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Shen Yuan has, all things considered, had a decent enough transmigration experience. Sure, there was the whirlwind of panic when he first discovered which miserable sellout of a webnovel he’d landed in, and the righteous indignation of learning he’d landed in some unnamed wandering cultivator, and the feeling of being cheated by transmigrating into the late-game of the story so he couldn’t even personally witness Luo Binghe’s rise to power, and -
Alright, there were a lot of things that pissed him the hell off about his transmigration experience. All deservedly so! What kind of nerd dreams of a transmigration into some unimportant, forgettable NPC at a point in time where he couldn’t even watch the story unfold, ah?! At this point, all he got for his troubles was the knowledge that he was probably surviving the merged realms a bit more handily than the average rogue cultivator, and that barely feels like a consolation prize! ‘Look, your meta knowledge helps you survive the wasteland of Luo Binghe’s empire, congratulations on validating all those useless hours you spent on the PIDW wiki in your past life, idiot!’
Bullshit, is what that is! Shen Yuan wants a refund!
…Well, he had wanted a refund, before today. Today, he found the (objectively) most beautiful man he’d ever seen lying face down in the mud down the road from his camp, drowning in demonic qi.
Shen Yuan doesn’t need to recognize Xin Mo lying beside him to know this is Luo Binghe. Only the protagonist of this world could be pretty even when passed out in a mud puddle, after all.
“Goodbye, peaceful but boring life,” Shen Yuan mumbles to himself, poking at the half-dead Luo Binghe with a stick. When he doesn’t react, Shen Yuan starts the arduous process of dragging him back to his little camp.
“I am going to be so fucking killed dead for taking so many liberties,” he grumbles as he heaves Luo Binghe onto his sleeping mat.
“I might be eviscerated just for being a male cultivator in his presence, actually,” he amends, using his meager cultivation to warm a bowl of water to wash Luo Binghe with.
“If I wanted a refund on this stupid second life, not running the fuck away from Luo-fucking-Binghe is certainly one way to get one,” he grouses, gently rubbing a damp rag across Luo Binghe’s face.
And yet…
Shen Yuan stares at Luo Binghe’s freshly unmuddied face. He really is pretty, even more so than any official or fanart had ever been able to convey. The arch of his nose is more noble than any artist had ever drawn it, his lips more plush than any fan had dared imagine, and there’s a small, messy braid hidden in the curls of his hair that Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky had certainly never ordained as official. The wounds Shen Yuan had seen on him when he’d still been lying in that mud puddle have all either healed or mostly healed by now too, and Shen Yuan has a moment of quiet fascination as he watches what used to be a gash on Luo Binghe’s cheek disappear until not even a scar remained. The suffocating demonic aura that had blanketed him before has started to fade too, his body automatically balancing out his energies until the air around him sings with electrifying power that doesn’t quite identify with either righteous or demonic qi.
Fuck. Fuck! He’s too cool! How is Shen Yuan supposed to run away from him now, ah?!
Alright, alright, new plan! So what if Shen Yuan can’t bear to go back to living in Luo Binghe’s world without Luo Binghe now that he’s seen the man himself! So what if that stubborn streak would mean certain death if it was any random male NPC in this stupid book! Shen Yuan is the champion of the PIDW wiki - if anyone knows how to please Luo Binghe enough to avoid death, it’s him!
“...Shizun?” Luo Binghe calls, having just woken, squinting up at Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan, panicking, shoots out a hand wrapped in qi to hit at the knockout pressure point at the base of Luo Binghe’s neck. Luo Binghe falls back into unconsciousness immediately.
…
Haha! Fuck!
That’s a heavenly demon with highly trained dream skills! He can literally just choose to wake back up again! Fuck!!
Shen Yuan drops into a subservient position, kneeling with his head to the ground just in time for Luo Binghe to wake back up again.
“Little cultivator,” Luo Binghe starts threateningly, and there’s none of the bleary confusion in his voice this time that might possibly indicate Shen Yuan is saved simply from fuzzy memories.
“Lord Luo!” Shen Yuan calls before Luo Binghe can deliver Shen Yuan’s death sentence, “This lowly one knows the path to the Silver Cultivation Springs!”
There’s a moment’s pause as Luo Binghe makes the connection between Shen Yuan’s seeming non-sequitur interruption and his clear intention to try and use that information as a bribe for his life. When Luo Binghe makes the connection, he clicks his tongue dismissively.
“And?” Luo Binghe asks, and Shen Yuan blanches.
Okay, this is fine, just offer something else! If Luo Binghe isn’t interested in the Silver Cultivation Springs, he’s probably already found them, so all Shen Yuan has to do is offer something that Luo Binghe doesn’t discover or figure out until later on in the timeline - truly secret knowledge!
“And I know how to tame a Fury Reddened Beach Elephant!”
“Most decent cultivators do, after this Lord demonstrated the technique some months ago,” Luo Binghe sneers.
Shen Yuan screws his eyes shut, pulling desperately from his memory bank of late-game PIDW plotlines. One of these has to be useful, at least one of them! Shen Yuan doesn’t want to die (again)!
“And - and I can identify the Purple Twisted Miracle Blossom from its imposter, the Deadly Twisted Purple Blossom!”
“This Lord has long since learned that trick as well,” Luo Binghe dismisses, now sitting up properly. Shen Yuan chances a glance up at him; he’s flexing one hand carefully - fuck, shit, is he trying to call Xin Mo to him?!
Shen Yuan presses himself closer to the ground. Fine, fine, this lowly fan will pull out his greatest trick! Surely, if nothing else, Luo Binghe will need the information from the latest, final plot of PIDW!
