Thread by @bingjiuwus

#liujiu, Bai Zhan SJ Part XII:

"What in the world is going on here?"

https://twitter.com/bingjiuwus/status/1648143218029268994

A sharp and clear voice rang out, and then the crowd parted for Lord and Lady Liu, their faces in disbelief as they stared at Qiu Haitang kneeling on the ground, Master Hu beside her, and just a few feet away, Liu Qingge stood protectively with Shen Jiu behind him.

"A'Niang, A'Die," LQG burst out when he saw his parents. "I don't know where this madwoman came from, but she needs to get the hell out of here. All she's done is insult A'Jiu and lie about him - "

"They're not lies!" QHT cried out. "Lord and Lady Liu, please hear me out. You've all been misled into thinking your son-in-law is a good person, but he's not! He's a - "

"Murderer and a slave? We heard," Lord Liu said with a grave expression. His gaze shifted over. "Master Hu, this is your disciple?"

The cultivator bowed his head in shame. "Forgive me, Lord Liu. Haitang has been with my sect for a year, and she's always been dutiful and hardworking. I never imagined she would do this today - "

"Shifu, you don't believe me?" QHT turned to her teacher with wet eyes, looking betrayed. "I told you what happened to my brother when I entered Ba Qi; I even gave the last of my savings to the sect. Do you think I'm a liar too?"

"I - " Master Hu looked conflicted. "Of course not. But Shen-gongzi is no ordinary person. You simply can't accuse him like this on his wedding day - "

"No," QHT said bitterly. "He just murdered my beloved older brother and burned my family home down, but I'm the one who has to bow my head because he's flown to a higher perch than me? He was betrothed to _me_ first, too - "

"Which is it?" LQG suddenly barked out. QHT stared at him with tear tracks down her cheeks, while he continued: "Was Shen Jiu a slave or not? Was he your husband or betrothed or _what_? You're saying you were betrothed to a slave? Who the hell would let _that_ happen?"

"My... my brother," QHT said, stupefied by the question. "He... our parents bought Xiao Jiu when he was twelve..."

SJ sucked in his breath behind LQG, who turned and squeezed his arm in reassurance.

SJ could offer none of it that. He'd never imagined anyone would ever use that nickname for him but Qi-ge again, but...

"You're saying you were engaged to a slave your family _owned_? And this is supposed to make sense to people?"

The crowd began to murmur, the tide turning. No one here would believe something so audacious as a noble family engaging their only daughter to a slave, how nonsensical. SJ shifted his weight and tried to ignore the whispers; they weren't really talking about _him_.

Nevertheless...

"Master Hu," Lord Liu said finally. "I believe it's time to take your disciple home. This foolishness has gone on long enough."

"I understand, Lord Liu," Master Hu said, but when he tried to take QHT's elbow she shook him off and scrambled towards Lady Liu.

"Lady Liu," she begged, clutching onto the hem of the woman's robes. "Please, won't you hear me out? I know you're a righteous cultivator, that you've never turned anyone down who needs help. I've been living a nightmare since my brother died, struggling to survive on my own.

No one would listen to me, no one would help me. I had to fend for myself and only when I entered the Ba Qi Sect did I find a semblance of peace. But if I cannot say my truth to everyone here and now, then this heart demon will consume me for the rest of my life and kill me.

Please, please hear me out before it's too late..."

Lord Liu moved towards his wife to shake QHT off, but she shook her head and put slender, fragrant hands on her shoulders as if to reassure her.

"Miss Qiu," she said in a soft and compassionate voice. "I'm sure you believe whole-heartedly in what you have to say. But you have my son-in-law mistaken with someone else.

Shen Jiu is a courteous and brilliant young man, who has been a steadfast friend and shidi to my Qingge since he entered Bai Zhan so many years ago. I don't know what he has to do with a slave who murdered your brother and destroyed your family home so many years ago.

My eternal condolences for your loss. But it has nothing to do with him. Especially when all we have are your words," she sighed. "You have no proof."

QHT let go of her robes.

"I have no proof," she said blankly. "I have no proof of anything , do I? How could I, when Xiao Jiu burned everything down, even his slave papers - "

"Don't call me that."

SJ hadn't spoken for a long time, but he could bear it no longer, even if it meant giving up on his innocence.

"I don't care about what you have to say about me," he snapped. "But don't ever call me Xiao Jiu again. You don't have the right."

"Oh." QHT gazed at him with glassy red eyes. "Shen Jiu, are you really going to pretend you never knew me? Like you didn't want to marry me more than anything? Are you going to pretend my brother and I didn't give you everything you wanted?

We treated you like our own, and you repaid us by allying with that monster Wu Yanzi and slaughtering everyone in our estate like dogs! Did it feel good to abandon right from wrong and enjoy life as a criminal, Xiao Jiu?"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" SJ shouted.

QHT's lip quivered; then she burst out laughing. "If only they knew..." she whispered.

"Master Hu, shut your brat up or I will," LQG snarled, vein bulging in his temple. "Does the Ba Qi Sect stand with this maniac?"

"Haitang is addled," Master Hu said, looking between LQG and his parents in desperation. "And means not what she says - "

"What she says is garbage," LQG spat out, the same time as QHT cried out:

"I mean it!"

She got up unsteadily on two feet and clasped her hand to her heart.

