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Li Yuan is a man of few words whenever his son-in-law comes around to visit.
As a zuixian living an esoteric, reclusive lifestyle in Karma Jail these days, he does not often receive visitors. Most criminals locked up within the heavenly jails are not allowed such privileges, spending the duration of their long sentences in complete seclusion within inhumanly tiny cells to repent for the unforgiveable crimes that had resulted in their incarceration. It was only by the act of grace and clemency from the Emperor of Shuiyuntian that he was granted special concessions in honor of his eldest daughter, soon after she accepted her appointment and took on the mantle as Shuiyuntian’s War God.
This child that he had painstakingly and preciously raised had never been one to disadvantage herself or suffer unduly if it was not needed, and it was that obdurate stubbornness and daring assertiveness that had her marching up fearlessly to the monarch of the Fairy realm to dispute her father’s sentencing the moment she finally gained the power to do so. With stoic eloquence and articulate precision, she had proceeded to present her argument before the entire Fairy Court, so assertive and fearless, still forcing her way through inch for inch and refusing to give up this fight, because he is her father.
Because the man who fathered her was also heavily instrumental in shaping her character as the guardian deity of Shuiyuntian. Because without him, she would not have been born in the first place, and thus, there would not have been a War God such as herself now, with the ability and strength to serve and protect the realm properly as she had been ordained.
She had concluded, proudly and without shame, that to continue to punish the previous xianzun Li Yuan for having secretly conceived her and her sister with his Moon tribe wife would be contradictory to the Will of Heaven. Since it was the Will of Heaven that determined she was to become War God, then it must also be the Will of Heaven for her parents to come together to give her life. Without the latter, there would not be the former.
Thus, instead of punishment and disgrace, her parents ought to be celebrated for blessing Shuiyuntian with a precious asset like herself.
Left speechless by that ludicrously arrogant yet irrefutable claim that was also somehow not wrong, Yunzhong, who had not wanted to argue with the War God whom he had just personally approved and appointed not even five minutes ago before his entire court, had in the end, capitulated to her absurd circular reasoning with muted annoyance. Even if he was starting to have second thoughts, it was too late to rescind his own order, and there were also no better candidates than this one. This chosen War God was the strongest and most capable amongst her peers; there were no better options. But how could her first order of business be something this personal and selfish in nature, and not for the greater good?
How had he not known that she would be such a bullheaded subordinate, audacious and unreasonable?
But that incident was only the beginning of more to come, thanks to this highly opinionated subject who seems to have zero hesitation when it comes to pushing her agendas in the bluntest and most blatant of ways, unafraid to offend anyone and stating her requests and opinions so openly before the entire court, be it in official or personal capacities. Basically...a madwoman. The newest War God of Shuiyuntian is neither politely dutiful nor reverentially virtuous like her predecessors. Her character is like a hammer; hardheaded, heavy-handed, and relentless just as she is in battle, giving no mercy or face to anyone...her boss included.
So what if she is not popular amongst her peers or with her emperor? The sycophantic and two-faced members of the Fairy court can huff and puff all they want, and her emperor can scold and scowl until his face turns purple, but it is also the truth that the realm needs her and the strength of her army. Lady Chidi was long gone, vanquished alongside her powerful but deranged disciple, the war criminal Ronghao. Lord Changheng had been banished and sent down to Yunmengze to suffer tribulation upon tribulation by his own brother’s dictate, not allowed to return until he learned his lesson never to go against the will of his xiongjun. The once strong and prolific Xishan clan had been utterly decimated back when Ronghao went berserk at the news of his master’s death and slaughtered them all; they would never return. Even Li Yuan himself, the guardian deity of the great rivers Li and Yuan as well as the massive gateway to Yujing, had been thrown into jail.
At the rate that the Celestial Emperor was going through his elites, there would not be enough High Fairies left with the necessary strength and required combative power to adequately protect their realm.