“The way to unlock an Enchanted Flying Chest -!”
“This Lord already knows,” Luo Binghe interrupts, and Shen Yuan feels his heart get lodged up in his throat. Then, that means - this is post-canon??
Shen Yuan doesn’t have anything useful for post-canon!
He’s really going to die, ah!!
“Little cultivator,” Luo Binghe says again, still looking down at his hand - and ah, shit, did Shen Yuan not clean that hand well enough? Is there a bit of mud or blood left on it that made Luo Binghe angry?? “Your name, little cultivator.”
“Shen Yuan,” he replies, already crying in his heart. Truly, a goodbye to his peaceful but boring life indeed!
“Shen… Any relatives?”
“No! Absolutely not!” Shen Yuan cries, jerking up from his kneeling position to look up desperately at Luo Binghe.
Luo Binghe hums, drops his hand to rest on his lap, and looks at Shen Yuan. His attention is startlingly intense; Shen Yuan feels a bit like he’s being evaluated by the sun, glowing bright and dangerous and deciding if it’s worth it to keep a ‘little cultivator’ nearby.
“Shen Yuan is quite familiar with this Lord’s life, to so quickly offer up remedies to past challenges I’ve faced,” Luo Binghe says, and Shen Yuan feels the blood drain from his face.
“I - Lord Luo, I wouldn’t dare disrespect -”
“Do you like me?” Luo Binghe interrupts, and Shen Yuan is stunned speechless. “To follow this Lord so closely, Shen Yuan must surely have quite the interest in me.”
“I - well, of course, you’re - that is, Lord Luo has always been my favorite person,” Shen Yuan says, unable to stop himself. Listen, he still hasn’t quite righted himself from getting to see Luo Binghe in the flesh, of course he’s still pumped up about it! Of course he’s still actively thinking about how fucking cool Luo Binghe is!
Luo Binghe rakes his gaze up Shen Yuan’s whole person. Shen Yuan tries not to fidget too terribly.
“Alright,” Luo Binghe says, “This Lord will forgive Shen Yuan’s transgressions, then. In exchange, you… continue your useless fussing.”
“Thank you, Lord Luo!” Shen Yuan cries, then after a moment adds: “...My fussing?”
Luo Binghe flicks his hand dismissively in the direction of the abandoned water bowl and cleaning rag beside Shen Yuan.
“O-of course,” Shen Yuan says, though now his heart cries with a different sort of pain. Ah, Luo Binghe, this miserable one is sorry you don’t get a beautiful maiden to nurse you back to health this time, but you don’t have to call this Shen Yuan’s attempts ‘useless fussing!’
“Good,” Luo Binghe says, and so ends the most frightening conversation of Shen Yuan’s life.
---
Shen Yuan follows Luo Binghe back to his Underground Palace with the poorly disguised excitement of an embarrassing five year old on their way to see a Mall Santa. Listen, he just - he’s traveling! With Luo Binghe!
Luo Binghe!!
And sure, Luo Binghe is a bit terrifying, and he watches Shen Yuan with an intensity that he’s never felt from anyone before, but that’s just the nature of the protagonist! Luo Binghe doesn’t even seem to particularly dislike him, either: Shen Yuan is assigned a decent enough set of rooms at the palace once they arrive, and he isn’t killed for his impudence when he sneaks into a court session a few days later to watch Luo Binghe be an emperor in person.
Shen Yuan, rich and spoiled second-gen rich kid in his first life and unearned inheritor of a perfectly working golden core in his second one, does not need much to be emboldened.
He starts speaking up in the court sessions he butts into. “Lord Luo should consider getting rid of that guy,” he’ll say, after some particularly sleazy demon lord tries to endear themselves to Luo Binghe. It may be post-canon, but he still has thousands of chapters worth of experience in identifying what it sounds like when someone tries to take advantage of Luo Binghe!
“Oh?” Luo Binghe will prompt, and then Shen Yuan has some options on how to respond.
He could simply claim whoever it is has malicious intentions, he supposes. He doesn’t doubt that Luo Binghe already knows it, though - certainly it could never be that Shen Yuan would notice something before Luo Binghe. So if Luo Binghe has already caught on, and does nothing about it… Shen Yuan comes to the conclusion that Luo Binghe simply has frighteningly low standards.
So often, Shen Yuan will simply settle for saying, “Lord Luo deserves better underlings.”
The first couple times Shen Yuan says something to this effect, Luo Binghe only hums and moves on. The third time, though, Luo Binghe looks at Shen Yuan carefully with the same assessing expression he’d had when deciding whether or not to spare Shen Yuan on their first meeting.
“Shen Yuan often seems to think that this Lord’s people are unworthy,” he says.
“Lord Luo deserves the best,” Shen Yuan sniffs haughtily.
There’s a glint of interest in Luo Binghe’s eye, and his lips tick up in a sharp smile.
“Yes,” he agrees, “And it seems you think yourself to be that? Tell this Lord - how are you any better than him?” He asks, gesturing lazily towards the lizardlike demon that Shen Yuan had renounced this time.
I actually care about you, for one! Shen Yuan thinks but absolutely does not say. How embarrassing that would be!
Instead, he only gestures to the tribute the demon had brought in exchange for the silly request of his - a few barrels of decent wine, as if that could possibly excuse his clear attempt to use Luo Binghe’s army for his own affairs!
“I can give you the information on how to get wine much better than this, and I wouldn’t ask for anything in exchange,” he says instead.
Luo Binghe arches one brow at him. Shen Yuan swallows thickly.
