At the entrance to Fengjiu's fox den in Qingqiu, an expressionless Wenchang was seen carrying the unconscious queen in his arms. They were greeted by a concerned Migu, who quickly opened the door and escorted them into Fengjiu's chambers. Without wasting any time, the knowledgeable lord asked Migu to prepare hot water, a towel and a fire in the kitchen. Though it was their first time meeting, Migu had long known of Fengjiu's engagement to the younger lord, and did not question Wenchang's orders, performing as he was told to in a rush, while being careful in his actions due to his fear of fire.
After tending to Fengjiu's injuries and wrapping up her shoulder before covering her with a blanket, Wenchang left her in Migu's care and departed to the wilderness to collect medicinal herbs to further treat her injuries. Thanks to his lessons in herbalism that he had picked up from learning from Mo Yuan and Zhe Yan, and in addition to his studies in that department while he had been the mortal Zhang Ya, Wenchang was able to acquire as many ingredients as he could to create an antidote in the form of a herbal remedy to assist Fengjiu's quick recovery.
Due to the toxins from the claws of the demon, Fengjiu had to rest for two days, while Wenchang would diligently feed her the antidote three times a day. In addition to oral medication, he would also use his healing spells to speed up her recovery. It was during this period of treating her injuries that it occurred to him that there was a scent of her body, which was as fragrant as the blooming peach blossoms from Zhe Yan's orchard. A smile spread across his face at the realisation of this fact about the beauty.
For two days and nights, he would watch her sleep while staying awake, fascinated by the beauty of the natural state of her face devoid of any makeup, along with the phoenix birthmark on her forehead that he had developed a special liking to. It was on one such occasion, that the inspiration to paint a portrait of her came to him, and so he recited an incantation, calling forth a magical brush along with ink colours and a piece of parchment, which materialised before him. Slowly, he poured every of his feeling of admiration for the queen into each stroke of the brush he made as he committed to put the beauty of her sleeping appearance to paper. As he completed the painting, he blew on it magically to dry it and folded it, placing it inside his sleeve.
Finally, on the third day following her brawl with the beast, Fengjiu finally regained consciousness. As Wenchang had expected, her refusal in allowing him to feed her the antidote was extremely strong. Even with his continuous persistence and explanation that it was needed for a quick recovery and that he meant well, she was unwilling to listen to him. Wenchang knew she was deliberately being obstinate and difficult with him in her efforts to push him away, and so, in his head he had already figured out a method for him to employ in dealing with her games. Since she wouldn't cooperate, he took a mouthful of the antidote in his mouth and before she knew it, his lips was on hers, force-feeding her the antidote from his mouth to hers with one playful kiss. Feeling his tongue meet with hers, an enraged Fengjiu slapped him as hard as she could with one quick movement of her hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" she shouted furiously.
"Feeding the patient her medicine," Wenchang said nonchalantly. "Until the patient gets her right dosage, that is how the physician will feed her bit by bit, since she refuses to cooperate."
Fengjiu raised her hand to slap him again at the audacity of his words, but Wenchang was faster, and swiftly he held her down on her bed and transferred more of the antidote into her mouth with another kiss, before releasing her. Feeling subdued, Fengjiu's cheeks reddened and she quickly turned away from him, embarrassed that this person who had yet to marry her, had already kissed her twice. "Fine, we'll have it your way," she said after about a few minutes of silence, and turning around hastily, grudgingly grabbed the antidote on the table and downed the bitter liquid in an instant.
"Now that I've taken the antidote, can you leave the room?" Fengjiu demanded, pouting as she pushed him away from her to produce some distance between them. "My queen, I will now take my leave," said Wenchang with a laugh, creating a mental image of the pouting Fengjiu in his mind. He would remember this face of hers, be it years, decades or millenniums after that incident. The pouty expression on the face of the beauty was just too spectacular a sight.
Not long after, Wenchang received instructions from the Sky Kingdom to remain in Eastern Qingqiu to familiarise himself with the ways of the fox queen and to build up a relationship with her, since they were due to be wedded in times to come. Although Fengjiu's injuries were already healing well, he considered it his duty to be there for her, and hence resided in a separate cottage not far from Fengjiu's den. When his presence was required in the Sky Kingdom, only then would Wenchang venture back to Taichen Palace to attend to his roles in the immortal realm, but spent the majority of his leisure in Qingqiu.
