Being with you

Chapter 12 - Guests from the past

Feng Jiu did not sleep well. She had weird dreams and woke up at least a couple of times. She made sure not to wake up Dong Hua or Gun Gun and somehow forced herself to sleep more. At last, when she woke up, she realized it was morning. Her husband and son were nowhere to be seen. She got up, did a quick check in the mirror, and stepped outside their room.

"Where did Dijun and Gun Gun go?" she asked the guards. "Greetings, Dihou! Dijun has taken Prince Gun Gun to his room. He and your royal steward Chong Lin are going to help the little prince get ready for breakfast. They will be back soon.", the guard replied respectfully. "Oh ok.", Feng Jiu said almost absentmindedly.

She went back to their room and freshened up. Dijun and Gun Gun walked in as the maids brought their breakfast. "Mother, you are up! I was worried to see you sleep in late. Father told me you guys got worried about me last night, so you brought me to your room to sleep. That was so nice of you, Mother. But I am a big boy now, I can protect myself.", Gun Gun said in a grown-up-like manner.

"Aww, you will always be my baby, Gun Gun. I will always want to protect you. Even when you get married and have kids of your own, I will still want to protect you.", said Feng Jiu caressing his hair.

"Gun Gun getting married? Ewww. No ways! I won't do that.", said Gun Gun folding his arms.

"Oh? I know another silver-haired deity who said the same thing. He is married to me, and he is your father now. So, we'll see..." Feng Jiu chuckled folding her arms and teased her husband.

"Hmmm... " Dong Hua also folded his arms and nodded, smiling mischievously. "It's your mother's fault, Gun Gun.", he added.

Feng Jiu looked at him with a question in her innocent eyes. His heart melted at her sight. He pulled her in his arms and kissed her hair. "She stole my heart. I did not stand a chance against her sincerity.", Dong Hua continued lovingly.

"Oh please, Father! Mother! Don't start kissing each other again. Let's eat, come on..." Gun Gun pulled both of them with their sleeves towards the table.

"Xiaobai, wo ai ni.", Dong Hua said to Feng Jiu mentally. "Wo ye ai ni, Dijun.", Feng Jiu replied mentally, but she could not stop blushing. Dijun noticed the color in her cheeks and chuckled.

They had a leisurely breakfast and took a stroll in the palace. Many more guests had arrived that morning. They met several disciples from Kunlun mountain, including the Prince of West Sea Die Feng and Zi Lan, Yan Chiwu's brother. They exchanged pleasantries and were happy to meet Feng Jiu. Die Feng fondly enquired about her aunt, their fellow disciple, Si Yin.

As they kept walking, they ran into Lord Cang Yi from the Eagle tribe. "Cang Yi of the Eagle Tribe greets Bai Feng Jiu, the Queen of Quing Qui.", Cang Yi said somewhat arrogantly. Just for a moment, Feng Jiu felt nervous. She remembered the time she had destroyed his palace because she wanted to annul their marriage agreement.

Dijun was not fully aware of that episode but sensed her unease. He protectively put an arm around her and replied to Cang Yi, "Lord Cang Yi, my wife and I did not expect to see you here."

Cang Yi was a little flustered seeing this interaction between the young goddess and her much older husband. "Greetings, Dong Hua Dijun," he replied, bowing quickly. "Our lands share borders with the Demon Realm. As neighboring monarchs, we were invited to the big event.", he explained. "Hmmm.." was all that Dong Hua said and led his family away. Cang Yi was left staring at them.

"What's the matter, Xiaobai? What happened?" asked Dong Hua. He was worried about her.

"Dijun, before I came to the Sky Kingdom for Gu Gu's wedding, my father had agreed to marry me off to Lord Cang Yi. I was drowning myself in alcohol at that time, trying to forget my time with you in the mortal realm. Somehow during one of my drunken spells, I signed that marriage agreement. When I realized what had happened, I begged my father to annul it for me, but he refused. So I went by myself to Lord Cang Yi and dueled him. I ended up destroying a lot of his palace statues. I did get badly hurt as I had not fully recovered after coming back from the Mortal realm. Then my father came and chastised me for breaking Quing Qui rules. He wanted me to face 20 beatings with a whip. Lord Zhe Yan saved me and talked Cang Yi into canceling the agreement. Lord Cang Yi said he would wait for me to change my mind, but I made it clear that he would be waiting in vain. Somehow seeing him greet me just now made me recall all these events and made me uncomfortable. I am sorry if I offended you or Tai Chen palace by not behaving properly.", Xiaobai said with a small face. Dong Hua could see that she had got rattled. She wasn't her usual cheerful self, and it was as if her energy was being sucked out of her.

