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Entry tags:
Convenience [SVSSS; LiuJiu]
Title: Convenience
Fandom: Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Pairing/Characters: Original Shen Qingqiu | Shen Jiu / Liu Qingge
Rating: Tish
Word Count: ~6.4k words
Summary: Liu Qingge may hate his fellow succeeding disciple Shen Qingqiu, but what he hates even more is being chased around by people who think his pretty face means he's vulnerable to marriage proposals.
Note: Bingo challenge using AO3's trope card deck. This fic is meant to answer the middle row: Enemies to lovers, there was only one bed, and fake dating.
The manor’s servant seemed to see her own life flash before her eyes when she said, smile frozen like death, “Forgive me, esteemed cultivators, but we had only been told that Young Master Shen would be attending, and so we only prepared one room.”
Shen Qingqiu did not even glance at Liu Qingge when he said, “I see.” He fanned himself lazily, seeming unaffected, but Liu Qingge could already see how this was going to go down, and from the desperate expression on her face, so could the young servant. Shen Qingqiu would attack the servant with words sharper than knives, even though it wasn’t her fault and wouldn’t have been even if Shen Qingqiu really hadn’t been intended to make this trip alone. At least, he hadn’t been until the current Qing Jing Peak Lord had a vision of danger that had resulted in Liu Qingge being added to the trip at the last minute, above both his and Shen Qingqiu’s adamant objections. They hadn’t even had time to send word ahead that he was coming. So there’s really no way this poor kid and her superiors could have been prepared for it, and yet Shen Qingqiu would still chew her out and belittle her while sucking up to the masters of the house like the entitled, spoiled asshole he was.
And meanwhile, Wang Lingjiao was advancing through the crowd of people milling through the streets in front of the manor gates, staring at Liu Qingge predatorily. Liu Qingge couldn’t handle even being in her vicinity, never mind the humiliation of Shen Qingqiu seeing how she pawed at him, trying fruitlessly but viciously to convince him to take her on as a lover or even a concubine—as though he would ever consider such a thing! And then Shen Qingqiu would mock him relentlessly—called a War God by some, he would say, the head disciple of the acclaimed Bai Zhan Peak, but unable to defend himself against a money-grabbing commoner? Or worse, she might see a new target in Shen Qingqiu, and who knew if he’d take her up on the offer. He’d end up exposing the entire Cang Qiong Mountain sect to ridicule and bankruptcy if Wang Lingjiao had her way. Liu Qingge had to get them past these gates and into the manor, now.
“That’s fine," he said, and both Shen Qingqiu and the servant stared at him for a moment in surprise.
The girl shook herself, blushing, and then added, looking as though her soul was being crushed with each additional word, “And there’s only one bed in the prepared room, honoured cultivators.”
There was another, long pause before Shen Qingqiu raised his eyebrows at Liu Qingge mockingly. “As my shidi said, that’s perfectly fine.” His eyes flickered behind Liu Qingge’s shoulder for a moment, and then he said smoothly. “We did have a rather long trip, so if we could be shown to our room?”
The servant bowed and led them through the gates, visibly relieved. The gates slammed shut behind them, with Wang Lingjiao firmly on the other side, and Liu Qingge’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
“You take the bed,” Liu Qingge said as soon as the door to their suite closed behind the servant.
“No.” Shen Qingqiu’s voice was dripping like an icicle. “And do not forget that I outrank you, shidi. Who was that girl?”
Liu Qingge rolled his eyes. Why did Shen Qingqiu have to fight about every little thing? “No one. I wasn’t even supposed to be here, so it makes sense that you should get the bed,” he pressed, irritated.
“Does the famed future Peak Lord of the warrior peak run from no one?” asked Shen Qingqiu, his words as predictable as his sneer. “I will not permit your arrogance to put my mission in danger, Liu Qingge. Who. Was. She?”
“She’s. No. One,” Liu Qingge snarled back, but at Shen Qingqiu’s judgmental stare, he admitted grudgingly, “She was a servant of a family friendly with my parents. I don’t know why or how she’s here now.”
“If Liu-shidi wishes for some time to pass along letters to his family—”
“I use the sect’s mail services like everyone else,” Liu Qingge replied coldly. Figures that Shen Qingqiu would have acquired a private courier service—Liu Qingge had wondered why he never seemed to send or receive letters through the sect. “No, my family may be friendly with her employers, but I’m not friendly with her.”
Shen Qingqiu’s face was a frozen mask as he regarded Liu Qingge silently. Incredibly, he seemed too furious to speak.
Liu Qingge clenched his jaw until he couldn’t stand Shen Qingqiu’s judgmental silence any longer, and then he gritted out, “She has made her desire for a wealthy male benefactor very, very clear, and she has settled on me.”
Shen Qingqiu’s fan snapped up in front of his face, covering everything but his red phoenix eyes, but Liu Qingge could see the slight shaking and knew that Shen Qingqiu was laughing at him.
“Don’t even think about accepting her offer yourself,” he told Shen Qingqiu gruffly. “She’s both more expensive and more irritating than anything you’re imagining.”
“Anyone who Liu-shidi would quail from is no one this simple scholar would dare to face,” said Shen Qingqiu silkily, and it was all Liu Qingge could do not to punch him in the face.
“I’m serious, Shen Qingqiu,” Liu Qingge warned.
“Liu-shidi has no need to fear this shixiong will steal his paramour,” said Shen Qingqiu, so sweetly he almost sounded sour. “After all, even if I were interested, who could compare to shidi’s beautiful face?”
Liu Qingge twitched as he always did when Shen Qingqiu brought up his appearance, but he determinedly ignored it. Arguing the point would only encourage Shen Qingqiu. “She’s not my—you know what, never mind. As long as I don’t have to deal with her, I don’t care anyway. The bed. Take it.”
“This shixiong will not be sleeping during our trip here, so shidi may as well use the bed.”
“You can’t seriously expect to stay up for all five days, Shen Qingqiu.”
Shen Qingqiu must have heard criticism in those words, because he glared at Liu Qingge. “I don’t trust our hosts enough to sleep. If shidi does, then take the bed. Even if the bed is left empty, I won’t be. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must write a report for my shizun.”
And Shen Qingqiu turned away sharply and ignored him, pulling their official letter box from his luggage.
Well. Fine, then. Shen Qingqiu thought he could go so long without sleep? With his level of cultivation? Let him try.
Liu Qingge took the bed.
“Fuck,” said Liu Qingge. He muttered it under his breath, but Shen Qingqiu still heard him and lazily searched the dignified cultivators meandering throughout the room to their designated tables for the culprit. Liu Qingge could tell when he saw her, because his lips twitched.
“How wonderful for the young maiden to have found her way in after all,” said Shen Qingqiu, lazily fanning himself. He had changed from his travelling fan to his fancy dress-up fan, and Liu Qingge hated that he’d been around Shen Qingqiu enough to recognize the difference.
“You won’t find it so funny when she humiliates you by proxy with her loud and invasive flirting,” snapped Liu Qingge.
“If she has been permitted to be in this room and given her own seat, she must have found a different wealthy benefactor. Shidi’s patronage is no longer needed.”
Liu Qingge scoffed at Shen Qingqiu’s naivety. “She’s had wealthy benefactors this whole time. That hasn’t stopped her from chasing after me.”
“So she doesn’t limit her options? Clever girl.”
Yes, that sounded more like Shen Qingqiu.
Liu Qingge leaned in close to hiss into Shen Qingqiu’s ear, “You won’t be so smug when—”
“Gege, do you remember me? It’s Jiaojiao!”
Wang Lingjiao had somehow crossed the room and arrived at their table unseen, probably by oozing over the floor like slime. She sank down across from them in a pantomime of grace, every motion designed to draw attention to the key areas of her body that were insufficiently hidden by her scandalous robes.
Liu Qingge sat woodenly, staring straight ahead of him, hoping that if he pretended she wasn’t there, she’d vanish like the nightmares of his childhood.
Shen Qingqiu poured himself more tea. He did not offer any to Liu Qingge, who admittedly hated the sweet floral tea they’d been given and knew Shen Qingqiu had noticed his grimace when he’d tried it, nor did he offer any to Wang Lingjiao, though she’d brought her own cup and had placed it down on the table meaningfully. Under normal circumstances, Liu Qingge would be seething at Shen Qingqiu’s rudeness, but now his behaviour seemed almost supportive. You could always trust an ass to be an ass; clearly Liu Qingge simply hadn’t positioned Shen Qingqiu correctly before. As a shixiong, he was awful, but as a weapon against the social enemies of Cang Qiong, he was a force of nature.