Wenchang had asked Migu on the presence of a particular spiritual fox in Qingqiu. When Migu responded with curiosity, Wenchang explained that he had just wanted to meet a fox that he had met before. It happened that Fengjiu had overheard the conversation and recalled that she had once encountered her magic backfiring in the mortal realm during one of her travels, and due to not wanting her parents or grandparents to know about her folly as they expected her to be still in the mortal realm, she requested Zhe Yan to cover for her while she recovered. Zhe Yan had transformed her into a spiritual fox and instructed an older spiritual fox to take care of her. It was from this conversation that she realised the man she had run into while in the guise of a spiritual fox was no other than Wenchang himself, while he was still the apprentice Seventy-Three. At that time, she had recognised Siming and was curious to whom the white-robed apprentice was as well as their purpose for visiting Qingqiu, so intentionally followed them while they were distributing Ali's coming-of-age invitations. Recalling the peck he had given to her on her forehead, she dismissed the kiss as just his kindness towards a mammal. She decided to keep the truth that she was that fox, from Wenchang, lest he find fault in her or tease her for it. Who knows, perhaps he might even bring up her past of being the fox, in an attempt to bully her.
Fengjiu also recalled that while she was recovering from her injuries, she had felt a similar peck on her forehead once, and upon waking up the next day, she feared that Wenchang was again in her room, since he had the habit of reading scriptures in her room or drinking tea in the past. Every time he did so, she would just pretend to be fast asleep in order to avoid him. However, this time, it was Migu who stood in her room while a mild sandalwood fragrance persisted in the room. She recalled clearly how both Wenchang and Donghua emitted a prominent sandalwood fragrance from their bodies. Perhaps it was the scent of Taichen Palace, she thought. When she inquired about Wenchang's whereabouts, Migu informed her that Wenchang had returned to the Sky Kingdom to take care of some duties. Heaving a sigh of relief, Fengjiu headed outside to breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery in the absence of the annoying Wenchang. She was dismayed to see him return hours later.
At times Fengjiu would sneak out into the woods without the knowledge of Migu or Wenchang, to have fun while in her fox form despite not having fully recovered. She had barely gone far from her den when she chanced upon Wenchang in the forest. He was sitting atop a log, armed with a Chinese lyre in his right hand. The musical instrument subsequently yielded a melodious tune, resulting in her pausing to enjoy the beauty of the moment. Following the music, peach blossoms fell from the sky, slowly fading away as the music came to a halt. It had never occurred to Fengjiu that there would be a part of Wenchang that enjoyed music and his ability to produce music of such superior quality impressed her. She had always thought of him as a super-serious type who carried his books and scrolls everywhere, but the truth that he actually knew how to appreciate music was new to her.
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As soon as Fengjiu had made a total recovery, she resumed pursuing academic studies to focus on advanced magic and make-up classes on precision subjects and religion. One day, she was having difficulty in preparing for an oral examination on religion, and after spending hours on the same chapter but finding herself unable to memorise what she had just studied, she was getting frustrated. All of a sudden, she heard a male voice chuckling behind her. Annoyed that Wenchang had been snooping on her and was unable to contribute anything helpful to her situation, she excused herself saying that the particular chapter was very difficult and that Wenchang himself would not be able to memorise it either. Casually Wenchang strode towards her and took the scroll from her before she could stop him. He finished reading the scroll in a few seconds and laughingly, smacked her on the forehead playfully with the rolled-up scroll, calling her an idiot (bai-chi). He recited the contents of the scroll perfectly, without missing a single word. Irked by his intelligence, Fengjiu attempted to snatch her scroll from him while he was reciting the words from his memory, but failed.
Staring at him right in the eye, Fengjiu reprimanded him furiously that he should give her some respect as she was older than him by more than 30,000 years. Wenchang laughed, and cheekily told her that he would now greet her as 'grandmother' and once she gives birth, he would call their fox cubs uncle and auntie. Fengjiu glared at him and told him that in that case, he should just give birth on his own, before storming off in anger. Wenchang simply laughed, but was determined to change her views of him. Next, he would propose to tutor her, so that she would not be troubled by her difficulty in studying for her upcoming examinations. According to him, it would make him feel better, while it would benefit her to have someone teach her in the areas she was weak at. This way, both of them would benefit from the arrangement.
After a number of continuous failed attempts in studying for her examination, Fengjiu finally gave in and accepted Wenchang's offer to tutor her. In addition, she would bribe him with sweet treats, cakes and pastries that she had specially made, so that he may help her with her homework and assignments. Slowly, Wenchang noticed that he was getting to understand the stubborn queen, and her mask was slowly falling off and revealing the child in her. Perhaps, she wasn't as tough as he thought, after all.
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