"Uhm!", Xie Lian exclaimed dumbly. "I- I just meant- that is to say, I- you shouldn't, I mean Your Majesty should-"
The king interrupted Xie Lian's flustered mess of a sentence with a resounding "pfft", followed by a bound of laughter. Xie Lian kind of wanted to die.
"Alright", the king told the children, after he'd calmed down again. "Since your gege seems to be a good person, I'll allow it."
"Xie-gege is a very good person!", Banyue confirmed fiercely. Which didn't help Xie Lian's blush that was already spread out over his whole neck.
"Yes, yes. But I do want to have a word with that good gege of yours, so you two keep practicing while I'll talk to him."
Banyue nodded, and turned to leave, before she decided to turn around again, and hugged the king's legs, before she quickly scurried off. Pei Su had simply bowed in the meantime, and followed after her at a more sedate pace.
"Come with me", the king ordered, and started walking towards one of the benches in the courtyard.
Xie Lian followed hesitantly, with no small amount of trepidation.
The king sat down on the bench, and looked at him. Xie Lian didn't know what was expected of him, because he still wasn't sure about the etiquette when it came to dealing with the king of WuYong, so he didn't dare to assume he had the right to sit next to him, as if he was his (albeit perfunctory) owner's equal.
"Sit", the king invited, though it sounded like an order more than anything in Xie Lian's ears.
Xie Lian was half thinking the king was testing him with this, and half thinking that the king was trying to set up a trap. However, before he could decide which scenario was more likely, the sudden thought came into his mind that maybe the king just didn't like to look up at people. It was why he decided to kneel on the ground before the king, as a first attempt at getting etiquette right.
The king raised his brow in what seemed like surprise at the action, but didn't comment.
"So… gege", the king snickered. "I heard you're taking your role as a big brother rather seriously."
Xie Lian blinked, not having the slightest idea what the king was trying to get at.
"Your Majesty?", he asked, sounding about as confused as he felt.
"I already knew Banyue was getting bullied, as well as the fact that you intended to teach her a little bit of martial arts. Do you know why I never saw the need to do anything about either of those things?"
Xie Lian wasn't sure, but he could take a few guesses for himself.
"I don't know, Your Highness."
The king narrowed his eye at him.
"Really now? Why do I not believe that?"
Xie Lian suppressed a sigh before he replied. "Perhaps you didn't have the time. Perhaps you didn't think the bullying was bad enough to intervene. Perhaps you didn't expect I would go through with that promise. Perhaps you wanted to wait and see how the situation developed by itself", he threw out some of those guesses.
The king smirked.
"You're incredibly straight on the mark."
"Does Your Majesty not care about the wellbeing of that little girl at all?", Xie Lian couldn't help but ask, feeling somewhat angry that Banyue had to endure such injuries even though the king had known about the bullying.
"What do you mean?", the king asked, narrowing his eye at him again.
"I mean… since you knew about the issue, why did you let it get so far out of hand? Banyue could've very well ended up beheaded that time she was attacked with the knives. Do you realise what kind of trauma a child can get from an expe-", Xie Lian stopped talking when he noticed the look on the king's face had turned incredibly cold and dangerous, and wondered if he'd overstepped the line and had been too informal. So he stopped talking.
"She was what?", the king asked, his voice low and threatening.
Xie Lian blinked in confusion.
"So Your Majesty didn't know?"
The king looked like he'd swallowed something incredibly sour.
"It seems like I don't. Will you enlighten me?", he almost growled, and seemed very much impatient.
Thus, Xie Lian gave him a detailed account of the injuries Banyue had sustained, as well as the events of the day when he'd caught the bullies in action..
"What did those kids look like? Do you remember?", the king asked him somewhat agitatedly once Xie Lian was done.
So Xie Lian described them as best as he could after such a long time. The king seemed to know them in one way or another, because at one point during his description his expression turned especially grim, but a look of understanding dawned on him.
"I see. That kid sounds an awful lot like the son of the guard that reported about your training offer to Banyue to me. What a coincidence", he said somewhat sarcastically, and stood up. "It seems I have urgent matters to attend to. Guards that can't be trusted are a security hazard after all, and need my immediate attention", he continued and then paused to take a moment to look down on Xie Lian, who still hadn't moved.
"I thank you for protecting Banyue when I failed to do so, and I want to show my gratitude for that. Is there anything you wish for?", the king asked in a much softer tone now.
Xie Lian was stunned for a moment, but quickly gathered his wits.
"Since I have protected Banyue that one time, and took care of her the other, might I ask for two things as well?", he asked, to which the king inclined his head in a gesture that suggested he would at least hear him out.
