Aftermath (A series of ELOD one-shots)

XXXV. In Vino Veritas*

Drunken truth or dare, DongFeng style. =p

A/N: Dedicated to lovely readers who are missing DongFeng as depicted in this one-shot series. Thank you all for your unwavering love for this tale! :)

Disclaimer: All Qingqiu rituals are mere products of my imagination, and based on (not-quite-extensive) research on the naming ceremonies of various cultures. 

Also, since I strive to keep things as close to canon as possible, the children's names (especially BGG's) may be subject to change in the future, if and when TQ eventually decides to give them formal names, just as she did with Ah Li. As for now, let the children be known by the monikers as depicted in this chapter, at least in the Aftermath universe.

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The naming ceremony for the two youngest members of the aristocratic Bai clan took place one fine summer day, on an auspicious date determined by the Fox King himself.

Following Qingqiu tradition, no invitations were distributed, especially since the naming ceremony is primarily a family event. Although, this did little to quell the influx of well-wishers, who descended onto the Fox Den to present gifts to the two darling children, partake of the decadent banquet that was truly fit for the gods, and bring home some of the especially made red eggs and golden ginger takeaways courtesy of the children's maternal great-grandma.

As was typical for events hosted by the Bais, the finest wine in all the realms - sourced from Kunlun Mountain and the Ten Miles Peach Orchard - flowed freely and without pause, the non-stop sound of pouring liquid a pleasant accompaniment to the cheerful chatter among family and friends. And while the Bais are all heavyweights by default, most of the guests were not, and soon enough the banter became loud and the laughter turned raucous as the level of decorum dropped and polite conversations were swapped for more sordid ones as the day wore on.

"Bai Xiulan," Second Prince Su Moye mused, nursing his sixth cup of Kunlun wine. "Such a fitting name for a beautiful, elegant princess. I heard that it was Bai Zhi Dijun himself who named the little highness?"

Fengjiu, who had been amusing herself with how funny Mo Shao looked when he was pretending not to be drunk, chuckled and explained with the same patience she used in teaching her children. "Yes, and Gungun as well. It is Qingqiu tradition."

"Ah, but I thought an exception would be made for Your Highness' children, considering Dijun's stature."

She was far from drunk, but she might as well have sounded like it with how boisterous her laughter was. "Yes, that was what father suggested at first, but of course I digressed. Fortunately they listened to me."

This brought a frown to the ever affable expression of the hundred-faced god she shared a table with. "You did not want Dijun to have the honor of naming your children?"

Fengjiu likes Mo Shao, but sometimes she felt that he was either too scared or in awe of Donghua to be any fun. "You must be joking. I love Donghua and all, and I trust him with my life, but I put as much faith in his naming abilities as in his cooking skills. It's the one area he's lacking creativity on."