Aftermath (A series of ELOD one-shots)

III. Princely Education

A/N: Bai Gungun's adorable photo not mine

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When Bai Gungun first stepped into the Nine Heavens following his and his mother's return to the fairy world, the first thing he noticed were the stares.

He ignored it at first, more interested in exploring every nook and corner of the magnificent paradise that was to be his home in the foreseeable future.  His father's Taichen Palace is already so grand, but then he found that he also has unbridled access to his young uncle Ah Li's Qing'yun Palace, and to his great-uncle and great-aunt's Xiwu Palace, and even to the mansions of Aunt Cheng'yu, Lord Liansong, and Lord Siming.   Along with his favorite place of all, Bihai Cangling, and his mother's Qingqiu and the Ten Miles Peach Orchard, little Bai Gungun has so many playgrounds to explore, indeed.

But on his third week of being here, after tagging along with Brother Zhonglin in various errands around Jiuchongtian, Bai Gungun again felt the discomfort of being stared at and had enough.

He tugged at his chaperone's sleeves and asked, "Brother Zhonglin, why do they look like that at me?  Is my presence here so surprising?"

Zhonglin glanced around at the immortals coyly eyeing the young prince of Taichen Palace and smiled.  "Please don't take it personally, Your Highness.  There are not many young immortals here in the Nine Heavens, so they are curious about you."

Bai Gungun thought this over, and thought it made a lot of sense.  He figured he could ask his young uncle Ah Li later how he handled all the staring back when he was just the lone child in Jiuchongtian.   "How come there are so few children here, Brother Zhonglin?  In the mortal realm, there are lots of children in almost every world Mother and I went to."

"Uhhh..." Gungun had never seen his father's steward like this, shifty-eyed and grasping for answers.  "Young immortals are very special, Your Highness.  They grow at a much slower rate than mortals, too."

It sounded like an explanation yet caused so many more questions in Bai Gungun's mind, but at the point they reached one of the administrative buildings and Zhonglin was already talking to the courtiers.  There were so many interesting sights to see that Gungun forgot all about his questions for the rest of the day.

But a few days after, while being accompanied by Brother Qingti this time, they came across a group of immortals who all bowed down upon seeing Gungun.  "Greetings, Your Highness."

Gungun had seen people bow to his father-lord all the time, and to his mother too, although his mother sometimes bows back.  But this was the first time that Gungun had been bowed to, in his lonesome.  It took him a few moments, but eventually he got over his surprise and bowed down as well, as he had seen his mother do.  "Greetings, immortal brothers."

The group before him froze as  one.   Gungun frowned, and turned to Qingti with furrowed brows.  "Did I do something wrong?"

Qingti was a fairly new mortal official, and although he was aware that someone of Gungun's stature is not expected to bow down to immortal officials of this level, he did not know how to properly explain Jiuchongtian etiquette under the circumstances.  "Perhaps they were just amazed by your display of humility, Your Highness."

Gungun blinked in bewilderment.  He thought Brother Zhonglin's explanations were confusing, but it turned out that Brother Qingti's is even more so.  "But I was just being polite.  Am I not supposed to greet them back?"

Brother Qingti fumbled helplessly but failed to answer.  Gungun turned his attention to the immortals before him, but every single one of them remained speechless, still in that half-bowed position.  They looked even more unsure than he is.

"There you are, Gungun."

Gungun turned towards the familiar voice, a smile breaking across his face.  "Father!"  He cried, and bounded over to where Donghua Dijun stood a few yards away behind him and Qingti, and dove straight to his father's waiting arms.

His father-lord picked him up and settled him on his hip.  Then he swept a glance at the scene before him, surveying the immortal brothers who, for some reason, were bowing so much more deeply than before, knees shaking as if waiting for a rebuke.  Even Brother Qingti looked a little pale.

Gungun watched as his father slightly waved his hand to excuse the bowing immortals, who then all scurried away after murmuring another polite greeting to them both.  Brother Qingti left as well, after being told by his father, "Go on ahead, I will bring him home."

Later, as they walked hand-in-hand back to Taichen Palace, Gungun briefly related what happened and asked, "Why do they bow down to me, Father?"

His father-lord thought for a while and asked in return, "You don't like them bowing down to you?"

Gungun considered this.   What was it about the situation before that made him uncomfortable? "I don't like that they are doing so without reason."

"Hmm.  Then you should find the reason why, or make it so that they have a reason to."

So, upon returning to Taichen Palace, Gungun made his way to the study and gathered the thick bunch of scrolls on Jiuchongtian's rules and rituals meant for his mother's learning.  He set these on the small desk reserved for him, and spent the following weeks deeply engrossed in learning royal etiquette.

From her desk, surrounded by heaps of her own schoolwork, Fengjiu marveled at her son's dedication and remarked to Donghua, "This is just too weird. How come we have a child who cares so much about face?"

Donghua raised his eyes from the sutra he was poring over and smiled slightly at his son's serious countenance.  So young, and already so cunning, which is good.  "I think it's not so much as learning about how to save face, but when to use it to his advantage."