Aftermath (A series of ELOD one-shots)

XXX. Enchantress

A/N: Inspired by the infamous cave scene, where FJ was reflecting on her lack of seductive skills despite having been married twice, widowed once, and having one failed marriage (at least in the book). On the other hand, DH was congratulating himself for having "very perceptive eyes", even as he marveled on the beauty that was his chosen queen*. These two, really!

First part takes place before FJ gave birth; the second, about half a year after. Both are set in Qingqiu. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Lovely artwork above not mine.  Credit goes to the rightful owner.

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Ever since Fengjiu chose Taichen Palace as her primary residence, staying in her native Qingqiu became a yearly affair, coinciding with Donghua's annual seclusion in Bihai Cangling.

For around three to four months, she will take Gungun as she makes the rounds of the Eastern realms, meet visitors and hold court in the Fox Den, and accept social calls in their bamboo house, until Donghua arrives to fetch them. The two weeks or so after her husband's arrival are then spent in leisure, a vacation of sorts before they return to Jiuchongtian.

The arrangement worked well for both her and Donghua, for entirely different reasons. For her husband, the next safest place for her and Gungun when he is away is in her native Qingqiu, within the protective embrace of the Bai's large, extended family. In Fengjiu's case, time spent in Qingqiu, away from Donghua's shadow, is a great opportunity to flex her tails, so to speak, and prove her mettle to her subjects without the immediate influence of her formidable husband.

Not that Donghua ever interfered in Qingqiu matters, unless his counsel is expressly sought, or if you count those couple times that he stepped in when she was drowning in memorials, which culminated in the selection and appointment of Dai Zhenren as her retainer. But still, perception is different from reality, and giving the appearance of independence in her decisions is just as important as being actually independent.

At least, that was mostly the reason for Fengjiu's fondness of the arrangement. The other, lesser known one had something to do with the crowd of fairies who waited outside the fox den with offerings in hand each time she descends to Qingqiu.

In previous years, she granted audience to these subjects of hers upon the first week of her arrival, and made sure that all of them have been received at the early days of her Qingqiu stay. It didn't pose too much of a problem in the beginning, since there were only few visitors of this kind at first, but they seemed to multiply by the dozen as the years pass. Even then, she managed by having Dai Zhenren schedule them within the first two months, well before Donghua's arrival.

But this year she is pregnant, and Donghua had foregone his annual seclusion in favor of staying by her side nearly all the time until she gave birth. At first she thought of foregoing this year's Qingqiu visit, with the excuse that she is "on leave" from her queenly duties, but then realized that doing so would only make her appear more suspicious.

So she did the next best thing, and called for Dai Zhenren a week before the scheduled homecoming.

"Send word that I will not be accepting well-wishers for this year's visit, especially of that kind," she muttered, keeping her voice extra low just in case Donghua was nearby.