TIAN GUAN CI FU Fan fic stories

THOUSAND GOLD COME-AND-GO STEW

CHAPTER 1

Xie Lian blinked up from his position, kneeling on the floor of Paradise Manor's main hall.

With his arms crossed, Hua Cheng stared down at him and raised a brow. It was a long, silent moment before he spoke:

"And you are?"

For a moment, startled by that bored, frigid look from Hua Cheng—the likes of which had only ever been directed at other people—Xie Lian was speechless. Quickly gathering his wits, however, he bowed his head.

"Greetings, Chengzhu," Xie Lian said. "Apologies for the intrusion. I've been gifted to you by the heavens as a..."

His voice caught.

"I mean, to—"

Xie Lian's cheeks suddenly felt hot, and his palms grew damp under the rope binding his arms together. Beneath Hua Cheng's piercing stare from above, he lost his cool.

"As your," he stammered. "Um, as—well—if you want, I've been sent to you as—I'm here to be your—"

🥮

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Feng Xin and Mu Qing shouted together, slapping their hands down on the table.

Xie Lian scrambled for his tea. "Careful, you'll knock something over—"

"XIE LIAN!"

"YOUR HIGHNESS!"

"I hear you, I hear you, you don't have to shout!" Xie Lian carefully cleaned off the table. "Why not? It's just San Lang."

Feng Xin held his head. "JUST San Lang? Holy shit, you really don't get it—"

"He was only tame around you because it was you," Mu Qing said sharply. "You have no idea what it's like to face him when he's not doting over you. Now that he doesn't even know who you are, he'll treat you the same as everyone else."

"You guys don't know him," Xie Lian insisted. "Whether or not he knows who I am, he's not an unreasonable person. If I just explain the situation—"

Mu Qing stared at him like he had three heads. "If someone came up to you and said 'kiss me and you'll remember we were married,' would you do it?"

Xie Lian was about to retort, but he was interrupted by a nearby voice:

"They're right."

The three turned to see Mei Nianqing set down his cards. Yin Yu, sitting across from him, put down his cards as well.

Mu Qing rolled his eyes. "Welcome to the conversation, Guoshi. Did you win?"

"Don't be RUDE, young man! I stopped because I was obviously about to win, so there was no more point. Apologies, Your Highness Yin Yu, I have trouble reining in my skills sometimes." He swept the remaining cards off the table with sweaty hands. "As I was saying: they're right, Your Highness. It isn't that this ghost king of yours simply doesn't remember you, like those nice stories where you hold his hand or make his favorite food and he says, didn't you make me this congee when I was sick once?, and everything is all better. It's like you've NEVER met."

"Not only that, Your Highness," Yin Yu added quietly. "The curse affected every ghost in ghost city, too. All he has to do is ask a fellow ghost, and they'll say you're lying."

Xie Lian put his fist to his chin, thinking deeply. "But something must have stayed, even with a curse like this. After all, he rose to power over ghost city for a reason. Wouldn't he wonder why? There must be a hole in his memory."