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Once upon a time there lived a demon Lord who was very powerful as he was the son of the great heavenly demon Lord, TianLang Jun. The thing this demon Lord was very well known for, were his power and his good looks. No one could rival his strength and he was rumoured to be a celestial deity because of his looks.
He was the one who united both the realms, the human realm and the demonic realm, then he made himself the emperor. And was widely praised by demons and humans alike.
This certain Demon Emperor had a large Imperial Harem consisting of 614 concubines and 4 noble concorts, but he had no empress. His concubines were various demons, cultivators, men or women there were all sorts of beauties. The only thing similar in all these concubines were their beauty. All of them were as beautiful as celestials.
The Demon Emperor lived in the Imperial Palace, with his four noble consorts. He had separate palaces built for the members of his harem. As none of them, except the noble consorts, were allowed to live in the main Imperial Palace with the Demon Emperor.
The name of this demonic Emperor is Luo Binghe. But this is not his story.
This is the story of two of Luo Binghe's unfavoured concubines, their names were Shen Qingqiu and Liu Qingge.
Shen Jiu, courtesy name Shen Qingqiu was, although not known by many, the first concubine of Luo Binghe, but even before that, Shen Jiu was one of the 12 Peak lord's of CangQiong Mountain Sect, the QingJing Peak Lord. CangQiong was widely known as the most powerful set in the human realm.
Shen Jiu was also the demon emperor, Luo Binghe's master when he had not yet known about his demonic lineage, but this fact is not known by many people. In fact it has been so long now, that most of the people who knew about this have also forgotten about him.
Luo Binghe who was a half demon was treated normally, like the other disciples, by his master. Because maybe in another world Shen Jiu would wait for his Qi Ge, but in this one Shen Jiu ran away by himself without waiting for his Qi Ge, who later helped him get into the sect by begging his master. So Shen QingQiu who started his cultivation early, and became stronger, had no reason to be even a little jealous of Luo Binghe.
And it was this very Luo Binghe who betrayed his sect and coluded with Demons In The Immortal Alliance competition. Because he loved his master Shen Jiu and did everything he could to make his shizun fall in love with him.
To get Shen Jiu, he induced a large scale attack on CangQiong mountain range with his demon army, and asked Sect Leader Yue QingYuan for his shizun you to be handed over to him. In another world Yue QingYuan and the other peak lords would agree, but in this world they refused and fought with heavenly demon lord Luo Binghe's demon army.
But reality was harsh, no other sect was willing to aide CangQiong mountain sect against Luo Binghe, they had to fight alone. They were outnumbered and many of their disciples died...in the end Shen QingQiu gave himself up to Luo Binghe. The world talked about how Peak Lord Shen QingQiu went after riches and then married his own disciple for power but no one dared to talk about how it was Luo Binghe himself who forced Shen QingQiu to surrender...Only the rest eleven peak lords of CangQiong Mountain knew that Shen QingQiu gave himself up to save their sect.
After his shizun came to him Luo Binghe ordered his forces to retreat and later professed his love to Shen QingQiu, promising that he truly loved him and would accept no other and would love him for the rest of his life. Although Shen QingQiu knew that he could not refuse, because even if he did Luo binghe still had the lives of his fellow martial brothers and sisters in the palm of his hand. So Shen QingQiu accepted marrying luo binghe but he could not hide the fact that he was just a little happy that there was someone in this world who would love him so much and go to such great lengths for him.(But Shen QingQiu, now Shen Jiu choose to ignore that voice...)
But all of that is in the past now, because not even a few months into their marriage Luo Binghe who had promised never to fall for any other person, married again and this time it was Shen Jiu's own disciple, Ning Yingying.
Although Shen Jiu felt a little hurt in the beginning he knew he couldn't stop Luo binghe even if he desired to, because he knew that from thebeginnning itself...he was just a hostage. Shen Jiu wanted to curse himself for even thinking someone would actually like a scum like him. Shen Jiu now came to terms with the fact that he was just a hostage to prevent Luo binghe from attacking his sect once again. (But until when...)
Soon after, his fears came through and Luo binghe who wanted even more power, tried to annex all the sects in the human realm under him...not even CangQiong mountain was spared. And when Shen Jiu went to confront Luo Binghe over this matter, Luo binghe became angry with this once shizun of his, and at once ordered for Shen Jiu to be thrown into the shi pavillion. Even when Shen Jiu tried to fight back, he was of no match against so many guards and was thrown in the pavillion with his fate sealed.
