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Yanqing stares at the board in front of him not in disbelief, but in bone-deep resignation that he is never, ever going to beat the Arbiter General at starchess.
“Well, that feels appropriate,” he mumbles, his pride wounded. “Yet another loss to add to the pile.”
Every once in a while, Jing Yuan will ask Yanqing to come meet him in the Seat of Divine Foresight for a round of starchess before Yanqing formally begins his training for the day. It’s not really father-son bonding—not that Yanqing expects that from the Arbiter General, of course! Jing Yuan has much more important things to do than to spend time with him, and he knows that.
Despite that, he can’t help but feel like the general views playing starchess with him as yet another way to train him, and this is just yet another way for him to fail, over and over and over again.
“Yanqing, chin up,” Jing Yuan says, leaning back in his chair. “You can’t win every battle.”
And this is true. Yanqing knows this. But he would like to win at least one of them.
It was Dan Heng, and Blade, and then it was Jingliu, and now it’s Yunli (kind of! He maintains that the fight against the borisin doesn’t count as an actual battle because he didn’t know they were battling). He is supposed to be the best (besides Jing Yuan and his former master, of course), and yet he isn’t.
“Thank you for indulging me,” the general says with a slight incline of his head towards Yanqing. “I appreciate you taking time away from your studies to play a bit of starchess with me now and then.”
“Of course, master,” he replies. “I enjoy playing with you.”
It’s not a lie—he does love playing starchess with Jing Yuan. It’s a brief respite from the monotony of his swordplay and strategy training, one that he very much appreciates. Not that he doesn’t love the training too! Training is honestly his favorite thing in the world. It just…
It gets a bit boring, sometimes. And he doesn’t always feel like he’s getting better, because he trains and trains and trains and then Yunli comes in and does flips off of buildings and steals his sword—
He’s not mad. He’s not. He got the sword back, why would he be mad?
Yanqing doesn’t understand Yunli. She’s mean, and bratty, and she has everything she’s ever wanted. It’s difficult for him to remind himself that he and Yunli are the exact same age when she is so much more of a child than he ever has been.
But still, this is not time for rumination. He has to get to training.
🗡
His swordplay training today is downright exhausting. The Cloud Knights drill him on his forms, his timing, his perception, his strategy (even though he has an entirely separate strategy training later with General Jing Yuan) relentlessly until his normally positive attitude is slipping. He thinks they must have heard about his petty fights with Yunli and are disappointed in him for behaving this way. He’s certainly disappointed in himself. If this is his punishment for behaving that way—for losing to a child from the Zhuming—he will accept it.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t grateful when Sergeant Sushang stops by during his training, accompanied as always by that red-haired friend of hers, and says, “Hey, Yanqing! How are you doing?”
He’s aware that the smile he pastes on probably looks entirely fake, especially given the way her eyes crinkle in concern when he smiles at her, but he can’t bring himself to give her anything more real right now. He’s tired. “Hello, Sergeant Sushang. I’m good! I hope your day’s been going well.”
She laughs, but he doesn’t miss the worried look she throws towards her redheaded companion. “How many times have I told you to just call me Sushang? Or Shangshang, if you want! That’s what Gui calls me,” she says, gesturing to her friend.
“My apologies,” he says, though he knows he will never actually bother to call her anything other than Sergeant Sushang. She’s a formidable fighter, and she deserves to be respected as such. “I’m in the middle of training right now, otherwise I’d stop and chat for longer.”
Her sunny smile slips for a second. “Hey, no worries, Yanqing! Wanna get lunch? Gui has a new challenge she wants to try out!”
He shakes his head. “Sorry, I’ve still got more work to do. Maybe another time?”
“For sure!” she chirps. “Don’t work yourself too hard!”
With a wave, she and Guinaifen walk off, chattering away about something. He knows, honestly, even if he doesn’t want to admit it, that he will probably never get that lunch with her. Still, it was nice of her to ask. He’s heard lots of good things about her from both the units under her command and from the Astral Express contingent. Even the Ten Lords Commission sings her praises, thanking for all her help containing the escaped heliobi.
