A/N: Wattpad made me really upset and I didn't really feel motivated to update until now. I tried updating a month or so- ago... but it just didn't feel right. Anyways, after staying away for a bit... I'm back and ready to post. Happy New Year and Happy Holidays to you all. Enjoy.
-JelloGelatin
P.S. If you wish to make this soup, check out the Herbal Chicken Soup recipe on chinasichuanfood.com
Soft footsteps padded down a dirt road towards a small village located in a rocky valley.
Mei Xiu's ox huffed softly as they approached a small river that was located in the center of a of the village and lowered its head for a refreshing drink of fresh water while the immortal sat down on a large stone.
The village was lovely and quiet, offering peace to anyone who desperately wished to get away from the chaos of the world.
Mei Xiu closed her eyes as the wind rattled the beads dangling from her hat.
This was it.
This was the town Danzhu was hiding in.
The immortal wasn't entirely sure how she intended on convincing him to return, but he would be the first step in restoring heaven to its former glory.
She knew that begging and forcing him to return would be futile, so she would only share her thoughts and let him decide for himself.
"Oh wow! You've got a nice ox!"
Brown eyes flickered to the god she was looking for before they widened in slight surprise.
How convenient!
"Thank you."
He crouched and filled a jug with some water. "I'm no fool." He hummed as the water bubbled and glugged to fill the container in his hand. "I know an immortal when I see one." His eyes flickered up to Mei Xiu's concealed face. "What do you want?"
"Am I not welcome here?"
"Are you only here to quench your ox's thirst?"
"And think, yes."
His eyebrows furrowed as he lifted the jug and stood up. "About what?"
"The state of the heavenly realm."
"What about it?"
"It's empty."
"Well that's because of everything that happened."
"The Emperor is so alone though."
"It's his punishment."
"Yes. I'm aware, but how long should his punishment last?"
"How long?" Danzhu furrowed his eyebrows. "He killed his father...and his brother...and tormented his stepmother until she killed herself." The moon immortal crossed his arms. "Run Yu has done several things that many people won't be able to forget or forgive."
"I understand." Mei Xiu nodded her head, causing the beads to rattle for a moment before stilling. "But I can't help but wonder how long his punishment will last."
"Mm. Probably until he dies."
"And how long will that take?"
"Well, he used some forbidden magic to give Jin Mi a fraction of his life span, so I'm sure it won't be as long as most heavenly emperors."
"Do you feel that much hatred towards your own nephew?"
"It's hard not to resent him."
"Even to his face?"
"I know how to be polite."
"Mm."
"What?"
They watched the ox lift its head before slowly approaching a small field of grass nearby.
"Did you know that the former empress killed Run Yu's mother?"
Danzhu blinked at the abrupt fact. "Huh?"
"I don't wish to invalidate everyone's feelings towards the current emperor, but he's been wronged as well."
He looked down. "Sure...but did that give him the right to do such terrible things in return?"
"Who else was going to get justice for him?" She tilted her head. "No one ever cared about him. You all only wanted him to be there... but only if he stayed in his brother's shadows."
"That's not true."
"Is it not true because it's too much to hear or is it not true because you have evidence that proves me wrong?"
Danzhu's eyes slowly became wet with tears before he moved forward and snatched the hat off the black tiger immortal's head.
Mei Xiu stared at him as tears began to race down his face.
"What do you want me to do?" He sniffled. "I tried to be kind to him and he decided to burn heaven to the ground."
"You could come back... you could try to mend things. Start anew."
"What if I don't want to?"
She reached forward and grabbed her hat before carefully getting up. "Then don't."
His eyes widened as he watched her bow and slowly retreat to her ox's side.
"T-That's it?"
Mei Xiu glanced back as she put on her hat. "I only came to think and let my ox have a drink, remember?"
He inhaled softly and nodded before slowly making his way back to his home in the village.
Mei Xiu smiled as she slowly left the village humming a soft tune.