"One, I'd like to ask for Pei Su to receive specialised training in military strategy. Two, I'd like to ask Your Majesty to order for renovations on the house I share with Banyue. It's a safety hazard for her to live there, and I'm honestly worried about the house collapsing while we sleep in it."
The king frowned, and without further comment walked towards the gate that led to the resting quarters of the dancers. Xie Lian stayed put, since the king hadn't asked him to accompany him.
He was gone for a good while before he came back to Xie Lian, his frown even heavier than when he'd left.
"Both of your wishes will be granted. I apologise for having you live in such conditions within my palace walls. That should have never happened. It seems there are a lot of things going on without my knowledge these days...", the king said, and then sighed, before he nodded at him and left the dancer's quarters for good.
It took Xie Lian a second to comprehend that the king of WuYong was not above apologising to his own servants. It was something he had been entirely unprepared for, and it took him a while to properly process this fact.
In the afternoon, when dance practice had ended, and Miss Fang had just left, General Nan Yang walked into the courtyard, followed by a whole bunch of people, who brought with them everything needed for construction work, as far as Xie Lian could tell.
The general led the workers into the sleeping quarters, which immediately caused gossip to break out among his fellow dancers. Even Banyue skipped over to him excitedly.
"Xie-gege! What do you think those workers will do here?"
"Probably improve our house a bit", he smiled at the little girl.
He'd wanted to say more, but he saw General NanYang re-entering the courtyard again, and that he made his way towards them, followed by another person.
"His Majesty has ordered for major constructions on your quarters, as I'm sure you're aware of. It's scheduled to take about three weeks, for the duration of which His Majesty has allowed the two affected inhabitants to reside in the main palace. This is General XuanZhen, he will show you the way to your temporary residence", General Nan Yang explained curtly, before he turned and left to supervise the workers again.
General XuanZhen nodded at them, the look on his face rather unpleasant, so Xie Lian decided against trying to strike up a conversation. In the end, they followed the general to the main palace in complete silence.
Once they stepped through the gates there, Xie Lian immediately noticed the difference to the dancer's quarters. While their small courtyard was peaceful and tranquil, this one was more like a giant square, which gave off a sophisticated air, had absolutely flawless Feng Shui and an overall impression of sheer elegance.
Mu Qing stopped after they'd walked through the square for a little while.
"You may go to your previous chambers", he told Banyue, who nodded, hugged Xie Lian goodbye, and scurried off.
They continued to walk for quite a while longer, before Mu Qing came to a stop in front of a small gate, not immediately accessible from the square, but a smaller side alley. He opened it for Xie Lian but didn't step in after him, so Xie Lian bid him farewell there, realising this was where he was going to stay for the next few weeks. The courtyard and house here were much smaller than the one in the dancer's quarters, but the maintenance of it was impeccable. In the courtyard was even a table with four stools around it! Everything was neat and clean and Xie Lian loved it already.
He entered the house, and saw that the inside was kept just as tidy as the outside. The bed was located on the right side of the room, with many curtains around it, and there was a nice and cozy sitting area in the middle. On the left side was a low desk and a fully stacked bookshelf, and it was all furnished rather sparsely, with still with much room to spare.
The first thing Xie Lian did, was to skip over to the bookshelf. He hoped against all odds that he would be lucky for once, and maybe find a book about etiquette there.
Unsurprisingly, he didn't find one. After all, whoever was allowed to live in such close quarters to the king himself must already be well versed in all sorts of etiquette and customs in the court, and not a newbie like Xie Lian himself. Under normal circumstances at least.
With a sigh, he gave up and decided to meditate.
When the time for dinner rolled around, Xie Lian realised that he wasn't actually sure if he was supposed to go all the way back to the dancers' chambers to eat, or if he should go somewhere closer.
However, just as he was pondering this question, he heard the gates outside open, and someone walking in. It was Pei Su, who was carrying a tray full of food, followed by Banyue. Xie Lian couldn't help but smile.
A few days later, Miss Fang let them know that the banquet for the Mid-Autumn Festival was going to be held in a few days, and they had the permission to start practicing in the hall today.
At first Xie Lian hadn't understood why it was necessary to practice there, instead of their pavillon, but he realised the need for it as soon as Miss Fang started positioning them around the room.
During practice, there had never been a spot especially assigned to Xie Lian, but now Miss Fang was adamant about him standing in one specific place, at the far end of the room. The banquet hall was rather spacious, and Xie Lian assumed the seat of the king was the one furthest away from where he was placed, simply because it was bigger than all the other chairs. Xie Lian should have been relieved about it, but he felt inexplicitly disappointed by it somehow.
However, now that he was dancing mostly out of the line of sight of the more experienced dancers, it gave him a bit more confidence to dance with bigger movements again, like he'd done in the harem a while back. At some point they were supposed to switch to different positions within the hall, and while it did place him a bit closer to the seat of the king, it also placed him well in the sight of everyone else again, and Xie Lian noticed his dancing suffering under it. He really needed to work on that, he thought to himself grimly.
