Thread by @bingjiuwus

#liujiu, Bai Zhan SJ AU Part XI:

"I can't believe we're really going to live here from now on."

Shen Jiu stood in the central parlour of the house that had belonged to the now-ascended Bai Zhan Peak Lord, Xu Ningchen.

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Though he'd been a latecomer to the peak and initially baffled by Shizun choosing him when the man didn't interact with him for the first _year_ of his life on Bai Zhan, nowadays he could admit he had even become fond of the eccentric warrior.

After he'd improved and caught the rest of the peak's eye, Shizun had started taking him on missions, and SJ had become familiar with coming to the man's house for briefings and reports, all while nursing a cup of jasmine tea (so delicate) and a lotus seed paste bun.

(Watching the man hector Liu Qingge like a harried mother-in-law had always been entertaining, in its own way.)

But now Shizun had ascended, and his house - the manor that traditionally belonged to every Bai Zhan Peak Lord upon succession - looked bare and lonely with only furniture and books left,

and all of Shizun's surreal and rare belongings either donated to Bao Ku, the artifact peak, or other sects like Zhao Hua.

At his side, LQG nudged him gently. "But now you can decorate the place however you like."

SJ snorted, remembering the ridiculous conversation he'd walked in on upon returning to the sect. "I'm delighted already."

He was, actually, but it would be a change from before. The Bai Zhan Peak Lord's house sat on a cliff outcropping that overlooked the main plaza and practice fields, the stairs leading to it carved out of mountain rock hundreds of years ago.

It would no longer just be the two of them in their little cottage in the forest; now people would be coming and going to the house every day for briefings and reports and orders, and well...

It was going to be different, that was all.

But that was life in general, wasn't it?

*

Of course, the moment they stepped out of their new house and walked back down to the peak, they were confronted by a small crowd of eager teenagers.

"Shen-shixiong, Liu-shixiong, let us help you move, please!"

"Shixiong?" barked LQG. "I'm your _Shizun_ now."

SJ snickered as a vaguely stupefied expression passed over most of the kids' faces. They were - like him - of the same martial generation as LQG, but they'd been so _young_ when they came to Bai Zhan, not to mention how much they still had left to learn.

Their shixiong of yesterday was now Shizun as from today. Tough luck.

"That's right," SJ said, taking LQG's arm and giving it a firm squeeze. "Yesterday, Liu Qingge was your da-shixiong. Now he's the Bai Zhan Peak Lord, and your shizun." He smiled. "Now I'm still Shen-shixiong - "

LQG shook his head. "Shen-shishu," he corrected. "And my second-in-command, so you brats better not act up the second I'm not around and think you can get away with murder."

SJ grinned helplessly at the tough-guy act; as if everyone on Bai Zhan wasn't already hooked onto LQG's every word.

"So," he suggested to the wide-eyed kids. "Why not try that again?"

The kids were tight-lipped for a moment, still trying to process the new world they'd found themselves in - then a boy said, "Shizun, Shen-shishu, may we help you move into your new home?"

LQG snorted, amused despite himself.

And as for SJ, he said, "We'd be honoured."

*

On one hand, trying to manage eight fourteen-to-sixteen-year-old boys through a forest, all of whom were carrying chests full of possessions of various worth and fragility, was a bit of a gongshow.

They all wanted to prove their strength and would have taken even the hinges off the house itself to transport if SJ hadn't stopped them.

(It really was a lovely home, albeit one he didn't think they would return to again. Hopefully it would find a new owner sooner than later.)

On the other, when SJ walked in the rear to ensure no stragglers left behind, he noticed the boy carrying the small wooden chest where he kept all his brushes and inkwells and said, "Jin Ran?"

"Yes, Shen-shixiong - I mean, Shen-shishu," the boy said.

"You've so big now," SJ marvelled. The last time he had seen Jin Ran it had been a little after the Immortal Alliance Conference two years ago, when he had taught his beginner reading class for the last time; then, Jin Ran had still been a pimply twelve-year-old.

"How have you been doing? Are you faring better now?"

"Yes, Shen-shishu," the boy said. "Reading isn't hard for me anymore. I actually like to exchange my chores for more library duty now."