“I would ask for reasonable things,” he amends, then quickly tacks on: “Lord Luo has experienced a great many incredible things - this lowly one would only hope to perhaps get to hear about them.”
“You wish for my company,” Luo Binghe clarifies, and Shen Yuan feels his face heat. Stupid, and embarrassing, to be called out so clearly like that!
And yet!
Yeah, he really fucking does!! Watching Luo Binghe rule is cool, but it wasn’t for politics that Shen Yuan grew so - he pauses, mentally shakes the word ‘obsessed’ out of his own mind - so fond of Luo Binghe! It was the way he faced hardship with an unwavering will, the descriptions of him dancing through battle, the hundreds of thousands of words written and dedicated to how clever and good he is. Even furious and deadly and at the height of his revenge arc, Luo Binghe had been written as clever and pretty and perfect.
Shen Yuan wants to see that, and he’s long since realized that demonic politics are not the place for that. The most Luo Binghe has to do in a court session is say yes or no to the petitioners that come through; there is a disappointingly small percentage of cases that ever end in Luo Binghe drawing his sword.
“Hm,” Luo Binghe says, glancing from Shen Yuan to the tribute of wine this petitioner had brought. “And the wine? Shen Yuan says he knows of something better?”
“The Southern Mountains of Solitude hide a spring where the purest wine flows naturally,” Shen Yuan says, sending a silent, half-hearted apology to Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky for having insulted that idea so much when he read about it only to turn around and use it now.
Luo Binghe hums, once more looking at Shen Yuan with an intensity that makes him squirm - from awkwardness at the attention, from blood-rushing excitement that Luo Binghe is the one looking, from nerves that it won’t be a good enough deal. It’s the best wine in PIDW, of course (Luo Binghe deserves the best, Shen Yuan thinks again, the beat of that sentiment so strong and habitual for him), but Luo Binghe already knows about it. It isn’t new information to him.
They’re post-canon, after all. Shen Yuan already knew that when he offered that information.
“Alright,” Luo Binghe allows at last, “You’ll travel with me to the springs yourself, little Advisor Shen.”
Shen Yuan shivers at the title.
He cannot guide Luo Binghe there - he’s never been.
Luo Binghe has, though. Luo Binghe knows this, and he knows that Shen Yuan knows, and -
- And still, he agreed.
---
‘Advisor Shen’ sees Luo Binghe even more often than ‘Shen Yuan’ had. It’s something of a positive feedback loop: Shen Yuan dares to take a liberty, and he calls Luo Binghe the best, and he is so full of thrilling obsession that Luo Binghe is part of his life in a very real way, now - and in return Luo Binghe’s attention on Shen Yuan only grows more intense, more all consuming, and fuels Shen Yuan’s own feelings with an excitement that electrifies him down to his toes.
Luo Binghe seems to enjoy telling stories about his life when Shen Yuan is listening with rapt attention, too. Sometimes, Luo Binghe seems to test Shen Yuan’s attention:
“- of course, to kill a Seven-Throated Eagle, this Lord had to focus on its eyes-”
“Its wings,” Shen Yuan corrects. “You had to focus on its wings in order to ground it before you could behead it.”
“Of course,” Luo Binghe agrees, looking at Shen Yuan with a hungry glint in his eye, “Advisor Shen knows this world so well - he might make a fine teacher.”
Shen Yuan laughs nervously, and Luo Binghe continues with his story.
Shen Yuan praises him a fully appropriate amount, when he’s done.
And then from telling stories it’s only a matter of time before things escalate, and Shen Yuan is trudging alongside Luo Binghe on active quests. Nothing too dangerous, and nothing that Shen Yuan himself ever has to participate in, of course. They’re mostly an extension of the first trip they had taken together, where Shen Yuan had pretended like it was him leading Luo Binghe to the Southern Mountains of Solitude’s wine springs instead of the other way around. Traveling together, Shen Yuan gets to watch Luo Binghe fight properly.
He is sure it is the adrenaline of being in such a terrifying and dangerous position, looking on from so close as Luo Binghe fights, that is what makes his blood rush and heart pound as he watches.
Of course, these trips can’t happen too often. Despite how Shen Yuan prefers them, Luo Binghe still has responsibilities as the emperor.
Shen Yuan very quickly grows fiercely protective of these trips, though - that’s his time with Luo Binghe, who is so often occupied by matters of state and marriage - that he grows bold even when facing Luo Binghe’s own wives.
He doesn’t realize quite how bold until he’s knocked a cup of tea out of Luo Binghe’s hands, all the while glaring daggers at the wife who’d poured it.
“Advisor Shen,” Luo Binghe warns, but Shen Yuan doesn’t look back at him.
“Stop trying to fucking drug him,” Shen Yuan seethes, and the wife startles.
“Advisor Shen, this little consort certainly did no such thing!”
“There were petals from the Ever Blossoming Heart Flower in there,” Shen Yuan accuses, gesturing to the mess of tea and flower petals pooling around shards of what had probably been a priceless tea set.
“Yes?” The wife confirms, sounding a bit unsure of herself. “It’s - my maidservant suggested it as an aroma to help balance my meridians, I only thought to share with Lord Husband -”
“Yes, an aroma to balance meridians - if you ingest it, it’s only a potent aphrodisiac,” Shen Yuan corrects. He fucking hates these stupid papapa plants litering this world, ah!
“I didn’t know -!”
“Enough,” Luo Binghe interrupts. Shen Yuan finally turns to him, his hands curling to fists at his side. He only wants what’s best for Luo Binghe -! “Consort Yi may leave. We’ll take tea another time.”
