Work Text:
Yue Qingyuan hummed to his son as Xiao-Binghe suckled hungrily at his breast. Finally, his son decided that he was done and released his nipple with a pop. Yue Qingyuan used a handkerchief to clean up the little trickle of milk from his mouth and Binghe rewarded him with a wide, toothless grin.
Yue Qingyuan smiled back at him. His son really was so cute! And it wasn’t just him that thought that - almost everyone who met him thought that he was adorable. Why, even his strict Shizun would coo over and play with Xiao-Binghe whenever he thought that no one was looking.
Yue Binghe was a rather good baby too. He only cried whenever Yue Qingyuan was late in feeding him, his diaper was soiled, something had hurt him or if Yue Qingyuan ignored him for too long. According to the martial siblings and servants who looked after him whenever Yue Qingyuan had important Head Disciple duties to tend to or needed to meditate, little Yue Binghe would cry and cry for a long time after Yue Qingyuan had left, even though he had just been all smiles earlier when he had been around. This, according to the servants who were mothers, was perfectly normal behaviour for a baby so Yue Qingyuan wasn’t too worried.
After burping his son, Yue Qingyuan gently bounced his son up and down, an activity that never failed to send the baby into squeals of laughter. This time however, he must not have burped Xiao-Binghe enough because the baby spit up all over his robes. Well, it wasn’t the first time his robes had suffered this fate – in fact, he had gotten worse things than this on his robes before, so Yue Qingyuan wiped his son up and gently put him in his baby basket next to him while he used another handkerchief to clean himself up. By the time he was done, he looked up to see that Xiao-Binghe had fallen asleep.
Cute little thing. Yue Qingyuan bent down to kiss his son on the forehead. Well, in the meantime, he had no duties to attend to at the moment, so why not enjoy this warm spring day under this tree for a while? Yue Qingyuan leaned back against the tree and then frowned. Damp robes were hardly conducive to enjoying the spring, so he opened his robes a bit, exposing his chest. Well, it wasn’t as if anyone was around and in any case, it was perfectly fine for a man to do such a thing.
His chest still felt a little full. Yue Binghe hadn’t drank much in this session. Hopefully, he’d want more milk when he woke up from his nap. Even after three months, Yue Qingyuan still had difficulty adjusting his daily dose of Young Widower’s Helper’s Herb. A little too much and there was too much breastmilk, but a little too less and there wasn’t enough milk for Xiao-Binghe. Mu Qingfang had advised him that too much milk was better than too little when it came to babies, so Yue Qingyuan followed his advice.
Mu Qingfang was really such a helpful shidi. Everyday he came over to Qiong Ding Peak to help Yue Qingyuan express the excess milk. Yue Qingyuan was no fool – he knew his shidi enough to know that Mu Qingfang was probably running experiments on the excess breastmilk, but really, what was the harm? If Mu Qingfang didn’t come over, Yue Qingyuan would have to express the excess milk in the bathroom anyway and he always felt it a waste for good milk to go down the drain. This way, it was a win-win for both of them. Mu Qingfang got some breastmilk to experiment on and Yue Qingyuan got relief from an overly-full chest.
In the distance, he spied Shen Qingqiu walking away from the direction of his Shizun’s house. He must have come by to drop off the paperwork from Qing Jing Peak. And a week before deadline too! How hard-working and competent his friend was!
To be honest, ever since he had introduced his son to the other head disciples two months ago, Yue Qingyuan had noted that Shen Qingqiu had increased his visits to Qiong Ding Peak. Ostensibly it was to hand over paperwork, but on many occasions, Yue Qingyuan had caught him spying on him and Yue Binghe together. Yue Qingyuan didn’t dare to spook him off, so he pretended to be unaware of the spying. Like many of his martial siblings, Xiao-Jiu must find Xiao-Binghe to be adorable, but he was just too shy to get close to him. How cute!
(Yue Qingyuan ignored the fact that Shen Jiu had never liked any of the younger children when they were slaves together. They had been kids fighting for the same resources after all. Yue Binghe on the other hand, was an adorable little baby who had never done anyone harm).
Greatly daring, Yue Qingyuan decided to hail Shen Qingqiu. “Qingqiu-shidi, hello,” he called, lifting a hand in greeting.
