Thread by @bingjiuwus

#qijiu

"Young Master," a soft voice called out from beyond Shen Jiu's door. "Dinner is ready."

https://twitter.com/uglychui/status/1571227557332226054

SJ grimaced, as the door slid open, and Yue Qi entered his bedroom holding a covered tray. He waited until the boy put the food down on the table and closed the door before groaning and rubbing his face in exasperation.

"Really, Qi-ge? Even in private?"

"I have to," YQ said with all sincerity, uncovering the tray and arranging SJ's dinner for him - rice, smoked tofu and mushroom, braised fish, stir-fried snow pea leaves, and a bowl of duck leg soup. It was a grand quantity of food for a thirteen-year-old boy.

Much less one who had only been a rotten slave only a few months ago. When SJ had attracted Qiu Jianluo's life and gotten sold to the bastard a while back, he had thought his whole life was over; the man gave him the creeps just looking at him! But one day SJ had been attending

to his new master when he was with guests from an important family from the capital. One of the guests had taken one curious look at SJ before freezing, his cup of tea shattering as it fell to the ground.

Not in a million, billion years would SJ have believed anyone if they'd told him this, but as it turned out, he had a family.

And not just any family, but the _Shen_ family, a clan of scholars and court officials who served His Majesty in the capital himself!

SJ had always thought his surname had been picked out of a dictionary, he had been so young when the traffickers took him. And now suddenly this handsome gentleman in green silk was practically hugging him and crying as he told SJ he surely must be his missing little brother,

who had vanished from his crib over a decade ago as revenge against the Shen family by one of their enemies.

Truth be told, SJ would have pretended to believe him just get away from QJL, who made his skin crawl, but the moment he stared into the young man's eyes he realised it was probably true to begin with.

They had the same pale green eyes, the same thin nose and upturned mouth.

It was kind of like looking into a mirror ten or fifteen years from now, though SJ would never, ever cry in front of a stranger for anything!

(Unless it involved money, of course.)

QJL could only pretend he had treated SJ well all along in the face of SJ's newfound brother.

He grit his teeth and kept his mouth shut even as Master Shen - who was called Shen Dao - practically threw a bag full of taels at him in exchange for SJ's papers.

And suddenly, without SJ having to do anything at all, he was no longer a slave.

It was so stupid, so absurd, you could only laugh or cry thinking about what the hell had just happened.

Instead, SJ just thought about his Qi-ge.

*

SJ was a young master now, the second of his generation. Meeting the rest of his family was a strange experience. Apart from SD, he had a sickly younger brother and a little sister he met both only once. SJ didn't know what to think of them. Should he even consider them family?

SJ's father, Lord Shen, was the current Vice-minister of Public Works, and a handsome, bearded man in his early fifties. He saw SJ and embraced him so tightly his bones nearly cracked just feeling it.

Sadly, his mother had passed away a few years back - out of grief, SD said.

SJ paid his respects to her, but didn't know what else to feel. He had always imagined his mother had given him up because she didn't want him anymore; he had been found in a ditch, after all. But to think, maybe, she might have really loved him...

It was too much to consider.

As grateful as SJ was to be out of the Qiu hellhole, these people were all still strangers to him. The only person who wasn't was Qi-ge, who SJ had somehow managed to make SD take along with them to the capital.

(He had bought Qi-ge too, only the family still held his papers. He wasn't "free" like SJ now was. The thought made him a little sick inside.)

It had been three months since they had both arrived at the capital. SJ now had a courtyard of his own, and a day full of lessons.

Suddenly he had to know how to read now, and ride horses, and archery, and everything a young master of the Shen family should. It was exhausting, even though it was far better than crying his eyes out on the street for money.

Only now, instead of equals, Qi-ge was his servant.

Some parts of it were still like before. Qi-ge used to always wash SJ's face and make sure his clothes were clean and dry, that he had the best morsels of food and that he got the bigger part of the blanket at night. But that was when they had been dirty little street rats,

struggling to etch out a living together.

He still... had to do that. But now SJ could eat things like braised duck legs or tangyuan or spicy hot pot whenever he wanted. He had different clothes for every day of the week, and his bed had as many blankets as he could ask for!

