Work Text:
HUALIAN SWITCH AU
"So let me get this straight. You encountered a weird curse that switched your bodies?"
Xie lian nodded, didnt know whether to laugh or cry while looking at the crumpled faces of his two best friends.
"And there's no cure so we cant do anything but wait for a week for the curse to subside?"
"E-en.."
"BUT YOUR HIGHNESS!!! We have to prepare for the Mid autumn festival this week! And you, as the new Emperor is required to be there to guide and supervise! You even volunteered!" Feng xin said while rubbing his temples.
"E-en.. I didnt say I wouldnt come... I'll still go."
Mu qing raised his brow and rolled his eyes "While looking like that?"
Xie lian glanced at a mirror at the side of the room. But instead of seeing his soft, gentle face wearing white cultivation robes, what he saw was the handsome face of his beloved in his usual red robes.
"Ah, hehe.. If we explain it they'll understand..."
"Forget it. Seeing a single strand of Crimson Rain's hair will scare them to the extent of fainting, let alone having him supervising them with a gentle smile. They might just die right there and then."
"Ah, haha... Then since we exchanged bodies, you can take San lang with you. I'm sure he'll do a great job helping setting up the festival!"
"Are you kidding me? He'll just ruin your image and reputation!"Mu qing exclaimed.
"And are you really letting a ghost king enter the newly built heavenly court?! Do you want to destroy it?!"
"Come on guys, my San lang wouldnt do that. I'll talk to him. I'll just stay here and manage the Ghost city while he's gone so we'll basically just exchange responsibilities for a week!"
"But your highne-"
"NO BUTS! This is the only thing we could do. Unless its okay for us to just stay here till the curse wear off."
Feng xin and Mu qing both shook their heads knowing that whenever Xie lian is absent from the heavenly court even for just three days the whole heavenly court gets too chaotic.
The whole heavenly court relies too much on Xie lian at the moment because of the whole Jun wu incident that just happened.
"Great. Its settled then." Xie lian said wearing his signature smile. But instead of feeling reassured like usual, the smile just sent shivers down the spine of the two gods.
"Y-your highness, we'd appreciate it if you dont smile too much while in possession of that body..."Feng xin said while trying not to look at the weirdly smiling face of Hua chengzhu.
~~~
At the heavenly court
"G-GENERAL XUAN ZHEN! GENERAL JU YA- I mean, NAN YANG!"
Mu qing snickered and turned around while Feng xin's face turned into annoyance.
"General Pei. Do you need something?" Mu qing asked at the panicked face of Pei ming
"No-nothing. I just want to ask what happened to his highness."Pei ming said still panting.
"Why? What happened?"Feng xin asked feeling nervous.
"A LOT! A LOT HAPPENED! First of all, why does he have that unamused, grumpy face? VERY SIMILAR TO THAT CRIMSON RAIN SOUGHT FLOWER! Second, when I asked about his opinions about the preparation of the festival he said 'Its shitty. Just as i thought. This poor so called heavenly court couldnt do anything without my gege.' And lastly, whenever someone calls him, he just looks at them with a scary expression and a piercing gaze!"
"..."
"..."
"IT'S LIKE HE EXCHANGED BODIES WITH HUA CHENGZHU HIMSELF! Is this the influence of being the ghost king's husband? I support them but if this keeps up, I'm afraid those who are not so close with his highness will piss themselves whenever they meet!"
"..."
"..."
After the long explanation, Pei ming catched his breath.
"Ehem... General Pei, please relax. Um, we have a bit of situation." Feng xin said while scratching his face.
Pei ming readied himself. "Go on."
After explaining the whole thing, Pei ming shrieked. "HOW IS THAT 'A BIT'?!"
"General Pei, can you turn your voice down? Or if you want the whole heavenly court to fall in panic, then feel free to continue." Mu qing said rolling his eyes.
Hearing this, Pei ming looked around before clearing his throat. "Ehem. Sorry. But how can we be so sure that he wouldn't destroy the whole court?"
"Xie lian talked to him. So obviously, as a simp king that he is, he wouldn't." Mu qing answered sarcastically.
"Right. But still, I feel bad for all the junior officials who were tasked to prepare for the festival under 'his highness'." Pei ming said.
"Yeah but i prefer seeing this than Hua cheng being all friendly." Feng xin felt the shudders again remembering Xie lians smile while on the ghost kings body.
Hearing this, mu qing felt goosebumps. "... I'd rather die than witnessing that again."
Imagining the things the two saw, Pei ming paled and sweated as he envisioned a laughing and smiling Hua Chengzhu.
"...i wonder how the ghost city is doing."