After uniting the two realms Luo binghe married liu mingyan the younger sister of Liu Qingge, the peak lord of BiZhan Peak. And gradually every time he went out on his expeditions, he would be bring in new concubines, this continued on and on till his harem grew to more than 600+ people. And currently Shen Jiu lived in an old pavilion alone and with no servants or any helper. Now Shen Jiu knew very well that he had truly been forgotten and that he was all alone...
~Present Time~
Today as usual Shen Jiu woke up in the morning and made his bed, calling it a bed was bit of an overstatement, because it was just the wooden skeleton of a bed, with no pillows and a tattered blanket. 'Well...', shen jiu thought to himself, 'at least I have this much.'
As he looked around the room, he took in the sight of the place where he has been staying in for the past year...it was an old room with barely any furnishings, but everything was very clean and there was one table with paper on top of it, where he practiced his painting and calligraphy whenever he felt bored.
Except for the low table and the bed there was nothing else in the large room, and the courtyard in front of the pavilion was barren, without any plants, but it was weeded weekly by Shen Jiu himself. He was quite content with this, the best part was that Luo Binghe had almost as if forgotten about him, so there was no one to come yo his room at night. Shen Jiu was very happy that he did not have to see 'that beast' nor be forced to sleep with him...
And no other member in the harem would even dare to hurt or scheme against him, he was not an immortal master for nothing. There have been some instances where Shen jiu saw that higher ranked concubines were not allowing lower ranked to even use the kitchens...the level of pettiness actually shocked Shen jiu...but thankfully Shen Jiu was an immortal so he didn't need any food, so thankfully he didn't have to take part in any petty arguments.
Yes, Shen Jiu was really happy with how things were currently, although he was all alone and had been left in pavillion to rot, by luo binghe, no that beast.....(but was he really satisfied with staying here?)
Once Shen Jiu even thought of running away, since that beast had already broken his promise and attacked Cang Qiong, but then he realised....where would he go? And even if he did run away, he would be alone anyway , so why bother running away. Thinking that he moved on with his life.
One day he felt extremely bored and as it was the emperor's birthday banquet the whole palace was empty, as they were all invited, so he decided to visit the palace library to borrow a beastiary, anyone was allowed to access it, even low ranked concubines like Shen Jiu. He had just never gone there before, because he disliked to fight with the people who would point at him, when he went out of his pavillion.
But today was different, Shen Jiu was sure that he would not come across any other person today. So he went to borrow a book, the library was locater a little further away from the pavillion he stayed in, so he had to pass through many other courtyards and personal training fields gifted to some of the favoured concubines, on the way there.
Shen Jiu thought he would be the only one who did not go to the emperor's banquet, so he felt it was weird when he saw a person wearing blue and gray clothing, practicing their sword forms on a training field. Soon enough he discovered that the sword form was a little familiar....
Then it came to him, 'Wait...Aren't those sword forms, practised by those brutes on BaiZhan Peak...?'. Suddenly the man stopped and turned back fast, only to thrust the sword in his hand towards Shen Jiu! But before Shen Jiu could stop that attack with his Qi, the man stopped himself inches away from Shen Jiu's face, and whispered, ''Shen Qingqiu...?''
Shen Jiu looked at that man's face but since that man was wearing a veil, he did not recognize him at first, but it seemed like..."Liu Qingge...?". For a few moments there was silence, where both of them didn't know whether to speak or to move.
Then finally Liu Qingge dropped the sword he was holding and brought his right hand closer to his veil, the almost translucent black silk was ripped open by delicate looking pale white hands, but Shen Jiu knew they were anything but delicate. Under the veil an elegant and beautiful face with mesmerizing eyes and beautiful guava red lips, was hidden.
Those mesmerizing beautiful eyes were currently looking at Shen Jiu with a piercing stare, but...they also looked a little worried(?).
Liu Qingge choose to break the silence first, "You...didn't you escape already? Why did you come back!?" After saying this Liu Qingge's eyes widened and he started shaking Shen Jiu by his shoulders and asked,"Did that demon capture you once again!? Are you alright!?".
Shen Jiu was baffled by this and confusedly asked back,"Wh-what? What do you mean by escaped? But most importantly, what the hell are you doing HERE!?". Then he threw LIU Qingge's hands off from his shoulder, "Also stop shaking me you brute!".
Liu qingge took back his hands and asked back, "What do you mean? You didn't run away...?". He looked very confused, so all Shen Jiu could do was sigh and say, "Let us talk somewhere else, there are too many ears here."