"Xiaobai, don't worry. I never care for such formalities anyways. I am only worried that you look beat. Did you not sleep well last night? Are you tired? Is something bothering you? You don't need to deal with anything alone anymore. I am here for you, my beloved wife.", Dijun looked into her eyes and said earnestly.

"Hmm... I think I got just a bit nervous because I didn't expect to see him here. I am okay now. Thank you for coming to my rescue there, Dijun. When we get back home, I will cook something delicious for you, to express my thanks.", Feng Jiu replied playfully. "Only cooking won't do, my Dihou. You know what I always want from you...", Dijun continued the conversation telepathically and raised an eyebrow. Feng Jiu immediately lowered her eyes and blushed. Dijun caressed her nose. "I love how your cheeks instantly react with color to my words, my touch, or even a look from me. You will always be my beautiful blushing bride, my Xiaobai.", he continued teasing her mentally.

"Mother, why is your face all red? Are you feeling hot?" Gun Gun's innocent question brought both of them back to the present. "Yes, Gun Gun. Your mother is hot. Let's go back to our rooms, shall we? Let's have lunch, rest a little and get ready for the ceremonies this evening. Demon weddings take place at night, and it will be quite late till the party gets over. We better get you to take a nap after lunch. You wouldn't want to miss any part of the ceremony now, would you?" Dong Hua said as he lead his wife and son back to their room.

After they had eaten, Dong Hua took Gun Gun to his room and let him take a nap. As before, he didn't forget to place his own protection barrier around the bed. When he got back, he saw Feng Jiu busy arranging all the gifts. "Xiao Bai, let Si Ming take care of all those. Come, take a nap with me.", he told her. He communicated instructions to Si Ming telepathically and conjured the gifts to his room.

As they laid down on the bed, he let Xiao Bai nestle in his arms comfortably. She breathed in his white sandalwood scent and tried to calm herself. Slowly she was able to drift off to sleep. Dong Hua felt her fall asleep and got up. He arranged pillows around her so that she would still feel as if he was next to her. He placed another protective barrier around her bed and left to discuss the previous night's events with Zhe Yan and Lian Song. They decided that Gun Gun and Feng Jiu needed extra protection. Zhe Yan and Lian Song both agreed to help with this.

Satisfied with their discussion, Dong Hua returned to his room. He saw Feng Xiu was scrunching her forehead as if in pain. He figured that she was having a bad dream. From her facial expression, it looked like she was being beaten. Dong Hua's heart ached to see her like that. How much abuse had his little fox suffered in her past? He wished he could somehow make all her pain - past, present, or future - go away. He would gladly offer to take that pain himself. But there was no changing the past. He could only make her feel safe and protected from here on out. He removed the barrier and gently nudged her. She grasped his hands anxiously and sat up as she woke up completely.

"Were you having a bad dream?" Dong Hua asked, holding her face in his palms.

"Um? Oh yes, Dijun. I am glad it was only a dream. My father had decided to beat me because I offended Lord Cang Yi. He was counting 55 when you woke me up. Thank you for saving me before 100." She said bravely, trying to make light of it.

Dijun could not bear to hear her say that. He hugged her tightly to his chest and said, "Xiao Bai, no one will ever be able to beat you. They will have to deal with me first." he said fiercely. He looked at her face and kissed off a couple of stray tears that had escaped her eyes while she was dreaming.

Her face lit up with a bright smile. "Thank you, Dijun. You treat me the best!" she said and hugged him.

"Because I love you the most, Xiao Bai. I will always love you." Dijun declared, still feeling anger towards whoever it was that had hurt his little fox. That declaration earned him a nuzzle in his chest and an extra tight hug from her.

He could feel all the rage and pain in his heart melt away. Only sweet, tender love for this precious little fox princess filled his heart. Xiao Bai always did this to him. She always cleared any bad feelings from his mind with a simple, small gesture. He felt lucky to be able to get this with her.

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To be continued...

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Author's notes: Thank you to each of you for reading, voting, commenting, and saving my story to your reading list. I sincerely appreciate you! I feel so honored that you decided to join me on this journey with our beloved Dong Hua Dijun and Bai Feng Jiu.

Hugs and a heartfelt wish that you find love...
~PickwickAndMarket