To his surprise, Shen Qingqiu actually stopped in his tracks and approached him, instead of pretending not to hear him and walking even faster like he usually did. Yue Qingyuan smiled at him. Even if the only reason he came closer was to take a closer look at Xiao-Binghe, Yue Qingyuan would still be happy about it.
“How have you been doing, shidi?” he asked warmly.
“Fine,” snapped Shen Qingqiu.
Instead of looking at his face, Shen Qingqiu’s gaze was directed downwards. Yue Qingyuan followed his gaze and was mildly embarrassed to see milk starting to bead at his left nipple. Ah, perhaps he should clean that up.
“Shidi–” he started.
Shen Qingqiu stomped towards him, a scowl upon his fine face. Yue Qingyuan immediately braced himself against his fury. But instead of screaming at him like he usually did, Shen Qingqiu dropped to his knees and went for his left breast like a man on a mission. He grabbed onto it and started suckling greedily as if he had been starving for weeks.
Yue Qingyuan’s eyes went wide. Oh. So was this the reason his Xiao-Jiu had been spying on him for the past two months? It wasn’t because of Xiao-Binghe at all? He hid a smile. Xiao-Jiu, Xiao-Jiu, you can be so cute at times. If you wanted my milk so badly, you could have just asked. I have enough for both you and Binghe, after all.
Slowly, tentatively, Yue Qingyuan cupped the back of Shen Qingqiu’s head as he suckled. Shen Qingqiu didn’t shove his hand away. Nor did he glare at him. A smile blossomed upon Yue Qingyuan’s face. Xiao-Jiu wasn’t pushing him away! He was tolerating his touch!
Knowing that he was nourishing his Xiao-Jiu with his milk made Yue Qingyuan feel warm inside. He remembered Xiao-Jiu sometimes complaining of hunger when they were children. How he had dreamed of being able to feed his friend until his little tummy went round. Yue Qi had even on occasion, imagined cutting off bits of his flesh and feeding it to Xiao-Jiu until he was full. But now with his milk, he could assuage his friend’s hunger whenever he needed.
Shen Qingqiu took his mouth away from his breast. Before Yue Qingyuan could even mourn the loss, his friend immediately latched onto the next breast and started suckling. Ah, you’re still thirsty, huh, Xiao-Jiu?
Yue Qingyuan stroked his friend’s silky black hair as he hummed the same tune he often hummed to his own son while breastfeeding him. Shen Qingqiu didn’t push him away or complain about his humming. It was all too soon though when Shen Qingqiu finally pulled away and got to his feet. He pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth and then without so much as a word to Yue Qingyuan, he got onto his spirit sword and immediately flew away in the direction of Qing Jing Peak. Yue Qingyuan watched him go sadly. Hopefully, this wouldn’t be a one-time thing.
Two ke later, Yue Binghe woke up and was very unhappy to find out that there wasn’t enough milk for him this time around.
Mu Qingfang gently milked Yue Qingyuan’s right breast and then his left, and then frowned. “There doesn’t seem to be much milk today.”
Yue Qingyuan immediately threw his son under the bus. “Xiao-Binghe has been very hungry today,” he lied.
“Aaah,” said Yue Binghe from his playmat, waving a chubby fist, as if agreeing with his father.
The playmat came with a collapsible wooden arch above it, with toys hanging down from it at the perfect height for a baby to reach out and play with. It had been a gift from Shang Qinghua for Xiao-Binghe’s 100th day celebration, and one that Yue Qingyuan deeply appreciated. (Shen Qingqiu hadn’t shown up for the celebration despite the invitation that Yue Qingyuan had personally given him).
“I see,” said Mu Qingfang, taking the quarter-full bowl of milk away from Yue Qingyuan’s hands. “If that’s the case, then perhaps you should increase your dose of Young Widower’s Helper’s Herb.”
“I will,” replied Yue Qingyuan earnestly.
If Xiao-Jiu still wanted to drink from him, then he had better make sure there was enough for both him and Xiao-Binghe.
“Ah, I almost forgot to tell you, shixiong,” said Mu Qingfang as he poured the milk into a jar. “There’s a cholera epidemic in Changwei City so we of Qian Cao Peak will be going there tomorrow to treat the people, which means that I won’t be around to help you get rid of the excess breastmilk for some time.”
“That’s alright, Mu-shidi. Please take care of yourself in Changwei City,” replied Yue Qingyuan.
