Chapter Text
Today was the day of Shen Qingqiu’s husband’s wedding.
It was not, of course, the day of Shen Qingqiu’s wedding. That day had come and gone ten years ago, when a youthful Shen Qingqiu had bowed to a kind-hearted and handsome Yue Qingyuan. Shen Yuan recollected skimming over that description in the novel when he’d read it on a rainy Saturday afternoon, before he transmigrated into Shen Qingqiu’s body.
Today, the wedding was for Yue Qingyuan’s newest spouse. The love of his life, the protagonist of the tacky romance novel Shen Yuan had consumed, the skilled and peerlessly beautiful Liu Qingge.
It was an event that had, so far as the original goods was concerned, ruined his life.
Multiple marriages were the norm of this setting, especially for esteemed figures like Yue Qingyuan. Yet, for many years, Shen Qingqiu had been Yue Qingyuan’s only spouse. He had been spoiled by this attention, ostensibly, and when he found out that a shared adventure had put his husband’s eyes on someone else, he had immediately attempted to sabotage the relationship.
Shen Yuan could sympathize with Shen Qingqiu’s distress. Who wouldn’t be upset at having the supposed love of their life fall for another guy? A younger, more well-bred guy, no less? But that was mostly where the sympathy ended. Shen Qingqiu was a villain, after all - an obstacle in the road to Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge’s happiness. Before the wedding, he hadn’t hesitated to try every dirty trick in the book to wreck things. And after, he had repeatedly attempted to poison, discredit, and otherwise destroy Liu Qingge. Who was, quite frankly, a little socially inept and not really deserving of that level of spite.
If anyone had fucked up, in Shen Yuan’s opinion, it was Yue Qingyuan.
Well, and Shen Qingqiu himself. The multiple murder attempts, mistreatment of servants, and schemes of ruination were all pretty bad. And pretty foolish, too.
Even so, when the schemes were all uncovered and Yue Qingyuan had given Shen Qingqiu a length of silk to hang himself with, basically demanding suicide in retribution… Shen Yuan had felt it was unsuitable. Was Yue Qingyuan really that extreme? Couldn’t he just send the man to some distant estate or something?
Stupid author, stupid novel… he had thought, unusually tired for late afternoon, as he decided not to bother with the last chapters and just go to bed.
And then, of course, he had woken up in the novel.
In Shen Qingqiu’s body.
With Shen Qingqiu’s mistreated young servant slash apprentice, Luo Binghe, trying to coax him into getting dressed to go and greet his husband’s new spouse.
It took him a few minutes to actually adjust to a situation that weird, or even figure out what was going on.
But he hadn’t read about nine billion transmigration novels for nothing.
“Binghe?” he checked, addressing the boy who was carefully sitting just outside of arm’s length from him.
Luo Binghe looked startled.
“Shizun is… saying my name?” he asked, with bizarre uncertainty. Then Shen Yuan recalled - right. Shen Qingqiu was a haughty type, so naturally, he almost never bothered with a servant’s actual name. Especially not that of Luo Binghe, whom he resented and always mistreated for some reason.
Frankly it had seemed a little overblown.
Shen Qingqiu blinked, and wondered if he was obliged to keep in-character. Probably there would be consequences for acting too strangely. He observed his reflection in the mirror. His body was that of a skilled cultivator and pampered spouse, handsome with aloof, scholarly features. His hair was long and had a healthy sheen, but there were dark circles under his eyes, and he was dressed more for a funeral than a wedding.
“Shizun, we should go…” Luo Binghe reminded him, uncertainly. Just then there also came a knocking at the door, and another servant called through it.
“Master Shen, you are expected at the main pavilion to greet the new primary spouse.”
Right. That was right. Shen Qingqiu had been in seclusion, essentially protesting the new marriage. After all his efforts to sabotage it, he had even embarrassed Yue Qingyuan in front of the emperor, and had lost his standing as primary spouse. So not only was his husband marrying another man, he was promoting that new man above him.
Ugh.
Reading from Liu Qingge’s perspective, Yue Qingyuan had seemed alright. But looking at it from this side, wasn’t it all too much? Couldn’t these people just talk things out?
No, of course not. Misunderstandings were the bread and butter of the genre, after all.
“I’ll be there soon, I just need to change,” he said, determined not to do anything foolish. After all, he was in the body of a man who had been forced to commit suicide. But also, intriguingly, he was in a world where fantastical things abounded, and homophobia was a complete non-issue. So there was that to consider, too.
“Binghe, help me dress,” he requested, keeping his voice gentle, since the boy seemed skittish. There hadn’t been a lot of details on how Shen Qingqiu mistreated his servants, but it was a thing. Just sort of put out there, to add more villainy to the character. Luo Binghe’s behaviour gave it some credit, as he seemed to expect to be hit or lashed out at. After a minute, though, he complied with the request, and hurriedly set about helping his master select a more suitable outfit.
Shen Qingqiu deliberated for a minute, before he chose the brightest, happiest ensemble he could find. So what if Yue Qingyuan was marrying another man? He wasn’t really Shen Qingqiu, and didn’t really love the man. To him, this was just a wedding - it would probably be too strange if he cheered and celebrated as normal, but it wouldn’t be hard for him to act decently.
The servant on the other side of the door seemed surprised when Shen Qingqiu finally emerged, dressed in soft yellows and greens, with a placid expression on his face.
“I’ll trouble you to lead the way,” he said.
After all, he had no fucking clue where to go.
Yue Qingyuan’s estate was enormous. Needlessly so, somewhat, considering that he didn’t have a large family. Unlike most men of his station, he only had one spouse - well, two now. And they had no children. MPreg wasn’t a thing in this setting (thank god), but there were still methods for couples with ‘reproductive challenges’ to have children. Things like magic seeds and whatnot. According to the book, the only reason Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan hadn’t pursued something like that was because Shen Qingqiu hadn’t wanted to share his husband’s affections with anyone, children included.
The current Shen Qingqiu wasn’t sure if he believed that or not, but he was glad he didn’t have to deal with replacing anyone’s parent. That would have been awkward.
There were guests arrayed in the pavilion, of course, awaiting the arrival of Liu Qingge. Whose role in this setting was more ‘bride’ than ‘groom’. Shen Qingqiu overheard their murmurs as he made his way to where he figured he was supposed to stand, awaiting the new addition to the household along with the high-ranking staff. From the surprised looks, and his recollections of the story he was in, he knew people were taken aback that he had even showed up. Some probably expected him to stay inside, making some theatrics about killing himself over Yue Qingyuan’s betrayal.
That would be in poor taste, considering what had actually ended up happening, he thought.
Or maybe they were surprised that Yue Qingyuan let him out of confinement? Technically he was still being punished, after all.
Shen Qingqiu dearly wished he knew what sorts of things the original had gotten up to in the background of the story to merit some of the black looks he was getting. How had this villain managed to alienate seemingly every person of importance? What did he even hope to accomplish with that? No wonder he’d ended up hated and alone by the finish - being so petty really hadn’t gotten him anywhere.
It was kind of amazing to see, though. The setting of this novel was very over-the-top, and so the pavilion was beautiful, with blossoming trees and elegantly dressed guests. Yue Qingyuan, when he arrived, proved to be every bit as handsome and noble-looking as his description. And Liu Qingge cut a striking figure in his elaborate red wedding dress, too.
The only noteworthy blemish was the man’s stiffness as he walked, as if he wasn’t entirely accustomed to such big ceremonies, or didn’t know exactly how to handle the outfit he was in. Well, that made sense. Shen Qingqiu had read this scene from his perspective, so he knew that the man really wasn’t comfortable in that dress, having never worn such a thing before. Liu Qingge was a warrior by trade, and a powerful one. Had his birth been just a little more noble, he likely would have been in Yue Qingyuan’s position instead, taking as many or few spouses as he cared to. But the social dynamics of the setting were complicated, and so despite his accomplishments, his pretty face and standing in the court hierarchy made him a ‘prize’ rather than a master of his own destiny.
Shen Qingqiu felt for the man. He knew he was nervous, that he had never been good at social graces or politicking. That he wasn’t even sure about marrying Yue Qingyuan, because even though the man was kind and smitten, he wasn’t really in love with him. Not yet, anyway. He knew Liu Qingge had apprehensions about the wedding night, and that he was uncertain of the situation with Shen Qingqiu, too - that he’d been warned to expect the first husband of Yue Qingyuan to be an enemy.
He knew that Liu Qingge felt that he was walking into hostile territory, with only a single uncertain ally in the form of his husband, in a world where men like Yue Qingyuan were expected to hold themselves ‘above’ the petty dramas of their spouses.
He’d read it all, so of course he knew.
It wasn’t hard to offer Liu Qingge a calm smile when their eyes met. He really was a beautiful man! More fine-featured than Shen Qingqiu had imagined. It was equally fine for him, given his lack of genuine investment in the proceedings, to kneel and offer the new ‘madam’ of the household a cup of tea.
But it was an unfortunate truth that Shen Qingqiu was also not accustomed to wearing clothing like this. Just as Yue Qingyuan started to look hopeful for the uncharacteristic obedience of his first husband, Shen Qingqiu slipped. The cup of tea flew from his hands, and Liu Qingge’s fine wedding clothes were promptly doused in scalding liquid.
…Shit.
Well, there was no possible way that was going to look like a genuine accident.
“I really didn’t mean to,” he blurted, as Liu Qingge frowned, and the onlookers murmured. Oddly, it seemed almost as if most of the crowd was eased by the mishap. It had been strange, people thought, to see Shen Qingqiu behaving himself. But clearly, his cheerful outfit and well-mannered approach were just disguises so that he could launch this assault! Ruining the new husband’s dress, how bold, how like him!
Yue Qingyuan’s lips thinned in displeasure.
Liu Qingge cleared his throat. He, of course, was at a loss for how to handle the situation as well. It wasn’t as if he could draw his sword and demand a duel or something.
“It was an accident,” Shen Qingqiu insisted, sincerely. Inwardly, he was panicking a little. Was it an accident, though? The original goods had thrown tea on the new husband too, but it had definitely been on purpose in his case. Shen Qingqiu hadn’t at all meant to, and yet, it had happened anyway. Was this the kind of story that would make it impossible for him to change events?
And if so, did that doom him?
At length, Liu Qingge just sighed, and waved it off.
“No matter,” he said.
And then there was nothing for it. With a terse but private comment, Yue Qingyuan sent Shen Qingqiu back to his rooms, while the wedding carried on his absence. Luo Binghe went with him, looking anxious and uncertain - he was a handsome youth, but it was clear that his treatment hadn’t been the best. He was too thin and nervous, and seemed not to know what to expect of this entire situation.
“Shizun mustn’t despair,” he said. “Lord Yue will certainly realize it was an accident, once he’s calmed down. Everyone could see, Shizun’s foot caught on his skirt. It wasn’t on purpose.”
Shen Qingiqu blinked as the youth’s words sank in.
He hadn’t been expecting anyone to actually think it was a mistake, despite his protestations. Did Luo Binghe really notice the truth of the matter, or was he simply taking his side as a matter of course?
“You noticed that?” he asked.
Hesitating for a moment, Luo Binghe offered a tentative nod.
“Not to say that Shizun is clumsy,” he hastily added. “Shizun… hasn’t slept well, these past few days. His balance wasn’t good.”
It was a surprising relief, in the midst of so many things, for someone to not immediately think the worst of him.
After a moment, Shen Qingqiu offered Luo Binghe a tentative smile of his own.
“Thank you,” he said.
The poor boy looked absolutely stricken at the simple words.
“Shizun’s thanking me…?”
The response was little more than a whisper. Really, couldn’t this Shen Qingqiu have been a little kinder to the kid? He wasn’t a bad sort by any means. And he seemed to recall some things about Luo Binghe having had a rough childhood even before coming into his master’s service. He really didn’t look like the personal servant of a noble, and he was still a child besides.
With an internal sigh, Shen Qingqiu sent the youth off to go and find them some food, before he started taking off some of the less comfortable adornments on his outfit. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere - he was confined as punishment, and everyone else was busy with the wedding. Yue Qingyuan would spend the night with Liu Qingge, as well as the foreseeable ones, which was just fine with Shen Qingqiu. He liked men - as hard as it had been for him to come to terms with that - but he wasn’t about to just let some hot stranger into his bed on the mandates of a novel. He was in a whole new body, anyway, he had plenty of things to get used to - and sex was nowhere near to being on the table!