"Everything I have said is true," she said solemnly. "If a single word of what I have said is false then may the heavens strike down for my hubris, may my soul be obliterated and never reincarnate again! I will gladly suffer every punishment if I am wrong.

_But I am not, and I will gladly testify with honour._ Please, noble cultivators. All I want is to be heard out and the truth revealed at last. No more."

Everyone was silent, unmoving. QHT breathed in raggedly after making her vow, continuing to stare at SJ even as LQG blocked her view of him.

"Shen Jiu..." she whispered. "Are you really going to pretend I never meant anything to you?"

SJ refused to say anything to her.

"Master Hu," Lord Liu said. The cultivator nodded shakily and tried to take his disciple's elbow again; she didn't even stop him this time.

It didn't matter that most of the crowd thought QHT was only a crackpot. She had ruined their wedding and poured rain onto what should have been the happiest day of their life.

And now, no matter what SJ did in the future, what happened today would follow him like an unsightly blemish -

"Is this how the noble Liu clan and Cang Qiong Mountain Sect conducts justice?"

And speaking of.

The crowd parted once again, and this time Palace Master Chen stepped forth in emperor-yellow robes, a sombre Abbot Wu Chen by his side.

"Palace Master," Lord Liu said stiffly. "This is a private matter."

"Is it? Did you not hear the young lady?" PMC said. "She swore that the heavens should strike her down if she spoke wrong, and she still stands here." He smiled faintly. "Not to mention, you may have chosen to forget the specifics of her accusation, but I haven't.

How could any righteous cultivator hear that someone had allied with the evil _Wu Yanzi_ and not want to get to the bottom of it? Is there a single sect that hasn't had a run-in with that monstrous man? Or does justice no longer call to you?"

"You..." Lord Liu looked furious at the implication. "WYZ has been dead for nearly a decade. This woman cannot simply accuse my son-in-law of conspiring with him out of nowhere and force me to take it seriously.

One might as well accuse _you_ of committing evil without proof, Palace Master Chen."

"Of course." The old man smiled. "But Miss Qiu only wants to be heard out and she's willing to suffer the consequences if she's proven wrong. But what _about_ your son-in-law?

Shen Jiu of Cang Qiong Mountain Sect, will you speak in your defense? Will you swear to the heavens as well?"

He spoke directly to SJ, even as LQG growled, "Stay out of this, you old bastard!"

"Qingge!" Lady Liu scolded her son, though the way she was gripping onto her husband's arm proved she was furious as well. "Palace Master, our son-in-law has nothing to prove to Miss Qiu."

"Then let him speak in his defense," PMC countered. "Or will he continue to hide behind his husband and let the Liu clan protect him for the rest of his life?

What a beautiful start to the Qing generation that would be, for the new Bai Zhan Peak Lord to refuse an accused murderer to come to trial - "

"Come to _trial?_ You've lost your damn mind!" LQG barked. "My husband doesn't have to listen to the likes of you - "

SJ squeezed him on the arm, and LQG cut off, looked at him in alarm. SJ smiled and shook his head, and stepped out in front.

"Palace Master Chen," he said. "What do you want from me?"

The old man could finally look at him clearly, and SJ stared back in turn, undeterred by a cultivator hundreds of years his senior.

"Miss Qiu simply wants to be heard out," PMC said. "You, of course, have the right to say your own piece as well. I propose a trial here and now. All the heads of the Four Great Sects are present today, so we may judge who is righteous and who is at fault."

"And?" SJ wanted to laugh. "Then tell me, if I am to be put on trial during my _own wedding_, what am I being accused of?"

PMC looked gently at QHT. "Well?"

"Mu - murder," she said. "Killing my older brother and butchering the servants. Burning my family home and destroying all we had left. Conspiring with a demonic cultivator and committing every evil under the sun.

And - and lying and deceiving everyone, pretending to be a good person, pretending to be a righteous cultivator..."

_Pretending to be a full human and not the mudborn slave you really are._

"Okay." SJ turned dully towards PMC again. "And what should happen to me if I'm somehow found guilty? Am I going to be put into the Water Prison or something?"

"Absolutely not," three voices rang out in unison; LQG, Lord Liu... and Yue Qingyuan, who had finally made it to SJ's side and looked at him reassuringly; SJ smiled back, grateful for his support.

"Ah, Junior Yue," PMC said mildly. "You're a Sect Leader now, with an impeccable reputation. Are you going to start your reign by sticking your neck out for your shidi and trying to ensure he doesn't face justice?"

YQY smiled, equally sanguine. "Jiu-shidi has nothing to hide," he said. "Nor does the Old Palace Master need to press so strongly on Miss Qiu's behalf. We all know how strongly you feel about doing things the right way."

There was an undercurrent of steel in his voice. SJ blinked in surprise; he hadn't realised Qi-ge had something against PMC and vice versa. Maybe something had happened during the Siege of Bailu Mountain to make them clash.

"Please, if I may." Abbot Wu Chen finally stepped forth and bowed to everyone in greeting. "Miss Qiu has indeed spoken passionately, but Master Shen also deserves a chance to defend himself and be judged fairly.

They are both talented young disciples, and this shadow will follow them if these accusations aren't taken seriously and dealt with."

"Abbot." SJ inclined his head respectfully; he had spent a few months with Zhao Hua, and felt fondness for its bookish monks. "What do you propose we do?"