"That's good." SJ smiled. The current Bai Zhan Head Librarian was an aged immortal even older than the generation before Shizun; likely the man had yet to ascend yet because he simply hadn't found a decent successor. "This shishu is proud of you."

Jin Ran pinked, and walked a little faster after that.

"Cao Yu is doing better too," the boy said suddenly after a while. "He's not, um, trying to pick fights with Qing Jing disciples anymore. Well, most of the time..."

SJ chuckled. "That's also good. You know why I told you not to fight your sectmates needlessly back then, don't you?" Both Jin Ran and Cao Yu were certainly old enough to get it by now.

"Yes, shishu." Jin Ran nodded. "We shouldn't get into fights because as part of the same sect, we're all supposed to work and support each other.

Bai Zhan is also the warrior's peak, and our job is to protect people, not make them angry. Even if Chu Xiu is still kind of mean to us sometimes."

SJ laughed. "You should challenge them to a battle of wits one day, then. A poetry contest or something like that; beat the haughty scholar at their own game." Inspiration struck him. "This shishu will host you and bring everyone food from Zui Xian."

(He'd wrangle that somehow, trust me.)

"Really?!" said Jin Ran, nearly dropping SJ's chest full of his precious ink brushes from how excited he was. "Okay! I have to tell Cao Yu then, we can both compete - "

"Not right now!" SJ said. "After, after!"

God, had he ever been so young and brash? He couldn't even imagine.

*

That first night they spent in their new home together, SJ and LQG just lay in bed with their hands laced under the covers, unable to sleep at all.

A little after midnight, LQG eventually asked, "How much do you want to do things by the book?"

"Hm?" SJ stirred against him; a little sleepy, but just that. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, wedding-wise." Even in the dark he could tell his silly goose was blushing. "I didn't force your hand at the ceremony, did I? Did you want to wait longer or - "

"No," SJ said instantly. "Trust me, Qingge, I want to get married as quickly as you do."

"Oh." LQG squeezed his hand. "It's up to you how much you want to do. We can just head to the estate the day before and get married just in front of my parents, or..."

"Don't be silly." SJ pecked him on the cheek. "The Bai Zhan Peak Lord and the heir of the Liu clan is getting married, you deserve a grand celebration. I want a roast suckling pig at every table and for the entire jianghu to attend just to tell me how lucky I am to have you."

Abruptly LQG turned and pulled him into his arms, making SJ breathless with the intimacy he should have long since been used to by now.

"I'm the lucky one," LQG whispered into his ear. "And I always have been."

SJ's heart couldn't stop pounding. "Mingjin..."

"And I want our wedding to be the happiest day of our lives," LQG continued. "So whatever you want, you get."

Unbelievable. "Okay, okay," SJ said. "I believe you. Silly."

"Not silly. Just honest."

"Mm hmm."

*

They did forego most of the pre-wedding rituals because frankly, they already knew each other and were going to get married whether their birth charts aligned or not

(and since SJ had _made up_ his birth chart after he arrived at Cang Qiong lest the question ever come up, any prediction made on that basis would have been a crapshoot anyway),

and considering both the distance that the Liu estate was from Cang Qiong and SJ's general lack of a family to conduct the rituals for him (and no, much as he loved Qi-ge, he really didn't want the man negotiating his potential bride price with the Liu parents),

they both agreed it would be far more convenient to just do the rituals that would be available to them once they arrived at the Lius'. They certainly couldn't ferry SJ from Cang Qiong to the Liu estate by bridal sedan and firecracker; it would only take five years to get there!

LQG sent a quick letter to his parents informing them all they had to take care of was the wedding itself (easy!), and he and SJ would travel to the estate at least two days' prior. No fuss, right?

Of course, a mere week after that, a messenger from the Liu clan arrived on Bai Zhan bearing betrothal gifts in - what else? a red and gold qiankun pouch.

Within said qiankun pouch (and gifted to SJ personally considering again, his lack of parents) were jars of spiritual wine, cakes of Longjing tea, gold and jade jewellery, porcelain vases, ink brushes and talisman paper, and a red box containing twelve wrapped bridal cakes.

Save for the cakes, every other item had come in pairs. Obvious message there. As were the contents; the Liu parents simply didn't know SJ that well, to be giving him gifts like spiritual wine and ink brushes in lieu of more traditional things like poultry and sweetmeats.

