Til Death Do Us Part (Yanqing x Yunli)

Chapter 2: Hardest Fumble in the History of Fumbles

At a small food stall situated in the busy streets of Aurum Alley, the old stall owner was bustling away, making fresh fruit skewers for their reoccurring customers. By the end of the stall owner's work, there were 11 fruit skewers prepared, and 10 of them were given to the lady, while one was given to the gentleman.

Yanqing, holding his singular fruit skewer, looked at Yunli who was already eating one of the skewers on her left hand.

"...Are you not gonna pay first?"

Yunli took another bite while staring at her half-eaten skewer, not paying any attention to Yanqing.

"Showry, my handsch arr foo."

Yanqing sighed, and handed out the payment for the fruit skewers towards the stall owner. The stall owner frantically waved his hands as if to say no.

"I-It's free, young general!"

Yanqing gave an indecisive look.

"Ehh... are you sure?"

"I-It's fine! Ever since the young general of the Luofu and the young general of the Zhuming kept coming to my stall for fruit skewers, my business has been booming! All my fruit skewers are free, just for the two of you!!!"

Yanqing was slightly taken aback by the insistence of the food stall owner, and pulled his entire body back in surprise. Afterwards, he kept the money he had in his hand back inside his pockets, and let out a huge sigh before politely thanking the stall owner. Yunli also thanked the stall owner, but in a very casual way.

"He's shaid thagt dhey werr furee manghy thimes beforr, dhidn't he?"

"I know, I just... *sigh* "

Yanqing proceeded to shake his head, as he and Yunli continued to walk around Aurum Alley.

After their short walk, Yanqing and Yunli made it back to a spot in the palace where Yanqing lived, where only the highly-ranked generals and guests were allowed to be in. The spot was an open garden of sorts, with two chairs and a table located in the middle of the garden. It was now a few hours before midnight, and the moonlight shines directly at the table. There was grass all around, and even a small pond with large fishes swimming inside. On the table were two cups of hot beverages, and a board game that resembles a game of chess. Both Yanqing and Yunli were sat on the chairs, and both of them were looking intently at the chessboard. Yanqing was sitting with one leg on the chair and his back against the chair rest, while Yunli was sitting with her elbows both resting on the table, with one hand on her chin.

"So what do you think about today's meeting?" Yanqing said as he sipped on his cup of hot tea.

"You mean the Xianzhou Merger Project? Or the lack of control over the foxian mating seasons?"

Yunli continued keeping her eyes on the board, as Yanqing rolled his eyes.

"You know what I'm talking about."

Yunli scoffed.

"I think... if your beloved general and my grandpa could actually pull this off, we'd be reading about this in our history books."

Yunli moved a piece on the board, and Yanqing stood his back up from the chair rest, moving his concentration back to the board as he started to speak.

"The Xianzhou ships... set sailed to find the seeds of immortality... only to find themselves uprooting it before it grew.
And after many long years, a merge between two ships was now in discussion."