Abbot Wu Chen cleared his throat. "Miss Qiu's accusations all revolve around incident that happened a long time ago; she has no proof nor corroboration for what she says.

One would hardly be able to judge fairly in such a situation and truly separate truth from falsehood, fact from fiction."

SJ pursed his lips. "But."

"Forgive this old monk for suggesting something that may be out of line," Abbot Wu continued. "But the Liu clan currently possesses the Scrying Bowl of Clarity, do they not?

With its use, observers - us - might be able to look into both Miss Qiu and Master Shen's memories - and determine the truth of the accusations at last. With both their consent, of course."

"Yes," QHT said immediately. "I have nothing to hide."

"You want to look through my son-in-law's memories and scrape through his entire life, do you?" Lord Liu said coldly.

"Forgive me for the presumption." Abbot Wu Chen bowed his head. "It is is indeed an invasive method, but one that would clear all suspicion.

And once again, the Scrying Bowl wouldn't be used on Master Shen without his permission."

No, it wouldn't. And SJ knew Abbot Wu Chen enough to know the old monk meant what he said sincerely; he wasn't preemptively invested in SJ's guilt or humiliation like PMC.

But then... he'd most certainly be found guilty, wouldn't he?

Truly, had it been a matter of he-said-she-said, the majority of people here would dismiss QHT out of hand and assure SJ they hadn't listened to a thing she said.

In their little world _he_ was the person of higher standing, the winner of the last Immortal Alliance Conference, the husband of the Bai Zhan Peak Lord and a close friend of the Xuan Su Sword himself.

Whereas QHT was just a lowly disciple from a small sect. She had already embarrassed her master's good name today, and as it stood the Ba Qi Sect might just be ostracised out of caution from now on lest they get on Cang Qiong's bad side, and the sect eventually dissolve.

But if QHT let her memories be observed, her idyllic recollections of being a young noblewoman with Xiao Jiu always being treated well by her side, and SJ refused everyone the same privilege to his own life, then...

Wasn't that basically admitting there was something to it after all? Even if she no longer had his slave papers, Xiao Jiu didn't look _so_ dissimilar from the adult SJ that he could feign it entirely as coincidence, could he?

And when they asked about his own past, how much would he able to lie and get away with?

Only YQY and LQG knew who he really was in the world and judged him no less for it, and even they didn't know the totality of him.

If Qi-ge found out what he had had to endure in the Qiu Manor... if LQG found out what nightmares SJ had committed under WYZ... would either of them look at him the same way again?

"I... I don't know," SJ said blankly.

"A'Jiu, don't listen to them." LQG wrapped an arm around him tight and drew him into his body. "No one has the right to look into your mind to prove wrong the accusation of a deranged woman with no proof of anything."

"I'm willing to put my life and soul on the line for the truth," QHT said. "I have been nothing but honest the whole way through. No one else has."

"Jiu-shidi..." At SJ's other side, YQY put a hand on his shoulder. "Tell me what you want to do," he said in a soft voice. "No one can force you."

"I..." SJ's mouth was full of water. "Give me time to think about it. Please."

He couldn't think about anything any more, after that.

*

"This is bullshit. Why the hell do we have to listen to that old bastard to begin with?"

LQG seethed as he paced around his parents' parlour, having changed into plain robes for the night.

The wedding had ended after the confrontation, no one much in a food to continue feasting after the mood had been ruined, and SJ's "trial" or whatever the hell they were calling it postponed for tomorrow.

Some of the guests were staying the night, including PMC and Abbot Wu Chen... as well as QHT and her teacher, who were being kept in a courtyard under guard far from the main house.

YQY was staying over too, though some of the Peak Lords had already returned to Cang Qiong.

And now SJ had to contemplate if this was the last day he was going to spend as a free man or if he was going to return the mud from whence he had been born over twenty years ago.

"I don't understand," LQG continued to vent. "What the hell does Palace Master Chen have against you anyway? You've never even met him! Yet he was ready to declare you guilty right away - "

"It's not me," SJ said dully.

LQG stopped mid-step. SJ rubbed at his eyes, exhausted.

"He doesn't care about me," he said. "Nor... QHT. He just wants to embarrass Qi-ge and you by proxy, since everyone knows I'm close to both of you. No matter what happens tomorrow, if he can somehow stain your reputations by association, then that's a victory in his books.

And if Cang Qiong's new generation is suddenly seen as suspect or untrustworthy, then people will respect Huan Hua and him more... or something like that..."

"That fucker," LQG swore.

"Qingge," a soft voice scolded him, and then Lord and Lady Liu entered, looking worn out by the day's events as well. SJ got up to greet them but they just shook their heads, and made way to their seats.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with this," SJ blurted out. His and Qingge's wedding had been ruined, yes, but this had been an important day for is in-laws as well.

"It's not your fault," Lady Liu said. "How could anyone have seen it coming? Heavens..." She sighed.

"Mm." SJ's throat felt swollen. "Liu-furen..." He didn't dare call her anything else at the moment. "What do you think I should do?"

Lady Liu exchanged glances with her husband. "Well," Lord Liu began carefully. "You don't have to tell us if you're uncomfortable. But... _do_ you have any history with that young woman?"

There was no more point playing dumb. "Yes," SJ whispered.

LQG looked aghast. "Seriously?"

"Qingge, sit down," Lady Liu snapped at her son. In a softer voice: "Would you be able to tell us a little more, if you're alright with that?"

