"Turn your back, Young master , we have to get the dress ready before next week" Taohua rolled his eyes and turned, he felt a small tap on his shoulder " Don't let the shoulder down , we need to take that measurement …raise your leg "
It took a full three hours before they were done with his measurements. He wasn't allowed to rest before another demon torted in and put a batch of mooncakes on the table.
Taohua let out a loud groan " I thought I picked the mooncakes yesterday "
"That is the cake you are serving the elites , young master, we are picking the commoners mooncakes now and you need to pick at least 5 of them"
"Why can't you tell Hong Jin? Why do I have to do this?!"
The demon voice remained eeriely monotonous "The royal emperor is busy with affairs of the state all day , we can't bother him "
Taohua randomly chose the cakes " Pink , black , yellow, brown and white "
"Understood , should I call in the cake decorator ?"
"If anyone else come in again, I'll kill the person then I'll kill myself "
"Understood"
Finally! Some peace and quiet.
Taohua lied down on the floor and allowed the chill to perminate into his bones. His thoughts went towards the heaven realm.
He had promised to marry Hong Jin, and from the amount of wedding preparation going on , Hong Jin seems to take it very serious.
At first he had qualms about marrying him , after all it was the life of people that are hanging on his decision, now, he was just simply worried.
How will shifu take it when she discovers that he's planning on marrying the person he promised to kill ?
He rolled over on his back and sighed, the moving foxes danced in his eyes.
" It's best I tell her before anyone else does"
He stood up and locked the door, then he cut open his finger and used his blood to make a small symbol on the floor. He then gather his dao and poured it into the signal.
There was a flash of light before it dimmed and a familiar voice rang out.
"Taohua, you are finally summoning me after 10 years?"
Taohua voice was sheepish "I was meditating , I didn't even know that time had passed so much"
A skeptical hum "Did something happen?"
Taohua rubbed his sweaty palms against his robe "Huh shifu , what I am about to tell you , I want you to be calm and rational…"
Her voice went low "Calm and rational? What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything that bad but I need you to stay calm alright? …" Taohua cleared his throat "is anyone beside you?"
"No I am at the empress garden, we are about to have a small banquet but I arrived too early "
"Okay then…" Taohua swallowed a loud gulp " Shifu …I am getting married in a month "
There was a thick silence over the phone before his shifu let out a light laughter.
"Hahaha, aren't you old for pranks ? You scared Shifu for a minute "
"…. Shifu it's not a prank "
"…really?"
"Yes"
There was another thick silence before she 'huh?!' ; it was almost as if he could see her losing her calm and then screaming into the upper heavens.
The last time she screamed like this was when he mistakenly broke the empress favorite jar , Shifu had to pay almost half of her merits to replace it.
"You did what?!"
He whispered, his voice almost at the verge of tears "Shifu, remember you're in public, you have to stay calm , stay calm okay"
"Dont 'Shifu' me ! You're getting married to that ..that mortal right?!"
"He's not just that mortal Shifu, I told you , he saved me a long time ago and he took care of me …"
He could imagine Shifu mumbling some inaudible curses and pacing around in the garden.
"Are you the one who proposed this marriage?!"
Taohua shook his head " No I am not , he…"
"He forced you right? I knew that fisherman wasn't simple, I just didn't care enough to put him in mind, use your powers on him and escape at the moment "
"He's…he's no longer human , he have awoken his demon heritage now"
"….wait , he's a demon ?"
" Shifu stay calm okay?"
"Demon ? I don't sense any demon blood in him at all " there was ruffling as if she was checking something , probably a book " Which Demon is he?"
" Huli Jing "
There was another thick silence.
Her voice was oddly calm " So he's the huli Jing who took the mortal realm by storm and caused a merging. He's a force of calamity for sure "
"Shifu …"
"But I don't sense any aura though, it's not my problem anyway" She closed the book and went back to her full rant " Taohua I don't have an opinion on who you want to marry, gods get married everytime but you can't get married to him , he is your love tribulation, you can't cross into godhood as long as you are with him "
Taohua rubbed his forehead " I know Shifu… "
"You don't have to wait for that wedding month , you can get some Phoenix tears , add a few drops into his food and he will be gone as quietly and peacefully as a candle, dragging this too long will only make it harder for you "
"Shifu …"
"Don't shifu me , listen to me. The punishment of the heavens towards unrisen gods are usually harsh , in some cases even death. If you become a god , you can wait till he reincarnates then you fulfil your promise to him , or you can find him a better partner and give him a very lucky life. "
"Why cant I fulfil it now?!"
