Chapter Text
As the morning rays shine through the exquisite curtains, the prince and king stand in front of their mirror. Xie Lian draped in fancy white robes with gold accents, Hua Cheng putting his hair up in fine hairpins. Ever since they got married and started spending most of their time in Paradise Manor, Hua Cheng has lavished Xie Lian in all types of finery. Whether it be the silk sheets they lay every night to the high-class meals they eat, soaps, vases, jewels, scrolls, Xie Lian now has it all. He especially now has a multitude of expensive robes and hairpieces, and though Xie Lian prefers his usual white cultivator robes, he does like seeing the smile on his San Lang’s face every time he wears one of his gifts. Today is one of those days.
“There, all finished, your highness. You look beautiful as always,” Hua Cheng says as he finishes his lover’s hair. Today, Xie Lian even allowed Hua Cheng to dress him, a rare treat and one of the ghost king’s favorites.
Xie Lian twirls slightly, smiling, “Thank you, San Lang, this robe is lovely.”
“Of course…you know, Gege almost looks too divine. I’m afraid your heavenly colleagues may not be able to keep their eyes off you. I can’t have that, after all, Gege’s mine. Won’t you stay and let San Lang be the only one allowed to look at you?” Hua Cheng pouts mischievously, wrapping his arms around Xie Lian from behind, looking at him through the mirror in front of them.
“Ah, San Lang…” Right on cue is Xie Lian’s red face, “shameless…maybe I’ve been spoiling you too much lately.” He turns his head away, while crossing his arms, still in Hua Cheng’s embrace.
Chuckling, “I’m kidding, Gege, please forgive me. I just can’t help it! The urge to see your cute pouting face takes over me,” he says as he starts attacking Xie Lian’s face with kisses.
“Ah! San lang!!” Xie Lian’s laughter echoes through their room as Hua Cheng lavishes his face with pecks, turning the prince around in his arms in a tight grip to continue.
Ending his loving assault with a hearty laugh, Hua Cheng stares deeply into his husband’s eyes, completely love-struck. After recovering, Xie Lian catches his gaze and returns it, before breaking out into the most lovely smile.
Hua Cheng embraces Xie Lian fully, stroking his hair, “Please don’t overdo it today, your highness. Your morning sickness today was enough on your body. And make sure to tell me if you ever need anything.”
“Mn, of course. Thank you, San Lang…I love you…”
Hua Cheng’s eyes widen with fondness. Saying “I love you” isn’t as rare of an occurrence as it was in the beginning of their marriage, but the words still fill both of their hearts with joy.
Hua Cheng pulls back slightly, looking deeply into the prince’s eyes before closing the gap between them and locking their lips in a sweet kiss. Time slows in these moments, and the only thing Xie Lian can feel is warmth overtaking his body and an endless fountain of love seeping through every cell.
After what felt like an hour, they part.
“I love you too, Gege,” He looks down to Xie Lian’s stomach, rubbing it softly, “Be good to a-die today, I love you, my flower.”
Giggling, Xie Lian puts his hand on top of Hua Cheng’s, “They’ll be good, won’t you?” His question directed towards his stomach. Or specifically the baby growing in it.
They both laugh sweetly.
“We’ll see you soon, San Lang.”
“See you soon, Gege.”
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. 𐦍༘⋆
“Hello, your highness”
It’s a change walking down the heavenly capital, and instead of hearing rude remarks and gods sneering, greetings and well wishes for the day. Not that Xie Lin isn’t happy that he’s now finally being treated with respect. It’s just strange how fast people’s opinions of you can change.
“Good morning”
Still, he waves politely back.
He’s expected to attend a meeting today in the newly rebuilt Lingxiao palace. It’ll just be the gods reporting the state of the land they preside over, and it’ll probably just turn into a heated argument in the end, but Xie Lian still finds it important to attend.
As he makes his way up the stairs to the palace, “Your highness,” Ling Wen comes up from behind Xie Lian, “good morning.”
“Ling Wen, yes, good morning!” he says cheerfully.
“I wasn’t sure you would come today. You didn’t attend last week’s meeting.”
“Ah, yes…stuff came up, but it’s all sorted out now…” In truth, the last week had been the worst so far in his pregnancy in terms of pain. It seemed as though he was cramping every hour along with all the other symptoms of pregnancy. There was no way in hell that Hua Cheng was going to let Xie Lian go to heaven in his condition, and honestly Xie Lian didn’t mind. It just meant more time to spend with his husband.
