Eighteen: Second Proposal

When she woke up moments later, Fengjiu discovered Zhe Yan, her uncle and Dong Hua hovering over her. Fortunately, she hadn't been out cold for too long. Seeing that she was awake, the old phoenix took the opportunity to pop the question to the two of them. "Are you both ready for the news?"

In contrary to Dong Hua's tension, Zhe Yan seemed rather tranquil and there was no sign on distress or concern across his youthful-looking face. 

"Is there something wrong with Jiu'er?" Dong Hua asked worriedly.

"It depends on how you both see it," Zhe Yan explained. "From what you have told me, she has emotional outbursts, change in appetites, and now, extreme fatigue?"

Dong Hua nodded apprehensively, with his eyes still focused on Fengjiu, who was now sitting up in bed. Zhe Yan magically retrieved a Malteser-like pill in his hand, which he handed to Fengjiu casually. "Take this first, it will alleviate your symptoms."

Trusting Zhe Yan as her brother's lover and their family 'physician', she swallowed it without any further questions. "How soon will she recover from her ailment?" Dong Hua asked.

The old phoenix chuckled. "Did you think that she is ill?" His gaze turned to watch Fengjiu instead. Fengjiu quickly said, "I don't think I am sick, I've just been emotional lately."

"The truth is, you are expecting." He said the words rather casually, and even Bai Zhen did not seem surprised. The tense look on Dong Hua's face gradually evolved into a look of uncertainty and disbelief.

"How...long?" he stuttered. Even Fengjiu was having trouble believing what she had just heard.

Zhe Yan recited an incantation to magically scan Fengjiu's abdomen, and then confidently informed them, "From my observation, it has been about a few weeks. Of course, immortal pregnancies are different from that of mortals. She may or may not show the symptoms of standard mortal pregnancies, or she may have selective symptoms from time to time. For now, it's still early to tell. An immortal pregnancy will take a few years to mature."

Fengjiu bit on her finger nervously. The 'baby' was apparently conceived following their marriage registration with Goddess Nuwa. Firstly, their marriage was about to become a reality since she had agreed yesterday with his decision for them to formally tie the knot in a marriage ceremony that would announce her status as Dong Hua's queen to the entire Four Seas and Eight Deserts. Initially, she had wanted to hold off the ceremony until they were both familiar with each other, but it seemed that the hot-blooded god was too eager to broadcast their marriage to the Realms, and the current circumstances of her pregnancy meant that the ceremony could not be deferred any further. She thought she would at least have a few months of sweet couple moments with Dong Hua before their marriage happened, but it looked that a particular someone was too excited to make his or her appearance now.

"The pill she just took is a prenatal multivitamin specially formulated for immortals," Zhe Yan explained further. "Because it's been two weeks, the dosage she had was a stronger one. From next week onwards, have her take her usual dosage religiously once a week." He proceeded to write out a prescription for Dong Hua to take to the medicinal chambers of the Sky Kingdom, where elixirs and multivitamins were prepared by Taishang Laojun and his disciples. Dong Hua also had a western pharmacist, Yao Shi.

Dong Hua sat beside Fengjiu on the bed and gently took her in his arms, whispering in a soothing tone to calm her. He knew she was weeping tears of joy, and at the same time, she was unsure what was to happen next. While he was delighted, he was also concerned. It was a totally new feeling to be a first-time parent. A multitude of emotions was going through him at the moment, and it was a mixture of joy, anxiousness, fear, confusion, excitement and disbelief. While glad to have a little one, Fengjiu was also in shock, and all they could do was to work together in their journey together as a married couple and as parents.

Bai Zhen clasped his hands together. "Should Dijun require our presence, we will be residing in the next room. However, I have a curious question."

"Do speak your mind," Dong Hua said.

"I am just curious why Dijun decided to stay in the West Seas to oversee the boat repairs, when you have the ability to return to the immortal realm with your magic."

