Shen Wei: Carefully cooks a wide selection of delicious meals for Zhao Yunlan
Zhao Yunlan: Shoves food on a stick in Shen Wei’s face while sitting on the table
Ha! Never noticed that Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing are sitting on the table like barbarians cats. Bonus: there is an empty chair RIGHT THERE BEHIND YOU, Zhao Yunlan.
I also think it’s telling that Shen Wei is set apart from everyone else. He’s just joined the SID, so he probably still feels like a guest rather than a family member. Everyone else is digging in, stuffing their faces, while he’s sitting there politely and properly, as you do when you’re a guest in someone’s home. Zhao Yunlan is the one who tries to bring him into the fold by offering him a meat stick.
It’s doubly awkward because he is a professor and the kids SID members don’t really know him well yet, so there’s this whole “why are you inviting him to eat garbage food with us?” thing that Zhu Hong voices. Professors are part of a highly respected echelon in Chinese society, so it would be as if you invited your company CEO or the mayor over to eat nachos with you (and not like classy nachos, I’m talking the nachos with the orange cheese goo). Appropriate for you and your hodgepodge SID family, not so appropriate for an esteemed guest.
But that’s just it: Zhao Yunlan doesn’t want Shen Wei to be a guest. He wants Shen Wei to be part of his SID family. So he’s going to treat him like family and invite him over to eat junk food with everyone and drink beer and maybe even get grease on his fingers or his mouth. I love the informality of this little snippet. It’s the equivalent of Zhao Yunlan inviting Shen Wei over to hang out on his couch and watch the game with his buddies.
And poor Shen Wei doesn’t quite know how to handle it yet, because he’s been alone for 10,000 years and has never really had a family or even a friend, and now all of a sudden he’s getting a ridiculous boyfriend and boyfriend’s entire wayward family. So he’s probably feeling a little lost as he sits ramrod straight on his couch island. But then Zhao Yunlan offers him the meat stick/peace offering/bridge, and you can see how even after Shen Wei shakes his head no, Zhao Yunlan just waves it at him and insists.
Food can have such weighted meaning in Chinese culture. What type of food you serve, who serves food to whom, who gets served first, who gets the choicest morsels, etc. Like, there are rules around this that I had to learn as a kid. In this snippet, Zhao Yunlan ostensibly serves Shen Wei because he’s the host of the gathering, but also to bring Shen Wei into the SID family, get Shen Wei to realize that he’s part of the family now and what that really means, and also for the SID members to view Shen Wei as one of them too. Food is a great way to bring someone into your circle, because food in Chinese culture is communal: everyone grabs from the same serving plates at the center of the table.
The act of serving food can provide a way to express caring and intimacy. You might pick out the tastiest morsel and put it on your spouse’s or child’s plate to show love, your parent’s plate to show respect, your friend’s plate to show caring, and in more formal occasions, a guest’s plate to show hospitality. This scene is deliberately informal, deliberately familial, so Zhao Yunlan handing food to Shen Wei can be read as a deliberate act of caring, rather than hospitality. Contrast this scene with the formal dinner with Guo Changcheng’s uncle, which is all about hospitality (despite the mickey mouse balloon, omg wtf set designer?!?!), and you can see the stark differences in relationships, intimacy, and who’s in vs who’s out of your family group.
It’s called loooooooooove. Also the whole every time you call home and your parents are all ‘Have you eaten yet? What did you have for dinner?’
We are a terrible awkward repressed race who can only express our love through food and stuffing loved ones with food and then later complain you’re too skinny/put on weight.
Hi honey @chuucrazy, sorry for the wait ❤ thanks for sending this in 💞
20) top of head kisses
“Can you, like, bend your knees a little bit?” Yunlan asks Shen Wei. Shen Wei quirks one of his perfect eyebrows but obeys, lowering himself until he has to look up at Yunlan, for once.
Yunlan cradles Shen Wei’s face in his hands, splaying his fingers to cover as much skin as he can, his thumbs resting on Shen Wei’s mouth. He leans in and kisses the top of Shen Wei’s head, firmly but softly, breathing in Shen Wei’s cold incense scent until his lungs feel ready to burst.