The shen jiu directly took liu qingge's hand and started leading him towards the place where Shen jiu was currently living at. Liu qingge looked shocked at the state his room was in....because not even the servants quarters were this...barren.
He looked at Shen Jiu and asked, "Shen Qingqiu...is this really where you are living right now?". Shen Jiu just glanced at him once and replied, "Yes, do you have any problem with my living quarters, shidi?". Liu qingge looked around the room once again and replied, "N-no I think it is very clean, it just feels really empty...like even the servants quarters are better than this!".
Shen Jiu just gave a slight somber smile and replied, "Well this is what happens when you are an unfavoured concubine." Liu Qingge paused for a second, before asking, "Shen Qingqiu...do you really love that demon...?"
Shen Qingqiu gave a sneer, reminiscent of his old behaviour as the qingjing peak lord, and replied, "Me? Falling in love with that beast? Liu shidi should go and get his head checked, who knows if you have become an idiot after all this time."
Liu qingge, inwardly felt a little happy after learning that his shixiong didn't have any feeling for that demon, but outwardly he sneered and shouted back,"What!? What the hell do you mean! Someone as weak as you can't say that to me!".
Shen Jiu just gave his typical villainous smile and replied, "Oh? Liu shidi thinks that brute strength is everything? That is why you are so stupid and just a brute with no manners."
Liu Qingge, "How dare you! Without those tricks of yours you can never defeat me, you snake!"
Shen Jiu,"Oh please, I don't even need any tricks to defeat you, my words are enough."
Liu qingge,"SHEN QINGQIU!"
Shen Jiu,"LIU QINGGE!"
For a few moment both of them looked at each other in anger, then Shen jiu's expression distorted and burst into laughter, liu qingge followed, and for a few moments both of them couldn't help control their laughter and had to sit down on the floor.
The truth was, although they both look like they hate each other at first glance, that is not the truth. They used to be normal fellow disciples/rivals in the beginning, but after they both became peak lords, rumours started spreading about Shen Qingqiu, and Liu Qingge started believing in them.
That started their hate towards each other, but after Shen QingQiu saved Liu qingge from a Qi deviation in the LingXi caves, he apologized to Shen qingqiu and even tried to clear up the rumours surrounding him. In the beginning Shen QingQiu did not trust him even a bit, but as Liu Qingge routinely gave him gifts to profess how sorry he was, eventually he was forgiven by Shen Qingqiu.
Soon Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu were mostly seen together sparring, that is liu qingge giving lessons to Shen Qingqiu, or sometimes even just taking a walk together. They sometimes also took missions together, surprisingly the BaiZhan wargod and the head strategist of cangqiong, made a pretty good match together.
So they took missions together more and more frequently, qingjing peaks disciples also became used to seeing their liu shishu in their peak, and liu qingge even taught his own disciples to stop going to disturb the qingjing peak disciples daily.
Shen QingQiu and Liu Qingge were a strange pair that no one saw coming. But they actually maintained their previous status of being rivals, while also sort of being friends.
Now back to the present.
Shen jiu and liu Qingge were finally able to stop themselves from laughing, at least enough to form a coherent sentence. The first thing Shen Jiu said was, "It felt like we were back again, those days were too much fun." He took shallow breaths to gain back oxygen from too much laughing.
Liu Qingge was in a similar state, "I", breaths in, "I agree." He then cracked a smile, that truly looked good on his stupidly beautiful face. (shen jiu's inner thought)
They both took a breather, after which Liu Qingge continued asking, "Now answer my question, what are you doing here? And didn't you run away?"
Shen jiu replied,"Of course I will be here, where else can I be? And what do you mean by escape, you asked that earlier as well".
Liu Qingge,"I see, so you didn't run away...I knew he was lying!" sigh "Well what happened was that Luo Binghe told us that you had escaped, and he thought you were hiding in our sect, so he attacked us and razed everything to the ground....".
Shen QingQiu became angry,"What!? I never ran away! And when I went to ask him about his attack on CangQiong, he became angry and locked me up in this place!".
Liu Qingge, "I see...but back then we had no proof that we were hiding you or not, so the sect took a big hit..."
Shen Qingqiu,"I see...so everyone must have thought that I abandoned them and ran away all alone to protect myself then...I guess that is what I get when I am scum, tell me, did everyone come to hate me when they learnt that I had run away? And you?"
