Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Alright, Yanqing, that's enough. I'm confiscating this poor bubble tea from you."

Fu Xuan snagged said wobbling bubble tea from where Yanqing had placed it on top of the door he was carrying.

"Oh come on, Diviner Fu, that can't be necessary! I was doing just fine balancing it."

"You were absolutely not. That poor bubble tea's life expectancy was rapidly declining. And something tells me that when it inevitably fell to its demise, you wouldn't be particularly happy about it."

"Obviously not, but that's why I'd make sure it wouldn't fall."

"Regardless of the probability of its unfortunate fate, I'll be carrying this bubble tea from now on. You just focus on carrying the door, will you?"

That made Yanqing perk up. Had he not been carrying a huge wooden door over his head with both of his hands, Fu Xuan could swear that he'd be giving her a salute right about now.

"Yes, Diviner Fu! You can count on me!"

"You're seeming very enthusiastic, Yanqing. I like the spirit!"

Yukong, amused as ever, sent Yanqing a thumbs up and a wink. Something which only seemed to bolster Yanqing's spirit even further.

"Of course, Madam Yukong! I've got to make up for my past mistakes properly after all. What kind of Cloudknight would I be if I couldn't even do that much?"

Fu Xuan, who had, upon her own initiative, occupied her hands with what was now two orders of bubble tea, had to stop herself from committing the same mistake Yanqing almost had a minute prior. Given that she had one hell of an urge to face-palm, that is. Luckily, she caught herself before she could commit bubble tea murder. Instead, she just settled for a sigh. She had a sneaking suspicion that it would not be her last today.

"Yanqing, you do realise that I'm not mad at you? There's no reason for you to feel indebted to me."

"Not at all, Diviner Fu! Regardless of your own feelings on the matter, I'm going to repay my debt to your door."

Fu Xuan had to admit, despite her having quite the urge to sigh, again, she couldn't blame Yanqing all too much. The kid was enthusiastic, she had to give him that. Besides, if nothing else, it was good to know that he was developing himself a decent sense of manners.

"That's the spirit, Yanqing. It's important to help out when you can."

Unlike some people.

This time, Fu Xuan did heave another sigh as she turned to Jing Yuan with a skeptical scowl. Well, the parts of Jing Yuan that she could still see from behind the giant pile of boxes he was carrying, really.

"Need I remind you, General, that I did not ask for any help?"

Fu Xuan couldn't see it, but she was sure that Jing Yuan was making an expression of pure amusement behind that offending mountain of boxes. Sadly, scowling at boxes didn't feel as dignified as scowling at a real person, so Fu Xuan decided to give up that staring contest pretty much immediately.

"Oh, come on, Fu Xuan, isn't it nice that we're all so eager to help? Wouldn't it be awfully boring if you had to fix it all yourself?"

Yukong, as if to emphasize her point, sympathetically patted Fu Xuan on her shoulder. Fu Xuan, once again, didn't do much except sigh. Other than that though, Yukong didn't receive much resistance other than a grumble.

"Quite frankly, I'd much rather prefer it if I got to hand this entire situation over to whichever pair of Cloudknights were unfortunate enough to be stuck with it that week."

Jing Yuan, the bastard, laughed.

"But where is the fun in that, dearest Fu Xuan? If I had heard of this through a filed report instead, you know better than anyone that the outcome would stay exactly the same."

"And how awfully annoying that fact is, General."

"Aren't you happy that we're willing to help you out?"

"As I've said many times by now, I wish you were all a little less willing to help. But alas, you're clearly not being swayed to leave me alone, so I suppose it will have to do. The job will get done either way."

And with a way less offended huff than Fu Xuan intended, she resumed leading their walk back to the Divination Commission. Yukong caught up to her almost immediately, and kept an even pace with her. Yanqing and Jing Yuan followed suit, a few paces just behind. Not due to any particular burden on their part, mind you, their cargo was most certainly not weighing them down. Other than Yanqing's slight wobble, perhaps.

A few moments later, they were walking in companionable silence through Aurum Alley. The afternoon sun pleasantly accompanying them. It was awfully peaceful, perhaps even serene. Although, as often was the case when the Charioteers were all involved, especially amongst themselves, that silence didn't overstay its welcome.

Particularly because a certain shriek of horror had just rung out throughout the alley.

The source of the scream didn't waste any time in making itself known. In fact, she ran right up to them. Blocking their way as she started to desperately catch her breath, trying to speedrun anything resembling an explanation.

"Good… Good afternoon, Charioteers… And- And… Yanqing- Hi, Yanqing. Do you- Whew… Do you need help? You look like you… Like you need help. Ho boi. I'm so sorry… Let me just- Let me… Catch my breath."

"Hi Sushang! Don't worry, take your time."

Yanqing, ever the kind soul that he was, wasn't even slightly fazed by the frantic Cloudknight before them. The three Charioteers, however, were all each displaying a certain lack of refinement at the moment.

Yukong tried her absolute best not to laugh, something which she was admittedly doing a pretty poor job at. Jing Yuan, on the other hand, didn't try very hard to hide his laughter at all. Fu Xuan chose the silent approach, and simply took the display in, in what could only be described as utter bafflement.

"Good afternoon, Sushang, may I ask what the rush is all about?"

As Jing Yuan addressed her, Sushang magically seemed to regain her breath at record speed. Instead her lack of breath seemed to be replaced by bafflement that could only be rivaled by the average Fu Xuan.

"General Jing Yuan, surely you understand that I cannot leave you to your demise all alone? I was sitting just over there and happened to see the four of you walking past. I couldn't possibly leave the Arbiter-General himself to carry that mountain of boxes all by himself!"

"Oh, worry not, he's doing just fine."

Sushang, intentionally or not, nobody could tell, seemed to ignore Fu Xuan's comment.

"I had to come to your aid, it was only natural."

Before the General himself, or any other person present, could answer Sushang, a duo of cackles finally broke free. Sushang really hadn't run far, at all. The duo really was just sitting a few meters away. The less delirious of the two even managed to get a few words out between her never-ending amusement.

"Sushang… Please. What have I told you about looking for more work when you're off-hours? You're literally not working right now, stop behaving like you are! Haven't I told you that we don't work off-hours, like, a hundred times by now?"

Sushang, as she turned to face Qingque, looked nothing short of completely and utterly offended.

"Qingque, look at the situation in front of us! There is simply no way that we could leave our Charioteers to face such a predicament on their own!"

"Actually, you very much can."

Once again, Fu Xuan's commentary went unanswered. Unnoticed however, it was not. Qingque gave Sushang a very content grin.

"Idonno, Sushang, they look like they're doing pretty damn fine to me."

"We can't possibly know that! General Jing Yuan! Are you doing alright?"

Jing Yuan didn't miss a beat.

"Most certainly! Doing peachy, in fact."

"See, Sushang? They're fine. Leave them be, I think they can survive carrying a few boxes."

The second source of the cackling finally regained her ability to speak. Up until now, she had mostly been fighting tooth and nail to stay upright on the bench she was sitting on.

"Survive? Dude, the General's doing a bit more than surviving, Qingque."

Guinaifen turned to Jing Yuan with a huge grin and a double thumbs-up.

