Liu Qingge is good at thinking on his feet. It's an important skill for a warrior to have.
So he's perturbed after the fact by his own reaction to a strange man in Qian Cao robes turning up at his door early in the morning. The man looked tired, his wavy hair pulled back in a messy bun, and there's something familiar about his face.
"Can't believe I let Didi talk me into this," the man muttered, rubbing his eyes. Then he bowed politely and said, "Peak Lord Liu please allow me to examine your meridians."
He'd held out a hand and let the doctor work while he tried to place his face...and then somehow been manhandled onto the doctor's sword for a trip to Qian Cao when the healer found something unsatisfactory in Liu Qingge's spiritual veins.
The next thing he knew he was drinking medicinal tea and talking to Mu Qingfang about his feelings while both doctors prodded his meridians.
He apparently had quite the qi deviation brewing so he decided not to worry about the hows too much. But he did wonder about the healer who had turned up at his door. And how exactly he'd gotten Liu Qingge to the infirmary without him putting up a fight.
"Chen Xuan's bedside manner is excellent," was all Mu Qingfang had said when he mentioned his confusion to him.
Then he'd sent Liu Qingge off to get some special tea he was supposed to drink for the next month... From Chen Xuan, it so happened.
Chen Xuan's office is directly adjacent to one of Qian Cao's many gardens, and the healer has the windows open, allowing the cool fragrant breeze to fill the room.
Chen Xuan has his hair down at the moment, inky black waves rolling down his back and he talks to someone by the windows.
Liu Qingge recognizes the other person in the office and figures out why Chen Xuan looks so familiar at the same moment. Shen Qingqiu is standing beside the healer behind his desk, and they have the exact same face.
Shen Qingqiu sneered at him when he saw him but before he could say something rude Liu Qingge asked the question on his mind.
Shen Qingqiu blinked at him. "I've had a brother for nearly twenty years," he said flatly.
Chen Xuan hummed and handed Shen Qingqiu a satchel of something, he offered a very similar looking one to Liu Qingge. "It was the hot gossip when you two were disciples."
"You were also a disciple!" Shen Qingqiu hissed. "Don't act so old and wise!"
Liu Qingge had a different question. "Is he who you meant when you were talking about your Didi?"
Shen Qingqiu looked insulted.
"Oh no," Chen Xuan said quickly. "I have another little brother."
"What did the brat do?" Shen Qingqiu asked.
"Nothing." Chen Xuan said calmly. "Just asked me to check on Peak Lord Liu's meridians."
Well that was suspicious, especially considering he'd never met this boy.
"That's incredibly suspicious," Shen Qingqiu said. "Have they even met?"
Liu Qingge took the tea from Chen Xuan, "You'll have to give him my thanks," he said and left.
"What is this thing?" Shen Qingqiu asked, prodding the sack Chen Xuan had put on the table at their sibling tea time.
"I'm not sure?" Chen Xuan said. "Honestly I was hoping Shen Yuan knew."
Shen Yuan stopped devouring the tea cakes far too quickly and opened the bag, peeking inside curiosly.
"Oooo!" he said. "That's the brain stem of the Man Eating Green Lotus! I read you can refine that into a really good topical numbing cream."
"Ah," Chen Xuan said and took the bag off the table. "Thank you Shen Yuan, I figured you'd be faster than a library dive."
"How did you get a chunk of dangerous monster plant without knowing what it was?" Shen Qingqiu asked.
"Someone left it on the doorstep of my cottage." Chen Xuan admitted. "I think it was Liu Qingge, but I'm not sure what prompted this, or the lovely hair crown he left me last week."
Shen Qingqiu locked eyes with Shen Yuan, they agreed on very little but this was clearly a serious issue.
"He's trying to get into your bed." Shen Qingqiu said bluntly.
Chen Xuan laughed. "That can't be it!"
Shen Yuan shook his head. "Da-ge that definitely it!"
"You two are too paranoid!"