Nine Tails of Twin Brothers

Banquet

"Are you not going?" Fourth brother asked from the mouth of the fox den

"Going where?" Bai Qian replied from her perch on a lounge in the main room where she was eating from a large basket of fruits Mi Gu was attempting to sort

"Today is Mo Yuan's official reception at the nine heavens" he replied

"I wasn't invited" she replied

"Gu gu, you got three invitations" Mi Gu supplied without missing pace as he continued to sort the fruit in the basket Bai Qian was eating from.

"Three invitations?" she asked wide eyed

"Yes. From the nine heavens, high god Mo Yuan and crown prince Ye Hua. Mian Mian received the first one and showed you, you told her to keep it with the rest of the invitations you've received. I got the other two and showed them to you and you said to prepare them a gift and apology"

"Seriously Xiao Wu, everyone got one invitation and we're going. Even with three you didn't even remember the event"

"I'm sorry?"

"You can't keep representing Qing Qiu like this."

"I said I'm sorry. You know I don't like social events, people stare a lot and them make the event about me rather than the actual celebrant"

"That's because you accept only once in a red moon. If you went out more often, the novelty would wear off and you would be just another beautiful guest"

"Seems like a lot of effort for something I'm not really interested in."

"Ah, we finally get to the heart of the problem" he said with a sigh

"You're going right? You can represent Qing Qiu"

Bai Zhen took a deep breath and rolled his eyes before taking a seat across from his sister. "I can't believe you're this old and I still have to explain something this simple to you but pay attention. There is a general invite, which is what most people get and is most of the invitation you typically get. In that situation an apology and/or a gift for your absence will suffice. In some events, the organizers, celebrants or family have personal invitations that they send to people they really want at the event, people whose presence mean a lot to them, like Zhe Yan's presence to Mo Yuan or mine to Ye Hua or yours to both of them. You should only refuse those for legitimate reasons and your absence should be communicated in advance of the event. In other words, dear sister, nine heavens may have invited Qing Qiu but the twin dragons of heaven invited Bai Qian."

Bai Qian who had continued eating as she listened to her brother, froze at his last sentence "Who made these rules! That person should be stabbed multiple times while their magic is sealed"

"Stop moping around, and go get ready, I'll have Zhe Yan meet us here and we can head out together." He replied grabbing the half eat loquat from her and nudging her up before she could complain. He watched her walk father into the fox den while he settled comfortably into his chair.

Three invitations, this may be the day both men realized their twin was in love with the same woman as them but given Xiao Wu's luck, it would not. Still, it was going to be an interesting event. Bai Zhen thought. There was no need to send a message to Zhe Yan, his absence in their home would lead the other man to the fox den.

The main hall of heaven was a beauty to behold and the nine heavens already known for glamour had not held back in preparing it to host the first son of the father of gods on his return to this plane. However, it was not the beauty of the hall that caused the current wave of silence but the arrival of the famed queen of Qing Qiu flanked on one side by her almost equally beautiful brother and on the other by the most elusive of the old gods. The three deities kept their gazes straight ahead as they seemingly floated into the hall ignoring the glances and whispers from both sides of the aisle. The trio paid their respects to the sky lord and the twin dragons seated at the end of the hall, walked in the direction of their seats then seemingly got into an argument about seating arrangements.

"I'm sitting with fourth brother. The old phoenix is only here for the gossip and will do absolutely nothing to stop people from trying to involve me in all manner of things and if both of you sit together then you'll be mooning over each other and forget I am here" Bai Qian said

"Xiao Wu, there are three empty tables for us. There's no need to sit with anyone" her brother replied

"Very well, I am taking the middle seat, you can make goggle eyes at each other over the top of my head" She retorted

"Which will not be difficult given how short you are" her brother replied

"Children, children, can we please sit down so people can stop staring or at least pretend to stop staring" Zhe Yan said, cutting the discussion off before it could escalate into an argument.

Bai Qian looked up and caught the amused gazes Mo Yuan and Ye Hua sent in their direction and fought the urge to blush furiously. She took the middle seat and stared furiously at her empty table ignoring the low chuckle the men in her entourage shared.

Soon afterwards the banquet began in earnest, there was a dance led by the Skylord's goddaughter, whose name Bai Qian missed because the wine had arrived around the same time as the girl's name was being announced. She also missed most of the show because she was engaged in a staring war with her fourth brother who had taken away her jar when she'd had less than half of it's content. It wasn't like she had a reputation she needed to maintain by not drinking, if anything it was the other way, she was certain she was seen drinking more often that not. And it had been a good wine. But by the time a new wine had been brought over, the dance had ended and a swordplay was in progress. This time, after she poured herself a cup, she held on to her jar and glared angrily at her fourth brother who smiled innocently and nodded towards the elevation where the Skylord and the twin dragons sat. She saw Ye Hua watching her with a slight smile on his face, she smiled back at him briefly then looked back at her brother and shrugged, like most people, Ye Hua already knew she drank a lot and she had no reason to worry about his opinion of her. She was lifted her hand to take a sip of the wine when a hand stopped her, fourth brother again. She could feel her anger rising.

"This time, I'm stopping you because the wine is awful"

She glared at him, trying to decide if he was lying or not them decided to trust him and dropped both the jar and the cup in exasperation with a mumbled and halfhearted "thank you"

"You're so gullible" Zhe Yan said, taking a sip of the wine, one split second before his face contorted in disgust.

Bai Qian and Bai Zhen laughed at him "Your problem, old phoenix, is that you do not trust those you should. Cynicism is good but it should not be spread equally to all things and all people. You taught me that" Bai Qian said when she finally stopped laughing.

"She actually listens" Zhe Yan bit back, as he moved the offending jar away from himself.

"When it suits me. This banquet needs more alcohol or I need to go home" She replied before they were interrupted by a servant carrying a jar of wine that looked different from the others they'd been served. Bai Qian's eyes lit up.

"High god Mo Yuan sends this jar to high god Bai Qian" the servant said bowing as she placed the jar on Bai Qian's table.

Bai Qian looked up again towards the elevation but Mo Yuan was engrossed in a discussion with the Skylord, she smiled briefly and she transferred her attention to the wine and poured herself some.

"It's your wine Zhe Yan, the one Shifu always drinks" She said and took another gulp.

"Which means it is better than any of the things we have had today. I don't suppose you're feeling generous?" Zhe Yan replied, looking greedily at the jar she held.

"No. your boyfriend took away my half decent jar, the other jar was useless. It's embarrassing that I dressed up and chased one jar of wine all this way but it would be worse if it was less than a jar"

"At least I'm someone's boyfriend" fourth brother replied.

"I have the wrong anatomy to be anyone's boyfriend" she replied with a straight face, this time it was Zhe Yan who broke out in laughter.

By the time she had finished the jar and tea pots were being replaced, she was in a much better mood which was lucky for the young servant who had just spilled cold tea from the pot on her and was now fully prostrating on the ground in tears. Bai Qian smiled at the girl and told her not to worry about it before asking her brother and Zhe Yan to make her apologies. She took her fox form and shrunk her size to that of a gecko then walked out of the hall unnoticed.