Nothing about Fa Xian was ever genuine, and it was very rare that she felt personal. Sympathy? Compassion? Such concepts were not grasped… until she became a parent. After seeing Cao Chong so ill and not yet figuring out the cause and thus not coming up with a remedy to help the young master, Fa Xian felt guilty and, even worse, helpless. Hell had surely frozen over, because Fa Xian was developping a conscience. She had seen sick children before and acknowledged it was a thing, but now that she had a young baby of her own and knowing her child was extremely prone to catching illness, Fa Xian felt protective and paranoid. Her paranoia, especially, was the ugliest feeling she had ever felt.
Which was why she decided to push away those ugly feelings and replace them with beautiful feelings. She heard news that her lover was returning home. Guo Jia always knew how to cheer her up on her off days, and she thought of the perfect way to welcome him back. It would be beneficial for both parties; on Fa Xian’s part, she would receive comfort from the unease she was feeling, and he would get amazing ‘welcome home’ sex.
She was in Guo Jia’s chambers, sitting on his bed, completely bare underneath his bed sheets. She even tried to spice up the atmosphere with lit candles and rose petals littered about. Cheesy? Absolutely, but sometimes cheesy was the cherry on top. She pondered on what poses to present herself in, and decided to go with laying herself out on her side with her elbow propping her up. Even better? She boldly moved away the sheets that were previously concealing her bare body. Confident in herself, she patiently awaited for Guo Jia to enter his chambers.
Once she saw the door knob turned, Fa Xian perked up.
Though it was not Guo Jia who entered.
Before Guo Jia’s deployment, there was an exchange of words; a forward-thinking plan, or the foundations thereof. Typical discussions concerning the tactical type, however it was to be continued upon his return. Opinions were offered up between that of his most trusted strategists, to which Cao Cao mulled over amidst their absence. While each and every viewpoint was valid in their own right, the actual course of action was determined by Cao Cao, and Cao Cao alone. Thus, their leave gave him much to ponder over without the swaying words and silver tongues of his strategically-minded men.
Their leave had been weeks prior, and their staggered arrival had been expected. Guo Jia, whose punctuality never failed him, was predicted to arrive that current evening.
Planning for the other’s presence without so much of an affirmation, Cao Cao meandered through the dark halls illuminated only by orange flames and dampened by the heady, humid air. Silence lingered as he pushed into the personal chambers that belonged to Guo Jia, eyes lifting from the tied bundle of scrolls within his grasp. With his lips parted, the warlord began to speak; initiating a conversation with the tactician whose presence was assumed, but not confirmed.
--But it was not Guo Jia who occupied his own chambers. Rather, it had been the naked form of concubine, and Cao Cao’s own attendant.
An awkward silence lingered--one that derived from uncertainty. He blinked in observation, unabashedly unbothered and equally disinterested in her sprawled and seductive, dewy form. His gaze relented, though not out of embarrassment on either party’s behalf, but rather to attend to business as he had initially intended.
“It is evident that Guo Jia has not arrived.” Cao Cao mused as he paced towards a desk at the far end of the room. He set the scrolls down neatly, as if such an action were to foretell his retreat, and perhaps it should have, though he had business with his strategist’s lover as well.
“However, there is also business we
need to speak of as well, Fa Xian.”
