Chapter Text
Xie Lian thought he’d seen it all. 800 years, after all. What else could there be to experience? Well, as his luck would have it, there were still things that could surprise him. Time travel for one. He wasn’t certain he’d time traveled, per se. More like… transmigrated?
All he knew was he’d been at the beach with Hua Cheng and was having a good time. The sun was shining, the sea was pleasantly cool, and the food-stealing birds were keeping a respectful distance. Xie Lian walked along the beach, fingers intertwined with his lover. He saw delicate fingers enter his peripheral vision and turned to face Hua Cheng. Hua Cheng gave him a soft smile as he reached over to fix the bamboo hat that sat askew on Xie Lian’s head. Two years of marriage and Hua Cheng’s smile never failed to send butterflies through Xie Lian’s body.
“San Lang, if you could go back in time and change things, would you?” Xie Lian asked, looking up.
“Of course. I would’ve found you much earlier and ended that scum lord’s life the moment I saw him,” Hua Cheng replied in his sweetest voice. “I would do anything to protect you from him.” Xie Lian smiled.
“I know you would,” Xie Lian said. He reached up and softly patted the top of Hua Cheng’s head. To an unknowing observer, it would look quite comical as he stretched his arm up to reach the top of the taller man’s head. But to Xie Lian and Hua Cheng, it was a common sight. Hua Cheng despised his calligraphy lessons and Xie Lian quickly caught on that the only way to make Hua Cheng practice was to entice him with kisses and head pats. Now Xie Lian would simply reach up for a head pat to show affection as he wished when his love was simply too much to put into words.
They’d been walking for a while, enjoying the comfortable silence with each other, when Xie Lian spotted something shiny sticking out of the sand. His scrap-collecting instincts took over and he ran towards the shiny, pulling a startled Hua Cheng along behind him. He bent down, sifting the sand out of the way, and picked it up.
It was a necklace? A shiny round pendant with a foreign script sat in Xie Lian’s hand with a thin gold ribbon running through the top. He stood and held it up to the sunlight, the sun's direct rays making it appear even more dazzling. The characters etched into the stone seemed somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite place them. Xie Lian turned, holding it up excitedly to show Hua Cheng.
“San Lang, look! Do you think you could read this script? Or do you know someone who does?” Xie Lian asked. Hua Cheng let out a soft laugh and reached out to take a look. He had just placed his hand over Xie Lian’s when everything turned to black.
And now he was here. He stood in a field, looking in every which way. “San Lang? San Lang?” No matter how many times he called, there was no reply. In a panic, Xie Lian lifted his left hand and let out a sigh of relief as he saw the red thread looped around his finger. If he wasn’t with Xie Lian, at least he was alive. Xie Lian felt… different. Younger? He looked down and found he was wearing simple robes that seemed familiar. It was just as he heard his name being called that he realized. These were the robes he had worn after his first banishment.
Xie Lian turned around to find a much younger Feng Xin running towards him. “Your Highness, you can’t run off like that without telling us. It’s getting dark and it’s not safe.” Feng Xin stopped in front of him and paused. “What’s wrong?” Trust Feng Xin to pick up when something was off.
“Nothing. I’m sorry. Why don’t we head back? It’ll be cold soon,” Xie Lian replied, smiling brightly at Feng Xin. Wrong move. Feng Xin looked even more puzzled and Xie Lian quickly corrected his face to a more neutral disposition.
“I told you not to eat her majesty’s cooking,” Feng Xin muttered under his breath as he turned to walk back towards the small cottage in the distance. Her majesty? His mother! Xie Lian’s pace quickened. He truly must’ve returned to a previous time. The memories of this time were coming back to him. The village, the cottage, trying to find work. But if it was this early, then San Lang? He must not be a fully formed ghost yet.
I need to keep a level head , he thought to himself. There was no use in panicking or acting impulsively. He needed to make a plan. This was a chance to fix the mistakes he made. Alright then. First things first, I need to talk to my parents. I don’t want us to part in such a sorrowful way. Next, find San Lang. Third, be nicer to Feng Xin and Mu Qing.
The door to the cottage swung open and Xie Lian saw his mother standing in the kitchen, scratching the back of her neck as she looked into a pot of … dinner? Xie Lian felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of his mother still looking relatively healthy and with some good spirits. He stepped into the cottage and launched himself into her arms. The queen took a step back from the sudden weight but slowly raised her arms to return his hug. Involuntary tears ran down his cheeks as he pressed his face against her shoulder. Xie Lian took a deep breath and took a moment to carve this feeling of being in his mother’s arms into his brain. Then he stepped back and wiped the tears from his cheeks with the edge of his sleeve. Xie Lian bowed to his mother as Feng Xin looked on with his jaw on the floor.
“My apologies, Mother. I don’t know what came over me to behave in such a way,” Xie apologized. He stood back up and saw she was looking at him with a soft look in her eyes.
“No need to apologize. It was nice to hold you like that again,” she said, running a hand over his hair.
Xie Lian cleared his throat and looked at Feng Xin who was still recovering from the shock of witnessing the prince jump into his mother’s arms like a child. “Forgive me Feng Xin. I won’t run off like that again.” Xie Lian sent him a soft smile and Feng Xin huffed before walking off to his bed.
“Shall we have dinner?” Xie Lian asked. The queen’s eyes widened in surprise, but she quickly set out two bowls for them and served the brown ‘soup’. “What is this called, mother?”
“I think I shall call this Bird Leaving the Nest. It has a taste that reminds you of the sadness and pride of seeing a baby bird leave the nest.” Xie Lian smiled and took a sip of the broth. Just like he remembered. Had he truly hated this before? It tasted better than anything he’d had in the past few hundred years or so. Perhaps it was his mother’s secret ingredient.
Dinner passed in a comfortable quiet. Xie Lian offered to wash the bowls, but his mother wouldn’t have it. “Is Father in his room?” Xie Lian asked quietly. His mother was quiet for a moment. Xie Lian of the past didn’t often ask after his father. The two headstrong men who’d both faced a humiliating defeat. It was difficult enough to be in the same room as the two of them. A conservation was out of the question. But the Xie Lian of now was not the same naive teen he once was. He had long since come to terms with his situation and it was important to him that he connect with his father while he still could.
The queen nodded her head and Xie Lian walked to the bedroom. He stood outside the door for a breath and then lifted his hand to place three soft knocks on the door. There was no response. Xie Lian slowly pushed the door open and found the king laying in bed, eyes closed, with the dim light of the lantern reflecting the dull color of his face. He was ill. Xie Lian had arrived too late to prevent him from falling sick.
“Father,” Xie Lian called, his voice gently but steady. He would not back down. The king blinked his eyes open and caught sight of Xie Lian in the doorway, a displeased frown taking over his face. “Father. I see you are tired. I would like to speak with you tomorrow. Please meet me then.” A moment passed, then a soft huff from the elder. Xie Lian took that as an agreement and closed the door to let him sleep.
His own room was adjacent to Feng Xin and Mu Qing’s. Naturally it wasn’t ideal to put those two in a room together, but there weren’t that many cottages with 4 bedrooms. They were lucky enough to find this one and both Feng Xin and Mu Qing had a mutual agreement (for once) that Xie Lian would have his own room.
Xie Lian laid down on the lumpy bedding, finding some comfort in its familiarity. Tomorrow he would find San Lang. Whatever it took.