Once they were done with their group effort, smaller groups of four were supposed to entertain the guests in turns.
Xie Lian immediately noticed a problem with that.
"What about me?", he asked Miss Fang, after she was done with her instructions.
"You're not up to the task yet. It requires a much wider variety of steps than you know, and possibly improvisation, depending on how the evening goes. When you're done with the initial performance, you can retire for the night."
Xie Lian felt honestly bummed about that.
After all, it was the Mid-Autumn festival, and if Xie Lian couldn't join the banquet, in whichever way, wouldn't he just end up spending it by himself? Surely Banyue would spend it at the banquet as well, right by the side of the king, and Pei Su would probably spend it either working, or with Senior General Pei, and would therefore in all likelihood also be attending the banquet, in one way or another.
Thus, Xie Lian couldn't help but feel rather depressed on the days leading up to the Mid-Autumn festival.
When the day of the performance arrived, Xie Lian had already made peace with the fact that he would be spending it alone this year, and ordered himself to just accept it.
The garments for the performance had been brought to him the evening before, and Xie Lian currently struggled to fasten all the accessories that had come with it. The colour of the two piece garment was a vibrant orange-y red, that looked like the flames of a fire, or a sea of maple leaves in autumn. Which was quite fitting for the occasion in Xie Lian's opinion. The accessories currently giving him a headache were golden chains that were supposed to drape over his hips and chest, and really, most of his upper body, Xie Lian figured.
There were accessories that were supposed to be draped over his head as well, but apart from the small red veil, covering his nose and lips, and the big red veil covering the back of his head, his torso and the bigger part of his legs, Xie Lian struggled to understand what to do with them. It took him many tries, but eventually he figured out that the big veil was supposed to get fastened to the bigger part of the headdress, which meant that this part would go to the back, and the three chains hanging off of it, were supposed to go over his forehead. Sighing when he'd finally put it on correctly, Xie Lian put on the earrings and dozens of bracelets, before he grabbed the last red piece of fabric, and hurried to the meeting place.
Once there, Xie Lian got scolded by Miss Fang for not putting on that last piece correctly, though she helped him to fasten it securely to his sleeves, and made sure it wasn't drawn too taught behind his back.
When it was time to file into the room, Xie Lian only managed to catch a short glimpse of the king, just long enough to see he was lounging on his seat in a slightly more dignified manner than usual. But once he reached his assigned place, he had to immediately lower his head and couldn't look anymore.
The music changed soon enough to clue them in however, and Xie Lian did his best to try and remember the lessons the concubines had given him regarding this performance. At first it was hard to catch the king's eye, because he seemed rather uninterested in the dancers, and only looked at some of them fleetingly; he hadn't even looked in his direction once, and was still conversing with whoever it was that was sitting next to him. Xie Lian had never seen this person before.
However, when they were almost at the halfway mark of the dance, the king finally looked at Xie Lian. He did his best to heed the advice the concubines had given him, and held eye contact with the king for a few seconds, before he looked away, but when he attempted to look back at him, the king was already looking elsewhere again.
Xie Lian was a bit discouraged by that, however the king's eye did wander back to him after a not so long while, and Xie Lian looked back at him for a bit longer this time, before he looked away again. He waited until after the next twirl to look back at the king, and found that the king was already staring at him. He didn't know if he had looked away in the meantime, or if he was still looking at him, but Xie Lian couldn't help the tiny smirk that made its way onto his lips because of the success.
At this point, the first part ended, and the dancers gracefully relocated, which positioned Xie Lian in his preferred position, closer to the king.
When the next part of the dance started, the king didn't take his eyes off Xie Lian even once, and Xie Lian didn't look away either. Somehow it made it a bit harder to concentrate on his steps, knowing he had the undivided attention of such a handsome alpha on him, but it was also strangely exciting. It helped that he rather liked the king as well, so he felt adventurous instead of intimidated, and even winked at the king at some point during performance.
When the last part of the dance was about to come to a stop as well, Xie Lian lowered his lashes, and pretended to be shy again, and, just before the music came to a stop and the dance really ended, he saw the king lick his lips. It caused Xie Lian to get a bit shy for real this time, to the point that he was even glad he was allowed to flee the banquet hall afterwards.
Once outside, Xie Lian took a few gulps of fresh air, and tried to clear his mind, because it definitely must've gotten very muddled in his head! Not only had he presented himself in such an unabashed way, he'd even done it in a room full of high ranking strangers! Belatedly, Xie Lian blushed scarlet, and quickly scurried off to his temporary quarters, while having a minor mental breakdown over the way he'd danced in front of a whole audience just now.