"Send me your workout routine some time, General! You've got some sweet gains going!"

"Gui, you can't just ask the General for his workout routine!"

"Idonno, Shangshang, I think I can. In fact, I think I just did."

"Urgh… That's not what I meant, Guinaifen."

Just to make sure, Sushang turned to the Charioteers (and Yanqing) with a very suspicious eye.

"Are you guys sure that you don't need any help? I'm willing to lend it. I'm serious."

"Worry not, Fu Xuan's got all the help that she needs already. Thank you for your dedication though, Sushang, it's very kind of you to offer."

"Alright… If you say so, Madam Yukong. Then I'll leave you to it."

With an unnecessarily deep bow, Sushang sat down on the bench where Guinaifen and Qingque still remained. The latter of those two then decided to take the opportunity just handed to her.

"I've got to ask though, what the living hell- Ehm. I mean. How come that half of our Charioteers, and Yanqing, are hanging out in Aurum Alley, carrying a suspiciously large mountain of boxes? No judgment, obviously, but you've got to admit that it looks pretty funny."

Guinaifen also turned to them all with an equally curious expression.

"Yeah! Come on, it can't be confidential right? I mean, you're talking shit with us and sipping bubble tea. Surely you could tell us what's up?"

"We're assisting Lady Fu in renovating her office!"

If you asked the Fu Xuan in question, she'd argue that Yanqing was way too enthusiastic about revealing that information. Considering how mundane and unimportant and preferably uneventful it all was. Or at least, was supposed to be.

While Guinaifen's curiosity turned into a solid mixture of amusement and confusion, Qingque simply let out an incredibly uncouth snort.

"Damn, that's about time, huh? That place could use it, let me tell you. Did it really get so bad that multiple Charioteers had to rescue that poor place though?"

As Fu Xuan sighed yet again, Yanqing had the thought that he really had to find the time to ask Fu Xuan what the hell all those sighs were supposed to be good for. Considering how much she did it, there must be some secret benefit to it. Right?

"It's nothing official, Qingque, we're simply taking the opportunity to hang out. We're having a bit of fun with it, one might say."

At Yukong's explanation, Sushang, who had remained adequately curious up until now, paled. Before Guinaifen could ask her what was up, she was once again giving them all a very, very deep bow.

"I am so very sorry for interrupting your private time! I shouldn't be intruding! Please forgive me!"

"Worry not, Sushang, you haven't done anything wrong. It's always good to know that there's upstanding Cloudknights around willing to help out."

"Thank you, General, still, I really am sorry-"

"Okay, Shangshang, that's enough. Love of my life, please sit the hell back down and stop behaving like you've murdered Yanqing or some shit. We're good, they're good. Besides, we still gotta finish beating Qingque's ass at uno!"

As Qingque let out an offended noise, Sushang did very much sit down again. As she picked up her cards, she sent Guinaifen a grin across the table. Qingque, on the other hand, was giving the other two girls an unamused scowl.

"Excuse you! I am not losing that fucking badly! Show me some respect, dude."

"Ehm. No offence, Qingque, but it is actually looking pretty bad."

In sheer offence, Qingque waved her stack of many, many uno cards in Yanqing's general direction.

"Hey, dude, read the room! Could you not beat me while I'm down?"

"Heh… Sorry. Good luck with that though."

Qingque dramatically sighed, sending Yanqing a look that could only be equated to that of a sad puppy.

"Thanks, Yanqing, that means a lot."

"Well then, I believe that's our cue to leave you to it! It was fun chatting with you all, but that office won't renovate itself. Have fun, girls!"

And with that, the three charioteers, and Yanqing, continued on, leaving the three young women to finish their dramatic game of uno.

"Bye, Madam Yukong! Good luck with your renovations- Guinaifen, put your fucking phone down you can't post about this!"

"Come on, Shangshang! Look at what the General's doing! It's impressive as hell! I've got to at least take one photo- Hey!"

Yukong and Jing Yuan joked to each other about the spirit of youth, while Fu Xuan mostly tried to ignore the fading squabbling as they were finally on their way again. At this rate, she'd genuinely just be satisfied if they even reached the Divination Commission at all.

After a short bit of navigating through the streets of Aurum Alley, they had come quite a bit further on their journey towards the Divination Commission. By now, they were traveling on a calm road, close by the Alchemy Commission. Nothing except the peaceful sound of the waves and the brisk ocean breeze accompanied them out here.

Not that the soothing atmosphere did much to quench Fu Xuan's still-growing embarrassment at it all. She was awfully focused on keeping up her pace while sipping her bubble tea. If there even remained anything of said bubble tea by now was not of any importance at the moment.

Said bubble tea had distracted her enough to startle her when Yukong poked at her. With an unceremonious cough, she gave Yukong an unamused look. On the other hand, Yukong responded with quite the amused one.

"And what, pray tell, was that any good for?"

"Come on, Fu Xuan, what's with the long face? I'm starting to think you're more of a danger to the life of that bubble tea than Yanqing ever could be."

"Very funny, Yukong."

"Come on, entertain me a little, will you? Something is clearly on your mind. Why don't you share it?"

While Fu Xuan thought that the answer to that question should be pretty obvious by now, she did like the idea of getting to complain. If nothing else, it might pass the time just a little bit faster.

"We've barely gotten anything done yet and this is already a complete and utter spectacle. This is precisely why I did not want Jing Yuan nor Yanqing to get anywhere close to my office renovations."

At Yukong's wistful sigh, Fu Xuan simply rolled her eyes. She really was such a sentimental old lady, that Foxian. Sadly, she was also a sentimental old lady who spoke her mind.

"Isn't it nice, Fu Xuan? Having such nice boys willing to help you out at the drop of a hat? I don't know about you, but I know for a fact that most of the alliance would kill to have The Divine Foresight at your every beck and call."

Fu Xuan's already pretty terrible scowl deepened even further.

"You're forgetting a very important detail, Yukong. Which is that I never even asked for their help to begin with."

At that, Yukong simply laughed. Be it at Fu Xuan's response, or her offended expression, the woman in question could not tell. As Yukong's laughter quieted down though, she put an arm around Fu Xuan's shoulder and leaned in with a grin.

"Between you and me, Master Diviner, I think we both know that if you didn't want them here, they'd both have left a long time ago. Isn't that right?"

Fu Xuan huffed, refusing, or perhaps unable to, challenge Yukong's utter satisfaction. Besides, she didn't have much fuel to do so. As much as she hated to admit it, Yukong was right, it was as simple as that. Therefore, Fu Xuan settled for something a little meeker.

"Whatever… At least Jing Yuan had the decency to pay for all that bubble tea you two bought."

Then, Yukong dangled the bag that she was still dutifully carrying in front of Fu Xuan, the alluring smell from the contents within making itself known.

"Hey, don't forget that I brought cakes too. We can't assemble furniture on just bubble tea."

Fu Xuan couldn't help but to smile. As much of a hassle as today had already been, it had been a pretty enjoyable hassle. Not that she'd say that outloud.

"I appreciate it, Yukong, thank you. And while I'm sorry that you have to be here at all, I am glad that you're here. Perhaps now we'll actually manage to get some work done."