SJ also doubted he would wear gold much in the future, but jade, to match his eyes? Yes.

After the messenger left, LQG could only shrug and say, "I talk about you a lot."

"Yeah?" SJ wanted to laugh. There had probably been more lavish betrothal gifts in the world, but considering he could count on one hand people who had given him anything at all, he was still overwhelmed with the thought involved. "Your parents have good taste, then."

"You mean _I_ have good taste, for telling them what to give you," LQG huffed.

"Yes, you do." SJ leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "My handsome, clever husband-to-be. Now come on, let's give out the bridal cakes before they go stale."

"Sure." LQG flushed pleasingly pink. "Whatever you want."

*

There were twelve bridal cakes, presumably for the twelve new Peak Lords, though each cake was frankly big enough to be split into four, even six generous pieces.

SJ and LQG spent the entire day visiting every peak and giving each cake to its recipient personally (and to invite them and a plus one to the wedding more formally).

They started, of course, with Qiong Ding, and honestly, the sight of Qi-ge bursting into tears as SJ handed him his delicately wrapped bridal cake was almost enough to make him cry himself.

(They'd never thought they would make it this far, huh?)

After that came the Qing Jing Peak Lord, then Wei Qingwei, and so on until they went to Qian Cao and Mu Qingfang looked positively smug at receiving his cake while weeding out in the gardens with his disciples gawking around him.

"Thank you very much, Shen-shixiong," he said wryly. "Do put it in my sleeve, will you."

SJ snorted. "Those kids behind you look like they're starving."

"What a coincidence; I don't care," MQF said, and made SJ laugh out loud.

"Planning on going mad with power now that you're finally in charge now?"

"Yes, absolutely."

They only returned to Bai Zhan at night, but didn't head back home right away. Instead, they stepped into the Hall of Recollection, which held the ascension and memorial tablets of past Peak Lords.

Shizun's tablet stood in the front and centre, alongside lit candles and incense, and a plate upon which you could give offerings.

And they did. They both knelt before his tablet and gave him the final bridal cake.

"Old man," LQG said before SJ could begin, "I'm sure you're watching us from above right now and judging me for whatever dumb thing you think I just did. Well, tough luck; I'm in charge now, and you can't hector me anymore."

Oh, for heaven's sake... SJ rolled his eyes and let him continue.

"But..." LQG said, in a quieter voice. "I really did wish you could have been at our wedding. You would have had a good time there."

"All we can offer you is this," SJ said, bowing his head low. "And hoping you can be with us in spirit. Shizun, even if we're still young and foolish and unwise, we pray you can continue to guide us from the heavens and take care of us."

"Mm." LQG cleared his throat. "Thank you for letting us meet each other."

And they bowed to their teacher one last time, and bid him farewell.

*

And then suddenly, it was time.

They flew again to the Liu estate, though this time there wasn't a small excitable girl but half the estate's servants and Lord and Lady Liu waiting for them to arrive.

(Mingyan was there too, of course; she was now ten, and would try for Xian Shu when the next disciple trials were open.)

SJ was no longer just the young master's friend and guest, but a future son-in-law, and the way people practically jumped to cater to him had him feeling mixed, but mostly amused.

Barring unexpected circumstance he didn't see himself living at the estate for long periods of time, so might as well accept it for what it was. He was certainly no longer the wiry, black-hearted little vagrant he'd been when he first entered Bai Zhan, was he.

No, in the eyes of his future-in-laws and everyone else in the jianghu, SJ was the most recent winner of the Immortal Alliance Conference, a gifted and brilliant young cultivator who was affiliated both with the legendary Xuan Su Sword

and soon to be wed to the Bai Zhan Peak Lord and heir to the prestigious Liu clan.

He'd... really climbed up in the world, and how he'd done it he honestly couldn't even tell you.

It was just... luck, he supposed. Luck, and serendipity; two things SJ had sorely lacked in his life before this.

And now he was getting married to the love of his life.

Imagine that.

*

"Thank you for the gifts," SJ told Lord and Lady Liu over tea later. "They all suit me well, and I will treasure them."

Lord Liu beamed. "We're glad to hear that."

"This one would also like to offer a token of his appreciation." SJ swallowed. "Though I cannot offer anything that can match what Lord and Lady Liu must already be accustomed to, I hope I can make a small contribution to the library.

