Everything was renewed and refreshed at the Heavenly Court, the white jaded capital polished to perfection from the tallest palace to the smallest pebble. Other than that, Xie Lian could see the streets, corridors and terraces were filled with increased security guards, more than he'd ever seen in his time as a heavenly official. They were probably appointed after Hua Cheng's intrusion, and for some reason the thought made him smile in amusement.
When he passed them, the guards sent him a look but didn't dare do more. Many other officials saw him and immediately stepped on the other side of the street, scurrying away without a single snarky remark about his person.
Others, for Xie Lian's surprise, instead of running away bowed at him, although not certainly out of respect but more out of fear for retribution.
It was still nice, for someone who lived his third ascension constantly ignored or ridiculed. It gave Xie Lian something to be comforted by.
It didn't take long for the Crown Prince to reach the place where the banquet was set; under the moon and in open air, surrounded by elegant fragrances that tickled the nose and lifted the spirit. An air of propitiousness, clouds of prosperity and blossoms flurried in the air like snow, giving way to entertainment and moon-watching. The same moon that in the mortal realm was small and blurry, up in the heavens was bright and immaculate, a giant jaded screen that stood but a close distance away, as if with only a few steps it could be caught.
An ethereal sight, one that could not be seen in the mortal realm.
Xie Lian had to admit he missed that view. From Ghost City it was impossible to see the moon, and the nights he spent in the mortal realms weren't comparable with that luminous closeness. Silver moonlight gathered on his jewelry and on his robes, almost making him glow, a gorgeous contrast with his dark hair and the pools of gold that were his eyes.
What would he have done, if Hua Cheng wasn't in his life by that point? Would he have attended in his shabby cultivator robes, with the precious bamboo hat he cherished tied on his back? No, he probably wouldn't have attended at all, a lowly god like the Scrap Immortal couldn't have possibly been invited to an event such as the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet.
Well, there wasn't time for those thoughts.
Seated at the head of the banquet, clad in priceless robes, was of course Jun Wu. However, aside from his seat, there was a hidden machination to how the rest should be seated, a method to order and position. Sitting too up-front was naturally unwise, but sitting too far away was unwanted by the heavenly officials themselves.
Xie Lian didn't really care for those etiquettes, save for a single one: a god must be formally dressed for the Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet, meaning one better wear what one's divine statue looked like in the mortal realm.
Of course, Xie Lian didn't have a divine statue, as Qiandeng Temple wasn't exactly a conventional place of worship, but the robes he and Hua Cheng chose together were still fitting of his heavenly status. However, thanks to what happened the last time he was in the Heavenly Capital, Xie Lian figured it was better for him to sit somewhere more hidden away, if only to avoid further discussions with him as the topic.
Just as he found a random corner to sit, he looked up and saw Feng Xin walk his way.
Heading straight to his usual seat, Feng Xin stopped for a moment in front of Xie Lian, nodded slightly to imitate him, then it finally clicked and he turned back around: «What are you doing sitting here?».
And not "what are you doing here", even though he almost said it and bit his tongue just in time.
Of all the things, he didn't expect to see His Highness make an appearance for the banquet, following the disastrous reveal of his husband's identity and the quarrel with Lang QianQiu. Truth be told, Feng Xin still didn't recover from the demonstration of strength Xie Lian brought upon everybody.
Also his demonstration of having balls of steel, since he treated Hua Cheng having invaded the heavens like nothing of importance.
Not that he would ever say it out loud, but one would be stupid not to realize it.
Xie Lian thought he sat in the wrong spot and stood up, confused: «I thought I could sit anywhere?». Maybe the general etiquette changed in eight hundred years, it wasn't impossible to believe.
Feng Xin was about to speak when, in the distance, Shi QingXuan waved at the Crown Prince from the front, in her female form. When Feng Xin turned around and saw, it was like he witnessed something foreboding.
Looking aghast, he left Xie Lian to his own devices and hurried away, leaving the latter even more confused.
Shi QingXuan shouted at him to come over, wanting to make Xie Lian hide his face away. The Wind Master was someone prominently popular in the Heavenly Court, and her seat was naturally one of the best, close to Jun Wu. The wave and call made many of the heavenly officials to look over, moving their attention to the one god that didn't want to be at the center of it, and soon enough a shiver ran through the crown. Quite a lot of eyes darted all over the place, probably searching for a red-clad figure, and not few took in a sigh of relief when nothing appeared out of the blue.
