A marriage written in the stars

Eccedentesiast

Yo everybody. It's been a month and a half but the new chapter is up. I would've thought that my motivation for this series would go up when the holidays started but turns out excessive eating and gifts can kinda clog up the creative mindset. Who would've thunk?

As of when this chapter comes out both Xingcai and Liu Shan's informal outfits came out and I'm...mixed. I mean, Xingcai's hot, no doubt, but Liu Shan is...well...eh. The robes are nice, it's just that they don't suit his baby face. Also now Liu Shan fishes in the newest (third) trailer...apparently. I had this in-joke on my tumblr that because Liu Shan canonically is very bad with animals that he'd also suck at fishing so to see Liu Shan fish successfully makes me...proud I guess? Like, go you, man who sucks with every other animal apart from fish apparently. You've already exceeded my expectations, Liu Shan. You really did. (Side note: I may or may not have been gaping at his backside for half an hour when he showed up on the trailer)

I will be having a mini-vacation from christmas to New Year's but I mean, it's only a week. I'm already making headway on the next chapter so hopefully it will come out next month at roughly the same time.

Once again, I'm always super excited whenever someone likes or comments this story because honestly, I need constant validation that I'm NOT the only Liu Shan fan out there. Liu Shan needs love, Xingcai also needs love, and this author may not need it but it sure would be nice XD. So thanks to the old and new followers of the story, the casual onlookers and the hardcore fans. The DW fandom is pretty big despite how unknown the game is and hopefully we can come together bit by bit as the christmas season rolls in and Valentines' Day (when DW9 releases) is upon us.

I don't own KOEI, Dynasty Warriors or Liu Shan. Although according to the internet, I own a Chevrolet, own three cats, and my husband is the guy who played Gomez Addams in the Addams family...none of that is true but if the internet SAYS it's true, well...OK

Chapter 14: Eccedentesiast

Nobody expected the cold front to come in that day. When the grey clouds rolled in, bringing in both rain and an unexpectedly frigid rain, the topic of the weather was on everybody's lips. The religious and the fanatical called it an omen from Xuanwu, the black tortoise. They proclaimed that it represented an attack from the North, the cold wintery wind coming from the North an obvious sign of the god's influence. The farmers found relief in the rain as it quelled their fears of a bad dry spell in the coming summer, reassuring them that they may feed their families a few more days. Those of the court held a darker view as with the preparations for the Jin guests' departure currently underway, they thought that this was a sign that allying with Jin would bring Wei's wrath along with it or, worse yet, that Jin would betray them.

To Xingcai however, it was merely a nuisance. Because it meant that she lost her only excuse to avoid today's date.

So far the men Xingcai had encountered were nice if not to her liking—barring the awful Bu Zhuo, that is— but the date her mother had planned for her today was one she had dreaded for weeks. She only ever knew the man in question as Lord Wen. He was a minor official of a small town, which meant two things: he was well off, and he was influential. Two things every parent would look for in their daughter's husband. But that was all that was good about him. Amongst his peers he had a reputation of ill repute. Rumours spread of his addiction to alcohol. His pale skin was said to be clammy and sweaty no matter the weather, and it was known far and wide that even in this society, where men dominated all society, that he was a misogynist of the worst caliber, abusing women who dare to look at him the wrong way. His reputation was almost as bad as Liu Shan's but the difference was that Xingcai knew Liu Shan was a kind and gentle man who truly thinks of his people above all else. The rumours about Liu Shan were false.