When I was studying away from Cang Qiong, some of the sects permitted me to copy a selection of their books and take one for my own use provided I didn't try to replicate them or sell them."

He took out the qiankun pouch in his sleeve, and gingerly pulled out six neatly bound books. "I hope Lord and Lady Liu will find these volumes useful; they are the most precious in my collection, and I've kept no copy for myself."

"He scribed them all himself," LQG said next to him before his parents could even react.

A servant took the books from SJ and went to Liu-furen, letting her peruse through them first. Her elegant brows lifted as she picked up the first book and flipped through it in disbelief.

"You managed to make a copy of Li Yun's Charm Compendium...?" she said. "How was that even possible?"

SJ smiled. "This one had to work very hard for it."

"Undoubtedly," Liu-furen said, gazing at him in a new light now. "Husband, look. There's even a book on herbs found only in the demon realm - you can't imagine how impossible it is to get any kind of accurate information on something like that!"

"Very good," Lord Liu said with a smile, though he hadn't looked at the books himself. Clearly he was the type who thought, happy wife, happy life and no more.

Which... fair. And as LQG's parents looked delighted at the gifts SJ had given them, he turned to his side and found his silly goose grinning just as hard as his father.

_You're doing great_, that grin said.

And SJ couldn't help it either; he smiled right back.

*

SJ was staying in the same guest house like before, but this time LQG's presence was strictly forbidden, much as the man grumbled and had to be dragged away, and for good reason;

the villa was now SJ's "maternal home" in the Liu estate, and where the wedding procession would begin tomorrow.

The interiors had even been redecorated; his bed now had red bedding, the furniture and hangings had been swapped out for richer, more luxurious versions, and on every flat surface were red candles and richly burning incense and plates full of dried fruits and nuts and cake.

The whole endeavour was so lavish just for him to sleep a night or two in this place, SJ felt positively like an imperial concubine being brought into the back palace for the first time, ha!

This place wasn't going to be their marital home either; they both wanted to have a place built somewhere on the wilder parts of the estate later, so that they could just step out onto the veranda and see the spiritual beasts roaming nearby peacefully.

The actual marital room itself, holding their wedding bed and where they would drink their wine together (among... other things, SJ thought with a flush) had been arranged in a spare courtyard in the manor where LQG's parents themselves lived.

SJ was glad - for a moment he imagined his marital room would have been in LQG's childhood bedroom itself! Which... thanks, but no thanks.

But before any of that, he had a pomelo bath to soak into first.

SJ had been flustered at first when, the evening before the wedding, Liu-furen entered his guest house, followed by half a dozen attendants; then he realised what she had come in for, and had to take a moment to collect himself.

"Does this mean I'm the wife, then?" he asked later, when he'd managed to dry his eyes and gather himself again.

Liu-furen smiled. "Nuxu or xifu, the title is up to you. Qingge is doing this as well - with his father. I promise, I have the gentler hand with a comb."

"Oh." SJ swallowed. To think he couldn't see his silly goose until tomorrow...

"Shall we then?" Liu-furen smiled.

"Yes, of course," SJ said, and thought _popo._

He spent nearly half a shichen in a bath of hot water and pomelo leaves, and by the time he had dried himself off and dressed in a new set of inner robes and slippers, everything else had been set up in the house.

SJ was guided to a table weighed down with a bounty of offerings, dried fruits and nuts and smoked meat, as well as a pair of dragon and phoenix candles on either side of a gazing back at him.

There was a comb on the table, and a sewing kit, and scissors, and everything else to indicate good luck and happiness for a new couple.

"Sit," Liu-furen said, and beckoned him close.

SJ sat down, feeling vulnerable in only his inner robes and his hair down to his back.

The dragon and phoenix candles and joss sticks were lit, the offerings given to the gods. Then Liu-furen picked up the comb and stood behind SJ, and began.

In a soft and sonorous voice she spoke as she combed through his hair, "May your marriage last a lifetime, may you be blessed with longevity..."

Oh.

This was really happening, wasn't it?

Ten times Liu-furen combed SJ's hair, and ten times she spoke aloud to bless his marriage.

Qingge's mother, _his_ mother-in-law in just a few hours' time.