"Hey, don't give me too much credit. I essentially invited myself when Jing Yuan told me that you were fixing up your office today. Out of everybody here, I am the least invited one."

"And yet, you're the least of a hassle to keep around. Funny how that works, is it not? As far as I'm concerned, you inviting yourself is the best thing to have happened to me today."

Their conversation was interrupted then by a soothing whistle entering the air. They didn't have to look for the source for very long, as a fluffy little friend revealed itself without much delay. Giving a pleasant chirp in greeting, it gracefully swirled between Yukong and Fu Xuan.

"Fuyuan! Please, do try not to bother my colleagues, will you?"

As Yukong occupied herself with scratching the little cloud fox behind its ears, Fu Xuan turned to the woman who had just caught up to her fox bunny.

"Hello there, Lingsha."

Lingsha herself took a small bow.

"Greetings, my fellow Charioteers, please excuse Fuyuan for disturbing you. It doesn't always have the best sense of tact when greeting people it recognizes."

"Oh, not at all, Lingsha! Fuyuan's a sweetie!"

As if to agree with Yukong, Fuyuan lets out another little chirp. Lingsha, on the other hand, let out a, poorly hidden, strained laugh.

"Hello, Lingsha, what a pleasant surprise, running into you here."

The expression she sent Jing Yuan, however, she didn't try very hard to hide at all.

"Ah. Hello, Jing Yuan. I must admit, I didn't expect to run into any of you here either. Quite the surprise, I've got to say."

"Hi, Madam Lingsha!"

"Oh! Yanqing! Hello there. I didn't see you there under… May I ask what it is that you're carrying?"

"It's a door!"

As Lingsha tried to compute what it was that she had just heard, Fuyuan hopped its way back onto Lingsha's shoulder. It took her a few more seconds to figure out a response, but she got there eventually.

"Ehm… Alright. Then, I must be so rude as to ask what ever it is that the four of you are doing. I am… awfully curious, if nothing else."

"We're helping Fu Xuan renovate her office."

"Huh… I see. I suppose that also explains the mountain of boxes you're carrying. If nothing else."

"And the door!"

"Yes, and the door. Actually, Yanqing, I've got to ask, why is it that you're carrying a door of all things?"

"Because I accidentally broke Lady Fu's door and I'm going to help fix it when we're fixing the rest of her office."

Despite Lingsha having received, arguably, a bit more information about the display in front of her, she didn't appear any less confused. In fact, the more information she received, the more perplexed her expression seemed to grow.

"Uhu… I see. That's… nice?"

"Actually, Lingsha, since you're here, if you don't mind me asking, are you particularly busy right now?"

"No, not particularly. Fuyuan and I are simply out on an afternoon stroll. Which, now that I mention it, we should probably get back to. There's no reason for the two of us to keep you away from your plans- Huh- Fuyuan!?"

With a most convenient timing Fuyuan hopped down from Lingsha's shoulder and floated its way over to Yanqing. The boy himself seemed very happy at the surprise critter giving him a little visit. Upon receiving a nuzzle from Fuyuan, he let out a content laugh.

"Erhm… Fuyuan, dearest, what is it that you are doing?"

After circling Yanqing a few more times, it settled on top of the door. It let out a wistful noise, and promptly laid down. Lingsha, after recovering from the sight with a mildly strained cough, addressed her cloud bunny directly.

"Fuyuan, please, there is no reason for you to bother my colleagues, nor Yanqing. Could you be so kind as to come back here?"

"Actually, Lingsha, I was just going to ask, would you like to come with us?"

After having, supposedly, processed Jing Yuan's suggestion, Lingsha had to cough twice before she could answer him.

"Huh… Ehm. I… I don't know? I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Do not worry, Lingsha, on that front, you're already doing better than half of the people already helping me out."

"Oh- Ehm… Well, if you're sure, Diviner Fu. Then, I suppose that I don't mind?"

As Lingsha tried to figure out how to regain her already fleeting composure, Fu Xuan gestured towards where Fuyuan had contently made itself comfortable on Yanqing's door.

"Besides, it would seem that Fuyuan has already made the decision for you."

"Please, Lingsha, it would be so fun if you came with! Also, we brought bubble tea!"

Lingsha unsubtley glanced at the very top of Jing Yuan's mountain of boxes, where a solid few packages of to-go bubble tea were still snuggly resting.

"Yeah… I can see that."

Lingsha considered her options for a second. It would be a lot, and she really meant a lot, easier to simply continue walking and hope that Fuyuan followed along. While that wasn't a guarantee, given that her fox bunny had one hell of a rebellious streak by now, surely it would have mercy on her just this once. If nothing else, it would spare her further humiliation, and trouble, and everything else that she was currently going through. In short, it would, probably, be the easier option to employ by far.

On the other hand though… Well, to put it simply, everything about this entire situation seemed suspicious at best. Which, sadly, piqued Lingsha's curiosity to no end. She probably wouldn't get many other such opportunities handed to her, nevertheless this effortlessly. And, sadly, she did want to come with. If nothing else, Fuyuan had already spared her the absolute hassle that inviting herself would be, so the hard part was already taken care of. It'd be foolish to let an opportunity such as this pass her by.

Although… If she should take that offer was an entirely different question. She had been here for… a month? Barely? Probably less. The fact of the matter was that she simply was not as familiar with the other Charioteers as they clearly were with each other. As nice as Yanqing was, he certainly didn't have any experience in the politics of adult socialisation. Which, for the record, Lingsha did, and she did not like to put herself in that position intentionally if she could help it. And right now, she actually could very much help it!

But she wasn't lying when she said that she wasn't busy, and once again, Fuyuan looked awfully cozy lying on that door Yanqing was carrying. Which meant that it would be nothing short of a genuine hell to get that incense critter to get itself off of that damned door. And… Honestly? Now that she thought about it, perhaps there was a certain benefit to be had if she came along. Jing Yuan was carrying a lot of boxes, a suspiciously large amount, really. Who's to say that there wasn't any dirt to be found if she came along? And even if there wasn't, Lingsha simply had to admit defeat against her own curiosity. This was frankly all too weird not to investigate further. Which meant that, against her better judgment, she nodded.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to come along. Thank you for the invitation."

"Well then, let's not waste any more time standing around. We should preferably get to the Divination Commission today."

"Luckily for you, Fu Xuan, we don't have very far left."

And as such, the now group of five, six counting the pink cloud bunny, set off to the Divination Commission, once and for all.

After their encounter with Lingsha, the journey to the Divination Commission kept itself from being interrupted any further. Which meant that, in a surprisingly smooth fashion, they had finally arrived at their destination.

Ignoring the curious, confused, or both, glances from the various staff they passed by, the now four charioteers, and Yanqing, had made their way to Fu Xuan's without too much of a fuss. A suspicious lack of fuss, one could easily think. Fu Xuan did, at least, even if she was relieved most of all that no further shenanigans had managed to transpire.

Well, with one exception, that is.

"Wait, Lingsha, before you go in- That."

"I mean, hey, if nothing else that saves us the trouble of getting it down later."

Poor Lingsha, who had underestimated the severity of the broken state of the door, had decided to go on ahead inside the office. Something which the other people present knew would spell a complete and utter execution of the door. In fact, they had known that said door was on the verge of giving it all away since a solid few days back. Sadly, they may or may not have forgotten to tell that to Lingsha in time, and as such, here they were.