Wang Lingjiao quickly grew irritated with waiting for a response—or a drink—and leaned in over the table, exposing yet more of her skin to the room. “Gege, you should be careful, you know,” she simpered. “Jiaojiao heard a terrible rumour about you. They’re saying that you and your shixiong are sharing a bed.” Shen Qingqiu’s eyes snapped to her, but his movements were smooth and unruffled as he sipped his tea. Wang Lingjiao had a sixth sense for men’s attention on her, though, and her smile was smug as she added, “If you aren’t seen in the company of an eligible lady, everyone here might think you cut your sleeve!”
“I do,” said Liu Qingge bluntly, and Shen Qingqiu did freeze for a moment at that, but Wang Lingjiao was so shocked herself that she didn’t seem to notice.
“You—” she began, but then abruptly shifted tracks. Her eyes darted between the two of them, sharply assessing. “Then it would be even harder for gege to deny these accusations of an indecent relationship between martial siblings. If there are seeds of truth...”
The whole world, it seemed sometimes, had heard of the enmity between Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu. It was convenient when they were carefully seated on opposite ends of the Cang Qiong delegation’s table at discussion conferences, but it was also mortifying that their dirty laundry was so freely discussed outside the sect. After all, they were future peak lords, and the peaks were meant to present a unified front. There were already whispers about the possibility of a formal split within the sect after the current peak lords ascended, and who would fall on which side.
Wang Lingjiao seemed to be aiming to use the knowledge of their hatred for each other and presumed disgust at being thought to be lovers—or even friends—to forward her own agenda, even in the face of Liu Qingge’s continued disinterest in her. The fact that she wasn’t entirely wrong made Liu Qingge seethe in fury, determined to do the opposite of what this horrible woman wanted of him.
“There’s nothing indecent about a relationship between martial siblings,” said Liu Qingge coldly. “If Shen Qingqiu and I wish to share our bed and our cultivation, that’s between us.”
The implication that they were not only intimately involved, but were more than simply casual sexual partners, did not settle well with Wang Lingjiao. Her lips were shaped in more of a grimace than a smile now. Liu Qingge didn’t dare glance at Shen Qingqiu to see his reaction. “Of course, of course that’s true, gege,” she said sweetly. “But I’ve heard some things about Young Master Shen. Do you really feel comfortable with the idea of your beloved cultivation partner spending half his time in brothels?”
She seemed to think that Liu Qingge would be shocked by this revelation. As though he hadn’t been the one to catch Shen Qingqiu out and report his behaviour in the first place!
Before Liu Qingge could respond, Shen Qingqiu entered the conversation for the first time. “This scholar is a master of the four arts,” said Shen Qingqiu, smooth as silk. “In addition to playing and writing new musical pieces, this also means collecting and recording popular songs. Brothels are a rich and ever changing source of melodies from all over the empires, and the matron of Red Warm Pavilion near Cang Xiong Mountain is a widely celebrated qin player and singer. But surely you have heard all about this from your own brothel sisters?”
Wang Lingjiao went pale with fury. Liu Qingge grabbed Shen Qingqiu’s cup and drank the overly sweet tea to keep from bursting out laughing. So this was how Shen Qingqiu’s verbal garrote sounded when heard from the outside, aimed at a common enemy.
“None of the peak lords find Shen Qingqiu’s behaviour concerning,” said Liu Qingge, only realising the truth of his words as he heard them spoken out loud. “And I respect their judgement.”
“You think that people won’t believe that you’re cultivating together just because you’re known to hate one another?” hissed Wang Lingjiao, finally fully shaking off her poorly fitting meek character. “They’ll believe it! And when they hear from the chambermaids that you really are sharing a room with only one bed, they’ll take that as proof! I’m your only chance to escape this scandal!”
“By your own words, any young maiden will do,” said Shen Qingqiu, reclaiming his cup and pouring for both Liu Qingge and himself this time. Wang Lingjiao’s cup remained empty. “But there is no scandal here. And,” he added, smiling at Wang Lingjiao over his teacup, “can you blame this master for reacting the way I did when Liu-shidi ordered me onto the bed?”
Liu Qingge went bright red. He downed his tea like wine, wincing when it scalded its way down his throat—not the burn he was looking for at the moment, but it saved him from making an automatic protest to the way Shen Qingqiu had twisted their earlier argument to suit his purposes, all while speaking completely truthfully. It said something about his current state of mind that he found that suddenly, alarmingly attractive.
Wang Lingjiao stormed off, and eyes around the room followed her progress. Their conversation hadn’t been particularly quiet, and the neighbouring tables had heard every word—somewhat counterproductive for Wang Lingjiao to offer herself up as a shield against rumours when she announced that purpose so loudly and publicly.
“Shidi,” murmured Shen Qingqiu, leaning in close to whisper into his ear under the weak guise of refilling his teacup, “when you described her to me, you made her sound like an average social-climber—that’s something of a survival trait for a young woman without means or backing. It’s not something I would consider censorious.”
Whispering with their heads together and their bodies close like this, they probably looked like the lovers their avid audience believed them to be. Liu Qingge steeled himself and leaned in even closer, resting his shoulder briefly against Shen Qingqiu’s before slowly—as though reluctantly—pulling away. “And?” he said, very quietly. “Was I wrong?”
“She’s less a social climber than a social stabber. Perhaps I understand your fear of her a little better now.” Shen Qingqiu looked at Liu Qingge for a long moment, eyes stroking along his face. When he leaned in this time, their faces were nose-to-nose rather than cheek to cheek, and that—changed things, a little. He seemed to be waiting for something, testing something, but Liu Qingge thought it might be testing something in himself, not in Liu Qingge. Shen Qingqiu leaned in closer, and closer, and just when Liu Qingge was certain that Shen Qingqiu was going to take advantage of their deception to steal a kiss—would he even want that?!—Shen Qingqiu said into their shared breath, “You’re still taking the bed.”
Liu Qingge opened his eyes in the morning after a long night of lying awake on the bed, uncomfortably aware of Shen Qingqiu seated on the hard, cold floor while Liu Qingge lay on the warm, soft bed.
When he lumbered his way blearily over to the table, Shen Qingqiu was pouring over papers in preparation for the negotiations he would be overseeing on this trip. He seemed to be his usual sharp and alert self, with no sign of wear from the sleepless night.
Liu Qingge ignored the tea things provided by their hosts and dug into their own travel provisions, pulling out his preferred tea blend, along with a travel tea set. He was on his third cup of tea, which he’d been pouring for both himself and Shen Qingqiu, before he was awake enough to recall that Shen Qingqiu didn’t even like this tea. “Sorry,” he said, voice sounding rough and abrupt in the early morning silence, “I’ll make that sweet kind you like next.”
Shen Qingqiu blinked at him. “No need,” he said slowly, frowning at Liu Qingge. There was another long pause before he added, grudging, “Thank you for the tea, shidi.”
Liu Qingge startled at the unexpected thanks, and then they were both sitting there, frowning at one another suspiciously.
“...Anyway,” said Liu Qingge, “you take the bed tonight. If you don’t trust our hosts, I’ll stay up and keep watch.”
Shen Qingqiu was silent.
“Shen Qingqiu. It is our hosts you don’t trust, right?”
Shen Qingqiu didn’t respond for long enough that Liu Qingge was starting to bristle indignantly. This from the one who stabbed his own shidi in the back! Finally, Shen Qingqiu said, eyes steady and intense on Liu Qingge, “Yes. It is our hosts I don’t trust. But I prefer not to sleep around men.”
Liu Qingge snorted, not entirely believing him. “The dorms must have been rough, then.”
“I didn’t sleep in the dorms.”
“I know you slept in the dorms! Your room was—”
“I had a room there. I didn’t sleep there. I either stayed up, or I went to—”
Liu Qingge waited, but when Shen Qingqiu turned away and busied himself with tidying his papers, Liu Qingge thought his way through the different ways that sentence could end, and finally realised, “You went to the brothel? What, you’re not telling me that you actually went there to sleep?”
“I’m not telling you anything at all.”
Liu Qingge glared at him. “Didn’t go there for the music, then?” he asked bitingly.
“I do now.”
Liu Qingge rolled his eyes and turned back to his tea. “Take the bed tonight,” he said again. “You have nothing to fear from me. I will keep you safe. That’s the whole reason I’m here, anyway.”
“Unless our opponent is Jiaojiao, in which case you’re next to useless.”
Liu Qingge flushed. “I could obviously beat her in a fight, but it wouldn’t be honourable to just knock her out. How am I supposed to…”
“Fight back against someone who can attack you but whom you cannot attack? Often, the only paths open in those cases are dishonourable ones.” Shen Qingqiu’s voice was bitter. A spoiled young master like him shouldn’t have ever been in the position he was describing, but something about his tone suggested that he was speaking from experience. “Shidi can trust in this shixiong to handle those unscrupulous dealings so that shidi can keep his hands and mind clean.”
