What If...I Remember?

Chapter 24

A/N jinenmje Please don't strangle me now; here's the update HAHAHAHA

"Should you not be looking for Feng Jiu?" Ye Hua observed as Bai Qian bought A-Li a malt candy, and she looked up, blinking, "Feng Jiu should be in the palace. If we really wanted to visit her, we would have to sneak in." When Ye Hua looked at her blankly, Bai Qian dropped her voice to a whisper, "I wouldn't want A-Li walking in on something he shouldn't be seeing."

"...Qian Qian, that's Dong Hua Di Jun's mortal form, not some random mortal lover of Feng Jiu. And, Qian Qian, isn't she just here to repay a debt?" Ye Hua almost wanted to laugh. This was the first ever time Bai Qian seemed to worry more than him, and the reason was simply just something he would never have thought of at all. "I mean, yes..." Bai Qian frowned, watching A-Li wander off to another stall with a frown, and Ye Hua wrapped his arm around her waist, "We could check first, before bringing A-Li."

"That does sound like a good plan." Bai Qian admitted, and Ye Hua smiled, "Stay with A-Li. I'll be back quickly."

...

"Mother, where did Father go?" A-Li finally noticed that his father had disappeared, and Bai Qian twirled a strand of her hair, "He went to look for your Sister Feng Jiu." "Then why didn't we go with him?" A-Li asked curiously, his eyes filled with a certain light of innocence, and Bai Qian glanced at him, covering her awkwardness with a smile, "Do you not want to explore the city further?"

"I want to look for Sister Feng Jiu." A-Li's answer was not what Bai Qian had hoped for, and Bai Qian sighed, "Why not we wait for your Father to return, Riceball?" "Can't we go find Father and Sister Feng Jiu instead?" A-Li persisted, his eyes gleaming with curiosity as to why Bai Qian insisted upon Ye Hua's return, and Bai Qian glanced around, checking that no one was watching, before she lifted him into her arms, "Don't make a single sound, got it?"

And with a quick turn of her back, mist swirled by her feet, and Bai Qian disappeared from where she was to the palace.

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"Xiao Jiu isn't here..." Bai Qian muttered, stepping out of another room in her glamour, A-Li held in her arms as she walked through the rooms so that he wouldn't run away and get himself lost. Walking down yet another identical corridor, Bai Qian opened a door again, peeking her head in, before she frowned. She swore she'd entered this room before...? 

Exiting the room, Bai Qian frowned as she shut the door gently. How was it that she had gone in circles and ended back in the same room? It didn't make sense...she should've at least stumbled upon another door, right? 

"Qian Qian?" Ye Hua muttered in confusion as Bai Qian stumbled into the room he was hiding in, and she smiled at him sheepishly, "If I told you I had gotten lost, would you believe me?" With a dry laugh, Ye Hua nodded at her, "That I can believe. But why have you come into the palace as well?" And Bai Qian just gestured with her chin at A-Li, "Riceball insisted on coming to find her." "We've come at the wrong timing," Ye Hua sighed, "Feng Jiu just left with Di Jun's mortal form to check on a problem." 

"A problem? But why would Xiao Jiu have to go with him?" Bai Qian furrowed her brows, and Ye Hua smiled at her, "Feng Jiu is impressive. She managed to get herself crowned Queen." "Sister Feng Jiu married Brother Dong Hua?!" A-Li gasped, and Bai Qian quickly clapped her hand over his mouth, "A-Li, this sentence can't be said so casually!" 

"Even I called him Uncle when I was younger, A-Li. You can't call him Brother." Ye Hua added on with a dry smile, and even as Bai Qian opened her mouth to continue to what Ye Hua had said, the doors to Feng Jiu's chamber suddenly opened, and Bai Qian's eyes widened with surprise, "Zhi Yue?" Wheeling on Ye Hua, Bai Qian questioned almost menacingly, "What is your cousin doing here?"

"Did she ever do anything against you?" Ye Hua was mildly surprised by Bai Qian's reaction, and she huffed as she readjusted A-Li in her arms, "Not exactly. But she did throw Feng Jiu into the Monster Slaying Pagoda." "The Monster Slaying Pagoda?" Ye Hua echoed, his frown deepening as he observed his cousin rustle through Feng Jiu's drawers, "I've never heard of that from Zhi Yue."