And someone who wanted him to have a long and happy marriage with his beloved.

By the time she finished combing SJ's hair, he had to take another moment just to collect himself again. If the tenth combing took unusually long by most people's standards, then well - no one around was judging.

*

Everything was perfect.

His handsome Qingge, smiling and gorgeous in his red and gold wedding robes as he jumped out of his sedan chair in front of SJ's guest house to escort him back to the main house where they would get married.

Qi-ge and Mu-shidi, dressed in full regalia and acting on SJ's behalf, refusing to allow LQG to pass until he proved trustworthy in their eyes.

Them delaying LQG and annoying him just enough he almost shoved past them (bad luck!) before they gave away at last and let him go up the stairs two at a time and to the open threshold of the house, where SJ stood waiting for him in deep red robes and hardly able to breathe.

(He'd decided not to wear a veil for the occasion. It might have been more traditional, yes. But he hadn't wanted to miss anything, and he knew LQG wouldn't mind. And being able to look at his beloved... well, there was nothing else in comparison.)

LQG gazed up at him, and SJ gazed down. Neither of them spoke; they just... looked at each other, and were in awe.

Then SJ stepped across the threshold to make way to his husband, and tripped.

LQG made it up the last of the stairs and across six feet in a heartbeat, catching SJ in his arms. "Careful," he said, as if they were just sparring together and not getting married with a hundred people watching their every move even now.

SJ gaped, then turned bright red. "You be careful!" he said, mortified.

"Okay, okay, it's my fault," LQG said cheerfully, helping him to his feet. "I'm such a clod."

"Yeah," SJ huffed in embarrassment. It definitely wasn't the heavy hair accessories that had him lopsided, not at all...

He held onto LQG's arm as they walked back down the stairs and towards his bridal sedan, Qi-ge and Mu-shidi standing to the side now that their part was over.

_Thank you_, SJ mouthed at them, and they beamed back in turn.

Then LQG helped him into his bridal sedan, and everything else became a blur after that. The noisy procession, the laughter and firecrackers and music.

Then Qingge's warm hand reaching through the slit in the partition, and SJ being helped down again.

Him trying not to gawk at how even more lavishly the main house had been decorated in comparison to his own, how many members of the Liu clan were here, and how many people SJ already recognised from his time away from Cang Qiong...

Had the Lius really invited the entire jianghu for their son's wedding? Yes, all of the Peak Lords had come, even if only Qi-ge and Mu-shidi were playing a real role in the wedding, but that was because one (okay, two) of their own was getting married.

But if SJ wasn't blind, there was even Abbot Wu Chen from Zhao Hua and Palace Master Chen from Huan Hua standing near each other... just to watch SJ jump over a bed of hot coals? Absurd!

But jump over the bed of coals he did - without singeing the ends of his robes either - and then he made his way back to LQG, who stood waiting for him with his parents and Mingyan next to him, and staring at SJ as if he had never seen anything more beautiful in his life.

And then it was time.

*

"Bow to the heavens."

They bowed.

"Bow to your parents."

They bowed, both to LQG's mother and father, and to Shizun's ascension tablet, may he forever watch over them from above.

"Bow to each other."

They bowed.

And then it was done.

*

"Qingge, my head hurts."

"What is it?" LQG said immediately, getting up from the bed to inspect the heavy golden accessories on SJ's head. "Ack," he said, narrowing his eyes. "A'Niang really did too much..."

"Here." SJ gestured towards the biggest culprit, a gold filigree crown that had been digging into his scalp all morning. "Can you get it off for me?"

Sure," LQG said. "Lower your head a little..."

SJ did so, trying not to laugh at the same time. "My strong man," he praised.

LQG's hands shook as he tried to work, face pinking. "Hush," he grumbled.

SJ sighed when he was finally free of the evil crown. "Thank you," he said in a soft voice.

"It's fine." LQG put the crown aside. "You, uh, want me to take off more?"

"No, it's fine." SJ grinned. "I feel better now."

"Okay." LQG was red. "You look good."

"You too," he whispered. God, why were they being so awkward about this? One would think they'd just met today!

He cleared his throat. "We should drink the wine now."

"Okay, yeah." LQG got up hurriedly to pour the wine, the back of his neck a deep flush. "Here. Um." He tried to hand over a too-full cup over to SJ and spilled half of the wine on his hand.