Mu Qingfang smiled at him. “Thank you for the well wishes, Yue-shixiong. I’ll see you when I get back.”
He then bowed to Yue Qingyuan, waved a goodbye at Yue Binghe and walked out of Yue Qingyuan’s little house. Yue Qingyuan sighed once he left. It would be a pity to have to go back to the days of pumping the extra milk out in the bathroom. He really hoped that Shen Qingqiu drinking his milk wouldn’t be a one-time thing.
It was not a one-time thing. Every now and then, Xiao-Jiu would visit Qiong Ding Peak to drink Yue Qingyuan’s breastmilk. Since they were both busy with head disciple duties, this meant that they had to sit down together to arrange Shen Qingqiu’s visits. The place was easily agreed on (Yue Qingyuan’s house), but which day and time was another thing altogether.
Getting to talk to Xiao-Jiu for longer than five sentences before he stomped off made Yue Qingyuan happier than reaching the foundation establishment stage of cultivation. It was still a far cry from the days when they used to sit together and talk about everything under the sun until they either had to go to work or sleep, but he’d take it anyway.
Yue Qingyuan didn’t have any issues with feeding both his friend and his son. Upping his daily dose of Young Widower’s Helper’s Herb ensured that he had enough for both of them. And Xiao-Jiu was just so sweet when he was feeding from Yue Qingyuan. He’d press close to him, eyes half-shut as he suckled eagerly on Yue Qingyuan’s breast, one hand idly massaging his free breast. He’d even let Yue Qingyuan stroke his hair and rub his back during those times even though he usually wouldn’t tolerate any touch at all except when it came to briefly checking his qi.
Sometimes – Yue Qingyuan blushed at the thought – his friend would rub his half-hard cock against his thigh while he fed from Yue Qingyuan. Every time he did that, Yue Qingyuan had to try his hardest not to blush while thinking about the most arousal-killing things he could. Like the Old Palace Master being naked, for example. He didn’t know if Xiao-Jiu realised it, but he didn’t dare to point it out. What if Xiao-Jiu got so embarrassed that he never wanted to breastfeed from Yue Qingyuan ever again? That would be horrible!
After his friend finished drinking, he would wipe his mouth clean, tie up Yue Qingyuan’s robes and then leave without a word. On one rare occasion though, he had fallen asleep while drinking from Yue Qingyuan. Yue Qingyuan, knowing full well the rarity of this, hadn’t dared to move a muscle lest he wake his friend up from his nap. Shen Qingqiu had woken up a shichen later, sleepily blinking his eyes open. Then, upon realising where he was and who he was with, he had jumped up like a scalded cat and immediately fled.
There was one little problem about him breastfeeding Shen Qingqiu though, and that was Yue Binghe. For some reason, his son absolutely hated Shen Qingqiu feeding from him. The first time he had breastfed his friend while Yue Binghe was awake and around, the baby had just started screaming.
At first, Yue Qingyuan had thought that he had soiled himself, but a quick check revealed that his diaper was dry. He had then thought that his little son had been stung by an insect while he laid on the mat. But upon examination, there were no sting marks at all. Still, he comforted his son, rubbed his back and jiggled him up and down until he finally stopped crying. Once he was all smiles again, Yue Qingyuan put him back down. Shen Qingqiu quickly returned to his chest and then once more, Xiao-Binghe started screaming and wouldn’t stop until Yue Qingyuan picked him up again. Even trying to distract him with a toy didn’t help. This cycle would repeat until Shen Qingqiu got so fed up that he would just walk off, face like thunder, back to Qing Jing Peak.
In the end, it was just easier for Yue Qingyuan to leave his son in the care of his usual babysitters while he breastfed his Xiao-Jiu. Xiao-Jiu got his milk, Yue Qingyuan got to hold his friend for a while and Yue Binghe was none the wiser while being doted on by his league of adoring babysitters. Win-win for everyone!
Xiao-Binghe suckled resentfully at Yue Qingyuan’s breast. He didn’t know how it was possible for a baby to suckle resentfully, but he was. Ah, he probably shouldn’t have let Shen Qingqiu bite his breast hard enough to leave a mark. In fairness, his bites usually weren’t that hard, but something must have irritated his friend that day because he had come into their breastfeeding session in a visibly bad mood. He had refused to answer when Yue Qingyuan had asked him what had happened, so Yue Qingyuan hadn’t pushed it. He hoped that Xiao-Jiu hadn’t gotten into another fight with Liu Qingge though.