With a grunt, he lets go of Shen Wei, allowing him to stand up to his full height again. Shen Wei gives him a confused look, lips parted in an amused smile.
“What was that for?”
“Aaaah, I just never kissed you there and I had to do it immediately least I die of my shame?”
Shen Wei shakes his head with a fond look, which makes Yunlan grin, which makes Shen Wei look at his lips, and it all goes downhill from there.
Elegant fingers was plying the strings of a guqin.
The player’s features was empty of expression. Fair like the most exquisite of jade, craved with perfection.
Though the melody was that of a familiar song, known to everyone with a Haixing ancestry, it was however imbued with a strange melancholy, deep and helpless, tugging at the feelings of any listener.
The sorrow and yearning, cried out by this instrument, sung of truths that the young gentleman carefully hidden from view. Only now, in the relative privacy of a solitary pavilion within the lavish gardens of the Dixing Envoy’s embassy compound, that he dared to unfold a glimmer of his emotions. Pouring all into the wooden guqin placed upon the polished floor in front of his folded knees. His back remained straight, posture impeccable, even as his hands danced with abandon upon the guqin.
A storm had raged fiercely, leaving devastation within his soul. Only his eyes, crowned with charming lashes unfairly long, gave hint of the unhappiness within.
His identical twin entered the structure, kneeling carefully behind the musician, and encased his elder brother in a hug. Hooking his chin on his brother’s shoulder, the younger of the two began to softly hum, a jarring counterpoint to his twin. An old folk ditty from their Dixing motherland.
Faced with such provocation right next to his ear, the musician’s fingers left the guqin. “Ye Zun,” he softly chided, turning to face his mirror image.
His little brother smiled an unrepentant grin, familiar and so comforting. For a moment, Shen Wei felt as if they were back at the Palace, still in the safekeeping of their old guardian the crafty Lord Justice. Giving in to nostalgia, Shen Wei sighed and rested his forehead against his twin’s. Ye Zun lowly complained that he “preferred your drum playing, our clan’s energetic beats, rather than this slow nonsense!”
Shen Wei chuckled. Ye Zun never took to any Haixing culture with grace. That he agreed to forgo the Dixing mode of dressing was already a great concession. There were even tantrums thrown on the day their clan beads were combed out of the twin’s intricately braided hair, as they exchanged their customary Dixing robes for Haixing’s garments.
A gentle breeze flew by, playing with the unbound half of the brothers’ long tresses, styled in the common Haixing fashion meant for unmarried youths. The ticklish sensation of unbraided hair flying against their faces broke the moment and their embrace.
Pushing the guqin out of the way, Ye Zun threw his head in his brother’s lap, forcing Shen Wei to change his seat, the better to accommodate his twin’s antics. They had always been close, such behavior was nothing out of the ordinary for the openly affectionate Ye Zun. The only difference between him and the politely reserved Shen Wei.
Grabbing Shen Wei’s left hand, Ye Zun grumbled at the reddened marks left by the sharp strings of the guqin on his twin’s fingers, before launching into a litany of complaints, strings of grievances against the current Dixing ambassador tasked with hosting the twins. Shen Wei felt his face broke into a helpless smile at his brother’s bratty deportment.
He knew that Ye Zun was trying to distract him from the encroaching despair that was haunting Shen Wei.
With each sunset, his wedding —sight unseen— to the sole heir to Haixing’s Grand Duke Zhao Xin Chi, the famous young Lord Guardian Zhao Yun Lan, grew nearer.
…•…
Crouching on top of a wall, three young gentlemen was trying their level best to catch a glimpse of the Dixing nobleman betrothed to their good friend and ringleader Zhao Yun Lan. Accompanied by one apathetic guide, the son of the diplomat who’s courtyards they were intruding.
One hapless soul, the innocent Guo Chang Cheng was pressed to be the lookout, despite his many protestations and teary eyes.
“Old Chu, which one of them?”
Lying on his back along the wall, eyes closed and head resting on folded hands behind him, Chu Shu Zhi carelessly answered, “They’re identical twins. One face is as good as the other.”
He was soundly shushed for his pains.
“Lower your voice!”, one baby faced individual hissed. “Old Chu, you might be safe from the swords of your father’s guardsmen, but we’re not!”, another one added, his normally cunning face twisted with anxiety.