"Shit," LQG said in horror, his sleeve now soaking wet.

SJ snickered. "Qingge, come on now."

"I helped you with your hair, didn't I?" LQG said defensively. "Give me a break."

"Yeah, you did." SJ smiled and got up, took the jar of wine from him and slowly poured out more wine into the cups. "Come on, handsome, let's drink to each other." They looped arms around each other, holding a cup of wine to each other's mouths... and drank, nerves and all.

It was done.

"Husband," SJ said. "Liu Qingge, you're my husband now. Try to get rid of me now and I'll make your reincarnation regret ever being born."

"... Shen Jiu," LQG said. "You're my husband now." He bit his lip. "If you tried to get rid of me I'd probably die of heartbreak, so yeah... don't do that."

"I could never." SJ's heart ached, just thinking about that. "You have no idea how much you mean to me."

"Same here," LQG whispered. "So let's just be good to each other from now on, alright?"

That sounded good. "Alright," SJ sniffled. "I promise."

"I promise too," LQG said, and brought SJ's hands up to kiss his fingers.

*

"Should we go outside for a peek?"

LQG looked at SJ, seemingly scandalised by the very idea. "The wedding banquet, you mean?"

"Mm." SJ grinned. "I know we're supposed to stay inside here and um... do things."

He coughed to make a point. Let's be real; there was no way his silly goose wasn't a virgin, and as for SJ, there was no part of his former knowledge he wanted to bring into his new life with his husband.

It was better they both start on a clean slate, even if it meant SJ was almost as ignorant on matters of desire as LQG was now.

(And besides, they had time to learn. A _lot_ of time.)

LQG turned pink at the implication too. "Yeah," he said hoarsely, as if he had already been thinking about it before. "I, um... don't know much about that."

"Me either," SJ said, squeezing his hand. "We can learn together."

"Uh huh," LQG swallowed. "Then... should we see what's going on outside?"

"Just a little peek," SJ said. "And then if we want to or the elders give us dirty looks, we can just come back here."

_Just a little peek_ turned into a tug-of-war once both the hosts and guests discovered the wayward grooms had forsaken tradition yet again and tried to spy in on the wedding banquet and maybe sneak a plate of food or two back to their bedroom.

LQG was quickly snatched away to be introduced to this-and-that cultivator from blah blah sect; he was the Bai Zhan Peak Lord now, and too important to be left alone on his wedding day when he could be _socialising_.

SJ had been hoping to be left alone so he could sneak to the section where the Peak Lords were seated and see what Qi-ge and Mu-shidi were up to, but if his time away from Cang Qiong had done one thing, it was make him a familiar name among many cultivators, and he found himself

in the surreal position of suddenly greeting his former benefactors and thanking them for coming to his wedding blah blah and yes he definitely _would_ visit again one day and stay longer, this time, and so on...

He found himself being introduced to new people too, to wandering cultivators and sects he hadn't heard of before. SJ thanked everyone for coming to the wedding, but he began to feel restless and wonder if he should have really come out. He hadn't seen Qingge in a while either...

He was presently wrapped up in a conversation with one Master Hu from the small Ba Qi Sect, and SJ was trying desperately to think of an excuse to leave and drag LQG back to their marital room so they could just pass out for a bit when Master Hu said suddenly:

"Hold on, Shen-gongzi, please bear with me. I just took a new disciple a year past, and she begged to be able to attend the wedding with me the moment she heard you were getting married. There she is now. Over here, Haitang!"

Haitang?

SJ's entire body froze.

He had already turned halfway from Master Hu, one foot forward to leave and disappear into the laughing crowds so he could find Qingge, his husband, and take him back to refuge and freedom.

_And he should have. He should have walked away that moment and never looked back._

But then a sweet and girlish voice he hadn't heard for years said, "Shifu, this disciple is here."

And Master Hu said gaily, obliviously, "Haitang, isn't this the young gentleman you've wanted to meet for so long? Shen-gongzi, meet my newest disciple Qiu Haitang - "

He turned, and saw her.

And then the world fell apart.

*

"Shen Jiu? Are you Shen Jiu?"

How long had it been now? Seven, eight years since he'd burned the Qiu Manor down, dragged her out of the fire and saved her from the agony of sharing her brother's fate?