Liu Qingge frowned,"Actually everyone was very happy that you had escaped...except for that huan hua bastards who tried to mock you, but don't worry I took care of them for you. As for me...I knew you would never abandon us or your disciples and run away, so I did not believe in that demon one bit!"
At this liu qingge stopped frowning and flashed one of his rare smiles at Shen jiu, who will forever deny the fact that his heart skipped a beat while looking at that smile.
Shen Jiu felt his cheeks becoming a little red and he murmured, "Stupid brute with his pretty face..."
Liu Qingge, "What was that? I was not able to hear you."
Shen Jiu,"None of your concern you brute!"
Liu Qingge was confused, did he do something, "Okay...?"
Shen Jiu,"Most importantly, tell me what happened to the sect! Is everyone alright?"
Liu Qingge, "Don't worry about them, the only casualties were the infrastructure and there were some disciples who got injured, but their were no deaths. As luo binghe's only goal was to annex our sect to his empire. So as to keep everyone safe Yue Shixiong decided to surrender voluntarily, I think it was a wise decision. And now currently CangQiong is functioning as usual, just that now we have another leader beside Yue Shixiong..."
Shen Jiu agreed,"Yes, although it must have led to other sects making fun of us, in the end, due to Luo Binghe's power, he has annexed almost every sect and brought them under him. So it was a wise decision on sect leaders part..."
Liu qingge,"Also you don't have to worry about the other's, they are in good health, it's just Yue shixiong was very worried about you, ever since he heard the news of your escape. And as for your disciple, last I checked about 2 months ago, ming fan was doing his duty as head disciple very well, so don't worry about them."
Shen Jiu, was now happy after knowing that they were alright, but he didn't let it show on his face, because an important question was yet to be answered. So he asked, "Well now that I know everything...will you answer my question?"
Liu Qingge hesitated, then asked,"Which question are you talking about...?"
Shen Jiu scoffed,"You know what I am asking! So? What are you doing here? This palace does not allow any males inside, except for concubines, even male servants or guards are not allowed in. So tell me how did you sneak in and why?"
Liu Qingge, once again hesitated before answering,"The truth is...I did not sneak inside...I actually live here..."
This was the first time in his life, Shen Jiu felt so shocked that he felt unsteady on his feet and was about to fall, but luckily they were both sitting on the floor so he didn't.
Shen Jiu,"Y-you, it can't be what I am thinking r-right...? Ah, what the hell am I thinking, that's impossible."
Liu Qingge,"If you are thinking that I am a concubine, then you are correct."
Shen Jiu was so shocked that he couldn't even speak,"..."
Liu Qingge,"I know you must be disgusted right now, because I voluntarily accepted to marry that demon. But it was only because I wanted to protect mingyan, after our parents death, Mingyan and I only have each other, so I would never be able to live with myself if anything happened to her..."
He continued,"That was the only reason I accepted Luo Binghe when he asked to marry me. I wouldn't like that demon even if I had to die a thousand times...And I knew that mingyan truly loved that Demon,but what about him? I was worried for her, so in order to protect her, I accepted. And these past few months I have come to see that he can never love someone! But at least he treats mingyan well enough to keep her happy... "
Shen Jiu,"....And that is the only reason, you agreed to marry Luo Binghe?"
Liu Qingge, "Yes! How could I even like that perverted demon, who treated you like this, and has this big of a harem! And to top it of, he married both me and mingyan together on the same day!"
Shen Jiu stared at him in shock,"I-shidi....may I ask if your wedding night...."
Liu qingge,"No! I was in another room, that demon was together with my sister! I would rather kill myself then sleep together with that damned beast!What in the world were you thinking of, Shen Qingqiu!"
Shen Jiu thought,'This man is so stupidly cute....'
"Alright liu shidi, I wasn't particularly thinking of anything don't worry. Also I go by Shen Jiu now, not Shen QingQiu."
Liu qingge felt relieved,"So your name was Shen Jiu....", he murmured.
Shen Jiu,"What?"
Liu Qingge,"No nothing, now tell me about yourself, how have you been?"
After hearing about everything about how easily Luo binghe broke his promise, liu qingge was absolutely livid, but he couldn't do anything...because now even if he somehow was able to kill Luo binghe,that would make his sister, who looked happy with her marriage, a widow....
Shen Jiu just gave a somber smile and said,"It's alright, thankfully even if I believed in his promise, I got over him pretty soon. "
But Shen Jiu failed to see Liu Qingge who was currently looking at him with a dejected look on his face.
