Chapter Text
Xie Lian sighed, once he was done cleaning up after breakfast.
“What is troubling you, Gege?”, Hua Cheng mused, walked over to Xie Lian and hugged him from behind.
“I just remembered what day of the month it is. But I don’t want to be too far away from my San Lang.”, the prince sighed again, as he leaned back against the ghost.
In order to cheer up his beloved, the ghost started peppering the prince’s hair with kisses. With his lips still pressed against the prince’s hair, the ghost mumbled, “Why exactly would this day of the month require Gege to be away from his San Lang?”
“I usually go up to the heavens once a month to hand in my reports and the like. And the day of the month, when I would typically do that, is today.”, the god explained.
At first, the ghost king hummed in understanding, but then he questioned, “If Gege were to not go to the heaven realm today, it would only mean he’ll have to be away for longer at a later point in time, no?”
The prince tilted his head, as he thought about the ghost’s words, before he had to admit, “San Lang has a point there.” And after thinking about it even more, he added, “I suppose, if I simply ascent directly into my palace and quickly headed over to Ling Wen’s palace, I could be home quite quickly again.”
“Ling Wen?”, Hua Cheng inquired, with utter confusion in his voice and expression.
“Oh, yes. I haven’t mention this yet, have I? After we were able to capture Ling Wen, we decided to have the punishment, for her crimes, be public service, so to speak.”, Xie Lian chuckled, as he started explaining what had happened. “In her absence, we realized just how much work she did and how efficient she was with her work, as well as the fact that no one could do her work even half as good as her, even with twice the time that she would need to do it. So, when we found her again, we had her return to her usual work.”, Xie Lian blushed, while reminiscing over everyone’s attempts and failures, with trying to do what Ling Wen used to do. Xie Lian then finished his explanation, “She simply doesn’t have the same freedoms as normal heavenly officials. And any additional merits and spiritual power, she gains from her believers, but is not needed to sustain her palace’s functions, are equally distributed between a select number of heavenly officials.”
“I see.”, the ghost nodded to himself, clearly so lost in thought, he even loosened his hold on the prince’s waist a bit.
Once he had stepped out of the ghost’s embrace, the prince commented, “Just like San Lang had just pointed out, it would probably be for the best, if I quickly go up to the heavens and take care of my business there. This way I can be back by my San Lang’s side as soon as possible.”
The ghost king was quick to snap out of his deep thoughts, leaned down close to his god’s ear and whispered, “I pray my Gege won’t leave his San Lang alone for too long.” The ghost king then placed a wet kiss right below his god’s ear.
In response, a surprised squeal escaped the god’s lips and he giggled. “I’ll be back right away.”, he promised and kissed the ghost king’s cheek. Before the ghost king could capture him in an embrace again, the god quickly walked over to his writing desk and bookshelf in the corner of the room and picked up the different scrolls, he’d be bringing to Ling Wen. After checking the information on the scrolls were complete and that the god had gotten all the scrolls he needed, he left the cottage and came to a halt a few steps away from the cottage’s door.
“I’ll be right back.”, Xie Lian smiled at his beloved and waved.
“I’ll be here.”, Hua Cheng returned the smile and waved back.
And with that, the prince traveled up to the heaven realm, and right into the front courtyard of the Palace of Xianle.
Right away, Xie Lian noticed a large pile of boxes near the entrance gate of the palace. He sighed, realizing right away these boxes must be congratulatory gifts for him, in honor of his victory in the Battle of Lanterns. But Xie Lian didn’t pay it too much mind, instead he simply acknowledged the pile and made a mental note to reach out to Mu Qing and Feng Xin, so that his two friends could hopefully lend the prince some of their officers, to have them bring all those boxes down to the prince’s cottage.
Not wanting to waste any time, the prince quickly left the grounds of his own temple and started briskly walking down the Secondary Heavenly Avenue in the direction of the Palace of Ling Wen.
Usually, Xie Lian would take his time, while walking through the heaven realm and would check up on the palaces of his friends. But now he was hurrying down the Secondary Heavenly Avenue, instead of the Main Heavenly Avenue, which didn’t really give him an opportunity to have a closer look at his friends’ palaces.