Liu Qingge let his head collapse into his arms on the table. His head was too groggy to follow the bewildering twists and turns of a conversation with Shen Qingqiu. “We can both take the bed,” he mumbled.
The sound of Shen Qingqiu rustling through the paperwork paused. “How would that solve the problem of not trusting our hosts?” he asked.
Liu Qingge said seriously, “We’d both be uncomfortable and miserably awake in bed instead of just me, and we’d be hoping for the distraction of an attack to make the awkwardness go away.”
Shen Qingqiu laughed, which seemed to surprise him as much as Liu Qingge. He hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I’ll consider it. In the meantime, we’ll be meeting with representatives from three minor sects today. All very irritating and full of banal complaints. Make sure to wear your best stoic warrior face.”
“It’s the only one I have,” Liu Qingge deadpanned, and Shen Qingqiu smiled down into his tea.
He really was better to put up with when his sharpness was aimed at other people.
Watching Shen Qingqiu manoeuvre other people into doing what he wanted was like watching a master painter create a landscape. When Liu Qingge forgot to be irritated with him for being a lazy, spoiled, dishonourable rich boy, he felt relieved that Shen Qingqiu was on his side and not fighting against him.
And he was on his side, Liu Qingge was belatedly realising. In all the pettiness and viciousness of their battles against one another, Shen Qingqiu must have been pulling his verbal blows just as Liu Qingge was pulling his physical ones, because if Liu Qingge was a war god of the battlefield, Shen Qingqiu was a war god of the council room.
“What a twat,” said Liu Qingge as they returned to their room. Shen Qingqiu smirked at him and made his way to their qiankun bags, digging around until he pulled out an elaborate set of robes.
“What’s that for?” asked Liu Qingge suspiciously.
“There’s a formal banquet tonight,” said Shen Qingqiu. “We’ll be expected to be in attendance.”
“And you can’t just wear the same robes you wore yesterday? Weren’t those fancy enough?”
“I cannot, but… shidi,” said Shen Qingqiu pityingly, “these are for you.”
"I feel ridiculous," Liu Qingge muttered, tugging at his robes until Shen Qingqiu slapped his hands away and carefully smoothed the fabric back down. Liu Qingge's body tingled in the places Shen Qingqiu's hands brushed, and it made him feel even more uncomfortable.
"Liu-shidi is as beautiful as ever," said Shen Qingqiu absently, returning his attention to the banquet hall. He looked—well. It was a good thing Liu Qingge was here to watch his back, anyway.
"Stop calling me beautiful."
Shen Qingqiu smirked at him over his shoulder. "Shidi wishes for this shixiong to lie? How dishonourable."
Liu Qingge rolled his eyes, but his chest felt tight. The problem, he was realising, was that when Shen Qingqiu wasn't being hateful, he was actually very, incredibly attractive. Maybe, when they returned to the sect and Liu Qingge was once again witness to Shen Qingqiu's cold dismissal of Yue Qingyuan, everything would return to normal, but for now… For now, Liu Qingge was growing worried about himself.
The servant who was laying down their next course seemed a little flushed as she walked away. She stopped to exchange whispers with some of the other servants throughout her trip across the room, and Liu Qingge said grouchily, “By the time we get home, rumour will have us married with three children.”
“Nonsense,” said Shen Qingqiu easily. “We’re too young for that, shidi. We’ll just be getting started on our first, of course.”
Liu Qingge snorted, but sobered quickly. “Aren’t you worried about what they’ll say about you when we get back?”
“Can it be worse than what they already say?” asked Shen Qingqiu sardonically. He tried a sample of their newest dish and chewed thoughtfully.
Liu Qingge winced. Some of that gossip was, after all, spread by him. Perhaps unfairly, if what Shen Qingqiu had told him about his sleeping habits was true. “I’ll correct those rumours. But what will your family think if they hear of you marrying down?”
Shen Qingqiu choked. “Down?” he asked, once he was able to swallow again. He looked at Liu Qingge sidelong. Unfortunately, this angle did not make him less attractive.
“Aren’t you from a high-ranking family? You dress like you are.” Liu Qingge let his eyes drift down along Shen Qingqiu’s elaborately embroidered outer robes. He definitely did not allow them to linger on Shen Qingqiu’s straight back or slender waist.
“These robes were a gift from my shizun expressly for the purpose of attending this gathering,” said Shen Qingqiu dryly. “Other than that, I wear my disciple uniform, just like you do.”
“My uniform isn’t anywhere near as fancy as yours is.”
“You don’t embellish your things, that’s why. I suppose it’s hard to embroider with a sword, which seems to be the only tool you admit to using.” Shen Qingqiu’s eyes flickered down to Cheng Luan assessingly, and Liu Qingge tried not to preen. Cheng Luan was, after all, a very impressive weapon.
“So your family ranks below mine? Really?”
Shen Qingqiu turned back to their meal. “Why does Liu-shidi find that difficult to believe? Isn’t your family among the top-ranked noble cultivator families in the empire?”
“In the province, maybe.” Liu Qingge tried one of the dishes and made a face. Too sweet. Everything in this place was too sweet. “You just always seem so…”
“Fancy?” asked Shen Qingqiu, smirking.
Liu Qingge flushed. “Yes. And stuck up.”
Shen Qingqiu’s eyebrows shot up. “To think that Liu Qingge would call me stuck up.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not stuck up!”
Shen Qingqiu didn’t deign to respond.
For perhaps the first time, Liu Qingge wondered what he looked like to the other disciples in his generation. Did he seem arrogant, simply because he was confident in his skills? Did he seem dismissive, because he knew what he liked and wasn’t interested in wasting time with what he didn’t?
On the other side of the banquet hall, Wang Lingjiao watched them from where she was seated practically in her current benefactor’s lap. Even from this distance, Liu Qingge could see that she was seething. They hadn’t made any effort to continue their weak ruse of a relationship yesterday, but the rumours seemed to be continuing simply based on inertia. Still, why not help them along? As the servants swooped in again with new dishes, Liu Qingge said, “So you think three kids is too many?”
He could see the ears of the servant assigned to them swivelling toward them.
“I didn’t say that,” said Shen Qingqiu, his hand stroking along Liu Qingge’s inner wrist, which didn’t make Liu Qingge shiver no matter what that little smile on Shen Qingqiu’s face seemed to imply. “I just think it’s too soon. Maybe I want to keep my sweet shidi all to myself for a little while longer.”
As the servants flowed away from the tables once more, Liu Qingge said out of the corner of his mouth, “Thanks.”
Shen Qingqiu poured them both tea. “The next time this shixiong needs help fighting a dangerous demon, I’ll know who to call in for a favour.”
“That’s not a favour, that’s fun.”
“An equivalent exchange then,” said Shen Qingqiu, smiling at him over his teacup.
It was a nice smile.
Liu Qingge didn’t sleep that night. Neither did Shen Qingqiu.
“This is so stupid,” said Liu Qingge, staring up at the gauzy drapes surrounding the bed. Shen Qingqiu didn’t reply, but Liu Qingge heard a soft huff of breath, like a laugh.
Liu Qingge rolled onto one arm and looked down at Shen Qingqiu, who was lying on his back beside him. “Shen Qingqiu, you don’t need to be afraid of me.”
Shen Qingqiu was still beneath him, eyes wide and breath shallow.
“I’ll keep you safe,” Liu Qingge promised. “You can sleep.”
Slowly, very slowly, some of the tension seeped out of Shen Qingqiu. They stayed like that, staring at one another, until Shen Qingqiu reached up and carefully shoved at Liu Qingge’s shoulder until he was rolled over back onto his back. Shen Qingqiu let his own body follow until he was lying on his side, his arm wrapped around Liu Qingge’s body from where his hand was still resting on Liu Qingge’s shoulder. Shen Qingqiu turned his face into Liu Qingge’s neck and carefully let his body relax the rest of the way.
They still didn’t sleep, but the rest of the night was very…
Very warm.
As they joined the long line of departing cultivators, mission completed, a voice screeched out behind them. “It’s all a hoax! They’re not cultivation partners at all—they hate each other, and they’re lying to you all for their own nefarious purposes.”
Liu Qingge hadn’t lied, not really. What conclusions Wang Lingjiao had chosen to draw from his blanket statements were her own. But to disagree with her now, he would have to lie. He settled for simply looking back at her with a cold expression and hoped that would be enough.
The audience seemed to be unanimously dismissive of Wang Lingjiao’s claims, but that maybe had less to do with Liu Qingge’s best unimpressed expression, and more to do with the fact that Shen Qingqiu’s hand was tucked into the crease of Liu Qingge’s inner elbow, and the collar of Liu Qingge’s current over robe was now embellished with Shen Qingqiu’s distinctive and expensive embroidery, done up in Qing Jing’s soft green, which Shen Qingqiu claimed was the only colour he had on hand.