Danyin is not cocky. Danyin is pragmatic. Raised in high nobility, she understood all too well the value of her worth in this current climate of Shuiyuntian’s political court. And unlike her equally astute father who had been a lot more subtle, cautious, and prudent in his action and deliberation, showing respect and deference to preserve the pride of their Emperor in order to keep his secret family safe, Danyin has nothing left to lose and no such considerations holding her back. There is no more family to protect. Her mother is dead. Her sister had never been a member of the Fairy tribe, out of reach from the Fairy court, safe and living her own life freely in Haishi cheng as one of the wealthiest businesswomen in all the three realms.
What else can Yunzhong do, throw her father into jail again?
The day Danyin had that revelation was a very good, liberating day indeed.
Not so much for Yunzhong.
To the Emperor’s growing grief and chagrin, the War God whom he had personally appointed would proceed to give him no end of headaches for years thereafter with her straightforward and unforgiving character, often daring to object to him in matters that no other member of the Fairy court would dare make a peep about for fear of offending him. Yet, her observations were not wrong or unjust in ways that he could severely penalize her for, just hardheaded and blunt, practical, with no attempt to dress the harsh truth in deliberate layers of pretty niceties just for the sake of pandering to her emperor’s dignity and pride.
The woman is just as shrewd and perceptive as her sire, only much less willing to be diplomatic and tactful when it comes to tyrannically throwing her wits and power around.
Fearless, because all the worst repercussions that could happen to her, had already happened.
Then, Yunzhong finally found a long-awaited opportunity to pawn off this troublemaker when the whole problem with the spiraling, rapidly destabilizing yuezu came up, and promptly proposed the marriage alliance. Contrary to general belief, the emperor was quite willing to quickly marry his War God off to Cangyanhai, where she would then become the Moon Court’s problem, even if not entirely, then at least partially.
Surely the Moon Court would have less opportunity to cause trouble for the Fairy Realm if his War God was over there terrorizing them instead of him.
The day Li Yuan found out that his precious and delicately raised daughter had been so unceremoniously married off to the Moon Tribe, was the day when his child brought her Moon Prince husband with her on one of her usual monthly visits to see him.
In the wake of Danyin’s audacious intervention, Li Yuan, while still having to serve out the rest of his very long sentence, had also been granted several special amnesties from the Heavenly Emperor, one of which included regular visitations by close family members. He might have been ‘pardoned’ for the crime of secretly marrying and siring offspring with a Moon Maiden, but the rest of the transgressions and misdeeds that he had committed over the years in order to conceal the true lineage of his children were still his sins to bear and atone for, and Li Yuan was willing to take responsibility for those wrongs that he had done in the past.
However, the ex-xianzun was also very certain that he had not sacrificed so much over the years, raised his dainty and beautiful daughter so well and carefully…only for this precious and prized jewel of his to be so callously given away to some undeserving pig of a man from Cangyanhai. This was not an insult made out of prejudice towards the yuezu; his own dearly beloved and constantly missed madam was also a maiden of the Moon. The protective father had naturally reserved a very high bar of standard when it came to his expectations towards the partners good enough for his treasured daughters, the best parts of himself and his wife, the ultimate culmination of their love and devotion towards each other.
The Moon Prince of Cangyanhai was not even the last person Li Yuan would consider for any of his daughters; he was not on the list of considerations at all. After having warred for so long against the Moon tribe, he was not unfamiliar with the reputation of their current leader and the last survivor of the royal Dongfang bloodline. Li Yuan had even personally foiled several attempts from the younger immortal trying to raid the water channels of Shuiyuntian with his forces in the distant past; as the adage goes, old age and treachery would always beat youth and exuberance. It went without saying that Li Yuan did not have a great impression when it came to this son-in-law whom he never even agreed to having in the first place, who also never actually gotten around to asking for his approval to take his daughter’s hand in marriage before marrying her, it was an utter outrage and travesty.
