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The sun began to rise in the east, with Yan Wushi already awake and groggy. Even if he was exhausted from getting up in the morning, it mattered to him more that his husband was the sight he adored waking up to. Shen Qiao was sleeping on his side, his body curling into Yan Wushi’s chest. He would feel shameful to admit that it’s comfortable but it was the truth when he was the one snuggling up to it almost every night. The demonic sect leader pulled his husband closer, he began to figure out what to do to carefully wake him up.
“A-Qiao…A-Qiao…”, he whispered.
One of his hands began to raise and poke at his face. Shen Qiao quickly opened his eyes and took a hold of his husband’s hands. Yan Wushi smiled and closed in with a kiss on the forehead. A hand brushed along the brown locks and the other still held him close. Loud footsteps were heard in the hall, in which Shen Qiao accidentally let go to quickly sit up out of instinct.
“Yan-zongzhu, I must ask you to let go of me and that we get up to tend to our children. Who knows what’ll happen if A-Sheng runs into another vase or if A-Ying gets stuck in another shelf again?”
“Oh? But this venerable one would like to spend his time with Shen-lang at this hour. Yanmei can simply watch over them while we wait.”
“We already spent hours together last night!”
“But it’s not enough for me!”
A light punch resulted from the daoist as he quickly looked for some robes to put on. Yan Wushi couldn’t help but pinch his husband’s soft hips every few minutes. Managing five children of their own has taken a toll on Shen Qiao’s body but he didn’t mind because they’ve raised all of them with a balance of proper care and bits of teasing (courtesy of Yan Wushi, of course). Quickly, the couple came out into the hallway to see that Shengyan was carrying piles of blankets and Shiwu was holding a few pillows.
“Good morning, a-die! Baba said we have to do spring cleaning if we go into town today!”, the younger one beamed, “He said that we’re also getting new clothes for this summer!”
Shen Qiao raised a brow for a moment and it eventually hit him. He forgot that his husband planned for a day out with everyone before temperatures began to heat up again. He turned to smile at Yan Wushi and quickly tied up his sleeves. Before he could offer any help, both boys ran off laughing together. Shen Qiao shook his head and began to head downstairs, seeing that the other three kids were helping servants with chores, in which it meant they were serious about going into town today. The amount of energy they all had was a good sign that breakfast had already been taken in for the day, one less thing for Shen Qiao to worry about.
“A-Qiao I don’t see why they should assist when the servants can handle it.”
“I’ll consider it as some sort of discipline they’re all wanting to learn. After all, you were the one that promised them.”
“Oh, you’ve wounded me with your words, Shen-lang!”
—
The moment the Yan residence was finally cleared before noon, Shen Qiao quickly prepared a bag and made sure to sneak a few coins into the money pouches that belonged to his children. Perhaps it was true that he spoiled every single one of them to the best of his ability. Just as long as they weren’t able to see him do so. Yan Wushi made sure the younger ones were properly dressed and set a few ground rules for the older ones to follow. The entire family was now ready to go once Shen Qiao brought the pouches over. A carriage was called forth and the ride was smooth, knowing the town wasn’t that far from their home and respective sects they ruled over.
Surprisingly, the market was rather docile and calm, but it made sense due to it being early in the day and some of the residents that lived there were toiling away from home. Thankfully this meant that it would be easier for Shen Qiao to watch over the kids and with there being less of a crowd at the tailor shop. The family walked into one, with two floors and plenty of walk space with rows of shelves and drawers to pick out patterns and styles. Shelves had different types of robes with a sample of the fabric piece tagged on the side of the shelves based on which robes they were selling. All five of their children scattered across the area, looking around for what robes grabbed their interest. The couple browsed together, looking at the many patterns and materials.
“Since it’s summer time, something light and breezy should do the most for me. Traveling between here and Mount Xuandu may result in drastic temperature changes for me, hmm…”
“Whatever my A-Qiao likes and wants is perfect for me.”
Shen Qiao turned to see the mint green robe with silver patterns, similar to the type of robe his husband was wearing right now. His attention to detail was a skill to be practiced and Shen Qiao was really appreciative of it as Yan Wushi was the one who picked out things for them based on appearances. After all, it’s like he once said a long time ago.
“I have really good taste, don’t I?”
“Extremely.”
