Wudu Palace

Ghost King walked out of his room, feeling suffocated by his thoughts, he placed his hands on the balcony leaning his weight on his hands, he saw two figures in the distance, squinting his eyes he tried to figure out who it was, two seconds later he scowled in irritation as he left his room, his vision wasn't that good so he decided to go see for himself.

Once he was close enough, he saw Prince Jīnyú playing with mud; he frowned, noticing Water Master doing the same thing, "Are they kids? Playing in the mud," he asked out loud as he walked towards them.

"Add more mud Jīnyú," ShuîYuê commanded as the Prince scooped more mud and added it to the ball-like muddy structure Water Master was making.

Ghost King watched them, both had their hands covered in mud along with Prince Jīnyú's half face, which also had some seeds stuck on his cheek, "What are you doing?" Ghost King asked, crossing his arms.

Jīnyú who was pouring water into the muddy ball structure, averted his gaze to Ghost King, "We are planting radishes and some other plants."

Huá peeked at the small saplings of radishes. They had tiny leaves over the surface. He was, however, wondering about the seeds, "What plant seeds are these?" Ghost King inquired, picking a few and putting them in his palm to observe, they appeared shrivelled and rotten to him.

"What seeds are these Master?" Jīnyú questioned, realising he didn't know what they were planting.

"I don't know," ShuîYuê replied, rubbing her face against her shoulder to move her hair out of her face.

"We don't know," Jīnyú said, turning to Ghost King as if he hadn't heard it already.

Huá rolled his eyes, "Is it a vegetable or flower seed?"

Jīnyú turned back to ShuîYuê, "Master is it a vegetable or flower seed?"

"I don't know," ShuîYuê replied, trying to move her hair out of her face with her arm.

"We don't know," Jīnyú repeated, turning to Ghost King, who walked around the area to reach Water Master.

He crouched beside her as he watched her making a runny mixture of mud, "Who let you two plant?" Ghost King questioned with a sigh.

"I snatched these from Jade," ShuîYuê replied, mixing more mud to get the mixture in the right consistency.

Huá noticed her hairlocks blocking her vision and irritating her eyes, he tucked her hair behind her ear as ShuîYuê felt warm fingers caress her ears, his wrist lingered on her jaw for a few seconds before retracting his hand back to his side, she lowered her face in her bent knees trying to calm down her racing heart and heated cheeks.

"You don't add so much water," Ghost King chided slightly as he took the trowel from ShuîYuê's hand, who seemed to be moving away from Ghost King.

"But I read plants need a lot of water to grow well," Jīnyú put forth as he watched Ghost King stand up; Huá took off his long hanfu and folded it near a bench before he crouched down next to Water Master, rolling his sleeves.

"They do, but you add water slowly, this..." Huá poked the muddy ball-like structure with the trowel in his hand, "Thing is useless," he added, moving aside the huge ball on which the teacher and student duo had worked hard.

"Jade said we should make small balls of mud to put the seeds in," ShuîYuê said at once when Ghost King rolled away her and Jīnyú's hard work to the side.

"This thing is too runny, I'll show you both," he replied, scooping some mud and adding water to it slowly, "You make this into a ball, the mud shouldn't stick to your hands and then you bury it in the soil and put seeds in it," he explained as he looked in front of him to see both of them leaning their heads to have a better look.

Jīnyú's head on top of ShuîYuê's whose hands were on the ground as she held up her weight along with whatever weight Jīnyú's head was about, "You two can lean back a little," Ghost King suggested slightly uncomfortable with their position, he was sure both of them were going to fall on top of him, "Come sit on either of my sides."

They stood up, taking a seat beside Ghost King, who showed them how to do it; they managed to do it after a few tries. Huá wondered how this could be so difficult that they had to have a few tries to get the consistency of mud right; they had no idea how plants were planted; Huá was quite an expert, though, "When will it grow?" Jīnyú asked, staring at the newly planted seeds.

"It'll take a few weeks till they grow leaves and then some months depending on whatever you have planted," Ghost King answered, washing his hands.

Jīnyú took three different-sized sticks and planted them near three different seed balls, "When this plant grows, we can pick it from our respective plants," he announced as Huá furrowed his eyebrows.

Ghost King shared a confused look with Water Master, who simply smiled, "He likes to put a stick around every new plant that is planted, and when they grow up, he picks his harvest by himself and then distributes it around Wudu Palace, which isn't much." she explained smiling at the Prince.