With Luo Binghe gone, that left Shen Qingqiu alone in his rooms. He took advantage of that to go through them, checking his wardrobe and poking through various chests and shelves. As expected, he was now the owner of a lot of fancy clothes and books, scrolls, and weapons. It took some doing but he eventually found Shen Qingqiu’s sword, Xiu Ya, carefully tended and settled onto one of the chamber walls. He drew the blade, and fanboyed over it for a while.
So cool!
A few experimental swings revealed that he seemed to still have Shen Qingqiu’s sword skills, too. He didn't put any energy behind them - as a skilled cultivator and swordsman, he could accidentally blast a hole in the wall. Not that he had a patch on Liu Qingge, but still. There was a secluded courtyard he was permitted to use for his confinement, he could probably try some more things out there, too.
With reluctance, he put Xiu Ya away after a while, and poked around some more. His investigations even uncovered an old box of what seemed to be love letters, exchanged between his predecessor and Yue Qingyuan. The pages were yellowed, and at a guess, Shen Qingqiu would suppose that they were from much earlier in the relationship. Most of them were written by Yue Qingyuan. Courtship poetry and the like.
It made him sigh a little.
It really was kind of sad, wasn’t it? For all his faults, the original goods had loved Yue Qingyuan. To Shen Yuan, with his modern sensibilities, wanting his husband to not marry anyone else didn’t seem at all unreasonable. The rest of it, sure. But not that part. That part made sense. Who wouldn’t be heartbroken to lose something so precious, to feel cast aside and replaced by their most important person…?
He was still turning over the letters when Luo Binghe returned.
Despite leaving to go get food, the boy was empty handed. He hovered anxiously by the doorway.
“Nothing to eat?” Shen Qingqiu asked.
Luo Binghe stared at the floor.
“The kitchens said… they said, there are many fine things being made for the wedding. But none of them could be brought to this room. Shizun, I’m sorry…”
Oh.
Right.
He’d forgotten that part, too. No dinner. Although, as he recalled, that was more to do with the enemies that Shen Qingqiu had made among the household staff than with Yue Qingyuan. The original goods hadn’t known that, though. It had only increased his bitterness and despair, to think that he was being starved as well as isolated while his husband wined and dined and bedded his new spouse.
Shen Qingqiu was at a cultivation level where he technically didn’t require food. Or at least not very much. He himself could remember eating only hours ago - however, the original goods had been starving himself as part of his protests. So he did feel hungry.
It wasn’t too bad, though. He put on a smile.
“It’s fine, Binghe,” he said. “It's not your fault. Did you want to take a break? If there’s no food, I don’t think I need anything else for a while…”
Luo Binghe looked uncertain, but after a moment, he accepted the dismissal. It struck Shen Qingqiu that he didn’t seem to have any food, either. Was that why he was so skinny? Did he… not eat, if he couldn’t feed his master?
Tragically, that did seem like the sort of thing his character would do. Despite the mistreatment, Luo Binghe had been very loyal to Shen Qingqiu, too. Up to a point. Of course, eventually, even he had endured too much and been cast aside too many times, and ended up hating his master instead. In the end, his comments were what fully exposed Shen Qingqiu and sealed his fate.
Considering he didn’t know what the original might have done up to this point - and didn’t know what Luo Binghe might know of these untold crimes - it was probably in his best interests to stay on his servant’s good side.
Setting the box of letters down on a nearby surface, Shen Qingqiu considered his options.
While fate might try and sabotage him, he definitely had no intention of emulating his predecessor’s choices. He didn’t care to bully or sabotage Liu Qingge, and he wasn’t actually heartbroken about Yue Qingyuan. They could do what they pleased. If anything, Shen Qingqiu thought he wouldn’t mind cheering them on from the sidelines… but after the incident with the tea, it also seemed probable that a lot of actions on his part might backfire. He’d have to tread carefully. In a way, the isolation was a sort of blessing; it gave him some time to examine things from a distance and try to come up with a plan of action.
Repairing his reputation with the servants in the household was probably a good idea. That had always struck him as a particularly stupid move on the original’s part. What benefit was there to alienating his own staff? None. The original was the sort of person who would be kind to people when it was useful, but then discard them the minute it wasn’t. It was too blatant and short-sighted. Having to make amends every time he needed someone again, only to repeat the process, was far more complicated than simply being decent unless absolutely required otherwise.
When he was content with his overall grasp on the situation, Shen Qingqiu got up, and knocked on the door to the servant room. Luo Binghe’s sleeping space was small and sparse. It made him feel doubly bad as the youth swiftly answered.
“What does Shizun require?”
Shen Qingqiu considered the boy in front of him. He lifted a hand. Luo Binghe flinched a little, then looked surprised again as his master gently patted his head.
“Binghe, I owe you an apology,” he said. “This master has not treated you well at all. It is a great shame.”
Luo Binghe stared up at him with huge eyes. He looked as though he had no idea what to say. After a moment, Shen Qingqiu moved his hand to his shoulder, and patted it reassuringly instead.
“S-shizun!” the youth finally exclaimed. “Shizun doesn’t need to apologize! He saved this foolish servant’s life!”
Did he?
Huh.
He probably lied about it, considering the options. That would be like him. Oh well, without knowing, what could he say?
“Saving a life and being a good master are two different things,” he decided. “Binghe has repaid his debts a thousand times over by now. If he wished to cut ties and seek his fortunes elsewhere, this master would write him a letter of recommendation to whoever else he might wish to serve. Though, of course, that is not to suggest any kind of dismissal; Binghe’s continued service would be a kindness this master does not deserve.”
It wouldn’t be so bad if he left, really. A new servant probably wouldn’t have all the dirt on Shen Qingqiu, and if they parted on decent terms, it was more likely that Luo Binghe would never have a reason to betray any secrets. That sort of thing could be bad for a servant’s reputation anyway. No one wanted a servant who blabbed.
Come to think of it, Shen Qingqiu wasn’t certain how all that turned out in the original story. There’d seemed to be some implications that Luo Binghe was maybe the bastard son of someone with some social clout, which he himself hadn’t known at first; but the resolution for all of that must have come after the chapter where Shen Qingqiu was more or less sentenced to suicide.
Luo Binghe looked aghast.
“Shizun, don’t send me away!” he begged, suddenly reaching over to clutch at his skirt.
Hastily, Shen Qingqiu patted at his shoulders.
“No, no, not at all!” he said. “If Binghe doesn’t want to go, he’s welcome to stay! Really!”
It took him a while to convince the poor youth that this unexpected surge of kindness wasn’t a result of him being fired. Shen Qingqiu managed, though, and after a few minutes even got Luo Binghe to sit down on one of his chairs. In his search through the various drawers he had found a secret stash of sweets. He offered them to Luo Binghe, insisting until the boy finally accepted, and then wolfed them down with obvious hunger.
At the sight, Shen Qingqiu clucked his tongue.
“Binghe, you should eat more,” he said.
Luo Binghe swallowed, and squirmed a little in his seat.
“If Shizun can’t eat, then this lowly servant shouldn’t either,” he said.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Your cultivation isn’t high enough to forgo food,” Shen Qingqiu countered. “And you’re a growing boy. Even if this master cannot eat, Binghe must take his meals. Otherwise it will reflect badly on me, too, don’t you think? People will think me a cruel master, starving his cute young apprentice…”
Luo Binghe nearly fell out of the chair.
“Are you alright?” Shen Qingqiu asked, steadying him. Was he that hungry that he was getting dizzy, too?
The boy stammered, face red, but he seemed to settle down again after a minute.
Eventually, Shen Qingqiu sent him back to his room to rest some more. Hunger had clearly made him tired and nervy, and the privacy gave him more time to think himself. He went through some of the letters, trying to get a better feel for his character. After a while, tiredness caught up with him, though, and he got ready for bed. The blankets were soft, and the mattress was comfortable. It was a pleasant aspect to things that he readily latched onto.
At some point, he drifted off to sleep.
He woke a few hours later to a delicious scent.
For one delirious moment, he forgot entirely where he was, and was confused. But as he sat up in bed, he remembered. A figure in the room looked up from where he was setting something onto a small table.
Luo Binghe.
“Apologies for disturbing Shizun’s rest,” he said.
Shen Qingqiu blinked, and pushed the hair back from his face.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Food,” Luo Binghe told him. Shifting on his feet, he glanced guiltily to one side. Then he looked up again, and met Shen Qingqiu’s gaze with an unexpected determination of his own. “This servant snuck into the kitchens and took some ingredients. Shizun may punish me after he eats.”
Catching another whiff of that delicious scent, Shen Qingqiu hurried his way out of his blankets.
“Punish you? Binghe, I could kiss you!” he exclaimed. Despite everything, he really was hungry, and the scent of food only brought that fact home even more.
Luo Binghe started stammering again, face red as a beet as he insisted that he should probably still be punished, for stealing and also for maybe starting a small kitchen fire. Which, he hastened to add, he had definitely put out! Shen Qingqiu patted his head again. It earned another reflexive flinch, at first, but Luo Binghe seemed to settle down when nothing else happened.
On the middle of the table, in lotus leaf wrappings, was a whole chicken.
With care, Shen Qingqiu split the bird in half. He settled both halves onto some leaves, and then had to practically bully Luo Binghe into sitting with him and eating the other half.
“Binghe,” he finally said, with a sigh. “I’m not going to eat an entire chicken in one sitting in the dead of night. Come share it with me, or it will just go to waste.”
Finally, the youth relented. Once he did, his hunger became apparent again, so that Shen Qingqiu even sneakily put an extra drumstruck onto his leaf. They ate by candelight, in relative silence. The roasted bird was deliciously seasoned and perfectly cooked. The tender meat was juicy on his tongue, and he ate until he was completely stuffed.
“Thank you,” he said, afterwards.
Luo Binghe ducked his head.
“Shizun doesn’t have to thank me,” he insisted.
“I really do. That was delicious,” he countered. “Did Binghe cook it himself?” The bird had been hot, after all, and the theft only worked because the kitchen was empty this time of night.
Bashfully, Luo Binghe nodded.
Shen Qingqiu praised him as much as he dared, considering the situation and the fact that Luo Binghe looked like he might pass out if he got too much of it. When he finally climbed back into bed, his stomach was full and he felt a lot more content, and like he might be able to handle the situations yet to come his way. He let Luo Binghe destroy the evidence of their chicken theft, and dreamed of the original Shen Qingqiu arguing relentlessly with him.
~
Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge were, in terms of the story, at their ‘honeymoon’ period. Busily figuring one another out, while Shen Qingqiu was in seclusion. Who was managing the actual household was a mystery he had to uncover via Luo Binghe, who helpfully found out that accounts and fund management were in the hands of certain servants. He mentally filed the relevant names away, though - once he was out of the metaphorical dog house, those would be the best people to start mending fences with.
Especially since, once he adjusted to his role, Liu Qingge would have more say over estate management than Shen Qingqiu would.
Not much was expected of Shen Qingqiu during his confinement, though. Or, rather, all that people expected was that he would scheme and throw fits and behave theatrically, breaking rules and trampling all over things until he inevitably got into trouble again. Of course, the current Shen Qingqiu wasn’t interested in that, so instead he took the time available to him to meditate, and cultivate, and enjoy the quiet atmosphere of the secluded courtyard, while he built up a better relationship with Luo Binghe and read through some journals of Shen Qingqiu’s that he managed to find.
It was kind of like a vacation, in fact. The only thing was that he ate a lot of meals at night, because the kitchen staff were still being stingy, so his best meals were invariably the ones that Luo Binghe smuggled them. He still made certain to share every scrap of food between both of them, though, halving even the bowls of rice he was allotted for his breakfast, and ignoring Binghe’s protests.
After a few weeks, to Shen Qingqiu’s satisfaction, the boy was looking a lot healthier.
He moved on to the next stage of his plan, shortly thereafter.
Going through the various adornments and finery in his wardrobe, Shen Qingqiu picked out the flashiest things that he least liked, and neatly organized them into boxes. Then he called Luo Binghe into the room, and explained his intentions.