Back when the layout of the Heavenly Capital was planned, before they started rebuilding, it was quickly agreed on, by all involved parties, that the five palaces of the Martial Gods Of The Cardinal Directions would line the Main Heavenly Avenue, which would lead from the Central Ascension Point, the point new heavenly officials would arrive at after their ascension, and most existing officials would arrive at, if they did not consciously chose otherwise, to the stairs leading up to the Great Martial Hall. And while there had been many debates on where exactly each palace would stand, they ultimately decided to have Mu Qing’s and Feng Xin’s palaces on one side of the avenue, with Pei Ming’s, Lang Qianqiu’s and Quan Yizhen’s palaces on the other side of the avenue. From the venture point of the staircase up to the Great Martial Hall, while looking down the Main Heavenly Avenue, on the right side of the avenue stood closest to the Great Martial Hall the Palace of Tai Hua, in between the other two palaces the Palace of Ming Guang and closest to the Main Ascension Point stood the Palace of Qi Ying. On the left side of the avenue stood closest to the Great Martial Hall the Palace of Nan Yang and closest to the Main Ascension Point stood the Palace of Xuan Zhen. The Secondary Heavenly Avenue was a large street leading across the capital perpendicular to the Main Heavenly Avenue, and the two avenues crossed right in front of the staircase leading up to the Great Martial Hall. Xie Lian’s Palace of Xianle stood directly to the left of the Great Martial Hall, while the Palace of Ling Wen stood directly to the right of the Great Martial Hall. While she had been against the idea, Lord Rain Master had her palace build right next to Xie Lian’s, and there was also a Palace of Thunder build right next to the Palace of Ling Wen, even if no one had been able to contact the Lord Thunder Master ever since the destruction of the previous Heavenly Capital. The area behind the Great Martial Hall had been intentionally left empty, so there would be space for the palaces of future elemental masters, should someone ascend to fill such a roll.
But Xie Lian had better things to do right now, than reminisce on those things. All he wanted, was to quickly make his way over the Secondary Heavenly Avenue to the Palace of Ling Wen.
Although, once the prince had just walked past the staircase up to the Great Martial Hall, the prince noticed a man, dressed in shimmering golden armor, walking in the direction opposite of his own, and the wide grin spreading on the man’s face proved he had also seen the prince.
“Are my eyes deceiving me? I could swear, I’m seeing his highness Xie Lian walking around in the Heavenly Capital.”, Pei Ming extended his arms in a welcoming gesture and grinned happily, as he walked over to Xie Lian.
“Good day, General Pei. Your eyes are not deceiving you, it is indeed me.”, the prince nodded politely to his friend and smiled, in an attempt to not show his annoyance with being stopped on his way to Ling Wen.
“Good day, your highness. Don’t tell me you’re here to hand in your reports as normal.”, the general glanced at the scrolls, the prince was holding in his arm. “I and many of the others were sure we wouldn’t even catch a glimpse of you for at least a month, if not longer. The number of lanterns wasn’t just a crazy coincidence, right?”, the general grinned knowingly, but his expression turned the slightest bit concerned, as he asked about the lanterns.
Xie Lian huffed a laugh, before he explained, “The number of lanterns was not a coincident, but just because my time of waiting is over, does not mean I intent to completely disregard my heavenly duties for the time being.”
“I see. That’s good to know.”, Pei Ming nodded to himself. He then bowed low to Xie Lian and said, in an overly subservient tone, “My apologies for the delay, but allow me to congratulate his highness on his victory in the Battle of Lanterns.”
After sighing, because of the exaggerated behavior of the general, the prince gracefully responded, “Thank you, General Ming Guang. I am sadly not as familiar with the number of lanterns you have received this year, but I am certain your accomplishment is worth congratulations.”
“Thank you, your highness. And yes, there were more lanterns this year than last year.”, the general agreed with a confident smile. The general then leaned in closer and whispered, in a conspiratorial tone, “I have to ask, though. Is his highness’s ability to walk without issue due to him taking his time with things or is it because it’s the demon king, who is left unable to walk afterwards?”