A few days passed, leaving the moon immortal spiraling in his befuddled thoughts.
Had he been unfair to his nephew?
Had he missed all of his cries for help?
When did Tu Yao, the heavenly empress, do such a thing- and why hadn't his brother done anything to help his mourning son?
He knew that Tai Wei had done several terrible things in his life, but why hadn't he done anything?
Surely anything would have been better than nothing.
Perhaps everyone who died might be alive now if he hadn't been so uncaring for his other son.
Or even if he, himself, had noticed.
Why hadn't he noticed?
The moon immortal wept over his small garden as he pulled small weeds and threw them in a small wooden basket.
Memories of the past replayed in his mind and all of his nephew's life had been nothing more than a constant stream of grievances that were often belittled and dismissed by those who were supposed to love and support him.
Nothing justified what happened, but after thinking long and hard, he couldn't bring himself to hate Run Yu anymore.
Run Yu really was trapped in his brother's shadow.
The sad part was that he didn't mind until he grew frustrated with no one caring about his woes.
The worst part was that not even his own uncle had seen the error of their ways until someone else had pointed it out.
He had secretly despised his own flesh and blood- perhaps not as much as Xu Feng- to the point that he had encouraged everyone to stay out of heaven until the emperor was no longer on the throne.
How could he be so cruel?
He couldn't imagine how quiet the heavenly realm was or how dull now that it no longer had flowers or people filling the realm with life.
It was just Run Yu and a handful of guards and servants, amounting to no more than probably 30 people.
What kind of Emperor ruled over just 29 people?
A fool- a pathetic- a- well... someone who didn't care and wished to stay out of the way.
Run Yu had crawled back into the shadows everyone wanted him in and barely left the realm or reached out to anyone and Danzhu couldn't even blame him for doing so.
When it seemed like the entire universe hated you, the shadows always seemed like a safe haven.
Danzhu got up and carried the bucket inside his house.
After emptying it he quickly worked on packing up his things.
The small hut was barren by sunset and the deity was soaring towards a distant forest with a large bag on his back and a crate of red string on his hip.
∘❀∘❀∘❀∘❀∘❀∘≫∘❀♡❀∘≪∘❀∘❀∘❀∘❀∘❀∘
Mei Xiu had returned to the heavens after finding someone to give her ox to.
Upon her return, she was greeted by the guards before making her way to the throne room to find a sleep deprived emperor reading scrolls and checking mandates.
"You look exhausted."
"You were gone for a day and didn't tell anyone where you were going."
"I was in the mortal realm."
"Doing what?" Run Yu closed his scroll and tossed it on the table before him before looking up at the immortal clad in plain brown clothing.
"Making amends with Yue Ya and other things."
"Other things?" He arched an eyebrow.
"Well. That's kind of a pending surprise, Yu Yu."
His face reddened at the nickname as he slowly got up and approached her. "I don't like surprises, Xiu'er and you know that."
"Yes, but I think you'll like this, so I can't tell you what it is."
"Xiu'er."
She turned away from him. "I'm not telling you."
He exhaled softly before wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face into the back of her neck.
"Let's go bathe and sleep."
"Did you eat?"
"No."
"I'll go get you something to eat while you bathe."
He scooped her off of her feet. "Nonsense. We'll bathe, eat, and then sleep."
"I can go get it-"
"-I want you here." He mumbled as he carried her to his bathing quarters, pressing soft kisses along her throat before setting her down to prepare their bath.
"Do you need help?"
"Nope. Just stand there and look beautiful."
"How do I do that?"
"You're already doing it."
"Eh?"
The Emperor laughed as Mei Xiu stood there and watched with flustered cheeks before perking up when he turned to her with two jars in his hands.
"Are you okay with strawberries and jasmine blossoms?"
"I'm fine with whatever you pick."
He nodded before sprinkling the dried strawberries and flower blossoms into the hot water before pouring in a vial of essence.