Yue Binghe pulled away from his breast and made a series of coos and aahs at him. Yue Qingyuan quickly adopted the listening pose he used whenever he talked to his martial siblings and pretended that he could understand his son. Whenever Yue Binghe paused, Yue Qingyuan would reply “is that so?” and “I see” and “yes I understand”.
Finally his son grew tired of “talking” and turned his head to resume suckling. Yue Qingyuan chuckled to himself and stroked Xiao-Binghe’s fine baby hair.
“You know, your Qingqiu-shushu isn’t a bad person,” he told his son. “He’s just rather prickly, that’s all.”
Perhaps it was just his imagination, but the baby didn’t seem to be convinced of this. In fairness to Yue Binghe, the most interaction he had with Shen Qingqiu was him yelling at the baby to shut up.
Yue Qingyuan sighed. He really wanted the two people he loved the most in the world to get along, but he didn’t know how to manage it. Shen Qingqiu refused all of Yue Qingyuan’s invites to come play with his baby, and his son would start to cry whenever Shen Qingqiu got too close to Yue Qingyuan. He could understand where Xiao-Jiu came from – his friend had never liked younger children – but he didn’t understand why Xiao-Binghe was reacting that way. Was he afraid that Shen Qingqiu would drink up all of his baba’s milk, leaving none for him?
At last, Yue Binghe decided that he was done with his meal. Yue Qingyuan burped him and then laid him down on the bed and handed him one of his toys to play with. Yue Binghe held the toy up to his face and promptly stuck it in his mouth.
“Don’t worry, Xiao-Binghe,” Yue Qingyuan reassured him. “Baba will always have enough milk for the two of you.”
Yue Binghe shook his toy at him and smiled. After playing with his son for a while, the baby yawned long and hard. One little fist came up to rub his eye.
Ah, he was getting sleepy. Yue Qingyuan scooped him up and started rocking him while singing a lullaby one of the servants on Qiong Ding Peak had taught him. The woman in question had been very shocked when she advised him to sing lullabies to his son and Yue Qingyuan had sheepishly admitted that he didn’t know any. Still, she had been right about lullabies helping babies to sleep. Yue Qingyuan only had to sing a couple of lullabies for Xiao-Binghe to quickly fall asleep.
Once his son was asleep, Yue Qingyuan slowly and gently put him in his cradle. The baby didn’t so much as stir. Yue Qingyuan kissed his forehead.
“Goodnight, Xiao-Binghe,” he told him.
The baby continued to sleep peacefully. While his son could sleep, Yue Qingyuan couldn’t afford to do the same. He still had a ton of work to finish. Good thing that he didn’t need sleep anymore!
Now that Shizun and the rest of the Peak Lords were preparing to ascend, Yue Qingyuan found himself swamped in more and more work. He could breastfeed Xiao-Binghe while reading reports and doing paperwork, but more often than not, he had to leave his son in the care of the servants and his martial sisters.
Shen Qingqiu was also kept busy, which meant fewer chances for him to visit Yue Qingyuan for a breastfeeding session, a thing that he complained bitterly to Yue Qingyuan. Yue Qingyuan bit back a smile. It reminded him of that time when the slavers had switched him from begging to the information business. Xiao-Jiu had been so mad about it and had complained about how they couldn’t spend much time together now. Yue Qingyuan had to reassure him over and over that they were still best friends and promise him that he’d still find time to play with him before the younger boy was mollified.
“Why don’t you bring over some of your paperwork next time?” suggested Yue Qingyuan. “We can work on our paperwork together that way.”
Shen Jiu looked away from him as he chewed on his lower lip in thought. “Will I have to deal with that brat while I’m over?”
Yue Qingyuan immediately frowned at him. “Qingqiu-shidi, please don’t call my son a brat.”
“Why not?” retorted Shen Qingqiu. “Every time he’s around, he screams his head off when all I’m trying to do is get a drink. How is that not bratty behaviour? You should spank him more often.”
“Shidi, Xiao-Binghe is only five months old,” said Yue Qingyuan patiently. “He’s too young to understand that just because you’re drinking from me doesn’t mean that there won’t be any for him.”
“Pei!” spat Shen Qingqiu.
