As Little Shan grew, Jin suddenly found that their Traveler’s Cave was much much too small. He couldn’t even nibble his wife’s tofu because he knew his son was there, watching and judging. After almost a year of forced abstinence, he really thought he was going to die.
He’d gotten in the habit of guiding the Merchant caravan just for an escape from his son. One day, they were hauling giant pieces of logs made from some foreign far eastern tree. They were so big Jin was forced to alter the path to accommodate them. When he asked what they were for, he was told for building a new wing of a palace of some ruler somewhere to the far West (who’s name Jin didn’t care to remember).
Palaces…
Jin had an epiphany.
He asked the merchants about what was required to build a palace. After hearing their general explanations (for none of them had personally built one themselves), he grew confident. Why couldn’t he build his own palace?
He was an Emperor, wasn’t he? Human Emperors always had fancy houses, so he could have one too. A huge one! One so big he could stick his son on one corner and then never see him again. Then, not only could he eat a bit of his wifey’s tofu in peace, he could even freely roll in the sheets with her!
Giddy, he immediately set out to do the task. Naturally, he had no idea how to build a Palace. He needed a professional to help with design and the technical aspects. Fortunately, Wu TengFei was able to help him find a good person and even negotiate the price.
The person in question, Li DingXiang, was a fairly well known artisan and architect who lived in a country farther south of the West side of the mountains. Everyone living near the mountains knew of Lord Jin by this point. Unlike the Fairy Emperor, who’s reputation had not improved terribly much, Lord Jin was known for his absolute adherence to the laws of the mountains, mighty cultivation skills, and deep love for his wife, Lady Mei Hua (to the point of being silly).
When DingXiang heard that a Lord Jin was looking to build a palace, he immediately said yes, even before Wu TengFei could negotiate his pay. Building a house for Lord Jin would be like building a house for the Fairy Emperor himself. To be able to say he built the Fairy Emperor a palace would raise his reputation to world renown!
Mr. Li and his craftsman came to the forest, not sure what to expect. They left feeling like they’d witnessed heaven on earth. Lord Jin wasn’t just some powerful cultivator, he could shape things from the very mountain itself! With just Mr. Li and his crew’s guidance, without seemingly any laborers at all (for they couldn’t see the fairies who helped Jin), Lord Jin made an entire palace. And not only that, he made it with the finest materials available (sourced from the mountain chain).
Li DingXiang was certain in his heart he’d designed a Wonder of the World. It was the most beautiful palace he’d ever seen and his only regret was that Lord Jin was likely never going to show it off. The eccentric ruler had stated, multiple times, that he wanted a private palace because his family was growing and his currently location was too small. When they asked how small and he said one room, Mr. Li and his associates felt like fainting. Why had someone this wealthy and powerful been living in a one bedroom house?!
Something that should have taken years only took a month to build instead. And it was only that long because Lord Jin could not be there the entire time to build. When they received their pay, Lord Jin proved to be generous and gave them ever more than the agreed wage: rubies, diamonds, gold, and silver. They were almost crushed by the weight of what he gave them. They actually had to hire people to help guard them on their way home, for they feared they were too tempting a target for bandits and thieves.
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On Lord Jin’s side, he had no concept of money. Mei Hua dealt with the family finances. Since this was a surprise undertaking, he couldn’t very well ask her for money! So instead he found treasures he thought to be comparable in value and gave those instead. Since they were all just rocks to him, he gave even more just to play it safe. If Mr. Li and the craftsmen knew this, they’d have collapsed in a puddle of their own blood from the shock.
Regardless, word quickly spread of the Lord Jin’s generosity. If a craftsman managed to get under his employ, he was guaranteed to strike it rich and live comfortably for the rest of his days.
——
Jin stood in the center of the spacious courtyard of his newly built palace and admired his work. It was ridiculously huge, as he’d wanted, but this came with it’s own set of problems.
It felt very empty and lifeless. Even with Mei and Little Shan, it wouldn’t be enough to make the place feel lively. Having lived in a one bedroom house for so long, this sense of vastness bothered him.
Next, the size meant it needed more care. He could periodically bring the place back to this, it’s clean original form, but having to remember to do something that menial was just annoying.
After pondering the problem, he called all his fairies to him, except for Ye (who he’d left back with his wife). They’d all been changed to look more like miniature humans, but they still had fluffy antenna, large black eyes, furry wings, and soft fuzzy skin.
Of the fairies that came to him, he picked one hundred of the most beautiful (judged to be so by his wife). And those he reshaped again, until they were the size of young androgynous teenagers. Their fuzzy skin became smooth silky white, their antenna turned to lightly pointed ears, their furry wings became luxurious hair that reflected their original colors. But their eyes were still very black and large.
These one hundred hand picked fairies stood there, docile and accepting their fate. As Jin looked them over, he frowned. They weren’t bad to look at, but something about their empty faces disturbed him. He hadn’t noticed when they were small, but now that they were large he couldn’t help but notice.
His mind compared them to Mei Hua when she was younger and he could not stop himself from finding them… lifeless.
A faint memory from a long time ago rose up in his mind:
“Brother, these little fairies of yours… how can they please you? Does it not bother you, that they’re hollow inside? They could be so much more than this, but you’ve made them into reflections of only yourself.”
At the time, he had not understood her objections. What point was there in servants that had a will and mind of their own? To try and help him understand, she’d made Ye as an example of what a fairy made from him could be like. But his heart had already begun to frost over and he’d rejected the little fairy when it refused to obey.
Now Jin understood. He’d been selfish, only wanting those around him to cater to his every whim and desire, rejecting any outside influence. He thought that when he controlled every little thing, he could be happy. But that had been a dream with no basis in reality. And he lost everything in pursuit of it. How foolish.
He walked up to each reshaped fairy and touched it. In that moment, they were filled with something strange and wondrous. Suddenly the very air and sun felt like life, the colors were vibrant and attractive, and the man before them was no longer a Master, a King sitting above them. He was… familiar, kind, decisive, and strong. More akin to family than Lord. And they loved him.
A hundred renewed fairies clustered around him, their dark eyes shining with an invisible life. Youthful voice called to him, wanting his attention, to touch him, and be seen. They wanted their most important person to know them and to be known.
Jin let himself be touched and conversed for a while with these reborn fairies. He could feel their great yearning and need for stability from the one who created them. To each fairy, he gave a task, and told them that beyond this task, they were free to do as they will. He filled each empty but eager mind with information so they could do the task assigned to them. He only asked that they not fight amongst themselves and always treat Mei Hua well.
When they finally dispersed, he continued sitting in the middle of his courtyard, feeling tired from what he’d done. It was not as though he lacked the power, but it took a lot of concentration and creativity to make a fairy into a genuine person. It was no wonder she’d done it a little at a time, over so many years.
He stared up at the hundreds upon hundreds of fairies left over and sighed wearily. He’d do as she had done as well, a little at a time. A hundred all at once was simply too much. After resting a while, he got up and went to find his wife.