After Hua Cheng had told his story, they'd cuddled for a while, and Xie Lian had asked him about several points he wanted to confirm, for example if he'd picked Banyue up on the same day he'd gone out to assess the situation with the female beggars, which Hua Cheng had refuted, saying he'd found her on another outing to the city, and he'd seen her stealing from the trash baker named Qi Rong.
The baker had seen her as well, and proceeded to try to give her a lashing with a whip he conveniently kept under his stall. Hua Cheng, had been reminded of his own childhood when he saw the scene, and stepped in before Qi Rong could land a single hit. He'd warned him off from using that whip on anyone ever again, but apparently Qi Rong hadn't listened, and once someone reported him to the king a while later, he had been banned from entering the marketplace completely.
Banyue on the other hand was an incredibly skittish and easily frightened child, and Hua Cheng hadn't been able to bear leaving her on the streets, which was why he'd promptly decided to take her in. He knew how harsh the streets were, and a weak and frail little girl like that, who was already on the verge of starving, wouldn't have been able to last much longer.
Hua Cheng told him proudly how she flourished into a much more self-confident, manipulative little demoness who knew exactly how to get what she wanted from him, and Xie Lian couldn't help but feel endeared.
The sudden and unbidden thought that Hua Cheng would make a really good father had flashed through Xie Lian's mind and now, hours later, he still couldn't get his blush to calm down.
Hua Cheng was currently in the throne room, and Xie Lian was left to his own devices. He had half a mind to go and find Mei NianQing, because he wanted to spend some time dancing, but three days hadn't passed yet, so he could only sigh.
But then he realised that he didn't necessarily need Mei NianQing if he wanted to dance. So, he went upstairs, to the entertainment room and practised by himself for a bit. And really,, this was probably the best decision for him at this moment.
Hua Cheng's story had honestly been a lot to stomach, and he needed some time to himself to process it all. It wasn't the fact that he'd killed the previous king that occupied his mind; he'd done his own fair share of killing as well after all, but what really gnawed at him was the fact that Hua Cheng was Wu Ming. And that Wu Ming hadn't just abandoned him, like he'd always thought.
Xie Lian remembered very well the months… years, if he was honest with himself, he spent wondering just what he had done to drive his best friend away without so much as a prior hint or warning. Only to find out so many years later that it was Xie Lian himself who was being the worst friend, who hadn't even realised Wu Ming had been prevented from coming to see him again, just because he was too insecure to believe he had a real friend in him. He knew it had been many years since then, but he still couldn't help but feel guilty at his inaction at the time.
He didn't know how long he'd been dancing there, but at some point he saw his alpha standing in the doorway, watching him with a gentle smile on his face. Xie Lian came to a halt, and blushed at having been caught off guard like this.
"San Lang! You're back already?", he asked, and went to greet him with a quick kiss to his lips.
"Already? Gege, it's already hai shi", he said, and led him into the dining room for a late dinner.
The next few days passed peacefully in a similar manner. They woke up, stayed in bed and just talked about anything and everything for a while, before they had breakfast together, and Hua Cheng left to do his duties, while Xie Lian was left to his own devices. He used the time to visit Banyue, or Shi QingXuan, or Pei Su, and, once he gathered his courage, even went to Mei NianQing's quarters again.
Meeting him again after that hearing was a lot less awkward than he'd imagined, and the Guoshi really didn't seem to hold a grudge against him, despite all the damage he'd caused. He still couldn't help but apologise several times the next few times he saw him.
In the evenings, it was sometimes Hua Cheng, sometimes Xie Lian who was back home first, but they made a habit out of taking a bath together, and having dinner afterwards, talking about their respective days, and joking around with each other to ease the tension of the day, before they went to bed, cuddled for a while, and eventually fell asleep.
And while Xie Lian absolutely loved the easy and comfortable relationship he had with his alpha, there was one downside to all of it. After Hua Cheng had taken Xie Lian's virginity, they hadn't done it again. In fact, they hadn't done anything of that nature at all. There had been absolutely no touching below the waist, and while Xie Lian knew it was ridiculous, he couldn't help but think he'd performed incredibly badly last time, and that Hua Cheng was already bored of him in that regard.
The thought bothered him more than he wanted to admit, and in the end, it was what caused him to go to Mei NianQing for advice.
"Can you teach me how to dance more seductively?", he asked his teacher, who promptly suffered a coughing fit.
When he was done, he gave Xie Lian a look that screamed 'over my dead body', but after a while of staring Xie Lian down, he just sighed, and eventually nodded.
He explained to Xie Lian, that while shaking his bum like he used to was fine, it could only get that much of a reaction out of Hua Cheng. Instead, he showed him a different method of using his hips while dancing, that was more like a rotating motion; Mei NianQing had said to imagine drawing circles with his hips and Xie Lian did his best to follow that instruction.
Xie Lian was also told that if he was out to seduce, it would always have an effect if he used his hands to touch his own body, in whatever way. Apparently it would even be enough if he just used one hand to slowly slide along his other arm.
Xie Lian wasn't quite sure if he believed Mei NianQing, but he was still willing to give it a try.
When he got home, Xie Lian took some time to evaluate all of the dancer's garments he possessed by now, and thought very thoroughly of which one he wanted to wear for today's occasion.
In the end, he decided on the mostly white one, because it was the colour he was most comfortable wearing, but it had black linings, and red highlights, and it came with separate, black sleeves, as well as red veils and silver chains and cuffs. He thought that colour wise, it was a rather nice blend of his alpha and himself.