"Kids do things like these," Ghost King commented as his arm brushed against Water Master's, who immediately moved away from him.

"He has been doing this since he was young; his habits are hard to change," ShuîYuê replied softly as Jīnyú tried to clean his face, which led him to smear more mud on his already muddy face.

"You took care of him since he was young?" He asked curiously.

"It hasn't been long, just four years," she responded, walking away as she helped Jīnyú to clean his face, who was thinking of mischief as he grinned.

Ghost King had just turned around to go and pick up his outer robe, which was folded on a bench when he heard giggles and cries. Jīnyú was splashing Water Master with a watering can who was holding her arms in front of her face to protect herself from getting hit in her face.

"I got two hits on you, Master. I am winning!" Jīnyú cheered for himself as ShuîYuê ran around trying to avoid getting splashed with the water. If Jīnyú got a third hit on her, she'd have to take him and Yìfēi out for lunch; she hid behind Ghost King, using him as her shield.

"You can't hide behind himmmm!" Jīnyú whined as she giggled. He got splashed in his face by water once before he understood that his Master was using Ghost King as a shield and attacking from behind him.

"Just this last one left," ShuîYuê said to herself as Ghost King turned around only to be downed in water by the Prince who had sneaked up on him. ShuîYuê had seen Jīnyú sneaking behind Ghost King and grabbed his arms to pull him toward her to avoid being hit by Jīnyú.

Huá closed his eyes as Prince Jīnyú dumped the entire water can on his head; he felt Water Master's hands pulling him toward herself as Jīnyú walked back to get another water can since his Master had avoided his attack by once again using Ghost King.

Huá looked at ShuîYuê who was drenched and hiding from Jīnyú by using him as her shield, her hands were still holding onto his arms, and he could feel his face heating up just from her touch, and to make matters worse for him and his poor cheeks she hid her face in his shoulder, he could feel her giggling against his drenched clothes, 'This is not right. Why do I feel warm?' He questioned himself.

Yìfēi had asked Jade where ShuîYuê was, who had replied, "Master snatched radish saplings and some damaged seeds of cucumber from my hands and ran away; I was going to throw away those cucumber seeds before planting radish saplings in a bigger soil bed."

Yìfēi saw General Yông strutting towards Ghost King, who was standing with ShuîYuê, whose face was hidden in his shoulder; the flustered expression on Ghost King's face didn't escape Yìfēi's sharp eyes.

'This red-headed villain of my YueYue's love story is going to spoil her moment with Ghost King; I must stop him,' and with that thought in mind, Wind Master rushed towards Jīnyú and snatched the water can from his hand.

Zìxìn was just about to call Huá when he got splashed in his face, He scowled, wiping his face. He glared at a laughing Wind Master and that skinny prince who was snickering at him, "What the hell!" Zìxìn snapped, walking towards Yìfēi who smiled smugly, "How dare you!" Zìxìn spat leaning closer to Wind Master.

"Like this," she replied, splashing him in his face once again; Zìxìn grabbed her hand, trying to pry away the water can as that skinny prince jumped on Zìxìn's back and rubbed something wet and sticky on his face.

"You look beautiful, darling," Yìfēi praised as Zìxìn wiped his face to see his hand smeared with mud.

"Get off me!" He growled at Jīnyú as Yìfēi pushed him; he toppled over something and fell on the muddy ground. Prince Jīnyú had jumped off him the second Yìfēi winked at him. Zìxìn hissed as he tried to see.

Wind Master was leaning towards him with that wretched water can and that Prince was piling mud in his arms as he neared Zìxìn, "Don't you dare!" He warned only to be splashed in his face and then get smeared with mud.

ShuîYuê couldn't control her laughter as Yìfēi and Jīnyú took unsaid revenge on General Yông, he was kicking his legs in the air trying to get away from Yìfēi who was blocking his vision with water and Jīnyú was busy burying him in mud with a shovel, she locked eyes with Ghost King who was staring at her, he had some mud smeared on his cheek and neck, she wiped his face with her sleeve.

Huá leaned back as ShuîYuê went on her tippy toes to clean his cheek. The front of her sleeves was dirty, so she was using the middle portion of her long sleeve and thus finding it difficult to reach his face; she was annoyed with him as he kept on leaning back.

"Can you stop moving away? I am trying to clean your cheek," she spoke, sounding annoyed.

"I can clean it myself," he said, turning his face away from her.

"I am almost done," she said, grabbing his collar with one hand and pulling him closer as she wiped the remains of mud on his cheek.

