the stepmother and her daughters’ hearts. They lowered their heads deeply and failed to notice Mu Rongxun walking on the other side.

“This place is so beautiful!”

Seeing an estate many times larger than her own, decorated with magnificent splendor, Cinderella could not help exclaiming in wonder.

Because of her stepmother’s stinginess and unwillingness to hire servants, everything in their household had to be done by Cinderella herself. As a result, their estate appeared somewhat desolate and run-down.