Year 163,947 of the reign of Hao De Tianjun.

Kingdom of Qing Qiu – Eastern Wilderness – Fox Den

I [Fengjiu] had wanted two rooms because wouldn't two little ones be more fun? - Pillow Book

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Bai Fengjiu, granddaughter of the Fox Emperor, Queen of the Eastern Wilderness in the Kingdom of Qing Qiu and wife of Dong Hua was currently scrutinising every inch of the Fox Den, checking to make sure everything was perfect.

And of course, it was. She was slightly put out that she could not find a reason to complain at Dong Hua for not ordering everything perfectly. Her cruel husband did not even provide her with an excuse to grumble. As if sensing her mood, the child growing in her belly chose that particular moment to energetically kick her ribs, bruising her already abused bones.

Currently in her and Dong Hua's private chamber, she took a moment to sit on her bed to rest a bit. Less than a minute later this had morphed into her lying on her side, supported by a virtual mountain of pillows. The child was still enthusiastically kicking away. Well, at least now she had a valid reason to growl and grumble at Dong Hua when he returned from speaking with Zhong Lin in the main hall.

Gungun had, after politely asking and receiving permission of course, immediately gone to the archives. The Fox Den was the oldest place in Qing Qiu, and as it was also the Imperial seat of power, it was where all the ancient scrolls of the Nine-tailed Fox Clan were kept. Every scroll on the laws, rules, rites, history and a million other things she'd had to memorise were in there. Thankfully she'd rarely had to go into that cursed place, if she needed to refresh her memory on something, she sent Mi Gu to fetch the scrolls needed.

The constant stream of maids, courtiers, supplicants and general well-wishers that flooded Taichen palace when they were there was enough to give her a headache. She was looking forward to the peace and quiet of the fox den with only Mi Gu, Dong Hua and the occasional visit from a family member or friend in the next few months.

Well, no one had really flooded Taichen Palace, Dong Hua would never have put up with it, and no one was really brave enough to try. But that was what it had felt like to her in any case. If all she wanted was peace he could have chosen to stay at Bihai Cangling. For some reason she had not figured out, she'd felt drawn to spend the next two months in the Fox Den,even though she'd never quite felt 'at home' in the place before. She and Donghua had lived in Bihai Cangling for a short while with Gungun. But her son's quick friendship with her aunts' little dumpling A-li, now with the proper name of Bai Chen, had meant it made more sense to live in Taichen Palace.

Fengjiu had adamantly refused all maids, guards and other irritants to be allowed to float around her Fox Den; her husband had not been sanguine about it at first. She had pointed out that she managed to bring Gungun into the world without such things, and they were certainly not required now, thank you very much. With the weighty history behind her son's birth Dong Hua wisely acquiesced. With no servants other than Mi Gu around she intended to make the occasional very silly demand of Dong Hua, a small vengeance for him not having to suffer tiny feet prancing around the walls of his stomach.

Gungun with his recently awakened gift of being able to sense the emotions of others had escaped her mood-swings relatively unscathed in the past few months; but even his luck would run out sooner or later. And so he was being shipped off to her Aunt Bai Qian and Ye Hua for the majority of the next two months to share lessons with Bai Chen. Not that Gungun needed to attend lessons, her son had already completed every form of study he was allowed to learn.

It was primarily because she felt her son was too serious, and it would do him some good to spend some time playing with Bai Chen. Her aunt was also happy with this arrangement, because she had not given up hope that Gunguns temperament and focus would rub off on her son Bai Chen. There was also the fact that Dong Hua would be too busy tending to her to continue being Gungun's primary teacher. All these thoughts filled her mind, but as she was warm, comfortable and lying down they all slipped away as she entered the realm of sleep.

She must not have slept for more than a few minutes, for when gentle hands stroking the hair on her head caused her to wake, there was none of the grogginess that came from long sleep.

"It appears I will be delayed in returning to you once I deliver Gungun to Bai Qian.", Dong Hua whispered softly.

"Mmhm, why?" She murmured, eyes closed in reluctance to wake fully from her doze.

"Hao De." Her husband stated, as he traced his finger across her face lovingly.

Fengjiu almost cursed, she opened her eyes and moved to sit up. Dong Hua's arm was immediately supporting her, and with some effort she finally rose to a seated position. Dong Hua came to sit beside her, arm around her shoulder, likely trying to ward off her impending ire.

What did that doddering, pompous incompetent waste of divinity want with her husband now?