“I want you to sell all these on my behalf,” he said. “You need some better clothes, and with some money of our own between us, you won’t have to steal from the kitchens as often either. You can just get some things from market.” The stealing worried him. This was the sort of world where such things could get servants beaten, and he didn’t want to be even passively involved in child abuse.
Luo Binghe, again, looked utterly shocked.
It was becoming a bad habit.
“But, these are Shizun’s favourites!” he protested.
…Really?
The original goods had shit for taste.
Lifting his fan - which he actually did like, thank you - Shen Qingqiu gestured dismissively.
“This master has grown tired of them, and doesn’t want to look at them anymore,” he said, completely unaware that all the items he had chosen were gifts from Yue Qingyuan. Luo Binghe, on the other hand, was entirely aware. So his thoughts shifted a little as he took in the matter, and abruptly decided to stop questioning it.
With a few more questions and instructions, Shen Qingqiu was satisfied, and brought Luo Binghe out to practice some sword techniques in the courtyard. Actually teaching Luo Binghe was another thing he wanted to get a handle on. It was also a good thing for him to review the ‘basics’ himself, considering he was still adjusting the situation - so wins all around. He recalled from the story that there were several times when demons attacked the estate, and people were injured. It would be best to avoid that kind of thing, he thought, but especially to not put himself at even greater risk by being less competent than he should be.
When practice was finished, Luo Binghe went off to go sell the goods given to him.
The youth had barely returned before there was a knock at the entrance to the rooms. Shen Qingqiu had been wondering when that event would trigger - he wasn’t surprised when Luo Binghe hurriedly informed him that Lord Yue had come.
“Fetch some tea, if you please, Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu requested, before he went to go and greet his… husband, of a sort.
Yue Qingyuan looked reserved. There was tension to him, which, given the circumstances, was probably to be expected.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t feel too tense for his own part, though. Yue Qingyuan’s presence meant that, unless he managed to do something incredibly stupid in the next hour or so, his confinement was about to come to an end. And unless they’d somehow veered dramatically off-script, the man was still preoccupied enough with his new husband that he wouldn’t be darkening Shen Qingiqu’s doorstep at night any time soon, either.
He took the opportunity to get another good look at the man, instead. Politely leading him outside to take their tea. Yue Qingyuan really did seem to have a noble bearing. How or why he had fallen in love with someone as conniving and ruthless as Shen Qingqiu was a bit of a mystery, though the love letters had illuminated a few things. Shared history, for one, and what seemed like an inexplicable boatload of guilt, for another.
That guilt seemed to make its way back again, as Yue Qingyuan’s expression got a little conflicted, before it settled again.
“I know this has been difficult for you,” he ventured at last, after Shen Qingqiu had poured him his tea.
Luo Binghe, off to one side, glared resolutely at the ground.
“I’m still adjusting,” Shen Qingqiu diplomatically replied. It was true, anyway, although not in the obvious sense. It still caught him off-guard sometimes when he looked in a mirror, and he was starting to miss the internet something fierce. Confinement could be pretty boring sometimes. There was only so much for him to sort through and mull over, after all, and even then, doing the same things could get pretty dull before long.
Yue Qingyuan sighed.
“I really didn’t plan to… to ever love anyone else,” he said.
Shen Qingqiu raised an eyebrow at him.
Really?
“You don’t believe me,” Yue Qingyuan murmured.
“I guess it’s more that I wonder why you find that a suitable defense,” he countered. “Should faithfulness really only apply when there’s a lack of temptation to stray? Isn’t the point of making a commitment like that to say ‘even if tempted, I won’t betray you’, rather than ‘I don’t think I’ll ever be tempted’?”
Yue Qingyuan looked taken aback.
With an internal shrug, Shen Qingqiu sipped his tea. It was only a thought he’d entertained while reading, but he was somewhat curious to hear the man’s answer, now that it had come out.
Finally, his ostensible husband let out a long breath.
“Calling it a betrayal seems excessive,” he finally said. “No other man of my station has less than half a dozen consorts. I gave you ten years.”
“You promised a lifetime,” Shen Qingqiu countered. Which was true, he’d read the letters.
“I was young then,” Yue Qingyuan protested, but without much heat. “I didn’t understand the politics. I wish you would... try to see it from my perspective. There are opportunities we have missed because of this. My standing in court can only go so far, with the attitudes of the people there. A man’s spouses are a symbol of his power.”
Shen Qingqiu paused, taken aback by the argument.
“This is not a political match,” he pointed out. “You said it yourself. You fell in love with him.”
“And you said it yourself, that shouldn’t have mattered at all,” Yue Qingyuan countered, to his continued surprise. The man looked at him intently. “A-Jiu, it’s true - I broke my promise. I’ve apologized before and I will keep on apologizing forever, if you wish me to. But there was more to it than that. It wasn’t just about feelings and it wasn’t just about court.”
“It was the combination?” Shen Qingqiu surmised.
Yue Qingyuan fell conspicuously silent.
“Liu Qingge is a good man. Whatever the discord between us, it’s not actually his fault,” he said, after a minute. Internally, Shen Qingqiu winced. It was probably a good thing he wasn’t talking to the original - even he knew that approach would have gone over like a lead balloon.
Lucky for him, he wasn’t actually dealing with a petty asshole who loved him so much he couldn’t help but redirect his ire onto the new guy.
“I’m not going to take this out on him,” he agreed.
Yue Qingyuan didn’t look convinced.
“A-Jiu, I’m serious,” he said, voice low. “…Please.”
Oh. Wow. Wow. Yeah, no, that was entirely the wrong approach. Even he felt a little miffed on behalf of the original goods, for Yue Qingyuan’s most emotional entreaty so far to be on behalf of the new guy. Like he was trying to protect him from some kind of ravenous shark - like that was maybe even the only reason he actually turned up. Because he was worried about Shen Qingqiu bullying his new man.
Ouch.
Although, in dealing with the original, not an unreasonable fear at all. Shen Qingqiu decided not to take it personally, from his own perspective.
“If you end up marrying another man in another ten years, and have a conversation like this with Liu Qingge, perhaps you ought to consider a better talking point than ‘please don’t harass your replacement’,” he advised. “Just as a suggestion. It isn’t really helping your case.”
Yue Qingyuan looked stricken.
“I didn’t mean it that way,” he said.
“What way did you mean it?”
There was a long, telling pause.
Shen Qingqiu drank more tea.
Then he decided to cut the man across from him a break. Really, as far as promise-breaking stallions went, Yue Qingyuan could be a lot worse. That wasn’t exactly a compliment, but it wasn’t entirely a condemnation, either.
“I’m not going to go after Liu Qingge,” he said. “I’m not going to compete with him, either. I don’t intend to interrupt your newlyweds phase or make things difficult. I’m really not interested in chasing him off or winning you back.” Those had all been the original’s intentions. They seemed mostly pointless to him - Liu Qingge was the protagonist. His victory was a foregone conclusion.
Yue Qingyuan’s stricken expression didn’t abate.
“You don’t have to win me back,” he insisted. “A-Jiu, you haven’t lost me. I’m still your husband. I still want you.”
Shen Qingqiu felt awkward at the declaration.
“...That’s nice,” he finally said. For some reason, the response seemed to strike Yue Qingyuan like a punch to the gut. He figured he’d better end things soon, before this conversation ended in either some sort of heartfelt embrace, or his continued punishment. Neither would be ideal.
“So did you just come to apologize again, and ask me not to make things hard for Liu Qingge?” he prompted.
Yue Qingyuan stared at him a moment longer. Then he ran a hand down the side of his face.
“No,” he said. “I came to let you know that your confinement is over. I’m sure you’ve had enough time to think on your actions and repent your mistakes.”
“Mm,” Shen Qingqiu replied noncommittally.
Tentatively, Yue Qingyuan reached over, and brushed a hand across one of his.
Making a move?
No thanks!
Shen Qingqiu withdrew, and folded his hands in his lap instead.
“Then is that all?” he pressed.
Yue Qingyuan looked like he might say something more. After a moment, though, he just inclined his head in confirmation. Then he stood up. It really was a shame - the man wasn’t entirely Shen Qingqiu’s type, but he might have been interested, under less bizarre circumstances. As it stood, though, he was pretty sure it’d just be weird. He wasn’t really this man’s husband, after all. None of the sentiments being directed towards him actually counted - essentially, he was an impostor, and the wealth of history and feeling between Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan wasn’t something he could rightly touch upon.
If that came across like he was nursing a grudge, there wasn’t much else for it.
“We can talk more later,” Yue Qingyuan told him.
“If you find the time,” Shen Qingqiu replied, mildly. “Don’t neglect Liu Qingge. He’s new to this kind of life and its obligations, after all.”
The comment earned him a look of intense scrutiny, as if Yue Qingyuan was trying to parse out some hidden meaning in his words. After a minute, it seemed he couldn’t find any, but he still looked uncomfortable as he finally nodded and murmured an agreement.
“I’ll still have time for you,” the man promised.
“Fine,” Shen Qingqiu replied. “Anything else?”
“...No. There’s nothing else.”
“Then, I believe I will check up on some things, now that I am no longer confined,” Shen Qingqiu decided. He had fences to mend, after all, and servants to bribe, and better clothes to get for Luo Binghe. When Yue Qingyuan still seemed inclined to dally, he took the initiative and got up to leave himself.
Really. It was like the man couldn’t even take a hint.
You’d think he’d be happier that he was basically getting a free pass to go and dote on his new husband.
After a few more moments, the master of house finally left. Shen Qingqiu let out a breath, and then motioned Luo Binghe over to help him figure out an outfit he could wear for all the matters he hoped to attend to. Something he could still move around in, but would remind people that he was important and pretty wealthy. Even if he was technically the second spouse now, in this world, that still wasn’t anything to sneeze at.
Luo Binghe kept on glowering at the floor.
“Did Lord Yue really promise Shizun that he would never marry anyone else?” he asked, after a few minutes.
Shen Qingqiu nodded distractedly as he sifted through the wardrobe.
“En.”
“In a letter?”
Distractedly, he waved towards the box of letters still sitting on the table. Not being a terribly tidy person, he’d never bothered to move it back to his hiding place.
“In more than one,” he said.
Luo Binghe stared at the box. When Shen Qingqiu didn’t object, he went over, and began to rifle through the letters. Despite the sensitive nature of the material, Shen Qingqiu still didn’t think of these letters as something personal to him - they were written by someone else and directed to someone else, in a way, they were just one more piece of romance writing in a romance story. So he didn’t mind, and kept focused on his own task while Luo Binghe started to skim a few.
“Shizun… does, um. Does Shizun mind if this servant takes a look?” he checked a moment later, guiltily seeming to realize his potential transgression.
“Go ahead,” Shen Qingqiu permitted. “They’re all very old by now.” And not raunchy, at least. Yue Qingyuan was more inclined to poetry and romantic promises than lewd confessions or imaginings. With permission granted, Luo Binghe set about sorting through the letters until Shen Qingqiu needed his help getting changed again.
The youth was uncommonly quiet after that, at least until they set out.
It was only the second time that Shen Qingqiu had seen the estate at large since his arrival. He let Luo Binghe forge their path, trying to memorize the layout of the place as they passed servants who gave them nervous glances. Some were bolder, and even offered cold looks. Shen Qingqiu simply walked calmly along and didn’t react to any of it - there wasn’t very much he could do, not so quickly. The first order of business was taking care of Luo Binghe, and then he could try his hand at the other issues.
Binghe procured a carriage for them. Shen Qingqiu didn’t see hide nor hair of Liu Qingge, but that wasn’t surprising either. Liu Qingge’s cultivation method didn’t particularly endorse things like ‘marital intimacy’. It wasn’t expressly against them, either, but apart from attending his new duties as the first husband of the house, he would be spending a lot of time trying to regain internal equilibrium. There were further matters related to that. Those wouldn’t rear their head for awhile yet.
When Luo Binghe moved as if to drive the carriage, Shen Qingqiu ordered another servant to take the job, and then had the youth join him inside instead. He wanted to ask some questions about the other household servants, and discuss some of his apprentice’s training, too. Luo Binghe coloured and fidgeted as he sat across from him, and kept on staring at him strangely. When they were almost at the market, the youth seemed to muster up some nerve.
“Shizun… is acting differently these days,” he noted.