Shen Yuan’s stomach twists. He doesn’t like the way ‘taking tea’ sounds, right then.
“Even if she didn’t mean it, she really could’ve poisoned you,” Shen Yuan grouses, once the stupid pretty little wife has left and it’s just Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan and too many guards.
Luo Binghe stands, moving towards Shen Yuan with the dangerous purpose of a wildcat. He stops closer to Shen Yuan than is probably appropriate.
“Advisor Shen is always especially… present, when this Lord’s wives are near,” Luo Binghe says idly, and Shen Yuan feels himself go stiff.
It isn’t his fault if looking at half those NPCs brings up bad memories, okay! No one likes to look at a person and only be able to think of half-abandoned plotlines and heaving breasts! It’s perfectly natural if most of the wives don’t fall perfectly within Shen Yuan’s ‘what is best for Luo Binghe’ metric!
“This lowly advisor is only trying to keep Lord Luo safe and happy,” Shen Yuan grumbles, and Luo Binghe hums.
“And happy,” he echoes back to Shen Yuan, “Very good.”
Shen Yuan nods along weakly. After a moment of floundering for what to say, he eventually just sighs, and prods at the shards of porcelain at his feet. “Anyway, I recognized it, and the crisis was averted, so we can just move on, now.”
Luo Binghe follows his gaze to the ground, eyes tracing over the flower petals, looking sad and wilted after having been thrown around. He does not seem as ready to move on as Shen Yuan is.
Damn it.
Luo Binghe leans into Shen Yuan’s space, close enough Shen Yuan can feel the heat of him. He knows better than to try and lean away, despite how awkward and empty-headed he feels with Luo Binghe so close to him; if he leans away, Luo Binghe will only lean in closer still, until Shen Yuan has been thoroughly trapped.
“Advisor Shen has extensive experience with this sort of plant, in order to have been able to recognize it?” Luo Binghe asks, his smile looking a little dangerous. It is without a doubt the sort of expression that fits this blackened demon lord best, even better than the casually windswept look he wears after a long battle or the cold and calculating look after a short and unimpressive one.
“Of course not,” Shen Yuan demures, “As always, it is only that someone acting as Lord Luo’s advisor should know at least this much.”
Luo Binghe hums, clearly pleased with the answer. Luo Binghe is often pleased with Shen Yuan’s answers when he words them like this - clearly, not enough people are praising their emperor if he responds so positively to a few well deserved sweet words!
…Not that Shen Yuan is complaining, of course!! If it gives him a way out when Luo Binghe is looking particularly mean, he'll take it!! He won’t even think twice about the way satisfaction pools in his gut at being the person to say those sweet words, to get Luo Binghe to look at him like -
“Yes,” Luo Binghe agrees, his gaze sweeping up and down Shen Yuan, “I deserve this much at least.”
Shen Yuan nods along quickly. He’d long since yelled in the comments of PIDW that Luo Binghe deserved a better supporting cast - when the protagonist is that good, he shouldn’t be surrounded only by idiots with IQs that nosedive at random and wives that are as vapid as Shen Yuan’s fellow commenters. Shen Yuan is of course happy to get to take up the role of a decent advisor (of which the benefits are innumerable - he gets to see Luo Binghe on a daily basis, after all), but if he can convince Luo Binghe to fill his entire cabinet with other decent minds, that would really be a win!
“Advisor Shen agrees to this Lord so readily for anything…” Luo Binghe trails off, and Shen Yuan swallows thickly. Has he leaned in even closer, ah?? “Anything at all, to make sure this Lord gets everything he deserves.”
“Of course,” Shen Yuan says, pretending valiantly that he’s unphased. He’s trying to be a worthwhile advisor! No IQ drops! No moments of stupidity just because Luo Binghe gets a little close!
Luo Binghe’s eyes glint with satisfaction. “And what are Advisor Shen’s thoughts on… the other aspects of this Lord’s current company? Wanting only the best for your Lord, certainly you have thoughts on the harem?”
Shen Yuan lets out a nervous little laugh. It is very clearly the sound of a terrified nerd who spent hours in his past life insulting the women in Luo Binghe’s harem, now being asked by Luo Binghe himself to dare voice those same thoughts.
“This lowly advisor wouldn’t dare -” Shen Yuan starts to say, but then Luo Binghe’s expression turns dangerous, and Shen Yuan is reminded once more why Luo Binghe deserves a proper supporting cast.
Isn’t part of the problem with the zero IQ fools filling Luo Binghe’s court that Luo Binghe knows they’re all idiots? That Luo Binghe - the coolest, most clever person in this world - can tell exactly when idiots are lying to him, and hates them for it? For all that Luo Binghe is kickass and obviously the best, part of what made him the best was the way he grew from the hardships of his past, and one of those hardships was very much the isolation he faced as a disliked child. If everyone around Luo Binghe is a scheming idiot who lies and deceives their way into attempted good standing, and Luo Binghe knows it… isn’t that also lonely?
Of course, Luo Binghe in the height of his power could never really be lonely, not with all the women in the world tripping over themselves to proclaim their love for him. Shen Yuan shouldn’t even be worried about it.
It does, however, make for a very tempting excuse to complain just a little bit about some of the less deserving wives.
“...Well,” Shen Yuan says eventually, and Luo Binghe’s grin curls into something hungry. “This Advisor thinks Lord Luo’s affection is something that should be earned thoroughly, for how good he is.”
“Yes,” Luo Binghe agrees, “Advisor Shen knows well how good of a Lord Husband I am.”