"Ehm… Where do you want this?"

If nothing else, Lingsha had managed to catch the door with an impressive amount of grace. They all had to give her that, at least.

"Just put it on the floor outside, we'll figure out what to do with it later."

"Eh- Ehm… Alright? If that's okay with you, Diviner Fu."

"Naturally. Don't worry, Lingsha, that door has been done for for weeks now."

After giving Fu Xuan a slow nod, Lingsha did eventually manage to navigate the door to the floor. It didn't do much for erasing her terrified expression though. Something which Yukong noticed, and gave her a pat on the back for.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We should've told you it was that bad."

"That's why we needed to buy a new one."

"Eh… Yeah, Yanqing, I could tell. That was a good call. Do we simply go ahead and switch the door out then?"

Fu Xuan let out another trademark sigh. At Lingsha's expression turning more towards the confused side of things, she elaborated.

"If only it was that simple. The door is only the first thing that requires our attention. In fact, it's probably the least of our worries."

"There's more?"

"There's more. A lot more. Hence why we made Jing Yuan carry all of those boxes."

"Speaking of said boxes, Lady Fu, where do you want me to put them?"

"Just put them outside for now. Our first priority should be clearing out the office, first and foremost. We'll worry about installing all the replacements only once that entire mess of a room has been cleared out."

As such, they started helping Jing Yuan with getting the box pile sorted out. Fuyuan, still sitting cutely on top of the new door that Yanqing had now managed to navigate to the floor as well, watched the five of them with much curiosity. Lucky bastard bunny, not needing to do any of the work itself.

After a short while of moving and stacking boxes, they had all officially made it inside of Fu Xuan's office. With one bubble tea each, and with Yukong also carrying a clipboard, they were finally ready to tackle this mess of a place.

And a mess, it was.

"Well then, let's start this entire operation by checking off the first point on the list!"

"We've already completed one item?"

"Yep! The first thing we needed to do was get the door down from the hinges. And, since you've already gotten that taken care of, Lingsha, we can check it off already."

Lingsha sheepishly rubbed her neck.

"Ah… Alright. I suppose that's all well and good then. Also, if I'm allowed to be so rude… I see why you're in need of those renovations, Lady Fu."

"No offence taken, you're completely right. This place is a fucking disaster, I would know."

Huh, so that was how it was. Lingsha realised, for not the first time since she decided to tag along, that she severely underestimated the sheer informality of this entire operation.

Further yet, while Lingsha had tried not to let it show all too much, she had to agree with Fu Xuan. It was literally impossible not to, in fact. She had smelled the cheap stench of wood glue before she had even broken the door down, but now that she was inside, it was positively inescapable. Which, more than anything, raised more questions than it answered.

"Is it just the desk that needed to be glued back together?"

"Believe me, Lingsha, you don't want me to answer that question."

While Lingsha had figured that the answer would be pretty bad, she didn't expect Fu Xuan's answer to be that bad. Nevertheless for her attitude about it all to be so exceptionally lax. Lingsha couldn't help but to give Fu Xuan a delirious look at her answer, and it didn't help her utter bafflement when Fu Xuan simply gave her a knowing nod in response. What the absolute hell had Fuyuan gotten her involved with?

"Right… Then! Since I clearly need to be caught up with the severity of the situation at hand, would you all be so kind as to give me a rundown of what must be done here?"

Yukong scanned the clipboard.

"Let's see here… Other than the door, the most critical points that need our attention is to switch out the desk and the chair. You've already been introduced to the demise of Fu Xuan's poor door, so I don't need to bother with explaining that. The desk is… Well, you'll see. And as for the chair… Well, take a look yourself, why don't you?"

"Yeah, no, you don't need to bother yourself with explaining that, Madam Yukong."

While Lingsha did wonder what the hell could have transpired in here to cause Fu Xuan's chair to lose an entire leg, with the other three just barely holding on, she did have to admit that it didn't require much explanation in terms of severity. The chair explained that plenty on its own.

"Oh! Let me take care of that! That was technically also my fault."

Yanqing, eager as ever, hurried over and picked the chair, leg and all, up from the floor where it was miserably awaiting its demise. As he dutifully left the office to throw the chair away to Aeons-know-where, Lingsha couldn't help but to follow him with her gaze. She had oh so many questions. The most important one, of course, being if she wanted the rest of them answered at all.

"Ehm- Alright! I suppose that's taken care of. Then… What's with the desk?"

Yukong gave her a frankly unreadable look.

"Let me show you."

The two of them then made their way up to the end of the room where Fu Xuan's desk was ominously awaiting their arrival.

"Behold."

Yukong's gesturing really wasn't needed, Lingsha could tell quite well what was going on. The dent had been expertly hidden from when they were looking at it head on, but now? Wow, had that desk been through it.

"And as for the glue-"

This is when Fuyuan decided to rejoin the party, floating gracefully around them all a few rounds, before settling on the desk.

Which promptly broke in half.

Lingsha did not have the time, nor the strength, mental or otherwise, to reel in her horrified expression. Fuyuan, literally, did not weigh anything at all. If the cloud bunny or its owner was more surprised at what it had just accomplished, scholars would debate for generations to come.

"That. Thank you, Fuyuan."

In sheer bafflement, Lingsha then turned to Fu Xuan and Jing Yuan, who had both been suspiciously quiet since she had first asked about the desk. Neither of them seemed surprised, and both of them kept equally suspiciously neutral faces at Fuyuan's newest achievement. Something was up, and Lingsha would probably cease where she was currently standing if she didn't get any answers as to what exactly it was.

"Do either of you have an explanation for this? What the hell happened to this poor table!?"

Neither of them answered Lingsha's question for a good few seconds. Instead, they gave each other a look, and then somewhat gave Lingsha something of an answer.

"Mimi."

"Yeah… It was Mimi. Don't worry about it."

"Mimi likes to sit on Lady Fu's desk sometimes. She's quite big, it was inevitable, really."

"Indeed. It happens a lot. So yes, it was the lion."

"Wait- Lion? Who's Mimi?"

"Ah, right. Jing Yuan's pet lion. Mimi."

"Ah… Alright then. I suppose that… makes sense?"

It didn't make any sense to Lingsha at all. But if there was anything that she had gotten a quick tutorial in since arriving at the Divination Commission today, it was to not question things. Especially not further.

"Anyways! Let's not worry ourselves over technicalities. As you can see, the desk is very broken, and it needs replacing. Let us not wallow in the whys and hows. Let's just get this damn thing out of my office already."

"Yes, that sounds like a good plan. Let me help you, Fu Xuan. The sooner it is out of sight, the better."

Fu Xuan and Jing Yuan wasted absolutely no time in getting the desk, both halves, the hell out of there. Lingsha couldn't do much else but to stare in awe. At the sheer insanity, or at the surprising aptitude at which it all happened, she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure of a lot of things anymore.

After a few seconds of Yukong and Lingsha just standing there, Fu Xuan and Jing Yuan having left, Lingsha decided to take an opportunity she very often would not.

"Did they-"

"Yep. They did."