Though the older girl is kind, he can’t help but feel like her offer is insincere—that she really only offers because he’s General Jing Yuan’s retainer. She is, after all, a transfer from the Yaoqing, and tensions are high right now. It’s entirely possible she just wants to remain in the good graces of the Luofu by showing kindness to one of their top lieutenants. By showing that she cares about the ship she now calls home.
But he doesn’t have time to puzzle over Sushang’s motivations. He has training to do.
His training goes more smoothly the rest of the day, though Yanqing can’t help but feel a bit out of it. He has never wanted the things that other kids have, desired toys and play and freedom the way his peers did. Sword training has been enough to sate him. He loves the work, the feeling of getting stronger and stronger, and yet—
He’s still tired. He’s been tired all day in a way he normally isn’t, with the weight of the Wardance Festival hanging heavy over his head and his string of losses stretching out infinitely in front of him. If he wasn’t good enough to beat Jingliu, Dan Heng, Blade, Yunli and the borisin—if he lost to all these people—is he truly good enough to represent the Luofu at this tournament where the entire Xianzhou’s eyes are on him? Where he is expected to be the pinnacle of Luofu training, the pride of the Arbiter General?
And this is why he’s tired, why he’s slipping. He has time to train, and he is going to use it to its fullest. Yanqing doesn’t have to report to training with March 7th until the next day, and he’s trying to take advantage of the extra time.
He still has two hours left of his daily drills when there’s a commotion at the entrance of the field, and the Cloud Knight he’s been sparring with rushes over to assist the two guarding the way in.
“I don’t care that Master Yanqing is busy, I am telling you that Generals Huaiyan and Jing Yuan are requesting his presence at the Seat of Diving Foresight! Or are you really willing to risk a sanction from both the Luofu and the Zhuming for obstructing the wills of the Arbiter Generals?”
Oh, Aeons. Why of all people did it have to be her? Yanqing edges closer, curious what exactly Yunli wants and what she hopes to gain by causing such a ruckus.
“Mistress Yunli—“
“Master Yunli, thank you very much,” she corrects, arms crossed across her chest petulantly. “I wouldn’t catch you calling the Yaoqing General Lady Feixiao, would I? Use my proper title.”
The Cloud Knight shudders, likely imagining what General Feixiao would do to anyone she caught referring to her as Lady. “Master Yunli, Lieutenant Yanqing is busy with his training, and General Jing Yuan has sent no missives instructing us to release him from his sword training early.”
“That’s fine,” Yunli says. “I understand.”
The Cloud Knight relaxes visibly. “Thank you, Master Yunli.”
She shrugs. “I’ll just tell General Jing Yuan that you’re preventing him from seeing his retainer and in turn causing significant delays in important Luofu business. I’m sure he’ll be very forgiving.”
“Ah, Master Yunli—“ a different Cloud Knight begins with a wince.
“At ease,” Yanqing interrupts, stepping forward. “I’ll go with her. If General Jing Yuan wants to see me, far be it from us to go against the will of the General.” Even if he’s sent the most annoying possible messenger, he thinks.
Yunli grins. “Let’s go, then! Don’t wanna keep the General waiting.” With that, she lunges forward and grabs him by the arm, yanking him away from the gaggle of Cloud Knights watching the argument. She takes off sprinting towards the Seat of Divine Foresight and Yanqing follows after her, surprised by how dexterously she manages to navigate the Luofu despite her relative unfamiliarity with it.
Still, she doesn’t know it as well as he does, clearly, since instead of continuing on towards the Seat of Divine Foresight she ducks into a random alley and stops short, slightly out of breath. “You think that’s close enough?” she asks, grinning.
“Close enough to what?” he asks.
“Uh, the Seat of Divine Foresight? I do want them to think we’re actually trying to go there, you know.”
Yanqing blinks, confused. “Are we not… going there?”