"I - " SJ swallowed. He wasn't, not really. The Lius had always been good to him, but they'd only ever known him as LQG's friend and eventual lover.

If they knew the truth about him, wouldn't they just cast him out in disgrace and horror? Would he ever be allowed in their home again?

"Hey." SJ jolted as an elbow brushed against his; LQG had taken his hand and squeezed it, his husband giving him a reassuring smile.

"You don't have to say anything if you don't want to," he said. "I believe you."

SJ's heart tightened in warmth. "Qingge..."

"And if that old fucker tries to lay his hands on you tomorrow, I'll break every bone in his body," LQG said. "I don't give a shit what'll happen, no one has the right to even think they can punish you. Not when I'm around."

Oh. That was right. His husband loved him.

"I..." SJ swallowed again, then wiped his eyes with a sleeve. "No, it's alright. I can talk about it."

And he did.

He had told LQG vaguely about his past before, but never with such detail... but now there was truly nothing left to hide behind now that QHT had torn open the door on the last great shame of his life.

It was now or never, and nothing else mattered.

So SJ started from the beginning, from his life as a child slave in a trafficking ring to how he had been sold to the Qius... his bitter life under Qiu Jianluo and what the man did to him, unable to look anyone else in the eye as he did so.

He talked about how he used to hide away in Haitang's room to get away from the beatings, and how they became engaged after she grew attached to him.

And there was no point denying it: he spoke about the day he ran into WYZ and how it had given him hope for the future... and what happened to the Qiu Estate and QJL after.

The Lius were righteous cultivators; had they ever run into WYZ, they wouldn't have stopped until they brought him to justice. Instead, their own son-in-law had served under him for a single terrifying year, and killed him in desperation when he had no other choice.

SJ told them everything and left out only his connection with YQY; he didn't want Qi-ge to be dragged down in the mud with him. But his husband and his parents had supported him this far, and they deserved the truth... even if they might spit at him in the face for it after.

There was quiet for a long time after SJ finished speaking; both Lord and Lady Liu were silent, and LQG's hand was still in SJ's. What if his husband... if he didn't... if he couldn't...

"So that's what happened," SJ forced himself to say, just to fill the silence. "I'm sure Haitang thought everything was wonderful until I went crazy one day and ruined her life out of nowhere. But it's not..." He swallowed. "I didn't do it until I truly had no other choice..."

"A'Jiu."

LQG was hoarse when he spoke. SJ hadn't looked at him - hadn't dared look at anyone - when he spoke about his past, staring at his feet instead. Now he finally lifted his head towards his husband, and was flabbergasted when he saw tears in his eyes.

"Qingge...?" he croaked. "Why are you crying...?"

"Fuck her," LQG said. "Fuck everyone, they don't deserve you. You don't have to go out there tomorrow and give them _anything._"

SJ gaped. "But I _was_ a murderer," he said, disbelieving. "I killed people and did everything WYZ told me to." Some of the disciples he'd killed with WYZ at the IAC back then had barely been older than him. "You're not... mad at me for that?"

"A'Jiu," Lady Liu said soberly. "You were fifteen when WYZ tricked you into working for him. Before then, you'd lived a life of suffering unimaginable to Miss Qiu, nor most other people. No one can say you did what you did because you just wanted to hurt people."

"Can't they?" SJ felt like they were speaking another language from him. "Wouldn't the righteous thing have been to run away from WYZ or try to stop him? I did what he told me because I was afraid he would kill me instead. I didn't try to save anyone else either. I just..."

"You were a child then," Lord Liu said. "A'Jiu, you're not to blame for what your master made you do under duress."

Wasn't he? Fifteen was old enough to work and get married and have children and die; if SJ was truly good of heart, then shouldn't he have done everything in his power to stop WYZ instead of continuing to work under him once he found out what he truly was?

Even if it meant... even if he'd never run into Qi-ge again, even if he couldn't give him the burial he deserved...

"I," SJ swallowed. "I guess..."

Abruptly LQG got up from his seat only to drag SJ into an awkward hug right in front of his parents. "Like I said," he said gruffly into SJ's shoulder. "I don't give a shit about that woman's problems and what the hell she still wants from you.

You're my husband and best friend and that'll never change. And if the old bastard from Huan Hua tries to pull anything on you tomorrow then I'll beat the shit out of him right then and there."

SJ burst out laughing, tears in his eyes. "How could you attack a Sect Leader on my behalf!"

"_Easily,_" LQG said. "If it's you against the world, then A'Jiu, _I'll always choose you_. That's the vow I made when we got married."

_Oh._

SJ's heart swelled until it was the size of an ocean. He never thought... never dared imagine anyone would still want to be around him when they knew the truth of him...

"A'Jiu," Lady Liu said gently. "You're our son-in-law now, and Qingge's husband. But moreover, you've always been a thoughtful and considerate young man. Our son isn't the only one who talks about you, you know." She smiled. "We trust you.

And rest assured, no matter what happens tomorrow, you and Qingge are going back to Cang Qiong safe and sound, I promise."

"Okay," SJ croaked with bleary eyes at his mother-in-law. "Thank you."

"It'll be a long day tomorrow," Lord Liu said. "You two get some rest."

They didn't need to be told twice.