"She wouldn't flaunt getting both the Little Princess of Qing Qiu and Di Jun in trouble." Bai Qian spoke flatly, watching as Zhi Yue pulled a scroll from Feng Jiu's drawers, "What is she doing, anyway?" "Based on my cousin's temperament, she's likely planning to get Feng Jiu in trouble." Ye Hua stated with a matter-of-factly tone, and Bai Qian pursed her lips in contempt, "Can I kick her out of the room?"

"Or you could watch and see if that is Si Ming's plot for Feng Jiu to be discovered, whatever she was hiding. Remember, this is still Di Jun's trial, after all." Ye Hua reminded, and Bai Qian found reason in his reminder.

So they walked around the room, observing Feng Jiu's way of packing her huge room, watching and waiting for Feng Jiu's return, and it was only when the sky darkened did Feng Jiu enter her room, her clothes quite dishevelled for a Queen, and Bai Qian removed her glamour spell upon seeing Feng Jiu return, "Xiao Jiu!" "Gugu?!" Feng Jiu was pleasantly surprised, and she was even happier when she saw A-Li stumbling from Bai Qian's arms, "Sister Feng Jiu! A-Li missed you!" 

"Did you, really?" Feng Jiu pulled her cousin into a hug, meeting Bai Qian's eyes, only to realise Bai Qian wore an amused smirk as she inspected Feng Jiu's clothes, "You don't say, Xiao Jiu, I never quite saw the day you would dress quite so like a lady." "Gugu!" Feng Jiu's cheeks burned brightly, and Bai Qian continued to tease her further, "Say, Feng Jiu, having fun in the mortal realm? Are you even aware my wedding is taking place on the second day of the ninth month?"

"I know..." Feng Jiu pouted, and she looked up earnestly at Bai Qian, "I was going to leave in three days, Gugu..." "Were you?" Bai Qian laughed, her suspicion-filled eyes staring at her niece, and Feng Jiu sounded injured at her aunt's distrust of her, "Yes, I was!" 

"Qian Qian," Ye Hua intervened before the two got into a mini bickering session, "You wanted to inform Feng Jiu about Zhi Yue...?" "Oh yes, Xiao Jiu, Zhi Yue took something from here just now." Bai Qian finally remembered that she had intended to share about Zhi Yue's sneaky visit, and Feng Jiu shot up at once, alarmed, "What did she take?" 

"A long scroll from within your drawers." Bai Qian answered, and Feng Jiu's eyes widened at once, "Oh no, she didn't-!" Rummaging through her own drawers, Feng Jiu tossed out quite a number of scrolls and parchments in her hunt for a particular one, and when it seemed that she had emptied all her drawers, Feng Jiu let out a wail of despair as she wrung she sleeves, "Gugu, she took the scroll that Si Ming gave me for Di Jun's trial!"

"What did I say?" Ye Hua whispered to Bai Qian, only to receive a wave from her as she frowned at her niece, too focused on Feng Jiu to even bother about Ye Hua predicting correctly, "Xiao Jiu, you keep such important plans in your drawer?!" 

"I forgot, Gugu! I would've kept it in my pillow, but I was afraid the maids would check, and just as I was hiding it, Di Jun came in! I had no choice, Gugu!" Feng Jiu sat on her bed miserably, and Bai Qian finally ceased her frowning as she shrugged her shoulders, "It's fated, then. Knowing Si Ming, and knowing you, Xiao Jiu, you most likely would not have gone Si Ming's way of planning either. Maybe this is better?" 

"I guess so..." Feng Jiu sulked, and Bai Qian laughed, "I'll be waiting for your return in three days, Xiao Jiu. I know you can do this." "I'll be seeing you then..." Feng Jiu gave A-Li a hug, "Wait for me, A-Li, I'll bring you out to play once I return." And even as A-Li nodded, Bai Qian gave a small wave, before the trio disappeared from the palace and back to the Nine Heavens in a puff of mist.

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A/N: Welp not much content :/

I'm sorry that it's such a bad chapter after 6 days of no updates eeeeek we just finished a geography essay test today welp

Don't worry though; the end of Di Jun's mortal trial is VERY VERY VERY soon :D

Love y'all,
Z, out.