Chapter Text
It was a beautiful day on Qing Jing Peak. Binghe had cooked breakfast and peppered Shen Qingqiu with soft wet kisses before taking off for palace business. The sweet scents of bamboo and nondescript flower petals wafted through the air. Bright colored birds soared overhead through the clear sky above the pavilion where the disciples were gathered for today’s guqin lesson. There was only one cloud in the sky - one tiny, insignificant little shadow hanging over Shen Qingqiu’s otherwise lovely afternoon, and that shadow was shaped like an Airplane. The little rat had been weaseling his way further and further into Shen Qingqiu’s life on Qing Jing when Binghe was away and Mobei was busy.
Shang Qinghua leaned his elbows onto his knees and nodded lackadaisically to the woman sitting and strumming her instrument across from him. “Hey, Ning-shizhi, would you repeat that thing where you slap the side of the wood after you pluck an open string? I want to hear it again.”
Ning Yingying straightened her spine. She looked around at her classmates for a moment, the slight hint of pinkness forming on her cheeks, but then laughed.
“I suppose it is this disciple’s own fault that she let Shang-shishu catch her daydreaming and let her form become sloppy. Begging forgiveness for my slip of the hand - I’ll improve my concentration for the future.” Her shoulder slumped a little. Shen Qingqiu breathed a sharp breath out of his nose.
“No, no, Ning-shizhi has it all wrong, that’s not what I-” Shang Qinghua lifted his hands, only to find himself rounded on with a face full of sour cucumber.
Shen Qingqiu poked a bony finger into Shang Qinghua’s sternum. “You have a lot of nerve to criticize my students, Shang-shidi. I mean really… You?” The sheer derision spoken into the last word made it feel like being called a broken piece of a soggy noodle.
“Cuc–Shen shixiong, YOU’RE criticizing ME constantly, but when you think I’m critical of someone else, suddenly that’s not allowed? How is that fair?” Shang Qinghua folded his arms over his chest.
“Disciple Ning has been practicing her instrument with dedication for 20 shichen every week,” Shen Qingqiu hissed, “You whined in my general direction until I acquiesced to let you sit in on these lessons, but you can’t be bothered to even pick up an instrument and try to learn something yourself. Now it seems you can’t even manage to keep quiet and not disrupt my students.”
“But bro, I’m not the one who - ”
“Silence. If I could assign you 20 laps around the peak, I would. As it stands…” Shen Qingqiu snapped his fan open, promising violence when they were away from the disciples. “I’ll just issue this order, instead: Get off my peak, you useless hack!”
“I wasn’t trying to pick on her, bro! It just sounded like she was slapping the bass - and if you would have just let me talk for one second, you’d both know I was into it, actually! Like…” He leaned over the disciple next to him to pluck at their qin, trying to replicate Ning Yingying’s action with inferior sounding results. The disciples, even the little ones, were all looking down their noses at him like a perfect row of unimpressed mini-cucumbers. Shang Qinghua could only WISH his peak was capable of such a united front. He continued, “Well, uh not exactly like that. But it could sound good, for real! Truth be told I was never trained to play any instruments, but I’m a great listener. To, uh… music. Heh. A real appreciator of the arts, you could say. A lover, not a hater like some critics can b-!”
“Out.”
Shang Qinghua sighed, finally relenting, and muttered “OK. I think I got enough of what I came for, anyway.”
Shen Qingqiu narrowed his eyes, watching the little man disappear on his sword until he was only an unsightly pinprick in the distant sky. It seemed he wasn’t just bothering Qing Jing because he had nothing better to do. Airplane was up to something, and that never boded well. Perhaps he had been somewhat hard on Airplane. Despite both of them moving on from bad memories of the abyss stuff, the first day of absence from Binghe always did put him in a little bit of a mood.
…
Shen Qingqiu had quite forgotten that annoying music lesson with Shang Qinghua, and the puzzling words he had spoken. A month later, he was reminded of the incident when a piece of that strange puzzle landed on his peak near the cold pool pavilion, demanding his best tea and company.
Qi Qingqi held an odd letter in her hands written on silver reflective paper, and a satisfied expression on her face. She made herself comfortable and sipped the tea quietly for a long while, but Shen Qingqiu didn't mind. If she was trying to provoke him, it wasn’t going to work. He knew she could never bring herself to visit without at least a little gossip, so he gave her the space to begin speaking at her leisure. When it became apparent that Shen Qingqiu wasn't going to become frustrated or ask her what this was about, Qi Qingqi finally spoke up.
“My girls brought me this very intriguing invitation from An Ding Peak today…”
Shen Qingqiu moved to snatch the letter in one quick motion. Qi Qingqi raised an eyebrow in amusement but did not attempt to stop him.