Their leader, too busy focusing his questing eyes towards the secluded pavilion, choose not to admit the inadvisable nature of their antics.
Zhao Yun Lan refuse to be wedded to a groom —no matter how prestigious— sight unseen, traditions and superstition be damned.
Guardian Fic Attempt, Part 2
Perhaps it was a stray breeze that carried their voices beyond sight, perhaps it was the cracking of tiles burdened with unaccustomed weight, or perhaps it was the sharpness of Zhao Yun Lan’s intent gaze.
Both of the twins froze and, in an eerily synchronized move, turned accurately towards the interlopers.
In a flash, a few throwing knives thudded home into the wall, right where those young Haixing aristocrats were huddling. Sunlight glittering on their edges. With a yelp, two of the trio tumbled down and scrambled to get away. Leaving one apathetic son of Dixing diplomat to continue with his sunbathing and one newly appointed Lord Guardian standing his ground and seizing the opportunity to meet with his mysterious future groom.
Smirking a significantly bloodthirsty expression, Ye Zun slowly rose from his brother’s lap, twirling a throwing knife between his fingers.
“Didi, remember what we promised to Lord Justice,” Shen Wei cautioned.
“Don’t worry, Ge. There won’t be a diplomatic incident if there’s no body to be diplomatic over.”
Guardian Fic Attempt, Part 3
Unfortunately, there was a diplomatic incident.
Zhao Yun Lan, unsure of the identity of his attacker and not wanting to accidentally maim his own fiancé, chooses to return the strikes he received from Ye Zun in an exaggeratedly careful manner. Softening his stances and turning aside the full potential impact of their exchanges. And as per his manner when facing an unexpected opponent, his lips was jokingly running full tilt with his usual stock of flirtatious words. Each of his sentences either begun or ended with a variation of praises on the charms of his sparring partner.
Da Qing and Lin Jing simultaneously facepalmed. From a safe distance, of course.
Chu Shu Zhi, still on the wall, was content with shouting out critiques.
Ye Zun, recognizing the way that he was being handled, was incensed at the perceived disdain from someone who was clearly a capable fighter. This snooping young lordling was pulling his punches, as if Ye Zun isn’t capable of answering his blows! To one from the noble House of Gui, widely acknowledged as one of the best pugilist in his motherland, this was a slight that could not be tolerated. Can’t this moron tell what skill it took to not kill someone in a blow when each of his attack was meant to be a singular death strike?
When his ears finally caught up with the nonsense that was sprouting from that smarmy mouth, his irritation ignited to honest fury.
The fight turned into a brawl, with Ye Zun chasing after Zhao Yun Lan all over the place.
Passersby —attracted by the noise of the fight— alerted the nearby station of the Capital Guardsmen. Who then arrived with alacrity. To witness the young Lord Guardian in a spar was a great treat to these enthusiastic fans of the popular Zhao clan. The Grand Duke, veteran of countless battles, was held with high esteem by all those who served to protect the nation and everyone shared great hopes and pride for his sole heir.
The cheerful nature of these patrolmen changed when they finally got to the scene.
Hapless Guo Chang Cheng was cowering by the walls of the Dixing embassy. Too scared to move. His crimson and burgundy attire, paired with elaborate golden embroidery and a gilded crown on his head, instantly proclaimed his identity to all. The fight between the Lord Guardian Zhao the younger and this unknown youth took on a different story.
Even the most illiterate beggar can tell you that there stood the Dowager Empress’ eldest grandson, in mortal peril.
With a shout the guardsmen surrounded the two fighters, a ring of spears appeared with grim determination. The sole survivor of the decimated MuShi Wangfu must be protected!
Because the plot bunny decided to go back to the depths of Dixing motherland ……here’s a cover?
Guardian Fic Attempt, Part 4
“Didi, please step back.”
A clear voice broke into the commotion, during a lull in the standoff between the two combatants, metaphorically taking in the deep breath before the plunge.
One half of the fighters surrounded by a forest of spears abruptly changed his tack and nonchalantly shrugged, appearing to be as if he’s out on an extremely boring stroll. A noble gentleman that wasn’t —just seconds ago— doing his level best to take Zhao Yun Lan’s head.
