It was on a court day.
Fuxin and Guayin had been reading papers as, left and right, gods fought about mundane things, probably whose reincarnation lists got stolen , which God had more power in a particular region, etc.
It was just like every other court day, there wasn't much to it.
Fuxin, barely paying attention, reached for a bowl of grapes. With practiced ease, he peeled them one by one, split them, and pushed the larger portion toward Guayin. She accepted them without a word, chewing slowly. The coolness of the fruit soothed her tongue.
Then, the question fell
"Jade emperor, when are you having a child?"
Both Fuxin and Guayin froze at the same time.
It have been millennia.
Fuxin and Guayin after being appointed had ran around for the a significant part of their immortal lives trying to stabilize the court and trying to run the realms. Managing both the celestial, demon and mortal realms was no joke , sometimes they skipped months of sleep.
Afterwards Taohua caused a big havoc which they had to repair for another century, his pardon by the heavens too required paperwork.
Guayin blinked and started at Fuxin, there was a slight frown on his face as if trying to guess how he will answer the question.
She was about to help him when the dragon God spoke , an amused cruelty in his voice.
"Everyone knows Guayin is too temperamental, she will probably teach the poor heir nonsense making him resent his father "
Those words hit a sore spot.
Guayin have resigned that she will never be seen as a good person but being tossed aside that motherhood won't suit her was a kind of rejection of it's own.
Her fingers curled around the bowl. Before she could speak, Fuxin's sharp voice cut through the hall.
" Whether or not Guayin won't make a good mother is none of your business "
Whispers broke in the hall.
The dragon God didn't flinch , instead there was a small smile on his face " I didn't lie , she always disobey your orders , mock the gods of the palace, cause chaos in mortal realms to chase your supposed 'mistresses' and do not get along with majority of the goddesses here , she's unfeminine, I sometimes wonder how she managed to get to the post she is "
Fuxin clenched his fists " Stop talking "
"Like I said , I didn't —"
It was like a blink. one minute Fuxin was beside her , annoyed but not acting on it , the next, he was on top of dragon God hitting him like he wanted to kill him.
It took a full minute before everyone got to themselves and dragged Fuxin from demon God.
Everyone knows that Fuxin was the peacemaker type , he rarely initiated fights , ignored slights and spent his time playing around. He doesn't even react that much to slights towards Guayin, after all dragon God didn't lie , Guayin was really terrible person.
This was the first time he was reacting, and it's not a small reaction, it looked like he genuinely wanted to kill dragon God.
Fuxin glared at dragon God " If you ever say Guayin is unfit to be a mother again, I will kill you"
He shook the gods holding him off and he stomped out.
Everyone mumbled among themselves and looked at Guayin, their expressions strange. Guayin didn't bother looking back, she took her things and walked elegantly out of the hall.
As soon as she was out the doors, she broke into a run and started to look into each building.
He wasn't here , there or anywhere, he wasn't even in their house, could he have gone to the mortal realm.
Her gaze landed on the Cold Palace, the abandoned structure left untouched for centuries.
Without hesitation, she entered.
She peeped into the room , Fuxin was lying on the bed , back towards her , he seemed to be doing something that requires concentration since he didn't notice her.
She frowned and tiptoed in , she went closer and stretched her head foward.
Fuxin was pouring dao into his body.
His eyes were closed, his hair wet and his lips pale.
She was sure that Fuxin had not used anything to fight with demon God , he had only used his fists how did his dao get injured.
She gathered dao into her palms and put it on him. Due to his lack of guardness , she had went straight to his dao to check for injuries.
Her eyes widen.
Fuxin slapped her hand off and jumped out of the bed.
His breath was shallow, his lips pale. The wet strands of his hair clung to his skin, sweat gathering at his brow, his entire frame rigid. His hands, usually so steady, clenched at his sides, his eyes filled with fright almost like he would bolt at anytime.
Guayin stood still , her body trembling.
It have been millennia, they had been together for so long that she had stopped counting, after all , they would spend more years together.
He was her constant.
