Hours later, Qing Xiashu could hear the festivities of people celebrating over corpses when someone opened the dungeon door. The sounds of joy and celebration echoed down the empty halls towards his even emptier cell.

A stumbling figure came into view all too soon, the door slamming shut behind them, leaving everything in silence once more, then came their drunken shuffling.

"Qing Xiashu." The man called, it was Hong Chunji's voice but it sounded slurred... the hero was drunk. Very drunk.

The head disciple of the fallen palace scoffed softly to himself.

"Hong Shaoye." Qing Xiashu acknowledged, he didn't have the energy in him to be hostile. He was too tired, too battered, and missing Hefeng's easy support again.

"Don't Shaoye me, call me my name... please..." The door to his cell was opening, letting the prince inside. "I can't set you free, but please trust I would if it were in my hands."

"I understand." Qing Xiashu was shocked to have lived this long truthfully, he expected little to save him now. At this point he was just happy to see the dim moonlight flooding through his barred window. This is where he kept his eyes, refusing to look up.

Hong Chunji choked at the sight of him, his hair, usually well brushed and with soft ringlets dancing over his face with every light shift of air, left scattered around him on the floor or matted with blood while haphazardly flicked over his shoulder [https://img.wattpad.com/df7d49d24a70869f4366a335157289525dba3dc7/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f624b365f315f4766317761706e773d3d2d313439373032303434322e313830393439323037386134616335333435363236313439313638362e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Hong Chunji choked at the sight of him, his hair, usually well brushed and with soft ringlets dancing over his face with every light shift of air, left scattered around him on the floor or matted with blood while haphazardly flicked over his shoulder.

The ever present yellow tassel was left on the dusty floor with an all too familiar smattering of red.

The prince bent to pick it up.

Qing Xiashu didn't bother turning his head to see him, leaving his blind side to observe the prince. Tired and unconcerned. His robes were too uncomfortable to bother with. Wet and tacky with slowly drying blood. Even his second layer, the dark gray one, was nearly burgundy rather than frosty as they should have been.

"What have they done to you-?" The prince's knuckles were pale in their fists, shaking for a moment before releasing their pressure and reaching towards Qing Xiashu's battered cheeks.

Qing Xiashu leaned away from the touch, just enough to make Hong Chunji quickly retract his hands. "She's had her fun. It's hardly enough to fret over."

"I'll... be back with food..." The tone was awkward, Qing Xiashu would be lying if he said he expected any truth in them.

But only a few moments later, Hong Chunji was in fact back with a plate cluttered with quite extravagant food. Likely taken from the celebration taking place above. The man almost tripped twice while carrying it, but eventually made it with his precious cargo to Qing Xiashu's side. "I'll untie your hands." He said as he set the plate down.

The moment the ropes loosened, Qing Xiashu's body sparked with previously unseen, or perhaps previously absent energy. Bloodied and broken hands nailed themselves to Hong Chunji's wrists, twisting until the man lost his balance and was dropped to the dusty ground. One hand wrapped around the throat now near enough to reach.

"Where's my fucking daughter!? And my goddamn dog! Tell me or I'll make sure you never breathe again!" The words came in a snarl that both Hei Xianying and Hefeng would have been proud of.

"They never caught Hefeng, she's still out there somewhere. And no one has so much as seen Hei Xianying or any other huan." Hong Chunji rasped through his constricted throat.

Qing Xiashu released Hong Chunji's throat slowly.

All the air and energy leaving his body in a great sigh, slumping back to the post his legs were still tied to. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but holding himself upright on his broken legs with wood pressing into his calves was more uncomfortable.

So both were safe then, probably equally panicked in one another's company. That brought Qing Xiashu some measure of relief, though not nearly enough to alleviate his depressive upset.

Kneeling down, Hong Chunji set the plate of food gently into Qing Xiashu's lap as his legs were untied. "Let me at least repair the damage to your bones..."

"What happened in the mines?" Qing Xiashu mumbled out, taking a few bites of food before his pace slowed to near nothing.

"Something escaped containment in the mountains, I'm not really sure what, but whatever it was it had been chained there for a at least a few decades and blew its way out." Hong Chunji answered quietly.

Nothing but silence sounded after this, neither dare break it for a time. Qing Xiashu had an idea of what, or who, had made the explosion, but he didn't plan to expose anything to Hong Chunji.

