Eternal Love Oneshots & Snippets

Chronicles of the North Sea (贰)

"Zhi Yue...are you sure about this?" 

Yuan Zhen hesitated, but Zhi Yue only frowned, "It's not like I'm bringing our marriage forward. I'm merely asking you to let me see her Majesty, Yuan Zhen. Surely you can do me a favour?" "But...her Majesty is the Heavenly Lady. Besides, Mother is very protective of her Majesty. I'm afraid your plan isn't very plausible." Yuan Zhen pursed his lips, "Furthermore, you promised you'd stop. We're already engaged, why do you still care about Bai Feng Jiu and Di Jun?"

"Zhen'er, just this once? I'll stop after this." Zhi Yue pleaded, and even though Yuan Zhen wasn't too sure that his fiance would keep to her promise, he obliged with a nod at last, "Alright, alright. I'll let you into Mother's room if they're meeting there. But just this once, Zhi Yue, alright?"

She squealed in gratitude, she kissed his cheeks with a smile.

She thanked him, and she hugged him.

But behind all, her lips pulled into a smirk, one that went unnoticed by the clueless Yuan Zhen, and one that seemingly brought an impending sense of doom...

•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•▪︎•

"Gugu, didn't you go with his Majesty to the military room?"

"Interesting question. Didn't you go with Sang Ji?"

Finding Bai Qian in her room was the last thing Shao Xin had expected to find when she returned back in defeat. She had been about to collapse on the bed when she had realised that her sheets were irrationally white, and after closer examination, the snake spirit had found out quickly enough that the fluffy layer of white was not her blanket, but instead Bai Qian's nine fox tails spread across her bed as Bai Qian sat next to the bed, reading a scroll.

"He chased me out of the room again. I don't understand the planning, so I'm just a burden." Shaoxin sighed, sitting down at the edge that was spared from Bai Qian's tails, and Bai Qian shifted herself slightly, so that Shao Xin would have some place to sit, before she cleared her throat. "That pill that you gave me yesterday..." Bai Qian suddenly put on a nonchalant tone, "Do...do you have anymore?"

"I do, of course." Shao Xin grinned, but her grin was not without a catch: "Gugu, you must be truthful; do you know, or do you not?" "Know what? I know nothing." Bai Qian skillfully avoided the question, before she held out her palm, "Give me the pills." "Alright, alright." Shao Xin handed her the pill reluctantly, disappointed that she had not been able to coax anything from Bai Qian's lips, "Gugu, do you want to go for a tour again?"

Shao Xin had thought that Bai Qian would agree, but to her surprise, the Heavenly Lady waved her hand, and a set of black and white pieces appeared. Lifting her confused gaze to Bai Qian, Shao Xin hoped Bai Qian was not for real, but the next thing she knew, the Heavenly Lady opened her lips and spoke simply:

"Let's play a few rounds of chess, then. I do want to see if your skills have improved at all."

...

"Gugu, this is so boring...you obviously know I'm terrible at chess!"

Shao Xin conceded after a mere round of chess. "No way, Shao Xin. You used to be better than this!" Bai Qian laughed, even as she reorganised the pieces into their various colours and tossed them into their own containers, and Shao Xin groaned at Bai Qian's laughing, "Aiya, don't mention that anymore, Gugu, that's so embarrassing..." "What's embarrassing, Mother?" Bai Qian had been about to say something when the doors to the room were flung open, and Bai Qian blinked at the newcomer in surprise, before she turned to Shao Xin, "This is...?" "Zhi Yue." Shao Xin sighed, wishing she could bury her head into her hands, "Yuan Zhen's fiancé."