The man was naturally upset when the runt from the Moon Tribe whom he had only seen on the other side of the battlefield and whom he often beat into retreat suddenly appeared on the other side of his cell door, together with his Danyin. Never mind the runt in question had at least one head’s worth of height over himself. Throughout the shocking announcement, he had remained gravely silent when Danyin introduced them, when his daughter calmly stated that she had agreed to this marriage mandate willingly, when she told him how she was adapting well to life in the Silent Moon Palace now, high over Jiu You cheng, as the Yuefei of Cangyanhai.
He was silent the entire time, but the corners of his eyes had slowly turned red at his daughter’s neutral, reserved tone; his poor beloved child, how she must had been hiding all her grievances in order not to burden and distress him. Li Yuan’s heart bled. How could they bully her like this?! He had raised her to be proud, generous, and free-spirited, what had they done to her to extinguish her fire like that? Had she been bullied in the Moon realm as well?
If only Li Yuan’s grief-stricken thoughts could be heard aloud, then an incredulous Xunfeng would have promptly relieved the naïve, senile old man of his innocent notions about his beloved daughter, who was forever guileless and lovely in character and flawless before his rose-tinted gaze - wrong.
Are you perhaps willfully misunderstanding the truth?? Your darling daughter whom only you believe is delicate, fragile, and cannot protect herself, has been flagrantly beating up people from Yujing to Jiu You cheng for centuries! In fact, your beloved daughter is so good at beating up people, that she even successfully turned it into a lucrative career!
Back then, no one had gotten around to informing Li Yuan that the precious jewel whom he had spoiled to the high heavens since infancy was also now the War God of Shuiyuntian, having successfully inherited his army and even growing the numbers to a larger scale under her domineering leadership. As far as the ex-xianzun was aware, his daughter was still a helpless young fairy maiden, stuck in a horrible, tenuous position in the Fairy court all because of her father’s disgrace. This understanding was something that Li Yuan would always feel guilt over when it came to Danyin, leaving this huge burden and mess behind for her to shoulder on her own.
Unfortunately, his daughter was also unaware that those were the thoughts that her father was secretly harboring. Oblivious, she had enforced a gag order about her current position so that her poor, old father would not have to worry and fret constantly about her and the critical dangers of her work while still stuck suffering in prison himself.
To become War God seemed glamorous on the surface, but her father out of everyone else would know and understand truly how much hardship and tribulation she had to endure in order to get to this level at the absolute top. He, a now deposed general of the Heavenly Army, would deeply comprehend the amount of peril she was in whenever she threw herself into danger to defend the realms in an increasingly precarious and treacherous world that was rapidly destabilizing more and more due to the ever-growing presence of Evil Qi. Danyin had never wanted Li Yuan to worry, because just as Li Yuan loves his daughters unconditionally, Danyin also loves her father equally as much and is as determined to protect and shelter him to an absolute degree, as best as she could.
She only wanted Li Yuan to know that she was doing well...and so that included dragging the cheap husband that she had gained for free all the way into Karma Jail for her father to inspect and approve of. She wanted her father to be assured that he now also had a good, dependable son in the form of Dongfang Xunfeng to help serve- no, take care of his delicate, fragile daughter even when he was no longer able to do so himself, so he does not have to worry constantly about his children even while he was incarcerated.
Of course, ‘good son’ was strictly a matter of personal opinion, just as having Dongfang Xunfeng ‘take care of’ her was also a matter of perspective. Li Yuan certainly did not want to accept an unqualified son-in-law whom he never even approved of, just as Dongfang Xunfeng was also quite distinctly displeased when he finally figured out that not only his wife had often beaten him out on the battlefield, even his father-in-law had also been instrumental in handing him a few embarrassing defeats in the past; clearly, he must have owed this entire family in his past life.
That was a few hundred years ago.
A few hundred years later, Li Yuan is still a man of few words whenever his son-in-law comes around to visit.
But some things had changed.
Now, he had finally gotten around to grudgingly accepting this son-in-law, since it seemed like the younger immortal was not going anywhere or had any intention to leave his daughter any time soon regardless of his displeasure and disapproval. In addition, much to his chagrin, he had also somehow gained a second cheap son-in-law in that span of time, which greatly helped to diversify the protective father’s animosity and general disgruntlement evenly to another target equally undeserving of being matched to the other one of his beautiful, capable daughters.