Huá could feel her hot breath on his cheek, she had pulled him down by his collar, and his eyes glanced down at her hand which was still holding onto his collar, her knuckles pressing into his bare chest as the knots of his inner robes came undone in the pushing and pulling of their splashing game, he grabbed her hand firmly as he moved her back.

She stared confused at his sudden push, "I can do it myself," he repeated, as he wiped his cheek before he pulled Zìxìn up. Wind Master and Prince Jīnyú stepped back from torturing the General when Ghost King walked towards them. Jīnyú dropped the shovel as Wind Master dropped the water can to the floor.

Zìxìn glared at Wind Master and Prince Jīnyú as his best friend dragged him away; he had just showered, and now he'll have to spend Hell knows how long to get this damned mud out of his hair.

ShuîYuê stared at Ghost King's retreating figure. Feeling dejected, she walked towards Yìfēi, who smiled at her as Jīnyú showed her his teeth, which had some mud on them; she shook her head at their antics as they watched two best friends disappear into the South chambers.

The next day

Wudu Palace

Ghost King was leaving his room when a small girl ran into him at the blind end of the corridor, she fell on the floor as Ghost King crouched down in front of her, she sniffled feeling scared, her mother Mei had told her that Ghost King and his companions would be staying in Wudu Palace for a while, she had seen their group leave through the front gate and had assumed that they had left, Huá had however returned when Zìxìn told him that he was going to meet with Qiū KūnLín and Huá should stay here.

ShuîYuê had been looking for Ghost King; she wanted to apologise for getting him roped up in her and Jīnyú's game; she turned a corner to see Mei's daughter on the floor; Ghost King was crouched down in front of her on one knee.

"Are you all right?" He asked in a soft voice as he noticed the scared expression on the little girl's face, Xiaoxin stood up slowly as she ran away from Ghost King.

ShuîYuê walked towards them as Xiaoxin saw her from some distance and hid behind her, "What's wrong?" ShuîYuê asked softly.

"Master, he- he's scary," Xioaxin cried as she buried her face in ShuîYuê's arm.

ShuîYuê looked back at Ghost King, who had stood up, "It's all right; he won't do anything," she assured, patting the girl's head.

"I am scared," Xiaoxin sniffled as ShuîYuê gently pushed her away before kneeling to be at eye level with the girl.

"I am here to protect you all. You shouldn't be scared of anything," ShuîYuê consoled as she wiped Xiaoxin's tears.

"Moth- mother said these ghosts kill- kill for fun," Xiaoxin cried as she hugged ShuîYuê, who noticed Ghost King standing right in front of her; he must have heard it.

"Not everyone is bad," ShuîYuê replied rubbing Xiaoxin's shoulders, she pulled away wiping her face with her sleeve, "Don't cry, come I'll take you to your friends," ShuîYuê offered as Xiaoxin took her hand.

Mei had been looking for her daughter who had run off from right under her nose. She saw Water Master near the South Chambers corridor with Xiaoxin beside her,
"Xiaoxin! I told you not to go play outside servant quarters!" Mei scolded as ShuîYuê raised her hand.

"Not now, Mei, she's scared," ShuîYuê told as Mei took her daughter's hand from Water Master's hold.

"She's spoilt!" Mei hissed at her daughter.

"Not with children Mei," ShuîYuê spoke sternly, "Not with them."

"But Master, this girl is always getting into trouble; I should punish her so she wouldn't think of getting into trouble," Mei spat, slapping her daughter on the head.

"Mei!" ShuîYuê snapped, "Not with children, you don't treat them this way."

Mei bowed her head, "I am sorry, Master, she's just so mischievous, always getting into trouble with the children of other maids; she's lucky I didn't abandon her as her father did," Xiaoxin ran away as she heard that.

ShuîYuê hissed at Mei as she spoke the last line, "You do not say that to your child, to any child," ShuîYuê warned sternly as Mei bowed her head in apology.

"I love her, Master; she's my flesh and blood; I just can't!" Mei sighed as she tried to put her troubles into words, "It's hard raising a child alone."

ShuîYuê's stern glare softened at Mei's words, "I know, you have been strong all these years, but don't say that to your daughter," Mei opened her mouth to protest as ShuîYuê shook her head.

"Not with children, Mei; they are innocent; how they are treated in their childhood frames their beliefs and thoughts," ShuîYuê placed her hand on Mei's shoulder, "We do not behave badly with children. They should be kept out of all our problems."

