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Yin Yu truly, fully and wholly believed he at the very least deserved a raise for all the work he has done over the years. Because in all fairness he certainly didn’t get paid enough for this shit. He got paid well, yeah, but not enough for this. Or maybe he should just finally take that vacation day Hua Cheng kept offering to him.
And hey, it isn’t his fault that the kid His Highness and Crimson Rain Sought Flower took in decided to bolt out of nowhere one night. It wasn’t his fault that the two were panicking over the idea that a human child might not last long in the Ghost City. It wasn’t his fault, but who had to go and search for the brat?? Him. Of course. Who else? The kid’s newly made parents? Nu-uh, no way. That made too much sense and so of course they had to get him to do it.
Well, okay, sure, he was also a bit concerned for the kid but he was a street rat before, and frankly every ghost here knew that he was under their Lord's protection (and they knew how their King would get about his people) so really he was better off here than on most human streets. At least here if he encountered danger an entire city would be at his beck and call.
He wanders around the city, halfheartedly looking in alleys and crates and barrels and really anywhere he thought a small, emaciated child could try and hide in. He asks vendors if they saw said small emaciated child running about and they all answer negatively and are only willing to abandon their post once he tells them that Lord Hua Chengzhu is searching for him and will be quite upset if he is not found in a timely manner. Then they are rushing about and screaming to the silver butterflies that flutter around that they will not rest until the dear crown prince A-Ying is safe and home.
He walks for what must have been hours and enlists the help of nearly the entire city by the time he hears it. The soft sound of crying and hiccuping breaths down a dark alley.
‘I found him, Hua Chengzhu,’ he says into the spiritual array as he slowly approaches the box hiding the small form of Wei Ying. ‘Don’t come looking for him yet, I’ll get him home soon.’
Then he closes his side of the array to keep his mind focused.
“You know, your parents are looking for you.” He says, standing off to the side and pretending like he didn’t care if the child looked over at him or not. Leaning against the wall that the child was sitting against, crossing his arms as if he had something better to do. He knew children like this and what they most often needed. “They’re real worried about you so we should head back.”
“Don’ wanna.” He hears the mumble through the child's arms where his head is held between his knees.
“And why’s that?” The child doesn’t respond. He sighs, nearly taking off his mask wanting to rub his temples to stop the oncoming headache. “I know that everything is new and scary right now, but His Highness and Hua Chengzhu really do care about you and if you are willing they do want to take care of you. I know that you have no reason to believe me, but that's okay.”
“They’re not my parents. My parents are dead.” The words are a bit harsh, he can admit. Bitten out with venom lacing it. Hua Cheng would probably be crushed to hear that. But he understands how hard this moment is for the child.
“Of course they aren’t,” he says, hearing how the muffled sniffles and sobs go quiet suddenly. He sighs for what feels like the hundredth time. “No one can replace your parents. And they never will. But they can be something new for you, someone who will love you in their place and protect you in the way you deserve to be.” He goes quiet for a while, hearing as Wei Ying slowly sits up and looks over at him from above the box. “You… You are a child and deserve to be one, so if you allow them to at least take care of you then I think you will be better off in the long term.
“Plus, Taizi Dianxia and Hua Chengzhu have been wanting a child for a long time, they’re prepared for this by now.” He laughs, mostly to himself, even though he really shouldn’t. It was probably extremely disrespectful. He knows how hard they had been trying for so long and now they had a kid they could pour their love into and he didn’t even seem to want them in return. He can’t imagine how much that must have hurt them to know.
Wei Ying seems to consider this for a moment and slowly stands a bit shakily, wiping his face with his sleeve and Yin Yu has half a mind to not tell him off. He was a prince now, sure, but he was a child of the streets first and a child of rouge cultivators before that. He wouldn’t need to act the part if he didn’t want to. Heavens knows that His Highness and Hua Chengzhu wouldn’t care in the slightest.
He kneels down to the child's level and tilts his head to the side, as Wei ying copies him he almost laughs.
Slowly, he takes off the mask he still wore around the boy, not that he was worried about the other seeing his face, he simply felt more comfortable with it on still. He was rather plain and there was nothing extraordinary about his appearance. And he was fine with that, it’s just that, normally, babies would cry upon seeing him and children were quite similar.
But, Wei Ying smiles at him, a great big beaming smile at seeing his face. He reaches out a hand and places it on Yin Yu’s cheek.
“Yu-shushu is really pretty!”
On the outside he kept his same expressionless face but inside he was clutching at his chest like it hurt and is crying and also screaming so loud it nearly escaped his clenched teeth. Not that anyone needed to know that.
He sighs as he picks the boy up and holds him close, letting him cuddle closer and savouring the warmth, noticing a few butterflies fluttering at the edge of the alley they are currently in. He brushes a hand through Wei Ying’s messy hair and smiles gently, rocking in place a bit as the grip on his robes slackens slightly.
When he gets back to the Paradise Manor he pointedly ignores the way Hua Cheng looks at him with a smirk as he tucks their child into bed.