“After all, one of those good tastes is standing in front of me.”
“Let’s not cause any flirtatious trouble here, we’re only here to buy clothing for the kids, not participate in our personal affairs.”
Yan Wushi snickered and ran his palm on the embroidered pattern, then looked at his husband right after. Shen Qiao couldn’t help but follow in, running his hand in the same direction on the pattern. It was like one of their first few dates they ever had after the events of fighting Hulugu. Yan Wushi was the one that suggested they go into town peacefully, without a care of any political affairs happening in the works. The memory made Shen Qiao blush and he quickly looked away.
“Anyway, let’s go check on what the boys have picked out, I don’t want them to feel indecisive for too long.”
He took Yan Wushi’s hand as they both walked around the different aisles to check in with each of their kids. They managed to overhear Yanmei and Song conversing, with Yanmei’s arms spread out with different types of robes laying on them. He looked like a cheap mannequin you would find in the tailor shop and Shen Qiao had to smack Yan Wushi who was on the verge of wanting to laugh.
“Do you think we’ll get the chance to pick out fruits again? Auntie said we could in late afternoons when training is done for the day.”
“We shall see when the time comes, A-Song, although she can’t resist saying no on that one. I’d love to get a peach from time to time whenever we visit.”
Ever since Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi started their own family, his martial sister Gu Hengbo couldn’t help but play into the role of a very protective aunt, taking care of every child of theirs whenever she was present on the mountain. She never backed down from spending time with them and occasionally took them down to visit the night markets before bed if they were sleeping over at their father’s residence on Mount Xuandu.
Shen Qiao took off the robes hanging on Yanmei’s arms, folding them neatly and allowing Yanmei to free his arms. His pile of robes were sitting next to him as he seemed to be finished. Little Song was flipping through the drawers, debating about which ones he felt he would wear the most. Yan Wushi noticed him looking up a few times at a certain spot on an upper shelf he wasn’t able to reach. Quickly, Song was picked up and taken to the shelf he was eyeing on.
“A little higher please!”
Yan Wushi stood on his toes, in which Song quickly grabbed the robe and tapped his father’s forearm to be put down. If Yan Wushi wasn’t so nice, he would’ve flung Song up to the shelf to grab the robe himself and force him to climb back down. But he’ll be nice, just for today’s family event. As well as the fact that the only thing that man was afraid of was his husband’s anger, which is the last thing he would ever want. Song smiled and threw onto the other pile of robes Shen Qiao was holding.
“Thank you, Yanmei-gege for being my assistant today. Don’t tell baba I wanted to embarrass him by carrying me.”
“Your promise is safe with me. For now perhaps.”
Both boys laughed and Yan Wushi slightly grimaced at the conversation as he was able to hear them loud and clear. Shengyan popped up behind with the rest of the robes chosen by Ying, Shiwu, and himself. Shen Qiao collected all of them with a smile, and looked through each one, totalling the amount of the cost. He slightly jumped as they were ready to check out and looked at Yan Wushi, who stared at him blankly.
“Is something wrong, A-Qiao?”
“Are you sure you want to pay this yourself? Allow me to pay with you, Yan-zongzhu.”
“Oh? But I’ve already paid for all of us.”
Yan Wushi quickly whipped out a handful of gold and slammed it on the tailor’s main counter. All of the robes were put into separate bags, with no wrinkles and some sort of parchment paper was wrapped around each one to prevent any stains when traveling. Shen Qiao was impressed and looked in awe.
“Is there anything else I can pay and do for you my dear A-Qiao?”
“Nothing more really, other than to keep the children in order while we spend time in the city together.”
On the way out, all of the boys scattered to see that the food stands were getting ready to sell their freshly made goods, in which Shen Qiao took this opportunity to hold Yan Wushi’s hand, and gently kissed him on the cheek while following the directions their boys were running in. The demonic sect leader smiled and leaned back in, savoring every moment they were spending time together in the morning.
“Has anybody ever told you that you look beautiful under the morning sun?”
Shen Qiao blushed and looked away, with Yan Wushi quietly laughing in response.
“Can I borrow another piece of gold from one of you? Baba and a-die are too preoccupied with one another right now.”
Ying turned to see Shiwu handing him the piece he needed, with his eyes being covered to avoid seeing their parents being romantic in public.