Nonplussed, everyone was searching for the owner of the voice, and taking cue from the strange youth in silver and grey, they looked up towards the walls of the Dixing embassy. Another copy of the miscreant opponent of Lord Zhao the younger was standing up there, with his white and azure robe fluttering in the wind. Exactly the same, down to the shape of their brows, and yet completely, unmistakably different.
If the one in silver was a smiling demon incarnate, sent to sow chaos amongst mortals, then the one in azure was an icy celestial, descending to taunt hopeless human infatuation.
A few of the more green patrolmen were openly gaping at the sight. Those of the more “seasoned” ones just coughed or made some other small movements to get a better grip over themselves.
And then with nary an effort, the gentleman on the wall floated down whisper-soft as a willow leaf blown by the wind. As his garments settled down from the controlled flight, a subtle display of qinggong mastery, he walked towards the amassed crowd who hastily put away their sharp implements and parted to make way.
Lin Jing whistled with admiration. That kind of presence, a silent command that expected and compelled instant obedience only came from those who had spent years in power, or those who was bred with them.
‘There comes a time in a man’s life that you just have to admit that sometimes there are humans too pretty to be considered real’, Zhao Yun Lan philosophically thought to himself. And hoped really hard that it’s this one that he’s betrothed to, instead of the devil in front of him. Wedding night might get a bit troublesome if otherwise.
“Touch a single strand of his hair, and I shall slay each and every single last of you.”
The threat, delivered by such a soft expression and a cultured voice, was such a whiplash to those present that they were rendered speechless. Zhao Yun Lan dearly wished to restart today. Ignoring them, the azure gentleman then turned around towards Guo Chang Cheng and gracefully apologised for “the sudden fright” before holding out a hand towards his brother. He swiftly flew away —with his twin in hand— into the embassy before anyone could gainsay a word.
“What… just happened?” one brave guardsman piped out, right before a side door to the embassy banged open and Dixing soldiers poured out, sabers rattling, like an overturned jar of bees.
The captain of the embassy’s forces, beard bristling with agitation, stomped over and loudly demanded an explanation.
Guardian Fic Attempt, Part 5
Madam Zhao had her son kneeling in the family altar chamber until her ire was satisfied. His body aches afterwards.
The Grand Duke had Yun Lan overseeing the monthly patrol rosters as well going over the budget for both their household security forces and also the capital patrol. His fingers cramped up from all those writing and calculations that he had to do and Zhao Yun Lan swore that his sight went cross-eyed for a while. His brain hurt.
Being summoned to an audience with the emperor was, in comparison, an evening stroll. It also helps that —next after Guo Chang Cheng— he was a favourite of the Dowager Empress, who was present in the chamber.
Armed with his usual bullshitting and sweet talking, he got out of the meeting fairly intact.
However, he did not escape unscathed from the second meeting with his prospective husband.
That very same evening.
Meeting that beautiful pair of eyes across the street as he was about to be dragged over the doorways of the capital’s foremost flower bower, all Zhao Yun Lan could think about was,” … well, fuck.”
Guardian Fic Attempt, Part 6
“Zhao Yun Lan, you idiot!” Chu Shu Zhi hissed under his breath. Had he knew that the moron was planning on a carousing spree with some of his more feckless acquaintances, the ambassador’s heir would’ve taken the twins he was entrusted with to a sightseeing jaunt somewhere else. But Lord Ye Zun was curious about the nightlife of the capital and Lord Shen Wei was interested in the various businesses established by their Dixing countrymen. On the way, he arranged it so that they would pass by the many song courts and flower houses flourishing in the city. Two bird, one stone.
But that man just had to ruin it.
“Well, now we can be certain that the reputation of my future brother-in-law was earned honestly,” said Ye Zun with a cynical twist to his lips. Glancing at his brother’s frozen countenance, the Dixing princeling felt a surge of venomous wrath. No one should ever get the chance to hurt his brother! “Shall I skin him for you? We might even get a small drum out of it.”
Shen Wei drew in a steadying breath. Seeing the nobleman tripping into a pleasure house, only a bare week away from their own wedding, had crushed something small and fragile within him. A flower chaser! Who seemed to hold the opinion that Shen Wei deserves none of his consideration.
