"This is excellent work." Jun Wu commented, eyes skimming over the documents in his hand with impossible grace. "As always."
Shi Qingxuan only smiled in acknowledgement of the Heavenly Emperor's words. He'd been scared out of his mind at first when the man's unreadable attention had shifted over to his person, but after years of underlying nerves, he could cautiously hope to know the other's movements.
Initially, he had feared it had something to do with his short interaction with Xie Lian, but that theory had been blown off over time. If Jun Wu had really wanted to extract information about the fallen god from him, it would've happened by now and without suspicion.
He couldn't really think of any more reason for the emperor to interact with him and him specifically. Qingxuan supposed he could be used as a potential time bomb to keep check of Shi Wudu now that He Xuan was set on a different path than of that of a ghost king, but his brother wasn't even that notable yet, as his method of tyrannical ruling over the waters was taking a surprisingly long time to fully come into effect.
Jun Wu continued speaking after he finished his light reading, the perpetual, elegant smile on his face unwavering in the slightest as he looked towards the Wind Master. "Your hard work has been a great boon for the heavens."
"Thank you." Qingxuan said simply. "Though, I'm sure such words are an exaggeration. I do what is required of me." There was no need for him to extend their interactions more than what was strictly necessary, and he had no want of doing so either.
"How curious." The Heavenly Emperor commented, gaze unreadable as ever, though Shi Qingxuan thought he could see a glint of interest in his eyes.
"...I'm sorry?" The Wind Master asked.
"It's nothing." Jun Wu waved him off, whatever feeling he was close to exhibiting disappearing into the mask of serene grace he wore. "My apologies. I was distracted by a passing thought for just a second. But returning to the subject at hand, you really are too humble. You ascended at a mere fourteen years of age with nothing but your own merit and power. Your hard work has carried you this far, would it not do for you to be aware of it?"
Qingxuan felt the words uncomfortably squirm past the guards he put up, past the steep walls and into the burning hurt and insecurity that was a constant presence in his mind. Time had passed by in a flash since his ascension and subsequent meeting with Xie Lian, but time did not heal all wounds and it never did go away.
Years had passed, and he'd settled himself into a routine. The guilt had almost settled, but the blaze was reignited once more.
"Ah…" The Wind Master found himself at a momentary loss of words. He recovered as quickly as he could, forcing another delicate smile back onto his face. "This one thanks his majesty for his kind words, but there was still so much luck involved. This one would not dare to claim his achievements purely as his own."
"There was nothing lucky about it." Jun Wu answered after a beat of silence between the two. His calm stare was beginning to make Qingxuan nervous, though he hit it well with years upon years of acting. "I'm sure that your older brother would agree. He had little to do with you and your position earned through your own merits, if the rumors are to be believed. Quite the prodigy you are."
The deceivingly gentle praise stroked the growing fire. Shi Qingxuan found that his mouth was now impossibly dry, and he tried to swallow his own hurt feelings.
Right. Shi Wudu had been the one to perform the fate switch. He was the real reason behind Qingxuan's ascension, and they both knew it.
Shi Qingxuan stood silent in reply, focusing all of his will into trying not to expose anything strange in front of the Heavenly Emperor. He thanked whatever higher being out there that he held a reputation as a rather reclusive and quiet god.
He found solace in the small differences between himself and the original Shi Qingxuan of the novel he had read a lifetime ago.
Jun Wu hummed as he sensed the Wind Master leave the territory of his palace.
There had always been something off about that child. A hidden edge to his kindness. A sharp bitterness to and mention of his accomplishments.
The Heavenly Emperor hadn't thought much of it at first, but when Shi Qingxuan had brought his junior official to the heavenly courts, he could feel it. The distant but very much there connection that tied the two together, a tie of fate that had been jumbled and switched.
He vaguely remembered the records and journals of switched fates back in the last heavenly dynasty before its fall. It was one of the later methods he sought to modify and save Wuyong through by expanding the affected party from an individual to a kingdom, which might have been possible with enough divine power.
