How To Please Your Demon Lord
Chapter 5-
The two peak lords decided to have a drink located in a marketplace near the home of Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe. It was where the married couple would come for a day of leisure or a special night out.
Shen Qingqiu did not indulge in drink very often, only on special occasions. He wasn't sure if he could handle a drunk Luo Binghe. He felt that once his guard was down, he would be in danger of being bound up in those red binding cables his husband was obsessed with.
He and Shang Qinghua had a couple of drinks each and dropped their usual adversarial behavior towards each other.
Instead, they talked about things they missed about their past lives, like computers, video games, web novels and music. They kept their voices low so others could not hear their conversation. They figured words like 'video games' 'internet' and 'web novel' would not be understood by the locals.
"This was an excellent idea of yours." Shang Qinghua said jovially, as he held his glass out for a toast. "There's nothing like stiff drink to uplift my mood, Cucumber bro."
"I agree with you, Airplane." Shen Qingqiu replied as tapped his glass against the other man's.
"I needed to relax since things are stressful with the rebellion these last few weeks." he acknowledged, and played with the green tassel that hung on the bottom of his fan.
Shang Qinqhua was about to mention Mobei-Jun, when a pretty young servant girl came over to their table. She was one of the girls who would wait on Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe went they visited, and she glanced uncomfortably at the two men before her before she forced a smile on her face.
"Peak Lord Shen, do you and your ah, friend want anything else? " She asked, and glanced over at Shang Qinghua suspiciously. "Where is your disciple today? I am surprised that he is not here with you."
'Ah, I knew it! Another reader of 'Resentment of Chunshan'... I bet she thinks I'm cheating on my lovestruck disciple!' he thought and fought the urge to laugh.
He noticed that as soon as he and Airplane bro walked into the restaurant that the servers looked shocked when they saw the two men together. They were used to seeing him with Luo Binghe.
Shen Qingqiu brought his fan up to his face. It seemed to him that many of the women wanted to see him and his disciple together.
It did not matter where they went, they attracted the attention of women of all ages. He knew that most of the young women seemed to have a crush on Binghe, who was most likely the most attractive man they had ever seen. Pride swelled in the peak lord's heart as that man was his.
Shen Qingqiu having a drink with another man must feel like a betrayal to the women. Luckily, they had nothing to worry about as he was very devoted to Luo Binghe.
Shang Qinghua answered the young woman first "I am an old friend of Peak Lord Shen. I am here to keep him company on request of his disciple, who is on a mission today. He did not want his Shizun to be alone while he is away."
Shen Qingqiu quickly chimed in with, "I am grateful to my old friend here, for I have been in low spirits all day. He knows that I miss my disciple and am worried for his safety."
The young lady bowed in respect as she said "I am sorry, Peak Lord Shen. I will pray for your disciple's safe return." then she turned to Shang Qinghua. "Thank you, sir, for being there for your friend," she said politely.
After she left, the two men paid for their meal and left a generous tip behind. They walked out into the warm, sunny day and immediately broke into laughter, they felt tipsy after the alcoholic drinks.
"I did not think that we might be mistaken for a couple on a date, Airplane bro. I am sure this will come as no surprise, but you are not my type." he joked.
"Very funny, Cucumber bro. However, I am worried that word may get back to Mobei-Jun and Lord Luo that we were seen having a drink together."
"Binghe asked you to keep an eye on me. I will take responsibility if either of them takes offense. It was my idea to leave the house and come here to the marketplace. Besides, I had another reason for wanting to come here." Shen Qingqiu responded, as he fanned himself as he looked around at the different vendor stalls and shops.
"Oh? What reason would that be?" Shang Qinghua asked.
"Well, now that you found out that Binghe and I are married, I suppose it is safe to tell you. I was thinking about looking for a special gift for him to commemorate our union and show my devotion to him."
Shang Qinghua met his enthusiasm with a smile.
"I am surprised that the townspeople here don't already know about your marriage to Luo Binghe. The way he clings to you whenever I see you two together, well, I know he must do the same to you in public." he replied, as they walked past different shops.
"Well, the girls have read "The Resentment of Chunshan" and "The Song of Bingqiu" so obviously, they already believe that we are a perverted master and disciple pair..." he began.
"Well, isn't that true, Cucumber bro? Binghe was created to be a horny stallion protagonist." he teased.
Shen Qingqiu rolled his eyes and ignored the comment.
He spotted a shop that caught his eye, and began to walk towards it.
Shang Qinghua caught up to him and noticed it was a jewelry store that they were walking into.
"I was thinking about getting him a gift from this shop. Binghe has always cherished the necklace his adopted mother gave him, so I thought that he may like a piece of jewelry." he remarked, as he looked with interest at necklaces that hung on display in the entrance.
They walked the into the shop and were greeted by the owner who rushed up to them.
"Good afternoon, Peak Lord Shen!" an attractive woman cried, as she flirtatiously batted her eyelashes and wrapped her arm around Shen Qingqiu. The lady did not acknowledge Shang Qinghua.