Much to his outrage, Jie Li, the other precious pearl nestled in the heart of his palm, had also been stolen by yet another pig of a man from Cangyanhai while he wasn’t looking. Li Yuan was so upset when he first learned the news, he could not sleep for many a night.
“Honorable Father-in-Law, Xunfeng has a great grievance to air today, troubling honorable Father-in-Law to preside over this matter and give justice to Xunfeng.” This day, it is not even noon yet and the Moon Prince is already in full form and busy complaining to his wife’s father, aggrieved like a bullied little husband.
“…”
Li Yuan is always a man of few words whenever his son-in-law comes around to visit, not because he still has not (reluctantly) accepted this cheap son-in-law, but mainly because he is often left speechless by his son-in-law’s incomprehensible choices for conversation. Should it not be the wife who returns to her natal home to cry to her father about her tenuous marriage and lousy husband? Why is it the other way around here? Had he been sitting in jail for so long, that the world outside had changed drastically?
The Moon Prince is not even actually asking for permission to complain to his father-in-law, even if he is well aware that he is indeed being a source of trouble. The man does not even need Li Yuan’s go-ahead to start airing out his unhappiness; it is as if he cannot wait, bursting with dissatisfaction. Li Yuan’s expression grows marvelously exasperated as the tirade begins.
“Niangzi and I have been married for centuries. As yuefu daren also knows, Xunfeng has devoted everything there is to niangzi and to this family. Xunfeng is niangzi’s person and fully belongs to niangzi; Xunfeng has nothing left anymore.” The tall, ludicrously beautiful man who is also the Moon Prince and current interim leader of the Moon tribe sounds so pitiful, as if he is really just a helpless little man depending entirely on his strong and capable wife for shelter, protection, and his livelihood. Li Yuan is left so speechless by this act, he cannot even be bothered to muster a response. The space between his eyes starts to throb, heralding the advent of a headache.
“Xunfeng has worked very hard to be the best husband for niangzi; observing filial piety to yuefu daren on behalf of niangzi, keeping a nice home and a warm bed for niangzi, taking care of all of niangzi’s needs and proving that niangzi can depend on Xunfeng for everything she desires-”
“...”
Li Yuan had to sit there for the next thirty minutes to listen to Dongfang Xunfeng pontificate on and on about all the effort he had put in to become husband of the century, like a child reporting his results to a parent and expecting praise and validation.
“Xunfeng has done his best to be a good man, observing all the husbandly virtues for niangzi. Xunfeng can only seek yuefu daren to give a fair judgement. Yuefu daren must help to dispense advice to Xunfeng! Recently, niangzi has been returning late frequently, and no longer even comes home for weeks on end; Xunfeng is starting to wonder if I’m not attractive to niangzi anymore. What if niangzi has been seduced by some wild man outside instead? Yuefu daren, niangzi cannot be so callous as to like someone else. That is against the sanctity of our immortal marriage vows; we are supposed to stay married until the end of time, and only to each other! What will Xunfeng do if niangzi decides otherwise, Xunfeng will not live anymore-”
“...”
These days, Li Yuan is starting to detect a disturbing pattern – whenever his sons-in-law are nursing grievances against their wives, somehow, he becomes the first person to hear all about it.
The day before, the great Dragon General of Cangyanhai, Shangque, had also stopped by to visit his father-in-law, and just as full of woes. “Honorable Father-in-Law, why does it seem like Jie Li enjoys earning money more than she likes me? Does she not love me more than she loves money? Why do I feel that if not for our little miracle nest egg, furen does not even want anything to do with Shangque?” The great Dragon General was also full of misery. “Honorable Father-in-Law, furen has abandoned me and our egg to tour her shops across the three realms. What if furen decides in the end that she likes her freedom more and chooses not to come home?”
