Settling down A-Wei was easier than I thought.
I introduced him to Feng Dongmei and those two hit it off.
She had never learned to care for a lot of human norms (I, admittedly, hadn't been a great teacher in that) and never minded that A-Wei didn't look her in the eyes.
They bonded, quicker than anyone else I had seen.
If I ever had believed in Soulmates, they would have been an example I would show to people to prove it.
She did… something that stopped his aging (I didn't want to know, plausible deniablility and all) and he built a hut in her clearing.
Well, I say build.
Feng Dongmei had used the years to perfect her power over plants.
She explained it to me once, something about the way she was a plant once and was now greater, something other Plants recognized and therefore acted to her whims?
I didn't understand it, but I didn't have to.
I could do the same thing with Talismans, which was all I cared about.
She asked the Plants to grow into a nice little Cottage next to her Clearing.
When I visited, I could often see the two of them sitting on the Veranda, holding hands and looking peaceful.
Those two, I was not sure if they were romantic or platonic partners, but they had something special.
I, however, wouldn't have managed to deal with the boredom of settling down.
More often than not, I was out on Night-hunts, sometimes in slow weeks even visiting the Demonic Realms just for a hint of a challenge.
Luo Binghe stuck to be like a Burr, and honestly, I never minded.
It was nice to have companionship. He didn't understand Talismans like I did, but listened patiently to all of my ramblings.
The nice kisses were a bonus as well.
The only downside to it was the way he seemed to be a magnet to aphrodisiac plants.
I had long since learned from the debacle with Liu Qingge and with the Monitoring-Array I knew of his poisonings often before he did.
He took the Anti-Dotes like a Champ.
He knew that I wanted to wait with Sex and he was a Gentleman.
He never once complained about cooling down after a heavy kissing and petting season, never pushed for something I wasn't ready to give.
Binghe and I only had sex, full penetrative sex, after three years.
I just… I wasn't as over Liu-Shibo as I thought and I wanted to make sure that this time, I would have more than just bodily gratification.
Binghe waited on me, never pressuring, exactly what I needed.
Our Wedding, at the beginning, was planned as a small affair, until I realised how many friends I had made.
The whole Sect came, Huan Hua Palace came, it was a circus.
I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt at the end of the night.
To see all my friends congratulating us on our new-found happiness- I teared up and didn't even try to hide it.
Binghe received many shovel-talks, but he took it as given.
When I asked, he just smiled at me as if Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, the little shit.
Well, no matter, after our Bows he was my little shit and I wouldn't have him any other way.
After our wedding, we moved into Qiong Ding.
No matter how much I loved my Parents, it was time to move out and be more independent.
Qiong Ding's House of the Sect-Leader, a great Estate and very pretty, had stood empty since Fuqin had moved in with Baba after their wedding and he gifted it to us after ours.
Baba and Binghe got into arguments more often than I could count at our weekly get-together, but they never meant any of it.
The two had gone away around a week after I visited and rescued my Brother from the Zhaos and coming back, they were best friends.
Coincidentally, the Zhao Family had been decimated, only children left alive.
Fuqin and I just looked at our passionate partner with a smile and drank tea.
Slowly but surely, I stopped travelling so much, taking up more and more duties as preparation to take over as the Sect Leader.
Fuqin and Baba were already very advanced in their cultivation and there were already talks about when the Qing-Generation would ascend.
The only thing that stopped me from having a full-blown melt-down was the fact that we would see them again in the Heavens.
Thank Heavens, it would still be some time before it would happen.
Binghe managed to distract me from the Gossip very thoroughly.
He had been on one of his visits to his Dad and came back- different.
He had lost a bit of height, was build wider and…
I still easily panicked when a loved one was in danger.
It was a perfectly legitimate reaction to check Binghe with every single diagnosis-talisman I had!
It was not an overreaction!
'You… you took…' I was speechless.
'Yes, A-Ming. I took the Vroani-root.'
I took his hands on mine, looking into his eyes.
Her Eyes.
They never wavered.
'I want to have children. Our children. And you want them too, don't you?'
'I- I mean, sure, I'd like children, but… '
'I know that you are happy with your gender the way it is, so I changed mine. I don't mind, as long as it means we can start a family of our own.'
After that, I made sure that Binghe would get with child.
Several times.
Thoroughly.
Only Binghe's Pleads that she couldn't take it anymore stopped me.
'Husband, if I had known I could wake such an insatiable Hunger in you with my gender change, I would have taken the Vroani-root a long time ago.'
It wasn't as if we hadn't had a very healthy sex-life before.
I hid my red face in her Shoulder.
'I… It was not your gender, it was that you were willing to change so thoroughly, so take such burdens on you just to make me happy, it just… it is overwhelming.'
Binghe laughed quietly, her chuckles bouncing my head.
'I do not mind. I find it rather intriguing to grow our children in my body.'
Binghe was one of those pregnant woman that couldn't have any sort of pungent smells.
I also had to make Pickles, covered in Caramell, at Midnight because of her Cravings.
I still said she glowed, even though anyone else kept their distance because of her mood-swings.
I stayed by her side, worshipping her as was her due as the Mother of my Children.
It was all worth it to feel the little one kick under her Skin.
To hold her in my arms after the terrifying ordeal of Labour.
Shen Zhenzhen was born a week premature but healthy and screaming her lungs out.
She was the Apple of her Grandfather's eye.
Tianlang-jun, Baba and Fuqin fought quietly but viciously for the right to babysit her.