(Just briefly, Shen Yuan almost commits the grave sin of thinking something less than good about Luo Binghe. Just for a moment - gone so fast he can easily ignore it - Shen Yuan thinks that for as incredible as Luo Binghe is, he might not really be a very good husband at all.
It’s only briefly, though. Shen Yuan much prefers to only think of what makes Luo Binghe good.)
“And for as good as Lord Luo is, not all his wives are clever enough to keep up with him,” Shen Yuan continues, carefully watching Luo Binghe’s reaction.
“Hm,” Luo Binghe says, lifting a hand up to rest one deadly clawed finger under Shen Yuan’s chin, tilting his head up just so. “Advisor Shen is very clever. He must surely have a solution, then, to ensure that I have a wife as clever as he is.”
“As clever as Lord Luo is,” Shen Yuan corrects, and Luo Binghe hums non committedly. Shen Yuan feels extremely sweaty for no reason at all.
“And anything else?” Luo Binghe asks, dragging his claw across the skin of Shen Yuan’s throat with slow purpose. “Besides being clever, what other attributes does Advisor Shen think my wives should have?”
“They shouldn’t cause so much trouble for you,” Shen Yuan blurts without thinking, and then hastily tries to correct himself: “Not that Lord Luo ever has any real trouble saving them when they get kidnapped or sex-pollened or something else stupid! It’s only that with so many of them - so many troublesome wives, of course not all of Lord Luo’s wives are troublesome - it’s only that it takes up a lot of time to save them all so frequently.”
“Advisor Shen thinks this Lord’s time could be better spent?” Luo Binghe asks, and Shen Yuan nods fervently. Way better spent! Think of how much could be done if you weren’t papapa-ing all the time, ah! “This Lord wonders,” Luo Binghe continues, his voice low, “what ideas Advisor Shen has for what I could be doing instead.”
Shen Yuan lights up. He has long since waited for the day when someone thought his opinion on what Luo Binghe should be doing instead of papapa would be actively asked for instead of mocked by brainless commenters thinking only with their dicks.
“Two months ago, you got married again before you could resolve the mystery of the Red Shackled Secret Realm, and a month before that you had to destroy a sacred forest in order to rescue a -”
Luo Binghe quiets him by sliding his hand up from under his chin to lay his thumb over Shen Yuan’s mouth. “Advisor Shen keeps such good tabs on this Lord,” he murmurs, expression intense. “Do you always watch me, thinking I could be doing better?”
Shen Yuan balks. “Not better, just -”
“Just that Advisor Shen thinks I leave my business unfinished? Or that my priorities are poor?”
“No! No, of course not, it’s only that -” Shen Yuan cuts himself off. He’d never read a chapter where Luo Binghe had lost an argument.
Which is fine! And he deserves it! And it doesn’t even matter if Luo Binghe never goes back to explore the parts of the world that he seemed interested in, or if the rest of his life really is just sex and marriage and killing people who mess with his harem. What’s it to Shen Yuan?
…Still…
“...Seventh consort and Two Hundredth and One Consort are fools,” Shen Yuan eventually says. There are many more, but those two had been so miserably cruel and jealous when they first entered the harem that Shen Yuan as Peerless Cucumber had never quite gotten over it. “If Lord Luo wants this lowly advisor’s insight on who is not good enough for him - they joined only to get something they wanted.”
“Many did,” Luo Binghe says, expression unreadable. “This Lord took his dues from them.”
Shen Yuan’s expression twists without his say-so. Luo Binghe’s thumb presses into his lips - he’d almost forgotten it was there. He doesn’t dare push Luo Binghe’s hand away, though. Instead he only carefully allows it, and obediently tilts his head up to meet Luo Binghe’s eyes when the hand pushes up on his chin just slightly.
“Advisor Shen doesn’t think that’s enough?” Luo Binghe pauses, looking at Shen Yuan with the same sort of scrutiny he had the first time Shen Yuan had told him he deserved the best and only that. “What is enough, then?”
“They should love you, obviously,” Shen Yuan says.
“They do,” Luo Binghe counters, his tone unexpectedly harsh. “Even if they join only for their personal benefit, they love me eventually.”
“They should love you from the start, then.” Shen Yuan argues, and Luo Binghe doesn’t argue this time. He only looks at Shen Yuan, intense as he always is, and then drops his hand from Shen Yuan’s mouth and takes half a step back.
“To think my wives should all be as clever as him, as loyal as him, as good as him - Advisor Shen has high standards, when it comes to starting a family.”
Shen Yuan startles, about to hurriedly correct the misunderstanding that any of that had been to say that Shen Yuan of all people would be - what, more qualified to be Luo Binghe’s wife? Ridiculous! - but Luo Binghe continues before he gets the chance.
“Consort Ying and Consort Fang will be sent to the cold palace, as per Advisor Shen’s insight.” Luo Binghe says loudly, and Shen Yuan becomes aware of the other servants in the room for the first time since Luo Binghe stepped so close to him. Quieter, directed only to Shen Yuan, Luo Binghe says: “And next time we speak, Advisor Shen will have a solution for finding a wife as good as he is.”
---
After a week of dodging Luo Binghe, Shen Yuan presents his solution.
“Chen Liang,” Shen Yuan announces, gesturing to the young lady beside him. “She’s smart - she’s been managing her father’s estate since she was fourteen, and has maintained that position even while her aunts have bore healthy sons.” She knows how to handle herself in dangerous families, is what Shen Yuan means here.
Luo Binghe… does not look as impressed with Chen Liang as Shen Yuan had been hoping. He knows he must feel some attraction to her - after all, Shen Yuan is the most qualified person in this world to look at someone and decide if they’d fit Luo Binghe’s ‘type’ - but Luo Binghe doesn’t look anything like the many descriptions in PIDW from when he first sees a potential wife. There’s no pleased flush of attraction, no hint of a smile, no sign he feels anything positive at all.