However, time had cut his research short, and he had been forced to proceed with the bridge plan.
Jun Wu had felt a streak of fresh fury run in him at the thought. Had the past gods helped with the process, he would not have been forced into such an impossible method. Had the past gods helped with the process, perhaps that impossible method would have worked.
But he centered himself, soothing his inner turmoil. He'd look into Shi Qingxuan, and whatever tribulations would've warranted such extreme solutions.
What he had found had been absolutely delightful. Shi Wudu had done well to cover his tracks, but he was still inexperienced. Perhaps if more time had passed, and the people had forgotten, it could've been an effective strategy, but it didn't take long for Jun Wu to clear away false trails and scrounge up the truth.
Jun Wu had been tempted to laugh at the irony of the situation the next time he had seen Shi Wudu, Shi Qingxuan, and He Xuan together.
Shi Wudu, who had switched the fates, felt no remorse nor regret, only a bright love for his family and clear pleasure at their outcome.
He Xuan, the victim of the fate switch, was as happy as one could be, having paved past the hardships and having found friends and found family among the heavenly officials.
Shi Qingxuan, the only one to have fully benefited from the fate switch, was the only one in misery, a delicate heart unable to move past the crime that had been committed.
The Heavenly Emperor had been intrigued at first. No matter how grand it seemed, ruling over the heavenly courts got tedious with time, and the situation with the Wind Master was quite the show of entertainment.
It seemed that despite the Water Master's efforts to hide the truth from his beloved brother, Qingxuan had somehow discovered the truth.
How curious, Jun Wu had thought and spoken. Shi Wudu seemed to believe that the end justified the means, and yet that same end only spelled more misery for the boy whose problem he sought to fix.
That misery didn't simply lift with time either. For every day that passed, the Heavenly Emperor could see a bitterness in Shi Qingxuan's heart fester. The closer He Xuan got to his god, the further the Wind Master got from healing.
Jun Wu's thoughts drifted again, and he smiled at the thought of his own beloved XianLe.
He'd stopped watching the fallen god some time ago, satisfied in the belief that the prince was in sufficient suffering and would come crawling to his side soon enough. When the Wind Master had encountered him on that abandoned battlefield, Jun Wu had been watching.
XianLe was as bright as ever, and it made the Emperor want to head down immediately and smother that light once and for all.
He was about to do so as well, because surely a haunting reminder of a half-crying half-smiling mask would work wonders on a god who believed himself to be free from that nightmare. If he timed it well enough, Jun Wu might even succeed in planting some seeds of doubt in his heart that hissed betrayal at the heavens.
Then the idea hit him, igniting that flame in his heart that hungered for the sight of his beloved XianLe, so empty and lost.
Shi Qingxuan was still warm.
He was still kind, his heart yet to be completely drowned in the sufferings of the world. Him and XianLe got along well, and Jun Wu had a feeling that they'd still get along well should they cross paths again.
The Heavenly Emperor suddenly grinned, a sharp smile full of teeth.
XianLe had always cared so much for his friends, no matter how much they'd beat him down and left him behind.
How would such a loving god react to his beloved friend when he crumbled under the world's hate, descending into the spiral of madness that had claimed Jun Wu himself centuries ago? How would such a loving god react to the cruel, heartless world when it inevitably destroyed the poor, innocent Wind Master?
The foundations were already set. The two had met, and the groundwork for a potential bond was there to cultivate. Shi Qingxuan's hurt was growing steadily on its own.
The process would take time and patience, but Jun Wu found himself not lacking at all in either of those categories. He could wait, as he always had. Breaking a human mind was a delicate process when you wanted the outcome to be a specific result. XianLe's resilience and tenacity was a bit of oversight on his part, but that will could be broken down easily enough. Shi Qingxuan would have to act as the stepping stone, the stairs that would carry XianLe to new heights.
Eventually the Emperor's grin settled into a satisfied smile, not unlike one of a child that had gotten its hands on a much coveted toy.
All Jun Wu had to do was guide them along the path that was already being paved.
And if that path only led to terror and woe, then so be it.