Lingsha, who was already very short on leftover sanity, decided not to wallow in how the absolute hell sexual intercourse could have managed to pocure such a massive dent in a wooden desk.

"Anyways!"

With two utterly graceless coughs, Lingsha turned to face Yukong. Who, for the record, seemed way too chill with everything that had just transpired.

"Is there anything else that needs to be carried out, Madam Yukong?"

"Well, we need to get the curtains down, but we'll leave that for last. Although, now that Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan were so kind as to get the desk conveniently out of our way, we could get the carpet taken care of."

"That sounds like a plan. Let's- Let's do that."

Getting the carpet taken care of didn't take much time at all. In fact, it was over within a minute or two. Which meant that the last of the preparations before they could actually get started on the renovations proper were finally over with.

"Time to get to work!"

"Careful, Yanqing, don't get too excited. We're still working with heavy equipment, a bit of caution would do you well."

"Don't worry, Madam Yukong, I know how to handle a sword, I think I can deal with a screwdriver."

"You say that…"

"No, not at all, I'm fine, I promise. Worry not, I've got it. Also! Before any of you try to help me, I don't want any help! I want complete reponsibility over fixing the door. Myself."

Jing Yuan, while he seemed quite amused at Yanqing's bravado, did give him a somewhat concerned look.

"Are you sure about that? We're willing to offer you any assistance that you might need."

"I am very sure, General. I promise, I won't need any help at all."

"Meh, come on, Jing Yuan, if he wants to fix the door himself, let him do it. I don't think you're persuading him of otherwise regardless."

"See? Lady Fu understands me."

"Alright then, I won't pester you about it. Still, promise that you'll let us know if you do require our assistance after all."

"Yeah, yeah, I will, I will- Oh, hi, Fuyuan."

Fuyuan had apparently decided to make itself comfortable on top of Yanqing's head, where it seemed to fit pretty snugly. The display was, quite frankly, adorable.

"How cute! It would seem that Fuyuan would like to assist you, Yanqing. How unfortunate then that you've decided that you're in need of no assistance."

Yanqing began to shake his head, but stopped as soon as he started. After holding onto Fuyuan and giving it a quick apology, he turned back to Lingsha, keeping his head very still.

"Oh- Nononono. Not at all, Lady Lingsha! Fuyuan can help me! Of course I'll take help from Fuyuan!"

Lingsha couldn't help but to laugh at Yanqing's frantic hand gestures. Well, hand… gesture? While one hand was still holding onto Fuyuan, the other had taken the mission his head had to give up upon itself. She had to give it to him, the kid was awfully entertaining.

"Alright then, if you say so! That's very kind of you, Yanqing. I'll leave Fuyuan in your capable hands then. Be nice to Yanqing, Fuyuan."

While Fuyuan chirped happily, Yanqing promised Lingsha that he would take exemplary care of the little incense friend. Something which Lingsha believed without a shadow of a doubt. The duo of retainer and cloud fox then set out to tackle the door, while the four adults remained standing where they were. Leaving Yanqing to it, Lingsha turned to her fellow colleagues.

"Well then, may I ask what it is that the four of us shall be occupying ourselves with?"

"Since Yanqing has decided that he'll be taking care of the door, the four of us will be so awfully lucky as to get to assemble the table."

"You don't seem particularly happy about that, Madam Yukong."

"Believe me, Lingsha, I'd sooner assemble seven new doors than work on one of Fu Xuan's preferred tables ever again."

"Oh please, they're not that complicated."

"Whatever you say, Fu Xuan. Nevertheless, I figured that we could lay out the new carpet first, and then assemble the desk and the chair in the meanwhile. The chair shouldn't give us too much trouble… I hope."

"You're acting like I've tasked you with divining in my stead, Yukong."

"Quite frankly? I might as well be."

Fu Xuan turned to Jing Yuan after rolling her eyes at Yukong.

"What do you say, Jing Yuan? Any objections about my terrible taste in furniture?"

"Not at all. I'm not particularly picky, I'll simply do what you tell me to."

"Well, at least that's easy enough to settle. Alright then, let's figure this out, shall we?"

While Yanqing continued to work away at the door (with Fuyuan supporting him every step of the way), the four Charioteers prepared to assemble their own pieces of furniture. Which first and foremost meant actually hauling all the boxes into the office to begin with. As they occupied themselves with walking back and forth a few times, Lingsha took the opportunity to speak with Fu Xuan.

"Excuse me, Master Diviner? I would like to ask you a question."

"Yes? Is something the matter, Lingsha?"

"I was just wondering, have you forgotten about your cupboard? Should we not be taking care of that as well?"

As the two women put down the first delivery of boxes, Lingsha took the opportunity to gesture to the offending cabinet. Fu Xuan simply shook her head.

"There's no need to worry about it right now."

"Is there not?"

"It isn't as urgent as everything else, at any rate. It'll keep itself together for a bit longer. The work on that poor thing wasn't exactly done by professionals, it'll manage."

While Lingsha wasn't sure if she agreed on the lack of severity, she did have to agree that it hadn't exactly been expertly dismantled. Disregarding the drawers themselves, the cupboard at large was doing quite well. Its legs were still fully intact, and the frame had only a few surface scratches. Compared to the rest of the furniture Lingsha had encountered today, it was doing splendidly. The drawers however were a different story. In fact, they were the very thing that had prompted Lingsha to ask.

They looked… Well, the locks on the individual drawers were all just barely hanging on, while the drawers themselves seemed to fit rather poorly at this point. It even seemed like a few of them had been bent. Further yet, now that she was standing closer to it, Lingsha had caught a particular trace of… wet wood in the air. She almost considered asking Fu Xuan if she had frequent troubles with attempted robberies, but considering how she still didn't seem particularly bothered by the state of her office, Lingsha discarded that possibility rather quickly. Whatever it was, if the Master Diviner wasn't losing sleep over it, it probably couldn't be all too damning.

"Alright then… If it doesn't bother you, I suppose it's fine?"

"I'll have it switched out at a later date, do not trouble yourself over it. At least it isn't inherently broken, that alone is a damn miracle."

"I suppose I can't argue with that…"

As Fu Xuan went to grab another round of boxes, Lingsha followed suit. While she felt herself hesitating for a moment, she probably wouldn't get another opportunity to ask.

"Master Diviner, please excuse my brashness, but how come that your office has ended up in such a state? Does Jing Yuan not give you enough funds for reparations?"

Lingsha wasn't entirely sure what she expected when she had asked. She did know however, that she did not expect Fu Xuan to answer her with the most earnest laugh she had ever heard from the Master Diviner.

"Absolutely not, this has nothing to do with neglect on Jing Yuan's part. Although, I suppose this all does look quite dubious without context."

"That… is one way to put it, yes."

"How my office ended up in this state is quite the long story, more precisely, it is multiple long stories. None of which I need to pester you with at the moment. All you need to know, really, is that my office often seems to become the center of a lot of… shenanigans, you might say."

"Huh… Does it not bother you at all, Master Diviner?"

"Do you want me to be honest, Lingsha?"

"Eh… Yes?"

"Don't tell anybody that I said this, then. Because, quite honestly, I find it rather entertaining. When you spend most of your days signing papers and dealing with nothing but troubles, mundane or otherwise, life can get rather dull. I suppose it's a nice change of pace… Once in a while, at any rate."