“Child,” sighed an elderly cultivator. “Maybe you should set your sights on someone else.”
Shen Qingqiu smirked at Wang Lingjiao and leaned a little more into Liu Qingge’s side. Liu Qingge rolled his eyes and nudged Shen Qingqiu forward. “Come on, it’s finally our turn to leave.”
Things grew more tense between them as they approached Cang Qiong mountains. They were both aware that the return to familiar environs and familiar habits would also be a return to their familiar enmity, which Liu Qingge, at least, wasn’t looking forward to. He was realising, to his discomfort, that he liked Shen Qingqiu, and even more worrying, he liked liking Shen Qingqiu.
When they landed, their shizuns were waiting for them.
So was Yue Qingyuan, and Liu Qingge held back a sigh. He deeply admired their future sect leader, and he couldn’t deny that the hate-filled rivalry he shared with Shen Qingqiu had begun in part after seeing how the then-new disciple maligned someone whose tentative friendship he treasured.
And now, Yue Qingyuan would immediately begin doting on Shen Qingqiu, who would dismiss him cruelly, which Liu Qingge wouldn’t be able to tolerate, and they’d be back to that same old routine.
Shen Qingqiu seemed to be thinking something similar, because he looked at Liu Qingge with a dry little smile as he stepped off his sword. He stumbled slightly, which would usually be enough to earn him a derisive snort from Liu Qingge. But Liu Qingge caught him by the elbow instead and steadied him, not wanting their truce to end before it needed to. Shen Qingqiu shot him a startled look, and Liu Qingge dropped his hand, face flushing.
Fine, then. Apparently, their truce had ended when they arrived after all.
He glanced at Yue Qingyuan, who had followed their exchange. Liu Qingge would have honestly expected him to be a little jealous, but instead he looked delighted. Shen Qingqiu was also squinting suspiciously at him.
“Xiao Qingqiu seems to be getting along better with Liu-shizhi,” said the Qing Jing Peak Lord, smiling at them enigmatically. “This master is glad.”
Shen Qingqiu blushed. It often seemed that his shizun was the only one who was able to get any kind of normal human reaction out of him, but now that Liu Qingge had spent nearly a week learning all sorts of new expressions from him, the blush no longer seemed as novel. Despite that, he couldn’t help but let his eyes linger on the uncharacteristically sweet expression before he tore his gaze away, feeling guilty. Yue Qingyuan was right there, after all, and he had certainly seen Liu Qingge’s fixation, because he was—glowing?
Yue Qingyuan looked happy enough to float away, and that was not how Liu Qingge would have expected him to respond to someone showing interest in Shen Qingqiu. And yet…
“This shixiong is glad also,” said Yue Qingyuan, beaming at them.
“Are you?” asked Shen Qingqiu. He seemed as confused by Yue Qingyuan’s behaviour as Liu Qingge did, which was somewhat comforting.
Though—Shen Qingqiu didn’t feel safe sleeping around other men. Perhaps he had found Yue Qingyuan’s presumed interest in him to be threatening?
“Of course! This shixiong has been worried when Xiao—when Shen-shidi seemed to have trouble making friends with our martial siblings.”
Shen Qingqiu scowled at him and pointedly turned away to follow his shizun, who was leading the way back to Qing Jing peak.
A heavy hand fell on Liu Qingge’s shoulder, and he looked up to see his own shizun raising his eyebrows at him questioningly. Liu Qingge shrugged, looking down. It was probably too much to hope that his shizun wouldn’t notice his burning ears.
Something happened the next day, though Liu Qingge had no idea what it was, and neither did anyone else he’d approached.
But something definitely happened, because when the succeeding disciples gathered in their chosen pavilion for their monthly meeting, Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan both arrived late.
Late and together.
Liu Qingge felt a twinge of jealousy and quickly suppressed it, looking away.
The strangeness didn’t end there. Throughout the whole meeting, Yue Qingyuan acted solicitous to Shen Qingqiu, but only within reasonable bounds, unlike his usual somewhat terrifying attention. And even more shocking, Shen Qingqiu accepted Yue Qingyuan’s attentions to him politely and sometimes even with a tiny smile.
What could have caused this?
Liu Qingge looked around at his martial siblings to see all of them looking as bewildered as he was. Shang Qinghua’s mouth was gaping as he stared openly at them, his brush still and dripping ink all over his meeting notes.
But other than that and a certain general softening of Shen Qingqiu’s demeanour, nothing else seemed out of character for the two highest ranking succeeding disciples, and it wasn’t as though they were unaware of their colleagues’ confusion—indeed, they seemed irritatingly amused by it.
As the meeting broke up, Liu Qingge gingerly approached Shen Qingqiu, who was still seated and deep in some sort of multi-layered discussion with Yue Qingyuan. Beside them, Shang Qinghua was pretending to be sorting his notes while shooting them furtive glances. When he saw Liu Qingge coming closer, he shook his head wildly, making go away gestures with his hands.
Liu Qingge rolled his eyes at him and pulled a fan out from his belt, holding it out to Shen Qingqiu. “Here,” he said, shifting uncomfortably when all eyes in the room looked down at the object in his hands. “This got mixed up with my things, somehow.”
Shen Qingqiu took the fan, his fingers brushing unnecessarily against Liu Qingge’s in the process. “This shixiong thanks his shidi’s thoughtfulness,” he said, raising the fan and tapping its still-closed frame against his lower lip. Liu Qingge flushed and looked away, though that brought Yue Qingyuan’s encouraging smile into his focus, which was really not an improvement.
He mumbled something and left quickly before they did something awful, like continue smiling at him.
“Liu-shidi!” The call came, worryingly, from Qi Qingqi. Liu Qingge didn’t want to stop training to talk to her, but it had been days since their meeting, and perhaps she had information to share about their shixiong. “I’ve heard a rumour,” she began, which seemed promising before she ruined it by continuing with, “that Liu-shidi and Shen-shixiong are cultivation partners.”
Liu Qingge instantly went bright red.
“Wait—is it true? I thought for sure it was just a crazy rumour, but—”
“It’s not true,” said Liu Qingge.
“But shidi has a crush? So all this time, you—”
“No.”
“—Were jealous over his lack of attention to you, and now that you’ve been able to catch his eye—”
“That’s not what happened.”
“—He’s also finally been able to clear up whatever was up with Yue-shixiong.” She smirked at him, ignoring his protests. “Fascinating.”
“Whatever. Believe what you want,” said Liu Qingge, turning to walk away.
“So you didn’t actually share a bed with him when you were away on your mission?” she asked, falling into step beside him.
“...That happened.”
“And you didn’t actually spend the entire mission flirting with one another and exchanging heated glances and sweet phrases laden with delicious subtext?”
“Oh, that happened, too,” said Shen Qingqiu, appearing beside them in the most humiliating example of bad timing that Liu Qingge had ever experienced. “Liu-shidi was so shy when we were in public, but when we were alone in our room, he was happy to take control.”
Liu Qingge scowled as Qi Qingqi and Shen Qingqiu sniggered at him. “I misjudged the situation and acted poorly,” said Liu Qingge coldly, which shook both Qi Qingqi and Shen Qingqiu from their amusement.
“Ah, Liu-shidi, I’m sure you didn’t—” said Qi Qingqi nervously, darting a glance at Shen Qingqiu’s rapidly darkening face.
“I did,” said Liu Qingge firmly. “Without confirming my own assumptions or asking for clarification, I spread inaccurate and unsavoury rumours about Shen Qingqiu’s behaviour.” He stopped and faced Shen Qingqiu dead on. He steeled himself and bowed deeply. “This shidi apologises to shixiong for his misdeeds.”
Shen Qingqiu was frozen in shock for a few long moments. Why should he be so surprised? Didn’t Liu Qingge say he would correct the false rumours? What better place to do so than on the training grounds of his own Bai Zhan Peak, before another succeeding disciple and a large number of Bai Zhan disciples? When Shen Qingqiu recovered enough to respond, he said, “This shixiong also acted poorly and could have been more forthcoming.” He hesitated a moment longer and then bowed in return. The peak was eerily silent around them, and Qi Qingqi looked like she was about to faint.
“However,” Liu Qingge went on, “If shixiong wishes to be cultivation partners with this shidi, he will have to submit his case to shizun.”
Qi Qingqi burst out laughing, and Shen Qingqiu went pink. “Maybe I will,” he said nevertheless, a challenging look in his eyes.
“So do it,” said Liu Qingge with as much disinterest as he could muster, turning back to his students. “Shouldn’t you be training?”
As he walked away, he heard Shen Qingqiu say again, quietly, “Maybe I will.”
