Immortal Emperor Fuli’s return to Heaven was an event of tremendous importance.
The two Immortal Emperors who had once served beneath the Jade Emperor were both thought to have perished in the great war between immortals and demons. Whenever Heaven’s immortals recalled those days, they sighed with sorrow. Yet now one emperor had turned out not to be dead and had returned, and the other, likewise not dead, had returned as well. What an unexpected delight! An enormous delight, in fact.
It was said that Bihua Lingjun had coaxed Immortal Emperor Fuli back to Heaven, though Immortal Emperor Danzhu had come up with the idea. Fuli had been unwilling to return and had quietly hidden among mortals to recuperate. Upon seeing the formidable, imposing lizard that was their Immortal Emperor, the other immortals readily understood why he had not wanted to come back.
Fuli’s old residence, Fuxu Palace, had yet to be repaired. Bihua Lingjun sincerely invited him to condescend to stay at his own humble residence in the meantime, if he did not find it too shabby. Since Bihua’s little hobby was common knowledge, the invitation inevitably carried a faint suspicion that he had an ulterior motive.
As soon as Immortal Emperor Danzhu heard about the invitation, he opposed it. Citing his deep friendship with Fuli, he insisted that the emperor must stay at his Danxiao Palace instead.
Naturally, the immortals had also noticed that Danxiao Palace shared the character xiao with Fuli’s title, Divine-Firmament Immortal Emperor, while Fuli’s Fuxu Palace shared the character xu with Danzhu’s title, Purple-Void Immortal Emperor. Since Danzhu’s own little predilections were common knowledge as well, his talk of “deep friendship” acquired a certain additional meaning.
Add to this the assorted incidents between Immortal Emperor Danzhu and Bihua Lingjun some time earlier, and with Immortal Emperor Fuli now involved too, everything suddenly seemed to hint at an ambiguous secret beneath the surface.
In the end Immortal Emperor Fuli moved into Danzhu’s Danxiao Palace.
The undercurrent of speculation surged all the more strongly.
“So that’s how it is,” Tangdi observed, crouching beside a pool at Bihua Lingjun’s residence. “I once suspected our Lingjun was a substitute for that Baihua Tianjun. I was wrong. It turns out the one Danzhu really cares about is Immortal Emperor Fuli.”
Gossiping about two Immortal Emperors behind their backs was something of a taboo, so Tangdi kept its voice extremely low. Crowded densely around it, the other spirit beasts strained to prick up their ears.
The beasts lay silently together. Chisheng, standing to one side, said, “Go on, keep spreading nonsense here. Just make sure nobody overhears you. Our Lingjun is away, and you’re wagging your tongues behind his back. If he finds out, all of us will suffer together.”
Tangdi flicked its tail. “Now, that’s not fair. We’re talking quietly. Who would repeat it? Besides, we’re only worried about our Lingjun. He raised every one of us. We can’t sit by and watch him suffer.”
Chisheng said solemnly, “Suffer how? If Immortal Emperor Danzhu really has that sort of relationship with Immortal Emperor Fuli, wouldn’t that be just as well?” Among Bihua Lingjun’s young attendants, Chisheng held something of a leading position, so he always strove to sound proper and mature. His tone was generally quite grave.
Tangdi shook its head. “You’ve never lived among mortals. You don’t understand the subtleties of love. Our Lingjun… ah, it’s hard to know what’s in his heart now. For instance, Immortal Emperor Danzhu had already returned to Danxiao Palace, but it was our Lingjun who invited him to descend to the mortal world together. If he wanted nothing more to do with His Majesty, why seek him out of his own accord? Who could have expected them to find Immortal Emperor Fuli on that trip? Now, Danzhu seems to fancy one person today and fall for another tomorrow. But there’s a saying among mortals: those with the most affections are often the least capable of true feeling. One has only a single sincere heart, and true love is of a single kind. Affections spread everywhere cannot all be genuine. His Majesty seems to act on passing whims but never gives his heart. Perhaps he doesn’t even have that sort of heart. Think more deeply and that is the most frightening possibility. If he still pursues our Lingjun without letting go, perhaps it is because our Lingjun has never let him feel that he has truly won him over. Heaven doesn’t even speak of mortal love. An ancient immortal of His Majesty’s age might never have understood what those two words mean.”