*

SJ fell into a fitful sleep only in early morning, even with LQG's arm draped protectively over his waist, and when they woke again it was barely past dawn, and even LQG grumbled as he got up.

"Are they seriously forcing it this early?" his husband groused as he got dressed in the grey silk robes they'd been given.

"I don't know." SJ's nerves were frayed to pieces.

"Hey. Remember what I said." LQG flashed him a smile. "You're not going anywhere but home with me, okay?"

"Mm." SJ tried to smile back.

A servant arrived to escort them from their courtyard, but it wasn't to the welcoming hall where SJ's so-called "trial" would be held; instead, it was to Lord and Lady Liu's courtyard again, the couple waiting for them.

SJ didn't realise what was happening until he saw the table in front of the Liu parents, loaded down with a teapot and cups and tea, while an attendant tried to (gently) usher LQG to stand to the side and was glared at immediately.

Oh. He was going to make tea for his in-laws.

He hadn't realised they still wanted to do this ceremony, not after yesterday's debacle. But they were waiting for him with gentle smiles on their faces,

and SJ hurried to the front and bowed deeply, before kneeling and trying to make the best tea he could with jittery hands and a palpating heart.

He had probably never made worse tea in his life, not with his in-laws politely gazing at his work and saying nothing, even when he spilled hot water on half the table. When SJ finally managed to pour tea into one of the cups, he started with his father-in-law first.

"Lord Liu - I mean, gonggong," he stammered. "Please accept this cup of tea from your son-in-law."

Lord Liu accepted the cup with a quirk of his lips and took a sip. "Very good," he said, though to SJ it sounded like he was holding back a laugh.

Then it was his mother-in-law's turn. SJ managed to pour a decent cup this time and offered it to her. "Popo, please accept this cup of tea," he mumbled.

"Thank you." She smiled and drank the whole thing, then put her cup down in front of her.

An attendant stepped forth holding a small red box. Lady Liu inclined her head, and the girl knelt and offered the box to SJ.

"This is a token of our affection for you," Lady Liu said in a soft voice. "Although it surely can't be enough for what you've done for Qingge over the years, we hope it can be a source of comfort for you from now on. You are one of ours now, A'Jiu."

SJ lifted the top of the box, and resting on a red silk cushion were a pair of thin, but elaborately engraved dragon and phoenix bangles.

The moment he put them on, everyone would know not only that he was married, but that his in-laws had accepted him. No one could say they didn't want anything to do with him...

SJ blinked away tears. "Thank you, popo." He'd never thought anyone would give him a gift like this. "I'll cherish these for the rest of my life."

"Mm. Qingge, help put them on for him," Lady Liu ordered, and LQG rushed to SJ's side to do his mother's bidding, glad to no longer be forced just to watch.

"Perfect." SJ held out his hands after so everyone could see; the bangles were thinner than most, but they wouldn't get in the way and he'd be able to wear them all the time. "What do you think, Qingge?"

"They're good." LQG's smile looked a little more weary than usual, but considering the circumstances that was no surprise. "But you'd look gorgeous wearing a rice sack anyway. No jewellery can change that."

"Good to hear," Lord Liu said. "Considering your mother commissioned those bangles the first time A'Jiu came to visit us." He raised a brow, as if to say: _thanks a lot, son._

SJ giggled wetly. "They're beautiful." He didn't think he would ever take them off.

"So they are." Lady Liu smiled. "Now let's have breakfast."

SJ would need the strength for what came after. "Yes, popo," he said, and got back up on his feet with LQG's help.

And then soon, it was time.

*

Out of respect for the Liu clan and Cang Qiong Mountain Sect for whom SJ belonged to, the heads of the Four Great Sects had agreed to participate in his purported "trial" as both objective mediators and the ultimate decider of his (or QHT's) fate.

There was nothing objective about PMC's motives however, him having practically engineered the whole thing... but nor could one really pretend that YQY was objective either, not when he lit up when SJ entered the welcoming hall with LQG and Lord and Lady Liu behind him.

Apart from them there was Abbot Wu Chen, and Abbess Yi of Tian Yi Overlook... and QHT and her teacher, Master Hu of Ba Qi Sect, all of them sitting facing each other... and just beyond them, a pedestal holding a glowing white scrying bowl.

QHT looked exhausted, and SJ refused to look in her direction, even when he heard her gasp from the sight of him - her, still in plain disciple's robes while he was dressed in beautiful grey silk robes and dragon and phoenix bangles on his wrists.

Once upon a time, it had been the opposite. QHT had been a little girl who loved to run around in pink and lavender silks, and Xiao Jiu had been lucky to have a pair of sandals all to himself.

Maybe she thought it was unfair; the slave had risen above the master and left her far behind when it should have always been the other way around.

Maybe so. But a lot of things in life were unfair. And SJ...

SJ no longer had anything to fear.

*

QHT spoke.

She spoke about how Xiao Jiu had entered her household after her brother had taken pity on him one day, how he had been treated like one of their own and even taught to read, how QJL agreed to arrange their marriage after QHT fell in love with him.

She spoke about her dreams and plans for her future once she got married... and how it all got dashed to pieces the night the Qiu Manor was set on fire, and she ran into SJ, holding a bloodied sword and gore all over his clothes.

The manic look in his eyes as he approached her, when she thought he might kill her too...