Said waste of divinity was only the current Tianjun of Jiuchongtian, ruler of the Heavenly Tribe, Hao De. They still had a few hundred years left before the time Hao De promised them was used up, was he truly so desperate and useless to not be able to manage matters alone for a mere thirty thousand years? Yes, he likely was.

The incumbent Tianjun, in a strange fit of conscience and self-reflection, had offered to manage to rule by himself for thirty thousand years. Ostensibly this was an unspoken apology for his poor treatment of Ye Hua in his youth. Ye Huas 'death', if you thought about the origins of it all, was also Tianjun and Su Jins fault. All the tragedy of Bai Qian and Ye Huas was really a consequence of how they had bullied, tortured and tried to kill Bai Qian when she had been the mortal Su Su.

Fengjiu knew that this 30,000 years of Tianjun continuing to rule was not for the mans professed regret, or apology. It was because Ye Hua needed time to retrain his cultivation before he accepted the throne, otherwise there was a chance he could die undergoing the coronation. Though Ye Hua had mostly recovered 10,000 years ago, he was in no rush to become Tianjun, so the original agreement of 30,000 years was being kept.

During this time Tianjun had also made efforts not to rely too heavily on Fengjius' husband Dong Hua, or her aunts' husband Ye Hua. Ostensibly this was so that both fathers could devote their time to enjoying their children's early years. But again Fengjiu knew it was because the Tianjun was aware of how poorly his reign had gone so far, being so heavily reliant first on her husband Dong Hua, and then later Ye Hua to handle all important decisions, as he'd proven too incompetent. It really was a criminal level of incompetence, arrogance and pomposity the current Tianjun held. It would be a mercy when Ye Hua took over the throne in a few hundred years, hopefully their would be less mandatory-to-attend banquets.

And so, with all this in mind, she really had absolutely zero respect or kind thoughts when she thought about Hao De Tianjun. In Jiuchongtian she could not voice such things, because slandering the Tianjun was an extremely grave crime. She hated the man, but the role still needed to be respected if peace were to be maintained within the Six Realms.

But she was in her Fox Den, in her own Eastern Realm of Qing Qiu, with only her husband in the room, and so she felt no shame at all for venting her loathing of the man.

"So, what does that woman-hating, walking pile of tacky gold incompetence want from you now?" She asked heatedly. It made her feel better, somewhat.

She was annoyed that her husband was going to be pulled away now, just when she was looking forward to spending a few months of peace and quiet with him.

Dong Hua was amused, "Such vitriol my wife, surely that is not good for the baby?" He teased, dancing fingers across her stomach in a way that was almost ticklish.

"Well, some fire in the blood will do her well, no one gets everything they want by being kind and permissive all the time." She stated pointedly, clearly indicating she thought he was being too kind, pandering to that old fool Hao De.

He did not reply, but the look he sent her was full of love, and apology. She managed to keep up her irritation with him for a total of three seconds before it melted away, and she sighed.

"So, what calamity are you going to solve, and how long will it take?", She asked.

"A minor issue with the Ghost Realm, a few days at best." The reply was matter-of-fact, but the tone really was apologetic.

The instability of the Ghost Realm was nothing new, it had been in a near constant state of unrest for the past thirty thousand years, an unpleasant background discord in the music of time. Her uncle ruled the Western Wilderness of Qinqiu, which shared it's largest border with the Ghost Realm. As a result it that this uncle of hers that was the was the one who dealt with any issues regarding that place. She had never had to pay much attention to the Ghost Realm, and was now likely quite ignorant of it's goings on.

She sent her husband a querying look.

"You don't need to trouble yourself with it." He waved off, seemingly not wanting her to worry.

"I won't trouble myself, of course, that's your job.", she pointed out, "But I would like to know what is going on, and why that place is going to take my husband away from me now, of all times." She asked pointedly. If it were truly something imminently calamitous to the six realms, then Dong Hua would have moved to solve it already. As he had not done so, it surely could not have been so critically important.

Dong Hua hummed a sound of agreement and started to explain and Fengjiu closed her eyes listen as Dong Hua's melodic voice filled her in on the past thirty thousand years of politics and intrigue in the Ghost Realm.

It was then that she learned that because Li Jing, Qing Cang and Li Yuan had all died in the same year, and the Ghost Tribe had not had any luck finding Princess Yan Zhi and the rumoured living son of Li Jing the Mortal Realm place had been in constant turmoil. Without an heir from Qing Cang's line, none of the lesser tribes were willing to bow down to the other. The Ghost Realm had been in a state of near constant civil war since Qing Cang's death.