Tangdi had only meant to offer Chisheng a casual analysis of the situation, but the more it analyzed, the deeper it went. By the end it had worked itself into a melancholy mood and heaved a long sigh.
The little fox that clung to Tangdi like a plaster had grown somewhat. It was sprawled across its back, resting its front paws on Tangdi’s head and sleeping with its chin on its paws. After Tangdi finished speaking, the fox opened its eyes and nodded emphatically, making eager little noises of agreement.
The mouse Jianmeng was crouching next to Tangdi. It, too, sighed. “Although I have never dwelt among mortals, Brother Tang’s analysis seems most reasonable. This matter is exceedingly tangled and difficult to see through.”
Chisheng frowned. “When you put it like that…” Beside him, Yunqing impulsively interrupted in a whisper. “Are you saying our Lingjun has actually fallen in love with His Majesty, but His Majesty doesn’t genuinely care for him?”
“It’s only a guess,” Tangdi answered. “Consider this: since His Majesty went back to Danxiao Palace, has he ever taken the initiative to invite our Lingjun over, saying, ‘Bihua, come sit with me at my palace’?”
Chisheng remained silent, while Yunqing and several other young attendants shook their heads.
“Our Lingjun has descended to the mortal world several times on the Jade Emperor’s orders. Has His Majesty ever asked, ‘Where has Bihua gone?’ Or said, ‘Is your mission difficult? Would you like me to help?’ And when Lingjun returned, did His Majesty ever come to meet him personally?”
Yunqing shook his head again.
When Bihua Lingjun went down to invite Immortal Emperor Fuli back, everyone in Heaven had seen Danzhu wandering near the Southern Heavenly Gate, peering down repeatedly and asking several times, “Shouldn’t they be here soon?” He had even visited Bihua’s residence to ask what he had done before leaving to invite Fuli, and whether he had taken anything along. Clearly, Danzhu had been worried that Bihua would fail to show Immortal Emperor Fuli proper consideration.
Tangdi asked again, “What color is Immortal Emperor Fuli?”
Yunqing replied, “Blue-green… a deep bluish-green…”
“And what about our Lingjun?” Tangdi asked.
Yunqing fell silent, then said after a moment, “But yesterday our Lingjun did invite Immortal Emperor Fuli to stay with us.”
“That’s why you can’t see through it,” Tangdi said. “Who knows what Lingjun really intended by inviting him? Yesterday Immortal Emperor Fuli moved into Danxiao Palace. What was our Lingjun in such a hurry to do first thing this morning?”
Yunqing’s mouth fell half-open.
Before the Star Lord of the Pleiades had even begun his duties, Bihua Lingjun rose early and took the little qilin he had brought from the mortal world to Danxiao Palace.
Apparently he meant to leave the qilin cub with Immortal Emperor Fuli.
Chisheng, Yunqing, the young attendants, and all the beasts in the garden lay there in a daze. Tears welled in one young attendant’s eyes. “Why do I feel our Lingjun has such a hard life?” he said, clutching his sleeve and wiping the corners of his eyes.
The rippling pool, the green grass beside it, and the gentle breeze seemed suffused with a faint air of sadness.
From far away, a voice drifted through the melancholy atmosphere. “Has Qingxi gone out?”
The attendants and beasts all started in fright and came abruptly to their senses. At the rear garden entrance stood a figure surrounded by ten thousand rays of immortal light.
The young attendants immediately threw themselves to the ground. “We pay our respects to Your Imperial Majesty!”
Danzhu smiled. “Rise, all of you. There’s no need for so much ceremony in my presence.”
He raised a hand and flicked his wide sleeve. With a thump, an enormous bundle landed on the ground.
Under the astonished gaze of the entire garden, Danzhu said slowly, “Alas, Fuli has taken over my Danxiao Palace. For the moment I have nowhere else to go, so I’ve come back to stay here for a while.” He pointed to the bundle. “These are a few personal belongings I’ve brought. One of you young attendants, take them into my room.”
The young attendants hurried off to carry the bundle, each secretly casting a sideways glance at Tangdi.