A deep blush spread on Xie Lian’s face and he did his best to push away the memories, of his San Lang carrying him around, because he couldn’t walk at that moment, which had happened on multiple occasions now. He cleared his throat and retorted, “General Pei, it could be considered offensive, to imply that a supreme ghost king or a well-established martial god don’t have the strength to withstand the physical strain of intimacy.”
Pei Ming laughed wholeheartedly and commented, “Fair enough. Well done, your highness, you managed to respond to me without giving away really anything.” Once his laughter had calmed done, Pei Ming’s expression shifted with a realization and he slapped his own forehead, before he apologized, “I’m sorry, your highness. You probably want to get your business up here taken care of as soon as possible, to quickly return to your demon king, and here I am, keeping you from doing so. We’ll have a chance to talk again at a later date, I’m sure of it. Until then, goodbye.” He stepped away and waved, before he turned around and walked away, without even letting Xie Lian return the goodbye.
The prince sighed in relieve, once his friend had left, and started walking again himself, hurrying over to the Palace of Ling Wen.
As soon as Xie Lian entered Ling Wen’s palace, he saw Ling Wen sitting at her desk in the main hall of her palace. She looked not as tired as normal, especially given the fact she didn’t have any dark circles under her eyes. On the other hand, her middle court officials in the palace were just as busy, if not busier than normal.
“Good day, Ling Wen.”, the prince greeted.
Once she was addressed, Ling Wen’s head shot up and she stared at the prince in surprise. She blinked a few times, before she recomposed herself and returned the greeting, “Good day, your highness. I take it, you’ve come here today, to hand in your monthly reports, as well as collect the monthly accounts?”
“That is indeed the case.”, Xie Lian agreed and presented Ling Wen with the scrolls, he had been carrying with him.
While she reached out and took the scrolls from Xie Lian, Ling Wen shot a glance at one of her officers, who immediately hurried away. “My apologizes, I hadn’t expected his highness to pay me a visit today. But his scrolls are already written and I’ll have them brought here in just a moment.”, she quickly explained and smiled apologetically at Xie Lian.
Indeed, just a moment later, the officer returned and placed a few scrolls on Ling Wen’s desk, before they returned to their work.
“These scrolls not only detail the usual accounts, but also recount the happenings during the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet, since his highness was absent.”, Ling Wen mentioned, as she handed the scrolls to the prince. And she added, in a more friendly tone, “I’d also like to extent my congratulations to his highness, for his victory in the Battle of Lanterns.”
“Thank you, Ling Wen.”, the prince bowed slightly, as he accepted the congratulations. He intentionally didn’t mention the Battle of Lanterns any further, since Ling Wen most likely had received lanterns as well, but given her unique situation, she wasn’t allowed to accept ownership of those lanterns. “And please be aware, even though my personal situation has changed on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet, I have no intention of neglecting my duties as a god. If there is anything, feel free to contact me.”, the prince commented, hoping to prevent any misunderstandings.
“I’ll keep it in mind. Speaking of the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet, the council members, who were present, discussed the necessity for a council meeting in the near future. Since everyone assumed, his highness would be unavailable for a while, we were unsure whether we should wait until his highness was available again, or whether we should hold the meeting without him. But given his highness is indeed available, would he be willing to attend said council meeting? There is yet to be a set date for the meeting, but it would take place sometime in the next week.”, Ling Wen responded right away.
Xie Lian needed a moment to take everything in, before he nodded and answered, “Of course, I’ll attend the meeting. I have no set commitments, which would keep me from attending, so feel free to schedule the meeting based on everyone else’s commitments. Please, also inform everyone of my stands in regards to my duties, so there won’t be any further misunderstandings.” And he quickly added, “Oh, and please also inform the southern generals, I’d like to ask for their aid with having all the boxes, which can be found near the entrance of my palace, brought to my cottage on Mount Taicang.”
Ling Wen nodded knowingly and promised, “I will do so as soon as possible. I’ll be in contact with his highness in regard to the time and date of the upcoming council meeting.”
“Thank you.”, the prince politely nodded to Ling Wen and slowly took a few steps away from Ling Wen’s desk.
“Goodbye, your highness.”, Ling Wen had already returned her attention to her work.
“Goodbye, Ling Wen.”, Xie Lian quickly said in turn, before he turned around and left Ling Wen’s palace again.