Dong Hua remained silent, caressing Fengjiu's hair tenderly as she rested in his arms. Bai Zhen understood that he had no intention to answer his question, and instead hastily added, "Okay, I got it. If Dijun doesn't mind, you can ride with us together on our boat back to the immortal realm. We shall be leaving in three days from today." And with that, the two gods vanished, obviously having teleported themselves to the next room. A sheet of pink paper lay on the desk containing Zhe Yan's prescription, which he had written in favour of Fengjiu.

"What was my uncle saying about the fact that we could actually return?" Fengjiu asked curiously. "I recall you said you needed to stay for the boat to be repaired, and that you were injured after the battle with the serpent before, so ."

Dong Hua just smiled. "We will take their offer to return to the immortal realm with them then, if you don't mind." The truth had been correct to Bai Zhen's deduction that Dong Hua in fact didn't need to wait for the boat to be repaired before they could return, but he had just simply wanted an excuse to remain with her in the West Seas to spend time with her and also have fun of his own. The battle with the sea serpent inflicting damage to him was invalid since the blood stains on his robe were not his but that of the serpent's, and poison from a serpent was largely beneficial to the body rather than poisonous, but of course Fengjiu had yet to know that.

"Is that so?" Fengjiu asked. "I recall you were hurt really bad by the serpent then."

"My injuries have healed," Dong Hua said. "There's nothing to worry about, really. Unless you would like to check 'the products' for yourself."

She smacked him on the side playfully. "You old god, so old and yet so naughty."

"I'm only naughty with you, Jiu'er," Dong Hua teased her back. "So, do you really want to see for yourself how well I've recovered?"

Her adorable cheeks reddened, causing Dong Hua to pinch her on the cheeks slightly. He lay her on the bed meticulously, gently working his nimble fingers to gradually undo the buttons of her nightdress one by one, and remove each piece of her undergarments. She giggled bashfully, protesting 'but my uncle and Zhe Yan are next door'.

He cast a privacy shield over them to block out any resulting sounds, and said with a smirk across his face,"Problem solved. Now you don't have any more excuses, do you, my dear?"

She sighed and gave in to him. Why did she even bother arguing in the first place with a stubborn god that could never lose in anything? Her arguments were simply futile opposed to Dong Hua. Probably the only thing he had ever lost was the bet with Si Ming, when he fell for the little fox miraculously, but who would even dare call on Dong Hua to pay up? Like Su Mo Ye, Si Ming was also fearful for his life...in case Dong Hua wanted to reward him with a Dong Hua styleTangcuyu.

.........................................

Fifth Day of the Banquet (Final Day)

"Good morning," she yawned, rubbing her eyes to see a blurry image of Dong Hua moving about the room.

"It's already afternoon, my dear wife," Dong Hua said amidst chuckles. "You should hurry, lest we miss the performance of your favoured celebrity."

"Ahhhh.. what?" Fengjiu gasped, and scrambled up from the bed, again missing her step and tripping over the long blanket. Swiftly, Dong Hua caught her in his arms before she hit the solid ground. 

"Whoa, whoa," Dong Hua chided her for her boorish ways. "You need to be careful now that there's a little one in you." She looked a bit disappointed as she stood up steadily. "I guess I need to go through the curriculum vitaes to recruit a reliable maid to ensure the safety and health of my wife and child."

She pouted. "No maid," she insisted. "You have a part in making the baby, don't you? So let's see how you fare in taking care of both of us." She crossed her arms across her chest defensively. "If you really want to hire a maid, I'll go back to Qingqiu to stay for the rest of the pregnancy."

With a slightly mortified look, Dong Hua hugged her immediately. "No, not at all. I was only joking about hiring a maid. I'll be responsible for the welfare for the both of you, I promise." He planted a kiss on her lips sweetly and watched her regain her composure, before helping her to the wardrobe and picking a less showy dress.

Fengjiu took one glance at the outfit and glared at Dong Hua. "I'm only a few weeks pregnant, and you expect me to dress like a housewife?" 

He returned her glare with a sheepish look. "I thought it would be more comfortable for you in your pregnancy. Then what about this?" He held up another dress that looked more loose-fitting, but the annoyed look on her face told him he was wrong, again.

With a groan, Fengjiu informed him that it was a nightdress that he was holding. 