Tangdi scratched its head with a hind paw and muttered, “Can’t make sense of it.”
Chisheng rolled up his sleeves to help carry the bundle and asked, “Your Imperial Majesty, our Lingjun went to Danxiao Palace very early this morning. How did you fail to meet him?”
Danzhu’s eyes flickered. “Oh? Qingxi went to Danxiao Palace? I went out on some business earlier and didn’t see him.” He clasped his hands behind his back, apparently thinking.
At that very moment, Bihua Lingjun was at Danxiao Palace. Envoy Heyun was asking him anxiously, “Lingjun, His Imperial Majesty Danzhu disappeared early this morning. Do you know where he might be?”
Bihua Lingjun said in surprise, “Is that so? I left home extremely early, but I haven’t seen His Majesty.”
Fuli lay beside a celestial pool deep within Danxiao Palace and said in a muffled voice, “That old pheasant Danzhu has always loved wandering around. Pay him no mind.”
Heyun paced in anxious circles with a worried face. Bihua Lingjun smiled and reached down to stroke the little qilin’s head beneath Fuli’s belly.
After Bihua Lingjun had brought the little qilin home, it had lain listlessly in a corner, refusing to eat or drink. Whenever the young attendants or other spirit beasts touched it, it burst into sniffling tears and snot and bit them. Yunqing was bitten seven or eight times, Chisheng about a dozen. The nosy little thunder wolf came over to scratch it with a paw and had its forepaws covered in tooth marks, with another four or five bites on its nose. The thunder wolf then limped away, rolled over a great stone, and used a stick to push the stone toward the qilin. The cub promptly bit the stone, too, knocking out two of its milk teeth.
The young attendants had no idea what to do. With their hands covered in bite marks, they dragged the thunder-wolf cub by its ears to see Bihua Lingjun. Bihua could only say, “Leave it alone for now.”
Once Immortal Emperor Fuli had returned to Heaven and moved into Danxiao Palace, Bihua Lingjun had hurried there early in the morning with the little qilin tucked in his arms.
At the highest point of Danxiao Palace was a large celestial pool wreathed in violet mist, with Danzhu’s bedchamber beside it. Envoy Heyun personally led Bihua Lingjun to the pool and told him that no one knew where Immortal Emperor Danzhu had gone since early that morning. Heyun also explained that Danzhu had ordered them not to slight Immortal Emperor Fuli after so many years of deep friendship. The bedroom stood at the highest point of Danxiao Palace, where immortal energy was especially abundant and the celestial pool nearby made it the ideal place for Fuli to recuperate. He had therefore given his own bedchamber to Fuli.
Only after Bihua Lingjun had paid his respects to Fuli outside the bedchamber did Heyun suddenly remember that, once Danzhu had issued his instructions the previous day, the whole of Danxiao Palace had been busy serving Fuli in obedience to his decree. No one had thought to ask where Danzhu had gone afterward, let alone where he had slept that night.
The moment the little qilin in Bihua’s arms saw the great lizard, it began wriggling frantically and sobbing. Bihua set it on the ground. It lunged toward Fuli, dove beneath his belly, and rubbed desperately against him.
Bihua Lingjun said, “This humble immortal is incapable of caring for it. It still longs for Your Imperial Majesty. Perhaps you would be willing to keep it beside you.”
Immortal Emperor Fuli half-closed his eyes and considered the matter. “Mm. Very well.” The little qilin had already burrowed deep beneath his belly and refused to come out.
Fuli had been away from Heaven for so long that everything felt unfamiliar. He asked Bihua Lingjun how matters stood in Heaven these days, and Bihua answered all his questions in detail. While they talked, Envoy Heyun searched high and low for Danzhu until he was nearly at his wits’ end. He returned to ask Bihua, who knew nothing either. As he continued pacing in circles, a young immortal came to report, “Envoy, His Imperial Majesty seems to have gone to Lingjun’s residence.”
Elio’s Notes: The palace names are part of the celestial gossip. Danxiao shares the character xiao (霄) with Fuli’s Divine-Firmament title, while Fuxu shares xu (虚) with Danzhu’s Purple-Void title. The names invite the immortals to read rather more into the emperors’ “deep friendship” than either has said aloud.