Jun Wu, who was at first sitting silently with his hand supporting his cheek, also noticed Xie Lian and inclined his head towards him. No choice but to go over, then.
On the way, there was expectedly no sight of Lang QianQiu, who had long since declined his invitation to the Mid-Autumn Banquet in favor of searching for Qi Rong's whereabouts.
Far from Xie Lian to bring up the fact that his cousin was currently residing in PuQi Shrine.
Shi QingXuan found Xie Lian a seat right next to her, a spot with the best fengshui. The Crow Prince didn't think it appropriate, if only because heavenly officials could get extremely petty when it came to grievances – and Hua Cheng scaring them senseless was definitely grievance-inducing – but the Wind Master was already pushing him down to sit, unyielding.
She even complimented his appearance, to further confirm she wasn't going to let him protest.
At this point, he could only say thanks. So he did, with a friendly smile that lit up his face.
Turning his head, he realized the one seating next to him was Ming Yi, sullenly playing with a jade cup; the hand playing with that small vessel was actually whiter that the cup, as if wanting to betray his ghostly truth, but the color of his face was normal enough.
Xie Lian greeted him, still with a polite smile, but the Earth Master seemingly didn't want to talk and he dropped it there.
Never a person of many words, especially in public. He was far more comfortable talking in private, with Shi QingXuan and Hua Cheng as the only added company, but silence was still his best friend.
Opposite to him Shi QingXuan knew everyone and could say a few words to anyone sitting front, back, left, right, even those much further away. Xie Lian was quite in awe of how she could remember all the names of those heavenly officials, no matter their rank; he remembered trying, helped by Hua Cheng's disinterested knowledge about it, but most names were far too insignificant for both his husband and his books, so they never stuck.
Seated in front of him, Xie Lian noticed a young man of maybe eighteen or nineteen, raven hair slightly curly, deep brows and a tall nose. He didn't know him, and it seemed the feeling was mutual. The two looked at each other for a bit, feeling a little lost, and ended the awkward stare after Xie Lian made up a random greeting.
There was something familiar in that face, and probably Xie Lian actually knew who the official was, but the name and whatever familiarity he had with it ended up forgotten.
Looking around some more, if only to wrench himself away from that awkwardness, Xie Lian saw Feng Xin and Mu Qing sitting as far from each other as they could, sending death stares every once in a while. Weirdly enough, Xie Lian couldn't explain it; out of all the times he'd seen them, they never seemed actually hostile towards each other. He couldn't feel any real hostility between them even at that moment.
They really were quite stubborn when it came to their public image, uh?
Again, in front of him but one seat away from the young official, were two more heavenly officials Xie Lian was obviously familiar with. On the left was a black-clad official, brows respectable and appearance generous. Between words, five fingers gently tapped a rhythm on the table, his expression steady and calm. It was Ling Wen's most powerful form, impressively proper, worthy of the civil god status; Xie Lian never saw it in person, but had seen depictions of it in many books. Even if many of them were too farfetched to be believable, there were some accurate ones that helped him recognize who he was looking at.
Beside her was Pei Ming, apparently lost in thought. Every once in a while, Xie Lian noticed, he would send brief glances in Ming Yi's direction, with an indecipherable expression scrunching his face up. They didn't stop even when Ling Wen started a conversation with him, promptly described as "fake" by a grumbling Shi QingXuan.
The shower of praises and compliments was rather amusing for Xie Lian, but he stopped paying attention quite quickly, noticing that at the front of the banquet tables was a small, beautiful pavilion with red stage curtains covering all four of its sides.
«What's that?», he asked. There was no such thing when he ascended the first time.
Shi QingXuan followed his gaze and smiled: «Oh, you don't know? This is also a really popular game in the Upper Court. Just watch, it's starting now!».
A game?
She trailed off as a few rumbling sounds of thunder came rolling beyond the skies. Jun Wu glanced at the sky, poured a glass of wine, and passed it down. Then, in the midst of rumbling thunder, the seated heavenly officials started laughing and hollering as they passed around that glass of wine, shouting about how they didn't want to keep the glass and trying to pass it to someone else.
Drummed Flower Passing, then, Xie Lian figured out; as long as the thunder still rumbled, the glass of wine could be passed to anyone, save for passing it back to the same person. However, as soon as the thunder stopped, whoever ended up with the wine cup in their hands would be picked upon for fun.
The thing was, Xie Lian had no idea what kind of fun it would be, and it wasn't a friendly game for him. If he were to pass the wine cup to someone, then that someone might end up getting ridiculed. It meant that the cup had to be passed to the ones he was closer with.