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t really think of a good response to that observation, so he remained quiet.
Luo Binghe shifted in place.
“This servant has been impertinent, but he must apologize for not realizing… Shizun has been having exceptional difficulties all this while, hasn’t he?”
If by ‘exceptional difficulties’ Luo Binghe meant that the man had been having an epic villainous meltdown over his husband shacking up with a new flame, that was pretty accurate. Shen Qingqiu still wasn’t certain how to answer, so he just fanned himself, and kept his expression neutral.
“This servant must be even more impertinent and admit, he expected Shizun’s difficulties to worsen in these days,” Luo Binghe continued. “But it seems like… Shizun is feeling calmer, instead?”
…Probably it did look a little strange from the outside, thinking about it. Probably no one would expect the original goods’ manner to improve after Liu Qingge had officially been married into the household. If anything, it was more likely for it to seem like he was just faking good behaviour, while planning something utterly diabolical in the background. Wearing a smile while there was murder in his eyes, and things like that.
Was that what Luo Binghe was worried about?
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t blame him. In his position, he’d probably assume the same thing.
“This master has had time to think matters over,” he finally said. “In the end, he is the husband, not the lord. Binghe, one day you might marry a lord or lady too, and be some number of first or second or third spouse. Living in a fancy estate, there is a lot of comfort and security. It’s better to embrace that aspect of things than to ruin oneself over love. Love comes or goes at the lord’s discretion. I can hardly stop him from loving Liu Qingge, or from marrying him. The more I try to do such things, the more I am ruined, and the less it matters to either of them. In this world, I have no grounds to object… ten years of monogamy is already more than most get.”
Shen Qingqiu offered the youth a reassuring smile.
Luo Binghe had a complicated expression on his face. After a moment, he ducked his head, and scrubbed a hand over the side of his face.
“This… Shizun…” he said. Then he swallowed, and looked back up again. “Does Shizun really have no recourse? Lord Yue wrote such things… there’s a record of his promises. Does it really make no difference?”
Shen Qingqiu could only shrug.
“The emperor would not hold one of his lauded subjects accountable to the idle promises of a romantic youth,” he said. “How many spouses does the emperor have? How many has he likely broken his own promises to? If he holds Yue Qingyuan accountable, he has to hold himself accountable as well. Moreover, all his generals and advisers would also be put on the spot for such things, and wouldn’t appreciate it. So it’s my behaviour that would be punished, and my conduct that would be found unacceptable.”
Luo Binghe’s expression fell.
“It’s not so bad,” Shen Qingqiu hastened to assure him. Reaching out, he patted his head. “Truly, Binghe. Don’t concern yourself over it. Didn’t you yourself say this master was acting better now?”
The youth remained pretty glum, despite his efforts, until they finally arrived. Then Shen Qingqiu set about the task of getting him enough essentials so that he didn’t look like a misbegotten waif, and distracted him from his apparent misery. Who knew the boy had such a romantic streak in him? In truth, Luo Binghe cleaned up very nicely. He had a pleasant face and particularly a charming smile, and he looked smart in clothing with some actual colour and quality to it. Shen Qingqiu noted a knock-off jade pendant around his neck, and even entertained the idea of buying him a proper one. Such jewelry made for good investment items in a world like this - in times of great need, it could be pawned off or bartered, much like how Shen Qingqiu himself had sold some of the original goods’ belongings.
Maybe later, he decided.
They ate while they were out, with Luo Binghe blushing profusely under all the attention, and then nearly combusting on the spot when Shen Qingqiu mused that his cooking was better than the inn’s food. So saying, they got a few ingredients to bring back for Luo Binghe to hide away on their behalf, too. That would make things easier until Shen Qingqiu could get the kitchen staff to stop hating him.
Once they got back, Shen Qingqiu immediately made that his next point of order. Well, for tomorrow. For that day, he also had to deal with the revelation that, of course, his quarters in the confinement space of the estate weren’t actually his usual rooms.
Even though Yue Qingyuan had demoted him in terms of spousal hierarchy, the estate was grand enough and his manner soft enough that he hadn’t run Shen Qingqiu out of the chambers he’d owned for the past ten years. Instead, Liu Qingge was given his own, equally fine space, which was officially rebranded as the first spouse’s quarters, and Shen Qingqiu’s rooms were left in reserve for him to await the end of his punishment. So it was that all his things had to be moved back there, and he discovered even more books and clothes and jewels and trinkets, to his delight.
He gathered up another load of things to set aside for pawning, and once the move was done, had Luo Binghe draw him a bath while he rifled happily through the new discoveries.
It really was better not to be shut away, in the end.
~
The thing about the novel Shen Qingqiu had read - and really, it was a pain to transmigrate here of all possible places, when he couldn’t even remember the title of the book - was that he had only gotten through Book One of about a dozen. That meant that, in truth, his knowledge wasn’t completely advantageous. In any given story it was common for one plot thread to lead into another. Characters who are nearly irrelevant in the first chapters might become power players later on. Points of view could shift to create new protagonists. And shocking swerves could completely alter the course of a story from seemingly nowhere, too.
But Shen Qingqiu could only use the knowledge he had at hand, and hopefully try and build up allies for the future calamities he knew were coming - even if he couldn’t say precisely what they would be, past a certain point.
So, he had a plan, and that plan had phases.
Phase One had been making Luo Binghe’s life less needlessly miserable and unpleasant. It had worked out spectacularly well so far; the youth had an excellent temperament, and seemed naturally quite forgiving. Shen Qingqiu had mostly hoped to avoid outright hatred, but even in such a short span of time, he could say that he had become quite fond of the young servant. It made keeping up with his plan easy - Luo Binghe was the sort of person Shen Qingqiu enjoyed spoiling.
Phase Two was more complicated, since it involved the household staff. Most of whom had been around for a lot longer than Luo Binghe, and had time to accumulate many more grudges.
Fortunately, though it was harder to manage, the path to winning over the household servants was fairly straight-forward - money. Overnight, it seemed, the second husband of Yue Qingyuan’s household became immensely generous. The excellent thing about money was that even if people were suspicious of it, often enough it was still too tempting to really examine closely or turn down without a thought. While some bad opinions still persisted, they became a lot quieter. The staff no longer wanted to be caught bullying Shen Qingqiu, because the pleasure of speaking ill of the second husband or venting some frustrations wasn’t worth the risk of being cut out of the cash flow.
Shen Qingqiu didn’t delude himself into thinking that he was actually, genuinely improving a lot of opinions on himself. Behind his back, he was sure that people were speculating about his schemes, possibly even laying bets on what horrendous thing he would try and do next, or sharing dark thoughts on where all this money was suddenly coming from. No one really expected a person in his position to pawn off his valuables.
However, improvement could only happen by increments, and paying for civility was still better than dealing with open resentment.
Surprisingly, Phase One helped a great deal with this, too, because as the first month of this new life passed, Luo Binghe became increasingly offended with negative attitudes towards his master. Although, this sometimes backfired, as when Shen Qingqiu ended up pulling him out of a brawl with some of the stable staff who had been wagering on when the second husband would finally ‘drop his new act’.
Luo Binghe’s expression was downright mulish as Shen Qingqiu carefully rubbed ointment onto his bruised cheek.
“Binghe, this master appreciates your defense of him, but it isn’t worth the bruises,” he tutted.
“It isn’t right,” Luo Binghe insisted, however. He had grown a lot more bolder since Shen Qingqiu stopped mistreating him. In his mind, it was like his master had transformed from a frightening person into the sort of figure that could inspire genuine admiration - he wasn’t sure why, but since the change seemed good, he wasn’t bothered about questioning it very much either.
“Gossiping is a rude habit, but also inevitable,” Shen Qingqiu opined.
Luo Binghe’s fists clenched against his knees.
“Shizun didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. A bold claim, considering he very much had done several things wrong, including attempted assassination. “Lord Yue broke his marital vows, but everyone acts like he’s a saint and like Shizun is causing all the problems.”
With a sigh, Shen Qingqiu set about applying ointment to Luo Binghe’s knuckles instead.
“This master has caused many problems,” he felt compelled to admit. Not that he himself had, but he wasn’t going to defend a lot of the original goods’ choices. And, given the situation, that meant condemning his own self. Sort of.
Luo Binghe frowned.
In his mind, he knew it was true that his master had attempted some very underhanded things. But in thinking it over, he had decided that it really was still Yue Qingyuan’s fault. Because of the words Shen Qingqiu had spoken to him in the coach, he had thought to himself that this underhandedness was inevitable. If there was no honest path for someone to seek justice, to prevent a betrayal of a promise made to them, then what else was left? Either one had to roll over and accept it, or they had to connive some sneakier solution for themselves. Shen Qingqiu was not, as he said, the lord. He wasn’t allowed to take on more spouses or bed partners himself. That would be seen as a betrayal of his marital vows. Yet, when the lord did such things, even in defiance of his own words to the contrary, it was fine?
Luo Binghe was familiar with the unfairness of the world. He had used to think that people like Shen Qingqiu were exempt from such things. Seeing even his lofty master laid low without recourse, subject to the whims of someone even higher on the ladder of society, made him feel even more powerless by comparison.
“Shizun was desperate,” he said.
Shen Qingqiu shook his head.
“Desperate? How could I qualify as that?” he countered. “Losing someone’s regard is not like losing one’s health or home or livelihood. No, Binghe, there’s no good excuse for some of the things I tried to do. It’s better just to leave it be - if I can change people’s opinions of me, it will just have to be by proving that those opinions deserve to change, and that won’t happen over night. Not everyone shares Binghe’s generous spirit.”
In Luo Binghe’s eyes, then, Shen Qingqiu looked wise and magnanimous. He looked like the perfect immortal, untouched by worldly things; carved from light and gentle radiance, and yet, still near enough to look upon his servant with gentle care.
For his own part, Shen Qingqiu was mentally reviewing the amount of funds he had, and how many bribes he still had to make.
By the time he needed to move to Phase Three, Phase Two was more or less as successful as he could make it.
Phase Three, however, was bound to be an even bigger challenge.
Shen Qingqiu wasn’t sure of the exact time frame on it, for one thing. The novel hadn’t been specific. For another, the approach to the situation that he decided on required him to use Shen Qingqiu’s skills as a cultivator - something he was still somewhat nervous about, given that he’d never done anything like that in his first life. And finally, the real challenge was going to be the threat level of the situation.
Because, in the near and ever-approaching future, Liu Qingge was going to experience qi deviation.
In the original story, this was one of those inevitable obstacles and trials that the hero must experience to increase drama and tension. Due to the complication of his cultivation method and his new marital status, combined with all the stress of trying to be first husband to a lauded member of the imperial court, and, typically, the additional stress of Shen Qingqiu trying to ruin his life and run him off, Liu Qingge eventually collapsed and suffered a maddening kind of deviation that had him attacking everything in sight.
In the original story, Shen Qingqiu cited the dangerous situation and ran off, leaving the staff to be attacked by Liu Qingge until Yue Qingyuan arrived in the nick of time to save his life with a spiritual energy transfer. Liu Qingge was still left incredibly weakened, though, and his skill level took a dive because he had so much recovery to do, after expending so much energy and coming so close to death. It was the classic ‘weaken the protagonist for hurt comfort scenarios’ type of situation. Yue Qingyuan doted on Liu Qingge to restore his health, but Shen Qingqiu also gained enough upperhand due to the situation to become actively dangerous again. Since he attacked the staff, Liu Qingge lost a lot of popularity with them. After all, even if Shen Qingqiu was unpleasant, he’d never rampaged on them.
While leaving that situation as it was wouldn’t necessarily be terrible, for the current Shen Qingqiu’s aims, it wasn’t exactly beneficial, either. He didn’t particularly care if Yue Qingyuan decided to spend forever and a day tenderly holding Liu Qingge’s hand at his bedside. But he also didn’t really want the enmity between himself and Liu Qingge to persist, either. It wasn’t helpful. And in fact, if there came a time when Shen Qingqiu got into serious trouble, someone like Liu Qingge would be a great asset to have actually on his side. Liu Qingge was a seriously strong fighter, and unlike Yue Qingyuan, earning his favour wouldn’t carry the risk of unwanted visitors to his bedchamber. If he reconciled too much with Yue Qingyuan, he would be expected to put out, too.