Yunli squints at him, scrutinizing his expression. “No, obviously. I was thinking we could go get some food in Aurum Alley. I haven’t had a chance to go yet and I’ve heard the food is great.”
“What about the meeting with General Huaiyan and General Jing Yuan?” he asks. “Won’t we be late?”
She stares at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. “Oh, Yanqing. Yanyan. Twinkle toes. Snowflake. There is no meeting. Did you actually think I was coming to get you for a meeting?”
“Why else would you feel the need to interrupt my training?” he responds, annoyed. Of course this isn’t serious. Yunli has absolutely zero respect for how important sword training is—of course she thinks it’s funny to make him miss his drills just to entertain herself.
“Have you never played hooky before?” Yunli reaches forward and tugs on the edge of his cape, presumably just to piss him off. “You go to every single training session you’re supposed to?”
“Of course I do.”
She winces. “That explains why you have such a massive stick up your ass. I thought Sergeant Sushang was exaggerating how miserable you looked, but when I saw you I realized she really, really wasn’t. You really don’t know how to have fun, do you?”
He rolls his eyes. “Swordplay is fun.”
“Ugh. You are such a loser. This is why it’s so easy to beat you, you know. Because you’re so predictable and stiff and boring.” Yunli grabs his arm again and begins pulling him in the direction of Aurum Alley. “Come on, let’s go get street food or something. Our rivalry isn’t fun if you’re all sad and tired.”
“Hey—!” He tries to pull away, but her grip is firm. “Yunli, I have to get back to training.”
She sighs, continuing to try and drag him. “You don’t, though. They think you have an important meeting with the General. So you’re going to show me around Aurum Alley, and in return, I will buy you street food. How’s that sound, snowflake?”
“I don’t like that nickname,” he answers. “And I’m going to get in trouble.”
“So what, you get in trouble. Aeons, you are the lamest kid I’ve ever met,” Yunli says, ignoring his protests about the nickname. “No one is going to kill you if you skip one afternoon of training, I promise. I do it all the time.”
“That’s not reassuring.”
She sticks her tongue out at him and he resists the urge to do the same back. “Fine. If you get in trouble, I’ll tell them I specifically requested that you show me around the Luofu. Happy?”
No, he wants to say. Let me go back to training.
But he is tired. And hungry, kind of. He had skipped lunch today. Surely one afternoon wouldn’t kill him. Plus, he could use it to gather more information on Yunli and her methods so when they inevitably go up against each other in the Wardance Festival, he has the edge over her.
And she’s paying.
“Fine. But don’t call me snowflake.”
“Alright, twinkle toes.”
🗡
Yunli and Yanqing arrive at Aurum Alley, and though some of the Cloud Knights milling about shoot them strange looks—their supposed feud has been a hot topic amongst those who have heard about it—none of them bother to stop them and ask why Yanqing isn’t training. It’s almost exhilarating, the feeling of freedom.
Yanqing has never wanted to be a “normal” kid. He isn’t jealous of Yunli’s freedom, the way General Huaiyan seems to let her do whatever she wants—he isn’t. But he can’t deny that there is something about the thrill of skipping his training, of knowing that he is doing something he isn’t supposed to do, that excites him.
“So!” Yunli says, clapping her hands together. “What do you recommend?”
“I don’t know,” he admits, somewhat sheepishly. “I don’t come here very often. I came by a couple times during the revival project, but I was focusing on my training so I didn’t spend much time here.”
She stares at him, somewhat incredulously. “You have an entire market dedicated to delicious food and you don’t come here very often? Have you ever had fun?”
“Again, I think training is fun.”
“I do too, but I still enjoy other things,” she scoffs. Yunli raps her knuckles against the side of Yanqing’s head. “Is there anything other than swords up there?”
He shoves her away, grumbling. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Yunli shakes her head, grabbing him by the arm again and beginning to drag him towards one of the nearby food stalls. He really wishes she would stop doing that—also, he’s not entirely sure how she’s managing it. “Nope. Unlike you, I have a life.”
“Hey!”