They decided to meet up again later, as it was quite late already, and who knew what those other concubines would say, when they came back and saw the two of them together.
Shen Jiu decided to walk back Liu Qingge, to his living quarters because he wanted to visit him in the near future. And he was surprised to find that Liu Qingge's courtyard was not very far away from where he lived, "..."
If only he hadn't decided to stay cooped up in his room, they would have maybe met sooner. But at least they met now, then he realized that even when they were both peak lords, it was always liu qingge who came to his peak to visit him...so this time he decided to be the first!
Shen Jiu,"So should I come to meet you here this week?"
Liu Qingge,"Don't worry about it, I will come and visit you."
Shen Jiu was happy with this order, as he didn't really want to come out of his rooms that much...it would only make more rumours spread,"Alright then, you can come whenever you want, I am always free."
Saying this he left and walked back to his room, he then got ready for bed and went to sleep.
Now imagine Shen Jiu's surprise, when early next morning, someone kicked open his window and jumped inside his room, and it turned out to be Liu Qingge...'Well of course it would be this brute', Shen Jiu thought with a fond sigh.
Shen Jiu,"Liu shidi, I would really appreciate it if you used the door to get inside someone's room, instead of the windows, like a brute..."
Liu Qingge didn't deign to give him a response and just held out his hand with a fan on it,"...it's your's."
Shen Qingqiu was shocked to see one of his old favourite fans were with Liu Qingge, he took it from him and unfurled it , then placed it right in front of his face and gave it a little wave. From on top of the fan he could see Liu Qingge was looking at him with a soft smile, and before he could blush deeper, he started fanning himself.
Liu Qingge,"You had lost this fan right before all of it began, but before I was able to return it to you, you got married to that demon. Before you always had a fan with you, but now you don't have even one, so I knew I had to give it back to you."
Shen Jiu now realised that the reason he always had a fan with him was not only because he liked them, but also because they helped him hide his expressions. But...shen jiu though, 'There is no reason to hide anything from this brute', so he shut his fan at once and put it aside on his tabele.
Shen Jiu,"Well I must thank you for this liu shidi", after saying this he gave liu qingge a smile. And this time he didn't fail to see the pink blush that formed on the other's face.
Liu Qingge, "Yo-you're welcome! Now anyway just follow me!", then he proceeded to fling himself out of the window once again.
Shen Jiu just elegantly raised an eyebrow at his shidi's antics, 'Hmm? Flustered are we?' Then he gave his signature villainous smirk and proceeded to follow his shidi out of his room, and of course, he ised the door, like a normal person.
Liu Qingge just stormed outside, and quite possibly ran till he reached the palace walls, thankfully no one was around so they were not seen. Liu Qingge then took out Cheng Luan, his sword, and looked back at Shen Jiu and asked, "Where is your sword?"
Shen Jiu,"Well...that beast took it from me, when I first came here, and never returned it."
Liu qingge nodded, and then put down his sword and got up on it, then he turned back and gave his hand to Shen Jiu,"Get up." Shen Jiu raised an eyebrow at liu Qingge's red ears, but did as he was asked and took his hand. It was a little awkward for two grown men to fly together on one sword, but since both their bodies were pretty lithe, they fit in.
Liu Qingge, with the help of his sword, flew them both over the palace walls, and flew at full speed (And if liu qingge stiffened when Shen jiu held onto his waist for balance, nobody spoke of it) then the two of them finally reached a lake, and landed in a wide flower field near it, since it was the demonic realm, the lake would obviously be nothing normal. So they both choose to wisely stay far from it.
Shen Jiu looked around at those beautiful tiny white flowers,"So? Liu shidi why did you bring me out here?"
Liu Qingge looked away,"I heard from mingyan that nobody ever sees you coming out of your house, so I thought you would want some fresh air. And I learnt that the everbloom flowers were blooming here at this time of the year, so I brought you hear to see them, because as far as I remember, you liked to read about the flora and fauna of the demon realm."
Shen Jiu felt himself blushing a little, when he heard that liu qingge had always being paying attention to him and even cared enough to remember such a small detail, "Well then, looks like I will have to thank my considerate liu shidi once again?"
Liu Qingge once again felt his cheeks become warmer, when he saw the beautiful visage of Shen jiu among the cluster of flowers, then replied,"You're welcome, and if you ever want to come out of that place again then just ask me."
Shen jiu was grateful,"Thank you, I will do that. But do not worry I'll try my best not to disturb you."