Once he was done dressing himself, he was about to go to the entertainment room, but then a better idea occurred to him, and he left an obvious note on the bed that told Hua Cheng to go to their mating room.
On the way there, Xie Lian also remembered that there weren't any musicians in the quarters yet, so he asked one of the guards outside to call for them. Once that was taken care of, he skipped through the garden, and sat himself down in the pavilion, waiting for the musicians to get there. Once they did, he instructed them to hide themselves until His Majesty had joined Xie Lian in that room on the far end of the garden, and to start playing something slow and sensual once he'd clapped twice as their secret sign.
Xie Lian could tell that the musicians found his orders rather curious, but they nodded, and went to hide in the main house.
Once he was done with that as well, he figured it would be a good idea to have some snacks with them as well, since they most certainly were going to miss dinner if Xie Lian's plan worked out well enough, and so he hurried to the kitchen to put a big bowl of fruits together. He grabbed everything he could find, ranging from grapes to bananas to oranges. When he figured the bowl was full enough, he grabbed it, hurried to their mating room, and eventually decided to place it on the small table next to the lounge chair.
However, standing in front of that huge mural Hua Cheng had painted, and realising once again how realistic it was, Xie Lian had the sudden idea to make it the backdrop of his performance, and rearranged the lounge chair to stand further away from the mural. He knew that Hua Cheng liked having him dance close to him, but he still needed space to move after all.
Given that the sun was already setting, Xie Lian doubted it would be much longer until Hua Cheng came home, and contemplated getting into his starting position already, when he heard footsteps outside, and hurriedly did so.
He managed to stand still just in time before Hua Cheng opened the door and stepped in. Since Xie Lian was facing the mural, he couldn't see the door, and mourned the fact that he didn't get to see his alpha's expression once he realised what was going on.
There was a rather long stretch of silence, before the door closed, and Xie Lian could hear the lock turning.
"It seems like gege is in a mood", his alpha chuckled, and made his way over towards him. "And he's very considerate of me, too", he added delightfully once got closer, and probably saw the bowl of fruits.
Xie Lian listened to Hua Cheng taking a seat, and waited for an additional few moments, before he clapped twice, and, just as he'd asked, the music started playing promptly.
He danced for a while with his back facing his alpha, and made sure to draw attention to his bum, before he eventually turned around gracefully, and proceeded to heed the tips Mei NainQing had told him about touching himself, while he took his alpha's appearance in.
He looked just the way he did when he'd left this morning, his hair was still wild, still partly in braids, his face was still the epitome of sharp beauty, and he still wore the same clothes he had also worn when he'd first seen him upon his arrival in Banyue. They were all black, apart from the red draping around his neck and shoulders, and his toned stomach was exposed.
Xie Lian couldn't help but lick his lips in anticipation.
He wasn't consciously aware of it, but while he was dancing he'd been constantly moving closer to Hua Cheng, and when he was close enough to see just how wide his pupils were blown already, he made a split decision, to involve his alpha in his dancing a little more, and thus put one of his feet on the lounge chair with his next move. He didn't know how well it integrated with his dance, but he was frankly beyond caring.
Next, he reached his hand out to stroke along Hua Cheng's angular jaw line, while trying not to get too out of tune with his dancing, and from his alpha's reaction, he figured he was fairly successful. However he hadn't expected Hua Cheng to grab his wrist and thereby keep him in place.
Xie Lian couldn't dance in the position, so instead of trying to keep dancing properly, he instead manoeuvred himself to kneel on the lounge chair, on top of Huan Cheng's lap, until his crotch just barely touched Hua Cheng's. Then he started rotating his hips, slowly, and in time with the music. Hua Cheng's grip on his wrist had gone lax at Xie Lian's actions, and thus he could use both of his arms to dance at least somewhat properly again.
He continued to dance on Hua Cheng like this, until he felt a little more playful, and suddenly and without prior indication snapped his hips against his alpha's.
Hua Cheng's reaction was instant, he used one hand to grab Xie Lian's hip, and the other to grab him behind his neck, in order to pull his face closer to his own. His alpha even attempted to kiss him, completely forgetting that he couldn't with the veil still covering that part of Xie Lian's face. So he let out a frustrated growl and was about to rip the veil off, when Xie Lian stopped him. His dancing might have been cut short, but he wasn't done performing yet.
So instead of indulging his alpha like he usually would, he lowered Hua Cheng's hand away from his face, and let his own hands trail over his alpha's chest, until they came to a stop on his exposed midriff.
"This omega has a rather neglectful alpha", he said, and lowered his eyes.
"Oh?", Hua Cheng played along, to which Xie Lian hummed, trying not to show how pleased he actually was.
"Mn. I was lonely and cold and hungry the whole day. My alpha should take responsibility", he lied.
His alpha blindly grabbed for whatever he could get from the bowl of fruits, and held a grape out for Xie Lian to eat.
"If that's the case, then of course I will personally hand feed my omega until he is happy again", he said, and slipped his hand underneath the veil to press the grape against Xie Lian's lips, which he opened instinctively, but he also grabbed Hua Cheng's hand, to keep it from moving away. Because when his alpha pressed his thumb against Xie Lian's lip, he thought it would be a good idea to not only take the grape, but lick that thumb in the process as well.
Seeing the aroused look on Hua Cheng's face at the action, Xie Lian was reassured that his alpha would definitely enjoy the other things he had in store for him as well.