Finally, after fifteen over wrong choices by the husband, the couple were ready to attend the fifth and final day of the banquet. To their astonishment, their most unexpected couple were present, and acting in an unconventional way that surprised all those who knew them. Dong Hua did not seem surprised, but Fengjiu was bewildered.

Liansong and Cheng Yu, though possessing an unfinished fate from their former lifetime, were known to be have unresolved issues in their relationships, and would have quarrels over trivial matters from time to time, most of which ended in 'cold wars' with each other. Nevertheless, Liansong was faithful to her, and would often present her with bizarre gifts, most of which were martial creations of his own. But today, they were behaving out of the norm. Not only were they sweet with each other, Cheng Yu was not disgusted at the sight of Liansong being in proximity with her.

"Is today a big day of some sort?" Fengjiu asked. "Even our 'favourite' couple is not quarreling."

She looked about the crowd to recognise a few more familiar faces, starting from her good friend Lord Xie Guchou, her friends in the mortal realm, the demon sisters Xiaoru and Xiaoni, her classmate at the academy, the Demon Lord Xiaoyan, and his close friend Demon Lord Xuyang and Xuyang's wife Minsu. All of a sudden, the main ceiling lights in the hall went out momentarily, replaced with lighting from dim coloured candlelights. The large LCD monitor lighted up to present a vast selection of photographs that Dong Hua had carefully preserved from each of their mortal dates and encounters, particularly selfies and photographs that he had surreptitiously snapped of her on their food escapades.









The speech that accompanied it was sweet and simple. Like how he had proposed in the mortal world, he got down on a knee and a bouquet of roses materialised in his right hand.



"Jiu'er, I know that you've already agreed to the marriage, but I just want to say all these words again to you. I may not be good with words, but my feelings for you are true.

Jiu'er, you're the only person who have managed to touch my icy heart in all the Four Seas and Eight Deserts, in the more than three hundred thousand immortal years of my life that I have lived. From world to world, realm to realm I have been travelling, but until that fateful day when I chanced upon you again in the Nine Heavens, I had yet to believe I would be able to love. Everyone called me a cold god, until you melted my heart. 

Jiu'er, before all the immortals, relatives and friends present today, I profess to you that I love you. Will you accept my second proposal to you and allow me to take care of you for the rest of eternity? I know that sometimes, I tend to make you displeased and say the wrong things, but if you're willing to accept my shortcomings, I can do all I can to be the best husband in the entire Realms for your sake. I would give you the entire of the Taichen Palace and all the regions I have control over. I would propose to you over and over again if you wished me to. I just can't stand to lose you for just a minute of my life. Jiu'er, you are all I wanted in my life. Marry me again, Jiu'er."

Tears cascaded down her cheeks like a river escaping a dam. Perhaps it was the emotions she was feeling during her pregnancy that made her so teary, but she was just too happy for words right now. She stretched out her hand to help Dong Hua up, and watched gladly as he placed a ring, much more beautiful than the one from the mortal world, on her finger. It was made from an exquisite stone from his birthplace, Bihai Cangling, purple in colour.

They were greeted by applause from the crowd, and to her astonishment, a moustached man stood up from the crowd, no other than Fengjiu's own father Bai Yi. Behind him, an elder man also stood up, whom Fengjiu recognised as her grandfather and the head of the Bais, Bai Zhi. "Little Jiu is very lucky indeed, and we as the Bais are very thankful indeed to have you as our son-in-law, Dijun. We will talk about the necessary when you return to the immortal world," her father said. They and Dong Hua exchanged a few smiles, before the Bais returned to take their individual seats, and resumed their meal. 

"I love you too, Dijun," Fengjiu mouthed, overwhelmed as Dong Hua took her into his embrace. She realised that as what her father had said, she was indeed, the most fortunate in all of the Realms, to be the one and only woman of the most powerful immortal ever born. Fate has its ways, after all, and it had taken them to each other. And at that point, she understood and confirmed for the final time in her heart, that she had truly, and completely, fallen heads over heels in love to the person she had least expected herself to fall for.