She was there during his accession, she was there when he suppressed the demons , managed the heavens and used his powers, they have been together for so long she never saw any flaw in him , any flaw in his image as the crown prince and as the emperor.
After all he didn't love her, she was his second choice right from the start …right?
So why?
Why was he trembling?
"Fuxin ….. who is your love tribulation?"
Fuxin lowered his head " it's Dalia lao…"
Liar.
The word rang in her head like a death knell.
"Don't lie to me !" She shouted, her own dao trembled in response and she groaned as she placed her hand on her chest. Fuxin tried to move closer but she raised a hand, her eyes filled with confusion.
"Who is your love tribulation?!"
Fuxin tightened his lips, he looked aside but there was something raw in his eyes.
Fear.
She had never seen him afraid before.
Not when he led armies against the demon realms. Not even when he stood against her father, holding just a sword in hand.
But now ….now he was afraid.
A realization clawed at her throat . Her breaths grew shallow, her body trembling as the truth unraveled before her.
"You had two love tribulations" seeing he clenched his fists , it was like everything suddenly connected " Dalia was the first one ….I was the second one "
The second love tribulation can ignored as long as it's never acknowledged, it was a way of tricking the dao , just like she had tricked the dao that night.
They were each other's love tribulation.
That was why nuwa had told her not to be Fuxin downfall, that's why Fuxin never wanted to divorce, that's why he stayed by her side for so long.
Her voice cracked. "You've known all this time."
Fuxin lowered his eyes, his body trembling, he had no idea if he should bolt or stay.
From the beginning,He didn't know he had two love tribulations.
After all , the person he loved was Dalia lao, he liked her femininity, her kindness, her sweetness, the way she smiled, his world revolved around her.
But then, things started changing. His eyes started to follow the 'rouge' who tilled the soil and cleaned the achoives, he started noticing features.
A small smile whenever she accomplished a task , the way her curly dark hair would drape around her face when she dumped water into her hair , she wasn't slim and graceful but her hips were full and swayed whenever she's working.
He liked bickering with her , at least she showed him attention.
When he had been enlisted into war , he had unlocked his tribulations. It was then he realized that he was the reincarnated son of nuwa , a demigod.
He still thought his love tribulation was Dalia lao , that his attention towards that rogue was nothing more than a distraction.
However Guayin heart was really too hard. Right from the beginning up till now , she never gave him a chance to prove himself to her , When she once asked him why she would ever kiss him , he felt so ashamed.
Was he that tainted that he can't even get a piece of her affection? If he had been a pure man , would he have gotten even a tiny bit of her love?
The shame consumed him so much he had to leave the village and go back to war.
He went back to war and built a name for himself, when he came back, Dalia lao was dead and he couldn't advance.
Everyone thought it was because of the grief of losing Dalia lao, but only he could understand the dawning truth.
He wasn't hearing the calls of the heavens not only because of Dalia lao death but because he was afraid of leaving a particular mortal.
Because he knew If he left that mortal , she would forget him.
The heavens got aware and his pain increased double folds.
He could only hold on for so long, very soon he was at the edge of dying, it was only Guayin dao keeping him alive.
His mom, nuwa, who had promised she would never get involved, who had promised she will forever uphold heaven's law finally helped him.
She went to the divine matchmaker, took the red thread of fate between he and Guayin and cut it.
Then she attached it to Dalia lao.
That way , they successfully tricked the heavens.
At least tricked the heavens till now.
He had spent centuries pretending.
Pretending that she didn't matter. Pretending that she was just a duty, an obligation, a choice he had made out of necessity.
Because if he acknowledged it, if he even so much as whispered the truth.
Everything they had worked for will disappear, it will be gone.
Tears fell out of guayin eyes , her voice a whisper "You love me."
Fuxin closed his eyes
Because He love her.
The heavens started to tremble. Thunders begin to form in the horizons gathering lightening, gath
ering winds.
Fuxin stumbled outside, his lips trembled and he looked up to the sky. His divinity hummed.
The heavenly dao is aware.
And they have come to rectify their mistake.