“And?” Luo Binghe asks, and Shen Yuan swallows thickly.
He loves being Luo Binghe’s advisor - loves getting to see Luo Binghe every day, getting to watch him be everything Shen Yuan has loved about him for years before he even met him - but he has never once forgotten that Luo Binghe is a dangerous man to displease.
“She is beautiful,” Shen Yuan starts, “As Lord Luo -”
“Does Advisor Shen think so?” Luo Binghe interrupts. “That she’s beautiful?”
Shen Yuan shoots a helpless glance over his shoulder at Chen Liang. She’s kneeling with her face turned downwards, and she shakes where she kneels, but even so it’s clear that her skin is supple and clear and her hair is soft and falls perfectly down her back.
Shen Yuan does not find her particularly beautiful, but he hasn’t found many people beautiful at all. Luo Binghe, of course, but - well, it’s in his nature to be beautiful. Even people like Shen Yuan can see it, when it’s the otherworldly sort of prettiness a protagonist has.
“Isn’t she?” Shen Yuan asks, and Luo Binghe narrows his eyes.
Abruptly, he stands from his throne, stalking over to Shen Yuan. “I asked for the best,” he says, voice low and dangerous, and Shen Yuan grimaces. Ah, how awkward, don’t imply that she isn’t so great when she’s right there!
“She will be a worthwhile companion -”
“Shen Yuan,” Luo Binghe cuts him off, and Shen Yuan falls silent at once. “You said you’d give me the best. You said I deserve it.”
And oh, he does. Even nervous and sweaty and wildly uncomfortable, Shen Yuan still looks at Luo Binghe and thinks he deserves the best. The best of everything, to make up for the worst of things he suffered in the past, to go beyond that and convince him that those good things righteously belong to him, to make him happy. Shen Yuan has always wanted the best for Luo Binghe, has told anyone who’d listen in his past life about how undeserving of a webnovel PIDW was of its protagonist.
“This is the best,” Shen Yuan says, though he doesn’t quite believe it. He never really believed any of the women in this world were ‘the best’ for Luo Binghe - all they ever do is slow him down and cause trouble and papapa and -
Well, whatever. What is the best for Luo Binghe doesn’t always have to be what Shen Yuan thinks is the best also.
Luo Binghe’s expression turns mean. He reaches out to grab at the collar of Shen Yuan’s robes, harshly dragging Shen Yuan close to him. “Do not lie to me, Shen Yuan. This Lord had made himself perfectly clear in what he wanted, so for you to bring a women before me -”
“Is she not attractive?” Shen Yuan asks, a bit desperate. He does not want to lose whatever favor Luo Binghe has shown him, for far more reasons than just ‘it would mean his death.’
Luo Binghe’s fist in his robes tightens, jerking Shen Yuan around, before Luo Binghe lets go all at once.
“Fine,” he snarls, “Since Advisor Shen finds her so attractive, this Lord would be remiss to marry her after all.”
Luo Binghe spins away, not glancing once at his new fiance. Shen Yuan is left shaking beside her.
---
The wedding is glorious, as any wedding of Luo Binghe’s should be. Most of the guests are Luo Binghe’s other wives.
Luo Binghe drinks the nuptial wine with Chen Liang in the banquet hall before they retire to their marital chambers, rather than waiting to do it there. Shen Yuan wonders if it’s because Luo Binghe has had so many weddings he’s grown tired of the normal customs.
He doesn’t think too hard about it, though. It’s hard to think much of anything when Luo Binghe has crossed arms with his new wife but is still looking at Shen Yuan, his gaze burning.
Luo Binghe does not break eye contact with Shen Yuan once as he drinks the wine.
---
Shen Yuan finds Luo Binghe sitting in one of the inner courtyards that night. He hadn’t been able to fall asleep, feeling so - just all sorts of unpleasant things - and he’d found himself wandering the inner palace just to have something to do. He hadn’t been expecting to find Luo Binghe out too.
“Lord Luo,” Shen Yuan greets quietly, saluting him. He’s sprawled against the stairs leading up into one of the inner hallways, and although his eyes track Shen Yuan he doesn’t respond to the greeting.
He does not look like a happily married man.
Shen Yuan hesitates, then carefully sits himself down on the staircase beside Luo Binghe.
“Where’s Consort Liang?” He asks. He cannot imagine anyone leaving Luo Binghe alone on their wedding night unless something terrible had happened.
Luo Binghe only snorts, though. “In her bridal chambers, presumably.”
“Lord Luo shouldn’t leave her alone on her wedding night,” Shen Yuan scolds. There’s something odd in the air between them that makes it feel like scolding Luo Binghe is a thing that’s allowed. “Even if you don’t visit her again after that - even if this Advisor Shen made a mistake in presenting her to you - at least for tonight she shouldn’t have to be alone.”
Luo Binghe turns sharply away from Shen Yuan, so he can’t see his face. “Fine,” he bites out, “You’re welcome to her, then.”
Shen Yuan startles, horrified at even the thought. “I - you - I wouldn’t dare touch one of Lord Luo’s wives!”
“I know,” Luo Binghe snaps, “That had been the whole point of marrying her.”
Shen Yuan is only more confused. “I wouldn’t have touched her anyway - even if you hadn’t married her so fast, I wouldn’t - I wouldn’t have touched anyone you found attractive, I wasn’t even interested!”
