Bruised (A Fengqing Fanfic)

Chapter 7

(Lmao, I made myself cry during this chapter so uh...like brace yourselves, guys. I feel like I should warn people there's a threat/fear of abandonment that might upset people. I don't even know how to trigger warning it. IDK, it was pretty upsetting for me and I wrote it!)

"Mu Qing," murmured Xie Lian's voice. Mu Qing was nestled at his side, where he lived now, the two of them on a couch.

They'd moved him from Paradise Manor to Xie Lian's palace, he was getting anxious without being able to work or do anything. He didn't want to go back to his palace, his quarters still a mess until they could be sure it wasn't needed for evidence any longer. Not that he would go in there. He would get rid of the whole section and build rooms on the opposite side of the building. But even if that place was walled up, he didn't want to return to his palace.

But no. He'd forgotten. How could he rebuild his palace without the funds?

"Please eat," coaxed Xie Lian.

Mu Qing needed to eat now without spiritual powers supporting him, just as Xie Lian had needed to for so many years. But while Mu Qing appreciated the gesture, he could not look up at Xie Lian with angry revulsion. Xie Lian's cooking was so horrendous and dangerous that just the suggestion of it was enough to make him furious. "Is that a joke?"

"I didn't make it," Xie Lian assured him.

"It's from your palace, General, sir," said a stiff voice from the door to Xie Lian's roof garden.

Mu Qing turned his head a little. Heavenly medics had said his eyes seemed to have been burned, but he was healing. His body could still heal, especially with Heavenly doctoring, but it wasn't as fast as he'd like. His vision was much better now, but he wouldn't have gone out to Xie Lian's garden with him if it hadn't been night.

The facial features of anyone not within a few steps of him were impossible to discern, but all he needed was a voice to recognize Wen Qiu, one of his three top deputies.

Those three took turns babysitting him as if they didn't even trust Xie Lian with him. Them seeing him like this was horrific, but he was too tired to be horrified right now. And Xie Lian was constantly cooing in his ear about how he should lean on them, as they cared for him very much.

Caring for you makes them happy.

But more importantly, Mu Qing recalled that Wen Qiu had been a minor official's chef, regularly called upon for events while his master got the credit.* Whenever something was brought to him that was exceptional in taste, it was always Wen Qiu's work. He motioned him over with two fingers.

"Have they figured anything out?" Mu Qing asked as Wen Qiu set a tray of food on the nearby table. He didn't want to ask, he knew it would twist something in him. But he had to.

"Feng Xin went with Kong Tai and Cangshui back to where you were handling a lightning spirit. San Lang's doing some research."

Hua Cheng. Doing research. What did that look like? He did seem to have an encyclopedic amount of knowledge, but he couldn't picture Hua Cheng holding a book or taking notes.

"Are they working together or...?"

"They disagreed and so they're working separately for the moment. But San Lang will tell him if he finds anything."

Mu Qing frowned, doing the math of Xie Lian's words. Amount of Vagueness + the adjusted variable of downplaying something multiplied by the importance of the situation + Feng Xin's Anger Level and then all of that divided by Hua Cheng's involvement.