At least that other lousy son-in-law actually brought his grandchild over, which made Li Yuan very happy, albeit with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, this is his first grandchild. Li Yuan had never in his life felt so happy and fulfilled as on the day when he first got to meet the next generation bearing the blood of himself and his late madam, it was such a thrilling, emotional moment.
On the other hand, his first grandchild is still very young. Very young.
So young, that he, or she, is still an egg.
His grandchild, or grandegg, had arrived cradled snugly in the crook of its father’s strong bicep as the man raced over first thing in the morning to share his marital woes with his father-in-law. The dragon egg had looked about the size of a large, elliptical melon by then, and would only continue to grow larger as it developed. After the initial spiritual cultivation stage where the mother would painstakingly spend a hundred years nurturing the dragonling’s fledgling spirit within her immortal pond until it was finally tangible enough to take physical form, the father would take over, guarding and brooding that precious egg for the remaining of the gestation period until it finally breaks its shell and hatches.
Jie Li, who had been stuck cultivating a new life for a hundred years all because of an accidental pregnancy – who knew that the random strapping, handsome man she recklessly had a drunken one-night fling with had turned out to be a critically endangered dragon - had immediately embraced her newfound freedom the moment she could hand the egg over to the cheap husband whom she had been blackmailed, cajoled, and pestered into marrying after unintentionally stealing his seed. Without even a look back or a moment of hesitation, the incredibly wealthy businesswoman promptly took her entourage of skilled accountants and left on an extended inspection trip of all her properties and businesses after all those past years cooped up in one place thanks to her spiritual pregnancy, hence precipitating this deluge of anxiety and woe from her husband who somehow always looked more like an abandoned hound to Li Yuan than the strong, valiant Black Dragon General that he was purported to be.
... Li Yuan really wants to know, why are his sons-in-law like this? Also, why do they always come running to him to sulk about his daughters? Worst still, since he is stuck behind bars, there is nowhere for him to retreat to avoid these two exasperating immortals; he has to sit there in his little cell facing them, listening to them spill their troubles for hours on end and share their overly dramatic worries until his ears bleed. He is increasingly convinced that this is a form of torture. These two punks dare not risk their wives’ displeasure with their resentments, so they turn around to express their unhappiness at him, the poor, helpless, father-in-law, instead?
The speechless ex-xianzun already had to deal with the apprehensive and fretful Shangque the day before for hours before finally convincing the dragon to stop overthinking and to go home and brood his grandegg properly, but at least on the positive side, Li Yuan got to hold his grandegg for a spell; weigh it happily in his arms, inspect its strong, healthy spiritual aura, and lovingly polish its pure white shell with his sleeve for a whole hour until he had to reluctantly hand it back to its glum father. So, that visit had not been entirely unbearable; Jie Li’s little dragonling had successfully saved its father from incurring even more disdain from their maternal grandfather.
Unfortunately, Xunfeng did not have a similar advantage when he visited today (had not given Li Yuan any grandchildren), so he promptly incurred double the disdain from Li Yuan...not that the Moon Prince seemed to register any of it. If anything, the begrudging sentiment rolled off him like water off a duck’s back.
Xunfeng has bigger things to worry about at the moment, such as the fact that he is increasingly convinced that his wife is secretly planning to divorce him. He is increasingly anxious as she subtly distances herself more and more, slowly closing off parts of herself that he feels like he will no longer be able to access if he allows it to progress further, and before he knows it, she will be as far away as an unreachable star, forever out of his reach. Yet, the stronger the Moon tribe grows by the day, the faster she withdraws from him, as if in anticipation of the dawning day when this marriage alliance will eventually break down. Xunfeng is at a loss. He is not willing to lose her. It is just as he had declared shamelessly to his father-in-law, Xunfeng is Danyin’s person. But he also failed to mention, Danyin is also Xunfeng’s person, every bit and every inch. He will not let her go, even if he has to resort to all sorts of acts and tactics to keep her tied to his side.