“As you can see, I had good reason to bring it to you.” She took a long sip of tea while Shen Qingqiu read. “Namely, because I was told not to in the most bullheaded sort of way. Perhaps next time Shang shixiong wants me to actually keep his secrets, he’ll have learned to bribe me with something better than the kind of trash he sent this time.” She pulled a black glass vase from her sleeve with a motif of some demonic conflict painted in deep blue. “It’s not even in my peak’s color scheme. What a hack.”
Shen Qingqiu's lip twitched up at the comment. Deciding to mirror her speech in kind, he rolled his eyes and sighed, “Ugh… men. Eternally clueless.”
They both stared at each other for a moment before bursting out laughing. Qi Qingqi was really nothing at all like Shen Mei, the little sister from his previous life, but she seemed to fill out the role of sister well. She was more than just a coworker or neighbor, and a more comfortable friend than most of the Qing generation of Peak Lords.
Shen Qingqiu normally wouldn't do this outside of the privacy of his own home, but the lightness of the atmosphere and the deserted pavilion prompted him to clear his throat and read the letter in a voice mocking the An Ding Lord’s panicked squeaking.
“To my esteemed Qi Shimei,
I’m hosting a small party up in the Flashing Mirrors Hidden Realm, and you can come if you want. In one week’s time there’ll be a mirror on my reception desk. Just touch it to be transported inside. You can bring some of your girls if you want. Plus ones from outside the sect are also fine (including big tiddy demon girl GFs, since there will already be demons there from my King’s palace. Just so you’re aware it’s perfectly cool.)
Dress is festive casual - something you can move and dance in. Masks and shiny trinkets are encouraged but optional. Don’t think I’ll throw anyone out for violations unless they’re straight up naked, haha. I’m not worried about it with you, Qi-shimei.
A few other peaks are getting invites. Even though I said you can bring who you want, I do ask that you keep this a secret from Qing Jing and Shen Qingqiu. I really don’t want him to hear about this, I’m serious. I trust your discretion in this sensitive matter, and have included a little something I hope you’ll like.
(Platonic!) Love,
Your Martial Shang Bro
P.S. Hope to see you there! Bring your Personal Party Equipment!” Shen Qingqiu stuck out his tongue and let his eyes roll back in his head. Truthfully, he was still trying to understand what he had been reading.
“A party … hosted by An Ding,” said Qi Qingqi, “with Northern demons, in a mirror realm? This will be a clown show for certain.” She took another sip of tea, “Naturally, I can't wait to attend. Mingyan is bringing your girl Yingying and some other one from down the mountain. I haven’t discussed it with the one I’m thinking of yet…” she lowered her voice to a mutter, “but she probably knows anyway.”
“You won’t sneak me in as your plus one?” Shen Qingqiu laid a hand upon his chest in mock affront.
Qi Qingqi scoffed, “As if anyone could stop you from finding a way in regardless. But shixiong, I have to ask…” She leaned over the tea table on her elbows in a carefree fashion, putting aside the perfected manners she had mastered but chose to ignore. “You and Shang shidi have fostered a sort of unorthodox behavior towards one another for many years.For a while I thought you… “ She waved her hand, “That’s not important. But your arguments never seemed like anything serious. They have a kind of playful quality to them, often. So what did you do differently? Why is he keeping you at arms length here when he usually seems more at ease with you than the rest of us?”
Had Shang Qinghua really been keeping Shen Qingqiu at a distance? He hadn’t realized it, but they really hadn’t spoken since Shen Qingqiu shooed him off the peak. He wasn’t hurt that Shang Qinghua didn’t want him at his stupid party, really. He was only upset on behalf of the rest of Qing Jing, since his little lambs shouldn’t be barred from something their peers got the chance to attend, even if it was just some stupid Airplane creation–that was discrimination! He tapped his chin, gazing off into the distance as Qi Qingqi frowned.
“I don’t know,” he said, “I suppose we did argue the last time we spoke, but it wasn’t anything unusual. I thought things were fine until just now. Do you think…” he trailed off.
Qi Qingqi gave him a hard look.
“I suppose I should speak with him.”
“Good. Now - if you have any passing interest at all in this horrid vase, I’ll trade it with you for a cake of this tea.”
“For that affront to interior decor?” Shen Qingqiu stared down at it with cold disgust, “I wouldn’t part with more than one eighth of a single cake.”
Qi Qingqi snorted, “You miser! An emperor’s wealth is behind you, and you still drive a hard bargain! At that value, I’ll do better to just sell it to some eccentric collector.” She turned it over in her hand muttering, “I suppose I might wring a couple of spirit stones out of somebody for it.”
Shen Qingqiu’s lips quirked up at the edges, “That’s exactly what I would have done with it if you had accepted my offer. If you don’t find a buyer, my offer will still be on the table.”
“Shixiong has no faith in this poor shimei at all? What a shame. Now I’ll really have to see what I can get for it to prove my connections are superior,” she grinned.
Having a little sister again… it was nice.