Liu qingge,"Don't worry you can never disturb me!"
After saying that, maybe he realized what he said, for a few moments there was silence between them, and the air around them turned ambiguous...but before it could become awkward, liu qingge tried to rectify his mistake by saying, "A-anyway I-I think it is quite late already, we should go back!"
It was only the afternoon...
Shen Jiu barely hid his smile behind his sleeve, "Okay, then may this shidi lead the way~"
On the way back, compared to liu Qingge who was bashing himself over the earlier conversation, Shen Jiu was quite calm, and maybe, he even looked pretty happy.
Like this the days passed by with the two of them meeting up together, behind everyone's backs. And liu qingge even gave back Xiu Ya, Shen Jiu's sword, to him.
Shen Jiu,"Shidi...how did you get a hold if this?!"
LIU qingge,"It was in one of that demons storerooms, he treated it like trash! I went to the main palace to meet up with mingyan, and picked this up on the way."
Shen jiu couldn't help himself from laughing out loud, "Liu Shidi! Did you just steal a sword for the demon emperor Luo binghe!?"
Liu qingge frowned, "I didn't steal it, it was yours to begin with."
Shen jiu laughed once again and pulled his shidi's cheeks to keep him from frowning, he thought in his heart, 'Even with his face being pulled like a bao, this brute still looked beautiful...and maybe even a little cute.'
Shen Jiu laughed, "Yes yes, you didn't steal it, you merely took it back. Only our BaiZhan wargod has the guts to do that."
Now even if liu qingge was annoyed by Shen jiu pulling on his cheeks, he didn't have the heart to tell him to stop him, as he had never seen this shixiong of his smile so brightly.
Due to small instances like these, the two of them became even closer then they had ever been. They even decided to disappear from the palace for 4 whole days at once, and went to a market in the human realm. And because liu qingge always did go on long excursions like this, no one suspected him. And as for Shen jiu, there was no one who checked him, so even if he died no one would even know of it...
At the market place, the two of them had a lot of fun, liu qingge even bought Shen Qingqiu a new fan, and they even bought tanghulu for Shen Jiu. And while Shen Jiu was busy devouring his tanghulu, liu qingge sneakily bought and tied, matching sword tassels to, Cheng Luan and Xiu ya.
He was anything but sneaky though, if Shen Jiu's smile after seeing his sword, was anything to go by. And after coming back to the palace, shen jiu gifted him a painting he made by himself. And so as the months passed by they grew closer and closer.
One day, on one of his weekly visits to his sister. While drinking tea, liu Qingge's sister asked him, "So? What is going on with you and Shen shishu".
While liu qingge choked on his tea, she continued with drinking her's elegantly.
After his coughing fit was over, liu qingge asked, Cough cough "What ever do you mean?"
Liu mingyan lifted an eyebrow, "At the beginning I thought there was nothing much between you two, so I only wanted to test you, but looking at your reaction just now, I feel like there must really be something between the two of you. Aren't you going to tell me now, Ge?"
"So?", she asked,"You like him don't you?"
Liu Qingge stuttered,"N-No, what do you mean!?" But looking at his sister's blank stare, he stopped himself midway and the continued, "It is only me who likes him...he...actually still loves lou binghe."
Liu mingyan stopped drinking his tea to ask him a question, "So? Was it Shen Shishu who said that he was in love with our husband?"
Liu Qingge, "N-no, he said that he didn't like Luo Binghe one bit, but he looked-"
Liu mingyan cut him off, "What about it? Didn't he already tell you that he didn't love our husband at all? Then what is the problem?"
Liu Qingge, "W-well yes but he looked so sad while saying it, that I-"
He was once again cut off by his sister, "And if you really love him, you are supposed to believe in him, aren't you? I think you should say whatever you want to, before it becomes too late."
Liu qingge's eyes widened and he murmured, "Of course! I have always believed in him! Then why the hell did I even hesitate for something this small!?" He then suddenly stood up and said, "I apologize mingyan, but I have something very important to do, I will come to visit you again later." After saying this he left hurriedly, and while seeing her ge run, mingyan didn't even try to hide her glee at this unexpected but plesant surprise.
As for liu qingge, he directly barged into Shen Jiu's living quarters with a lot of confidence, but when he saw Shen jiu practicing his calligraphy with elegant brush strokes, under a dim candle light that made his pale face look like it was glowing, all of his confidence suddenly vanished...