Yet, Xie Lian wasn't close with most of the heavenly officials present, so not only he couldn't dare so nonchalantly ridicule someone, but he didn't want to do it in the first place, and he feared the consequences if gossip of him picking on some official would spread.
At best, he could only pass it to the Wind Master, because the Earth Master was definitely out of the question, but what if Shi QingXuan happened to be the one who passed him the wine?
Maybe it was better is no one passed it to him. He didn't think anyone would dare, not while knowing he was married to Hua Cheng, but still.
The first round was over before he could finish that though, the glass of wine stopping in Pei Ming's hand under the intense watch of everyone. Seemingly used to that, Pei Min downed the glass in one gulp amidst the roaring cheers, officials clapping and hollered.
«Raise it! Raise it!».
In the thick of cheers, that glamorous pavilion slowly raised the curtains of its four sides. Upon that platform stood a tall general, head raised and imposingly impressive. He walked for a few steps and started singing verses, voice sonorous and enthusiastic, with the experienced act of someone used to be on stage.
Xie Lian soon understood that the pavilion would bring forth the plays written about the heavenly official who ended up with the cup of wine, performing it for all to see. Due to humans' deep love for making things up, it was impossible to know what kind of shocking play they would see, and one wouldn't know when they'd be picked. The game, as it turned out, was both thrilling and embarrassing.
And it was how entertainment was derives.
Even if Xie Lian didn't know much about it, each of General Pei's plays were all exhilarating, simply because the female counterpart was different every time. Sometimes it was a celestial being, sometimes a ghost, sometimes an unmarried lady; each was more beautiful than the next, and the stories were each more shameless than the next.
All heavenly officials watched with deep interest, waiting for a woman to enter the scene. Sure enough, it didn't take long before a white-clad figure entered the stage, voice like a golden oriole but... somewhat ambiguous? To Xie Lian, who wasn't too fixated on the play and the humor of it, the voice of that figure seemed more androgynous than purely feminine, as if two voices sang together but one constantly tried to overlap the other.
The two actors sang to each other, the lyrics brazenly flirtatious; the more the crowd watched, the more something didn't feel right. Soon, they started asking around, inquiring about the name of the play and the woman that General Pei was seducing on stage.
Just then, the actor called out a name, a whisper so low and admittedly intimate only a part of it, a barely discernible "Shui" even for the sensitive ears of the gods. Below the stage, both Pei Ming and Ling Wen spat out their mouthfuls of wine, one looking distressed and the other utterly speechless.
Xie Lian, on the other hand, was just as confused as many other officials, most of them outright shocked as well.
No one had ever heard of a woman with such a character in her name, so questions started crashing the banquet faster than the rain, pouring one after the other. Who was the mysterious woman? Why did Pei Ming hide her from the heavens but not from the mortals? When did that hook-up happen?
So on and so forth.
Thick skinned, but looking rather woeful, Pei Ming barked back some snappy remarks and waved a hand: «This play is old and it's only a folktale», he said, the tangy taste of wine weirdly unpleasant on his tongue. «I've seduced pretty much everyone in folktales, but this one I really haven't. Don't wrong the innocent».
Everyone, even if reluctantly, had to agree.
«By your logic, since the mortals all say I've seduced even more officials whilst I've done nothing, wouldn't I be sitting on pins and needles?», Ling Wen quipped, talking to the crowd.
Pei Ming looked oddly uncomfortable, something the civil god never associated with him when it came to that kind of entertainment; even when the pavilion showed a play depicting Pei Ming and Ling Wen herself, he mostly laughed about it.
Shui...
Ling Wen sincerely hoped she didn't hear it right, or she heard it right but the context was different.
Not that she had any idea of what the hell was actually happening, and why a similar play existed in the mortal world, but it was far too difficult and unbelievable to think about.
Xie Lian's brain started jumping left and right; his slightly bigger insight on Pei Ming's love life gave way to a bit too much thinking ability, something the Crown Prince didn't want to have at the moment.
Not wanting to linger on it for the moment, he shook his head as if to shake away those swirling thoughts as well, and then watched as the next round began.
Shi QingXuan was laughing earlier, blissfully unaware, but the round came immediately to her. She furrowed her brown just for an instant, then drank the wine. Those curtains were raised once more, but before they had even reached the top, two long thrills came from within.
Boundlessly affectionate, one feminine and one masculine, the tender voices twisted and turned, filled with lingering yearning.
