Xie Lian ascends for the third time!!! But a lot has changed in the heavenly realm. The emperor takes a liking to Xie Lian and a romance slowly blossoms between the two!!
TGCF AU where Hua Cheng is the heavenly emperor and Jun Wu is the ghost king.
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When Xie Lian awoke, he realised that Hua Cheng wasn't beside him anymore.
He wondered when the man had woken up and left, or if he even stayed the night at all.
He sleepily rubbed at his eyes and stretched his limbs a little, taking in his surroundings in the shrine.
Something was different, though.
There, plastered on the wall was a painting of Xie Lian in his God pleasing Crown Prince robes, even all of the accessories he wore that day were accurately drawn.
Each of the accessories with his outfit all had a different meaning as well. The white outer robe symbolises "divine purity", while the red inner garb symbolises "canonical tradition". The golden crown stands for royal power and wealth. The white plumes hidden beneath the heart symbolise "flight to ascension," and the loose cordon ribbons along the sleeves symbolise "to carry all lives".
To Xie Lian's surprise, the painting had every single garment and accessory painted in such accuracy and detail that even he was lost for words at just looking at the painting of none other than himself.
Xie Lian quickly scrambled to stand up on his feet and rushed to the door of the shrine. He flung the doors open, and a gust of wind harshly blew at his loose strands of hair, making them flow and twirl in all different directions.
Xie Lian felt something in his heart stir and he quickly felt a wave of relief wash over him as he stared at that familiar red figure outside of the shrine.
Hua Cheng slowly turned around to face Xie Lian and gave him a soft smile. He was busy sweeping up some leaves that had fallen off of the autumn trees around the shrine. A neat pile was already forming at the side of the walkway. There were also some neatly chopped logs of wood in one of the corners, which Xie Lian assumed was all Hua Cheng's doing.
"Good morning, gege, did you sleep well?" He asked in a casual tone of voice as he continued sweeping up the leaves, all whilst never taking his eyes off of Xie Lian.
"I did, thank you..." Xie Lian trailed off deep in thought.
He quickly snapped out of his trance and walked a few steps closer to the man.
"San Lang, did you make that painting of me in the shrine?" He asked even though it was already quite obvious.
"I did indeed. Does gege like it?"
Xie Lian nodded enthusiastically, "I love it. You paint very well."
Hua Cheng finished sweeping up and placed the broom to one side, he walked over to stand just centimetres away from Xie Lian.
"I'm glad gege likes it. I can paint anything for you anytime, gege, just ask and this San Lang will paint."
Xie Lian was a bit taken back by his words, but nonetheless took his words to heart.