Was it any wonder, with her taking of our hand so often, that only one and a half years later, A-Shuang followed?
A-Zhenzhen had been a quiet and happy baby that had spoiled us terribly.
A-Shuang was a hellion. She screamed all hours of the night, refused to eat and brought her parents at the brink of a breakdown.
We still managed.
We found out that taking her flying was a sure way to quiet her, her eyes shutting in the cold, rushing air.
She needed a distraction to feed, but with a few illusion Talismans I managed well enough.
Still, she only became a big sister at five, still raising hell and giving her Mother grey hairs.
A-Qi was just as quiet as A-Zhenzhen, but more seriously.
She learned the World 'Why?' at 10 Months old and never stopped using it.
I loved my three girls, but both Binghe and I had our hand full with them.
Three were more than enough, we decided, and Binghe turned back to being male.
He had been happy to be female to carry our daughters, but felt more at home in a male body.
Besides, I wanted to rub it into this patriarchal Societies face that one didn't need to have a dick to make good decisions, kick ass and take names.
All of my Daughters were good at it and I never, ever stifled them or told them of a woman's place.
My support was and would forever be unconditional.
I might have been a little overprotective at times.
But honestly, what parent wouldn't equip their child with monitoring Talismans that would alert me to anything out of the ordinary?
I was vindicated when it turned out that A-Qi was allergic to plums, only a quick intervention saved her from having her airways swollen shut.
After that Fiasco, even Tianlang-jun agreed that it was a good idea, and that man wouldn't be able to recognise responsibility when it bit him in the ass.
A-Shuang had inherited my temper but without my control.
She flew into screaming fits at the littlest things, often going to A-Wei and Dongmei to calm down, who welcomed their niece with open arms.
Happy go lucky A-Zhenzhen adored Tianlang-jun and spend more and more time in the demonic Realm, happily getting in and out fights and getting in one adventure after another. Tianlang-jun wasn't the best babysitter, but a modified monitoring Talisman and my teleporting seal meant I was always there to get her out of any problem she couldn't laugh her way out.
It was no wonder that Tianlang-jun declared A-Zhenzhen his heir at twenty-six years old, it seemed like she had been born to rule the Demonic Realms with a careful hand and a happy cheer. Besides, Tianlang-jun was still around, but now he could work on his theatre full-time.
A-Shuang slowly learned to control her temper.
She was the only one I took with me to the Endless Abyss when she demanded it at twenty years old. She was also the only one to even slightly challenge me in a fight.
We informally declared her the heir of the Cang Qiong Mountain Sect after she achieved her golden Core at 28 years old.
We made sure to never pressure any of our children, but she wanted it.
She wanted to build on our work, to make Cang Qiong even stronger.
She was way better at beaucracy than I ever was, her help invaluable.
A-Qi also achieved her golden core and after that, took off to see the world.
She always had been a curious child and with her wanderlust it didn't surprise any of us.
Fuqin and Baba ascended after all our children were adults. The entire Qing-Generation had been ready for years already, but both Baba and Fuqin wanted to be there for their grandchildren.
And good thing it was: Even with both Binghe and I there and having taking breaks to fully take care of our children, we had been run ragged.
My highest respect for every Mother or Father who can also have a job and a life next to raising children.
Shen Binghe could cultivate just like me, despite his demonic heritage, so I waited on him until he caught up, then we cultivated together so we would be able to ascend at the same time.
With Baba and Fuqin gone, I became the Sect-Leader in truth, even though I had already led the Sect for years.
It was a rewarding, if energy sucking Position.
Without the support of my Binghe, I would have noped out of it after five years.
Instead, I used it to do good.
One or two (dozen) Assassination later we got an Emperor that wanted to improve the lot of the common people.
We founded Hospitals and Schools and eradicated Slavery in all practises.
I got experience from establishing all of it in another Dimension with Bing-di, so I could avoid a lot of pitfalls that happened over there.
It still wasn't easy.
Too many powerful people profited from the Status Quo.
Still, we had Luck, Qi and Talismans on our side.
We made do.
I slowly but surely made Ancient Magical China better than my Home Culture, more progressive.
There were more setbacks than I could count, the patriarchy was hard to fight, but I did my Best.
A-Qi had gotten all of my restlessness, we seldom saw her at home since becoming a wandering cultivator, using the sensing I taught her to help people in need.
We already had a grandchild from her, a small Street-child who tried to rob her who she adopted instead.
Little A-Yuan was adorable and also the inheritor of both my Bestiary and Botany.
He would use them well, judging from the intelligent glint of his eyes.
I suspected that he was the transmigrator who had occupied the body of my father in another world, but I never saw a hint of the System lurking, so I gave it a rest.
As long as A-Qi and A-Yuan were happy, I wouldn't mention it.
I left the Sect in A-Shuang's capable Hands when the time came.
I knew she was ready.
I took Binghe's Hand and ascended to Heaven.
I would see everyone again and no matter what, I would never have to reincarnate again.
My dream was fulfilled.
The three daughters are:
A-ZhenZhen (happy go lucky, competent but always up for a fight or an adventure, ruler of the Demonic Realm)
A-Shuang (hot-tempered, learned to control her anger-issues, the next Sect-Leader)
A-Qi (quiet but curious, wandering cultivator, Mother of Shen Yuan)
The second to last chapter ٩(๑.)و
I hope you liked my story! There will be another chapter with the Epilogue so you will know what happened to all the other Characters, this time not from Shen Ming's POV. But that will be all!