"Alright. You can get in while I go get our clothes."
"Oh. Ok."
Her face began to burn again as he stole a quick kiss before retreating to their shared room.
Mei Xiu slowly slipped out of her clothes and dipped herself into the hot bath before sinking in all the way.
She let out a relieved sigh, carefully plucking a few flowers and strawberries out of her twists as they floated around her before they began to sink as they absorbed water.
Now that she thought about it, she didn't have a lot of clothes.
She had her pale green hanfu, the pink one Yue Ya forced her into, and a few Kuang Lu had given her just so she wasn't wearing the same thing everyday.
The immortal couldn't help but wonder what the Emperor wanted her to wear.
Had he gotten her something new or was it something she typically wore?
Would it be something bright or pastel?
Would it be a warm color that brought out the red undertone of her skin, or something cool that muffled it.
The Emperor reentered the room with two neatly folded items in tow.
"Don't look." He chided, using his own ivory clothes to conceal hers as he set it down on a table near an ornate dragon-painted screen.
"Why not?"
"It's a surprise."
She puffed her cheeks and turned around. "Fine."
He laughed softly before pulling off his clothes. "Don't like surprises, huh?"
"Shove it."
"Oh I will. Just give me a second."
Once he let down his hair, he joined her in the hot water with a low hum.
Run Yu couldn't help but laugh as the tiger immortal opened her eyes and moved to the furthest end of of the bath, trying her hardest to maintain distance as he watched her with halflidded eyes.
"So what were you up to while I was away, besides doing a poor job of taking care of yourself."
"Emperor work." He exhaled as he let his body sink further into the water.
"So stamping your name on papers and reading scrolls."
"That's an informal way of saying what the tedious part of my job is."
"What else does an emperor do?"
"Besides maintaining all of the realms and aiming for peace at all times?"
"Mhm."
"I guess they force a woman to be their empress, have a heir and then cheat on them several times." He snorted as he closed his eyes. "And then after driving their wife mad with their infidelity, they bring their other child into heaven to suffer."
"Ok, so what does a normal emperor do?" Mei Xiu rolled her eyes at his sarcastic response.
"Mm. Well. As the Unloved Emperor, I don't have anything else to do." He opened his eyes to see Mei Xiu listening intently. "I have no rituals to perform and no people to rule. Beyond reading reports from the other realms and approving decisions, I help Kuang Lu orient the stars and keep the dream archive in order."
"Have you spoken to Kuang Lu yet?"
"I'd rather hear your side of the story first." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "I'm still struggling to wrap my mind around the blood that was all over you."
"We can discuss this more after you rest." She frowned. "You look exhausted."
"I am."
"Yu Yu?"
"Mm?" He lowered his hands and refocused on her.
"Are you content?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you wish for anything?"
"I'm content." He offered the faintest smile. "I wouldn't dare wish for anything more."
"It's ok to have dreams."
"I'm scared of dreaming."
"Why?"
"Because I dream of being loved and forgiven, but I'll never get that."
"Maybe in time you'll get that."
"I doubt it." He sighed as he began to wash his hair. "Heaven will be empty until the day I die."
Mei Xiu's eyes softened before she moved forward and pulled him in for a hug.
Pale wet fingers slipped around her body as he returned the hug, squeezing her tight as he pressed his face into her neck.
A solemn silence settled over them like a storm cloud on an overcast day.
The tiger immortal pressed a kiss into his cheek before closing her eyes.
"I won't let you be alone, Run Yu."
Her words were soft and sincere, summoning tears from the Emperor as grief began to engulf his shaking body.
Mei Xiu's eyes stung with tears as he sobbed quietly into her warm skin, spilling tears that slowly joined the steaming bath water they were settled in.
Soft brown fingers got lost in his wet back hair until it was free of tangles and clean.
Run Yu pulled away to return the gesture, untwisting her hair and cleaning it thoroughly before re-twisting it.
The first few twists were poor looking.