From below, Xie Lian saw with his own eyes goosebumps popping up on Shi QingXuan's body.
She jumped to his feet, eyes wide and hands trembling, shouting to drop the curtain right that moment, in a voice that was not at all the gentle and carefree music she was known for, but a panicked, pained yell that almost chocked back in her throat.
Even without seeing, it was easy to guess the play picked must have been from the folklore of husband and wife between Lord Water Master and Lady Wind Master. Tales of love and hatred would always be fan-favorites when telling stories, and anything could be made up; that invented legend was one of the many reasons why Shi QingXuan was more powerful while wearing a female form, alongside the stubborn belief that the Wind Master had to be worshipped as a lady.
To say that it was inappropriate wasn't enough.
Not only Shi QingXuan and Shi Wudu were brothers, the Water Master had also died, killed by the hand of a vengeful ghost. Said ghost, Xie Lian noticed when he dared a look to his side, was gripping his cup of wine with so much strength it was a miracle it didn't shatter already.
Because of the too delicate situation, the moment Shi QingXuan spoke up, the curtains really dropped.
It was enough for Shi QingXuan to deal with those stories in the past. Now it was even worse.
Not a single merit was asked as compensation for dropping the curtain, and the game resumed after only a brief moment of silence.
Xie Lian sat as the third round began; the thunder didn't last very long, and the wine cup was passed to the young man sitting right in front of the Crown Prince. Upon seeing it, the reaction from the crowd of heavenly officials was odd. Not fervent, not cold, they just seemed interested in seeing the play even I no one would blatantly show it.
That young man was clearly disinterested, but still drank the wine and put down the cup as the curtains raised once more.
Two stood upon that stage. One was a young general with curly hair like that of stone lion's mane, looking heroically sprightly; clearly, he portrayed the young heavenly official.
The other one had pointy lips and monkey cheeks, the portrayal of a wretched clown, jumping all over the stage. When the young man faced him, he'd act serious but loathsome; when the young man turned around, he'd make faces and take a sword to backstab. The role a two-faced, cunning villain, performing with vigor and over-embellishment.
Xie Lian took in a sharp, painful intake of breath, so harsh it made Ling Wen turn to look at him.
He just remembered who that young heavenly official was. Just recognized who the backstabbing clown on stage was supposed to be.
Uncaring of the consequences, Xie Lian took a chopstick from the table and hurled it towards the rope controlling the curtains. The blunt chopstick only brushed by the rope, but it snapped it cleanly and the curtains dropped noisily. Yin Yu deserved better than to be depicted as a wretched clown with no morals, and Quan YiZhen didn't deserve to watch as someone he cared about was turned into comedic entertainment.
«What's going on!».
«Who dared? How can this be?!».
Many voices raised in uproar and they all looked at Xie Lian, some even rising to their feet, some immediately deciding against it so fast their seats protested the abuse. Xie Lian was about to open his mouth and come up with some sort of excuse, but was startled by something suddenly exploding near him. Eyes darting to the source of the sound, he saw Quan YiZhen had shattered the white jaded cup in his fist.
Outraged, he threw away the shards of that cup in a fit, barged through the curtains after a leap, and disappeared in a flash.
Down to beat people up again.
Xie Lian, who was kind of expecting that outcome, only sighed.
Qi Ying, the Martial God of the West Quan YiZhen, was fairly known for his tendency to beat up his own worshippers. The majority of other officials only judged it immature, and Xie Lian heard many comments about how he didn't know how to have fun and that others had been picked on, but Xie Lian knew better; Quan YiZhen kept beating up his followers because of the awful reputation they kept building for Yin Yu. In a way, one could say he was right in his actions. Kid or not kid, it was horrible to watch someone you cared about being ridiculed just for the sake of a story.
So, glad for the distraction that pulled away the focus from him, Xie Lian mused in silence. The feast was only temporarily disrupted, after all, so the banquet and games continued like nothing happened. The thunder rumbled and two more rounds were played; as a new one began after a particularly loud downpour of laughs, a hand was suddenly extended to Xie Lian, and passed him a new white jaded wine cup.
Unfortunately for him, Xie Lian reacted too fast and took the cup without thinking. The moment he did, he froze in complete disbelief. When he looked at who it was that passed him the cup, the other part was equally dumbfounded.
Ming Yi, to be honest, had more of a "what the fuck did I do" expression on his face. Curses and everything.