She spoke about waking up in the street in the morning, the estate in ashes by the time she was allowed to return. How she lost everything twice over - first her brother and her home -

then her fortune, as unscrupulous relatives and family friends took what was left of her assets, until she found herself at last wandering the Mortal Realm with what she had left to her name,

chasing a phantom and desperate for answers until she met Master Hu one day and was accepted into Ba Qi.

"I spent years trying to find him," she said, drained and exhausted at the end. "Trying to understand why he would ruin us when we were always so good to him. Why?" She choked out a sob. "What did we do wrong...?"

LQG ground his teeth next to SJ, who just squeezed his hand.

He had kept his own face immobile during QHT's whole speech; he'd known what she would say, and there was no point reacting to it.

It was her truth. It was the life she had lived, and all she had ever known. Nothing he could say for himself would persuade her otherwise.

For her, QJL had simply been a darling older brother. QJL had never hurt her, but SJ had, and for him to try and convince her her beloved A'Luo had been a sick and deranged pervert, it would never work out.

He'd have better luck trying to make her believe QJL had two heads instead.

For some things, some people... you had to see it yourself to believe it. Nothing else would do it.

"Master Shen," Abbot Wu Chen said. "You may speak now."

SJ smiled. "Thank you, Abbot. But to be honest, I'd rather cut to the chase and just show everyone my memories instead."

At that, YQY stared at SJ from his seat. "Xiao Jiu?" he mouthed, unsure, and SJ just shrugged.

Honestly speaking, he didn't know what the hell would happen to him after today, but he simply didn't want to hide anymore. Nor was QHT the naive young girl she'd been a decade ago.

SJ no longer wanted to hide the truth from her.

Nor anyone.

"Yes," he said. "Rather than bore everyone with counter-testimony when the one person who needs to believe it never will, I'd rather just use the Scrying Bowl and get it over with."

QHT looked at him in shock and disbelief. "Do you think the Scrying Bowl will prove you _innocent_, Shen Jiu? What do you think could possibly justify murdering my older brother?"

"I don't know," SJ said. "We'll just have to find out."

*

QHT volunteered to have her memories sifted through first, and they all went to the Scrying Bowl. Each of the Sect Leaders and Master Hu examined the artifact to make sure it hadn't been tampered with, and Lord Liu instructed them all on how to use it properly and safely.

Apart from the Sect Leaders and Master Hu, SJ would also get to look into QHT's memories, which left him with mixed feelings, even as he knew he would manage.

As Lord and Lady Liu weren't strictly a part of the trial they would remain on the outside to observe and manage, but LQG...

"Qingge." SJ stopped his husband when he got up, even as everyone else walked towards the Scrying Bowl. "Would you just stay out here and look out for me? I don't..."

He didn't care about LQG seeing him through QHT's memories, no, but his own...

"I just... don't want you to see me like that," SJ mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"A'Jiu. It's fine." LQG hugged him. "You know I'd never see you differently either way."

"I know. you wouldn't." SJ smiled, and pecked him on the cheek.

LQG went to stand by his parents, and SJ walked towards the Scrying Bowl of Clarity in between YQY and Abbess Yi and placed his hand on an empty spot to begin channelling his qi into it.

QHT already had her eyes closed with both hands on the Bowl, looking pale and murmuring something under her breath; as she was technically the "host" for the Scrying Bowl for the time being, it would take the most qi out of her.

The Bowl would depend on her cultivation and stability as much as anything else, and SJ didn't know if she was ready for it.

But he had come this far now, and there was no looking back. He let his qi connect with the spiritual flow inside the Scrying Bowl and closed his eyes -

And then he was there.

*

He couldn't remember ever having been that small before.

Xiao Jiu, in the young QHT's eyes, was the world's cutest thing, with large green eyes in a too-small pale face and shoulder-length black hair tied back with a frayed green ribbon.

He followed his little mistress around like a duckling and never refused her anything, especially when she offered him sweets from a street stall or to play dress-up with her in her bedroom while her momo was out.

Looking at the two of them interact in the dreamy, romantic mindscape of young QHT's memories, it was no wonder she'd felt like her world had been sundered apart. Xiao Jiu wasn't a slave to her; he was her best friend, her beloved, her betrothed. He was...

Oh look. QJL.

SJ tried to zone into his own mind when QJL would appear in his sister's memories, a larger-than-life figure who existed only to adore QHT and ruffle Xiao Jiu's hair playfully when he was around.

In QHT's memories, Xiao Jiu was never perfectly still when QJL touched him.

No, he smiled shyly and leaned into his touch like a puppy, or a boy with a crush.

SJ would kill him all over again if he could just for making him think of the comparison. When the Qiu Manor burned again and QHT ran into a bloodied SJ in horror, he felt only relief.

_That's right_, he thought dimly. _I killed him that night and now he'll never touch me again._

Everything else after that was irrelevant.

*

It took a quarter-shichen for QHT to be able to stand up on her own after her session, Abess Yi and Master Hu channelling qi into her drained meridians at the same time.

Meanwhile, SJ stood a comfortable distance away with YQY next to him and LQG rubbing his shoulders and asking if he was okay.

SJ chuckled. "I'm fine, Qingge. It's what's going to happen next that should concern you."

"Xiao - Jiu-shidi," YQY said in a low voice. "You don't have to do this."

SJ rolled his eyes. "It's a little too late now, Qi-ge. I said I would, and..." He bit his lip. "I guess we'll just have to make something up if people see you in my memories, then."