No self proclaimed Ghost Lord since that time had managed to sit on the throne of the Daziming Palace for more than one hundred years before they met a sticky end. Whether the Ghost Lord was backed by the tribes still loyal to Qing Cangs' Raven Clan, or clawed their way from the ranks of the lesser tribes seemingly made no difference in their longevity. The inhabitants of the Ghost Realm seemed to be almost revelling in the chaos and bloodshed. There was no political will among any of them for peace.

The flare ups of violence and civil war occasionally spilled out into neighbouring lands, and the Kingdom Qing Qiu was not immune, receiving it's fair share of fleeing refugees. Apparently Hao De's inability to stabilise the Ghost Realm had caused his suitability to rule into question by the majority of the four Sea Kings, and not a few of the lesser tribes of heaven. There were rumblings and covert manoeuvres to replace Hao De with Ye Hua, who despite not having been a part of ruling since he married Bai Qian was still highly regarded. There were even a few vying to put Dong Hua back on the throne, but these were voices from the younger generations, the elder's knew he would sooner break the throne he had created than sit on it.

Dong Hua finished regaling her with history, though his face still had the remnants of an amused smile on his face, likely from the idea that anyone would try and make him do anything, let alone try to sit him on a lesser throne he had created.

"So, this is not just 'a minor issue' of the Ghost Realm, this involves Heaven Tribe and the tributaries, the four Sea Kings, and who knows who else?" She mused.

Dong Hua made a noncommittal noise and stated with seeming cheer, "The Demon Tribe is also eying the Ghost Realm and it's disunity, the Yellow, Green and White Demon Clans have already been skirmishing these past 10,000 years. At present they have control of a sixth of the Ghost Realms' territory."

Fengjiu would have sighed and complained that her husband was not taking the entire matter seriously enough, but he'd likely solved a thousand such events as this before she had even been born, probably before breakfast too, or maybe in his sleep, so she was not actually worried.

So instead she rolled her eyes at her husband and nudged his shoulder with her own in reprimand for his nonchalance. She would have poked him instead, perhaps a few times even, but as the baby had settled down and was no longer kicking her spine, she felt less inclined to inflict minor pain on Dong Hua in retribution for the baby doing the same to her rib and the majority of her poor organs.

"So, the great walking incompetence needs you to clean the embarrassing stain of unrest he has not been able to remove from the tapestry of his time as a ruler, lest the whole thing unravel." She summarised, her tone not at all pleased.

Dong Hua blinked in bemusement, "You make me sound like a particularly honoured laundry maid; I assure you I've never been a laundry maid."

"I have been,"she began, her eyes unfocused slightly as memories of her time playing maid in Taichen Palace flooded back, it seemed a lifetime ago now, "And it's not nearly as tedious and troublesome as having to play nursemaid to that idiot." She finished, angrily flicking and pulling a tassel on the pillow she was holding.

Dong Hua leaned over and his hands, came to rest on hers, stilling her attempts to murder the pillow, imagining it was the great-incompetence's face. She stared at his hands on hers, still quietly amazed that though they were slender and elegant, there was enough power in a single finger to set the world aflame and pluck stars from heavens net.

"I shall have to ask that no one mention Hao De to you while I am gone,", he mused aloud, and started playing with her fingers, entangling and detangling, dancing away when she tried to entangle them again. In a flash he caught both her hands again, and kissed the tip of each finger gently, in a near whisper he finished his earlier musing, "else I will return to all the pillows in the Fox Den turned back into fabric strands through violent means."

Dong Hua's attempt at pacifying her anger worked, and her irritation at him having to leave escaped her body with a small sigh, but she was still put out that Hao De was the cause. Anyone else and she wouldn't be half as mad, but she had no patience or kind thoughts for that man.

"Why do you not just let them replace Hao De? He is useless." She replied, only half-joking. She really did hate that old fart. Dong Hua had finished kissing each of her fingers and her hands now rested in her lap, though she wiggled them into the pillow she was holding to shake off the lingering touch his lips left on them.

"You think Ye Hua would thank me if he found himself on the throne of heaven a few hundred years early, having to sort out the river of blood and webs of intrigue that would result from the usurpation?", Dong Hua asked tone playful, his brow was raised and there was a smile on his lips.

"Possibly?" She postulated, though the elongated word and her tone made it clear she was playing, challenging Dong Hua to 'convince' her otherwise.

"Ye Hua would have less time to spend with his little son Fuzan, who was born only three years ago," Dong Hua played along, "It would also mean greater scrutiny on both Bai Chen and Fuzan as people speculate which of his two sons would be Crown Prince." he stated, and seeing that this was not 'convincing' her, used his trump card "your aunt would be displeased." He finished.