As soon as he had exited Ling Wen’s palace, Xie Lian hurried over to the nearest spot, from which he could descend into the mortal realm, and returned home.
~
The door would have fallen off the hinges, if it hadn’t been built with this level of force impacting it in mind, when Mu Qing threw the door open, as he came storming into Feng Xin’s private office.
Feng Xin only looked up at Mu Qing for a moment, before he continued to fill out his reports, as if Mu Qing was not standing right in front of his desk.
“Has Ling Wen already reached out to you?”, Mu Qing asked, already annoyed with Feng Xin for ignoring him.
“About the council meeting and his highness?”, the archer questioned, without looking up from his work.
Mu Qing sighed and rolled his eyes, before he retorted, “Of course. What else?”
There was a moment of silence, with heavy, angry tension hanging in the room, before Mu Qing sighed again and inquired, in a snippy tone, “So, what do you intent to do?”
Finally, Feng Xin stopped his work and looked up at Mu Qing. He tilted his head and wondered, “About what exactly?”
After rolling his eyes again, Mu Qing explained, “Both you and I usually visit Xie Lian once a week, right? The days, we usually visit him, are tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Are you going to go? Because now things are just slightly different. Hua Cheng is there, and just because Xie Lian has rekindled his friendship with the both of us, does not mean Hua Cheng’s opinion on us has changed. I’m not looking forward to having to deal with Hua Cheng being there, if I were to visit Xie Lian on my own.”
“Oh.”, Feng Xin exclaimed. He scratched the back of his head, as he thought about what Mu Qing had just said. Feng Xin then grumbled and asked, “Let me guess, you have some great idea, as to how we should handle this situation?”
“Of course, I do.”, Mu Qing retorted with a smug smile on his lips. He then elaborated on what his idea was, “Having to deal with Hua Cheng on our own would be a headache, but there is safety in numbers. And since Xie Lian regularly mentions how nice it would be, if the two of us visited him together, we should do just that. If we go visit Xie Lian together, Hua Cheng is outnumbered and Xie Lian won’t have any issue with that, since he’ll be happy to have both of us there at the same time.”
Feng Xin’s expression shifted, as he fell deep into thought and pondered Mu Qing’s suggestion. “I guess, that would make sense. We could take his highness’s packages with us as well, while we’re at it. That would give us even more reason, why we’re visiting together.”, Feng Xin mentioned.
“Not too bad of an idea. Let’s do that.”, Mu Qing commented, while acting indifferent about Feng Xin’s additional idea. After another short moment of silence, Mu Qing then asked, “When exactly do we go visit Xie Lian?”
“Tomorrow.”, Feng Xin answered. He was being short with Mu Qing, clearly to get back at his fellow southern god for his indifferent behavior.
Mu Qing nodded, not letting Feng Xin’s behavior get to him too much. “Around lunch time should be fine, or do you not have time then?”, Mu Qing tried to clarify.
“Won’t that tempt his highness into offering us some of his cooking?”, Feng Xin worried.
For a few seconds, Mu Qing tapped his foot, while he was thinking, until he suggested, “How about this: We have lunch together tomorrow. Afterwards we go visit Xie Lian. It gives us even more reason, as to why we’re visiting him together, since we had already been with each other. And since we just had lunch, we can reasonably refuse Xie Lian’s food.”
“Why would we have lunch together? Or is that just a lie, we’re telling his highness?”, Feng Xin questioned and stared in utter shock at Mu Qing.
Once Mu Qing had sighed and rolled his eyes yet again, he retorted, “We should probably actually have lunch together. We can just have a discussion about how to resolve the few fights between our believers, in the wake of the Battle of Lanterns, while we eat. This way, we can also explain to Xie Lian why we had lunch together. That’s a matter we should have a conversation about anyway.”
Feng Xin hummed and then agreed, “Sounds alright. I’ll come over to your palace for lunch, alright? After lunch we can get his highness’s packages and then head down to him.”
“Sure.”, was all Mu Qing said in response, before he turned around and strode out of Feng Xin’s office.
After closing the door behind Mu Qing, with the use of spiritual power, Feng Xin went right back to work.