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GETTING PERSONAL WITH THE DIVINE FORESIGHT: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE ARBITER GENERAL, JING YUAN!
Quan Yaomei – The Xianzhou Daily
XX / XX / XXX 2157AE
The beloved general of the Xianzhou Luofu has been making waves since the conclusion of the Ambrosial Arbor Crisis.
Following the Wardance, which I was graciously invited to report on by the event organizers over on the Luofu (watch my interview with the finalists here!), General Jing Yuan has been seen in public increasingly often. From visiting local food carts to attempting famous street performance tricks, it seems the General has been making an effort to be more connected to the people!
On one such outing, I managed to speak with him about a potential interview idea I had in mind, and to my delight, he agreed. What follows is a transcript of our conversation, but if you want to watch it for yourself, the video is up on The Xianzhou Daily's official Milimili account! ...
… QYM: So, recently there's been some viral pictures going around Milimili…
JY: Ah, I think I know the ones. Lieutenant Yanqing showed me because he was concerned I had been possessed.
QYM: (Laughs) The people seem to think similarly! So they really were real?
JY: Of course! (Laughs) One of my less appreciated hobbies is trying new foods from across the cosmos!
QYM: I wouldn't have expected that from you!
JY: Most don't! It's a habit I picked up when I travelled more as a Cloud Knight in my youth. One of my companions always encouraged me to try new things, and after her passing I kept up the tradition.
QYM: How touching. This friend must have meant a lot to you.
JY: (Smiling) She did.
QYM: …Ahem… I also hear that you keep pets? The people want to know, is it true that you have a pet lion?
JY: I would hardly call her a pet, but yes. She’s a lovely friend.
QYM: How sweet! Even our Arbiter General has a soft spot for animals! …
—
Arbiter General Jing Yuan,
It has been too long since we last spoke! Things have been busy for both of us, I'm aware. One of my assistants recently showed me an interview featuring you which sparked my curiosity.
There was a section where you spoke about trying the famous Maldana scorpion tail, and, as a fan of unusual cuisine, I thought you might like to try Penaconian Lemon Tart. It's a meal that was popular back when Penacony was just a prison planet. When I was a child, my mother used to make it for my siblings and I, though as I have aged, it's lost quite a bit of popularity.
No need to reply if you aren’t interested, Arbiter General. Consider this just an avenue for cultural exchange.
I have attached a small cryofreeze package with my letter containing the tart’s original recipe. It won't be quite as good as it might be fresh, but I hope you will still enjoy it.
Sincerely,
Oti Alfalfa.
—
On the Xianzhou Zhuming, a foxian girl has a conversation with her classmate between periods.
“Hey, have you seen all that stuff about General Jing Yuan recently?”
“Oh my goodness, I have! Did you see that livestream of him, like, eating Yaoqing hotpot with General Feixiao?”
“I did! My favorite part was when Feixiao took off her coat when it got too hot… Hey!” She exclaims as her friend lightly slaps her arm. “I'm just saying!”
“You're so gone for her, Meiling. You know she's, like, a hundred years older than you, right?”
“Fu Ming’s parents have a hundred year age gap! I have a shot!”
“Fu Ming’s parents are a thousand years old! You’re only thirty!”
The two girls, noticing how their classmates' eyes have been diverted to them in their increasingly loud discussion, pipe down.
“I'm just saying!” The foxian hisses, “I just wish we could have done, like, a school trip or something to the Luofu to watch the Wardance! Imagine if we saw Feixiao there!!”
“Yeah,” her friend sighs, “but I heard they had a borisin problem at the beginning… honestly, I think I'm ok with just watching livestreams.”
“You're right,” the foxian sighs, just in time for their teacher to come in for their next period.
—
TEACHING GENERAL JING YUAN HOW TO SPIN PLATES?! (NOT CLICKBAIT!!)
142,375 Views • 19 hours ago
11.3k likes • 235 dislikes
Little Gui 234,796 Followers
Comments
Golden Jiuhe (edited) 18 hours ago
11:35 Sushang in the background xsl
2.5k likes
Unparalleled Mango 19 hours ago
Does anyone else feel like Jing Yuan just looks like a cat through this whole vid??
1.2k likes
Mockgaozhang 11 hours ago
9:12 HIS LAUGH IM SCREAMINGGG
345 likes
MerlinClaw 17 hours ago
Little Gui is the best teacher ever it’s not her fault Jing Yuan broke all of those plates hsskjdks (TωT｀*)
2.5k likes
Replies
NotanOrange 12 hours ago
I wish she could teach me I’m hopeless ((T_T))
2 likes
—
Fu Xuan is not a woman who keeps up with gossip rags. She's busy rebuilding the Luofu! The divination commission might not have been as affected as the Alchemy or Ten Lords’ Commission, but there is always work to do even without the added stress of Hoolay's near-escape and the Ambrosial Arbor crisis.
Of course, her workers don't seem to have gotten the same memo.
Fu Xuan looms over Qingque.
“What are you watching that's so important you aren't working on the task I gave you?” She asks. She is not really asking.
Qingque jumps, shakily looking up from her phone to meet eyes with Fu Xuan.
“Hey… Master Diviner Fu….”
Fu Xuan taps her foot. She does not have all day to spend in this… oddly well-lit crag between shipping containers.
“I was just- uh. Keeping up with the news! See! I'm not even playing celestial jade!”
“What news.” Fu Xuan grits out.