As it turned out, when the wine cup made it into an official seating close to Ming Yi, he passed it over to avoid having it; however, Ming Yi was too busy stuffing his face and drinking his wine, and didn't even bother to look up before he passed on the wine cup randomly.
Only after the cup was passed did he realize what had happened.
Right at the same time, the thunder stopped rumbling, leaving the two staring at each other blankly. Xie Lian promised to himself he wouldn't curse anymore for at least ten years, after the string of disasters that happened to him, but frankly he was beginning to regret it.
Everyone's eyes automatically moved to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, instead of lingering on Xie Lian. It was easy to understand why.
Xie Lian had not been heard of for eight hundred years. If that was the part, there'd naturally be plenty of plays depicting his heroism and grace, but they were long lost to time. besides, no one would pick such a day to set up a stage and especially put up a play for him. Thus, if they had to find something with the character "Crown Prince of XianLe" in it, then it'd have to be plays with Feng Xin or Mu Qing starring as the protagonist.
This because, in the plays written for the two officials, there were times they'd bring out Xie Lian. Usually as a minor character, to make the play even more exciting.
Most of them would write Xie Lian as the villain, arranging for extravagant plots like how the lonely, abandoned Mu Qing would be bullied, or how Xie Lian would rob Feng Xin of his beloved, all things that made the Crown Prince's blood boil in indignation and resignation.
Xie Lian held that small cup in his hands, listening to some heavenly officials urging him to drink, not knowing what to do.
He didn't want to drink, and then be forced to watch at himself being depicted as a heartless villain. He also didn't want to ruin the mood by igniting fear in the officials who, instead of urging him, were gripping cups and chopsticks as if Hua Cheng was looming over them right that moment.
«His Highness can't drink», Feng Xin spoke up from far away, as many others joined in on the urging. He did not want to know what could happen, if Xie Lian actually decided to drink.
They didn't need to know Xie Lian basically threw away his cultivation path to follow his heart.
«Just one cup! It won't do anything!».
The crowd was growing restless, and Jun Wu himself slowly straightened, as if to speak. Beside Xie Lian, the Wind Master also asked, promising him the hundred thousand merits to drop the curtains if he couldn't.
That was what made it.
Xie Lian was afraid she really would just throw out a hundred thousand merits impulsively. No matter how generous she was, that wasn't the way to do it, and it wasn't the way to treat a friend, asking for so much.
Besides, he'd seen pretty much every play there was; he could suffer through it once more.
So he hastily replied: «No, a cup shouldn't be a problem», and emptied the cup in one go.
Fine brew entered his throat, liquid sliding down and leaving behind a cool, then hot sensation. The taste of that refined drink pushed any dizziness away, quick to come since Xie Lian rarely drank anyway.
The curtains all around the small pavilion slowly lifted, and the crowd was amazed by what they saw.
Two figures stood on stage. One was in white, looking windswept and dusty, a bamboo hat on his back. The other figure was in vivid red robes, hair black like raven, handsome and brilliant. A snake wrapped around his arm was stripped away by the one who was undoubtedly Xie Lian, but the red-robed man snatched the snake back and ditched it aside, then held Xie Lian's hand without any intent of letting go.
Watching that scene play out, knowing who made it happen, it was like a knife violently stabbed his heart.
But it also warmed it up, filling Xie Lian's chest with unexpected happiness and his eyes with unshed tears. The scene astonished all the heavenly officials waiting to watch a good show, but Xie Lian was far too focused on sending joyful thanks to whoever wrote that play for him to care.
Who could have ever imagined it, a god and a ghost together on stage.
Jun Wun, who kept silent up until then, chuckled: «What play is this? Seems it's never been seen before», he asked, shattering the bewildering spell that fell above the banquet.
«Adventures in the Kingdom of BanYue», Ling Wen replied, after sending for someone to investigate. «Tonight is the first time it's been performed in the mortal realm».
Shi QingXuan, apparently one of the few who were actually positively surprised by that unexpected turnoff events, turned to Xie Lian: «It's probably written by those merchants, after they returned from the Kingdom of BanYue. The merits are saved then!».
Xie Lian didn't comment. For mortals to know about the affair of the Kingdom of BanYue, especially to know about such a specific scene, the source could only come from those merchants. He recalled there was a boy named Tian Sheng in that caravan, who indeed said something along the lines of worshipping him as thanks, but... the boy couldn't have had the ability to commission something like that.
Wealth was needed, for a play such as the one he was witnessing, and neither Tian Sheng or the other merchants had enough of it.
The Crown Prince had the sneaking suspicion his husband might have had something to do with that.