"You, you, it's really you..."

They weren't supposed to ever run into each other again. What was Qiu Haitang doing in a sect, learning under a cultivator? Wasn't she a noblewoman with a fortune to her name? What was she doing _here_...

"It's you. You're the one who won the Immortal Alliance Conference. I thought it had to be a coincidence then, how could it have been you..."

Qiu Haitang stared at him with large wet eyes and white disciple robes, so unlike the lady in gossamer silks he used to serve.

Stared at his red wedding robes and the sole hair accessory he still had on left - a gold guan in the shape of a falcon, the sigil of the Liu clan.

"So that's why," she said in a soft voice. "No wonder. No wonder I searched for so many years but still never found you again. I see you'd already flown to the summit and found a new master... haha. How splendid!"

Her voice rang out sharp and high, and the crowd around them had quietened and begun to grow uneasy the more she spoke. Even Master Hu looked caught off-guard.

"Haitang," he said gently. "If you have something against Shen-gongzi, now isn't the time. We can address your concerns later, but he just got married to Peak Lord Liu - "

"Married?" QHT said, lower lip twitching. "Shen Jiu, you dare, you..."

"Don't you dare." SJ's heart was frozen in his throat; he couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't say anything back.

_But look at what was at stake right now._

"Don't you say another fucking word, Haitang," he hissed.

QHT's gaze widened in shock - Xiao Jiu had _never_ spoken to her like that - and only a few feet behind her, a concerned LQG was making his way towards them, not realising what was going to happen next - and that it was too late.

It was all too late for anything now.

"If a single word I, Qiu Haitang, say from here on out is false, may my heart be pierced by ten thousand of the demons' poisonous arrows, and may I be undeserving of a peaceful death!"

QHT's piercing cry shot across the banquet crowd like a flaming arrow; everyone fell silent at once, transfixed with bewilderment and horror as she pointed straight at SJ, fury in her eyes.

"This person is now an immortal cultivator, married to Cang Qiong Mountain Sect's Bai Zhan Peak Lord Liu Qingge himself! But as I can see, he has you all deceived! For no one knows what kind of _thing_ he used to be!"

No one moved; no one spoke, for all the air had been sucked out from inside their lungs; they only stared at QHT, heartbroken and fervent, and SJ, rigid and blank-faced in front of her.

And then LQG's hand gripped onto QHT's shoulder from the back and he snarled, "What the _hell_ did you just say about my husband?"

The pain must have been intolerable; she buckled to her knees and screamed.

"Have mercy, Peak Lord Liu!" Master Hu said, aghast.
LQG let go of QHT in disgust and stepped past her, going to SJ immediately.

"A'Jiu, what just happened," he said urgently, grabbing his hands. "What the hell was that woman trying to do to you..."

"Peak Lord Liu," QHT gasped with tears in her eyes as she clutched her shoulder, her teacher at her side. "You have no idea what your husband truly is, do you?"

"I know him better than you ever could," LQG spat.

"He's a beast in a man's clothes, a degenerate wearing a cultured mask," she continued. "Of course he wouldn't mention his shameful deeds to you - "

LQG stepped forth with a snarl, reaching for the sword that wasn't there in a crowd full of the jianghu's most important people - and he _didn't seem to care_.

No, no, no. This was not happening. SJ grabbed his sleeve and held him back in terror. "Qingge, don't," he whispered.

"Don't do anything"

LQG's face seized with frustration. "And let this madwoman torment you with filth on our wedding day? Who the hell _is_ this woman?"

"This one begs for your forgiveness, Peak Lord Liu," Master Hu said, flustered. "I had no idea she would do this today. Haitang, bow your head immediately!"

"My name is Qiu Haitang," QHT said, ignoring her teacher as she stared up at the two of them in matching red robes.

"The man you married today is a murderer and a slave, Peak Lord Liu. And before Shen Jiu was your husband, I was his _wife_."

All hell broke loose at that moment.

And Shen Jiu...

Shen Jiu just wanted to scream.

END OF PART XI

(yep... I know, and I'm sorry 🥲 I don't feel good about what's going to happen next either... but happy ending and all 🫠)

(and yeah a lot of QHT's lines are straight up from the novel or just slightly reworked ☠️)