"Huh… Once again, excuse me if I'm stepping out of line, but I did not expect that kind of response from you, at all. You don't seem like the type of person, Master Diviner."

"Good, keep thinking of me that way."

Despite Lingsha simply giving Fu Xuan a short nod, her head was spinning at a thousand miles per hour. Ever since she had returned to the Luofu she had gotten very familiar with how peculiar most of the people in charge here were. With that being said though, Lingsha had come to the conclusion, once and for all, that Fu Xuan had every single one of the rest of them beat in that department.

By now, the renovations of Fu Xuan's office were properly under way. While the Charioteers had gotten all the items that they needed to start their own work, Yanqing was fully engrossed in working away at the door.

Enthusiasm never fading, Yanqing seemed to be having a pretty great time, all things considered. While Fuyuan followed him around, giving supportive chirps and whistles all the while, Yanqing went back and forth, all over the place. Sometimes tinkering away, doing something with a screwdriver or other, while sometimes trying to make heads or tails of the instructions. None of it with much rhyme or reason, necessarily, but work out in the end, it did. Yanqing seemed pretty damn convinced at least, and so far he seemed to be in the right about that. Besides, Lingsha had told Fuyuan, when Yanqing couldn't hear them, to let her know if Yanqing got himself into any trouble. Which, considering that Fuyuan had been ignoring Lingsha ever since it floated over to Yanqing again, seemed to not be the case.

Lingsha and Yukong, however, was another story.

After the four Charioteers had laid the new carpet down, the idea was that they would start working on assembling the desk. While that plan hadn't changed, they had encountered a small obstacle that was yet to be cleared.

Lingsha honestly thought she was going crazy. If this was insanity, she'd believe it. Reading the same sentence for the seventh time over certainly made her feel that way, at any rate. She and Yukong were currently sitting down at the carpet, papers and pouches of screws and things and knicknacks scattered about. The two of them were, to put it simply, fighting for their fucking lives against these desk instructions.

"Madam Yukong, please enlighten me. What kind of sorcery is it that we're reading?"

"This is Fu Xuan's taste in furniture for you. There's a reason why we had to walk all the way into the shadiest corners of Aurum Alley to get it all. Sorcery is a great word for it, actually, I'll be stealing that in the future."

"You're most welcomed to. Perhaps this is why the lifespan of the Master Diviner's furniture ends up being cut so short."

"Hey, I'd believe it. Hey, Fu Xuan, can you come over here and- Fu Xuan!"

While Lingsha and Yukong had occupied themselves with deciphering the desk instructions, the two of them hadn't exactly been paying attention to what Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan were doing.

One thing was for damned sure, it was not work.

At least not anymore. Considering that Fu Xuan was sitting at a not broken, awfully pristine, wooden chair, the two of them had probably managed to assemble the new chair somewhere along the line. However, that was most certainly where their efforts ended.

Because while Fu Xuan was chilling on her new chair, Jing Yuan had sat himself down on the floor, using Fu Xuan's thighs as a headrest. The two of them had clearly given themselves a new serving of bubble tea, while seemingly talking amongst themselves. It was a bit hard to tell, given that Lingsha couldn't see Jing Yuan's face clearly.

The point being that they were most certainly not doing anything productive, at all.

"Hey! Turtledoves, we're trying to renovate an office here!"

"Yes, Yukong, we're well aware. We took care of that. As you can see, my new chair's in order."

Lingsha had never considered Fu Xuan to be the kind of person she'd ever pin as smug. That opinion had changed awfully quickly however. She looked so exceptionally satisfied with herself as she answered Yukong, absentmindedly running one of her hands through Jing Yuan's hair. Naturally, the next question to be asked was if Jing Yuan himself was even awake. Because it certainly didn't seem like it.

"Yes, I can see that you finished the chair, Fu Xuan. Sadly, we still have a table left to fix for you. And as it currently stands, Lingsha and I are severely losing to your esoteric preferences in furniture."

"Really now? And here it seemed like the two of you had the table covered quite well."

"We both know that's a complete and utter lie. Why don't you come over here and make yourself useful by translating these instructions for us?"

"While I would love to do just that, Yukong, as you can see I'm a little occupied. I've got one giant oaf weighing me down at the moment, so moving is sadly out of the question."

"Jing Yuan… Please, work with me here. Get it together, will you?"

After a few seconds of nothing even resembling a response from Jing Yuan, Yukong simply sighed into her hands. When she recovered from her momentary defeat, she just seemed to laugh about it.

"Is he seriously asleep, Fu Xuan?"

"I told you, there really isn't anything I can do about it."

Despite her words, Fu Xuan did poke Jing Yuan's cheek once or twice. Which, despite all of Lingsha's expectations at the moment, actually seemed to get the General to stir.

"Hmm… Yes?"

"Ah, finally. Hey, Jing Yuan, would you like to get it together real quick and come and help us out?"

"Whatever do you mean, Yukong? I think I've got it very well together at the moment."

At that, Yukong simply returned to wallowing in her hands. Crying or laughting, Lingsha could not tell. She had a sneaking suspicion it was the latter though.

As for her own feelings on the matter?

Well… Speechless was certainly one of the possible options.

She had previously been informed, by Yukong, funnily enough, that Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan were… something of an item.

With that being said though, when Yukong had first told her about their relationship, she hadn't fully believed in the severity of their mutual, as Yukong had chosen to so eloquently describe it, down-horrendousness.

Lingsha realised now that Yukong had somehow managed to sell the two of them exceptionally short.

It was so much worse in practice.

Lingsha was, quite frankly, impressed.

"Yeah, no, I know, Lingsha. I'm sorry you have to find out this way."

As if the Helm Master had managed to read her mind, Yukong addressed her then. Something which shook Lingsha straight out of her train of thoughts. Which caused Yukong to heave out yet another breathless laugh.

"Sorry, sorry… You're just making such a funny expression. Don't worry, we've all been there. You get used to it. Probably."

That didn't inspire much confidence in Lingsha. At all. Still, Yukong knew better. She hoped.

"Eh… No, no, not at all."

Do not ask Lingsha what exactly it was that she was disagreeing with. This was a desperate situation that called for desperate measures. It would do. Probably.

While Lingsha intended to start an internal debate whether she should excuse herself to metaphorically or otherwise puke her guts out, or start a very long journey towards feeling somewhat happy for Jing Yuan's life clearly not sucking, she instead got startled out of her thoughts yet again. This time by Fuyuan letting out a whistle frighteningly close to a laugh. Which was accompanied by Yanqing's own delirious laughter.

"Oh! Right! Yanqing! How's the door holding up?"

"The door's fine, Lady Lingsha. I've been ignoring it for a while by now. Watching this entire thing play out is way more entertaining anyways."

Yanqing was, to put it lightly, evidently amused beyond himself. At which part, Lingsha couldn't really place. Something told her though that it wasn't a particular display, but instead the sum of the ridiculous parts that entertained him so very much. If nothing else, it made Lingsha feel somewhat better by the knowledge that her mild dread could entertain somebody.

"Hey, actually, dorks over there, why don't you two help out Yanqing instead? Maybe then you'd actually be doing something useful."