Fandom: Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
Pairing/Characters: Original Shen Qingqiu | Shen Jiu / Liu Qingge
Rating: Tish
Word Count: ~6.4k words
Summary: Liu Qingge may hate his fellow succeeding disciple Shen Qingqiu, but what he hates even more is being chased around by people who think his pretty face means he's vulnerable to marriage proposals.
Note: Bingo challenge using AO3's trope card deck. This fic is meant to answer the middle row: Enemies to lovers, there was only one bed, and fake dating.
The manor’s servant seemed to see her own life flash before her eyes when she said, smile frozen like death, “Forgive me, esteemed cultivators, but we had only been told that Young Master Shen would be attending, and so we only prepared one room.”
Shen Qingqiu did not even glance at Liu Qingge when he said, “I see.” He fanned himself lazily, seeming unaffected, but Liu Qingge could already see how this was going to go down, and from the desperate expression on her face, so could the young servant. Shen Qingqiu would attack the servant with words sharper than knives, even though it wasn’t her fault and wouldn’t have been even if Shen Qingqiu really hadn’t been intended to make this trip alone. At least, he hadn’t been until the current Qing Jing Peak Lord had a vision of danger that had resulted in Liu Qingge being added to the trip at the last minute, above both his and Shen Qingqiu’s adamant objections. They hadn’t even had time to send word ahead that he was coming. So there’s really no way this poor kid and her superiors could have been prepared for it, and yet Shen Qingqiu would still chew her out and belittle her while sucking up to the masters of the house like the entitled, spoiled asshole he was.
And meanwhile, Wang Lingjiao was advancing through the crowd of people milling through the streets in front of the manor gates, staring at Liu Qingge predatorily. Liu Qingge couldn’t handle even being in her vicinity, never mind the humiliation of Shen Qingqiu seeing how she pawed at him, trying fruitlessly but viciously to convince him to take her on as a lover or even a concubine—as though he would ever consider such a thing! And then Shen Qingqiu would mock him relentlessly—called a War God by some, he would say, the head disciple of the acclaimed Bai Zhan Peak, but unable to defend himself against a money-grabbing commoner? Or worse, she might see a new target in Shen Qingqiu, and who knew if he’d take her up on the offer. He’d end up exposing the entire Cang Qiong Mountain sect to ridicule and bankruptcy if Wang Lingjiao had her way. Liu Qingge had to get them past these gates and into the manor, now.
“That’s fine," he said, and both Shen Qingqiu and the servant stared at him for a moment in surprise.
The girl shook herself, blushing, and then added, looking as though her soul was being crushed with each additional word, “And there’s only one bed in the prepared room, honoured cultivators.”
There was another, long pause before Shen Qingqiu raised his eyebrows at Liu Qingge mockingly. “As my shidi said, that’s perfectly fine.” His eyes flickered behind Liu Qingge’s shoulder for a moment, and then he said smoothly. “We did have a rather long trip, so if we could be shown to our room?”
The servant bowed and led them through the gates, visibly relieved. The gates slammed shut behind them, with Wang Lingjiao firmly on the other side, and Liu Qingge’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
“You take the bed,” Liu Qingge said as soon as the door to their suite closed behind the servant.
“No.” Shen Qingqiu’s voice was dripping like an icicle. “And do not forget that I outrank you, shidi. Who was that girl?”
Liu Qingge rolled his eyes. Why did Shen Qingqiu have to fight about every little thing? “No one. I wasn’t even supposed to be here, so it makes sense that you should get the bed,” he pressed, irritated.
“Does the famed future Peak Lord of the warrior peak run from no one?” asked Shen Qingqiu, his words as predictable as his sneer. “I will not permit your arrogance to put my mission in danger, Liu Qingge. Who. Was. She?”
“She’s. No. One,” Liu Qingge snarled back, but at Shen Qingqiu’s judgmental stare, he admitted grudgingly, “She was a servant of a family friendly with my parents. I don’t know why or how she’s here now.”
“If Liu-shidi wishes for some time to pass along letters to his family—”
“I use the sect’s mail services like everyone else,” Liu Qingge replied coldly. Figures that Shen Qingqiu would have acquired a private courier service—Liu Qingge had wondered why he never seemed to send or receive letters through the sect. “No, my family may be friendly with her employers, but I’m not friendly with her.”
Shen Qingqiu’s face was a frozen mask as he regarded Liu Qingge silently. Incredibly, he seemed too furious to speak.
Liu Qingge clenched his jaw until he couldn’t stand Shen Qingqiu’s judgmental silence any longer, and then he gritted out, “She has made her desire for a wealthy male benefactor very, very clear, and she has settled on me.”
Shen Qingqiu’s fan snapped up in front of his face, covering everything but his red phoenix eyes, but Liu Qingge could see the slight shaking and knew that Shen Qingqiu was laughing at him.
“Don’t even think about accepting her offer yourself,” he told Shen Qingqiu gruffly. “She’s both more expensive and more irritating than anything you’re imagining.”
“Anyone who Liu-shidi would quail from is no one this simple scholar would dare to face,” said Shen Qingqiu silkily, and it was all Liu Qingge could do not to punch him in the face.
“I’m serious, Shen Qingqiu,” Liu Qingge warned.
“Liu-shidi has no need to fear this shixiong will steal his paramour,” said Shen Qingqiu, so sweetly he almost sounded sour. “After all, even if I were interested, who could compare to shidi’s beautiful face?”
Liu Qingge twitched as he always did when Shen Qingqiu brought up his appearance, but he determinedly ignored it. Arguing the point would only encourage Shen Qingqiu. “She’s not my—you know what, never mind. As long as I don’t have to deal with her, I don’t care anyway. The bed. Take it.”
“This shixiong will not be sleeping during our trip here, so shidi may as well use the bed.”
“You can’t seriously expect to stay up for all five days, Shen Qingqiu.”
Shen Qingqiu must have heard criticism in those words, because he glared at Liu Qingge. “I don’t trust our hosts enough to sleep. If shidi does, then take the bed. Even if the bed is left empty, I won’t be. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must write a report for my shizun.”
And Shen Qingqiu turned away sharply and ignored him, pulling their official letter box from his luggage.
Well. Fine, then. Shen Qingqiu thought he could go so long without sleep? With his level of cultivation? Let him try.
Liu Qingge took the bed.
“Fuck,” said Liu Qingge. He muttered it under his breath, but Shen Qingqiu still heard him and lazily searched the dignified cultivators meandering throughout the room to their designated tables for the culprit. Liu Qingge could tell when he saw her, because his lips twitched.
“How wonderful for the young maiden to have found her way in after all,” said Shen Qingqiu, lazily fanning himself. He had changed from his travelling fan to his fancy dress-up fan, and Liu Qingge hated that he’d been around Shen Qingqiu enough to recognize the difference.
“You won’t find it so funny when she humiliates you by proxy with her loud and invasive flirting,” snapped Liu Qingge.
“If she has been permitted to be in this room and given her own seat, she must have found a different wealthy benefactor. Shidi’s patronage is no longer needed.”
Liu Qingge scoffed at Shen Qingqiu’s naivety. “She’s had wealthy benefactors this whole time. That hasn’t stopped her from chasing after me.”
“So she doesn’t limit her options? Clever girl.”
Yes, that sounded more like Shen Qingqiu.
Liu Qingge leaned in close to hiss into Shen Qingqiu’s ear, “You won’t be so smug when—”
“Gege, do you remember me? It’s Jiaojiao!”
Wang Lingjiao had somehow crossed the room and arrived at their table unseen, probably by oozing over the floor like slime. She sank down across from them in a pantomime of grace, every motion designed to draw attention to the key areas of her body that were insufficiently hidden by her scandalous robes.
Liu Qingge sat woodenly, staring straight ahead of him, hoping that if he pretended she wasn’t there, she’d vanish like the nightmares of his childhood.
Shen Qingqiu poured himself more tea. He did not offer any to Liu Qingge, who admittedly hated the sweet floral tea they’d been given and knew Shen Qingqiu had noticed his grimace when he’d tried it, nor did he offer any to Wang Lingjiao, though she’d brought her own cup and had placed it down on the table meaningfully. Under normal circumstances, Liu Qingge would be seething at Shen Qingqiu’s rudeness, but now his behaviour seemed almost supportive. You could always trust an ass to be an ass; clearly Liu Qingge simply hadn’t positioned Shen Qingqiu correctly before. As a shixiong, he was awful, but as a weapon against the social enemies of Cang Qiong, he was a force of nature.
