#them having something going on behind swd's back (with the thrill of seeing how far they can go before he notices)

[fortune-maiden]

For feveruary: 22 for Pei Ming/Shi Qingxuan!

Peixuan my beloved! <3

Thank you for the ask!!

Feveruary Day 22: “Our date can wait! You’re far more important.”

(this ended up a 700 word drabble lol)

-

“One date then. Don’t make me regret it.”

Throughout history, many tales had been spun about General Mingguang. His feats of bravery. His battlefield conquests.

His many, many lovers.

General Mingguang’s love affairs had no limits. From princesses to prostitutes, from goddesses to ghosts – so long as she caught his eye, his pursuit would be relentless. A hero in some tales, a villain in others – exaggerated or restrained, there were as many stories as there were storytellers, and then some as the mortal playwrights couldn’t possibly know just how much actually went across the three realms.

The stories were popular. The man behind them a legend.

But every story – fact or fantasy – always had the same ending.

When the flames of passioned burned out, the great general would disappear.

General Pei’s lovers rivaled the stars in the sky, but whether or not they stayed in his heart, they never stayed in his sights.

He wasn’t one for commitment. He didn’t believe in eternal love.

He just liked flings.

Short-term physical relationships that lasted as long as it took him to find another beauty, and then he never bothered with his exes again.

According to some rumors he even went out of his way to avoid crossing paths with them. “Brothers like limbs, women like clothes,” or so he would say as he tossed out his old robes with the changing seasons. Hard feelings? Broken hearts? Those ceased to be his problem the moment a relationship ended, and he took great care to keep it that way.

And that man…

That man…

That bastard stood Shi Qingxuan up again!

---

“This time I really will tell Ge.” Shi Qingxuan brushed her hair past her shoulders. “What will he do when he finds out how you’ve poorly treated me, I wonder?”

Pei Ming groaned as he turned to her. “Be careful Qingxuan. Decisions made in anger rarely end well. If you tell him this, you’ll have to tell him certain other things.” He coughed into his fist, the harsh sound pricking Shi Qingxuan’s chest like a series of needles.

“How does a heavenly official like you even get into such a state?”

“Well, you see, it started when –

“Actually, never mind. Don’t talk. You sound awful.” Awful enough that Shi Qingxuan was convinced at least. “And after I went through all the trouble to get ready…”

“You, know this is the part where you’re supposed to say ‘Our date can wait! You’re far more important.’”

“Oh? So that’s how it is. The only thing more important to General Pei than a date is himself.”

Pei Ming frowned. “That wasn’t what I said.”

“It’s what I heard.”

It was always something with him. “Not today, Qingxuan, I’m on patrol.” Or “Your brother invited me out.” Or “I’m seeing someone else.” Or “Mt Tonglue is opening, so I’m busy.”

One would think there was something wrong with Shi Qingxuan with the way he always had excuses ready.

 It wasn’t that her female guise wasn’t beautiful enough for him. She knew it was. She knew of the way he stared at her when he thought she (or her brother, rather) wasn’t looking, of the lechery in his smile and the thoughts that filled his head when she leaned forward. She found amusement in that little tsk of disappointment he made whenever she switched back.

“The way you look at me – why not ask me out already?”

“Since when are you old enough to date?”

“Is that a no?”

“It doesn’t have to be.”

“One date then. Don’t make me regret it.”

Shi Qingxuan has done nothing but regret it ever since. With a sigh, she switched back to her male body as Pei Ming tsked in disappointment.

“This is the part where you’re supposed to be grateful I’m here to look after you.”

“I’ll be grateful if I’m not poisoned to death.”

Later, when Shi Wudu returned, Shi Qingxuan would debate mentioning that the Palace of Ming Guang passed along a message of its master’s imminent demise and leave Pei Ming’s recovery to him.

Until then, Shi Qingxuan slapped a fully soaked towel onto his face and got to work.

No ending for them just yet.