He had never been so full or so warm before. It was a little boy's dream. He just...

He just wished Qi-ge could learn how to read too.

*

"Qi-ge," SJ asked him one night. "Tell me what you want. Anything, and I'll give it to you."

YQ slept on the arhat bed in SJ's bedroom.

He used to have to bunk with the other young male servants, but SJ insisted he needed him throughout the night. The Shen family _seemed_ nice, but he was not going to let anyone bully Qi-ge for anything, and he couldn't protect him if he couldn't be around him all the time.

So now they practically shared the same room, though no one else in the household would see it as that.

"Hmm," YQ hummed. "I think I'm pretty happy right now."

SJ's jaw dropped. "But you're a servant! You're still a slave!"

"That's right," YQ said wryly. "But I also sleep in a warm room at night next to Xiao Jiu, and eat the same food he does, and he teaches me all the clever things he learns from his tutors. I'm very grateful for that."

"It's not fair," SJ grumbled. "I don't know why you can't sit in the lessons. You're smart too."

"It's just how it is," YQ said.

But he didn't want it to be! SJ groaned into his pillow.

"Whatever," he grumbled.

_I'll fix it one day_, he thought drowsily. _I promise._

*

Years passed, until slowly but surely, SJ was now the young master he always should have been. He learned the six arts and the four, dressed handsomely, and always carried a paper fan around. Mostly, he felt like a pompous jackass.

But life wasn't terrible. Most of the time.

Then one day a decree came to the Shen household: Shen Jiu was to marry the Sect Leader of Cang Qiong Mountain and take his post as the magistrate of Wuyi City.

"It is an honour," said Lord Shen, sinking to his knees to thank the imperial messenger.

"I don't want this," SJ said blankly.

Marriage? He didn't want to marry some sect leader he didn't know, weren't they supposed to stay out of secular affairs to begin with. And just because he had taken the imperial exams and done well, he...

Why did it feel so wrong?

It had been years since he had gone without a meal. He was part of a family now, even if he still felt distant from them. He was a Shen. He _should_ be helping them maintain the family dignity and seek further glories, right?

So why, when he thought about what he actually wanted, he didn't think about being a magistrate or being married to an important person at all, but his stupid childhood dream of cultivating with Qi-ge and going around on swords, saving people and fighting demons?

He was an adult now, and still...

He couldn't think about Qi-ge anymore.

(One night, when the steward had gotten drunk and fell asleep in his quarters, SJ had stolen his key and snuck into his office, sifting through everyone's papers until he found YQ's. He practically ran,

heart pounding with glee.

"Look, Qi-ge!" he hissed. "Your papers! You're free now. See, even my stupid family doesn't own you anymore."

And Qi-ge's eyes had crinkled with happiness and warmth. "Really?" he said. "And you're just giving it to me?"

"Of course I am," SJ said.

"I used to be a slave too, how the fuck could I even think about owning you." He nudged him on the shoulder. "See, we're both the same again. We can be like before now. No more stupid rules, just Xiao Jiu and Qi-ge!"

"Of course," YQ had said softly. "Just the two of us, just like before."

SJ had thought nothing of his words, going to sleep with a giddy smile that night.

It was the last time he saw Qi-ge's face. The bastard didn't even tell him _goodbye_.)

*

SJ shut himself in his room for a week. He wasn't going to marry the Sect Leader, much as his father told him otherwise.

He couldn't. He just couldn't. He had only ever wanted to marry one person in his life, and now...

He left you, he thought with despair and anger.

He left you behind and ran away as soon as he could. Why do you still care about him!!

Why indeed...

SJ could never pretend his life hadn't changed immeasurably for the better. Who knew what horrors QJL might have made him face had he still been a slave.

He was cordial with his siblings and he could pursue his own interests, so long as they aligned with the family's.

He _had_ a family now. So why, why did he still...

Why did he still miss the one person who had been family to him from the beginning? Even if Qi-ge had abandoned him, even if Qi-ge had been sick of being his servant, he could have said something...!

Anything, and SJ would have agreed! He would have run away with him, even!

SJ would have given himself to the other boy, he realised. If Qi-ge had ever wanted his heart to devour, SJ would have gladly cut it out for him. Better give it to him for safekeeping than anyone else!