“Jing Yuan’s been doing that publicity tour, right? I’m just watching an interview from it. Super informative, can't miss it.” She makes a weird aborted gesture with her hands that sort of looks like finger guns. Before grimacing, disgusted with herself, and flipping her phone to show Fu Xuan the interview she had been watching.
“What the.. ‘Getting Personal With The Divine Foresight’??” She reads. “‘Exclusive interview’?? Why is that guy interviewing with the Xianzhou Daily ??”
“He said he's trying to connect with the public more.” Qingque says, as if he isn't a General fresh off the back of two crises. “I think he might even play Celestial Jade at some point…”
Fu Xuan fumes.
“Get back to work!” She yells, already on her way to the Palace of Astrum. A text will not suffice. The fact that she found out about Jing Yuan’s just- unscrupulous activities through Qingque of all people is beyond her! How dare he?! Is he spending Luofu money on this?! After a crisis– no, two crises?! How! Dare! He!
Qingque snaps a photo of the diviner’s back and sends it to her groupchat of online Celestial Jade friends.
Guess who has the rest of the day off!! ;-)
(“General,” Fu Xuan grits, storming into the Palace of Astrum, “ Why are you doing a- a publicity tour, of all things?!”
Jing Yuan only laughs.)
—
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…
—
The Astral Express Family
Dan Heng: [Photo of March, Dan Heng, and Stelle posing in Central Starskiff Haven. Dan Heng is wearing a dragon-horn headband, March is wearing a panda ear headband, and Stelle is wearing a plush hat shaped like a garbage can lid.]
Welt: March, give Dan Heng his phone back.
Dan Heng: You have a signal!!
Dan Heng: Fine…
Himeko: Only momentarily. We're in transport right now, but we'll be back offline in about a system hour. How have things been?
March 7th: Aaaah!! It's been sooooo much fun.
March 7th: Do you like my new outfit Mr. Yang?? I’m now the sword champion of the Astral Express!!
Welt: It's very cute.
March 7th: Squee!!!!
[March Smile]
Himeko: How have things been for you, Dan Heng and Stelle?
Dan Heng: It's been good. Lots has happened.
Stelle: The storyline was peak. We'll tell you all about it once you come back.
Welt: “Peak”?
Dan Heng: Slang she picked up in Penacony. She won't stop saying it…
March 7th: Omg! guys look! We're in one of the articles about Jing Yuan!
March 7th: [GENERAL JING YUAN TRIES THE ASTRAL EXPRESS’S FAVORITE FOODS]
Welt: With a title like that, you would think he's a celebrity, not a General.
Dan Heng: These days he's pretty much been both…
Stelle: That's mostly your fault, though?
[Stelle Question]
March 7th: What!!!!!
Himeko: [Himeko Smile]
Dan Heng: Don't get it twisted. He just asked me for advice on how to be better connected with the people. Stelle and March contributed most of the info.
Welt: Why does it say my favorite food is cotton candy honey buns?
March 7th: [March Evil Grin]
—
“So once I have a username and password set up…?” Jing Yuan asks.
Yanqing leans over to look at his phone. “You just have to set a profile picture and a display name.”
“Is that really what you want your username to be?” Yunli grimaces, “It's kinda…”
“Hey! He can make his username whatever he wants!”
“I’m just saying!”
“He’s the General! Why are you questioning his choice!”
“Well it’s not like you’re the General either!”
“Maybe, but at least he asked me to help! You just butted in!”
“My grandpa told me to hang out with you. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t be here anyways!”
“That’s beyond the point!”
“‘That’s beyond the point!’” Yunli mocks, “ You’re beyond the point!”
Preoccupied with bickering as they are, they don’t notice when Jing Yuan takes a selfie of him smiling as Yunli and Yanqing bicker over him, setting it as his profile picture.
@JinSiYuan gains one hundred thousand followers that night.
—
Dear Feixiao,
Though you have returned to the Yaoqing, I still think fondly of all the meals we shared while you were on the Luofu.
I recently was sent a Penaconian speciality from an old friend, and because Yanqing was in the room while I received it, I encouraged him to try it too. We were quite polarized, so I sent another of it to Huaiyan, who shared my opinion that it was quite delicious.
Yunli also hated it. When I told Yanqing, he seemed disgusted to be agreeing with her, but too disgusted with the tart to change his opinion. Young people are quite funny, aren't they?
Anyways, I'm in need of a tiebreaker. Share it with your attendants, if you'd like, or have it all to yourself. Write back and let me know what you think of this “Mr. Herring's Lemon Tart”.
Awaiting your response,
Jing Yuan.
—
General Jing Yuan's unofficial publicity tour unofficially ends two months after it started.
It isn't a big, announced thing, Jing Yuan just slowly shows up in public or on social media less often. It also roughly coincides with the beginning of normalcy on the Luofu. Lingsha gets the Alchemy Commission under control, Fu Xuan stops having daily brain hemorrhages, all the visiting Generals and their accompaniments return to their home ships, the Astral Express moves on to the next planet, and all the Wardance tourists have more or less left.
In a letter sent to the Astral Express thanking them, Jing Yuan says it was a great success. The people of the Luofu are much more comfortable with him as a General, and much more likely to report it when things go awry. He invites them back again, whenever they might want to visit, and March enthusiastically makes a list of everything she wants to do with her Shifus once she can see them again.
—
Jing Yuan,
That tart was horrible. Why would you send that to me.
…Jiaoqiu liked it.
Moze refused to try it.
Guess you're going to need a third opinion!
With resentment,
Feixiao.