Wang Lingjiao quickly grew irritated with waiting for a response—or a drink—and leaned in over the table, exposing yet more of her skin to the room. “Gege, you should be careful, you know,” she simpered. “Jiaojiao heard a terrible rumour about you. They’re saying that you and your shixiong are sharing a bed.” Shen Qingqiu’s eyes snapped to her, but his movements were smooth and unruffled as he sipped his tea. Wang Lingjiao had a sixth sense for men’s attention on her, though, and her smile was smug as she added, “If you aren’t seen in the company of an eligible lady, everyone here might think you cut your sleeve!”
“I do,” said Liu Qingge bluntly, and Shen Qingqiu did freeze for a moment at that, but Wang Lingjiao was so shocked herself that she didn’t seem to notice.
“You—” she began, but then abruptly shifted tracks. Her eyes darted between the two of them, sharply assessing. “Then it would be even harder for gege to deny these accusations of an indecent relationship between martial siblings. If there are seeds of truth...”
The whole world, it seemed sometimes, had heard of the enmity between Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu. It was convenient when they were carefully seated on opposite ends of the Cang Qiong delegation’s table at discussion conferences, but it was also mortifying that their dirty laundry was so freely discussed outside the sect. After all, they were future peak lords, and the peaks were meant to present a unified front. There were already whispers about the possibility of a formal split within the sect after the current peak lords ascended, and who would fall on which side.
Wang Lingjiao seemed to be aiming to use the knowledge of their hatred for each other and presumed disgust at being thought to be lovers—or even friends—to forward her own agenda, even in the face of Liu Qingge’s continued disinterest in her. The fact that she wasn’t entirely wrong made Liu Qingge seethe in fury, determined to do the opposite of what this horrible woman wanted of him.
“There’s nothing indecent about a relationship between martial siblings,” said Liu Qingge coldly. “If Shen Qingqiu and I wish to share our bed and our cultivation, that’s between us.”
The implication that they were not only intimately involved, but were more than simply casual sexual partners, did not settle well with Wang Lingjiao. Her lips were shaped in more of a grimace than a smile now. Liu Qingge didn’t dare glance at Shen Qingqiu to see his reaction. “Of course, of course that’s true, gege,” she said sweetly. “But I’ve heard some things about Young Master Shen. Do you really feel comfortable with the idea of your beloved cultivation partner spending half his time in brothels?”
She seemed to think that Liu Qingge would be shocked by this revelation. As though he hadn’t been the one to catch Shen Qingqiu out and report his behaviour in the first place!
Before Liu Qingge could respond, Shen Qingqiu entered the conversation for the first time. “This scholar is a master of the four arts,” said Shen Qingqiu, smooth as silk. “In addition to playing and writing new musical pieces, this also means collecting and recording popular songs. Brothels are a rich and ever changing source of melodies from all over the empires, and the matron of Red Warm Pavilion near Cang Xiong Mountain is a widely celebrated qin player and singer. But surely you have heard all about this from your own brothel sisters?”
Wang Lingjiao went pale with fury. Liu Qingge grabbed Shen Qingqiu’s cup and drank the overly sweet tea to keep from bursting out laughing. So this was how Shen Qingqiu’s verbal garrote sounded when heard from the outside, aimed at a common enemy.
“None of the peak lords find Shen Qingqiu’s behaviour concerning,” said Liu Qingge, only realising the truth of his words as he heard them spoken out loud. “And I respect their judgement.”
“You think that people won’t believe that you’re cultivating together just because you’re known to hate one another?” hissed Wang Lingjiao, finally fully shaking off her poorly fitting meek character. “They’ll believe it! And when they hear from the chambermaids that you really are sharing a room with only one bed, they’ll take that as proof! I’m your only chance to escape this scandal!”
“By your own words, any young maiden will do,” said Shen Qingqiu, reclaiming his cup and pouring for both Liu Qingge and himself this time. Wang Lingjiao’s cup remained empty. “But there is no scandal here. And,” he added, smiling at Wang Lingjiao over his teacup, “can you blame this master for reacting the way I did when Liu-shidi ordered me onto the bed?”
Liu Qingge went bright red. He downed his tea like wine, wincing when it scalded its way down his throat—not the burn he was looking for at the moment, but it saved him from making an automatic protest to the way Shen Qingqiu had twisted their earlier argument to suit his purposes, all while speaking completely truthfully. It said something about his current state of mind that he found that suddenly, alarmingly attractive.
Wang Lingjiao stormed off, and eyes around the room followed her progress. Their conversation hadn’t been particularly quiet, and the neighbouring tables had heard every word—somewhat counterproductive for Wang Lingjiao to offer herself up as a shield against rumours when she announced that purpose so loudly and publicly.
“Shidi,” murmured Shen Qingqiu, leaning in close to whisper into his ear under the weak guise of refilling his teacup, “when you described her to me, you made her sound like an average social-climber—that’s something of a survival trait for a young woman without means or backing. It’s not something I would consider censorious.”
Whispering with their heads together and their bodies close like this, they probably looked like the lovers their avid audience believed them to be. Liu Qingge steeled himself and leaned in even closer, resting his shoulder briefly against Shen Qingqiu’s before slowly—as though reluctantly—pulling away. “And?” he said, very quietly. “Was I wrong?”
“She’s less a social climber than a social stabber. Perhaps I understand your fear of her a little better now.” Shen Qingqiu looked at Liu Qingge for a long moment, eyes stroking along his face. When he leaned in this time, their faces were nose-to-nose rather than cheek to cheek, and that—changed things, a little. He seemed to be waiting for something, testing something, but Liu Qingge thought it might be testing something in himself, not in Liu Qingge. Shen Qingqiu leaned in closer, and closer, and just when Liu Qingge was certain that Shen Qingqiu was going to take advantage of their deception to steal a kiss—would he even want that?!—Shen Qingqiu said into their shared breath, “You’re still taking the bed.”
Liu Qingge opened his eyes in the morning after a long night of lying awake on the bed, uncomfortably aware of Shen Qingqiu seated on the hard, cold floor while Liu Qingge lay on the warm, soft bed.
When he lumbered his way blearily over to the table, Shen Qingqiu was pouring over papers in preparation for the negotiations he would be overseeing on this trip. He seemed to be his usual sharp and alert self, with no sign of wear from the sleepless night.
Liu Qingge ignored the tea things provided by their hosts and dug into their own travel provisions, pulling out his preferred tea blend, along with a travel tea set. He was on his third cup of tea, which he’d been pouring for both himself and Shen Qingqiu, before he was awake enough to recall that Shen Qingqiu didn’t even like this tea. “Sorry,” he said, voice sounding rough and abrupt in the early morning silence, “I’ll make that sweet kind you like next.”
Shen Qingqiu blinked at him. “No need,” he said slowly, frowning at Liu Qingge. There was another long pause before he added, grudging, “Thank you for the tea, shidi.”
Liu Qingge startled at the unexpected thanks, and then they were both sitting there, frowning at one another suspiciously.
“...Anyway,” said Liu Qingge, “you take the bed tonight. If you don’t trust our hosts, I’ll stay up and keep watch.”
Shen Qingqiu was silent.
“Shen Qingqiu. It is our hosts you don’t trust, right?”
Shen Qingqiu didn’t respond for long enough that Liu Qingge was starting to bristle indignantly. This from the one who stabbed his own shidi in the back! Finally, Shen Qingqiu said, eyes steady and intense on Liu Qingge, “Yes. It is our hosts I don’t trust. But I prefer not to sleep around men.”
Liu Qingge snorted, not entirely believing him. “The dorms must have been rough, then.”
“I didn’t sleep in the dorms.”
“I know you slept in the dorms! Your room was—”
“I had a room there. I didn’t sleep there. I either stayed up, or I went to—”
Liu Qingge waited, but when Shen Qingqiu turned away and busied himself with tidying his papers, Liu Qingge thought his way through the different ways that sentence could end, and finally realised, “You went to the brothel? What, you’re not telling me that you actually went there to sleep?”
“I’m not telling you anything at all.”
Liu Qingge glared at him. “Didn’t go there for the music, then?” he asked bitingly.
“I do now.”
Liu Qingge rolled his eyes and turned back to his tea. “Take the bed tonight,” he said again. “You have nothing to fear from me. I will keep you safe. That’s the whole reason I’m here, anyway.”
“Unless our opponent is Jiaojiao, in which case you’re next to useless.”
Liu Qingge flushed. “I could obviously beat her in a fight, but it wouldn’t be honourable to just knock her out. How am I supposed to…”
“Fight back against someone who can attack you but whom you cannot attack? Often, the only paths open in those cases are dishonourable ones.” Shen Qingqiu’s voice was bitter. A spoiled young master like him shouldn’t have ever been in the position he was describing, but something about his tone suggested that he was speaking from experience. “Shidi can trust in this shixiong to handle those unscrupulous dealings so that shidi can keep his hands and mind clean.”