On the other side of the stage, although the heavenly officials didn't see the play they expected, the performance before them was even more exciting. After all, the red-robed when was none other than Hua Cheng!
There existed plenty of plays about Crimson Rain Sought Flower in the mortal realm, sprouted here and there especially after people started worshipping him. However, it was usually something like "The Red Demon Burnt the Temples of Thirty-Three Gods and Not Even The Heavens Could Do Shit", or something along those lines. Xie Lian himself watched a couple of them, and had a good laugh at how exaggerated but right they were. It was the kind of stories that would make those in the heavens cry silent and bitter tears.
But, in that case, the protagonist was Xie Lian. And it was a given that, when Xie Lian was involved, the demonic aura around Hua Cheng somewhat placated. At least around the god.
Slamming his wine cup on the table, Pei Ming looked at Xie Lian with an exasperated expression: «I can't believe I fell for your speech, back then», he said, shaking his head. The whole "it doesn't matter if the man with me was Hua Cheng or not" argument immediately came back to his brain, as soon as the play started right in front of his eyes. «You are far more troublesome than you look».
«Uhm... thanks?».
Pei Ming waved a hand and picked is cup back up, turning to watch the play.
He couldn't be blamed for his curiosity, really. The stage of the play was intricate, the production exquisite, and the actors extremely well-made-up; truly a great work of benevolence, and the reason why Xie Lian was more than sure Hua Cheng definitely had a hand in it.
That poor boy probably found himself drowned in riches out of the blue, and had to make the wise decision of using that new-found wealth to commission a play.
Many inwardly enjoyed the show, all around, commenting as they watched.
Some of those comments made Xie Lian want to burrow in one of the many vases embellishing the place, much like a mouse trying to find shelter in an underground tunnel. So embarrassing! It was like all the heavens forgot it was Hua Cheng they were talking about, and not some generic ghost or entity that could be gossiped about.
That play was so romantic...!
Much to Xie Lian's further embarrassment, the one who played him was a really good actor, but every time he opened his mouth to call San Lang... while the tone wasn't up and down and full of yearning, it was indeed the way he'd call him. And there were so many little gestures, like hooking arms, hugging shoulders, carrying. Affectionate, if not intimate, and for all to see.
It felt exactly like watching a real married couple, instead of two actors. And, while it reflected the truth, letting so may people witness it with such ease sounded bizarre to Xie Lian's ears. Not bad, just... out of place.
Maybe it had really been too long since his first ascension.
The other heavenly officials, although they kept condemning the behavior of the Hua Cheng on stage as nonsense, because of course that red demon would never sound so gentle and caring, they seemed to be fully enjoying the show; watching with their eyes unmoving, their interest enthusiastic, and Xie Lian decided it was better to keep his mouth shut.
He did feel a faint heat creep up his face when the two figures on stage shared a quick kiss, and Shi QingXuan elbowed him in the side with a mischievous smile on her lips, but all in all it was still something beautiful.
As they watched, and more people joined the play, a civil god suddenly spoke up: «Who are those two little squires in the back?».
Hearing the word "squire", both Feng Xin and Mu Qing inconspicuously froze. Despite his attempts at keeping a straight face, Xie Lian snorted into his cup, tea almost making its way into his nose. Worried, Shi QingXuan patted him on the back, but luckily for him Ling Wen saved the situation with a brief explanation regarding two junior martial officials from the Middle Court.
To all the officials that weren't in the Great Martial Hall, that the Palaces of Nan Yang and Xuan Zhen would actually send people to assist Xie Lian was truly extraordinary news, as impossible as Pei Ming courteously rejecting the advances of a rare beauty, so they turned to look.
Despite his sorry state, still trying to recover from almost choking on tea, Xie Lian added: «They volunteered».
Then, looking at the panicked expressions barely hidden behind a layer of indifference, Xie Lian smiled and decided it was finally time to take revenge of his two former attendants' critique of Hua Cheng. With something rather innocent, since they apologized.
Hey, no one ever said Xie Lian didn't know how to have fun.
«Speaking of, I forgot to ask! How are Nan Feng and Fu Yao? They're not out to play, today».
What the fuck?!
Feng Xin thanked the entirety of the heavens that he wasn't drinking anything, or he would have spit the contents of his cup everywhere.
«Nan Feng is...».
«Fu Yao is in detention», Mu Qing said flatly, trying to salvage the situation. He was internally panicking as much as physically possible, but he didn't keep a stone face for years for nothing.
