Shi Qingxuan's Dragrace

6. Shi Qingxuan's Dragrace

So the festival Shi Qingxuan was organising, to be held at The Wind and Water Temple in the Royal Capital was described as a glamorous and fabulous display of extravagant finery, exquisite looks, outrageous attitude, unparalleled beauty and charm and pure delight, from gods and ghosts alike.

The one occasion mortals get to see the deities in their most legendary and spectacular form, free from boundaries of divine status, spiritual power, gender; truly a liberating experience of realness, an opening of the doors of perception, an explosion for all the senses.

In practical terms, the contestants (the deities) would make a little parading of themselves, performing modified martial art, singing, dancing or any other form of expression of their choice, in a pioneering look known in Ghost City's entertainment houses as "drag".

So Shi Qingxuan was the father, or rather the drag mother of The Bian Zhuang Huanghou Xuan Mei Festival, but because this name was a mouthful, he just called it Shi Qingxuan's Dragrace.

All of a sudden, the heaven officials run to Ling Wen Palace to seek more clarification on what they were supposed to be doing, or seeing. Fortunately, Ling Wen was at the ready with a few scrolls on this new ground-breaking and unconventional art form.

Drag queen is a person, usually a male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Drag shows frequently include lip-syncing, live singing, and dancing.

So all the officials were reminded at once of Shi Qingxuan's breezy personality, his fondness of flaunting his female form, and also the mockery and abuse thrown at him behind his back by a few officials. This gave them headaches, as they were sure Shi Qingxuan was actually aware of it, and wanted to humiliate them in return, fearing such karma.

The festival had an important mandate however. Although the deities could use their spiritual powers for their presentation as they pleased, no spiritual powers should be employed to change their actual body shape; so being the deities men, this fulfilled the first general rule of "drag".

Now some officials were seriously troubled, for they had already committed to participate, part tempted by earning merits, part harassed by Shi Qingxuan, part fearing the threats involving Hua Cheng's name. They also felt they were at a disadvantage compared to officials such as His Highness The Crown Prince, who was no novice to cross-dressing, or Ling Wen who, being pushed into participating in her male form, was in fact female.

They felt they needed an urgent and comprehensive education in the drag arts, so several officials flocked to the drag houses of Ghost City; Hua Cheng being fully aware of their presence, and even passing the order for leaving them be, but charging double on whatever they consumed.

The Heavens are shaking hard!!! 😝😝😝

Thank you for reading!