The One who Stayed

Chapter 1

A/N no characters are mine. I might've popped a few OCs in. I'm sorry, I'm not Chinese so things may not be accurate haha. Also I'm only on book 3 in TGCF so please notify me if there're things wrong with the way the characters are portrayed. This fic isn't related to canon much (except characters obv) so I shouldn't need to worry too much about that.
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"Birds flying in the sky as one; branches growing on the earth as one."

在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理
枝。
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『 Two years and 11 months after the downfall 』

Cold hands found their way to the other's heart. A murmur. The heartbeat was steady. Mu Qing was warm, and didn't comment on Feng Xin's icy touch.

"I'm leaving."

Mu Qing immediately withdrew, away from the tangled hands. His eyes widened, but his expression turned unreadable almost instantly. He didn't say anything. Instead, waited for Feng Xin to continue. Inside, although he was careful not to let it show, he was in turmoil. He expected this...was what he told himself.

"You don't have anything to say, huh?! You thought I would just forget about....It was the king I served. I can't forgive you for this. So fuck it, I'm leaving."

He turned and left through the curtain of ivy, steeling himself and trying not to look back. Inevitably, his eyes flicked back. Mu Qing was simply standing, controlled and seemingly reactionless. Anger rose, choking Feng Xin as he kept walking.

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『 One year before the downfall 』

Feng Xin bowed in front of the king, head down obediently.

The king smiled, an almost awkward look on his face. Despite his long reign, he was blessed with a fair, youthful face and eyes brimming with wisdom. Apparently, he had still not grown accustomed to all the bowing and prostrating.

"Thank you..." his voice came.

Feng Xin remained bowed, waiting for the king's instruction to stand. He was willing to serve, although repeating  this ordeal would be energy-consuming. When at last he was permitted to raise his head, his eyes unintentionally flicked over the prince.

From the look of it, he was the king's son, although they did not share similar features at all. Feng Xin didn't question it, but was immediately irked when the prince was so obviously glaring at him.

'Perhaps he always looks like that, face set in a permanent bitch face,' Feng Xin thought spitefully.

He had come across the prince many times while he completed daily duties around the palace, none of the integer actions pleasant. Mu Qing was his name as Feng Xin recalled. A prince not known for generous acts or exceptional diplomacy, but renowned for his dismissive nature and arrogance.

Feng Xin had heard a few circulating rumours here and there. He didn't pay much attention to those things, it wasn't his place to be engaging in such stories, and to be honest, he didn't care much. The gist of it was that Mu Qing wasn't a proper prince, taken in by the king because he could not produce heirs—

Feng Xin coughed, bringing his thoughts to a halt. He silently cussed himself out for thinking such things about the king. He turned his attention back to the king's words, and realised other court members were chiming into the conversation.

"—training of the new cadets will be placed on your shoulders then, my loyal soldier and friend," the king said.

Feng Xin, who has not been listening, jumped a little at the words. He was used to training new soldiers anyway, so what was special about this occasion? He listened closely when others chimed in.