"I know Master, I just," Mei rubbed her face with her hand, "I just sometimes see her father in her a lot and forget that she's not him."

"Mei, be patient with her; kids are mischievous; she'll be more mature in a few years, but until then, you must not make her feel anything less than loved," ShuîYuê advised as Mei nodded her head.

She left to apologise to her daughter as ShuîYuê turned around and reached the corridor, which was just a few steps away; she saw Ghost King leaning against the wall with his eyes closed, "Ghost King?" She called as he turned away from her hurriedly.

"Can we speak for a few minutes?" He started walking towards his room with her following behind him, "It's about the Mid-autumn festival," he still didn't stop, "It might make your friends uncomfortable," she added hurriedly before he could walk into his room, that got him to halt in his steps.

She sighed in relief, "Yìfēi and Jīnyú spend most of the holidays here in Wudu Palace. They'll be here for the Mid-autumn festival too. Do you mind their company?" She knew he didn't mind them, he was good friends with Yìfēi actually and Jīnyú could be a total sweetheart when he wanted to be, except towards Zìxìn, ShuîYuê was sure that Jīnyú was trying to take revenge on General Yông by either adding too much salt in his food or purposely tripping him whenever he could.

"I don't," he stated stiffly as he kept his back to her.

"That's nice, I suppose," she murmured, fiddling with her sleeves. He began to walk away, "I want to apologise for that day!" She shouted as he stopped by his room's door. She ran to him, "I- I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, I am sorry for it," she apologised sincerely.

He should have been glad about the way she was trusting him more, how she didn't scurry away from his touch and how she was getting more touchy was a big difference from the first time he met her, this was all good, too good for his plan, he needed her to trust him more and she was falling right into his trap which he had spread so intricately.

Making friends with Wind Master to show how much he cared for ShuîYuê, was all part of his plan, but something about her behaviour was not settling right with him, for how clever she was he wondered if she was playing some games with him, he realised it long ago that she wasn't new to this game of trust and fake care, she was observant and could see through his actions quite easily.

But from the last few weeks she's been much more unguarded about her behaviour, Huá had noticed how cautious she is around others, specifically, those she doesn't trust which is quite literally everyone other than Wind Master and Prince Jīnyú, she was also withdrawn in her actual personality with everyone else but he had seen her laughing and joke around with Prince Jīnyú.

He had seen her whine to Wind Master about having to work so much, and now she was slowly opening up to him as well, this is exactly what Huá wanted, to gain her trust, but somewhere he was conflicted in his thoughts, he felt like he was betraying her, that was his plan, but now that he had gained her trust he was feeling guilty for doing this to her.

In his eyes, she was genuinely a very caring and nice person who loved her close ones a lot, and there was nothing she wouldn't do for them, but was there anything she wouldn't do for him?

He wanted to know that, he needed to know how much she had fallen for his trap, how deep had she fallen into his game of manipulation, he wanted to see her care for him like that day when she hadn't thought once for her safety and jumped to save him, he wanted to have her hand in his, he wanted her to place her soft hand on his cheek, he wanted to lean his forehead against her's and feel her breath on his lips, he wanted to see that dimpled smile play on her lips, he wanted to caress her face with his fingers, he wanted to bury his face in her shoulder, he wanted her to wrap her hands around his waist and look up at him with a smile on her lips, that smile which appeared on her face only because of him, he wanted her all for himself.

"-om Jīnyú's side too, he's silly and doesn't think much before he does something," he didn't know what she had said before this, he was too occupied with staring at her,
"And Yìfēi isn't so mischievous, she just likes to annoy your General," He averted his gaze as she looked up. He didn't want her to catch him staring at her, "I am sorry for pulling you into our messy game," she added, looking up at him. He had a frown on his face.

"You shouldn't be so casual with someone like me," he said, crossing his arms.

"You are like?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side. Does she not realise what that does to Huá's poor unbeating heart?

"Water Master, I don't know you well enough, but you were very touchy," he explained as ShuîYuê's cheeks warmed up in embarrassment.

"I- I didn't intend to no- not at all," she stammered, trying to explain herself.

"It's not your fault; I am just not used to being touched that way," he assured them as she looked up at him.

"Touched what way?" ShuîYuê asked stupidly. She couldn't keep her tongue under control, spouting rubbish and welcoming more embarrassment for herself.

"No one touches me as casually as you do," he responded, keeping his eyes glued to his shoes.