Apparently, if the hair isn't split evenly the twists will end up looking bizarre.
Mei Xiu also had him using a jar of cream to moisturize her hair since he insisted on doing it.
He didn't really mind taking on such a time consuming task.
It's not like he had anything else to do- and in all honestly, the Emperor was fascinated by her hair.
It looked shorter when wet, shrinking up to reveal a plethora of tiny black coils, only to become a long twist that would bounce back up when he was done.
He finger-detangled each section as he worked while standing behind her, smiling at the content look on her face as he managed to recreate the perfect twist she had done that dangled by her jaw and framed her face.
He continued to work until he was done, smiling as she struggled to stay awake as he placed a soft kiss against her forehead.
After ensuring that their bodies were properly cleaned, he scooped the immortal out of the water and dried her off while humming a soft tune.
Run Yu smiled at the sleeping beauty in his arms after dressing her in a flowy white hanfu dress that was layered with a sheer blue floral fabric.
He carried her to his room and laid her on his bed before retreating to get dressed and clean the bathroom.
After cleaning he remember that Mei Xiu had wanted to go get food and headed to the kitchen.
The Emperor left his palace and headed to the imperial kitchen, greeting the few guards and servants he had on the way there.
Once inside the two fairies inside nearly burned down the kitchen in shock as they rushed to get up and greet him with frantic bows.
"A-Ah! Greetings, your majesty!" Chun Tao sputtered while Bi Yu struggled to catch up and nearly tumbled over as she bowed.
"Greetings, your majesty!"
"There's no need to be anxious. You may stand."
They both stood up and looked up at him.
"How can we help you?" Bi Yu blushed as she struggled to meet his gaze.
"I need help preparing something for Mei Xiu."
"Oh?" Chun Tao blinked. "Why didn't she come get it herself?"
Bi Yu punched her as the Emperor's gaze darkened before tilting her head. "Sure thing! Um. What did you wish to prepare?"
"What's a good soup for fatigue?"
"Fatigue....uh...probably something with ginseng." Bi Yu murmured.
"Maybe a chicken ginseng soup?" Chun Tao offered as she rubbed her arm. "Or maybe an herbal soup would be better."
"Well pick whichever is best and teach me how to make it."
Both women nodded before throwing a makeshift apron on his robes and dragging him towards a basin of water to wash his hands.
"W-What is this?"
"It's an apron. This will prevent you from messing up your robes."
"Ok and what are you doing to my hands?"
"You have to clean your hands and nails properly." Bi Yu smiled as she scrubbed under his nails with a small brush.
"Oh."
"Don't worry too much. This will be a breeze if you follow our directions."
"Ok."
"Ok. So! We need to soak all the herbs before we start cleaning and cutting up the chicken." Bi Yu sighed as she led him to a clean counter.
"What kind of herbs are we using?"
"Some female ginseng, astragalus root, Solomon's seal, wild yams, and some codonopsis."
"Some what?"
"Don't worry about it." She muttered as she pulled some of each herb out.
"Ok. Now you'll put these in the bowl and soak them with water and then we'll start working on the chicken."
He nodded before getting to work.
Chun Tao taught him how to fabricate a whole chicken into eight pieces after cleaning it.
They worked on cooking the soup for three hours before the Emperor left the kitchen with a full stomach, a bowl of soup, and a smile on his face.
Chun Tao and Biyu were impressed by his eagerness to learn.
"Do you think he's going to marry Mei Xiu?" Chun Tao whispered.
Bi Yu furrowed her eyebrows as she worked on sweeping the floors. "What makes you think that?"
"When has the emperor ever tried to make anyone soup?" She tilted her head. "Not even when the grape fairy was around, was he this eager."
"Eh." Bi Yu sighed. "Well. If he loves her, I love that for him. He used to mope around and starve himself nonstop before she got here. Isn't it better that he's eager, eating, and smiling?"
"I suppose you're right."