"Madame, have we met before?" Shen Qingqiu asked in confusion when he felt the shop owner rub against him. How did she know him and why did she seem smitten with him?
The woman blushed. "Well, I have seen you and another young man walk past my shop many times before. I hope it is not too bold to say, but gentleman like you two stand out from the others. You both are handsome and refined." she gushed.
'She must be an avid reader of The Resentment of Chunshan, of course! IF only I had this amount of success with the ladies back in my previous life.' Shen Qinqqiu thought wryly. 'However, I am getting attention from them for all the wrong reasons! Who knew, that in this world that there would be so many fugoshi?'
He patted her arm and said "Thank you for the kind words, my lady." then looked over at Airplane Bro. "Allow me to introduce you to my friend, Shang Qinghua." as he gestured to the other man.
"You two are friends?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow, the look that crossed over her face, Shen Qingqiu could tell that she was judging Airplane bro by the gossip that he had been a traitor to the human realm. However, obviously it did not bother her that Luo Binghe was a Demon Lord.
Shang Qinghua grew tired of being treated like he was invisible and spoke up. "Yes mam, Peak Lord Shen and I have been friends for a very long time."
"Oh, is that so? I am pleased to meet you." the woman replied, with a insincere smile on her face.
She let go of Shen Qingqiu's arm and went over and cupped her hands in respect towards Shang Qinghua. "I am surprised that the other man is not here with both of you. I always thought that he was very close to Peak Lord Shen."
Shen Qingqiu glanced at her with raised eyebrows.
"Madame, that is my disciple that you have seen walking with me. We do have a good relationship, but today he had some work to do."
"I had my friend accompany me here because I am looking for a gift for someone. Do you mind if we look around?" he asked, as he fanned his face to hide his irritation.
"Oh my, yes! I am sorry if I have delayed you in any way, Peak Lord Shen. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance." the shop owner said, as she bowed, then rushed off to help another customer.
"Obviously, I am not one of that lady's favorite people. If she only knew that I am the creator of this world, I bet she would not have dismissed me that way." Shang Qinghua said in hurt voice, then sighed and shook his head.
"What if she knew that I had to fill your plot holes and save this world? I had to sacrifice my ass to do it." Shen Qingqiu retorted casually, as he looked at some necklaces and bracelets to see if anything caught his eye.
Airplane Bro glanced at him with a knowing look and laughed. "Remember when I needed you to answer those 100 questions with Lord Luo? You said that you had to have papapa to save the world. I thought you were being sarcastic."
"I am not going to comment another word about that, so forget I mentioned it." he replied coolly. He looked over at a garnet necklace. The color almost matched the tint of red that was in Binghe's eyes.
"I thought about getting him a necklace, but I think he has enough pendants." Shen Qingqiu mused, as he walked over to the next display.
It was filled with rings of all kinds- Gold rings, silver rings, diamond rings.
"Cucumber bro, why not buy him a ring? I know that in my previous life, I heard that many young couples buy rings when they became engaged to be married." Shang Qinghua suggested.
Shen Qingqiu felt his face grow red, and brought his fan up to hide his face. He felt embarrassed because Binghe had been the one to propose to him, and not the other way around.
He hated to admit that it would feel weird to buy a man a wedding ring.
'I heard him say he felt he does not have enough romance in his life. He feels neglected.' the words of Ning Yingying once again popped into his head.
'Fuck' he sighed. He felt that he was failing as a partner by not being romantic enough to his young husband.
"I admit that I am a bit jealous of you, Cucumber bro. It would be a dream come true if Mobei would propose to me." Shang Qinghua replied wistfully.
He glanced over at him. Should he admit that Binghe was the one that had proposed to him? Did he really want to tell Airplane that?
"Relax, Cucumber bro. I do not need to know the details. If you two did not exchange rings, I think that would mean something very special to him." he suggested, as he patted his friend on the arm.
'Wtf? Is he a mind reader?' Shen Qingqiu thought
Airplane bro had a point. Nothing would more romantic to Binghe than if they exchanged rings to commemorate their marriage.
He knew that he would eventually have to tell the other peak lords one day soon anyway. It had been common knowledge that they were more than just master and disciple for a while now.
Shen Qingqiu looked at some gold bands with small diamonds embedded in them.
"Do you know what size ring he would wear?" he asked Airplane Bro, as he pointed at the golden rings. He had found a matching set that he thought would be ideal.
Shang Qinghua broke out in a grin and laughed before saying "I never thought in a million years I'd say this to my biggest anti-fan, but it seems the time is right. Welcome to my family, Cucumber bro."
A/N- Thanks to anyone who has left kudos or reviews on this story. Constructive criticism is welcome and or if there is any part of the story you like! Next chapters are almost done and no cockblocking I promise! I am just trying to make sure the chapters are decent and readable. A tall order, I know. :)