Her voice went lower "You want to fulfill it ? Taohua are you really planning on acknowledging a mortal as your husband?"
Taohua clenched his fists, determination steeped into his eyes.
"I am willing to fulfill his promise. I am willing…no I want to marry him "
"Taohua…" There was a rare tremor in her voice "Dont take this path please "
He exhaled, his voice firm "Shifu I am going to marry Hong Jin, he's my fiance, like my official fiance. You can inform the heavens I am getting married so they can send gifts to the Hua palace "
"Taohua, didn't you hear what I said about punishments?! "
Taohua placed a hand on his forehead, an headache seem to be on it's way but there was fire burning in his chest.
" I will kill him , I will make sure I do so but I will marry him and love him the way I want to before that day comes. The heavens should give me just that "
"Taohua…"
His voice was soft "Please shifu, just three months, I promise three months tops "
There was a silence over the phone before she let out a deep sigh " Okay, I give you three months,I will inform the heavens about the wedding and I will add him to our registry after you get married to him ,but remember, three months only okay?"
He let out a sigh of relief, a smile creeping into his face " Yes shifu "
" The banquet is about to start, I'll see you in three months time "
The light shone bright for 3 seconds before diming to disappearance. Taohua let out another sigh before standing up.
He have already dealt with the most difficult part , like he said, he just have 3 months to follow his heart and fulfil Hong Jin promise; he have to use it wisely.
He dusted his back , then for the first time since he arrived here , he stepped out of the room.
It was dark and only bright stones illuminated the entire place, the darkness made everywhere look cold and because everywhere looked cold , it gave it an awkward feel.
However, there were demons bursting about so it still had an hint of liveliness. From time to time, they looked at him from whatever discussion or things they were doing but they quickly lowered their head back.
Since their king was secure about him , then they were probably secure about him too.
Taohua stretched his limbs before tapping on a unsuspecting demon girl. She flinched before stepping a distance from him.
Taohua felt a bit offended but he didn't take it seriously.
" Where's Hong Jin?" he asked.
She looked everywhere but him "Who is Hong Jin?"
"The emperor…where is he?"
"Oh , the highness is at the gold palace "
"Directions?"
The girl gave him brief instructions before escaping as fast as the wind. Taohua raised a brow in suspicion before moving to meet his goal.
On his way, he observed a phenomenon.
The demons only looked at him but they seemed frightened about engaging with him. Even when he asks for directions, they tend to talk briefly before escaping to who knows where. It's like if they get caught talking to him , their neck is on the line.
He wasn't surprised , Hong Jin was naturally possessive even when he still had his human blood, after awakening his demon heritage, it seemed to have gotten 100x stronger and have extended to strangers around him.
How very …Hong Jin of him.
On a normal day, he would be pissed off and then he will get into a big argument with him ,but now he just felt like since he's marrying him , he have to put up with his bad character traits.
He got there and opened the door.
The gold palace was a big hall with a throne at the top end , the place was empty so it was only Hong jin on the throne sorting out scrolls. There were piles and piles of scrolls , they spread out everywhere making the big hall look a bit cramped.
Hong Jin raised his head then dropped the scroll he was reading.
"You left the room?"
"Hmm" Taohua walked over the scrolls before sitting down at the bottom of the throne " I already told them at home that I am going to marry you , they are putting you in the hua palace registry"
"Registry?"
"You are regarded as my fiance now, after we get married , you will get the position of husband " Seeing Hong Jin was staring silently at him , Taohua thought he didn't understand and proceed to explain the benefits to him.
" It doesn't affect your future love life in anyway, even when you get reincarnated, you can still marry another person but whatever merits I get, a percentage will go to you and you'll have a smooth life…."
Hong Jin let out a sigh , his voice was soft " What if I am not willing to marry another person?"
Taohua seemed slumped.
"Ah? Do you want to hate me?"
All the gods he knows don't put importance to their marriage…oh except Jade emperor and Jade empress ,and those two seem to hate each other a lot.
It only gave him two answers. If Hong Jin married him , he could have partners ; but if he hates him , he can't have partners.
Hong Jin laughed seeing his expression, his eyes crickled into smiles and the corner of his lips lifted. He looked so beautiful that Taohua was stunned.
"I really can't let you go " he stood up from his seat before plopping beside Taohua, he then scoop Taohua into his laps before embracing him " I really really really can't let you go "