Yue Qingyuan waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. He just remained sitting in the same position, arms crossed and looking away from Yue Qingyuan, with a scowl on his handsome face.
Yue Qingyuan sighed. “Qingqiu-shidi, it’s alright if you’re too busy or if you’re not comfortable with spending so much time-“ with me “-here. I’ll just ask Mu-shidi if he’s free to help.”
Shen Qingqiu’s head jerked up and he turned to stare at Yue Qingyuan. “Ask Mu-shidi for help?” he echoed.
An ugly look crossed over his face. “Are you breastfeeding the entire sect as well?”
Yue Qingyuan blinked. He had only mentioned Mu Qingfang's name, but how did this stretch to him breastfeeding the entire sect? If that was the case, he’d never have time for his own duties. Also, his chest had gotten bigger after he started breastfeeding his son and Shen Qingqiu. Just how big would it grow if he had to feed the entire sect?
“Of course not, shidi,” replied Yue Qingyuan. “Mu-shidi simply helps me manually express the excess breast milk, that’s all. He’s done it many times before we started our breastfeeding sessions and he got too busy.”
“And you just let Mu Qingfang milk you like a cow?” demanded Shen Qingqiu. “Do you let him put a cowbell around your neck as well?”
Yue Qingyuan imagined calm, unflappable, Mu Qingfang dressed as a farmer, complete with a piece of straw sticking out from one edge of his mouth, milking a cow version of him with a cowbell on, and had to bite the inside of his cheek to not giggle at the thought.
“Of course not, shidi,” he replied. “It’s just a medical procedure.”
“Oh, I bet it is,” muttered Shen Qingqiu darkly.
He then got to his feet. Yue Qingyuan expected him to stomp off, but instead Shen Qingqiu pointed a finger at him.
“Don’t call Mu Qingfang over,” he ordered. “I’ll come by tomorrow with my work.”
Yue Qingyuan smiled at his friend. “Alright.”
Shen Qingqiu jabbed his finger at him again. “And don’t use “Xiao” for that b— boy again. Use some other prefix instead.”
This time, Yue Qingyuan refrained from smiling. Qingqiu-shidi, you’re the one who told me not to call you “Xiao-Jiu” anymore, but now you don’t want me to use “Xiao” for other people? Xiao-Jiu, Xiao-Jiu, how are you so cute?
“Alright,” repeated Yue Qingyuan.
Shen Qingqiu nodded to him and then walked off. Yue Qingyuan waited until he was gone before he broke into a wide grin. Xiao-Jiu just agreed to spend more time with him! Hooray! Alright, they’d be too busy with the paperwork to talk much, but the idea of them working side by side, filled him with joy. They’d probably have to use the dining table since there wasn’t enough space in his bedroom, but that was still fine with Yue Qingyuan. Ah, he could hardly wait for tomorrow.
——————————————————--------------------------------------------------------------
Mu Qingfang flew across the rainbow bridge as he headed towards Qiong Ding Peak. For these past two months, he had been far too busy to visit Yue Qingyuan like he usually did. First, there had been that cholera epidemic in Changwei City and then as his own shizun prepared to ascend, he’d been swamped with dealing with Qian Cao Peak matters. Yue Qingyuan had accepted his apologies graciously and told him not to worry, that he’d handle it himself, but Mu Qingfang still wasn’t too happy about it.
He arrived at Zhangmen-shibo’s door and politely knocked on the door. Yue Qingyuan opened the door and smiled at him.
“Mu-shidi, how nice to see you,” he said. “Please come in.”
Mu Qingfang entered the house. To his surprise, Shen Qingqiu was seated at the dining table with a mound of paperwork next to him. What was he doing here? Didn’t he hate Yue Qingyuan? Everyone in the sect knew about their bad relationship!
Mu Qingfang had witnessed it himself as well. Every time Yue Qingyuan tried to talk to Shen Qingqiu, no matter how polite he was or how innocuous the subject matter was, the head disciple of Qing Jing Peak would either take offense at something and fly into a rage, or he would simply ignore him and walk off. Like all his other martial siblings, Mu Qingfang thought this incredibly rude of Shen Qingqiu. Even if he personally disliked Yue Qingyuan, couldn’t he be polite to the man in front of others? Was it so hard for him to show at least some respect to their future sect leader? Apparently so.
(Yue Qingyuan on the other hand, had never once spoken ill of Shen Qingqiu even though he would be well within his rights to do so. But that was another story altogether).