~~~
Meanwhile at the ghost city
"Hua chengzhu! Come visit our shop! We sell good soup!"
Xie lian turned to the ghost and smiled. "I'll come visit some other time."
"Eek!" The ghost flinched and hid behind his store banner.
"Hm?" Xie lian tilted his head in confusion.
'Oh. Right I'm in San langs body. That's why they're all scared. Maybe I should help San lang improve his reputation. For some reason, the ghosts are more scared now compared to the times I visited here...'
Xie lian continued on his way to the Qiandeng temple. He politely rejected all the store owners offering him stuff and smiled all the way.
At the end of the road where the temple stood, Xie lian felt a different mood from earlier and turned around.
As he looked, all the ghost were inside their residences peeping at him through their windows or doors.
"Huh? What happened? Is something in my face?" Xie lian asked to himself when someone approached him.
"Your highness." Yin yu said and bowed.
"Oh, Yin yu! You don't need to be so polite! Just call me by my name!"
Although Yin yu knows the current situation, he still couldn't help but shudder and took a step back.
"E-ehem. Hua chengzhu will get mad if i do. Anyway, you're highness, I prepared all the calligraphy materials you asked for in the temple." Yin yu said with his head low.
"Okay thanks yin yu! But why are you looking down?"
Yin yu glanced at Hua chengzhu's face and quickly went back on looking down.
'Your highness, all of us would appreciate it if you don't go walking around with that kind of expression.' Yin yu wanted to say this so bad but he'll probably get killed by Hua cheng if he did.
In the Ghost City, Xie lian is the only worshipped god. What he wish to do and all he want to have shall be given and provided. If they value their lives, they wouldn't do anything against him. Less they want to be beaten to a pulp by the other ghosts or Hua chengzhu himself. No one dares talk bad about his highness infront of the ghosts residing in the ghost city. Since he's their Grand uncle after all.
Yin yu silently sighed. "It's a way to show respect to you your highness. Then, shall I lead you inside the temple?" He said.
"Ah! No need, no need. You can go now. Thanks yin yu!" Xie lian then, proceeded to enter the temple.
After minutes of silence, hundreds of ghosts crowded around yin yu.
"Waning moon officer! Was that really Hua chengzhu?!"
"Waning moon officer! Did Hua chengzhu eat something bad?!"
"It's probably from your shop!"
"What?! My shop only serve safe delicious meals! Not meals that makes someone crazy!"
"Waning moon officer! Is Hua chengzhu possesed?!"
"Are you dumb?! If anything, Hua chengzhu is the one who'll do the possessing not the other way around!"
"Right! Right! Are you looking down on our great Hua chengzhu?!"
"..."
In the middle of the ruckus, thanks to his unnoticeable nature, Yin yu managed to slip out of all those ghosts.
"... It's just for a week. For a week..."
Feng xin, Mu qing, Pei ming and yin yu thought to themselves.
~~~
Three days later
At the heavenly court
"I-IM SO SORRY" A junior official shouted together with a bow and dashed away to fix whatever mistake he made.
"YES I'LL REMAKE IT RIGHT AWAY!" Another one exclaimed and also dashed away.
"And you."
"Y-YES!"
"Just go back to whatever you're doing."
"Y-yes!" The junior said and sighed in relief after walking away.
"Such idiots."
"Oi Crimson rain."
"What do you want General Ju yang."
"You-"
"Could you atleast try to act like his highness? Literally everyone is scared of his highness right now." Mu qing butted in with his arms crossed.
Their relationship got a BIT better since they are all people very close to Xie lians heart. And Xie lian once mentioned how much he wanted for them to get along. And they meet each other very often so they learned how to tolerate each other. But that's the extent of it. They are just tolerating each other to the point of not killing each other.
"It's not my fault that they're so bad at their job. And they SHOULD be scared. Who the fuck thought to themselves as worthy of talking with my gege. Gege's kindness should be reserved for deserving people. Like me." Hua Cheng replied with a proud face.
"And us!" Feng xin added.
Hua cheng looked at the two with disgust on his face. "I said 'deserving'."
"You-"
"Are you saying we're not?" Mu qing asked, clearly irritated.
"Heh. I didn't say that."
"But that's what you're implying!" Feng xin said and rolled up his sleeve readying himself for a brawl.
"Is it?" Hua cheng replied with a mocking tone.
"I'm going to fucking kill you for the fourth-"
"Oi he's in Xie lians body you idiot." Mu qing said and smacked the back of Feng xins head.
Feng xin stopped in his track and tightened his fist. "AH SINCE WHEN DID A WEEK GET SO LONG FOR GODS SAKE" Feng xin asked in annoyance while stomping his way to his palace. Mu qing just followed him. "Yeah. For our sake." Mu qing joked with a serious face.