And when Shen jiu looked up after finishing his last stroke, he saw his shidi who had barged in through the door (for once!) stood in front of it frozen. He lifted his eyebrows,"Liu shidi I am quite happy with the fact that you finally learnt how to used the door like a normal person" 'Althought you barged in....but I'll ignore that for now'
"But now why are you just standing there like a brainless brute? If you have some thing to tell me then go on."
Liu Qingge who finally came out of his stupor, didn't even bat an eyelid at Shen Jiu's insult, because after knowing shen jiu for so long he now knew that Shen jiu called him a brute, more out of fondness rather than spite. But now liu qingge, who just felt his confidence run away, felt his nervousness return...
But as he looked at Shen Jiu who was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, he knew that he had to say it today, otherwise he would never be able to say it! So mustered up his courage once again and began, "I have something to admit! That they when you asked me why I agreed to being a conqubine, and I answered it was to protect mingyan...that was just half of my reason!"
Shen Jiu looked confused but he got up from where he was sitting, then walked up to liu qingge, and led him to his bed to sit down. He also took a seat beside his shidi and motioned for him to continue.
So that is what liu Qingge did, "I-the reason I agreed to that demons offer was also because...."
"Because?", Shen Jiu prompted.
"Because I thought I would be able to find you here!", liu qingge then closed his eyes and continued, "I had started liking you, but before I could ever tell you about it, you were gone...I thought that maybe I would be able to meet you again, even as friends! I would be satisfied even if I just got to see you once!"
Shen Jiu, "..."
Liu Qingge deigning his silence as his response continued, "It's ok even if you do not like me, I just knew that I had to tell you! I really like you! Whenever I am with you all my tiredness goes away! And every night I go to bed happily, thinking that I would get to meet you again the next morning! Shen Jiu I...really love you!"
He once again closed his eyes in fear of seeing Shen jiu look at him with a disgusted look on his face, "I know you do not like me, but I just had to tell about what I felt towards you before it is too late. I just don't want to lose you again, and now even if you hate me for this, I will always love you and-"
But he couldn't continue anymore as Shen Jiu, THE SHEN JIU, had pounced on him! And was laying ON TOP of him!!
Liu qingge was so nervous that he didn't even know where to put his hands. Then he heard Shen jiu whisper, "You idiot..."
Shen Jiu, "Did I ever reject you! You have been continuously talking without even giving me enought time to give a response!"
Liu qingge's eyes widened, "W-wait! Does that mean-"
Shen Jiu grinned like a cheshire cat, "Yes you idiot, I do like you. But I never thought you would be the first one to confess, so let me just say it, I really love you as well, you idiot!"
Liu qingge who's cheeks were quite pink already, turned into an even deeper shade and almost became as red as a tomato, as his mind drew a blank due to this extreme happiness he was facing, he stuttered, "I-I yo-you really..?"
Before he could say anything any further and make an even greater mess of himself, shen jiu playfully rolled his eyes at him and said, "Yes! Really you idiot." He then held liu qingge's face between both of his hand, and before liu Qingge could speak any further nonsense, kissed him right of his lips. Liu Qingge froze in shock, but Shen jiu just smiled and continued to kiss him.....
The next morning, Shen Jiu woke up on his own bed with liu qingge sleeping right beside him. He spent a few moments just looking at his shidi's sleeping face. Shen Jiu touched liu qingge's face and thought to himself, 'I can't believe that he was the one who confessed to me', he then laughed a little, 'Judging by how shy he always is, I thought I would have to be the one to confess first.'
Hearing his laugh, liu qingge began to stir awake and slightly opened his eyes, seeing Shen Jiu's face right in front of him, muttered a soft, "Good morning", and went right back to sleep.
Shen Jiu couldn't help but laugh,"I didn't know that liu shidi was not a morning person." This time liu qingge fully opened his eyes, then without a word just hugged Shen jiu, then closed them again and tried to go back to sleep. "And so clingy as well", shen jiu gave a disbelieving laugh and continued.
Shen jiu gave an amused laugh and asked, "Are you going to let go anytime soon?"
Liu Qingge, "...Can we stay like this for some more time?"
Hearing his small voice, shen jiu prevented himself from making further jokes, "Of course", he said,"We can stay here for as much time as you want to."
Liu Qingge, "Thank you", he then proceeded to hold Shen jiu even tighter and hid his face in the crook of his neck.
Altought shen jiu felt a little ticklish due to the warm breaths liu qingge was exhaling, while his shidi was burying his face on his neck. Shen jiu kept quite, because he had the feeling that his shidi had something more to say...