Because Mu Qingfang wasn’t a rude asshole, he nodded politely to his shixiong. “Greetings, Shen-shixiong.”
Shen Qingqiu immediately scowled at him. “What are you doing here?”
“I came over to give medical check-ups to Yue-shixiong and his son of course,” answered Mu Qingfang.
Yue Binghe who was lying on his play mat near the dining table, chose this moment to roll over on his front and give Mu Qingfang a wide toothless grin.
“Ah, Binghe, I see that you’ve already learned to roll onto your front, huh? Well done,” praised Mu Qingfang.
Yue Binghe’s face wobbled and he started to cry. Yue Qingyuan immediately bustled over to his son and gently turned him over.
“He now knows how to roll onto his front, but he doesn’t know how to roll back yet and he gets upset over it,” explained Yue Qingyuan as he distracted the baby with a teething toy. Yue Binghe gurgled as he took the teething toy from his father and stuck it in his mouth.
“I see,” said Mu Qingfang. “I’ll examine Yue Binghe first if you don’t mind, shixiong?”
“Please go ahead, Mu-shidi,” replied Yue Qingyuan.
Mu Qingfang knelt down next to Yue Qingyuan and took a tiny wrist in hand to check the baby’s pulse and condition.
“How is he? Do you sense anything wrong?” asked Yue Qingyuan worriedly.
Mu Qingfang smiled internally. Ah, just like a parent to be so worried that a medical examination would reveal something abnormal about their child.
“No, there’s nothing wrong with Xiao-Binghe,” answered Mu Qingfang gently. “He is a perfectly healthy baby.”
Yue Binghe, already bored of the examination, tried to pull his arm away from Mu Qingfang. Mu Qingfang readily allowed him to do so.
“Yue-shixiong, it’s now your turn,” said Mu Qingfang. “Shall we go to your bedroom so that we can conduct the examination?”
Yue Qingyuan shook his head. “Binghe will cry if he doesn’t see me. It’s best that we do it here. We’re all men here anyway.”
Mu Qingfang shrugged. “Alright then, Yue-shixiong.”
He could feel Shen Qingqiu’s eyes on him as he put his fingers to Yue Qingyuan’s wrist, but he chose to ignore him nonetheless.
Yue Qingyuan’s qi was smooth and regular as always. To Mu Qingfang, it reminded him of a deep river. Smooth and unassuming it may seem, but step into it carelessly and the current would sweep you away. A deeper probe showed that Yue Qingyuan was still in good health.
“Your cultivation is perfectly fine,” said Mu Qingfang.
And now for the thing that he’d been dreaming of for the past two months.
“Yue-shixiong, may I examine your chest now?” asked Mu Qingfang, ignoring his other shixiong who was now staring daggers at him.
“Alright,” replied Yue Qingyuan. And he opened his robes enough for a pair of round, ripe, perfect breasts to bounce freely.
Mu Qingfang reached out to touch them. Before he made contact, there came the sound of a sword being unsheathed. He looked up to see that Shen Qingqiu had not only stood up, but he had Xiu Ya out.
“Shen-shidi,” sighed Yue Qingyuan.
Shen Qingqiu, predictably, ignored him.
“If you dare to touch his chest, I’ll cut off your hands,” threatened Shen Qingqiu.
“Shen-shidi, this is just a medical procedure. There’s no need for you to worry,” protested Yue Qingyuan.
Shen Qingqiu snorted. “Yue Qingyuan, you may be an idiot, but I am certainly not.” He waved his sword at Mu Qingfang. “Touch him and die.”
Mu Qingfang sighed. “Shen-shixiong, I’m only ensuring that Yue-shixiong is still in good health. Giving him a breast examination and expressing the excess breastmilk helps with that.”
Shen Qingqiu didn’t look convinced. “So you not only want to grope Yue Qingyuan, you want to steal the milk away from his baby as well? Do you want the child to starve to death?”
Mu Qingfang didn’t know how to respond to the other man’s deranged accusations. For one, Yue Qingyuan produced enough milk that his son couldn’t drink it all. How on earth was expressing the excess milk starving the baby?
Mu Qingfang raised his eyebrows.“Shen-shixiong, I didn’t know that you cared so much about Xiao-Binghe’s well-being.”