"I severely doubt that he is in want of our help, Yukong."

"Eh yeah, exactly that. Jing Yuan's right. Even if I needed it, which I don't, for the record, I don't think I'd want it from them right now."

"Yanqing… Please. Could you at least pretend to help me out here?"

"No can do, Madam Yukong. As far as I'm concerned I will simply continue to ignore whatever those two are up to at the moment. For the sake of my own sanity, more than anything."

Fu Xuan, who had observed the happenings with still-growing amusement up until now, joined the conversation then.

"Oh? Does my involvement with Jing Yuan still bother you, Yanqing? I thought you had gotten over it by now."

"With all due respect, Master Diviner, while I have gotten over the initial shock, I don't think I'm ever going to fully get over my dad having this terrible taste in women."

An answer which officially made the room at large lose any remaining semblance of professionalism, composure, or otherwise. And let it be known that there was not a lot left of any of that by now.

If any unfortunate Divination Commission staff had the misfortune of passing by the Master Diviner's office right around now, they would be privy to a most ridiculous display. Which is to say, that of four of their Charioteers, and the Arbiter-General's treasured retainer, completely losing their collective shit.

It was, frankly, inherently ridiculous.

And yet, here they all were, losing their abilities to breathe due to Yanqing's snide remark. And who could blame them? Yanqing for one was thoroughly enjoying the fact that he got all four of them crying with laughter at what he was honestly thinking would only get a snort or two. Perhaps a returning snide by Fu Xuan, but even she was utterly losing it. That, Yanqing was especially not going to forget any time soon. Especially since Fu Xuan had tried, and failed, and tried again, to tell him what was what multiple times by now. Truly, the always sweet taste of victory had never been quite so sweet.

When she somewhat managed to regain her bearings, Fu Xuan instead directed her attention towards the now very awake General still leaning against her. Like the rest of them, Jing Yuan was currently also trying to figure out how to breathe again.

"Hey- Hey! Jing Yuan, you bastard- Shut… Shut the absolute fuck up."

There was absolutely no bite in the words she even managed to get out inbetween her still remaining fits of laughter. Neither was there any force at all in the shove Fu Xuan gave him. Which is to say that it did absolutely nothing to sway Jing Yuan off of her just yet. It was most certainly more enjoyable to lose your collective shit against the soft surface of Fu Xuan rather than the cold, very lonesome surface of the floor after all.

"Hey- Hey… That's what you get! Heh… That's what you get for not doing any work! Maybe if you… Heh- Oh my. Maybe if you had helped out, this wouldn't have happened… You- You fucking saps."

"Oh, you shut up as well, Yukong."

Somewhere around here is when Fu Xuan seemed to regain something resembling control over herself again. As she shooed Jing Yuan off of her lap once and for all, she huffed her way towards where Lingsha and Yukong were sitting.

"Oh? Finally decided to join us?"

"Didn't I tell you to stay quiet, Yukong? Whatever- What was it that you needed help with?"

Yukong, still amused as ever, handed Fu Xuan one of the instruction pamphlets while trying to muffle her laughs with her free hand. Considering the glare Fu Xuan sent her it was not very effective at all. To be fair, neither was Fu Xuan's optimistic at best frown.

As another hearty laugh started up, Fu Xuan's next glare lost even more bite. She tried her damn best to keep it up though as she turned around to face Jing Yuan currently lying face down on the carpetless side of the floor.

"Shut! Up! You're as much at fault as I am!"

"Doesn't mean that I can't laugh at it, does it?"

Yukong, honest to all Aeons past and present, whooped.

"Finally! Some fucking respect around here. Now, Fu Xuan, please be so kind as to tell us what the hell that pamphlet says, will you?"

"If it will get you to quiet down, I suppose it will do."

As Fu Xuan started instructing the other two women on how the hell she wanted her desk assembled, Lingsha finally got it together herself. Which, considering the past however long, had been a herculean task worth the name. Still, she had managed. And by the time that Jing Yuan had regained his own ability to function semi-normally, the four charioteers had each gotten it individually together enough to finally start attempting to assemble the darn table once and for all.

And by the time that the table had finally been assembled, Yanqing had also finished fighting with, and easily (if he had to say so himself) winning against, the door. Which meant that there only remained one final obstacle left for them all to conquer during this little renovation heist.

The curtains.

Just because the elaborate drapes over Fu Xuan's extravagant window was most certainly doing the best out of all the pieces being replaced, did not mean that they were doing well. When Lingsha had asked what unfortunate fate had befallen the poor fabrics in question, she had been answered with a quick rundown of every time Mimi had decided to forgoe a reasonable scratching post for, well, Fu Xuan's curtains. This time, Lingsha actually believed that the lion was to blame. To say that they were torn to shreds was to be generous.

While the Charioteers had been inspecting the sorry excuse for curtains, Yanqing had taken it upon himself to grab another serving of bubble tea and sit down in Fu Xuan's new chair. A plan which Fuyuan seemed to agree with, as it easily settled in Yanqing's lap and decided to remain there. Something which Yanqing naturally delighted in.

Quite frankly, Yanqing was probably the only person in this room enjoying himself right about now, because while the Charioteers continued the staring contest with the drapes, the horrific reality slowly but surely became more and more impossible to ignore.

They did not have a ladder.

And they desperately needed one.

"Excuse the ridiculous question, but do you… not keep ladders around the Divination Commission?"

"We probably do. Don't ask me where though."

"Ah."

So alas, here they were. Surely if they just stared hard enough, sooner or later the curtains would just remove themselves. Or something to that effect. Right?

The source of their predicament, obviously, was signed the Divination Commission having been built with an awfully high ceiling. This, naturally, included Fu Xuan's office. On any other day, it would actually be quite pleasant. It did a lot to give the room an airy and grandiose feeling, and had allowed for many beautiful scrolls and fabrics to be hung across the otherwise quite empty dome. However, right about now, it was nothing short of a curse. Especially for the textiles which a certain General's pet lion could actually reach.

So much for the curtain's being the least of their problems.

This required a bit of finesse, or lunacy, or both.

"Then… If we do not have a ladder at our disposal, perhaps we could find something else to stand on?"

"Such as?"

"Well… It wouldn't be too hard to move the drawer, would it?"

"Lingsha, while I appreciate the effort, let it be known that such a suggestion is precisely the kind of tomfoolery which would seal my cupboard's fate once and for all. Please, do not tempt fate just yet."

"You know what? Considering what I have both seen and heard throughout the span of this day? I can't exactly disagree with that. Let us not do that, in fact. However… I fear I am all out of options if that's to be the case, and, sadly, we still need to find one of those. At all."

They all turned to Jing Yuan then, as a drawn out hum of his drew their attention.

"Please tell me you have an idea."

"I do have an idea, but I'm unsure if anybody, especially the person I have in mind, would care to go through with it."

"Considering our exceptional lack of other ideas? For all I care, hit it."

Upon Yukong's encouragement, Jing Yuan simply shrugged. When he did share his idea, his momentary hesitation quickly made sense of itself.

"If Fu Xuan sits on top of my shoulders, which I suggest in particular due to assuming that the other ladies present would rather not, then she could probably reach the curtain hooks. Of course I could be wrong, but that's the only sane suggestion I've got."