Balancing that against the idea of risking his life to confront a deranged swordsman, Shen Qingqiu decided to take on the literal sword rather than the metaphorical one.
Luckily, teaching Luo Binghe let him get a lot of practice in. So when an early winter morning dawned cold and harsh to the sounds of screaming from the first husband’s courtyard, he was about as ready as he was ever going to get.
“Shizun, stay here! This servant will investigate,” Luo Binghe tried to insist.
“Absolutely not,” Shen Qingqiu countered. “That came from the first husband’s courtyard. Binghe, remain here, if something’s gone wrong it’s much too risky for you.”
Luo Binghe didn’t generally defy his commands, so Shen Qingqiu didn’t check to see that he was being obeyed before he sped off in the direction of the disturbance. Agitated servants were fleeing. One even stopped, urgently insisting to him that something was wrong and that Master Liu was attacking things; Shen Qingqiu sent that servant to go alert Yue Qingyuan, before pressing onwards.
When he arrived at the courtyard, it was a frightful scene. Liu Qingge’s skin was painfully mottled, and the energy around him was in chaos. His movements were terrifyingly swift and violent, and he really was attacking just about everything - smashing up plant pots, striking at pillars, and hacking through some of the delicate flowers that grew on the far courtyard wall. Most of the servants had already fled, although some were still huddled by the archway, clearly caught between the impulse to run and the obligation to help.
Shen Qingqiu drew Xiu Ya, and took in a long breath, before he initiated Phase Three.
Luckily, Liu Qingge wasn’t exactly an expert strategist in his current state. Although he charged at Shen Qingqiu, when Xiu Ya cut off his path, he was easily diverted into attacking the sword instead. Which was a good thing, because seeing it in person, that man’s martial prowess was fucking terrifying.
Shen Qingqiu said a prayer for himself, before he moved in as swiftly and surgically as he could.
In the end, despite the danger and difficulty and the long days he had spent worrying about it, the actual ordeal only lasted a few minutes. Shen Qingqiu successfully got in behind Liu Qingge, and managed to keep him still enough for enough time to begin transferring spiritual energy to him. The connection let him soothe the qi deviation, which in turn calmed Liu Qingge down, which made it easier to keep hold of him.
It was a risky move. Doing it wrong could easily damage Shen Qingqiu’s spiritual pathways instead, and lead him to deviate rather than fixing Liu Qingge’s problem. But oddly enough, the two of them must have been unexpectedly compatible in nature. Or maybe the story was just structured to allow such things, because his own efforts seemed to work as well as Yue Qingyuan’s - and in less time, even.
Things had just settled down when suddenly Shen Qingqiu found himself attacked from behind.
A solid blow knocked him off of Liu Qingge, and bashed the breath from his lungs, too. With a sound of surprise he hit the ground, and looked up to find Yue Qingyuan staring furiously at him.
“What is the meaning of this?!” the man demanded. “Shen Qingqiu, you-!”
His protests were cut off when Liu Qingge reached over from the ground. Still obviously drained from the incident, the man nevertheless groaned out a protest.
“Wasn’t… him…” he said.
Yue Qingyuan’s expression of ire crumbled into bewilderment. He looked down at Liu Qingge, and then swiftly bent to scoop him up, before staring back at Shen Qingqiu.
“...A-Jiu?” he asked.
Shen Qingqiu was about to pick himself up when he suddenly felt familiar hands helping him. Luo Binghe was glaring resolutely at the ground - what seemed to be his typical expression around Yue Qingyuan these days - as he got him back onto his feet.
With a sigh, Shen Qingqiu straightened out his clothes. That was going to bruise… although perhaps he should have expected something like that. After all, would the original goods have pinned down an injured Liu Qingge for any beneficial reason at all?
“He suffered qi deviation,” he explained, gesturing at the gorgeous figure now being held bridal-style by his husband. “I had to transfer some spiritual energy to fix it, but he was moving around too much. That’s why I had him pinned.”
While Yue Qingyuan looked like someone had just upended his world and inverted it, Shen Qingqiu realized that Luo Binghe ought not have been there, and gave his apprentice a reproachful bat on the head.
“I thought I told you to stay behind,” he said.
Luo Binghe kept his glower on the grass.
“This servant disobeyed. Shizun should punish him.”
Shen Qingqiu just sighed.
“Nevermind,” he decided. “We’ll go fetch Mu Qingfang, while my lord attends to First Husband.”
Yue Qingyuan seemed to wake up a little at that.
“No,” he said. “I’ll go. You’ve exhausted yourself. Just let me bring Qingge inside.”
Well… that was an unexpected turnaround. The love interest turning down the chance to romantically fret over his injured protagonist? Shen Qingqiu almost wanted to object, but he didn’t really have good cause to. So in the end, he and Binghe just followed Yue Qingyuan into Liu Qingge’s rooms. They stood back as Yue Qingyuan tenderly settled the man onto his bed. Shen Qingqiu watched his expression do some complicated things, before he then hurried out. Mu Qingfang was a very renowned healer - it generally wasn’t enough to just send servants to run after him, for important matters, it was better to go in person.
But that meant that the job of keeping an eye on Liu Qingge’s bedside was up to Shen Qingqiu.
Was that really wise? If he actually intended some strategic harm, in fact, now would be the time to do it, and not right in the middle of a brightly-lit courtyard full of witnesses. To emphasize the point, Liu Qingge barely managed to look at Shen Qingqiu before he passed out in exhaustion. His body was still harmed by the deviation; he was sweating, and even unconscious, his brow furrowed.
Just like a character in a melodrama, he rolled around quite a bit on the bed, too.
“Binghe, go fetch some cold water and wash cloths,” Shen Qingqiu requested. Luo Binghe dashed off to oblige, and a few minutes later, came back not only with the water and cloths, but also with a compress of some medicinal herbs.
“Good thinking, that will probably help, too,” he said.
Luo Binghe shook his head, though.
“Shizun should put it on his back,” he insisted. “This servant will help.”
Shen Qingqiu blinked, and then waved him off.
“It’s not that bad,” he said. “I’ll handle it later. You can help me keep First Husband still, though.”
Luo Binghe looked a little mulish about it for a moment, before he finally relented. They placed the compress onto Liu Qingge’s ribs, where some of his skin still looked angry and bruised, and carefully helped him stop thrashing. Rubbing a cool, damp cloth across his brow seemed to do enough to calm him that Luo Binghe was able to let go, and instead focus on passing things to Shen Qingqiu.
A few times in the process, Liu Qingge’s eyes would open, and he would stare at Shen Qingqiu in bleary confusion.
“Who are you?” he asked at one point, after about twenty minutes had gone by. He was feverish and glassy-eyed.
Worried that his name might bring up negative connotations, Shen Qingqiu just shushed him, and used the cloth to soothe him until he fell unconscious again.
The second time Liu Qingge woke, some minutes later, he reached out a hand towards Shen Qingqiu. As if trying to ascertain whether or not he was real. Catching his wrist, Shen Qingqiu settled him back down, and gave him a reassuring pat.
“You saved me,” Liu Qingge murmured.
“I did,” Shen Qingqiu confirmed. That was, after all, kind of the point of the whole endeavour; though it had gone a bit further than he expected. For a man who was the favoured and doted upon spouse of a noble person like Yue Qingyuan, Liu Qingge seemed oddly taken aback by that notion. He reached out a hand again, and batted gently at Shen Qingqiu’s face a few times - Luo Binghe intercepted first this time, and determinedly pushed Liu Qingge’s arm back down.
“Stop groping Shizun,” he said, with a lot more boldness than was generally encouraged in servants talking to the First Husband of a household.
“Binghe,” Shen Qingqiu tutted. “It’s fine, he’s delirious.”
“Why’d you save me?” Liu Qingge asked. There was a firm line between his brows. Somehow, the stern expression still seemed fitting on him, even with his delicate features.
Shen Qingqiu gave him another pat.
“Only enemies leave one another to suffer through things like that,” he said. “Sometimes even enemies don’t.”
The answer just made Liu Qingge look more confused. But he was obviously still feverish, too, and so after a minute, he passed out again. And then it hardly seemed to matter - most likely, he wouldn’t even remember these encounters once he was well again.
Thankfully, Liu Qingge didn’t wake up again before Mu Qingfang arrived. Then Shen Qingqiu was swiftly banished from the rooms so that the healer and Yue Qingyuan could take over matters. That was fine by him - his back was hurting from bending over so much, and by the time he and Luo Binghe got back to their own quarters, he was more than happy to accept another compress for himself. Settling onto his stomach on his bed, he let out a sigh as Binghe arranged the herbs for him, and admitted that, indeed, it was pretty tiring to try and stop a berserk deadly warrior and transfer his own spiritual energy safely over to him at the same time.
The compress felt warm, and his bed was quite comfortable. After a few minutes he began to drift off, and dozed as he debated whether or not he would want to get back up to have a meal, or just rest straight through to dinner instead. He was still dozing when he caught the distant murmur of voices, and then not long after, felt the mattress depress beside him.
Thinking it was Binghe come to change the compress, he didn’t worry about the matter much. Not until he felt a hand too large to be his youthful servant’s settle onto his back, just above the bruise.
“A-Jiu is owed many apologies,” Yue Qingyuan said, softly.
Shen Qingqiu froze in place. His heart lurched. Having this person turn up in his bedroom and touch his bare skin, under the circumstances, was in fact really alarming.
He turned his head, and took in Yue Qingyuan’s sorrowful expression.
“Your hand,” he said. Inside, he was nervous as anything, but the words came out very cold.
Yue Qingyuan flinched, just a little. But he also obligingly withdrew his touch.
“This lord should not have suspected the worst,” he admitted.
Couldn’t they have this conversation some other time? Preferably a time when both of them were fully dressed, and able to stand or sit on the same level, perhaps? Off in one corner, Luo Binghe was once again trying to burn a hole in the floor with his eyes. Shen Qingqiu was pretty sure Yue Qingyuan would have dismissed him from the room. Apparently treating him better had inadvertently created a sort of willful streak.
Realizing that this conversation wasn’t going to end until he actually finished it, Shen Qingqiu swallowed back a sigh.
“Being suspicious wasn’t unreasonable,” he conceded.
Yue Qingyuan lowered his head.
“I never struck A-Jiu before today,” he said, quietly.
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t hold in the sigh at that.
“Maybe today it wasn’t merited, but there were probably times in the past where this person would have deserved a kick or two,” he offered.
Silence.
Yue Qingyuan looked, alarmingly, on the verge of crying. To Shen Qingqiu’s relief, he didn’t actually do such a thing. He had no idea how he would have handled it if he did. But the sorrow and remorse practically flooding off of him still wasn’t excessive or forced enough to seem insincere.
Holy crap. This man really loved the original goods, didn’t he? It wasn’t as if Shen Qingqiu hadn’t wondered. It suddenly struck him, then, that he hadn’t even read far enough to confirm that the first story actually had Shen Qingqiu kill himself at the end of that book. Would the man have really gone through with it? Would Yue Qingyuan have actually stuck to his demand? Suddenly the foregone conclusion seemed a little more up in the air than he’d previously thought.
A note of guilt came through with the realization. Yue Qingyuan was a fool to marry someone else against the wishes of a husband he loved, and Shen Qingqiu was an unabashed asshole, but Shen Yuan felt like some kind of weird spiritual third wheel. He wanted to excuse himself from the room and leave these two to sort stuff out, but obviously, that wouldn’t work.
Another sigh escaped him. There wasn’t much for it, in the end. Yue Qingyuan made his choice, and somehow Shen Yuan had become Shen Qingqiu, and they were all just going to have to do their best to deal with it.
“You’ve been acting different lately,” Yue Qingyuan said.
“You noticed?” Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but reply, in surprise. How had this person even managed that much? He’d been spending 99% of his time with Liu Qingge, after all.
“Did you think I would suddenly stop noticing things about my husband?” Yue Qingyuan countered, still sorrowful. “I have always noticed A-Jiu. That hasn’t changed at all.”
Awkward! So awkward!
The hand ventured its way back.
When Shen Qingqiu stiffened, it withdrew again.
At least this man could take a hint.