"I suppose they might be slightly put out with you." She admitted reluctantly, tone full of exaggerated sulkiness.

"Slightly." Her husband agreed wryly, "And I'd likely be called to help anyway."

"I just wish you were not called away at all." She managed not to sigh, but her displeasure at the whole affair still tinged her tone.

"Does this mean you will miss me, and pine away at the lotus pool waiting for my return?" He teased.

Ah, she was a veteran at this game, and in this she rarely lost, "Hardly," she scoffed in exaggerated disdain, "I will miss my loquat peeler, Mi Gu does not peel them half as well as you; it's the only thing you are good at."

"Then I shall return as soon as possible, and peel all the loquat's you demand of me." He promised.

Appeased, she replied "And if I buy and demand you peel every fruit in the market?"

"I will peel loquat's until the end of time, if it pleases you," he began, "But loquats do require a world to exist in, and so to keep my promise to you, I fear I must save the world first." His tone was one of commiseration.

"Mhm, I suppose shall have to allow it then, for the loquats." She replied.

"I shall have to think of a suitable offering to thank you for your magnanimity." He whispered as he kissed her on the nose.

Full of energy and bored of sitting she started to stand up. Dong Hua was there not a half second later, hand on her arm, helping her to rise.

She was not anywhere near invalid enough to need help standing from a seated position, but the action was sweet of him. If it made him feel like he was helping, then who was she to disabuse him of the notion?

"Hao De's head." She replied, completely deadpan. She would not voice such things if she were still in Taichen Palace, the rules of Jiuchongtian were strict. Suggesting murdering the incumbent Tianjun, regardless of the joking manner in which it was done, was still a crime punishable by, at the very least, death.

But she was not in Juichongtian, there were no servants here aside from Migu, and thus she was quite free to vent.

"Perhaps something less macabre and chaos inducing.", Dong Hua suggested, he watched her walk around the chamber with an amused-indulgent look on his face.

She pondered for a long moment, as she walked around. What could she ask for that she did not already have? She was about to reply with something sappy like 'the only thing I need is you', when a whimsical thought struck her. She liked the image the thought had conjured, and so she smiled and said, "Then I'd like a star."

"A star?" He queried, such a request was simple for him to accomplish, he was expecting a more arduous task.

"Mhm, make that two stars. For questioning me." She responded, teasing.

"I would never dare question you," he stated with a raised brow, "but this foolish husband of yours is confused, if the kind lady could enlighten him, he would be most grateful." Came the self-effacing reply.

She could understand his confusion; she'd never been one to collect pretty jewellery or items of rarity. She was a nine tailed fox, not some common magpie.

"It's for the little one," she stated, patting her stomach, "I like the idea of this little one wearing a star, they would look very cute. I will have my loving husband, and two cute little foxlings." She sighed happily.

"I'm grateful you have not attempted to adorn Gungun with stars, he'd have been quite unimpressed." Her husband noted wryly.

"Maybe I shall make you wear them instead, to make me happy." She teased.

He came over then, and the back of his hand stroked her cheek, a delicate caress.

"If it would make you happy to see me dance above the jade pool with a feather in my hair as my only adornment, I would do it." He claimed.

"That is a...," outrageously scandalous, "...colourful image," she finished, but it was not like him at all to come up with such a thing, "And that is not your idea." She accused.

"Nothing escapes you," The smile he sent her was utterly shameless at being caught, "I overheard Cheng Yu demanding Lian Song do so, for what reason I do not know." he admitted.

"Overheard? Are you taking notes from Si Ming? Has the living Buddhist encyclopaedia been corrupted into becoming the third gossip encyclopaedia?" She poked his chest a few times, as if she was checking he was still Dong Hua and not a second Si Ming or Lian Song.

She knew Dong Hua would never eavesdrop on purpose, but that was what made teasing him about it so fun.

"They hover around Taichen Palace like a pair of over-loud, energetic glow flies." He defended.

She hummed in a noncommittal manner, the same one he did when he was not quite convinced of something, but that it was not interesting enough to pursue or correct. A nonverbal, 'I see'.

"Besides, we were speaking of stars, what would you like them to be like?" He asked in a clear attempt to change the subject.

She kindly allowed it, "The smallest and dimmest star in the sky, so that if she wears it, it would be almost unnoticeable." She replied.

Dong Hua made a small hum of approval, "True elegance lies in subtlety,", he stated, before asking "What colour do you want these stars to be?".