"..." Feng xin looked at him with disbelief before bursting into laughter that literally echoed to the whole newly built court.
Before getting far, mu qing turned to Hua cheng again. "Try to maintain Xie lians reputation or else I'll tell him all the things you've done while you're in here."
"Oh are you threatening me?" Hua cheng asked with a brow raised. Mu qing however just humphed and turned to follow feng xin.
"...how could i act like his highness? Smile? No i only smile to my gege. Did i really made his reputation worse? ... Will gege be mad? ..." Hua cheng mumbled to himself while walking to the Grand hall.
"Nah. Gege loves me." He concluded and smiled remembering his marriage with Xie lian.
~~~
Ghost City
The ghost city had been quiet this past days whenever 'Hua chengzhu' makes an appearance.
Xie lian decided to go for a stroll, but the streets were deserted. Though, he could see all the eyes peeping from the residences.
'Were they always this afraid of san lang..?' he thought to himself.
Xie lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry when the ghost pig that he had always seen hesitantly approached him.
"U-um. H-hua chengzhu would you like to go to my humble store for some soup?" He asked nervously.
Xie lian was delighted that someone finally approached him and instantly put on a smile.
"Sure! Sure!"
"Eek!" The pig shrieked and took 10 steps back.
"Hm? What's the matter?" Xie lian asked.
"Uh-uhhh nothing nothing please come." The ghost pig said and led the way.
Inside a big residence where ghosts were flocking, they discussed within themselves.
"Did grand uncle influence our chengzhu this much?" A chicken ghost whispered.
"Certainly, he really took after our grand uncle's personality."
"I have mixed emotions about this sudden change..."
"Should we approach the lord?"
"Should we..?"
"For y'all informations, I still very much value my already dead life."
"Me too!"
"But he seems to be in a really good mood these days... Even though Grand uncle isn't here..."
"..."
"..should we?"
The ghosts nodded at each other as agreement and went to the Ghost pigs store where Xie lian head off to.
They peeked inside and saw Hua cheng slowly eating the porridge he was given. Xie lian seemed to notice them and turned to look at them with a smile.
"Why don't you join me?"
Xie lian meant it with pure intents but the ghost took it as a threat. They all backed down and looked at each other when a baby ghost, without knowledge of the world, actually joined him.
"Can I?" The baby asked. Xie lian nodded and patted the seat next to him. With that, the baby sat and was served a bowl of porridge.
Seeing this, the ghosts looked at each other before rushing to the vacant seats.
"Hua chengzhu, my lord. You seem to be in a good mood.." The ghost chicken said hesitantly. Xie lian who was chewing, looked at him.
"COUGH COUGH COUGH S-SORRY FOR MY IMPUDENCE!" The ghost chicken said instinctively when his eyes met the Crimson rains.
Xie lian quickly handed him a water. "No it's okay it's okay." He said and smiled before he continued eating.
The whole table secretly stared at him with unease. Xie lian was totally aware of the stares he's getting so he raised his head and smiled at the crowd. "Why don't you all eat up too. The porridge will get cold." He said full of gentleness.
The stupefied ghosts eyes lit up and huge smiles were plastered on their faces. "YES HUA CHENGZHU!" And they ate up.
Since their lord seemed to be in a really indestructible good mood, they were at ease and chatted until it was already time for Xie lian to go back to the manor.
The whole ghost city was influenced by their Lords mood and was lively. And everytime Xie lian goes out, they crowd around him, inviting him to do whatever, wherever.
The whole ghost city was in high spirits.
~~~
Meanwhile the heavenly realm was the complete opposite. All the junior officials had their tails in-between their legs whenever they crossed paths with the new emperor.
The situation of their emperor was only known to Feng xin, Mu qing, Pei ming, Ling wen, Lang Qianqiu and Quan yizhen. Basically just the Gods who formed a friendship with Xie lian.
The rest who had no idea on what's going on were trying their best to avoid their emperor.
Gossips about his sudden change of attitude were spreading. And it just made Hua chengs mood worse. Since the topic of the whole heavenly court was;
"They say that Crimson rain sought flower and His highness fought! That's why he's in a foul mood these days!"
Hearing the spreading rumors, feng xin and pei ming were trying their best not to laugh out loud lest they want to be a stress reliever punching bag. While the others just didn't care like ling wen.
Hua cheng was walking down from the grand hall when he heard whispers.
"See? His highness is so gloomy. They probably fought big time."
"I knew the Emperor is too good for that Ghost king."