“When we first got married, I remember people saying that A-Jiu wasn’t good enough to be a First Husband,” Yue Qingyuan mused, softly. His gaze turned away from Shen Qingqiu to stare out the window instead. The pose highlight his handsome profile. “I remember him trying so hard to prove them wrong. Sometimes by lashing out, yes, but didn’t he also learn how to paint and embroider and play the his instruments at that time? My husband was ten times as determined as any other. Sometimes I thought to myself, if only someone told my husband that he could never fly, he would grow wings on the spot just to spite them.”
Hearing such things, Shen Qingqiu couldn’t help but sympathize with the original goods again.
“Of course, it is when I accuse him of being an unfit First Husband that he suddenly goes and does something like this,” Yue Qingyuan concluded. “I really am a fool.”
Shen Qingqiu had no idea how to respond.
Yes?
Kind of?
It’s complicated? And even more complicated than you think?
The hand made its way back. It rested against one of Shen Qingqiu’s shoulders, and stayed there like a brand.
“A-Jiu doesn’t have to change everything about himself,” Yue Qingyuan told him. “First or second husband, it doesn’t really matter in the end - this lord has held strong feelings for A-Jiu since they were young, and will not relinquish them no matter who else he meets.”
Guilt.
That ‘strong feeling’ didn’t really sound like love, to Shen Qingqiu. It sounded like guilt. The same guilt he picked up on in the love letters he read. Refreshed, maybe, by the bruise on his back.
He couldn’t help but wonder if Yue Qingyuan noticed the difference in his feelings towards Shen Qingqiu versus those he held towards Liu Qingge. Or… was there a difference? After all, hadn’t this newer romance been spurred on by Liu Qingge becoming injured whiling trying to help Yue Qingyuan out of a tight situation? Almost as soon as the thought occurred to him, he shook it away. Of course the main love interest held genuine feelings for the protagonist. That was the kind of novel he was in, after all!
A second thought came to him, then, tinged more with annoyance than anything.
First or second husband ‘didn’t matter’?
Did Yue Qingyuan not understand how an estate was run? The First Spouse was essentially in charge of all the money! What expenditures were made where, whose requests were approved, what servants were hired or fired… there were some exceptions, obviously. It would be hard, for example, for Liu Qingge to fire Luo Binghe, because as Shen Qingqiu’s personal servant, Shen Qingqiu had more say in that even considering his rank. Unless Binghe did something really disruptive to the whole household. For the most part, however, the difference between First and Second in this regard was like the difference between boss and employee. Especially in an estate where there were only two husbands anyway. Shen Qingqiu was essentially on the bottom rung of a very short spousal ladder, and Liu Qingge had been put directly in charge of him.
Or… oh, no, wait. Yue Qingyuan was probably speaking in terms ranking in his heart or something similar.
Right.
Nevermind all that, then.
“I’m tired,” Shen Qingqiu finally said, desperate to end the awkward, awkward conversation going on.
Yue Qingyuan looked at him with his sorrowfully sorrowful eyes, unfairly handsome still, as if he was waiting for Shen Qingqiu to throw him a bone. Which he would not be getting, because that would just open up an entire situation that they were not dealing with today.
Then he finally seemed to realize he wouldn’t be getting whatever he was looking for, and at last stood up.
“A-Jiu should rest,” Yue Qingyuan agreed, his tone mercifully less intimate. “Take tomorrow to recover.”
Shen Qingqiu almost let it go at that, but then a thought occurred to him, and he couldn’t help but ask.
“Liu Qingge?”
Yue Qingyuan paused. A small smile turned his lips.
“He’s recovering,” he said. “Mu Qingfang thinks he should be back in top form in a few days. The fever already broke.”
Well, that was good then. It would have been a disaster if he’d somehow managed to change things for the worse instead.
With a nod, Shen Qingqiu turned his head away from Yue Qingyuan in clear dismissal. The man left as quietly as he’d arrived. Only once he was gone did Shen Qingqiu feel like he could relax again. It wasn’t even Yue Qingyuan himself that was a problem, really - the situation, though, made him feel like he was suddenly dangling off the edge of a cliff.
Or rather, it reminded him that he was.
The sound of movement near the bed almost put him an alert again, before he looked and realized that it was Luo Binghe this time.
“Would Shizun like a fresh compress?” the youth asked, speaking quietly himself. All these soft voices, it wasn’t like Shen Qingqiu was an invalid from a bruising kick!
But then again, it was this kind of genre of story. Sometimes people literally died of emotions in these ones.
…Huh. He’d probably have to be careful with that, come to think of it.
“Another compress would be good,” he decided, deliberately calming himself down. Surprisingly, Luo Binghe even went so far as to pat his shoulder as he lifted up the old compress. Rubbing a hand over the spot that Yue Qingyuan had touched, as if trying to erase the uncomfortable feeling that was lingering invisibly there.
Even more surprisingly… it helped.
~
Phase Four involved a period of time in winter, during which Yue Qingyuan was away at court - and a gaggle of demons were set to attack the vulnerable estate.
Among demons and humans in this world, in the upper echelons of civilization, there was a lot of competition. Demons had a lot more natural strength, but cultivators could master techniques that were still very effective against them. While it had been years since there was an all-out war, the two societies maintained a degree of hostility and cultural dissonance towards one another. The accomplishments of nobles on both sides were often weighed and compared, and statements were made via transgressions that needed to be managed carefully after the fact, in order to avoid instigating all-out battle.
One plot point that came up a few times in the novel was the demon practice of bride stealing. Being able to protect and house one’s spouses was a sign of strength among demons. Naturally, then, it could also be made into a sign of weakness, if one couldn’t manage it properly. While bride stealing was most traditionally attempted on the wedding day, it wasn’t at all uncommon for rival demon lords to snatch spouses out of one another’s households, and make a big display of it. If a demon managed to keep hold of someone else’s spouse for a year and a day, it qualified as a legal divorce for the kidnapped person. After all, by demon logic, how could anyone claim a spouse they’d neglected to rescue for so long? Most kidnappers would then marry their victims, though that wasn’t necessary and didn’t always follow suit.
Strangely enough, the pastime had also been acknowledged by imperial law, too. It wasn’t really that a lot of humans cared to practice it, or found it sensible. It was more of a necessity - demon nobles who came into rivalry with human ones wouldn’t exempt them from the tradition. After all, both peoples could find the other plenty attractive. So, in order to avoid making every single instance of ‘cultural exchange’ a matter of potential warfare, some allowances were made. Demons could capture human spouses, but being human, the nobles were given more time to reclaim their partners, and the demons were encouraged to make deals for ransom as often as rescue. Since demons liked human-made goods a great deal, newly wed nobles often even set aside special funds to offer in ransom if their spouses ever got stolen.
That, of course, was the reason for the winter attack. As a powerful warrior, Liu Qingge made a compelling potential spouse to any number of demons - particularly Sha Hualing, who liked her men pretty and strong. But even aside from his individual appeal, the demon world liked to make statements against Yue Qingyuan, who was himself a most capable fighter. Even if Liu Qingge proved intractable as a capture target, getting away with him would still probably cause a lot of embarrassment and also require Yue Qingyuan to part with some treasures in order to get him back.
This event was another reason why Shen Qingqiu wanted to change up things for Phase Three. In the original story, Liu Qingge took so long to recover that he was still weak when the demons had come. It meant that the kidnapping attempt succeeded, and caused an entire subplot about rescuing him from the clutches of Sha Hualing; an event which revealed more of Shen Qingqiu’s own wrongdoings and also involved a lot of expensive ransoms being paid.
Overall, Shen Qingqiu thought this was an experience that should be avoided. To that end, it was better to make sure that Liu Qingge was in top form and had plenty of back-up for when disaster struck. That, he figured, was the best thing he could do to try and avoid trekking through the demon realm and depleting their riches just for the sake of some more hurt-comfort and near-rape scenes.
So, as winter began to settle in, Shen Qingqiu began to spend more time with Liu Qingge.
At first, he didn’t even need to do anything - Liu Qingge sought him out on his own, once Mu Qingfang pronounced him well enough to be out and about.
He mostly just spent a lot of time frowning at Shen Qingqiu before stalking off again, though.
Figuring that wasn’t going to be sufficient, Shen Qingqiu took it as an invitation to seek the other man out in return. He had some great excuses surrounding the fact that Liu Qingge still didn’t know what the hell he was doing as an estate manager. Truth be told, neither did Shen Qingqiu, but he seemed to have worked more of it out in the meantime anyway. And Luo Binghe, observant thing that he was, seemed to know which servants did what job with unerring precision. By mostly ‘helping’ Liu Qingge figure out the job, Shen Qingqiu straddled the line of his own cluelessness adeptly enough that no one seemed suspicious.
From there, it wasn’t a huge leap to start coming to Liu Qingge for sword practice, either. After all, trading one form of knowledge for another was a very traditional method of bartering. Liu Qingge had apprentice-servants of his own, and yet despite reminding Shen Qingqiu of this gruffly a few times, he also never turned down an invitation to spar. The two of them were far from evenly matched - Shen Qingqiu was good, but Liu Qingge was expert. Liu Qingge had also never fought the original goods before, though, so it was a great way to get pointers without raising suspicions.
Surprisingly, the topic of Shen Qingqiu’s reputation only sort of came up once.
“You’re not what I expected,” Liu Qingge admitted, after an evening where Shen Qingqiu had helped him go through some of the estate accounts.
“What did you expect?” Shen Qingqiu asked, even though he knew the answer.
Liu Qingge gestured dismissively.
“It doesn’t matter,” the man seemed to abruptly decide.
And that was the beginning and end of the protagonist’s investigation on the topic. Liu Qingge couldn’t be accused of wasting a lot of time on conversation, that was for certain. But in fact, he wasn’t bad company. At Shen Qingqiu’s request, he even helped with some of Luo Binghe’s training, even though the youth insisted that he preferred his shizun’s tutelage. He didn’t seem to trip nearly so often when Liu Qingge’s stern expression was across from his practice sword. The progress was good, considering that Shen Qingqiu wasn’t entirely sure of what to expect from the demon attack - he’d been plenty excited to read that part, but the author had mostly skimmed it over in favour of focusing on Liu Qingge’s subsequent capture time instead.
The first time in winter that Yue Qingyuan left to attend court for a few days, Shen Qingqiu immediately went on alert. He spent more time with Liu Qingge, and kept Luo Binghe close, and felt at every moment that something might suddenly go wrong. Was the attack at day or night? He couldn’t recall. How many people did Sha Hualing bring with her? It wasn’t said. Did any servants get killed in the conflict? Also not mentioned. Shen Qingqiu had worked had to bribe these people, it would basically reduce him back to ground zero if they died.
Also, he didn’t… particularly want to see anyone die. It wasn’t an appealing prospect.
But the first trip passed with incident, and Yue Qingyuan came back with some tales of court. He tried to touch Shen Qingqiu again - it was becoming something of a habit with him - but when his overtures were silently rebuffed, he spent the next few nights with Liu Qingge instead.
The second time he left, things went more or less the same.
The third time, Liu Qingge revealed that he’d noticed the difference.
“Do you always get so nervous when the lord is away?” he asked, after catching Shen Qingqiu once again ‘just so happening’ to decide to read in his own courtyard. Whatever his grumblings on the subject, Liu Qingge had yet to chase him out, though.
Shen Qingqiu debated his response. In the end, it occurred to him that honesty might actually benefit him the most, as even Luo Binghe looked curious to see his answer.
“Of course not,” he said, closing his book carefully. “Tell me, does Liu Qingge know about the demonic practice of bride snatching?”
Liu Qingge blinked.
“I’m not a bride.”
“That’s the term, but it doesn’t only limit itself to women or wedding days,” Shen Qingqiu explained. He laid out the concept, while his audience of two listened with enough interest to convince them that neither of them had heard of the practice in any detail before.
“So, you think some demons might come to try and kidnap me?” Liu Qingge posited. He looked, of all things, intrigued. Probably considering how interesting the fight might be. The lunatic.
“With the lord gone, this would be the smartest time to try it, if they’re going to,” he explained. “And our husband has made a lot of enemies in the demonic world. So there are plenty of candidates who might.”
After thinking about it for a moment, Liu Qingge scoffed.
“You don’t need to worry about me being kidnapped. I can handle myself,” he said.
“Maybe so. But that kind of attack can still cause a lot of problems,” Shen Qingqiu pointed out.