Wincing when bones snapped back into place, Qing Xiashu half heartedly tried to lean his legs away from the prince, but with the easy brush of Hong Chunji's fingers he gave in. If it weren't for the unsettling crunch that came with each pass, he would have almost considered it pleasant, like an animal being pet by a kind owner.

"I'm sorry... It's bruising." The once head disciple muttered. If this man were any other young master from the South, he'd have been throttled in return by now. But as it wasn't some young master. He was safe to gently run his hand over the side of the prince's neck. With a careful hand he skimmed over the coloring bruise and ran up the warm skin to rest against the man's cheek, gently thumbing over the freckles.

Perhaps due to his drinking or perhaps due to his own exhaustion, Hong Chunji leaned into the soft pressure. Shutting his eyes for a long moment and breathing a sigh which sounded all too relieved. He relished in the contact and drank in the warmth.

Touch starved.

The prince is touch starved without him.

The man who could have any man or woman he pleased at this point, was leaning into the touch of someone who was supposed to be his enemy like he was parched and had seen a snow melt spring of fresh water.

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Maybe when they were younger this made sense, Hong Chunji had grown up mostly on his own after leaving the Yin residence, hugs and kind touches were rare when every person was a stranger.

But now?

Now Hong Chunji was coming into his title as a prince, a king.

People must have begun to flock to him by now.

Anyone would let him have them if he asked. If he wanted a hug, he could collect a hug. If he wanted intercourse he could have intercourse. If he wanted a touch on the cheek he could have a touch on the cheek.

Qing Xiashu wasn't sure if that stroked his ego or ran it through with a dagger.

"It's fine. It'll heal in a few minutes anyway."

"What happened to Xue Xiaojie?"

Hong Chunji grimaced. "She got back from the trials just as we arrived and escaped with some junior disciples and a few animals, horses and dogs mostly..."

Qing Xiashu only nodded, the prince raised a brow. "You aren't upset with her? Even though she left you and everyone here?"

"How could I be upset with my young mistress staying alive?" Qing Xiashu murmured almost bitterly. "Self preservation is an admirable trait." Irritation swam its way across Hong Chunji's face but Qing Xiashu continued. "Take yourself for example, it is not that you are physically incapable, or even emotionally incapable of freeing me. It is that you value your life, livelihood, and reputation. If you freed me, all of those would be in danger. Thus, you "cannot" free me."

"You. Are. Too. Righteous." Hong Chunji hissed through clenched teeth. "How are you not furious? How are you not angry with me, or your brother, all you seem to feel is foolish good will!"

"What good does harboring ill intent do now?" Qing Xiashu couldn't be bothered to look up at his captor's ugly expression.

He had his turn trying to nip back.

Three thousand bodies attested to that.

So now he only continued picking at the food on the plate, moving it around more than eating. After the first few bites he had found nearly immediately that he didn't have a chance to keep much more of the Southern cuisine down at a time like this.

"You-" Then a long drawn out sigh. "Qing Xiashu, you really are too forgiving for your own good."

Qing Xiashu was about to open his mouth to reply but the sound died in his throat when an arm looped around his waist and pulled him off the ground.

"Hong Chunji, this is ill-advised." Qing Xiashu noted softly, as if advising his king on some important political decision.

A task he no longer had.

"Shut up. You don't seem to have any of that 'self preservation' at all. So let me handle it for you." Hong Chunji grumbled. He pulled one of the man's arms over his shoulders, settled a hand in the small of his back, and hooked one arm under Qing Xiashu's knees.

So simply he stood, and stepped out of the cell, abandoning whatever it was he was supposed to be doing.

•••

After the first night at an inn, Qing Xiashu fully expected Hong Chunji to return to the palace that he had conquered.

But he didn't.

In fact, the hero, rather stubbornly, refused to leave Qing Xiashu's side at all. Seldom giving him proper privacy.

And even more rarely leaving him unattended.

Even as they hopped inns further and further south. "Why are you so sticky?" Qing Xiashu finally asked after the third day of this. Taking the eye patch that Hong Chunji had just handed him to cover his lack of an eye, keeping it closed was tiring now, so much so that he had begun just hiding in the tangled curtain of his hair.

"Xiashu you have horrendous self care tactics, I just didn't notice before because you always seem so well kept." Hong Chunji stated bluntly.

What horrendous self care tactics?

Qing Xiashu had been in prison.

How good can one's self care tactics be?

Hong Chunji must have decided that their conversation was over, because he set a bowl of congee in front of him.

Qing Xiashu was helpless to do anything but sigh and take a bite.