"I'm not afraid of them finding out," YQY said. "If people will have something against me after this as well, then fine. Let them." He raised a brow. "Let them also remember who let them all walk out alive after the Siege of Bailu."

Not bad! SJ whistled. "Worst come to worst," he said cheerfully, "we can hide out here for refuge. Right, Qingge?"

"Right," LQG said dryly. "What could go wrong?"

Abbot Wu Chen approached them in their little group. "Sect Leader Yue, Master Shen, we should return."

"Yes," YQY said, returning to polite neutrality.

SJ smiled as they escorted the monk back to the Scrying Bowl. "You must have been aghast at what you saw me do back there, Abbot."

Abbot Wu Chen kept his face admirably calm. "This old monk has yet to see Master Shen's memories, and would prefer not to comment until then."

Meaning he was perfectly willing to be cordial with a murderer until then? Truly a Buddhist to the end, SJ marvelled. "Yes, Abbot," he said.

QHT was pale but standing on her own now. She looked resolutely at SJ, as if daring him to say something, but he wouldn't take the bait.

He could feel his husband's protective gaze from him even from afar and took one last good look at him. LQG looked worried, but SJ just smiled and gave him a little wink.

To think he could be this cavalier while four of the most powerful people in his world were going to dig through the worst parts of his life and see him for what - no, _who_ he truly was, well...

Well. No time like the present, after all.

SJ placed both hands on the Scrying Bowl and channelled qi into it, forming a connection... and closed his eyes.

And then he was there.

*

"No! It's not possible! Not possible..."

In the end, what ended SJ's own session early had nothing to do with him - though he felt like shit regardless -

but a horrified scream from QHT, who broke everyone's connection by shoving the Scrying Bowl away from her and nearly destroying the old artifact if SJ hadn't grabbed it mid-fall and placed it gingerly back on the pedestal.

"Haitang!" he said, shocked.

"It's fake! It's all fake!" Tears streamed down her eyes as she gripped her own hair in a fit of madness and heartbreak. It wasn't my brother. My brother didn't do anything wrong - it couldn't have been him! You're lying!"

"Haitang," SJ said in a flat tone. "You saw what happened. Or did you think I deluded myself into making it all up?"

"I - I didn't know," QHT said, trembling as she backed into a wall. "I didn't know it was like that! I didn't do anything at all. So why did I have to suffer for so many years!"

"Haitang, stay calm! You're going to have a qi deviation if you keep going." Master Hu rushed towards his disciple and wrapped her up in a bear hug, QHT resisting him with angry tears in her eyes.

"What exactly did you think of me?" she yelled at SJ, even as she wept so much she could hardly keep her eyes open anymore. "Did you hate me? Pity me? Want me to suffer a fate worse than death? Why didn't you kill me? Why didn't you kill me?! Answer me!!"

SJ gazed at her. "You were just a girl then," he said. "And kind to me. There was nothing you could have done then, even if you'd believed me."

"Believe me, he says," QHT mouthed brokenly. "Just a girl, just a girl. Now what... Shifu, what do I do..."

"Shh." Master Hu cradled her, pressed a finger to her neck so he could channel qi into her. "It's alright, Haitang, it'll be alright. You just need some rest right now..."

"A'Jiu!"

LQG ran to SJ and nearly crushed him in an embrace himself. SJ clung to him with a shiver, glad to lean on his husband again. "Qingge..." he mumbled. "I'm so tired right now."

"I've got you," LQG said.

Abbess Yi went over to Master Hu, QHT having passed out in his arms.

SJ forced himself to ignore them and looked at YQY, who had seen everything QHT had, and had gone white. "Qi-ge," he said. "Come here."

"Xiao Jiu." YQY stumbled over to him, taking SJ's offered hand with both of his own. "I'm so sorry... I should have been there for you - "

"It wasn't your fault," SJ said.

YQY stared at him, looking devastated.

"I know what you're thinking and you can forget it. None of what happened to me was your fault. You were just a boy too back then."

"I - I suppose," YQY said. "Even so - "

"No," SJ said. "And that's final."

Lord and Lady Liu came over then, and after SJ assured them he was fine (he had a limpet for a husband attached to him, after all),

Lord Liu turned to everyone and said, "Now can we conclude this paltry excuse for a trial? You all saw what my son-in-law had to endure in that hellhole. Who among you would dare try and "hold him to account" for what he had to do to survive? Would any of us have done better?"

Abbess Yi finally spoke. "Young Master Shen committed his sins under duress and the most cruel of circumstances. This old lady does not believe he deserves punishment or censure at this stage, especially considering we have heard nothing of him behaving like so at Cang Qiong;

instead, we have heard only praise and commendation. I do not believe Miss Qiu would hold fast to her previous accusations either now, were she to speak on her own behalf."

SJ smiled wanly. "Thank you, Abbess."

"This monk agrees," Abbot Wu Chen said. "Master Shen has indeed erred, but he deserves understanding and guidance, not punishment. I will pray for his soul when I can."

LQG grumbled next to SJ, but considering Abbot Wu Chen was a _monk_, that was as good as gold. "Thank you, Abbot," SJ said.

"Haitang cannot speak for herself right now," said Master Hu, holding onto his unconscious disciple carefully. "But I believe she would no longer be interested in pursuing this further, if she was.