“You’re a fool, Shen Yuan,” Luo Binghe says, voice low but not angry. “Hadn’t it been you to say how clever and attractive and good she is?”
“I just - I just wanted to choose the best for you -”
“You’re the best for me!” Luo Binghe yells, whirling back around to look at Shen Yuan, eyes wild.
Shen Yuan’s jaw shuts with an audible click. He’s never dared let himself think - even in his old life, when he rallied for Luo Binghe, telling that miserable Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky that Luo Binghe deserved better than what he was giving him - Shen Yuan had never dared think ‘ah, it could be me - if it was me, I’d take care of him properly.’ He hadn’t dared, had never dreamt about it, had never thought about it once since he’d gotten to this world and met Luo Binghe and known him to be just as incredible and beautiful as Shen Yuan knew he was -
“You’re the best for me,” Luo Binghe says again, quieter. “And I don’t think I’ve ever been denied the things that were best for me since I was - since years ago.”
“How could I possibly deny you?” Shen Yuan asks, helpless, and Luo Binghe looks at him assessingly.
“Haven’t you? Hasn’t this Lord made it clear by now how he favors you? And yet never once has Shen Yuan joined him in his bed.”
Shen Yuan looks away. His face burns. “Is that so important?”
“That you reject me?” Luo Binghe clarifies, furious.
“No, that - that I won’t ever follow you into bed. If I never deny you anything else, but I don’t give you that one thing - is that so important to the rest of it?”
Luo Binghe is quiet for a long moment. “It’s always been important before, when people loved me.”
“Important to you?” Shen Yuan asks, and Luo Binghe just looks at him with an expression that Shen Yuan would have described as helpless if it was on anyone else’s face. Shen Yuan feels suddenly exhausted. He fucking hates talking about his feelings.
But Luo Binghe is still looking at him with an expression that - well, it’s not one Shen Yuan wants to see on him, so talking about his stupid little feelings it is.
“You are - that is - you’re incredible,” Shen Yuan gets out with some difficulty. It’s embarrassing how much more difficult it is to say to Luo Binghe himself instead of some asshole on the PIDW forums. “Getting to gossip with you about the shit your court is getting up to and being a part of your plans to put them in their place, getting to listen to you about the cool adventures you’ve gone on and the beasts you’ve seen, getting to share meals with you, sometimes - I like those things. I like just - just being around you. You’re incredible.”
Luo Binghe’s breath hitches, and he watches Shen Yuan with wide, wide eyes. Shen Yuan, for all that he’s cataloged PIDW, can’t remember a single time that Luo Binghe ever got to receive a proper confession that wasn’t just some cheesy line about how handsome or powerful Luo Binghe was. The thought sends a rush of heady excitement through Shen Yuan, for all it makes him indignant on Luo Binghe’s behalf at the same time - Shen Yuan could never be anything for Luo Binghe for the ‘first’ time, but he could be the first one to give Luo Binghe this.
“I like being your friend,” Shen Yuan says, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously. “I know it’s - it’s probably like, treason or something to claim I have that sort of close relationship with you, but - I like knowing you. I like you. Everything else about this world might be contrived and cheap, but not even the best of worlds could really live up to you.”
It’s not quite a love confession. It’s just as much a confession to Luo Binghe the character as it is to Luo Binghe the person in front of him. Shen Yuan loves them both, though, with the wholehearted force of a shut-in who never really got to know anyone outside of books, with the strength of a reluctant fan getting to meet their favorite character, with the passion of someone who had been frighteningly lonely in this world before he met a friend. How embarrassing.
“I like knowing you,” Shen Yuan repeats, eyes on a particularly interesting pattern in the stone of the stairs beneath him. “If it’s just that, without - without following you into some stupid papapa scene - then would you still think it’s the best for you?”
Shen Yuan glances up at Luo Binghe, and then immediately does a double take. Wide, glistening eyes, and pinched brows as if he’s trying so hard to hold back tears -
“Don’t cry, ah!” Shen Yuan exclaims, hands flailing in front of him. “I’m sorry, sorry okay! I didn’t - whatever it was, I didn’t mean it! Aren’t you the emperor? Why are you crying, ah, I’m sorry!”
Luo Binghe sniffles. It’s devastating to Shen Yuan’s self control.
“Ahhh, don’t kill me for this, don’t kill me for this, remember what I just said about liking you, okay?!” Shen Yuan rambles, scooting over to Luo Binghe and gathering him up into his arms.
There is a lot to gather. Luo Binghe is not a small man.
Still, though, he goes willingly, hunching over so he can tuck his head in the crook of Shen Yuan’s neck. “Don’t say you didn’t mean it,” Luo Binghe says, “No one has ever loved me for those things before, so don’t say you didn’t mean it.”
Shen Yuan’s heart rattles against his chest, and he clutches Luo Binghe a bit tighter. “Mm,” he says, because he has long since exhausted his ability to say anything more direct on the topic of feelings, and also because feeling Luo Binghe cry against him makes him want to cry too, just a bit.
Some long, quiet minutes later, when Luo Binghe’s breathing has steadied, he sighs. It sounds a bit like the sigh of someone who has just lost a bet.
“Tears work best on you after all,” Luo Binghe says, and he sounds amused despite the ‘damn I lost that one’ sigh from just moments ago.
Shen Yuan bristles, one of the hands that had been clutching at Luo Binghe’s back untangling itself to lightly hit at him a few times. “No they don’t!! How would you know!!”
Luo Binghe pulls back just enough to meet Shen Yuan’s eyes. Then, after a moment of calculating silence, his expression scrunches up into something pitiful and teary and -
Shen Yuan folds like wet paper. “Ah, sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you, don’t cry, ah -” He soothes, rubbing at Luo Binghe’s back anxiously. Luo Binghe snorts, and the pout falls off his face immediately.