She ignores him, reading over the menu in front of them. It’s all very classic Luofu food—songlotus cakes, berrypheasant skewers, tuskpir wraps, the usual. The woman running the stand beams down at them. “How can I help you, Master Yanqing?”
“Hi, auntie,” Yanqing says, somewhat sheepishly. The women in Aurum Alley are all very kind to him, but he can’t help but feel that they really do see him as a child. That, or they think that being nice to Yanqing will endear the General to them. “This is Master Yunli, from the Xianzhou Zhuming. She’s visiting, and she wanted to try some of Aurum Alley’s famous street food.”
“What do you recommend?” Yunli asks.
The woman thinks for a moment before saying, “You’re asking the owner of the stand what she recommends, Master Yunli! I recommend everything!”
“Perfect. We’ll take two of everything,” she responds, pulling a stack of credits out of… somewhere? Yanqing is not entirely sure where her pockets are, if they exist at all.
She blinks, stunned, before smiling even wider than before. “An excellent decision! Two songlotus cakes, two tuskpir wraps, two berrypheasant skewers, and two steamed puffergoat milks coming right up!”
“That’s a lot of food,” Yanqing mumbles as the auntie busies herself preparing their dishes.
Yunli shrugs. “If you don’t eat it, I will.”
After ten or so minutes, the auntie reappears with several heaping paper plates covered in food. Yunli passes half of them to Yanqing, thanks the woman, and then beelines for a nearby table, sitting down and immediately digging into the food in front of her. Yanqing sits down across from her and gingerly begins to pick at the berrypheasant skewer.
He has to admit, it’s really good. Berrypheasant is a unique dish, but the aunties in Aurum Alley seem to know exactly what they’re doing with it. The food is delicious, the steamed puffergoat milk is tasty, and Yunli seems to be enjoying herself. At the very least, she hasn’t made any snide comments in five to ten minutes because her mouth is stuffed with food, so that’s a bonus.
She polishes off the tuskpir wrap and reaches for the songlotus cake. “This is so good! You’re telling me you never come here?”
“I’m busy,” he replies. “I have swordplay training every morning and strategy training with the General every afternoon.”
Yunli rolls her eyes. “I know you’re like, aggressively formal, but I’m the only person here. You don’t have to call him General.”
He furrows his brow. “What else would I call him? He’s the Arbiter General of the Luofu, it’s only respectful if I refer to him as such.”
“I don’t know, like, Dad. Father, because you’re weird like that. He’s your parent,” she scowls, and the bitterness in her voice is almost palpable, “and yet you treat him like he’s this—this paragon, this figure that deserves nothing but the utmost respect.”
“He’s not my dad,” Yanqing bites back. “I’m his retainer. It’s different. You don’t see Moze or Healer Jiaoqiu of the Yaoqing going around calling General Feixiao mom, now do you?”
She stares at him, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “What do you mean he’s not your dad? You live with him. He trains you personally. He invites you to play starchess with him regularly.”
“How do you know that?” Yanqing asks, and she merely shrugs. “Whatever. Of course he invests time into me, Yunli. When I perform well it reflects well on the Luofu and on him as a leader. Of course he wants me to do well.”
“It’s really fucking sad,” she says bluntly, “that you have someone who cares about you like that and you insist on acting like he views you as an investment. Do you know how many people would kill for a dad like General Jing Yuan? Do you know how lucky you are to have someone who cares about you like he does?”
Yanqing stands up abruptly, pushing the last of the food towards Yunli. “We’re done here. I don’t want to talk to you any more.”
As he starts to stalk off, he hears her call out, “Wait!” like it physically pains her. He faces her as she grimaces and says, “I’m… sorry. That was uncalled for.”
He stares at her, unimpressed. “Do I need to call the Ten-Lords Commission?”
“To arrest me?”
“To exorcise you of the heliobus that has clearly possessed you.”
“I’m sorry,” she repeats, louder this time. “I was told that you were Jing Yuan’s son. I didn’t realize it was more complicated than that.”