“I see, well I hope you’re prepared for today’s meeting.” Ling Wen says suspiciously.
“Of course.”
As they walk through the door, Xie Lian immediately sees Feng Xin and Mu Qing ignoring each other, yet standing oddly close to one another.
“Good morning generals, how are you two doing?” Xie Lian greets them when they notice him in turn.
Completely ignoring his question, “Your highness…you’re wearing something so different today…” Mu Wing says.
“Yes, San Lang picked it out for me. Is it too much?”
“No, of course not. I just wouldn’t expect you to wear this…”
“It looks lovely, your highness. Pay him no mind,” Feng Xin enters their chat. Mu Qing side-eyes him. Leaning closer to Xie Lian whispering, he says, “Are you sure you’re feeling well enough to be here? What about the baby?”
Whispering in turn, Xie Lian says, “There’s no need to worry. I’m feeling fine.”
With that, their chit-chat comes to an end when Ling Wen comes to the center of the room and asks all to be silent, ready to start the meeting.
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. 𐦍༘⋆
“All right with that, I conclude today’s meeting.” Ling Wen speaks, closing the scroll she was writing in.
Xie Lian stands from the fancy chair he sat in, waving goodbyes to Feng Xin and Mu Qing. However, he doesn’t plan to go back to Ghost City just yet…there’s a favor he wants to ask a friend first.
But before Xie Lian is able to leave the palace, a deep, attractive voice is heard, “Your highness! It’s been a while.”
Xie Lian stops in his tracks, then turns to see who it is, “Ah, General Pei. Yes, hello! How are you doing?”
“Fine, thank you. Say, I heard you haven’t been feeling well lately…have things been rough with that ghost king of yours?” Pei Ming raises his eyebrow, a smug look on his face. He’s clearly interested in drama, Hualian drama to be specific.
“Huh…? Oh! N-no, it’s just as I’ve said, I was just simply not feeling well….” Xie Lian’s face turns red.
“I see. Very well. Then I suppose I’ll catch you some other time, your highness.” Pei Ming starts to walk off.
“Wait! Excuse me, General, but actually…could I ask you a question?”
Again, the general returns the smug smile, “Of course, could this question possibly be about—“
“No!!! No, no, it’s nothing like what you’re thinking…Our anniversary is coming up…even though it’s been 5 years now, I’m still bad at finding him a gift…” Xie Lian starts shyly.
“A gift? Easy, Crimson Rain will like anything from you…but if you really want to give him a gift to remember for years to come, you could always wear something nice and short…only let him see it, surprise him with your forwardness.”
“Uh, right….I’m not too sure about that…but I suppose thanks anyway, General. I’ll be heading out first.” Xie Lian had to leave that conversation fast; if he stayed, he was sure to explode. Though, talking to Pei Ming about an anniversary gift, what do you expect?
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. 𐦍༘⋆
After that whole conversation, Xie Lian makes his way down to the mortal realm, specifically the capital city he once stopped the second spread of multi-face disease. Through the busy streets, he passes to the more poor area of the kingdom in search of a friend.
“Gongzi! Are you here to see Ol’ Feng?” One of the villagers asks.
Xie Lian frequents every once in a while to visit Shi QingXuan and bring the villagers food. Today he will be doing the former.
“Yes, in fact I am! And sorry, I’ll bring food next time!” Xie Lian smiles apologetically, while continuing on his way.
“No problem, Gongzi!”
As Xie Lian makes his way to the group home the former wind master now lives, he stops when a hand reaches his shoulder.
“Xie Lian?”
The prince turns upon hearing this, seeing a big bright smile upon a dirty, yet elegant face.
“Shi QingXuan!
“Your highness! It’s been a while! What brings you here?”
Xie Lian walks towards the former wind master and Shi QingXuan meets him halfway, stopping just short of him.
“Ah, well actually, do you mind if we talk somewhere more private..?”
“Huh? Ohh, then this must be something related to that ghost king of yours isn’t it?” Shi QingXuan asks teasingly with his eyebrow raised. Why is that the first thing that pops into peoples heads when he’s shy about asking something!…Upon seeing the Prince’s bright red face, “Hahaha! Sure, follow me this way your highness, there’s a small tea shop not too far, we can talk without disruption.” Xie Lian nods, his head down trying to hide his flush.