It... had an odd flavor, familiar, hard to place in his mind. A different texture from the rice and ginger hit his molars and his face grew more perplexed.

"Do you not like it?" Hong Chunji asked after a long few moments of watching Qing Xiashu's face contort with confusion.

"No, it's good. Is it lotus root?"

Hong Chunji's face brightened. "Mn, I asked the innkeeper for some before I started cooking."

Qing Xiashu choked on his mouthful of food. "You made it?" A nod was his answer. "It's, um... I didn't think lotus would grow this far north."

No wonder it was so familiar...

The king beamed like an excited child. "Me neither honestly. But the innkeeper's son in law is a bit extravagant and built an indoor pond on their estate, apparently the couple supplies the inn with lotus roots to keep the peace, peace on what, I didn't ask."

"Probably something ridiculous knowing the traditions of people in this area..."

"Mn."

Another long and uncomfortable moment passed as Qing Xiashu observed the room that he had only just now seen in full daylight. It was clean and mostly devoid of furniture, there was only one bed, which he had woken up from only a few minutes ago. "Where did you sleep, Chunji?" Qing Xiashu questioned after a moment of contemplation.

"The floor." Hong Chunji said with an unconcerned shrug.

Qing Xiashu's brows knitted together as a frown appeared on his face. "I'll share, I promise not to bite."

Hong Chunji rolled his eyes and stood. "If you're done eating, I suggest we continue."

Another question bubbled up between Qing Xiashu's lips before he could stop it "Why haven't you returned to the palace you helped conquer? Isn't it suspicious for the hero of the hour to vanish with the fallen palace's head disciple?"

"I have no reason to return to something already conquered."

Qing Xiashu's brows twitched.

His home.

Little more than a conquest on a list. "Then what next?"

"We'll return to my family's home in the C-"

"You're going to march me through enemy territory and into the jaws of the monster?" Qing Xiashu hissed, squinting his eye.

"No no no!" Hong Chunji quickly began shaking his head and waving his hands. "It isn't like that, you'll be safer with me, I'm--"

"The prince, I know. A prince, soon to be crowned, and you're returning home. They'll welcome you so dramatically that they're likely not to notice me, but that's only part of the issue, and there are four."

"Right, I thought about the others. Directly south of Chaoting, large numbers of people are likely able to recognize you, so we can run west along the borders of the wilds. And then... Wh-what were the other two issues?"

Qing Xiashu's eyebrows twitched once more.

How had he so willingly kissed this idiot at one point?

And why wasn't he angrier about knowing he would willingly do it again?

"First of all, not the entire country will welcome you. You weren't born to the king. If you don't have someone reputable backing you you might end up dealing with another civil war and a new "North" on your hands whose anger is that much fresher."

"Shi Qin."

"Fine. Second. I am the brother of the man you spent more than a decade hunting. Not only am I his brother, I was loyal to him until his last breath and I am loyal to him until his soul travels beyond the gates."

"When I'm in control of my people that won't be an issue." Hong Chunji promised with a shake of his head.

"If I should be angry with Xue Xiaojie, you really should be angry with me. And I should be very angry with you."

"You aren't your brother. But I agree, you should be angrier with me than you are."

Qing Xiashu scoffed and shook his head.

As if being Xue Feiyi was so bad...

Xue Feiyi was kind.

Xue Feiyi loved more than most.

And Qing Xiashu wouldn't mind being him at all. "If I was, I would make you understand instead of letting you and your countrymen go to town out of guilt."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean it wasn't his fault that the South Palace was frozen, it was his energy but he didn't do it. He didn't start the fight. It massively crippled him, and for what? It clearly didn't do all that much. His kingdom was burned to the ground. His officials were killed. His family is being hunted. He was killed and scattered."

Hong Chunji laughed, unable to decide if he should sob or roll his eyes. "He froze my home! Solid! And killed my entire family! For no reason! How is that an accident?"

"Not your entire family." Qing Xiashu threw down the bound manuscripts that Hong Chunji had unknowingly collected along with Qing Xiashu's kongjian bags, robes, and other belongings. Touming even managed to be collected, pieces tucked into its scabbard as if it could fake being whole. Its spirit long since dispersed.

Slowly Hong Chunji picked up the manuscripts, flipping through the pages quickly. The covers were coated in charms, things to hide, things to bind truthfulness. In the margins of each page were notes and clarifications on the meat of the pages.

Qing Xiashu would fill in the holes that the manuscript left.

He'd tell Hong Chunji whatever he wanted to know if it would help.

•●•