After a few moment passed away.
Liu qingge murmured something with his face still buried to his shixiong's neck, so shen jiu was not able to hear it.
Shen Jiu turned his head to face liu qingge who was still trying to hide himself,"What was that? Can you repeat it?"
This time liu qingge looked up at Shen jiu with resolution in his eyes,"I asked...if you would like to get away from here, you know together...with me." In the end of it, he hesitated a little but still choose to complete his thought.
Shen Jiu's expression was indescribable at this moment, "Are you really that much of an idiot?" Liu qingge flinched after hearing that, he thought, 'I shouldn't have asked that...now what will I do if he decides to leave me because of my stupid question, I should hurry up and apologize!'
But before he could say anything, shen jiu began,"That is what you have been worrying about!? The only reason I still lived here, was because I had no other place to go to. But now that I have you, I will definitely not agree to live in this hell hole anymore. Hell, even if you didn't ask me, I would still tie you up and take you away from here!"
Liu qingge's eyes widened and the next moment he was on top of Shen jiu, and hugged him tightly, having no thoughts of ever letting go, 'That's right', he thought,'This man would never let me go, what was I even thinking!'. He then hid his smile on Shen Jiu's chest feeling extremely happy.
But the man under him was anything but,"Get off me you brute!", he shouted, "You're crushing me! You are too heavy!" Liu qingge just gave a chuckle in response, but obediently got off of him, before he really did end up crushing his lover.
Shen Jiu hesitated before asking,"But...what about your sister? Wouldn't she be angry if you ran away with me?"
Liu qingge, "Don't worry about it, I know her, she will be happy for me if I tell her about everything. And now I don't have to worry for her, as that demon treats her quite well and it seems like she is very good friends with the other noble consorts, so I know that no one would try to harm her."
Shen Jiu smiled,"I see, now that this is off my chest, I feel quite happy, and I feel that it would be great if we could become rogue cultivators after escaping from here".
Liu qingge smiled back at him, "I agree, then let's just do that."
Shen Jiu gave a smirk and said, "Yeah, let's."
They both laid on that bed in peace for almost that entire morning, then liu qingge was the first to break that peace.
Liu Qingge, "Let's run away then."
Shen Jiu smiled, "Okay."
And that is exactly what they did, Luo binghe didn't even try to stop his conqubine liu qingge from leaving, because liu mingyan, his favoured conqubine, persuaded him easily.
As for Shen Jiu? His once shizun? Who knows if Luo Binghe even remembers him.
~Nine months later~
There was a small mountain located in the human realm, in one part of it, there was a small bamboo house, made by it's inhabitants themselves. And although the one's who made it, did not have any prior experience it was quite sturdy and well built, it was easy to see that it had been made with a lot of care.
In the house, there lived two rogue cultivators who were also cultivation partners. Currently one of then was reading a book sitting on a chair in the shade while the other one was practicing his martial arts in the sun.
These two were actually quite well known rogue cultivators, who even go to help the nearby villages whenever they are attacked by some demons.
No one knew, but these two were actually two of the many concubines of the demon emperor Luo Binghe, but even before that these two were once the peak lords of baizhan peak and qingjing peak respectively. Yes, these two are Liu qingge and Shen Jiu, who had been living happily in this mountain ever since they ran away.
Then as liu qingge finished up with his daily exercises, he approached Shen jiu, who was sitting under the shade, then liu qingge received a smile and a towel to wipe off his sweat, from his once shixiong and now lover.
As he returned the smile, he thought of how lucky he was to be able to be cultivation partners with this amazing individual. Unknown to him, when Jiu was also currently having the same thoughts.
Shen jiu smiled, "Let's go in so you can have a bath."
Liu qingge agreed and helped Shen jiu up from his chair. As they both held hands and walked into their home, Shen Jiu thought about how his entire life had been.
In the beginning of his life, when he was a slave, he had never thought that he would ever get a place to call home in the future. And then when he had to agree to getting married to his own disciple, he knew he had no future to dream of.
But now here he was, he now had a beautiful home, and a loving partner to spend the rest of his life with. And as they were immortals, shen jiu knew that they had a long life ahead of them, so he made a promise to himself, to have all the fun they can and to live their lives fully without any regrets.
And as Shen jiu looked beside him to glance at his lover, he saw liu qingge was also looking at him with a soft smile on his face. As he returned the smile as he thought, 'I really love this man and I have no regrets about it.'
The end.