He is certainly not above using familial pressure to badger her into surrender, if that is what it will take for her to give up that ridiculous notion of abandoning him for the good of their two realms. If the simple fact of their being together is enough to threaten to stability and peace of their tribes, then it is not their relationship that is the problem, but the inherent system within their realms that needs to be relooked at and changed.
But how can she not know that? She must know just as well as he does. That means the only other reason that she is still bound and determined to continue down this path is for his sake. Is it because she still thinks that he is weak and needs protecting? He is not helpless anymore, and will never allow himself to return to that defeated, painfully vulnerable position that he used to be in back when she first married him. She does not need to always protect him anymore, or even feel like she has to take on the burden of them, because he is now more than capable of battling alongside her for their future. His style of fighting may not be as straightforward or as valiant as her style of fighting; it is underhanded, unscrupulous, and oftentimes even insidious, but it is just as effective, if not even more so.
And Xunfeng will never hesitate or be ashamed of the way he has to fight for her.
Case in point, he knows how much she adores and respects this parent of hers, the length that she has gone to in order to protect and defend this old man, and thus, he, too, also does his best to be good to and to honor this father-in-law of his, to the point where Li Yuan is also considered family by now, a respected elder.
Since Li Yuan is a respected elder, Xunfeng has no qualms about pestering said elder to help him out and put in a few good words on his behalf. Xunfeng does not believe that Danyin can ignore the filial pressure from her beloved parent; she will be upset of course once she learns of his little actions, but he welcomes her ire that is infinitely better than her unbearable distance and detachment.
So Xunfeng persists grimly, the whole time looking so meekly dutiful as can be like the best and most docile son-in-law in all the three realms.
“Yuefu daren, Xunfeng was deeply concerned that honorable Mother-in-Law would feel bored and lonely, so Xunfeng also went to visit honorable Mother-in-Law’s grave earlier to pay respects and tidy up the shrine. Xunfeng spent a long time speaking to yuemu daren before coming over.”
“...” Li Yuan is even more incredulous now. All this man had done all day was talk about how he had been bullied by his Danyin, despite not looking bullied in any way. Li Yuan also does not believe for a moment that Dongfang Xunfeng was without an agenda when he casually mentioned that visit to his mother-in-law. He slowly stiffens.
The older immortal finally speaks for the first time since his son-in-law’s visit, croaking in alarm. “You...You went to my furen’s grave to complain too?”
Xunfeng immediately demurs. “Of course not. Xunfeng dare not complain to yuemu daren. Xunfeng only thinks that surely yuemu daren will appreciate timely updates when it comes to the lives of her children, from wherever she is resting peacefully now.”
“...”
Very good. Very good. This man still knows that his honorable mother-in-law is resting peacefully, yet he does not possess enough awareness to not disturb her rest with his marital problems. Li Yuan is speechless again; not for the first time, he concludes that this Moon Prince’s skin is so thick, he must have survived all these years in the turbulent political climate of Cangyanhai purely because it was impossible for his enemies’ attacks to penetrate his flesh.
“Xunfeng is certain that yuemu daren must love and worry over her children just as much as yuefu daren, so Xunfeng has decided to visit yuemu daren more often from now on to keep her informed about the happenings in our lives. If Xunfeng visits often enough, perhaps Xunfeng may even be lucky enough to receive yuemu daren’s advice through divine intervention.”
That’s it; Li Yuan’s absolute bottom line is his furen, his beloved Xingluo. Just thinking about this terrible son-in-law of theirs harassing his poor madam even beyond the grave is enough to finally move the stoic ex-xianzun. In fact, Li Yuan is so moved, his eyelid is jumping nonstop. Even more galling, that...ruffian is still standing there acting like the most virtuous, dutiful, but pitiful little husband in all the three realms, Li Yuan is beginning to become more certain that perhaps this living ancestor is actually here to take revenge for a grievance owed to him in a past life.
“My...good son-in-law, you don’t have to do that,” he grits out in the end. “Let me speak to Danyin first, the next time she visits. Perhaps this is just a minor misunderstanding.”