"A bluish white one, and....a pinkish red." She mused out loud, and before Dong Hua could open his mouth to ask why she explained, "If her hair is like yours, the blue would suit best, but if it is like mine, then the pink would work better." She finished, not needing to go into extreme detail with her husband, who's taste for colour was admittedly more advanced than her own.

"It will be as my lady wife wishes, when I return from heaven I shall gift you with stars." He vowed.

"As you should." She responded in a snooty tone, and posed in an exaggeratedly regal fashion, she managed to hold her laughter for only two seconds before she broke into a fit of giggling at her own silliness.

After she recovered, she asked, "Speaking of doves and stars, where is Gungun?". She had not seen him for close to an hour now, and was curious about what he was up to, though she could take a good guess.

"I believe he is in his chamber, currently engrossed in reading Samdavi's version of 'On the creation of all that is' that his grandfather found for him", he informed her.

"Nose in a scroll,", she sighed, "You know, I think I gave birth to a bookworm, not a little fox."

"He would be sad to hear you describe him so.", Dong Hua noted with a serious tone, though she could tell he was teasing her by the slight curve of his lips.

"Don't be a bully, you know I do not mean it like that,", she replied, and poked his shoulder in vengeance for his teasing her, "Of course any mother would be pleased to have such a well behaved and scholarly child." She said.

"But?" He encouraged, picking up on the slight regret in her tone.

She would never admit that she was a tiny bit jealous and just a bit sad that her son no longer clung to her side as he did when he was younger. Whenever Dong Hua was not teaching Gungun her son would choose to spend every spare moment reading a book.

If not that then her genius son was writing letters to learned scholars and brilliant minds from across the many realms, discussing almost every subject under the sun. Even Zhe Yan had not escaped from having his medical knowledge absorbed by this brilliant son of hers.

Gungun had completed the entire curriculum expected of a royal of Jiuchongtian at just over 20,000 years old, only a few years later than Ye Huas' own record. Ye Hua had been forced to learn for 18 hours a day since he could sit up, Gungun would have done that willingly. Fengjiu had even had to put her foot down and practically order her son to go and play with her aunts' son Bai Chen on occasion.

Even after completing such a rigorous education at the mortal equivalent of a seven year old, her son had continued to learn at a terrifying pace. Only the sealed archives of various kingdoms held books her son had not read, only newly written books contained information he had not read before.

Gunguns lessons with his father now mostly consisted of respectful debating sessions, everything from laws, politics, spiritual theories, buddhist philosophy, magical theory, it was endless.

With such an outstanding son, it was hard for her to feel needed. It left her feeling a little bit superfluous in her sons' life.

Instead of stating her true feelings on the matter, she said, "But it feels like he's been grown up since before he could toddle." Her tone was melancholic.

"Is that not the fate of every mother? To mourn the loss of a child being wholly theirs, and instead becoming their own being, separate from their parents?"

"Well, of course it is,", somewhat offended by his stating the obvious, "However facts are not comforting. Husbands are supposed to be, and you are currently not doing a good job of it." She accused as she crossed her arms in feigned annoyance.

Dong Hua moved swiftly and caught her in a gentle embrace, and in a moment she had melted into him, her crossed arms now wrapped around him.

"Is this better?" He asked, and she could feel the vibrations of his speech where her head was resting on his shoulder.

She smiled, but he would not be able to see that, and so she made a happy sound of affirmation and nodded into his robes. She could hear the beat of his heart, a soothing sound. Absently she began to play with his hair, twirling sections of it into haphazard two part braids.

"I think you might be pleased to have such a well behaved child once this one comes along." He suggested.

"That is likely, our daughter has not yet arrived and already she causing chaos by meddling with my emotions and making me want to cuddle Gungun and never let him go. She complained, not happy that her emotions were all over the place, even more than normal.

Oh and the kicking, Gungun had been saintly compared to this little sister of his.

"You can't have him at your side all the time," he agreed, "But I can go and extract him from his book, so you may spend time with him now, if you would like?" He asked, indulgent.

"Please." She affirmed. In just under an hour Dong Hua would take Gungun to Xiwu Palace to her aunts' care. She would not see Gungun for a week once they left. Well, she could, Dong Hua never denied her anything. But she didn't want to be one of those annoyingly clingy mothers, and so she'd have to make do with this hour before Gungun left.

"Wait here a moment." He said, after he had kissed her on the cheek and ended their embrace.

She watched as he exited the room, the lilac outer robe he wore billowed slightly as he moved. The silk it was spun from was light and had a faint sheen to it, but it was not so lightly spun as to be transparent.

After he disappeared around the corner and through the door she decided to sit down on her bed to wait for them to return.