«Nan Feng is also in detention», Feng Xin also said, maybe a bit too fast for his liking. What the fuck was that, did His Highness actually get drunk on that one cup of wine?!
Xie Lian "oh"-ed, feigning disappointment: «Both of them are locked up? What a shame, they are so promising...».
By the looks of it, Mu Qing tried to keep his thick face up, but Xie Lian knew him a bit too much to be fooled. One word more and he could break the façade, easily.
Well, not the time to do that. He didn't want to be mean, just have some fun.
While they conversed, the curtains dropped on that exhilarating play. Although it was determined by everyone that it was written by some ignorant believer with obscene intentions – it was not, and Xie Lian knew it a bit too well – watching what they believed a fully out of character Hua Cheng was still fully entertaining.
The crowd applauded in cheer, but as soon as the entertainment was over, someone finally realized they had to mind both Pei Ming, whose little descendant ended up exiled after BanYue, and Xie Lian, the husband of the ghost they'd been talking about for the entire play.
In fact, Pei Ming poured himself yet another cup, while Xie Lian enjoyed the brief moment of respect that washed over him.
It was the small victories, seriously.
After the round of feasting was past, in the midst of socializing and networking came the final act of the night, the long expected Battle of the Lanterns.
Within the Heavenly Court all candlelight and lamps were extinguished, all was dim, only washed by silver moonlight. The Banquet sat near the lake, and when the clouds and mists on the surface were waved away, thought the clear moving waters the dark mortal realm could be seen.
One Blessing Lantern of Everlasting Light was hard to buy with a thousand gold, and would not easily be extinguished, and those lanterns were the reason why that competition was the most awaited event of the year.
The order was formed from the lowest count to the highest, the lanterns offered would float to the heavens, brightening the night with a beautiful and glorious glow.
As one would expect, the Great Martial Palace had a count close to a thousand that year, a number never reached before in history. All the heavenly officials voiced their thoughts, about how easily that Palace could break a thousand next year, but the first place didn't count; always unchanging, the Great Martial Palace was automatically removed from the competition.
The really dumbfounding thing was that the first one up was the Rain Master, with one little Blessing Lantern leisurely and errantly floating up in the sky. No way there was only one lantern!
However, his doubt got dissipated by Shi QingXuan, who not only confirmed him it was really just one, but that it was also lit by the bull from the Rain Master's own house. Self-offering... a familiar sentiment. Xie Lian pondered, confused about the lack of offerings, but knowing how gentle the Rain Master was, she probably preferred asking for fresh fruits and vegetables instead of money. Being the god of agriculture, it wasn't difficult to understand it was better to farm than to use the money as offerings.
It was a marvelous thing.
At the beginning of the battle, as expected, the numbers were all scattered and sparse, the lights belonging to lower-ranking officials and never reaching over ten. No one paid it any mind save for Xie Lian, who was genuinely curious even if he didn't know the names that were being called.
Eight hundred years without participating in a banquet, he needed to catch up!
As the battle continued, the light of the lanterns grew brighter and everyone paid more and more attention. If it wasn't for the designated heavenly official who announced the count, it'd be impossible to count the lanterns floating up so tightly-knit.
Xie Lian didn't know what was going on, so he didn't comment on anything; instead, he only focused on appreciating the beautiful scene of lanterns while listening to everyone else's analysis of how the battle was going.
Personally, he didn't think there was really anything to analyze.
And then it came, the grand finale. The fight for top ten of the Battle of the Lanterns had begun.
The bottom of the top ten was Lang QianQiu, with a bit over three hundred lanterns. Given the circumstances of his absence, no one dared make a comment, and the battle continued without a significant reaction.
Following, Xie Lian heard the announcer shouting, was the Palace of Qi Ying, with four hundred and twenty-one lanterns.
Quan YiZhen had long since left the feast, so when the other officials heard the count they didn't bother to hide their clicking tongues anymore. That martial god was young, but his headwind was strong and his emotions fierce.
He was someone rather impressive.
The next one was the Palace of the Earth Master, with four hundred and forty-four lanterns. Other than sipping two more mouthful of soups, Ming Yi didn't express anything else. Xie Lian wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it was for a ghost to get so many Blessing Lanterns, and Shi QingXuan was more excited than Ming Yi was, repeatedly claiming they were too few.
Because no one else was very close to the Lord Earth Master, and for good reason, they only clapped politely to congratulate.