Luo Binghe looked at him with wide eyes.
“Was Shizun ever kidnapped by demons?” he asked.
Shen Qingqiu was about to answer in the negative… before it occurred to him that he didn’t actually know. Thinking about it, Yue Qingyuan probably would have had a lot of enemies even ten years ago; and worse security as well. It seemed like a possible thing that could have happened. Awkwardly, he couldn’t definitively say either way.
“That’s neither here nor there,” he finally settled on saying.
Liu Qingge’s eyes narrowed.
“Would these demons snatch you, too, if they had the chance?” he wondered.
“Probably,” Shen Qingqiu conceded, only half thinking about it. He was trying to recollect everything he’d read about his character’s past with Yue Qingyuan. It wasn’t a lot, and much of it had been peppered here and there throughout the novel, which made it harder to feel certain of. “For ransom money if nothing else.”
He didn’t really think such thing was a high risk, though. After all, he knew the plot, and knew Sha Hualing was particularly set on capturing Liu Qingge as a point of order. Shen Qingqiu wasn’t a target, so his risk factor was comparatively low.
So he thought.
A few days after Liu Qingge’s inquiry, Shen Qingqiu woke in the night to a sense of profound unease. A minute later, he heard Luo Binghe hurrying to his bedside.
“Shizun, something’s the matter,” the youth told him. “It’s too quiet outside.”
Sitting up, Shen Qingqiu swiftly pulled on the clothes he’d taken to keeping by his bedside, and belted Xiu Ya to his side.
“Stay here,” he told Luo Binghe.
A stubborn look came back at him.
“This servant must disobey, and stay with Shizun.”
Shen Qingqiu, unfortunately, didn’t have time to argue - it was imperative to get to Liu Qingge as quickly as possible.
“This master must insist that you follow his instructions,” he tried one more time.
“This servant cannot,” Binghe countered.
When did his meek little apprentice become so willful? Maybe he’d spoiled him too much, he wasn’t the least bit afraid of Shen Qingqiu’s ire anymore.
Well, at least he’d gotten better at his fighting skills. And, to his additional credit, he already had his own sword with him when he went to wake Shen Qingqiu up. Clearly, he’d taken the warnings of a potential attack seriously. Luo Binghe was all but glued to his side as they made their way through the suspiciously quiet estate, eyes open for signs of disturbance, footsteps quiet as they could make them on the way to the First Husband’s quarters.
They were almost home free when Shen Qingqiu’s senses jolted like a startled rabbit. He pulled Luo Binghe back just in time to avoid the flimsily-dressed figure that dropped from the shadows, a flash of red in the darkened estate grounds.
Sha Hualing.
Though her appearance managed to be subtle, the minute she was in sight it was like a switch was flipped, and all pretenses flew out the window. Shen Qingqiu drew Xiu Ya, while Luo Binghe brandished his own short sword. In a flash they were surrounded. Shen Qingqiu carefully counted a dozen opponents, plus their leader. The silent estate grounds became like the layout of a battlefield, and full moonlight poured over them, and lit up the eager expressions of the invaders.
These demons didn’t look too inhuman at a glance, but anything more than a glance would reveal their oddities. Some of them were simply too hulking in size for an ordinary person; not really giant, but bigger than most humans ever got to be. Others had too many dissonant traits - markings, accessories, and features like animal tails or eyes. Sha Hualing looked the most human among them, but even she carried that certain demonic quality of being ‘off’ in some way.
They were badly outnumbered, but Shen Qingqiu wasn’t certain that they were outmatched. Liu Qingge wasn’t with them, but the demons didn’t seem to have him either.
“Well, well,” Sha Hualing said. “You must be Lord Yue’s second husband. Recently demoted, as the rumours go.”
Shen Qingqiu almost sighed at the taunt.
Don’t tell him demons have nothing better to do than gossip about such things?
“What do you want?” he asked. If they were talking, at least it was a delay to the fighting. And talking with demons could often yield some results, if they decided to go for it. After all, wasn’t all this business essentially just a lot of posturing anyway?
Sha Hualing laughed, and some of her minions joined in.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she asked.
Shen Qingqiu’s lips thinned.
“Our servants have retired for the night, but if you’ve come for tea, I’m certain we can still accommodate,” he offered.
“Cute,” Sha Hualing replied, doing an unnecessary flip before coming to a halt in front of him. “I’ll tell you what, Second Husband. If you point us in the direction of the fresh goods, my friends and I will just take him and be on our way. No more trouble to you, and no trashing this fancy home you have here. You might even thank us for cleaning out the competition.”
Well, the original goods probably would.
“I have a counter offer,” Shen Qingqiu replied. “You can leave, and I will not stab any of you.”
Sha Hualing sighed.
“Why make it difficult for yourself?” she wondered.
“Why make it easy for you?” he countered.
After regarding him for a moment, Sha Hualing made a sound of derision, and gestured dismissively.
“Oh fine,” she said. “I guess we’ll just capture you, too. Your lord’s reputation is about to take an enormous hit.”
“Stay close,” Shen Qingqiu admonished Luo Binghe. The youth nodded, and that was about all the preparation they got before Sha Hualing gestured, and her people descended on them.
The only good thing about the situation was that, in order to avoid war-inciting conflicts, and also achieve their aims, the demons were angling to capture rather than kill. But since it was their own estate which had been invaded, Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe didn’t have to show quite so much courtesy for their part in it all.
Shen Qingqiu did his best to muster up his calm as he sent Xiu Ya to deflect their most ambitious attacker, and pulled out all the tricks he had been practicing in the meanwhile. He was surprised at how effective it actually was; in point of fact, the situation was so stressful that it seemed easier, somehow, to just detach his thoughts from it all, and act as was necessary in the moment. He let his instincts guide him, but wasn’t foolish enough to stop analyzing the situation around him, either, as he fended off the demons and did his utmost not to let them incapacitate him.
Luo Binghe was flagging faster. The youth was still in training, and despite his potential, it was clear that he was an unpolished stone. He was also afraid. It made his blows less precise than in practice, even as he managed to keep his feet, and stay within Shen Qingqiu’s range.
The first demon to run out of patience with their ‘gentle’ approach was one of the bigger ones. Shen Qingqiu was busy fending off a one-armed demon with very quick moves when the brute seemed to become enraged at Luo Binghe, and moved to crush the young apprentice with a blow that would have left him a splatter on the estate grounds.
Shen Qingqiu’s only thought was no as he moved automatically, and intercepted. Xiu Ya’s blade was a simple sliver against the huge, mighty hammer of his opponent, but it was the stronger weapon. His arms strained, but his strength was still up to the task of pushing their attacker back. The demon’s expression twisted further in frustration.
“Shizun, look out!”
He barely registered the cause for the warning before the demon struck again, and this time hit him near enough for some of the thorny armour he was wearing to scrape open the flesh of his arm. It was only a minor injury, though, and Shen Qingqiu easy deflected the second strike, before he crippled their opponent by cutting him off at the wrists.
Hot blood poured onto the frozen ground, the contrast enough to create steam.
And then Liu Qingge turned up.
About time, Shen Qingqiu thought. He moved to greet their ally, and to watch as the protagonist showed off his impressive battle skills, when suddenly he struck by a wave of nausea and dizziness. His breath caught in his throat as his spiritual energy suddenly seemed to be blocked. With a sound of startled pain, he wavered in place instead. Luo Binghe cried out in alarm, and deflected another attacker away from them.
“Shizun! What’s wrong?!”
The wound on his arm…
Shen Qingqiu stared blearily at it.
Poison?
The fighting around them seemed to diminish sharply, as more blood hit the ground, and Liu Qingge struck like lightning. Sha Hualing was laughing, though.
“Didn’t you see?” she asked. “My friends here are very fond of poisons. Particularly, the one that Mister Second Husband over there saved his student from was wearing ‘Without a Cure’. It’s a shame - we really came to capture rather than kill. But that one’s a dead man, now.”
Luo Binghe looked furious.
Sha Hualing’s laughed cut off as Liu Qingge knocked her off of her feet.
“Antidote!” the man snarled, leveling his blade at her.
Sha Hualing scoffed.
“You think a poison called Without a Cure has an antidote? Don’t be naive,” she said.
“Who comes to capture wearing incurable poison?” Liu Qingge demanded. “…We’ll pay the ransom for it. Give us the antidote.”
Sha Hualing sighed.
“Well now I do wish there was one,” she said. From where he was, Shen Qingqiu could see her shrug. His heart sank at the gesture - even he could tell by her manner that she wasn’t bluffing. There wasn’t any reason to, either.
A moment later, his vision swam. Luo Binghe caught him before he could collapse.
Really?
He was going to die from poison? Here and now, so anticlimactically? In the end, he hadn’t even outlasted the original! How depressing…
“Shizun!” Luo Binghe cried. “Don’t give in! Just hold on…”
Shen Qingqiu looked at his stricken expression, and found that even so, he didn’t really have a lot of regrets for his actions tonight. At least this kid might do better. That was pretty good, right? Luo Binghe was a genuine white lotus, he ought to have good prospects, even if they were pretty humble in the end. Reaching out, Shen Qingqiu managed to pat his head one last time, while Liu Qingge tried threatening Sha Hualing some more.
“You did well,” he said. That was the kind of thing the dying teacher ought to say.
Luo Binghe burst into tears.
The last thing Shen Qingqiu was aware of before he passed out was something blasting the estate doors off. Oh, that was Yue Qingyuan. Well. It was nice of him to show up, in fact. Something had probably kept him delayed, he seemed to remember that from the novel. Waylaid by an ambush or something… he looked unhappy… the grounds were a mess...
Shen Qingqiu thought he had pretty well fucked up this transmigration.
Then he thought that was a depressing thought to die on.
When he woke up, it was to the nebulous sense of wondering if people ever didn’t die on somewhat depressing thoughts. Probably not if they went out old and surrounded by loved ones who would mourn them but also still live happy and fulfilled lives in their own turn. But how many people really got that? His thoughts continued on as if he’d just blipped for a moment, until he realized that he wasn’t outside anymore.
And that he was awake. And thinking. So, probably not dead?
Cautiously, Shen Qingqiu blinked his eyes open. Ugh. Not dead, but he definitely felt like death turned over. His veins hurt. He didn’t even know veins could hurt. It was like someone had lit his nervous system on fire, and it had only just decided to calm down. Although a quick glance at himself revealed that he looked pretty okay. Why was that always how things happened in these kinds of stories? Over dramatic pain, people dying of the weirdest things, but everyone always still looked artful and picturesque.
Not that he wanted to look like a pile of ground beef or anything, so he probably shouldn’t complain about it.
As he woke up a little more, he took in the rest of his surroundings. Grey light filtered in through the windows. There was a chair moved to beside his bed. Yue Qingyuan was in it, currently unconscious by the looks of things.
That would have made the original goods really happy.
The current Shen Qingqiu found that he didn’t mind it, but he wondered where Liu Qingge and Luo Binghe were, too. Well, probably Qingge was alright, if Yue Qingyuan was here and not at the protagonist’s bedside. Or running off to rescue him from kidnappers. But Luo Binghe was just a servant with shockingly few friends.
Determined to get some answers, Shen Qingqiu reached over and lightly jostled Yue Qingyuan awake.
The man came to gently, rather than with a start. That was good. His eyes focused on Shen Qingqiu.
A moment later, Shen Qingqiu was being embraced.
“A-Jiu!” Yue Qingyuan said. “You’re awake, thank goodness!”
Awkward. Again. Hesitantly, he patted the other man on the back.
“What happened?” he asked.
Yue Qingyuan patted at him, gently. He pulled back and cupped his hands around Shen Qingqiu’s face. It was too weirdly intimate for words, and only got more awkward when the other man leaned in and pressed a kiss to him. Thankfully, he went for the forehead rather than the lips, but Shen Qingqiu still found himself suddenly very awake and 100% uncomfortable. There were worse things, he supposed, than getting touched so familiarly by a handsome man who was technically his husband, but it was still really weird.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Yue Qingyuan said.
Yes, right, that was… a thing. Probably a thing that it would have been good for the other Shen Qingqiu to know, so, kind of tragic actually, all things considered. But it didn’t actually tell him anything, either. His thoughts raced as a side effect of his discomfort-verging-on-alarm, and he managed to recollect the events of the previous night. Or what he assumed was the previous night.
