The King's Mate - Part 1: Banyue

Chapter 37

PLEASE READ because I got some news for you lol

First of all, I have a shiny new beta, sajii.chan, joining my trusty old beta Cobyah (both on ao3). And I just wanna say a huge thanks to both of them for helping me out with this 🥺🥺🥺💖💖💖💖

Second of all, I'm gonna go on a bit of a break. Not right now, don't worry xD
I'll finish the first part of this story and go on break once I posted chapter 40. It's just that I didn't have the time to write as much as I need to in order to keep up my posting schedule and I need to get ahead several chapters again in order to maintain it. Work won't allow me to get any writing done this month either, because my work schedule has turned to utter shit for the next few weeks and sleep is honestly more important to me than writing lol
I'm gonna give you more details on when I'll resume updating on another chapter, because this note is already long af lol sorry 😅😅

Anyway, you're warned about the break now, so .... enjoy the chapter .... or not lol idek 💀

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The night Xie Lian realised they'd been travelling in the wrong direction from the very beginning, he had to make a decision.

Should he go on to change their route and keep going towards Guishi, even though it was the middle of autumn already, and they would most likely end up travelling halfway through winter if they had to go on by foot... or should he turn tail, and return to Banyue?

Regarding travel circumstances it was definitely wiser to return to Banyue, however... he didn't know what the current situation in Banyue was like. The king had been missing for almost two years now, and the rest of the royal family had left the palace. By the time they'd get back there, it would be about half a year since they'd set out, and there was no way of telling what was going on there.

Mei NianQing had no reason to let them back into the palace in the first place. Sure, he'd gotten along well with his dance mentor while Hua Cheng had been in power, but Xie Lian still remembered the way the Guoshi had talked about Hua Cheng, and he couldn't help but think that he would be ill-advised to return to that place.

In the end, Xie Lian decided to continue their journey to Guishi. While the outcome was equally as uncertain, Guishi wasn't the capital, at least not yet, and he had better chances of finding out what happened to Hua Cheng there than he did back in Banyue.

Xie Lian came to regret his decision a few weeks later when the first snow started to fall.

In the beginning, Ruoye and E'ming had been completely fascinated by these small, fluffy flakes falling from the sky, and they quickly figured out how to build snowballs, as well as how to use those balls as ammunition. At first, Xie Lian was glad for the distraction it provided, and he was elated to finally see his beloved children laugh again. But only a few days later E'ming had fallen ill with a very high fever and a bad cough.

They had to stay at an inn for almost two weeks, in which Xie Lian could only do his best not to panic while trying to nurse his baby boy back to health. The fever was very stubborn however, and he dearly wished for Shi QingXuan's presence during that time. But his friend and doctor had no way of coming here anytime soon, even if he sent a letter to him, so Xie Lian was left to his own devices.

It took a whole week for the fever to break, and the aftermath left his baby exhausted and tired, and all Xie Lian could do was to try and be there for him. Ruoye helped a lot as well, making sure to always get food for the both of them when Xie Lian simply couldn't bear to leave his son's side. He'd almost forgotten how fragile E'ming had been during his first few months on this earth, but seeing his small form lie in this bed, which was made for adults to begin with, he was reminded so much of the tiny, helpless newborn he'd been only a few short years ago, and he couldn't help but blame himself for putting this little creature through such a strenuous journey. Xie Lian really deserved to be whipped for his string of bad decisions, he thought.