"Well, you are right about one thing, Jing Yuan! I sure would love not to be the one who has to sit on your shoulders."

"Besides, it's a pretty good idea. It's Lingsha's and I's turn to slack off for a bit. I approve. Well, I guess we could hand you the new curtains, at the very least, but otherwise? No chance."

When the three other Charioteers turned to Fu Xuan to figure out what her opinion on the matter was, she could only be described as making an expression best described as unpleasant. Which caused Jing Yuan to raise an amused brow at her.

"Oh? Suddenly PDA's a problem for you?"

"Listen, that was a temporary moment of weakness. One I would prefer not to repeat, at that."

"Do you see any other options, Fu Xuan?"

At Yukong's question, Fu Xuan simply heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. Clearly, the answer was a resounding no.

"Whatever. Let's get this fiasco over with, shall we? Jing Yuan, get down on your knees, will you?"

"Never thought you'd ask, dearest Fu Xuan."

"Actually, on second thought? I don't think I need any new curtains."

While Fu Xuan continued to lose the fight against her ever growing blush, she did at least comply with Jing Yuan's plan. Meanwhile, Lingsha leaned herself against the newly assembled desk, pleasantly surprised at this one managing not to break itself in half. A second later, Yukong, bearing a shit-eating grin, handed a new serving of bubble tea Lingsha's way, which she took with a grateful nod. Disregarding the obvious, Lingsha was pretty damn pleased that she finally got a moment of respite. As she started sipping her drink, she had to admit though, this day had been many things, but dull, it most certainly was not.

"I must ask, Madam Yukong, I'm debating between erasing this day from my memory in its entirety, or keeping it all in mind in particular. Which one do you recommend?"

"I suggest remembering it. Worst case scenario, you'll have something to bribe Fu Xuan with in the future."

While Lingsha busied herself with avoiding choking on her drink, Fu Xuan, who was currently occupied with fighting curtain hooks, also decided to give Yukong a piece of her mind.

"Perhaps the Helm Master would like to be reminded that the Fu Xuan in question can still hear her?"

Yukong's smile didn't falter for one single second.

"Naturally, that's the point, Fu Xuan, you know that."

"I am very well aware of that, yes, but I would certainly appreciate it if you could not throw it in my face."

Jing Yuan, who was doing a most excellent job acting as ladder, couldn't help but snicker.

"Oh please- Could you stay quiet at the very least? Am I not owed that much dignity?"

"Actually, General, please don't stay quiet at all. This is vindicating as hell."

At Yanqing's cackling, Fu Xuan simply gave a grumble. It certainly wouldn't help her to hand any more wins over to Yanqing. As far as Fu Xuan was concerned, he had gotten enough of those today to last him the entire Amber Era. After cutting her losses, she simply gestured towards where she guessed Lingsha and Yukong were standing.

"Anyways, will the two of you please be useful and hand me one of the good curtains?"

While Yukong did go to grab one of the new curtains, she still didn't let any opportunity pass her by.

"You know, Fu Xuan, I got an interesting thought. Doesn't this remind you of an hour ago?"

"Yes, yes, very funny, Yukong. Spare me the further embarrassment, will you?"

"Never."

Despite it all, Yukong did hand Fu Xuan the first curtain. Said curtain was then placed where it rightfully belonged without much of a fuss. While Lingsha decided to do away with the discarded scraps of the curtains that never could, Yukong and Fu Xuan got the second curtain put in its rightful place. All in all, a surprisingly smooth task completed. As Jing Yuan leaned down to let Fu Xuan get off of him, Yanqing gave them all a little applause. Fuyuan joined in with a whistle.

And with that the, arguably, fun part was wrapped up without much fanfare. A few shenanigans later, they had actually managed to do it. For better or worse, they all actually did get to admire the now decent-looking office having been restored to a respectable state. All that remained now was to throw away the leftovers, which admittedly consisted mostly of empty bubble tea mugs and Yukong's cake wrappers.

"While I still have the time, I would like to thank you all for your assistance today. Despite it being wholly unnecessary, I do appreciate you all for taking the time to help me out."

As Fu Xuan addressed them all, Yukong answered with a nonchalant wave of her hand.

"Don't mention it, Fu Xuan. It's what we do, is it not?"

Yanqing filled in with a less nonchalant bow.

"It's the least I could do for partly being responsible for the state of your office, Master Diviner. I'm still sorry about all of that."

"Not at all, Yanqing. Quite frankly, you've been the most exemplary of us all today."

As Fu Xuan gave him a pat on his head, Yanqing, almost quite literally, lit up not unlike that of multiple suns. Despite everything, he was not immune to genuine compliments from his authority figures. Even if they were Lady Fu.

"I would have to agree, it really isn't a big deal. I'm just glad that your office finally got to be renovated. And that I could spare the Cloudknights the effort."

Fu Xuan gave Jing Yuan an amused roll of her eyes.

"I suppose I'll have to admit, this certainly was more entertaining than it would've been had I gotten the Cloudknights involved. Thank you all, truly. I hope you all know that I appreciate it."

"Of course we know that you appreciate it, you're still not as hard-boiled as you like to think, you know."

"Thanks, Yukong, it was a rhetorical statement. No need to throw me under the Starskiff yet."

Lingsha, who had been standing a bit to the side, holding Fuyuan, decided to speak up then.

"Ehm… I believe that it is my time to leave. Please, excuse me-"

"You're not staying for dinner, Lingsha?"

While she had just barely started to make her way out, her retreat was cut awfully short by Fu Xuan's question.

"Dinner?"

"Yes, dinner. Since you were all kind enough to help me out, especially considering our busy schedules, I was thinking of treating you all to dinner. You're welcomed to come along as well. Unless you'd rather not?"

"Ehm… No, actually, I think I would like to come with. Thank you for the offer, Fu Xuan, that's very kind of you."

"Don't mention it."

"However!"

After giving Fu Xuan a small bow, she dramatically turned to Jing Yuan.

"Make no mistake, General, this does not mean that the two of us are cool with one another. Have I made myself clear?"

Jing Yuan simply gives her a small laugh and a shake of his head.

"Of course not, Lingsha, I wouldn't even dare to think it for a second."

"Alright then, with all of that taken care of, could we stop simply standing around and get to the food already? I don't know about you all, but I'm starving!"

"Yeah! I'm with Madam Yukong! Let's go!"

With Yanqing leading the way, Fuyuan floating close after him, the four Charioteers made their way out of Fu Xuan's newly renovated office. As Lingsha closed the door, Yanqing gave a small whoop at it doing so without any fuss. Lingsha gave him thumbs-up, and then followed her colleagues and Yanqing as they all made their way to whatever place they would eventually settle on.

Lingsha had to admit, as skeptical as she had been at first, she was glad that she had come along. This was, as strange as it was to admit, a whole lot of fun. Sure, she still wasn't entirely sure where she had any of her colleagues, and she most certainly hadn't done much of a switch-up on Jing Yuan in particular, but… Perhaps, in the future, that would all smooth itself out. If nothing else, Lingsha, for the first time since coming to the Luofu, felt quite confident that it would. Especially as she made easy conversation with them all heading out into the evening, feeling lighter than she had in a while.