He held no illusions over this marriage contract between the two of them, it was nothing more than just another skein of thread being used to add new colour to the old embroidery of peace held by his motherland and the Haixing kingdom.
There was never any dream for a great love. Shen Wei realized the foolishness of such notion from an early age. Not with his position in the Dixing aristocracy. He knew that their bloodline was an asset to the empire and will be utilized for the greatest profitable conclusion by the Great One on the throne. And with an ailing guardian rapidly succumbing to old age —his power base gobbled up by various factions, leaving none for the twins to work with— the orphan grandsons of the previous emperor could only bow their head and danced a life between constant blades of suspicion and paranoia. With Ye Zun’s life and happiness as his incentive, Shen Wei was the model of an obedient royal nephew.
But Shen Wei had steadfastly held on to a small hope that perhaps there was room for a quieter sort of affection. Surely his new Lord-husband might desire to cobble together some form of courtesy and cooperation with Shen Wei, to comfortably weather out the rest of their life together. It fueled his actions, ever since the identity of his future spouse was made known. Shen Wei had painstakingly laboured over skills and knowledge that might be useful to a new life in Haixing soil. Perhaps, he had mused, he might even pleased that unknown person, who was also snarled together in this cobweb of power and politics.
But this blatant show of disrespect put paid to even that tiny gleam. ‘So, he’s not even going to allow me some form of dignity as his mandated legal spouse’.
It hurts.
“Thank you for the offer, but I must decline. If there’s any skinning to be done, I shall do it myself.” Shen Wei was thankful that his voice managed to come out even and composed.
“Let’s go. The scent these flower powders are rancid.”
…
“Eh, Lao Zhao, isn’t that your Dixing twins?” Zhu Hong, dressed up as a boy for tonight’s adventures, remarked curiously.
“Yep.”
“Lao Zhao, you’re dead meat.”
“Yep.”
Guardian Fic Attempt, Part 7
Lord Mao’s son Da Qing swayed, face flushed with the alcohol in his belly.
“Lao Zhao! Why’re –hic– you still here?”
Catching his flailing limbs, the young Lord Guardian said exasperatedly, “Because someone needs to look after your fat ass, what did you think! Why else would I be here?!”
“But, you said –hic– you said you saw your –hic– your pretty Dixing!” Turning to an equally red Zhu Hong, who had been drinking in solidarity, he demanded “Right?! You saw too, rig-” before giving a huge burp and slumping over the table, moaning softly. “You should go. Go and –hic– and say something.”
Glaring with bleary eyes, face half smushed to the table’s surface, Da Qing shooed him away amid his hiccups. “Go and chase your –hic– pretty Dixing! Don’t be like me –hic-! Was too late, and now –hic– my pretty Dixing is too angry to –hic– to talk to me –hic– anymore!” Grabbing another wine jar, the inebriated Mao heir tried to tip the liquor into his mouth without moving his head.
Taking the alcohol away, Zhao Yun Lan sighed.
This latest conflict between Da Qing and his Dixing sweetheart, the feisty Da Ji-er, seems to hit him harder than usual. Resulting in tonight’s incident. Alerted by Zhu Hong —favourite niece of the owner to this glamorous establishment, the merchant prince Master She— that the lovelorn fool had been gulping down alcohol like it was water, Zhao Yun Lan had immediately came after his oldest best friend, and in his worry, completely forgot about how such actions could be misunderstood by outsiders.
“Bad” would be the least of it. “Catastrophic” might be nearer to the mark. A Haixing fiancé would be marching straight to the nearest matchmaker’s office to log a complaint, on the spot. And sent for runners from the Magistrate to catch him red-handed.
He’s surprised to be still breathing, to be honest. The glare he received from his soon-to-be brother-in-law was lethal enough to strip skin from flesh.
(Zhao Yun Lan was immensely thankful to found out that it was the other one that he’s betrothed to. Not the happiest-at-maiming one.)
He inwardly winced as he remembered that look in those pretty eyes of his promised future spouse. And horribly sick at being the one who placed it there.
Of all the places that he could go to drown his woes, why the heck did Da Qing choose this one?!? That useless cat!!
