Nine Tails of Twin Brothers

Call you by your name

"Mi Gu, what is this basket and what is it doing so close to the door" Bai Qian called out as she walked into the fox den. The little basket sat by the side of the door like it was forgotten there.

"Welcome home Gu Gu" Mi Gu replied as he ran towards her and the entrance to the fox den.

"Thank you. Have you been locked in here all this time? Where is Xiao Jiu?" She asked as she looked as Mi Gu's flushed face

Mi Gu scratched his head with a frown and avoided meeting Bai Qian's gaze. She sighed as she understood his discomfort for what it was, her little troublesome niece was up to something and had told him not to tell anyone while she ran off to do who knows what.

"when did she leave?" Bai Qian asked

"Not long after Gu Gu left" He murmured "But she said she would be back before the end of the week" He finished with a louder and stronger voice.

Bai Qian shook her head, there was nothing she could do about the wayward child anyway so she walked into the cave, dismissing the matter. A few minutes later, she looked up to see Mi Gu still hovering by the door of the room.

"What is it this time? Did she go to the nine heavens again or is she planning something you think would be dangerous? Mi Gu, like everyone else in the fox den and many in Qing Qiu was fiercely protective on Fengjiu; this protectiveness had saved the silly child multiple times and was the only reason her father let her out of the house, well, that and the fact that the child would sneak out either way so it was better to know where she was going than think she was in the house when she wasn't.

"it's not about little highness" he said quietly

"OK, then what is it? You know you don't have to stay here with me all the time, if you want to go somewhere, you don't need my permission" She said, biting into a fruit she picked from the table in front of her.

"No, its not ... I don't ... little highness forgot to take the food to high god Mo Yuan before she left" He finally said, his words coming so fast that they almost stumbled into each other.

Bai Qian sighed, muttering something about spoiled children "Mi Gu, please take it over to Mo Yuan in Zhe Yan's house"

"Gu Gu, Mi Gu promised to take care of the little ones in the market. I won't get there on time if I have to go to Zhe Yan's house first"

"That's true, I forgot that was today. Leave it then, I'll take it to him once I'm rested" She replied as stretched out on the chair for her nap.

It was almost two hours later when she strolled through the peach blossoms forest to Zhe Yan's front porch. She always felt at home in the peach blossoms forest, it reminded her of many of the mischief she caused as a child.

Mo Yuan was sitting under the tree closest to the house, beside a zither and a tea pot as she walked up

"Shifu, seventeen greets you" She bowed when she was close enough

"Mo Yuan greets the queen of Qing Qiu" he replied

"Shifu, seventeen is seventeen. You don't need to call me the queen of Qing Qiu" She replied plopping down on a second cushion that had been set out.

"You are the ruling monarch of Qing Qiu. I cannot call you seventeen, that is disrespectful and makes me seem like I do acknowledge you as the rightful holder of the position" he replied with a straight face 

"But Shifu, you do not need to acknowledge my position. Seventeen is a fine position to hold"

"I know you do not count it as anything but you do not want to give people the impression your shifu does not believe you can perform in your role as monarch"

Bai Qian pouted at that then shrugged "Shifu is right as usual but Shifu should still not call me queen of Qing Qiu, I'm not that highly ranked"

"How about I call you by your name?" Mo Yuan asked with a straight face that did not betray the amount of effort it took to keep a smile from forming. He had spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best way to get to call Bai Qian by her name but he knew she was stubborn. He'd decided to call her queen of Qing Qiu and had hoped her humility would force her to not accept it.

"Yes, Shifu can call me directly. Bai Qian will answer" She replied with a smile.

Mo Yuan returned her smile with a small one of his own even though his heart was dancing. "What brings Bai Qian to visit this old man today?"

"Shifu is not old, just wise" She replied then continued "Shifu, seventeen brought you some food. Xiao Jiu cooked earlier today and as promised I brought you some food"

"Bai Qian is very thoughtful. Mo Yuan appreciates"

"Shifu, are you practicing on your zither? It's been a long time since I heard you play"

Mo Yuan frowned, he had been struggling with the instrument since he woke up. while he could still play the tunes he had learnt, he had not been able to channel spiritual energy through it as he used to in the past. In fact, he could not get any spiritual energy into the music at all and it bothered him severely. That was why he had been sitting here with said instrument locked in a deadly stare. His mind wandered as he tried to find an excuse to give her on why he could not play for her but he made the mistake of looking at her face and found it filled with anticipation and he realized he could not say no tho that face.

With a sigh, he picked up the instrument and began to play a tune from memory. He watched her as her face relaxed and she sunk into the cushion.

"Shifu's music always relaxes me" Bai Qian said

Mo Yuan looked up in surprise at that, the only way his playing could have relaxed her was if it carried spiritual energy. He plucked out a note on the zither and felt the strum of the spiritual energy with it. He smiled and nodded at her. He had no idea how to interpret what just happened but he was glad it happened and that she was the one to trigger it.

"Ye Hua greets older brother, Ye Hua greets Bai Qian of Qing Qiu"