Soon after it was Shi QingXuan herself, the Palace of the Wind Master racking up five hundred and twenty-three lanterns. Once the count was announced, an applause from the banquet roared, hollers and cheers everywhere around them. Shi QingXuan was quite proud, standing up to wave at the crowd, and gleefully shouted back at many officials. Acting like a child begging her parents for reward after having been praised by a teacher. Xie Lian couldn't help but smile.
The only one not cheering for her was Ming Yi, still stuffing his face without a care, so the Wind Master smacked him twice while asking for some congratulations. Ming Yi ignored her completely and continued to devour his food, Shi QingXuan outraged as she kept demanding for him to applaud her, and next to them Xie Lian was going to suffocate from laughing too much.
«Serves you right for laughing at San Lang when he wants compliments from me», he snickered at her, and laughed even harder when Shi QingXuan tried to smack him as well.
The next up, the Palace of Ling Wen, scored five hundred and thirty-six lanterns.
However, despite being the number one amongst all civil gods, it was the martial gods who sent their regards. Xie Lian congratulated him as well, and Pei Ming demanded he hold a celebratory feast. On the other end, not-so-polite grumbles could be heard from other heavenly officials, complaining that Ling Wen had so many worshippers because she used a male form, that she kissed the asses of martial gods and held the most feasts.
Disgusted, Xie Lian shook his head. Ling Wen was far more capable than probably anyone else at that banquet, save for Jun Wu, or maybe even more than him. Being a woman official was awful.
Following Ling Wen were the Palaces of Nan Yang and Xuan Zhen, each counted at five hundred and seventy-two and five hundred and seventy-three. Mu Qing looked smugly pleased, while Feng Xin appeared seemingly uncaring.
Similar background, similar might, territories right next to each other and an unfriendly relationship with one another made for interesting worshippers. They always fought each other to win, vowing that however many lanterns the other offered, they must offer one more. Every year there'd be victory and defeat, with the Palace of Xuan Zhen squeezing out one more lantern at the last second for that year.
Fitting, that their worshippers would be similar to the gods they followed.
The next one was the Palace of Ming Guang, with five hundred and eighty lanterns. The number was quite impressive, yet Pi Ming didn't look pleased. Apparently, compared to the year before, the number of Blessing Lanterns received was actually less. It was a shock to have something happen to the deputy general Pei Su, and they lost close to a hundred lanterns; they would have probably lost more, if it wasn't for Pei Ming's strong foundation.
Ling Wen only patted his shoulders, and Xie Lian felt somewhat guilty about it.
Up until then, Xie Lian noticed, the count for the Blessing Lanterns of those heavenly officials were all very close together. Only tens and twenties apart, no one really standing out, which meant everyone was pretty much the same and no one was really winning.
What he failed to notice, just the same as everyone else, was that the battle wasn't finished.
Unexpectedly, Pei Ming suddenly frowned more, put down his cup, and his "wait" commanded everyone to shut up and obey.
«The top ten are out, does General Ming Guang have anything else to add?».
Pei Ming scoffed: «The top ten are out?».
For a moment, no one knew what he had meant. Then, Shi QingXuan cried out: «...no. No, no, no! The top ten aren't all out! Even if we count the Great Martial Palace, only nine have been announced so far!», she yelled, waving her fan around.
«Only nine?».
«Really, I counted, there really were only nine!».
«Someone else is ranked higher than General Ming Guang???».
«Who can it be? I don't know anyone like that!».
Xie Lian knew perfectly well what was going to happen. He knew it, realized it as soon as he forced his brain to think about why Hua Cheng had been so adamant in returning to Ghost City, while he was in the heavens.
In that exact moment, a bright light white as day exploded in the blackened night.
Like thousands upon million of fish swimming thought gorges to the sea, countless lanterns slowly floated up. They shimmered and gleamed in the dark night, radiant and brilliant, like floating souls of a magnificent dream. In the face of such a striking sight, no one could speak.
All held their breaths, their words broken.
Xie Lian watched that sky full of lanterns in a dumbfounded awe; his breathing caught in his chest, heart fluttering and beating so fast it was a wonder no one heard it yet, freezing him in a daze for a good while. After some time, he finally came back to himself.
The eyes of every heavenly official at the banquet were on him.
The announcer official swallowed a couple times with difficulty, staring at the Crown Prince with a trembling hand raised, and finally spoke again.
Thus, the hundreds of heavenly officials present heard a voice shaking with disbelief.
Qiandeng Temple, the Palace of the Crown Prince of XianLe, just received three thousand lanterns.