Xunfeng exhales. Xunfeng is finally satisfied. He salutes his father-in-law respectfully, still so humbly and full of deference. “Yuefu daren is brilliant and wise. Xunfeng is thoroughly spoiled by yuefu daren’s great love and doting. Xunfeng is motivated to work even harder now to meet yuefu daren’s expectations of a good son-in-law, and do my best to quickly provide the grandchildren that yuefu daren so desires to meet.”
Even the muscle beneath Li Yuan’s eye is ticking now, thinking about the future grandchildren who are just like their headache-inducing father.
Why are his daughters’ husbands all...like that? Never mind that all these men are supposed to be incredibly influential, powerful individuals by their own right and ability, these two sons-in-law of his are utterly hopeless in his eyes and absolutely do not deserve his accomplished and talented daughters at all! His two beautiful flowers, wasted on two piles of cow dung!!
“You threatened my father with the desecration of my mother’s grave?”
A few days later, a nonplussed and vaguely annoyed Danyin returns to the Silent Moon Palace after having heard an earful from her agitated die die during their monthly visitation at Karma Jail. It was the first time Li Yuan had so much to say about his daughter’s marriage; though, rather than demanding that Danyin divorce her husband as quickly as possible, Li Yuan actually tried rather awkwardly to remind Danyin about the importance of marital harmony...and to live well and properly with the man whom she had chosen to marry. This type of conversation is usually to be had between mothers and daughters...but niangqin has gone, so Li Yuan is the only one left to broach the topic and dispense marital advice...never mind that he had spent more time apart from his madam than together, in the entirety of their marriage.
It was a vaguely mortifying moment to be had with her father, especially when he asked outright if there was any problem in her marriage, and if she still liked her husband. But that is not the point now.
“Of course I did not.” Xunfeng sounds offended, his demeanor tranquil and still as he watches her stalk into his study. “I only informed honorable Father-in-Law that I planned to visit honorable Mother-in-Law’s gravesite more often to keep her company and observe filial piety like a dutiful son-in-law should, I have no idea why yuefu daren will think that way. Whyever would I desecrate yuemu daren’s grave? I cannot be any more thankful to yuemu daren and will want nothing than to honor her more; for without her, I would not have gotten to meet and marry the best niangzi in the three realms.”
“...” She is not buying his harmless act for even a single minute, exasperated.
“What exactly is it that you are after now?” she asks in the end, because this man does not do anything for no reason.
He stands up slowly from his seat, where his desk is littered with scrolls and documents still waiting for his perusal. These days, he is shouldering more and more responsibility on behalf of his tribe, as the Moon Court grows to rely on him more, unanimously but tacitly recognizing his ability to take on the stewardship of their realm. He is no longer the ineffectual and distrustful puppet leader that they once intended for him to be; now comfortable in power, increasingly familiar and used to returning to that high position that he was born for, exuding that cold, detached demeanor, regal and stately.
Yet, just for her, he steps around that large study table and comes down from that high dais, all too willing to go to her and meet her halfway. He slowly stops right before her, his head tipped down slightly to meet her calm, quiet gaze.
“You already know what I’m after. You.” He certainly isn’t one to beat around the bush, not when it comes to this. “I haven’t seen niangzi for weeks.” A thread of grievance starts to filter through his tone; he had obviously been brooding over her absence for the past few days and is determined to be insufferable now. “You have been avoiding me diligently. Xunfeng has no choice but to seek yuefu daren’s help to bring niangzi back to my side.”
Danyin purses her lips, not able to deny his accusation. It is true. She thought that she was already being very subtle, coming back to the Silent Moon Palace barely enough not to rouse his suspicions, but choosing to reside in the War God’s Palace in Shuiyuntian more and more, citing an increasingly busy schedule with the army she leads.
But how can that flimsy reasoning convince him? They have been together for so long. She is underestimating how attuned he has become to her after all these centuries together. Their moments of intimacy have also suffered; she is frequently distracted and slowly withdrawing from him bit by bit, so different from her usual passionate, demanding fervor and voraciousness in bed. That is the largest indication that something is very wrong. He is becoming increasingly panicked, a cold feeling slowly creeping up his gut, his well-honed instincts telling him that she is slowly slipping through his fingers.