It didn't matter now. Qi-ge was gone now, and SJ was a Shen.

And maybe that really was for the better.

(Not in a million years.)

*

SJ was a dead man walking in his wedding palanquin. Dressed all in red, with gold hairpins in his hair and a veil over his face as he was taken to his new husband's home...

A Sect Leader. He... had wanted to be a cultivator, once.

He said nothing and paid attention to nothing, even as he performed his three bows with his new husband by his side. SJ would probably get a few days' leave before starting his new position, not that it mattered.

He was led to the bedroom and sat on the wedding bed in silence. To think this was really happening...

And then...

"I can't believe it," a familiar voice murmured. "It really is you, Xiao Jiu."

SJ looked up, only for his blood to run cold. Because standing there, in deep red robes was Qi-ge, only about a decade or so older.

_He_ was the Sect Leader of Cang Qiong, SJ realised. Not to mention his new husband...

"So this is what you've been doing all along," he said, and got up.

"Yes," said the man now known as Yue Qingyuan. "Xiao, we're finally equals now. I can stand next to you and - "

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Not before SJ punched him in the face.

*

For months, a certain sight plagued Wuyi, the city at the base of Cang Qiong Mountain. Sect Leader Yue, flying down on the legendary Xuan Su, to the Magistrate's Manor, with a lavish gift in hand.

He would enter said Manor, looking as hopeful as a young boy courting his beloved.

And then he'd come back out again! Sometimes with a bright red handprint on his handsome face, sometimes with his whole upper body drenched in tea.

It was befuddling. It was humiliating. It was, to put it lightly, hysterical. The inhabitants of Wuyi City watched with fascination

to see what Sect Leader Yue would do next, whether he would ever give up.

(And _how_ ferocious was their new Magistrate's temper, anyway!)

As far as Liu Qingge was concerned, it was the worst thing he had ever seen in his life.

Look. He respected Zhangmen-shixiong.

Admired him greatly. The man drew the attention of not only the jianghu and Demon Realm, but also the secular world. Having saved the Emperor's favourite grandchild when the boy escaped his attendants and was nearly trampled upon by horses would do that for you.

The Emperor had offered YQY a reward, anything he wanted. The last thing anyone must have imagined was that YQY would want the hand in marriage of the second son of Vice-Minister Shen. LQG had no idea how they knew each other, but whatever. The second son was a scholar,

uninterested in politics. Vice-Minister Shen was retiring anyway, so the chances of the marriage interfering with court politics wasn't likely.

But _this_...

LQG was going to put a stop to this. Ideally _before_ his shixiong's reputation was ruined for good.

Maybe. Probably.

*

As for SJ, there was nothing else to be said.

After that fateful night Qi-ge ran away, he made his way to Cang Qiong and was accepted as a disciple. Worked his way up to becoming the head disciple of Qiong Ding, and eventually its Peak Lord and Sect Leader.

Carried the legendary Xuan Su and had even slain a demon lord in his past.

All so he could impress SJ, apparently. All so he could stand side by side next to him and not feel inadequate -

What horseshit. If YQY truly believed that, he never would have abandoned him.

If only he would tell SJ the truth. That he had never done it for him, but for himself.

After all, how could you throw away someone you truly loved?

*

It all came to a heads one fateful morning, when LQG dropped in from Cheng Luan into the Magistrate's Manor, just as SJ and YQY were performing their usual bitter charade of give and throw in the main courtyard.

"Zhangmen-shixiong, this man cannot be worth humiliating yourself over," LQG said, just as SJ began:

"I want a divorce."

"What?" said YQY, ghastly pale.

"That'll also work," LQG muttered.

"It will not." YQY surged towards SJ, only for the man to hiss at him in turn.

"Xiao Jiu..." He began.

"Fuck your Xiao Jiu, who even is that!" SJ snarled. "This marriage has been a joke from the beginning. You don't love me, you never did - "

"Of course I do." YQY grabbed his hands. "Xiao Jiu, please - "

"Asshole!"

"Language!" LQG yelled.

"Mind your own business," YQY said. "Magistrate Shen, then. Please... of course I love you. I've loved you since the day I first laid eyes on you, when you were just the tiniest little thing who would cry whenever you couldn't hold onto me."