They arrive at a small shack with a couple of tables inside, smelling of herbal tea, unsurprisingly, it is a tea shop after all. They settle in a table at the corner of the shop, ordering a teapot.
“So, what’s this all about?” Shi QingXuan asks.
“…me and San Lang’s anniversary is coming up in about a week…but, much ashamed, I’m not sure what to gift him this year.”
“Ah, I see. So you’ve come to the gift-giving expert. Smart choice,” The former wind master, looking very pleased with himself, continues, “You have to give him something you’ve made yourself…hm, why not fix up one of those vases you’ve scrap-collected? You can fix up any cracks, paint it, it will be the perfect thing to put on a desk with flowers. He’ll think of you every time he sees it!” Shi QingXuan looks very proud of his suggestion, nodding to himself.
“It’s a lovely idea! But, I did that on our 3rd anniversary actually, and he wasn’t too happy to see all the cuts in my fingers from trying to fix the vase…” Xie Lian looks over at his friend with a bit of a guilty expression.
“Hm, then you’re going to have a tough time on your 100th anniversary….Ah! Carve him something from wood. That’s always a beautiful one! Maybe…a butterfly, or flower?? Just something that’s a meaningful symbol to your relationship. What do you think?”
“…I don’t mean to make excuses, but I’m really not too good at carving. In fact, at one point I tried to learn to carve so that maybe I could sell pieces on the street. Of course…I almost cut my finger off…”
“Oh! Then let’s definitely stay away from that!”
Just then a waiter comes by to drop off their teapot, and leaves with a bow. As Shi QingXuan pours tea into his cup, Xie Lian is about to refuse, he doesn’t want to drink tea besides the one given to him by the medical master during his pregnancy just in case, but he’s hit with a wave of nausea when the scent of the floral mixture hits his nose, and he covers his mouth, closing his eyes while gagging.
“Ah! Your highness!!! Is everything alright??”
Xie Lian immediately runs out of the building, to puke in the small alley next to the tea shop. Shi QingXuan follows, deeply concerned.
“Your highness! Are you alright?!”
Xie Lin wipes his mouth, instantly feeling better. As he gets his bearings he turns to QingXuan, half leaning on the wall, “I’m fine, there’s no need to worry…”
The former Wind Master is not convinced, it seems, because his face doesn’t really change at all. It just turns into something more confused. “Your Highness, you are still a god, right? Forgive me for saying this…but gods shouldn’t be able to throw up unless they’ve been cursed…you haven’t been cursed, have you?!”
“No, no! I’m really fine…” Xie Lian contemplates whether or not he should tell his friend that he’s pregnant…but there really wouldn’t be a reason not to, and he’s going to find out sooner or later when Xie Lian comes back to visit with a baby in his arms. “Well, actually…I took a child-bearing pill recently and…” He trails off a bit embarrassed.
Shi QingXuan’s eyes widen. “Child-bearing…you mean…! Xie Lian! Are you pregnant!?!!”
“Yes…” He says sheepishly.
Shi QingXuan just grabs his hands. “Your Highness! This is amazing! I’ll be having a little niece or nephew now, how exciting!! I wish you the best, Xie Lian.”
Xie Lian’s face turns thoughtful when he hears Shi QingXuan refer to his baby as his little niece or nephew. He puts a hand to his stomach. “ Little one, you will be so loved by everyone,” he thinks.
After chatting a bit more, QingXuan asks about names or when he is allowed to talk to everyone about his little niece or nephew. Xie Lian notices the sun starting to set. “Oh, it’s getting late, isn’t it? QingXuan, I should probably head back now.”
“Ah, it is! But you still haven’t decided on what to get Crimson Rain!”
“It’s no problem. I’ll think about it tonight. I’ve already taken up enough of your time.” Xie Lian still has no clue what he should get his husband, but he’s had this problem every year since they got married. Hua Cheng is just too difficult to gift! Somehow, though, Xie Lian always managed to think of the perfect thing just on time, something Hua Cheng always ends up loving, so he’s not going to give up yet.
“Alright then, goodbye, your highness! I hope you find something in time, and make sure to talk to your little one lots about their uncle!” Shi QingXuan waves bye as Xie Lian starts to retreat.
“Haha, of course! See you next time!”
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.
Xie Lian walked back to their small house on Mount Taicang. He observed the little white florets that were scattered all over the mountain. He smiled as he remembered a small boy who used to offer them to his god.
Xie Lian sighs, “I’m in a real pickle, aren’t I?” He whispered to himself.