Shen Yuan, having clearly been played, hits at Luo Binghe again. Luo Binghe only curls in closer, resting his head back on Shen Yuan’s shoulder.
“I’m glad I found you. I deserved to - I deserve you - but I’m glad anyway.” Luo Binghe sighs, and Shen Yuan scrunches up his nose as he tries to make sense of that. Hadn’t it been him who had found Luo Binghe, ah?!
…He doesn’t dare argue it, at the thought that doing so might bring back those OP tears.
“Our wedding will be better than tonight’s was.” Luo Binghe had reached a hand up to pet idly at Shen Yuan’s robe, and he pauses now to pick at the fine fabric. “When her robes were being commissioned, I saw a fabric that would suit you.”
Shen Yuan… doesn’t know how to respond to that. Luo Binghe had been thinking about Shen Yuan as he’d been getting married to another woman. Not - not that the idea is new, he supposes! He’d just hacked up his wrinkly little heart onto Luo Binghe’s lap not ten minutes prior, and he’d known full well at the time he’d done so that he was giving that useless little thing away to someone who had already married enough times the process had probably grown somewhat stale to him.
Still…
“Will there be many more?” Shen Yuan asks, quiet.
“More what?”
“Weddings,” Shen Yuan answers. “After me, will there be many more?”
Luo Binghe pulls back once more to look at Shen Yuan. He looks a bit mean this time, which is how Shen Yuan knows he’s genuinely hurt.
“You’ll love me enough for me to not need more,” Luo Binghe says, but it sounds a bit accusatory, as if Shen Yuan had suggested otherwise.
“But - don’t you always -”
“So what?” Luo Binghe bites out, “So what if I’ve always done it that way in the past? Don’t you say I deserve the best, that I am the best? How can you say that but then not believe me when I say I won’t - not anymore.”
“...It’s only that I thought you were proud of the number of wives you had, is all,” Shen Yuan says, but his mind is still stuck on Luo Binghe implying that being the best might not be in line with the way he’s acted in the past.
“I am - I’m very happy. I have no reason not to be,” Luo Binghe argues. He hesitates, then adds: “I’m just trying it out - loving one person at a time. If it’s foolish, I’ll tell those imposters - I’ll tell them they were wrong.”
“...and if one person ends up being enough?” Shen Yuan asks, and Luo Binghe curls close against him. Shen Yuan wonders idly who could possibly have left this sort of impression on Luo Binghe, to have him press so sweetly into Shen Yuan’s side at the very thought of whatever sort of advice Luo Binghe gleaned from them.
“I’ll be happier. Happier than I already am - already I am perfectly happy,” Luo Binghe says.
Shen Yuan sighs. He’s exhausted. This whole - everything has been exhausting. Who the fuck thought it was a good idea to put Shen Yuan in a position of feelings, ah?!
“Alright,” he says, “That’s enough for tonight, I think. Lord Luo -”
Luo Binghe’s hands tighten around the handfuls of Shen Yuan’s robe he’s holding onto. Shen Yuan sighs.
“...Binghe,” Shen Yuan amends. “Binghe, I think - and this is my official opinion as your advisor - that you should take some time off.”
“What will a vacation fix?” Luo Binghe grouses, “Just marry me; weddings usually solve issues.”
“And that is exactly why I think a vacation is needed,” Shen Yuan declares, feeling a bit more motivated. “Yeah. Yeah, a vacation is perfect. Don’t even look at a single wife the whole time, either -”
“I’ll look at you,” Luo Binghe interrupts, and Shen Yuan whacks him with a startling lack of fear for having laid hands on the protagonist.
“I! Am not your wife!”
Luo Binghe’s face twists as if he’s about to cry again.
“Yet!” Shen Yuan hurriedly corrects. “I’m not your wife yet!”
Luo Binghe’s expression clears up immediately and lands soundly in smug satisfaction. Shen Yuan whacks him again.
“Point stands - no wives, no politics, no nothing! Don’t even tell anyone where you’re going! Just - just leave it all behind for a little bit, and see what parts of it you miss. If you miss your wives, then - then clearly you love them, and you have that answer.”
“If I don’t miss any of it, then you -” Luo Binghe hesitates, worrying at the fabric of Shen Yuan’s robes. These poor robes of his are probably never going to unwrinkle properly after tonight. “If I don’t miss any of it, then would you live in a bamboo cottage with me?”
“A bamboo - what?” Shen Yuan echoes, confused, but after a moment just shakes his head. “Sure, Binghe. If you don’t miss any of it - or, even if you do - I’ll follow you wherever you go until you chase me away.”
“Because Shen Yuan thinks I’m the best part of this world,” Luo Binghe sighs, content. “Shen Yuan thinks the world doesn’t deserve me, for how good I am.”
“Yeah, yeah, shut up already,” Shen Yuan grumbles, already scrambling to repress the horrible embarrassment of having spewed such mortifying lines some fifteen minutes ago.
“Shen Yuan loves me,” Luo Binghe says instead of properly answering.
Shen Yuan doesn’t deny it. What is there to deny, at this point? And more to the point, Luo Binghe looks… he looks really, really happy.
So Shen Yuan doesn’t deny it. He only nods once, and pulls Luo Binghe in closer so he doesn’t have to make horrible, embarrassing eye contact, and holds him until the sky starts to lighten with the dawn of the next day.
Then, slowly, they stand, and Luo Binghe heads back to his rooms to pack for a vacation.