Liu Qingge let his head collapse into his arms on the table. His head was too groggy to follow the bewildering twists and turns of a conversation with Shen Qingqiu. “We can both take the bed,” he mumbled.
The sound of Shen Qingqiu rustling through the paperwork paused. “How would that solve the problem of not trusting our hosts?” he asked.
Liu Qingge said seriously, “We’d both be uncomfortable and miserably awake in bed instead of just me, and we’d be hoping for the distraction of an attack to make the awkwardness go away.”
Shen Qingqiu laughed, which seemed to surprise him as much as Liu Qingge. He hesitated for a moment, and then said, “I’ll consider it. In the meantime, we’ll be meeting with representatives from three minor sects today. All very irritating and full of banal complaints. Make sure to wear your best stoic warrior face.”
“It’s the only one I have,” Liu Qingge deadpanned, and Shen Qingqiu smiled down into his tea.
He really was better to put up with when his sharpness was aimed at other people.
Watching Shen Qingqiu manoeuvre other people into doing what he wanted was like watching a master painter create a landscape. When Liu Qingge forgot to be irritated with him for being a lazy, spoiled, dishonourable rich boy, he felt relieved that Shen Qingqiu was on his side and not fighting against him.
And he was on his side, Liu Qingge was belatedly realising. In all the pettiness and viciousness of their battles against one another, Shen Qingqiu must have been pulling his verbal blows just as Liu Qingge was pulling his physical ones, because if Liu Qingge was a war god of the battlefield, Shen Qingqiu was a war god of the council room.
“What a twat,” said Liu Qingge as they returned to their room. Shen Qingqiu smirked at him and made his way to their qiankun bags, digging around until he pulled out an elaborate set of robes.
“What’s that for?” asked Liu Qingge suspiciously.
“There’s a formal banquet tonight,” said Shen Qingqiu. “We’ll be expected to be in attendance.”
“And you can’t just wear the same robes you wore yesterday? Weren’t those fancy enough?”
“I cannot, but… shidi,” said Shen Qingqiu pityingly, “these are for you.”
"I feel ridiculous," Liu Qingge muttered, tugging at his robes until Shen Qingqiu slapped his hands away and carefully smoothed the fabric back down. Liu Qingge's body tingled in the places Shen Qingqiu's hands brushed, and it made him feel even more uncomfortable.
"Liu-shidi is as beautiful as ever," said Shen Qingqiu absently, returning his attention to the banquet hall. He looked—well. It was a good thing Liu Qingge was here to watch his back, anyway.
"Stop calling me beautiful."
Shen Qingqiu smirked at him over his shoulder. "Shidi wishes for this shixiong to lie? How dishonourable."
Liu Qingge rolled his eyes, but his chest felt tight. The problem, he was realising, was that when Shen Qingqiu wasn't being hateful, he was actually very, incredibly attractive. Maybe, when they returned to the sect and Liu Qingge was once again witness to Shen Qingqiu's cold dismissal of Yue Qingyuan, everything would return to normal, but for now… For now, Liu Qingge was growing worried about himself.
The servant who was laying down their next course seemed a little flushed as she walked away. She stopped to exchange whispers with some of the other servants throughout her trip across the room, and Liu Qingge said grouchily, “By the time we get home, rumour will have us married with three children.”
“Nonsense,” said Shen Qingqiu easily. “We’re too young for that, shidi. We’ll just be getting started on our first, of course.”
Liu Qingge snorted, but sobered quickly. “Aren’t you worried about what they’ll say about you when we get back?”
“Can it be worse than what they already say?” asked Shen Qingqiu sardonically. He tried a sample of their newest dish and chewed thoughtfully.
Liu Qingge winced. Some of that gossip was, after all, spread by him. Perhaps unfairly, if what Shen Qingqiu had told him about his sleeping habits was true. “I’ll correct those rumours. But what will your family think if they hear of you marrying down?”
Shen Qingqiu choked. “Down?” he asked, once he was able to swallow again. He looked at Liu Qingge sidelong. Unfortunately, this angle did not make him less attractive.
“Aren’t you from a high-ranking family? You dress like you are.” Liu Qingge let his eyes drift down along Shen Qingqiu’s elaborately embroidered outer robes. He definitely did not allow them to linger on Shen Qingqiu’s straight back or slender waist.
“These robes were a gift from my shizun expressly for the purpose of attending this gathering,” said Shen Qingqiu dryly. “Other than that, I wear my disciple uniform, just like you do.”
“My uniform isn’t anywhere near as fancy as yours is.”
“You don’t embellish your things, that’s why. I suppose it’s hard to embroider with a sword, which seems to be the only tool you admit to using.” Shen Qingqiu’s eyes flickered down to Cheng Luan assessingly, and Liu Qingge tried not to preen. Cheng Luan was, after all, a very impressive weapon.
“So your family ranks below mine? Really?”
Shen Qingqiu turned back to their meal. “Why does Liu-shidi find that difficult to believe? Isn’t your family among the top-ranked noble cultivator families in the empire?”
“In the province, maybe.” Liu Qingge tried one of the dishes and made a face. Too sweet. Everything in this place was too sweet. “You just always seem so…”
“Fancy?” asked Shen Qingqiu, smirking.
Liu Qingge flushed. “Yes. And stuck up.”
Shen Qingqiu’s eyebrows shot up. “To think that Liu Qingge would call me stuck up.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? I’m not stuck up!”
Shen Qingqiu didn’t deign to respond.
For perhaps the first time, Liu Qingge wondered what he looked like to the other disciples in his generation. Did he seem arrogant, simply because he was confident in his skills? Did he seem dismissive, because he knew what he liked and wasn’t interested in wasting time with what he didn’t?
On the other side of the banquet hall, Wang Lingjiao watched them from where she was seated practically in her current benefactor’s lap. Even from this distance, Liu Qingge could see that she was seething. They hadn’t made any effort to continue their weak ruse of a relationship yesterday, but the rumours seemed to be continuing simply based on inertia. Still, why not help them along? As the servants swooped in again with new dishes, Liu Qingge said, “So you think three kids is too many?”
He could see the ears of the servant assigned to them swivelling toward them.
“I didn’t say that,” said Shen Qingqiu, his hand stroking along Liu Qingge’s inner wrist, which didn’t make Liu Qingge shiver no matter what that little smile on Shen Qingqiu’s face seemed to imply. “I just think it’s too soon. Maybe I want to keep my sweet shidi all to myself for a little while longer.”
As the servants flowed away from the tables once more, Liu Qingge said out of the corner of his mouth, “Thanks.”
Shen Qingqiu poured them both tea. “The next time this shixiong needs help fighting a dangerous demon, I’ll know who to call in for a favour.”
“That’s not a favour, that’s fun.”
“An equivalent exchange then,” said Shen Qingqiu, smiling at him over his teacup.
It was a nice smile.
Liu Qingge didn’t sleep that night. Neither did Shen Qingqiu.
“This is so stupid,” said Liu Qingge, staring up at the gauzy drapes surrounding the bed. Shen Qingqiu didn’t reply, but Liu Qingge heard a soft huff of breath, like a laugh.
Liu Qingge rolled onto one arm and looked down at Shen Qingqiu, who was lying on his back beside him. “Shen Qingqiu, you don’t need to be afraid of me.”
Shen Qingqiu was still beneath him, eyes wide and breath shallow.
“I’ll keep you safe,” Liu Qingge promised. “You can sleep.”
Slowly, very slowly, some of the tension seeped out of Shen Qingqiu. They stayed like that, staring at one another, until Shen Qingqiu reached up and carefully shoved at Liu Qingge’s shoulder until he was rolled over back onto his back. Shen Qingqiu let his own body follow until he was lying on his side, his arm wrapped around Liu Qingge’s body from where his hand was still resting on Liu Qingge’s shoulder. Shen Qingqiu turned his face into Liu Qingge’s neck and carefully let his body relax the rest of the way.
They still didn’t sleep, but the rest of the night was very…
Very warm.
As they joined the long line of departing cultivators, mission completed, a voice screeched out behind them. “It’s all a hoax! They’re not cultivation partners at all—they hate each other, and they’re lying to you all for their own nefarious purposes.”
Liu Qingge hadn’t lied, not really. What conclusions Wang Lingjiao had chosen to draw from his blanket statements were her own. But to disagree with her now, he would have to lie. He settled for simply looking back at her with a cold expression and hoped that would be enough.
The audience seemed to be unanimously dismissive of Wang Lingjiao’s claims, but that maybe had less to do with Liu Qingge’s best unimpressed expression, and more to do with the fact that Shen Qingqiu’s hand was tucked into the crease of Liu Qingge’s inner elbow, and the collar of Liu Qingge’s current over robe was now embellished with Shen Qingqiu’s distinctive and expensive embroidery, done up in Qing Jing’s soft green, which Shen Qingqiu claimed was the only colour he had on hand.
