A Trial by Halves

A Moment in Time

The following few days, saw a rush of visitors assailing the mountain and other than Cheng Yu, Lian Song and Ci Hang, no others were permitted entry, though Bai Qian did take the time to catch up with Cheng Yu having heard so little from her over the passing years.

"You know we are sisters right?  Yet you never visited." she immediately questioned her.  In fact she had been hurt by it.  She had only visited the den a couple of times in the entire twenty five thousand years despite the enormous gift her father had given to her.

"I'm sorry.  But what would visiting you have done but to give you a constant reminder of what you loved and lost?" she replied.  She knew it was a weak argument, but there were many reasons why she had chosen to distance herself from the woman and her marriage to Lian Song being one of them, though there was one very good reason, and one she could not tell her no matter how much she wanted to.

"But you never even gave me a chance to revel a little in your happiness." she said pointedly and more than a little irked with her flimsy explanation.  Cheng Yu had been a tower of strength for her during her trial, that she had found a happy ending out of all the misery created from her own trial, did not mean she couldn't be happy for her.

"I'm sorry." she replied and refusing to say anymore, but if there was one thing Bai Qian had learned from her trial, and that was reading expressions.  There was something about her explanation that felt off.  

The Cheng Yu that she knew was a social butterfly, she would have taken every opportunity to flutter about Qing Qiu.  She was as much in love with the gaeity as her people, and they would have absolutely loved her.  So to say she kept away for her sake was perhaps true to an extent, but not the defining reason.

"There's something you're not telling me." she said with a hard look which only hardened at the soft blush that quickly tried to look away.

"Look Su S....uh.... I mean Bai Qian." she said stammering a little and unsure how to get herself out of a conversation she had hoped could be avoided.  "I am very grateful to your father for every opportunity he has given me, and of course I am also very grateful for the experiences you yourself gave to me.  I will never forget it." she replied which to Bai Qian made even less sense.

And then it dawned on her.

"The contract you signed.  That's the reason isn't it?" she asked, her voice barely audible as a growing suspicion began to take hold.

"You know I can't discuss that. All I can tell you is conditions were changed at the last moment, one that I had to agree to.  I cannot say anymore than that, so please, let it go." she asked in a much firmer tone than intended and it was then that Bai Qian realized what that condition must have been and why it had to be kept quiet.

It didn't take much for her to figure it out either now that she knew what had happened.  To have allowed her to move into the Fox Den was one thing.  But any children born in the den, would have automatic right to claim Qing Qiu as home and therefore place a claim on the throne despite the conditions that any children she produced would not gain such via her title.  This would have been a very large oversight had her father not corrected it.  It explained why Cheng Yu had not chosen to call Qing Qiu home which she thought she would, and why she had not visited, having managed to produce several children over the years.  The last thing her father would have wanted, was her to be in the den and in labour.

To have made it known would have made her father seem heartless which she knew he wasn't.  But the throne of Qing Qiu could only ever be claimed by legitmate offspring, not one adopted into the family and especially not a child of the Celestial Heavens.

But the main reason why it was kept quiet from her in particular was because her father did not want his daughter to know for one reason only.  Lian Song was a Celestial, and she hated them.  He had not wanted her to feel as if she owed them anything more than what he had given them and having them in the den would have seen her going over and above to ensure their every comfort, which she knew she would have done.  For Bai Zhi, any friendship she had made with Cheng Yu, could be picked up elsewhere, while at the same time keeping Lian Song, a Celestial out of his den, and therefore away from his daughter.