A marriage written in the stars

May heaven and earth strike us dead

Yo my dudes. Total apologies for the REALLY late chapter but I've put my sweat and tears and possibly a doughnut in here to bring you what is no doubt my longest chapter ever. I know I said that the previous chapter but this is 50% bigger than the other. More stuff to enjoy, WHOOP WHOOP!

Any of you hyped for DW9, I know I am after I saw that trailer. I honestly don't care about anything as long as the gameplay's good and Liu Shan's new look is as good as everybody else because HOT DAMN those are some spicy dumplings (dumplings, of course, referring to the glorious ass of Zhao Yun because DAMN SON). I may or may not have my priorities screwed up but that's OK because you guys will never hear about it again. Unless, of course, you are reading this. In which case, I apologise.

I know for the majority of you it's currently summer. Well, that sucks because it's winter here (curse you southern hemisphere) BUT that also means I'm on my holiday also. Expect the next chapter to come out PROMPTLY and hopefully not take me over two months to complete. Again, I apologise for the delay.

As I always say, your reviews are SUPER duper motivating and I am convinced now that they have replaced food as my mode of sustenance. I am cool with ALL the reviews, ANY reviews. You never know, your ideas MAY just pop up in a future chapter (hint hint ;) )

So to finish off, I don't own Dynasty Warriors or the company that makes them. I don't own Liu Shan or Xingcai and I certainly do not own those magnificent dumplings we call Zhao Yun's ass. Apparently, you cannot own the body part of another person or something like that.

Chapter 10: May heaven and earth strike us dead

Xingcai did not know how her mother had found out about her rejection of Zhu Ling. Xingcai had been holding onto the smallest hope that she could take a break from the whirlwind of romance that she had endured and become accustomed to over the last few weeks. It was only when she arrived home after Zhu Ling and his party left and after supervising Liu Shan in his 'work out'—which was really just Liu Shan punching a dummy over and over again—that she realised how exhausted mentally she was. As much as she liked Zhu Ling and found his company pleasant, it truly was a lot of effort to try to appease him and become the woman that he expected—no, wanted—her to be. But, as the night time retreated and the morning light took its place, Xingcai's mother, Lady Xiahou, had since learnt that Xingcai was not in fact planning to marry Zhu Ling anytime soon. The sigh of relief that came out of Lady Xiahou was short-lived and the rest of breakfast was spent with Xingcai listening to her mother detail more upcoming dates for Xingcai, with one suitor already planned to meet her for lunch. Xingcai did not even get to finish her porridge before she was whisked away and pampered by her mother, all in preparation for her newest date.

Three days, four people who desired to court Xingcai, and zero patience left. Though none of these dates were not particularly bad neither were they memorable and as each date left, all self-satisfied in their own individual ways that they had secured some form of relationship with Xingcai and her family, her fatigue increased. It was not a physical fatigue but a mental one, one that she had feared would affect her work as a bodyguard. She supposed it was truly blessed fortune that Liu Shan was strangely easy to work with, following whatever orders she gave and with little to no argument, not even an aside comment. In the past she would think that perhaps it was just a coincidence or that maybe he could unconsciously sense her stress but now she knew better, knew that Liu Shan was perfectly aware of how she was feeling and was acting accordingly.

There was no denying the irony and the hypocrisy of her actions. Her self as a child would secretly be gleeful in delight if she knew so many people were attracted to her but now she found it was no more than a chore. Her self as the then-new vassal of Liu Shan would have found the emperor grating to work beside and yet she couldn't imagine not being by his side. Nowadays, she had found herself enjoying his presence more, had embraced his company. For in these turbulent times where everything could so easily be blown away in the wind, Liu Shan, one of the flightiest man Xingcai had ever known, had now become her rock. Her warm, comforting, handsome rock...