He is amazed by how bitter she manages to sound, how even as she apologizes she still seems to be biting back anger. Yanqing cannot fathom what he has done to annoy her this much, because she has been the one doing all the annoying this entire time.
“You’re not forgiven,” he says, but he sits back down across from her anyway. “Who told you I was his son?”
“Everyone,” she replies, waving a dismissive hand as she continues to scarf down the food in front of her. “I think you’re the only person who doesn’t think he’s your dad.”
“Yeah, because I’m sure your dad only invites you over for lunch when he wants someone to beat at starchess.” He reaches over and morosely picks up the second skewer that Yunli has, miraculously, still left untouched.
Yunli rolls her eyes. “I don’t have a dad, dumbass. He died. And he sucked and was crazy, so, you know.”
Some of the pieces begin to slot together for Yanqing. Why Yunli was so angry that he didn’t seem to appreciate General Jing Yuan’s love for him.
He thinks, maybe, that Yunli is just as desperate for affection as he is. That she’s jealous of him and his relationship with the General because she wants that. That maybe even someone as kind as General Huaiyan can still be distant, can still not have time for a young girl who just wants someone to be proud of her.
He thinks that maybe he and Yunli are not so different, in the grand scheme of things.
“It could be worse,” he says, hesitantly, an olive branch he’s not even sure he wants to give out. “I can’t imagine General Feixiao as being the motherly type.”
Yunli snorts. “Could you imagine having to deal with Healer Jiaoqiu and Moze every day too? No thanks.”
“I’ve never met them, I’ve only heard about them. Are they really that bad?”
She scrunches her nose up. “Worse. The three of them visited the Zhuming for one or two days prior to us leaving for the Wardance festival here, and I’m pretty sure Healer Jiaoqiu threatened Moze’s life six or seven times, and also, I walked in on them making out.”
Yanqing spits out the bite of berrypheasant skewer he’s just taken. “You what?”
“It was awful,” she says, demonstrating her point by pretending to gag. “And when I told the Arbiter General about it, she just laughed it off. I told Grandpa too, and he just sighed and told me to stay away from the two of them.” Yunli shudders. “No amount of training that General Feixiao could provide is worth risking seeing that again.”
“Diviner Fu is dating one of the Divination Commission officers,” Yanqing says, because General Jing Yuan has always taught him that gossip is to be repaid in kind. “I overheard her arguing with the General about it one day. I think he was making fun of her, but I couldn’t tell.”
Yunli’s eyes light up. Now this, this is a time-honored Xianzhou tradition, gossip. Both Yunli and Yanqing were raised to appreciate the back and forth of who is dating who, who got fired from where, who pissed off which Commission head. Here they are on equal footing. “I heard that your Sergeant Sushang from the Yaoqing is with that short-life redhead streamer girl.”
“It’s true,” he confirms, and Yunli laughs. “They’re really cute, too. They act like my older sisters.”
“I wanna spar with her,” she says. “It seems like it would be a lot of fun.”
Yanqing shrugs. “I’m sure if you asked, she would let you. But Guinaifen would probably want to film it.”
They go back and forth like this for a bit until all the food has vanished and they are running out of things to gossip about. This is the least annoying Yunli has been all day.
The artificial sun is setting over Aurum Alley by the time they finish their food, and for once, Yanqing finds himself wishing he didn’t have to go back to training. Not necessarily because of the company—he would be lying if he said Yunli and him were friends by any definition of the word—but because he, for once in his life, does not feel like Cloud Knight Lieutenant Yanqing.
He and Yunli are not friends, no, and he would hesitate to say that he even likes her, but he likes to think maybe they understand each other a bit better now. And he owes her a thanks he can’t quite articulate for dragging him away from training, for distracting him from his own inner turmoil with her ridiculous teasing and baiting him to try and snap at her.
Instead of thanks, he says, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning for our training with March 7th,” and hopes it gets the message across anyway.
“See you then, twinkle toes.”
Definitely not friends.