The King's Mate - Part 3: Guishi

Chapter 9

I am -so- sorry about the late upload 💀 the truth is, I literally just forgot 🤦‍♀️ my new job is pretty fun actually but my brain is so dead when I get home that I barely get the basics together before crashing into bed and apparently I need the whole weekend to reboot. I added a second reminder later in the day for this week's Friday tho, so I hope it's not gonna happen again 😅

Anyway. I hope you enjoy this one 🙂

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Xie Lian decided to begin his search in the most obvious place; the infirmary. After all, it was entirely possible that Shi QingXuan was preoccupied with a patient and couldn't attend because of it.

His assumption turned out to be incorrect, though he wasn't too far off the mark.

Instead of tending to a patient, Shi QingXuan was snoozing in his office, head firmly planted on his desk. Seeing the doctor in such a state, Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and simply sighed, taking a seat. He was just contemplating on how to wake his friend up, when some dust tickled his nose, and Xie Lian had to sneeze.

The sound startled Shi QingXuan awake, and he looked around frantically for a short moment, before he realised that he had a guest, though it took him a few moments longer to realise just who his guest was. While being stared at incredulously, Xie Lian smiled awkwardly, rubbing his nose and giving the doctor a friendly wave.

"Xi-Xie Lian?!", Shi QingXuan asked, confusion written all over his face.

"It's been a while. I'm sorry I left without saying anything. I hope you found my letter?", Xie Lian asked, feeling a little bashful.

Shi QingXuan kept staring at him, though his lower lip started quivering dangerously for a few moments, before the man scrambled over his desk to tackle Xie Lian in the biggest hug Xie Lian had ever experienced. In fact, it was a little hard to breathe being squished like this.

"Qi-QingXuan", Xie Lian laughed breathlessly.

"You foolish fool! I missed you! How could you leave like that!? I missed you!", his friend sobbed loudly.

Xie Lian could do nothing but pat his back in an attempt to console him.

"I'm sorry..."

It took quite a long time until Shi QungXuan had calmed down enough to be able to hold a conversation again. And it was only once they got a conversation going that Xie Lian properly realised just how much he had also missed his friend, and how his personality really was just like a breeze of fresh air.

During their conversation, it turned out that Shi QingXuan had indeed been notified of some event happening in the throne hall, and that he had intended to go, however he'd been so exhausted from tending to a particularly fussy patient all night that he had fallen asleep on his desk instead of attending.

"But I guess I must have missed a lot, seeing that you're back and everyone and their grandma knows about it. Spill, I can't be left out of the loop!", Shi QingXuan demanded in an almost desperate way.

After Xie Lian had spilled everything in great detail, Shi QingXuan wailed in agony, entirely disbelieving of the fact that he had missed such a huge spectacle. Xie Lian could only imagine what a devastating blow such a thing must have been for his friend, and he tried his best to soothe him.

Xie Lian was starting to become a little exhausted with Shi QingXuan's overly dramatic antics, when his saviour in the form of a little girl entered the room.

"Banyue", he greeted her with a smile. "It's good to see you're doing well."

"Xie-gege", she greeted back shyly, though she seemed to be tearing up a bit as well. "I'm so happy you're back", she sniffed. In fact, she tried to put on a brave face for several moments, before she cracked, and came rushing over to Xie Lian, flying into his arms. "I missed you so much! And I missed King Hua so much! And I never wanted to sit on King Hua's throne, but they said that's why I should sit there and I was hoping and praying every day that you'd come back!", she wailed.