Phoenix Chick in the Cuckoo’s Nest

by stiltonbasket

Summary:

“How can you mistreat him so, shixiong?” Mu Qingfang asked one night, during a late visit to the bamboo house. “Yuan’er is the very picture of his mother. He is all you have left of her, and yet—”

“His resemblance to his mother is the only reason I did not snap his neck in the cradle,” Shen Qingqiu growled. “He has his father’s eyes, and I look upon them every day and care for the child regardless. Is that not enough?”

In the side room, Shen Yuan crept over to the mirror and stared at his reflection. He knew that he looked like his deceased mother, and that the two of them could have passed for twins if she were still alive. He knew, too, that he had his father’s eyes: deep and black as a starless night, and narrowed in perpetual discontent.

If Shen Yuan were truly Shen Qingqiu’s son, he would have hated those queer black eyes, just as Shen Qingqiu did. But as a transmigrated college student from the twenty-first century, he had never cared about Shen Qingqiu's opinions, much less considered him his father.

Or: in his twenty-first year in the world of Proud Immortal Demon Way, Shen Yuan runs away, falls in love, and reunites with his mother.

Notes:

I knew it was only a matter of time before I got baited into writing a Qijiu fic. Help.

General TW for Shen Jiu's canon-typical treatment of children. He doesn't treat Shen Yuan anywhere near as badly as he treated Luo Binghe, but he's...not a good father at all. Yue Qingyuan still loves him, though.

Chapter 1

When Luo Binghe returned to Cang Qiong Mountain, he left the sect nearly untouched.

Certainly he had intended to burn Cang Qiong to the ground. It had sheltered Shen Qingqiu for far too many years, and none of his fellow peak lords ever troubled themselves to curtail him. The sole peak lord who had dared—Liu Qingge, the new Consort Liu’s elder brother—was dead, so Luo Binghe saw no need to suffer Cang Qiong’s existence for a moment longer.

But upon his return, the sect leader knelt and begged for mercy, vowing to grant Luo Binghe anything he desired if he would only spare his wretched Shizun; and at once, Luo Binghe realized that he could revenge himself upon Shen Qingqiu without striking a single blow.

“A marriage alliance, then, with a bride of my choosing,” he said idly, as Yue Qingyuan rose to reveal a white, frantic face and tear-stained cheeks. “This lord has not yet established an Empress, and I fear that none of the wives I have at present will ever be fit for such a title. As the master of Cang Qiong, Yue-zhangmen will fill the role admirably.”

Shen Qingqiu’s face went purple. He screamed himself hoarse as Yue Qingyuan’s wedding procession left Qiong Ding peak, surrounded by armed guards so that none but the ten remaining peak lords might look into the sedan and realize that the new emperor of the demon realm had taken Yue-zhangmen as his bride; and after he departed, the lesser sects were told that Yue Qingyuan had entered secluded cultivation and intended to remain there for the foreseeable future.

Though his marriage to Yue Qingyuan had no purpose other than revenge, Luo Binghe was not cruel to his former sect leader. To be sure, Yue Qingyuan permitted Shen Qingqiu to abuse Luo Binghe however he saw fit, offering no more than quiet words of disapproval and sorrowful looks whenever Luo Binghe appeared in public with bruises upon his face; but as an empress, Yue Qingyuan cared for the other wives in the harem, settled disputes between them when needed, and governed the demon realm at Luo Binghe’s side without any fault that he could see. 

What was more, each continued day of their marriage was as good as a knife in Shen Qingqiu’s heart; so Luo Binghe resolved to flaunt his first wife before his Shizun as often as he could manage, and delight in the naked agony in his eyes when he brought a veiled Yue Qingyuan back to Cang Qiong and demanded that the interim sect leader prepare the Empress’s guest quarters—with a heavy emphasis upon the guest, reminding Shen Qingqiu that his crimes had driven his only beloved into Luo Binghe’s arms—with his very own hands, sparing no effort upon the preparations.

When the Empress was buried, in the year after their second visit to Qiong Ding as a wedded couple, Luo Binghe had sincerely been grieved. 

But he of all people ought to have known that Shen Qingqiu would rather destroy a treasure than give it up: and so, perhaps it was no wonder that he had murdered Yue Qingyuan. 

 

Notes:

This is a short prologue to introduce the story; feel free to drop your theories in the comments. 👀