"You. Left. Me." SJ jabbed a finger at his chest. "I had no one in that fucking household but you, and you. Left!"

"You were _safe_," YQY said. "You had family, and food, and shelter, and I knew I could trust them to take care of you. _It's all I've ever wanted for you._"

"Well, I wanted _you_, asshole!" SJ shouted. "And instead, you didn't even _tell_ me - I would have done anything, I would have gone along with you - "

"I know," YQY said. "And I couldn't let you, not when you were finally safe at last. I didn't even know if I would survive the journey, how could I make you suffer along with me?"

"Instead, you just broke my heart," SJ said, tears dripping down his face. "Congratulations, Sect Leader Yue."

"This is about what, exactly," LQG said blankly. "Zhangmen-shixiong, did you break a promise to your husband?"

"Yes. No. It's complicated," YQY said.

"Yes!" SJ howled. "We were supposed to stick together forever, you bastard. You think I ever gave a shit if I was rich or poor, hungry or full? All I ever wanted was Qi-ge to hold onto. Why couldn't you have stayed with me..."

"How could I have?" YQY said, an edge of hysteria in his voice. "Xiao Jiu, your family _owned_ me. Even if they were kind, even if they would never hurt me, I was still their slave."

"But you said you were _happy_."

"I was," YQY said. "When I was with you. But a slave can't marry their master. Even if your family had freed me, I would always be a lowly servant, unable to look you in the eye. I couldn't live like that. I know you couldn't either."

"I - " SJ shuddered, unable to refuse such words. Didn't he know how badly it felt to be owned by another? How it felt, always being a step below someone else? Even if it was him, how could Qi-ge not want his own freedom, to be his own person?

"You," he said weakly, "you didn't even _write_ to me. You could have written any time you wanted..."

"I'm sorry." YQY kissed his hands. "I didn't learn to write until I was sixteen. And then I thought it would be better to wait until I had made something of myself. So I waited, and waited, until at last my opportunity came. And look, even now Xiao Jiu is such a spitfire,

so clever and brave and brilliant. I am so proud of who you've become."

"I've become an asshole," SJ hiccuped.

"You always were." YQY cupped his face. "But I've always loved that about you. You always fought like the end of the world would happen if you didn't.

So lively, so ferocious. I've never been able to take my eyes off you."

"But you did. For over ten years." SJ pulled away, eyes still wet. "I don't - I don't forgive you for this," he said, then hesitated. "Even if I understand exactly what you meant."

"I know," YQY said. "And I'm willing to wait for as long as it takes, so long as Xiao Jiu is willing too."

"It might take another ten years before I can look at you without wanting to throw something at your face."

"I have a very strong face," YQY said.

SJ just stared at him, tears dried on his pale face. "Suit yourself," he muttered. "I'm going back to bed."

And he wandered off inside, leaving YQY and LQG alone in the mess of his courtyard.

"Are you going to stop getting embarrassed in public now," LQG said flatly the moment SJ shut his doors.

"Maybe. Probably not," YQY said dryly. "I'm sorry you had to see that, shidi. Even if, ah, your input wasn't really required."

LQG grimaced. "I did it for the Sect. But even so... is he really worth that kind of trouble? Are _you_ willing to wait that long, even?"

"For him," YQY said. "I would wait centuries."

So be it. LQG shrugged, and decided to leave Zhangmen-shixiong to his disaster of a marriage. Whatever he chose to do from now on, LQG was not going to involve himself.

*

For a couple of months more yet, the same scene carried out as before: Sect Leader Yue making his way to

Magistrate Shen's home, only to get yelled at or something chucked at him before he had to make a hasty escape.

But eventually, the dramatics began to die down. And eventually Sect Leader Yue stayed in the Magistrate's Manor for longer periods of time before he was kicked out,

and his clothes stayed suspiciously dry the whole time. The citizens of Wuyi City weren't entirely sure if things had settled down among the heated pair, but Sect Leader Yue did look more cheerful nowadays... so that was good?

They were still going to politely look away when Magistrate Shen crossed the street, though. Just to be extra safe.

END

(This is probably the weirdest thread I've written, and is only tangentially related to the prompt. Hope you enjoyed anyway 😅)