I... also beg the immortal masters to take pity upon her and not be unduly harsh; she did not do what she did out of malice."

"I know," SJ said. "She thought she was doing the right thing."

Master Hu bowed his head in thanks. "Shen-gongzi is gracious."

YQY didn't have to speak; he was already at SJ's side, _on_ his side. Only, when SJ let out a slow breath at last, one last voice spoke:

"Surely my fellow observers didn't forget that Junior Shen here was also accused of working under Wu Yanzi and killing under him? Or are we to believe that was all done under a haze of qi deviation as well?"

PMC hadn't spoken at all during this time, but now he lifted his head and gazed at SJ with emotionless black eyes.

"You spend a year with him, did you not?" he said. "And you didn't try to escape him once. Junior Shen, some things can be excused under duress. Not everything."

The PMC shook his head. "I've lost more than one good disciple to the likes of him back in the day," he said. "So has Tian Yi, and Zhao Hua, and Cang Qiong as well.

Junior Shen may have been young then, but he certainly wasn't incapable, or else that loathsome man wouldn't have kept you by his side for so long. Nor taught you everything he knew." He smiled.

"Wu Yanzi taught me nothing," SJ snapped. "He only destroyed my meridians."

"But you killed people for him," PMC said. "Did you not? Orthodox cultivators and disciples, people who had never wronged you, yet you struck the killing blow nonetheless. Even then you were quite a strong person, weren't you?

One wonders why you never tried to turn the tables on your teacher instead."

"Enough," Lord Liu said sharply. "Palace Master, no one else agrees with your assessment, so drop it.

If you saw through all of our son-in-law's memories, then you know WYZ forced him to obey him under pain of death."

"Yes, I remember," PMC said. "Right after Junior Shen slaughtered an estate full of men and chose to follow a wandering kook than turn himself into the authorities. How could one forget."

What the fuck was his problem? SJ wanted to throw something at him, and judging from everyone's expressions half of them felt the same way.

"But I suppose I am only one person, and everyone else's voices outweigh mine," the man demurred. "This old man is so insensible compared to his juniors, after all.

He worries too much about whether they've been raised right and what they truly believe, whether they know right from wrong and good from evil... and whether they can be trusted to put their own bias aside and do the right thing for the sake of the jianghu."

His gaze flickered towards YQY. "Junior Yue, this is how your time as Sect Leader of Cang Qiong has begun. You've chosen wholly to side with your shidi and ensure he faces no censure when he is a murderer of innocents and a former slave of seedy means.

Whether he still has evil in his heart, none of us can know... but rest assured, the next time something happens in his presence, judgment will fall entirely towards you and your leniency."

YQY smiled too; an empty, dull smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Senior Chen worries too much about what other people are up to," he said, hand on Xuan Su's hilt as he spoke. _Just try it, old man._

"Tch." PMC's face soured at the insult. "This master will depart shortly then. Forgive me for not bidding everyone farewell properly; I am always frightfully busy, after all."

"Of course you are," LQG muttered next to SJ. "Asshole."

SJ felt the same way. Even Lord Liu rolled his eyes as PMC turned past him to leave, only for the man to freeze in his tracks.

"I thought you said you were leaving," LQG said in a deliberately too-loud voice. "Do you need help finding the way out, Palace Master?"

"No..." PMC said in a raspy voice, ignoring him entirely. "It can't be."

SJ turned to where he was looking, and there was someone in the doorway.

A woman in plain black robes and her hair in a ponytail. He didn't recognise her at first, but then she strode forth with a calm gait and saluted everyone.

"Lord Liu, Lady Liu," she said, bowing to the hosts. "I beg your pardon for coming uninvited, but when I heard my erstwhile saviour was in trouble, I wanted to help. Although it seems like you resolved the situation without me." Her pale lips quirked up in a smile.

Lord Liu stared at her blankly for a moment; then he said, "Can it be...?"

"You should be dead," PMC croaked. "How, just how..."

"So it would seem," the woman said. She caught SJ's baffled look and smiled. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Um, yes," he said, stupefied. "I, um, never got your name, madam..."

"No, I suppose not. So let me introduce myself to the masters of the jianghu as I once was: Su Xiyan, Head Disciple of Huan Hua Palace."

"What," LQG said. "That was - the woman we helped years ago - _her_?"

"I know," SJ said, not believing it either. The tide was turning here, but in _what_ direction he didn't know.

"And," SXY said, "now that I'm here, I believe we have some unfinished business to conduct. I'd like everyone to return to their seats and the hosts to kindly let me use the Scrying Bowl of Clarity as well.

"That includes you, Shifu," she said in a flat voice towards the PMC.

"You and I have a _lot_ to clear up before we're done today."

And as it turned out, the real trial had only just begun.

END OF PART XIII

(Dun dun dunn!! Did any of you see that coming? You didn't think I would let OPM skate by and liujiu be left with an unsatisfactory victory, did you? Nah man, this AU is for fixing EVERYTHING!!

Extreme creative license for SJ serving his in-laws tea the morning after the wedding. I got it in my head somewhere among the many random websites about Chinese wedding rituals somewhere that the bride serves her in-laws tea the morning after the wedding,

but now I'm not sure if that's entirely true 😭 Either way, he's part of the family now? And yes, he's never taking those bangles off ever haha.

Ok I have to make work lunch now, but thank you for reading!!)