The queen of Qing Qiu

Part 2

After Bai Feng Jiu left the men in the hall they were served tea and Lian Song seeing Bai Yi talking on the far side of the room gritted his teeth. He hoped he wouldn't need to talk to the man until after the ceremony. Mo Yuan had been called over by high god Bai Zhen and high god Zhe Yan to catch up. Lian Song wanted to tell Mo Yuan why there was concern enough from his father that he had pulled this stunt and gotten Bai Feng Jiu to walk with them but it seemed he might never get the chance.

The truth was that Lian Song took the relationships between the Nine Heavens and all the other realms very serious. He was responsible for reporting on anything that might be concerning to Ye Hua and his father the Heavenly Lord but most of the time he was more than capable of taking care of things without any need to make it into an official political concern that needed to be brought to his fathers' attention.

The fact that the newly crowned fox queen hadn't set foot in the Nine Heavens since before she was crowned was starting to concern his father and himself which meant he needed to see what could be done. At first it was understood that her father high god Bai Yi and also a king in QingQiu had sent her to university for fifty years and that after she finished with the school she had returned to run the eastern realm of QingQiu under her grandfather and grandmother's guidance. Because of this no one had expected her to come to the councel meetings. Two rulers came each time to represent QingQiu and that was how it had always been so there was no reason to think much about it.

Lian Song later heard from Si Ming after Bai Feng Jiu returned that Bai Yi was still very concerned about his daughter having feelings for a certain god in the Nine Heavens and wanted to make sure she married a respectable immortal that could help her run things. She had been sent to High Immortal Cang Yi's against her will apparently and was so upset that she destroyed half of his home including a very large statue in his courtyard. The wedding was called off of course but Bai Yi had been furious. Finally with the fox empress insisting Bai Yi agreed that he would not try to force her into marriage again as long as she could prove that she would no longer handle herself as she had in the past with Dijun and was able to run QingQiu on her own by the time Bai Qian was married.

He had never heard of any other marriage proposals so he assumed things were going well for the new queen. He knew that Bai Feng Jiu did sneak and visit Cheng Yu in Nine Heavens on occasion with only a few people knowing, himself included. He had made it a point to stop by and visit the last two times he heard that she was there and he had noticed such a change in her that he had later asked Cheng Yu if her friend was alright. Cheng Yu who he expected to yell at him for butting his nose in had instead said she was worried about Feng Jiu. She had told him that she never seemed to laugh anymore and that she always looked depressed when she showed up to visit her. This had concerned him because he liked the young fox queen and thought her such a breath of fresh air whenever she had been around before. He wondered if the change was simply because of the stress of taking over as the queen or if it was something more. He decided to see what he could find out incase he might be able to help.

What he discovered was that she had not only impressed her father but all her family as well. Her grandparents were more than ready to hand over complete control to her. Once Bai Qian was married they would be leaving to travel and she would be on her own so to speak. It was also said she and her father had made up and that father and daughter were much closer now. Her father was a very stubborn, proud, strong and sometimes severe god and his only child had managed to make him very proud which meant that he trusted her judgement as queen. She was the youngest Queen QingQiu had ever had and was very much loved by her people. He wondered if her change in demeanor was simply do to her fathers' teaching, if so it was not his business to say anything.

Then at the last councel meeting between the tribes the fox emperor Bai Zhi had anounced that he was transferring his title to his second son Bai Yi. Bai Zhi and his wife would take on the role of a retired emperor and empress, sort of like Dong Hua, and that Bai Yi would now be emperor of QingQiu. Of course it was mentioned by someone that the hierarchy might be unfare with the emperor having his daughter as queen but the fox clan had taken offense to the comment and it was quickly taken back and punishment given to the member who spoke out. Lian Song had been smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself but the concern was a valid one. QingQiu was divided into five regions or realms. Bai Zhi as emperor had given each of his five children control over one region. They would be the monarch of their region with the emperor and empress having final say over the land and handling most issues concerning outside relationships with the other realms. Now with the king of the northern most region having his daughter be queen of the eastern realm and having the finale say over the other three regions the hierarchy could definity be an issue. However to say it out loud would be an insult to the fox clan. They were known for their loyalty to each other and their home so it didn't matter to them who was given the title.

The concern to the other realms now was just how much influence did the new queen have with her father the new emperor and why did she never come to any councel meetings. Everyone, including the Heavenly Lord now wanted to make sure the queen was on good terms with them. Secretly Lian Song had a concern that Feng Jiu's new dislike of Nine Heavens might be shared with her father. He knew Bai Yi wanted his daughter to stay away from Nine Heavens for a couple of reasons, one of them had to do with the love trial the crown princess had gone through but Bai Qian had managed to calm her family down after they learned of the SuSu trial, Lian Song shook his head remembering those days wasn't good for anyone. The other reason Bai Yi didn't want his daughter in Nine Heavens was of course because of Dijun.

Lian Song had racked his brain for the past month trying to figure out how best to deal with this issue and he had come up with nothing! The feelings and past hurts between Bai Feng Jiu and the former ruler of Heaven and Earth Dong Hua Dijun wasn't something he could fix. He felt horrible about the teasing he had given her when she was younger and staying in Nine Heavens. He hadn't known how stubborn those fox's were or just how much she really would end up loving Dijun. Had he known at the time about the three lives rock he would have acted much different. Now all he could do was try to find a way to convince her that she could come to Nine Heavens and still have a nice time with her friends and family. Cheng Yu had let it slip that Bai Feng Jiu held some resentment toward her aunt and that she didn't speak to her as much anymore which could be a problem. He would have to make sure that she had no choice but to come spend time in Nine Heavens and hope for the best. So knowing her habit of sneaking in and out of Cheng Yu's he had no doubt that the young queen would sneak out of the banquet and be home before anyone knew it. He had finally come up with a fool proof way of making sure that she not only attended the ceremony but stayed, or at least for the first night. He had hoped to recruit Si Ming and Mo Yuan to help but again that didn't appear to be an option at the moment.

While Lian Song had been going through all of this in his head he hadn't been paying attention to the people around him until Bai Yi was standing just infront of him. "Lian Song greets your highness high god Bai Yi" He said while cupping his hands and bowing in respect to the new emperor.

Bai Yi waved and said, "No need for formalities." He was about to ask Lian Song if he had seen where Xiao Jiu had gone to but then Bai Zhen, Zhe Yan and Mo Yuan all came over and there were greetings all around. Then Zhe Yan said with a laugh. "Bai Yi why didn't you tell us that Xiao Jiu would be chaperoning old Mo Yuan today?"

"What are you talking about?" Bai Yi asked.

"Well apparently the heavenly father thought that Xiao Jiu would like to join the bridal procession. So she will be leading the way for Xiao Wu to Nine Heavens." He said but added, "Of course I'm sure it's really because he was afraid that this ancient relic might need help." He teased his old friend the god of war.

Lian Song had the distinct impression that he was not the only one anxious to see what Bai Yi thought of this news. To his great relief Bai Yi only thought it odd but didn't seem very concerned with it. "Hmm, well as long as Feng Jiu doesn't mind why should we." He had said.

It was then that Bai Feng Jiu returned.