“Yes,” said Shen Qingqiu through gritted teeth. “I care very much about the br– boy’s health.”
Mu Qingfang wanted to roll his eyes. Shen-shixiong, if you want to lie, can you please do a better job at it? Even the baby looks skeptical.
“Shen-shidi, I am so pleased that you care so much about Binghe,” said Yue Qingyuan.
Both Mu Qingfang and Shen Qingqiu turned to goggle at the other man. Yue Qingyuan was wearing his usual warm, gentle smile, but Mu Qingfang couldn’t be sure if his shixiong was being sincere or if he was teasing Shen Qingqiu. From the look on his face, Shen Qingqiu didn’t seem certain either.
Yue Binghe dropped his teething toy and held out his arms to his father, while saying “ma-ma-ma-ma”.
Yue Qingyuan immediately picked up his son and put him to his breast. The baby immediately started suckling.
Yue Qingyuan looked at Mu Qingfang. “Apologies, shidi. But Binghe is very hungry at the moment. Perhaps another time?”
“Of course, Yue-shixiong,” replied Mu Qingfang.
He silently mourned the fact that he wouldn’t be able to play with those beautiful boobs today. After a long day’s work, it was very relaxing to spend some time touching Yue Qingyuan’s tits. Also, it seemed like he wouldn’t get his hands on Yue Qingyuan’s breastmilk either. What a pity. Experimentation had shown that said breastmilk had qi-regulating effects, which meant that it could help in preventing qi deviations. He had wanted to see if long-term consumption of Yue Qingyuan’s breastmilk would have other effects on cultivation, but the two month hiatus had ruined his experiment there. Ah well, perhaps he’d have another chance to restart that experiment.
“In that case, I’ll take my leave now,” said Mu Qingfang.
Shen Qingqiu started packing his things away. “I have to get back to my own Peak as well,” he declared.
He patted the few scrolls he left behind on the table. “These are the completed documents meant to be submitted to Zhangmen-shibo.”
“Thank you, Shen-shidi. I’ll put them on Shizun’s desk later,” promised Yue Qingyuan.
Yue Qingyuan insisted on seeing them off, hands still cradling his son to his chest. Both Mu Qingfang and Shen Qingqiu then unsheathed their spirit swords and flew off. To Mu Qingfang’s surprise, Shen Qingqiu actually flew beside him. Now, this should not be surprising since Qing Jing Peak was in the same direction as Qian Cao Peak, but Shen Qingqiu was so antisocial that he didn’t like speaking to his martial siblings except to insult them in some way. Flying together with one of them was completely out of the question.
“Try anything funny with Yue Qingyuan and I’ll kill you,” threatened Shen Qingqiu.
Mu Qingfang raised an eyebrow. “Shen-shixiong, I have no idea what you mean by ‘anything funny’.”
Shen Qingqiu glared at him even harder. “You know what I mean!”
“No, I don’t,” replied Mu Qingfang evenly. “And even if I do do ‘something funny’ with Yue-shixiong in the future, I don’t see why it’s any of your business. For one, he’s a grown man who can decide for himself and in any case, it’s not as if you’re in a relationship with him. There’s no reason for you to act like a jealous wife.”
Shen Qingqiu looked at Mu Qingfang as if he wanted to murder him and bury him in an unmarked grave. Mu Qingfang wasn’t the least bit concerned though. There were far too many witnesses around, both in the sky or using the rainbow bridge underneath, for Shen Qingqiu to try to kill him here. And you could call Shen Qingqiu many things, but you couldn’t accuse him of stupidity. Still, Mu Qingfang resolved to never be in the same room alone with him again. And to keep his sword and acupuncture needles on him at all times.
“Ah, it looks like we’re already at Qing Jing Peak,” said Mu Qingfang. “I’ll be going ahead then. Goodbye, Shen-shixiong.”
And saying that, he put an extra burst of speed, leaving Shen Qingqiu behind. He was still a little sad about his missed chance to get his hands on both Yue Qingyuan’s breasts and breast milk. Hmmm. Perhaps he should invite Yue Qingyuan over to his peak next time. Less chance of interruptions there. Yes, that would be perfect.
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Yue Qingyuan watched as Shen Qingqiu crept closer to him on his bed until he finally settled down next to him. A look downwards showed that his little son wasn’t crying though his eyes still followed Shen Qingqiu’s movements. Good.
