"I am not happy with the way the fox clan is treating this engagement. Bai Qian kept avoiding your second uncle till he decided to marry that snake. Now they've refused the last two dates we set for your marriage. It almost seems like they don't want to be associated with the celestial tribe" The heavenly lord fumed
If only you knew how close you are to the truth Ye Hua thought to himself but kept his face straight and said nothing
"Ye Hua has been a frequent visitor in Qing Qiu for the last few months, I'm sure he has at least met Bai Qian" His father said and both men turned to him
"I have indeed met Bai Qian" Ye Hua replied
"What is stopping her from marrying you?" The heavenly lord asked
You and the way I treated her last time and the whole dynamics of this family
"The fox clan is very peculiar, they do things their way and in their time" Ye Hua replied
"You should sleep with her. If she gets pregnant, she would have to marry you"
Ye Hua looked at his father in horror. His father was a yes man, whatever the heavenly lord wanted when he wanted it, his father gave. Up until now he'd thought that his father was incapable of thinking on his own but he was apparently wrong. Being a yes man was the nicer part of his father's personality. When he thought for himself, the man was evil.
"That is not a bad idea. We should invite her to the nine heavens for a month. That should be enough time to get her pregnant" His grandfather said
"Father, Grandfather. If she doesn't want to marry me, why would she want to sleep with me?"
"You are the crown prince, you can figure out how to make her love you. In the month she will be here, you will be confined to your Xiwu palace and can only leave if she's with you. Yang Cuo, send out the invitation now"
Bai Qian hadn't been surprised when she received an invitation to the nine heavens. Her fourth brother had told it would come given the lack of response to the marriage dates they had proposed. He's also told her she had to go if she wanted to keep her options open. She'd decided to go if only to see the difference in how she was treated. Ye Hua had suggested the veil as she hadn't been ready to reveal her identity.
When she stood at the gate of the nine heavens, she had one month left of the three months her father asked her to spend without making a decision either for or against a marriage to Ye Hua. She was no closer to an answer now than she had been on the day she told her family the story of her mortal trial. She still wanted what she wanted and despised what she despised.
The veil she wore covered her nose and the lower part of her face. She smiled at the irony, the last time she was here, she had to wear a veil over her eyes after they were taken out. Now she covered the rest of her face to avoid being recognized. Four young immortals met her at the gate to lead her to Ye Hua. The roads were familiar yet different, they were not as bright as she remembered, but she recognized the lotus pond even though it was shrouded in fog.
"Why is the fog so dense?" she asked out loud
"Crown prince arranged it especially for you" one of the immortals responded
She smiled at Ye Hua's thoughtfulness. He'd brought the invite himself even though it had the heavenly lord's seal and she could tell he was almost as uncomfortable as she was about the trip.
"Greetings, Bai Qian of Qing Qiu" the immortals greeted in unison.
She looked up to see Ye Hua flanked by about 24 immortals on the terrace in front of her. He walked towards her with a small smile on his face
"Qian Qian, these are the gods of the nine heavens"
"Bai Qian greets you all" She said and walked up to take the hand he held out for her
"What was that?" she asked as they left the group
"As the crown princess of the nine heavens, you get an official welcome on your first visit. ....well, first official visit"
"Thank you for the fog, it was very thoughtful"
Ye Hua nodded. It was his fault she couldn't stand strong light. He knew she still had nightmares from the incident and suspected the only reason she hadn't brought it up in any conversation was that she was still traumatized by the event.
"I dreamed of this"
"Of coming to the nine heavens?"
"Of walking the streets of the nine heavens with you. As Su Su"
He tightened his grip on her hand, she covered his hand with her other hand.
"I have a lot of traumatic memories here and I'm not saying things to hurt you but I expect to feel a lot of pain and shame here"
"Shame?"
"Su Su was weak and couldn't protect herself. As Bai Qian, I've never been weak. There's shame there"
"I was supposed to protect you, I couldn't even keep you safe, how can I expect to be a good emperor of the nine heavens if I can't protect the woman I love"
"That's not how ..." she broke off as she caught a glance of hall of beautiful youth in their path. "Ye Hua, I can't ..."
He caught her as she began to fall, shouting a message to the immortal that had been following them from a distance to get the medicine king to his hall. He cursed himself for not paying attention to the route or to preparations. The hall of beautiful youth was one of many halls in Xiwu palace and could be easily avoided.
She woke up before the medicine king got there.
"Lay back down" he said stopping her as she tried to sit up
"This isn't ..."
"It's Zichen hall. It's my fault. I should have taken another route"
"I can't stay there"
"You can stay wherever you want to stay. You can stay here"
"I ..."
"Crown prince, the medicine king is here"
"I don't need medicine" Bai Qian said
"I'd prefer to hear that from the medicine king himself" Ye Hua replied not getting up from his perch beside her
The medicine king recommended she sleep and take things easy. She drank the medicine he gave her because he's said it would help her sleep and she needed all the help she could get if she was going to avoid nightmares tonight.
Author's notes: I'd love some suggestions for Qian Qian's new hall in heaven as she clearly can't stand going back to the hall of beautiful youth. Hope you're enjoying the story so far!
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Through it all (a ten miles of peach blossoms fan fiction)
Fanfiction[Complete] Bai Qian has returned from her mortal trials with her memory and her newly elevated powers. She wants her son, she wants her eyes and she wants justice. This time, she has everything she needs to make it happen I recently watched the Chin...