ShuîYuê could die right then and there. Why did she ask that stupid question, "It's not like that!" She shouted alarmed, "It's nothing like you think, I don't - I don't think that way about you!" She rambled, trying to defend her actions.

"We aren't even friends! Why will I like you?" She blurted stupidly once again. The door right next to her seemed to be the perfect place to slam her head on and save herself from whatever little embarrassment she had yet to feel.

Huá watched how she turned away from him; ShuîYuê was hitting her head against the door lightly, "I never said you liked me," he spoke, placing his hands on either side of the door.

"Like you said we aren't even friends, why would you like me if we aren't even friends?" he whispered leaning his head down to her ear, she turned around slowly only to press herself back into the door as much as possible if the door could swallow her whole and transport her to another realm she would sacrifice her precious cream puffs in exchange.

"We are not friends," she repeated, leaning back as far as possible from his ridiculously handsome face.

"Yet," he reminded, tilting his head to have a better look at her face.

"We'll never be friends," she said, sounding certain.

"If we were friends, would you still be so touchy?" He questioned mischievously.

"What do you mean touchy?" She questioned, looking annoyed, "I don't go around touching just about anyone I see!"

He was amused at her outburst, "So I am not just anyone?" He questioned playfully; she huffed in response, turning her head away, "I have to be important enough to have Water Master be touchy with me," he teased, enjoying this a lot more than he thought.

"You aren't important or anything. You are not my friend, and I don't go around touching anyone. I was just trying to remove dirt from your cheek, nothing else," she clarified crossing her arms.

"Was it nothing else?" He inquired, leaning his head against the door, "Was it just you cleaning my cheek?" He asked in a whisper, both his hands trapping her against the door. He was only a few inches away from touching her ear.

"It's nothing else, don't get ahead of yourself," she answered with all the firmness she could, hoping her voice didn't sound like she was crying.

"You are lucky," he stated leaning back, "You grabbed my collar and pulled me down like that," he spoke, staring intently at her, "No one dares to do that; even if some idiot screwed in the brain does, they lose their life before I can even see them."

She scoffed, "What will you do? Kill me?"

"Zìxìn might, if he had seen that," he answered, sliding his hands down the door, "If you dare to touch me again, Zìxìn will kill you," he added, his hands lingering around her waist.

"I am not scared of your general, nor am I scared of you," she replied, staring right back into his eyes.

"You are too courageous, Water Master. Don't touch me like that again," he warned.

"Will you kill me if I try to clean dirt off your cheek again?" She questioned airily.

"Like I said, you shouldn't be so casual with someone like me," he whispered, pulling her towards him by her waist, "I don't take those touches casually."

She was sure her heart was going to leap out of her chest and run a marathon with how fast it was beating, "I wouldn't touch you again."

"Are you sure?" He asked, feeling her quick heartbeats through her chest, which was pressed against her hands to his chest.

"I promise I will not," she assured, trying to keep her calm, "I did not have any other intentions; I was just cleaning dirt off your cheek, nothing else," she added, sounding serious.

"I will not let you go unless you promise to not touch me again," he replied, smiling coyly.

"You make it sound like I was harassing you or something!" She snapped irritated.

"Were you not harassing me?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"Goodness you," she hissed, trying to keep herself from scratching his face, "If you don't stop with your false accusations, I wi-"

"What will you do?" He interjected mischievously, "Or should I say what can you do?"

"I can do plenty," she replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I would love an elaboration," he smiled, pleased with her reactions.

"I can break all your bones, stew them in a huge pot, and then feed them to wolves!" She threatened as he chuckled.

Was he not scared of her threats? ShuîYuê had never seen anyone who had not shivered from her threats because she didn't just threaten she did what she threatened to do, "Did someone ever tell you?" He asked, stifling his laughter.

"What?" She asked peeved at his expression, which was him looking very pleased.

"That you look incredibly cute when you are threatening someone," he whispered in her ear as her cheeks went red from embarrassment, shame, and shyness she couldn't pinpoint, He leaned back pleased with himself for making her blush like a cherry, "I think I should stop. You'll turn red if I continue my teasing," he added with a chuckle.

"Shut up!" She snapped, pushing him away as she stormed off. He couldn't help but contain the smile on his face, seeing her run away from embarrassment.

'She's fun to mess with,' he thought as his smile slowly died down, remembering why he came to Heaven in the namesake of this fake peace treaty.

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A/n: Hello!! The beginning is so fluffy and cute!! I hope you liked it long chapter, so I'll shut up! Bye-bye!!

Word count: 4600