Yue Binghe then turned his head away, nuzzling into Yue Qingyuan’s chest. Yue Qingyuan opened his robes so that his son could suckle. He sighed, feeling the ache that came from an engorged breast starting to recede.
Shen Qingqiu shifted impatiently next to him, but he signaled the other man to be patient. Once again, he’d been trying to get the two people he loved the most to get close to each other. He had tried to encourage Xiao-Jiu to play with his little son, but Xiao-Jiu had refused so much as to give Yue Binghe a toy. And when Yue Qingyuan changed his son’s diapers in his presence, Xiao-Jiu would hold his nose and run out. On Yue Binghe’s side, the baby would still cry if Xiao-Jiu got too close to Yue Qingyuan. In the end, Yue Qingyuan decided to lower his standards and settle for mutual tolerance. He considered it a success if his shidi and son could be in the same room together without screaming or crying at each other.
Which led them all to right now. With more and more work being piled on him, it would be easier for Yue Qingyuan if he could breastfeed the two of them together. Of course, persuading Shen Qingqiu to agree to it was another matter. His friend only agreed to it when Yue Qingyuan hinted that he might have to prevail on Mu Qingfang for help. As it was, his other shidi kept inviting him to visit him at Qian Cao Peak, but Yue Qingyuan was far too busy to accept his invitation. (Knowing what his shidi actually wanted, Yue Qingyuan made sure to send him his excess breast milk via delivery). And as for his little son, well, Yue Qingyuan hoped to slowly condition him into accepting Xiao-Jiu as his milk sibling. So far, it seemed to be working. As long as Yue Qingyuan kept him in his lap, Binghe wouldn’t cry when Xiao-Jiu came close to him though he would watch the other man like a hawk.
Today would be the first attempt at them suckling at his breasts together. Yue Qingyuan mentally crossed his fingers in the hope that it would go well. He motioned to Shen Qingqiu to come closer, and the other man immediately swooped down on his free breast and started suckling. Alright, things seemed to be going to a good start.
Yue Binghe grabbed a fistful of Shen Qingqiu’s hair and yanked hard. Shen Qingqiu immediately retaliated. The baby then started crying.
Ah, it seemed that he was too hasty in thinking that things were going well. Yue Qingyuan opened his son’s fist making him release Shen Qingqiu’s hair, then hugged him and rubbed his little head. His eyes then went to the culprit in question.
“Qingqiu-shidi, he’s just a little boy. How could you pull his hair?” he scolded.
Shen Qingqiu immediately released his breast. “Me?” he cried. “That little brat pulled my hair first!”
“Qingqiu-shidi, he’s a baby. That’s what they do. It’s not like he was doing it maliciously,” explained Yue Qingyuan. The gods knew how many times he had to disentangle a little hand from his hair and he had seen his son do the same with his babysitters.
Yue Binghe cried even harder. Yue Qingyuan jiggled him up and down. “There, there, Bing-er. Qingqiu-shushu didn’t mean it,” he crooned to his little son.
“Yes, I did,” retorted Shen Qingqiu.
Yue Qingyuan gave him a quelling look as he tried to comfort his son. Shen Qingqiu responded by crossing his arms and scowling back at him.
Ah, he recognised that particular scowl. It was the same scowl that Xiao-Jiu would give when they were young and he spent too much time with one of the other children instead of him. Yue Qingyuan half-expected him to stamp his foot and demand Yue Qingyuan to tell him who he liked better: himself or Yue Binghe. Of course, he didn’t actually do that.
Eventually, Binghe stopped crying. Yue Qingyuan used a handkerchief to dry his eyes and wipe his nose. The baby smiled at him and then turned his head to blow a raspberry at Shen Qingqiu.
“You see what that brat did? He’s mocking me!” cried Shen Qingqiu as he pointed a finger at the baby.
“Shidi, he’s a baby. He doesn’t understand what it means. To him, it’s the same thing as clapping hands,” explained Yue Qingyuan tiredly.
Still, he tapped his son gently on the head. “Bing-er, don’t do that. It’s rude.”
The baby giggled and blew another raspberry at Shen Qingqiu.
“Stop mocking me, you little brat!” yelled Shen Qingqiu.
Yue Qingyuan sighed. It seemed like there was still a long way to go before these two could even start to tolerate each other. Still, he wouldn’t exchange either of them for the world.