“I was poisoned?” he prompted.
Finally, Yue Qingyuan settled back. He still kept hold of Shen Qingqiu’s arm. It was the one without the bandages on it, thankfully.
“Yes,” he said. “The demons seemed to think that the poison would be fatal, but Liu Qingge rushed and brought Mu Qingfang here quicker than anyone else could have. Unfortunately, Without a Cure poison is indeed without a cure. However, you are stable now. So long as your meridians are routinely cleared, the condition should be manageable. It will… probably block your spiritual energies from time to time, though.”
Shen Qingqiu took a moment to parse out what this would mean.
Having his spiritual energy unpredictably block up, like a stuck drainpipe, would be a problem. If that acted up during a fight or critical scene, it could even be his undoing. Given the genre of novel he was in, the odds of that thing happening were painfully high.
And then there was the matter of treatment.
“Cleansing my meridians?” he asked.
Yue Qingyuan nodded.
“A cultivator with high enough yang energy can manage it, once a month according to Mu Qingfang. Luckily, Qingge is quite capable to the task, and if I needed, I should be able to handle it, too. Though I have less natural aptitude. Your apprentice even volunteered as well, but given that he’s still building his cultivation, I think that should be taken in sentiment rather than utility,” the man said. He offered a small smile. It was clear from his manner that the situation hadn’t exactly been as calm and orderly as he was describing.
In fact, from the moment Shen Qingqiu lost consciousness, things had become utter pandemonium. Liu Qingge had nearly killed a demonic noblewoman, Qingqiu’s apprentice had clung to him in distress, and Yue Qingyuan had barely had time to process the scene before he was struck by the sudden, cold fear that his husband was dead.
And then Liu Qingge, of all people, had been the first to go for the healer. Slicing through the air on his sword so quickly that it felt surreal. Yue Qingyuan had hoped that, eventually, Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu would evolve to the point where they could conduct themselves civilly around each other. Perhaps even develop a polite sort of affinity. Never would he have imagined them hitting off like a house on fire, even risking life and limb to aid one another in their respective times of need.
Obviously, it was a good thing for his husbands to get along.
But wasn’t it just a little strange, too…?
He shook the inappropriate thought away. So much had happened, his mind was a mess; he was starting to think that taking a second husband hadn’t been worth the benefits after all. Yue Qingyuan had hoped that the move would settle some of the unfavourable opinions of him in court, and he had wanted Liu Qingge besides. But the gossip mill instead just seemed to light up with talk of how Shen Qingqiu was a jealous wreck and Yue Qingyuan wasn’t so ‘saintly’ after all - those he sought to curry better favour with still scoffed at ‘two’ spouses, barely less than they had at one, and with the excitement and newness of the wedding behind them, he had started to notice that for all his virtues, Liu Qingge was a bit… well…
Unsuited, maybe, to the role of First Husband. That might be unfair, though. Yue Qingyuan was accustomed to someone with Shen Qingqiu’s calculating mind taking on the role for him, but that didn’t mean it was the only way to handle things. Liu Qingge was direct, honourable, and honest. Just because the court generally ate him alive and he had no idea how to balance an accounts book, that didn’t mean he couldn’t still grow into the position. It was early days yet.
And surprisingly, it seemed Shen Qingqiu was helping him.
These thoughts and more had stirred up increasing conflict in Yue Qingyuan’s heart, though. Ever since he had broached the subject of a second spouse with Shen Qingqiu, the man had been impossible. He had protested, accused, sulked, given him the cold shoulder, manipulated and schemed and postured, all in an obvious attempt to put a stop to the notion.
It really was obvious. That was the point that had struck Yue Qingyuan, as he sat by his husband’s bedside and wondered if his eyes would ever open again. He had chased everyone else out, and for a moment, it had narrowed the world back down to the two of them. Which reminded him, invariably, of the days when it really had been the two of them against the world. Before Yue Qingyuan discovered his parentage, before Shen Jiu followed him into the cutthroat world of politics and somehow managed to keep him alive, even as his hands seemed to get dirtier and dirtier. In that way, it wasn’t much different from living on the streets.
Shen Qingqiu could be subtle as a knife in the dark. But nothing made fools of men more swiftly than two things - love, and fear. All of Shen Qingqiu’s machinations had just made Yue Qingyuan start to wonder what he’d ever seen in the other man to begin with. Somehow, at some point, he had stopped looking at their shared past, and started looking at things through the lens of the other nobles at court. Shen Qingqiu was a bad alliance, by their estimations, lacking in the usual traits of desirability - he had no family connections, no independent wealth, no formal education, and when they’d first married, none of the skills admired in prospective partners, such as musicality, artistry, or even obedience. He was willful, cold, independent, and ruthless.
There was a time when Yue Qingyuan used to laugh at the judgement of others. When Shen Qingqiu’s traits, far from holding him back, helped him rise in prominence time and again.
But then they had reached a point where, short of assassinations and/or revolutions, there wasn’t really much more room to rise. They were comfortable, influential, and Yue Qingyuan was content with his rank and prestige. What use was a ladder when there were no more levels to climb?
At some point, Yue Qingyuan had begun to listen to the voices that whispered that he deserved something else. Something more. Someone more.
And Shen Qingqiu, his knife in the dark, became a weight around his neck. The more he pulled, the more Yue Qingyuan resented him. But thinking on it… what else could his A-Jiu do? Those insufferable actions, that blatant resistance, would anyone behave in such a way if they weren’t… panicking?
It would almost be easier, Yue Qingyuan thought, if Shen Qingqiu had just continued acting out apace. He’d been expecting him to scheme against Liu Qingge, to accept things only reluctantly, to need to be brought in line and scolded and sometimes confined away. He was fully prepared to treat his husband with the same kind of high-handed superiority that other nobles treated their spouses. Fully prepared, also, for Shen Qingqiu to complain and resist and only reluctantly fall in line, only give in at last because he loved Yue Qingyuan. Because that was a given.
Except, that wasn’t what happened.
Yue Qingyuan married Liu Qingge, and overnight, it seemed, Shen Qingqiu transformed.
That should have been a good thing. It was more peaceful than expected, there were no more tantrums after the tea, no more schemes that Yue Qingyuan could uncover, even what seemed like an obvious attack had turned out to be a rescue instead. And yet…
All of it filled him with intense disquiet. A disquiet he couldn’t name, but also couldn’t dismiss.
Shen Qingqiu still hadn’t welcomed him back into his bed, so maybe that was it? Ordinarily, sex was something his husband would wield gladly in all manner of ways. Yue Qingyuan was fully expecting his husband to seduce him away from Liu Qingge at the first available opportunity, to try and drag him into his bed and keep him there. Guiltily, he might admit he had even been looking forward to it. Just a little. Whether Shen Qingqiu would be aggressive or play demure, invoke passion or nostalgia or even pity, he didn’t know, but he wasn’t anticipating a dry spell.
His husband did no such things, though. There were no temptations. He barely seemed to tolerate Yui Qingyuan’s touch.
Perhaps it was a strategy of its own. Maybe that was why it felt so ominous. Even so…
His mind kept turning over the concept, of love and fear and foolishness. And he couldn’t help but think, but fear, that the answer was obvious.
Shen Qingqiu had stopped loving him.
As if the moment he married Liu Qingge, he had simply reached inside his heart, and turned a switch, and that was it. When he looked Yue Qingyuan, there was no warmth in his gaze. Not even the heat of ire. Or ice of resentment, to go in the other direction. No bitterness. No heartbreak. It was as if his heart had broken, but only the part of it that loved Yue Qingyuan. And so the man had shrugged, swept aside the pieces, and then gotten on with things.
The thought was terrifying.
Absolutely terrifying. Not least because, if that was the case, Yue Qingyuan had no idea what to do to win back what he had lost. Seeing his husband lying pale and bleeding on the estate grounds, deathly still, had jolted him so badly it was as if the ghost of his own self, a decade younger, suddenly began screaming in his ear.
What are you doing?! That’s our A-Jiu! Who is this person who would break our A-Jiu’s heart in order to gratify his own? It cannot be Yue Qi, who promised to look after him, who swore to never leave him behind again!
He wanted to tell Shen Qingqiu that, somehow, he had come to his senses. And yet, even sitting across from his bedridden husband, it felt as if he was still looking for the man he wanted to apologize to. The Shen Qingqiu who looked at him with annoyance or derision or triumph or impatience but always, just past that, always, always, love.
The man in the bed made a thoughtful sound of acceptance. His gaze was polite, accepting, and neutral. For his own part, his mind had latched onto the topic of his apprentice.
“Well, that’s better than dying,” he said, in reference to his own condition. “Speaking of my apprentice, is Binghe alright?”
Yue Qingyuan reluctantly let go of his arm.
“Your servant is fine. I had to chase him out to get some rest. He’s admirably loyal,” he said.
“First Husband?”
“He wasn’t hurt.”
Shen Qingqiu felt satisfied with those answers. ‘Wasn’t hurt’ obviously also covered off the slim change that Liu Qingge had somehow been kidnapped anyway, which put paid to his fears that the plot of the novel was inevitable, too. With those worries eased, he let his attention turn back towards his own plight. At least he didn’t feel in pain. Tired, a bit achy, but nothing too terrible.
“I caused my lord trouble, keeping him at my bedside,” he finally said.
“It was no trouble,” Yue Qingyuan assured him. “Watching over my husband could never be trouble.”
Shen Qingqiu shook his head a little. Somehow, it seemed, he kept stealing all the bedside vigils, one way or another. That probably wasn’t very good for the progression of the main relationship.
“My lord has another husband now, though, and surely must be anxious to check on him too,” he reasoned. Reaching over, he gave Yue Qingyuan a pat, as if to say ‘there, it’s alright - you can go do what you really want’. That guilt was back, he thought, and really not needed. Even if the genuine concern in Yue Qingyuan’s eyes wasn’t exactly unpleasant, either.
Yue Qingyuan glanced away, sorrowful again.
“Didn’t I say he was fine?” he replied. “This husband of mine right here, he nearly died. Of course he is the one I am most anxious over.”
That guilt was damn persistent.
“Almost died is still alive,” Shen Qingqiu assured him with another pat. “Don’t fret. My lord should go take a break, and see to his needs. This Second Husband will still be here for the foreseeable future.”
Yue Qingyuan regarded him silently for a moment.
Just when he thought that the other man was about to withdraw, his expression wavered a little. He moved, but instead of standing up, he instead slid down beside the bed. Reaching for Shen Qingqiu’s hand, he took it in his grasp, and pressed the back of his palm against his forehead. A move in supplication. It took Shen Qingqiu utterly aback.
“Will A-Jiu ever forgive me?” Yue Qingyuan asked, at barely more than a whisper.
What was with this strange behaviour all of a sudden?! Forgive what? The - the poison? That was the demons! The invasion? Also, obviously, not something that could be blamed on Yue Qingyuan, except perhaps very circuitously. Marrying Liu Qingge? Wouldn’t that be a ‘better to beg forgiveness than ask permission’ type situation at this point? He’d already made his bed with that! Or was it something else, something tied to this persistent and weird aura of guilt? Ten years was a long time, and that was just the length of time that the original goods and his weird husband had been married for. Probably there were a lot of things in the past that both of them had done.
Shen Qingqiu couldn’t figure out how to answer. So in the end, he didn’t.
Yue Qingyuan’s eyes were closed as he pressed his hand to his face.
“A-Jiu,” he said, still little more than a whisper. “A-Jiu never forgives me. But still, it feels different this time…”
Carefully, Shen Qingqiu tugged his hand back.
Yue Qingyuan let him slip through his fingers, even though it was clearly not what he was hoping for.
“You must be exhausted,” Shen Qingqiu decided. “Everything will seem less dire with some rest and food. Go look after yourself, my lord.”
At last, the dismissal seemed to sink in. Yue Qingyuan nodded, and murmured a polite apology. Shen Qingqiu still felt some guilt of his own as he watched the man finally leave the room. There wasn’t much for it, but still…
He let out a sigh of regret, once he was alone.
That solitude didn’t last for long.
“Shizun!”
Shen Qingqiu’s lips twitched ruefully. Still, at least a sticky apprentice was easier to handle than the complexity of his not-quite-husband’s emotions.