Zhu Hong broke into a drunken singing, and was soon joined by a caterwauling Da Qing and an off-key Lin Jing. San Zan, the Lin young master’s bodyguard, was content to sway and hum along the trio’s performance. Seeing his peaceful nature, with a slightly foolish look on his face, it’s hard to believe that this man was a jianghu master contracted by the Rites Minister to look over the safety of his harebrained eldest son.
But a sheathed sword remained unblunted, and the man sensed Zhao Yun Lan’s growing disquiet.
“Young Master Zhao, if there’s other matters to oversee, leaving now would still be appropriate. As for these three, leave them to this San Zan.” Giving a small smile, the man added in a lower voice —as if imparting a great hint— “Whenever Wang Zheng got unhappy, I always apologize first. No matter who was wrong.” He then gave a very obvious wink, as if mentioning his harmonious courtyard —where he and his wife never once argued— was in anyway helpful to Zhao Yun Lan’s current dilemma.
Lightly clapping Zhao Yun Lan’s back in a vaguely encouraging manner, the “lovetap” sent the young Lord Guardian skidding to the doorway. Skilled as he was in the Zhao Family’s martial discipline, it’s nothing compared to the experience and raw power that the gentle giant possessed.
Nodding to send Zhao Yun Lan off, the man then turned back towards his charge and his intoxicated companions. Clapping his hands to the beat of their terrible warbling.
With a bemused smirk at the trio —judging by their current behavior, the stupendous hangover tomorrow shall be a thing of beauty— Zhao Yun Lan hurriedly left the flower pavilion. He has a fiancé to find and a misunderstanding to untangle. He hopes to be successful in both task and that he didn’t left too late to catch their trail.
“I like so many things about you, Xiao Wei,” Zhao Yun Lan said as he traced the features of Shen Wei’s face. Yun Lan was sappy even during the day, but at night, post coital, he was particularly verbal about it. “So many things.”
“Like what?” Shen Wei asked.
“I like that smile you’re making right now, the one you make when you humor me.” Yun Lan kissed the smile. “I like your ears and your eyelashes.” Another kiss was laid upon each. “And I even like your personality.”
“Wait… You like me for my personality?” Shen Wei blinked. “I did not expect that.”
“Yeah, I know. I was surprised too!” Yun Lan laughed and Shen Wei scrunched up his nose. “I know you’re a little old fashioned…”
“I am literally ten thousand years old.”
“Yeah, old fashioned!” Shen Wei rolled his eyes before rolling over to turn away from Yun Lan. “But…” Yun Lan traced the curve of Shen Wei’s shoulder with his fingertips. “I love how earnest and observant you are. I even love your inability to understand technology.”
“Yun Lan!” Shen Wei reached behind to smack Yun Lan’s chest. “Now you’re just mocking me!”
“Oof! No no! Not at all my dear Xiao Wei!” Despite Shen Wei’s cold shoulder, Yun Lan pulled himself closer, draping himself over Shen Wei’s cooler body. “Every part of you is so endearing. Even the parts I don’t understand.” Shen Wei only huffed in reply. “This unworthy one loves you for you, Xiao Wei.”
Yun Lan knew he had struck the right nerve when Shen Wei’s shoulders stopped being so tense. “Stop talking and go to sleep.”
“I’ll sleep better if you let me hold you properly.” Shen Wei said nothing, but his body relaxed and Yun Lan pulled him closer still. “My sweet Xiao Wei. Perfect in everything, even in personality and temperament.”
Shen Wei sighed. There were some things not worth fighting. But it did warm him in a deep part of his heart, to know that just as he loved all of Yun Lan, Yun Lan loved all of him.
I’m still stuck on this scene, emotionally. What I love about this particular bit is that when Shen Wei pulls his arm out of Zhao Yun Lan’s grip, Yun Lan remains standing there with his hand open, so when Shen Wei drops his arm down, Yun Lan’s fingers slide across his skin. It’s such a tiny detail but I love it so much! No idea if that was intentional or if it was just a lucky shot but it adds so much to the feeling of that scene. Because Yun Lan is funny and acerbic and headstrong but he’s rarely gentle on-screen. So, when it happens, it’s all the more profound.
The Last Good Bar 
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