“Child,” sighed an elderly cultivator. “Maybe you should set your sights on someone else.”
Shen Qingqiu smirked at Wang Lingjiao and leaned a little more into Liu Qingge’s side. Liu Qingge rolled his eyes and nudged Shen Qingqiu forward. “Come on, it’s finally our turn to leave.”
Things grew more tense between them as they approached Cang Qiong mountains. They were both aware that the return to familiar environs and familiar habits would also be a return to their familiar enmity, which Liu Qingge, at least, wasn’t looking forward to. He was realising, to his discomfort, that he liked Shen Qingqiu, and even more worrying, he liked liking Shen Qingqiu.
When they landed, their shizuns were waiting for them.
So was Yue Qingyuan, and Liu Qingge held back a sigh. He deeply admired their future sect leader, and he couldn’t deny that the hate-filled rivalry he shared with Shen Qingqiu had begun in part after seeing how the then-new disciple maligned someone whose tentative friendship he treasured.
And now, Yue Qingyuan would immediately begin doting on Shen Qingqiu, who would dismiss him cruelly, which Liu Qingge wouldn’t be able to tolerate, and they’d be back to that same old routine.
Shen Qingqiu seemed to be thinking something similar, because he looked at Liu Qingge with a dry little smile as he stepped off his sword. He stumbled slightly, which would usually be enough to earn him a derisive snort from Liu Qingge. But Liu Qingge caught him by the elbow instead and steadied him, not wanting their truce to end before it needed to. Shen Qingqiu shot him a startled look, and Liu Qingge dropped his hand, face flushing.
Fine, then. Apparently, their truce had ended when they arrived after all.
He glanced at Yue Qingyuan, who had followed their exchange. Liu Qingge would have honestly expected him to be a little jealous, but instead he looked delighted. Shen Qingqiu was also squinting suspiciously at him.
“Xiao Qingqiu seems to be getting along better with Liu-shizhi,” said the Qing Jing Peak Lord, smiling at them enigmatically. “This master is glad.”
Shen Qingqiu blushed. It often seemed that his shizun was the only one who was able to get any kind of normal human reaction out of him, but now that Liu Qingge had spent nearly a week learning all sorts of new expressions from him, the blush no longer seemed as novel. Despite that, he couldn’t help but let his eyes linger on the uncharacteristically sweet expression before he tore his gaze away, feeling guilty. Yue Qingyuan was right there, after all, and he had certainly seen Liu Qingge’s fixation, because he was—glowing?
Yue Qingyuan looked happy enough to float away, and that was not how Liu Qingge would have expected him to respond to someone showing interest in Shen Qingqiu. And yet…
“This shixiong is glad also,” said Yue Qingyuan, beaming at them.
“Are you?” asked Shen Qingqiu. He seemed as confused by Yue Qingyuan’s behaviour as Liu Qingge did, which was somewhat comforting.
Though—Shen Qingqiu didn’t feel safe sleeping around other men. Perhaps he had found Yue Qingyuan’s presumed interest in him to be threatening?
“Of course! This shixiong has been worried when Xiao—when Shen-shidi seemed to have trouble making friends with our martial siblings.”
Shen Qingqiu scowled at him and pointedly turned away to follow his shizun, who was leading the way back to Qing Jing peak.
A heavy hand fell on Liu Qingge’s shoulder, and he looked up to see his own shizun raising his eyebrows at him questioningly. Liu Qingge shrugged, looking down. It was probably too much to hope that his shizun wouldn’t notice his burning ears.
Something happened the next day, though Liu Qingge had no idea what it was, and neither did anyone else he’d approached.
But something definitely happened, because when the succeeding disciples gathered in their chosen pavilion for their monthly meeting, Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan both arrived late.
Late and together.
Liu Qingge felt a twinge of jealousy and quickly suppressed it, looking away.
The strangeness didn’t end there. Throughout the whole meeting, Yue Qingyuan acted solicitous to Shen Qingqiu, but only within reasonable bounds, unlike his usual somewhat terrifying attention. And even more shocking, Shen Qingqiu accepted Yue Qingyuan’s attentions to him politely and sometimes even with a tiny smile.
What could have caused this?
Liu Qingge looked around at his martial siblings to see all of them looking as bewildered as he was. Shang Qinghua’s mouth was gaping as he stared openly at them, his brush still and dripping ink all over his meeting notes.
But other than that and a certain general softening of Shen Qingqiu’s demeanour, nothing else seemed out of character for the two highest ranking succeeding disciples, and it wasn’t as though they were unaware of their colleagues’ confusion—indeed, they seemed irritatingly amused by it.
As the meeting broke up, Liu Qingge gingerly approached Shen Qingqiu, who was still seated and deep in some sort of multi-layered discussion with Yue Qingyuan. Beside them, Shang Qinghua was pretending to be sorting his notes while shooting them furtive glances. When he saw Liu Qingge coming closer, he shook his head wildly, making go away gestures with his hands.
Liu Qingge rolled his eyes at him and pulled a fan out from his belt, holding it out to Shen Qingqiu. “Here,” he said, shifting uncomfortably when all eyes in the room looked down at the object in his hands. “This got mixed up with my things, somehow.”
Shen Qingqiu took the fan, his fingers brushing unnecessarily against Liu Qingge’s in the process. “This shixiong thanks his shidi’s thoughtfulness,” he said, raising the fan and tapping its still-closed frame against his lower lip. Liu Qingge flushed and looked away, though that brought Yue Qingyuan’s encouraging smile into his focus, which was really not an improvement.
He mumbled something and left quickly before they did something awful, like continue smiling at him.
“Liu-shidi!” The call came, worryingly, from Qi Qingqi. Liu Qingge didn’t want to stop training to talk to her, but it had been days since their meeting, and perhaps she had information to share about their shixiong. “I’ve heard a rumour,” she began, which seemed promising before she ruined it by continuing with, “that Liu-shidi and Shen-shixiong are cultivation partners.”
Liu Qingge instantly went bright red.
“Wait—is it true? I thought for sure it was just a crazy rumour, but—”
“It’s not true,” said Liu Qingge.
“But shidi has a crush? So all this time, you—”
“No.”
“—Were jealous over his lack of attention to you, and now that you’ve been able to catch his eye—”
“That’s not what happened.”
“—He’s also finally been able to clear up whatever was up with Yue-shixiong.” She smirked at him, ignoring his protests. “Fascinating.”
“Whatever. Believe what you want,” said Liu Qingge, turning to walk away.
“So you didn’t actually share a bed with him when you were away on your mission?” she asked, falling into step beside him.
“...That happened.”
“And you didn’t actually spend the entire mission flirting with one another and exchanging heated glances and sweet phrases laden with delicious subtext?”
“Oh, that happened, too,” said Shen Qingqiu, appearing beside them in the most humiliating example of bad timing that Liu Qingge had ever experienced. “Liu-shidi was so shy when we were in public, but when we were alone in our room, he was happy to take control.”
Liu Qingge scowled as Qi Qingqi and Shen Qingqiu sniggered at him. “I misjudged the situation and acted poorly,” said Liu Qingge coldly, which shook both Qi Qingqi and Shen Qingqiu from their amusement.
“Ah, Liu-shidi, I’m sure you didn’t—” said Qi Qingqi nervously, darting a glance at Shen Qingqiu’s rapidly darkening face.
“I did,” said Liu Qingge firmly. “Without confirming my own assumptions or asking for clarification, I spread inaccurate and unsavoury rumours about Shen Qingqiu’s behaviour.” He stopped and faced Shen Qingqiu dead on. He steeled himself and bowed deeply. “This shidi apologises to shixiong for his misdeeds.”
Shen Qingqiu was frozen in shock for a few long moments. Why should he be so surprised? Didn’t Liu Qingge say he would correct the false rumours? What better place to do so than on the training grounds of his own Bai Zhan Peak, before another succeeding disciple and a large number of Bai Zhan disciples? When Shen Qingqiu recovered enough to respond, he said, “This shixiong also acted poorly and could have been more forthcoming.” He hesitated a moment longer and then bowed in return. The peak was eerily silent around them, and Qi Qingqi looked like she was about to faint.
“However,” Liu Qingge went on, “If shixiong wishes to be cultivation partners with this shidi, he will have to submit his case to shizun.”
Qi Qingqi burst out laughing, and Shen Qingqiu went pink. “Maybe I will,” he said nevertheless, a challenging look in his eyes.
“So do it,” said Liu Qingge with as much disinterest as he could muster, turning back to his students. “Shouldn’t you be training?”
As he walked away, he heard Shen Qingqiu say again, quietly, “Maybe I will.”