My Sweet (CURSED) Demon Heritage

Chapter 6

Shang Qinghua's POV

He felt numbness and some sort of dull pain. Shang Qinghua had expected to feel more pain at that. But otherwise, it was good. He was numb to it. Not only in his previous life he had parents who weren't really connected to him, or cared about him. Also in this world he had such parents, who even held a hatred against him, for things he couldn't change... or had influence about. Feeling rejected was even more horrible than the feeling of not getting acknowledged at all. The parents of the world he transmigrated to weren't bad initially. He got everything he needed, despite love or a connection. He was expected to hold up the family name, inherit the family business. But Shang Qinghua had always known he would leave them, so he hadn't really attached much importance to it. Then, being back there and really feeling the loathing... he had thought he had made peace with it. No, he hadn't. It was hard to remember there was no one who valued him or loved him. That Mobei-Jun was so harsh to them was probably only caused by the disrespect towards him... but he had also said that they should not sully Shang Qinghua's name... he frowned.
So much he couldn't make sense of. And even this entire morning... or the evening yesterday was awkward between Mobei-Jun and him. Heat crawled up his cheeks at the thought of how Mobei-Jun had stumbled in on him. But the heat was soon gone. Only more signs of his patheticness. He wanted to wallow in his self-pity, but there was no time for it, as he stumbled out of the shadows to find himself at Luo Binghe's palace.

Demons scattered around them. Obviously Luo Binghe was holding court. Had Mobei-Jun to be here? Was that why they were there? But also his king never really cared about such things. Mobei-Jun was right in front of him and he followed in his wake towards the pedestal where Luo Binghe's throne was standing next to Shen Qingqiu's throne. Yes, his fellow brother had a throne as the 'queen' of the demon realm. That was rather interesting. The demons just stepped out of Mobei-Jun's way, fearing and respecting him in equal measure. Shang Qinghua just used his king's presence to his own advantage. Unaware of the weird looks he received, he had forgotten that his heritage wasn't concealed anymore. Not by his sealed blood and not by the hood on his coat.
He noticed something was off, as instead of the usual indifference or discomfort caused by their complicated history, Luo Binghe looked at him with a hint of confusion. He didn't feel like dealing with it now.

Shen Qingqiu wasn't present at the moment. Shan Qinghua only knew that he was sometimes at Qing Jing as Peak Lord and sometimes here as husband towards Luo Binghe. Maybe he was here, but not interested in holding court? Shang Qinghua felt the need to speak with his Cucumber Bro. Even if he did not really care about him, he still had some advice and secretly, he nevertheless cared. They shared the same background in their past lives! That had to count for something! Also, he had written Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu's husband, whom he loved! Frantically he looked around, still standing beside himself, looking for his Bro. Only then he had no choice but to notice the surrounding silence. Mobei-Jun wasn't looking at him, he merely had changed his stance. Ready to do something? What was wrong?
"Is something happening? Should I get something for you, my king?" Mumbling, he scratched the back of his head, noticing his hood was down, then he understood. His eyes widened, and he pulled the hood over his head, hiding himself behind Mobei-Jun. He wasn't used to being the focus of attention. Neither by humans nor by demons. But the reaction was still... somehow something he should have expected. He was known for being the small, frail shadow of his king, squealing and ducking in fear. The lowly human who crawled at the feet of his superiors. And this pitiful being was now a demon? That sure was something they would notice and talk about. Whispering spread through the court.

Sha Hualing even took it upon herself to step out of the crowd and around Mobei-Jun to look at Shang Qinghua, up close. His king growled in warning and Sha Hualing smiled widely, showing teeth. It wasn't friendly.
"What happened to you? Is it some pitiful costume? Do you want to be closer to Mobei-Jun or something?" She laughed and promptly got reprimanded by Luo Binghe, who stood now himself. Not good. For her as it seemed.
"Stop it! That has nothing to do with our agenda." He made a slight movement with his head towards her. Sha Hualing bowed and took her leave, after she threw a gaze at Shang Qinghua. That made him feel even more miserable, but also angry. Luo Binghe took another step towards Mobei-Jun and the Peak Lord. "Shen Qingqiu is in our chambers, if you want to speak with him."