Hua chengs ears perked and face them with frustration on his face. Well, Xie lians face.
"WE DIDN'T FIGHT!"
"Eek! S-sorry your highness!" The girls said in unison and dashed.
"Where the fuck did that even come from?!" Hua cheng marched his way to where the preparation is being held with a crumpled face.
"YOU! WHAT EVEN IS THAT? IT LOOKS HORRIBLE!"
"S-SORRY YOUR HIGHNESS I'LL FIX IT RIGHT AWAY!"
"AND YOU STOP SLACKING!"
"OI! Can you chill out? After the curse break, Xie lian will be the one to face the consequences for your actions!" Mu qing irritably said.
"..." Hua cheng sighed and turned to head back to the Xianle palace. "Whatever. This place is so irritating I dont know how my gege puts up with this place. Y'all dumb as fuck."
Feng xin looked at all the exhausted juniors and turned to mu qing. "It feels like I'm looking at multiple ling wens."
Mu qing sighed. "Just four more days. Just four more days."
~~~
Seventh day
At the Ghost City
Xie lian was chatting with the other ghosts at some random shop.
They were being noisy while talking to xie lian while he just responded to them calmly.
Everything was going fine when suddenly Xie lian lost consciousness.
"My lord?"
"Hua chengzhu?"
"My lord are you alright?" Even though they've been talking every now and then, they still kept distance and maintained their boundaries, not stepping out of line, afraid of destroying the ghost kings mood.
But when 'Hua cheng' lost consciousness, they were worried and so one random ghost approached and lightly shook the ghost kings shoulders.
When the ghost king opened his eyes, the ghost shaking his shoulder caught fire.
"ACK-!"
"AIYAA HE'S ON FIRE!"
"FIRE FIRE FIRE"
"MY LORD HE'S ON FIRE!"
Hua cheng looked at the ruckus infront of him then to his hands and held his eyes.
'i'm back' he thought. He glared at the ghosts around him and all of them immediately shut their mouths.
"What are you all crowding here for? Scram if you still value your lives."
"EEK! HE'S BACK!"
"HE'S NORMAL AGAIN!"
"IT'S ALL THAT GHOSTS FAULT!"
All the ghosts said as they scampered away.
Hua cheng went back to the manor wearing his poker face and piercing glaze. In simple terms, his resting bitch face.
The time he set foot in the manor, Yin yu sighed in relief and approached him. "Hua chengzhu. Welcome back." He greeted with a bow.
"Tell me all that happened during the exchange."
~~~
Meanwhile at the heavenly court
"Why don't you use that stupidne-" In the middle of talking, 'Xie lian' suddenly collapsed.
All the juniors that were under his supervision, hesitated whether to help him or not. But it was too late because his friends arrived right on time.
"WHAT ARE YOU ALL JUST STANDING THERE FOR?! HOW DARE LOWLY JUNIORS LIKE YOURSELVES HESITATE ON HELPING THE EMPEROR?!" Feng xin exclaimed, obviously angered. It somehow reminded him of the past.
Mu qing however just glared at all the juniors and proceeded to check on Xie lian. He laid Xie lians head on his lap and tapped his cheeks a few times.
"Oi. Oi." Xie lian groaned and opened his eyes.
"Oh. Mu qing. I guess I'm back hehe."
Mu qing sighed seeing the familiar comforting expression on his highnesses face and helped him stood up. "It's not the time to be laughing. You have a reputation to replenish."
"HIS HIGHNESSES WELL BEING IS MUCH MO-"
"Feng xin. What are you shouting for? Stop that you'll scare them." Hearing this, Feng xin turned around and saw Xie lians smiling face.
"YOUR HIGHNESS!" He exclaimed and ran to Xie lians direction and hugged him. "DON'T EVER ENCOUNTER THAT KIND OF CURSE AGAIN!" He said holding Xie lians shoulders. Mu qing nodded in agreement.
"Oho looks like the real emperor is back." Xie lian turned around and saw one of the many friends he made.
"General Pei." Behind him there was also Ling wen.
"Your highness. Welcome back." She greeted.
"Mhm." Xie lian turned to the juniors who looked at him with fear.
"Ah....hahaha what happened?"
"We'll fill you up with all the details at the grand hall." Mu qing said and led the way.
~~~
After yin yu and ling wen narrated all that happened to Hua cheng and Xie lian;
"GEGE WAS WHAT?!"
"SAN LANG DID THAT?!"
"..."
"... Let's be careful with curses from now on..." The two thought as they contacted each other through the communication array.
As the lovers took their time talking to each other, the others literally sighed in relief.
"It's finally over. What a week of terror..."
They all said internally.