He reaches out and pulls her into his arms. She stiffens slightly, expecting confrontation and to be called out by him, but that is not the case. He merely holds her against his heart for the longest time, silently relishing her proximity. Rather than just being weeks apart, it felt as if he had not seen her for years.
This man who had been making a fuss everywhere is so docile now, before this woman whom he is trying his hardest to please and to attract. He is working hard to present his best sides to her. He can be anything she wants him to be, so long as she does not abandon him.
“You are always so cruel to me,” he whispers, but still, he turns his face into the side of her neck. His nose digs into her flesh, lips brushing her skin, and he inhales deeply, breathing in her familiar scent greedily, as if wanting to keep her locked up in his lungs. Beyond that, he is still, as if already content just to hold her. He is really docile now, not pushy and forceful in ways that he can be before the Moon court, not like the politely assertive terror her father had implied he had been the other day, the older immortal huffing and puffing like outraged fathers tend to behave around the sons-in-law who had stolen their precious daughters away.
Danyin’s eyelids lower, hiding the complicated expression reflected in her clear eyes. She is being cruel to him, she knows, dragging on and prolonging the inevitable out of foolish sentiment. A swift cut should be the best course of action for both of them...but she cannot bear it.
“Yes,” she mumbles back, acknowledging his accusation, simply accepting it for what it is. Then, she returns right back to the original topic that she had come to him for. “So you have been terrorizing my parents out of retribution, is that it?”
He raises his head to look at her, feeling aggrieved by her not-so-flattering impression of him, even if she is not wrong. “Of course not. Xunfeng is only ever going to have this one set of parents-in-law for the rest of this life,” he emphasizes subtly, still staring at her. “Xunfeng will always be as good to yuefu and yuemu daren like they are my own parents.”
He is so obvious in his signaling, that for a moment, she does not know what to say.
When someone is truly loved, everything else associated with and cherished by them, is also cherished by the one who loves them. Because he loves her, so he will also accommodate and accept her family. Because she cares and loves her family so, he will also embrace them as his own, in all the good and the bad ways. Over the past centuries, throughout the span of their marriage, she already knows that this is the truth. They have successfully melded together over time, become a family unit. A strange, dysfunctional one, but still all theirs.
And so, this is him saying, this is him reminding her, this is my family now too. You are my family now. I won’t let go.
Danyin’s heart tremors quietly, and she swallows.
“Xunfeng-” she starts, voice cracking, only to stop again. She closes her eyes briefly, before she opens them again. She glares weakly at him. “Why are you deliberately making this so much harder than it absolutely has to be?”
“Why is it so easy for you to choose to forsake me?” he asks instead. She starts to stiffen again, eyes flashing, but in the end, she chooses to press her lips together, not wanting to fight. He continues, almost conversationally. “You may do what you please, but I won’t forsake us. Danyin, you provoked me first. After all this time, do you really think that you can just withdraw as you please?”
She is silent. He continues to gaze at her. In stark contrast to her inner agitation and turmoil, he is so calm, so unwavering. It is not a fight that he seeks, she belatedly realizes. At least, not with her.
He is simply, plainly, declaring his stance.
She cannot understand how he is so sure, so collected, when it comes to this. She is supposed to be the more assertive one, straightforward and unhesitating when it comes to what needs to be done, but now, she finds herself crippled by doubts and hesitation. It is not a position that she is happy to be in, and she is conflicted, struggling.
In the past, it was so easy. There was nothing left to lose anyway, so she could go all in, throw herself out there as collateral, and bet it all for any chance of success.
Now, losing terrifies her. A single misstep will not mean just her singular defeat, but something so much more. Her once reckless propensity for taking high risks in return for high-yield gains has been viciously tempered by her responsibility towards the people whom she cares for deeply. She cannot afford to lose anymore, not when they are also on the line.
Family. He is hers too. And that is why she is terrified.