Chapter Text
Shen Yuan slowly drifted awake to the sound of birdsong and the warmth of sunlight shining onto his closed eyelids. Mmn, he slept in late again. Not a surprise; he had a bit of a habit of staying up late into the night arguing with idiots on the internet. He sighed and lazily rolled over, stretching his arms out.
His left hand smacked hard into something with a loud crack, followed by an ominous-sounding, drawn-out creeeeeak .
Shen Yuan opened his eyes just in time to see a tree topple over in the opposite direction, ripping out its roots and sliding down the steep slope of a hill before smashing into several other trees.
What the hell?! Shen Yuan looked around frantically; he didn't recognize his surroundings at all. Some kind of mountain, probably, judging from the topography surrounding him. Or maybe some maniac’s scale model replica of a mountain? The trees around him were shaped like they were fully mature, but they were maybe twice as tall as he was at the moment, and he had just sat up! He'd probably be able to peer over the tops of them if he got to his feet.
In addition to the trees being weirdly tiny, they were also incredibly flimsy; Shen Yuan had simply accidentally smacked one with his hand and managed to tear it out by its roots. Whoever made this weird… theme park, or something, had definitely been skimping on quality materials. His hand didn’t even hurt or anything.
Shen Yuan glanced down at his hand to try to confirm that he’d actually been the one to hit the tree, and it hadn’t just been an extremely well-timed coincidence that the tree fell over at the same time he whacked something.
…His hand was covered in pale green scales, and each finger was tipped with wickedly sharp-looking claws. It flexed and turned around at his command, so it certainly belonged to him. His other hand was a mirror to the first. And, looking down, the rest of his body was similarly scaled and inhuman. Which was honestly a bit of a relief, because he also wasn’t wearing any clothes and if he was going to be running around naked at least he would be doing it in a body that (apparently, hopefully) didn’t have any embarrassing bits exposed.
Careful of his new claws, he raised his hands (forepaws?) to his face and gingerly felt over the shape of it; he had a snout and horns.
Okay. Okay, deep breaths. He was a dragon, now, apparently. Assuming this wasn’t some kind of vivid dream, he’d been transmigrated into a dragon, or something. First things first, then, check if this situation was following other tropes found in the trashy web novels he frequently subjected himself to.
Hello? Do I get some kind of System? Or a Guide? A tutorial, at least? He called out. His mouth didn’t move with his words; apparently he used some kind of telepathy?
Nothing responded to his inquiry. For now at least, it seemed like he was on his own. Great.
Well, it could be worse. His surroundings seemed pretty peaceful. There weren’t any people around who he would need to explain his sudden amnesia to. He seemed pretty powerful, so he could hopefully fend for himself?
Shen Yuan hoped he hadn’t been transmigrated into a setting where dragon-hunting was a common practice. But on the off chance that it was, his top priority was clearly to figure out how he could defend himself.
Shen Yuan spent the next day trying to figure out his new abilities and survey his surroundings. He didn’t have any wings; he’d been stuck in a body that was closer to an Eastern dragon than a Western one, but he could still fly if he tried to. It was sort of like swimming through the air. That was probably for the best; he didn’t really want to try to figure out how to use an entirely new set of limbs.
He could breathe fire, and managed to melt an interesting pattern in the face of the stone cliff he tested that ability on. Shen Yuan decided that talent was best left alone.
The mountain he’d woken up on was isolated and fortunately had no signs of human habitation; he could spot the nearest town when he took to the sky and it was quite far removed from his peak, with no visible road connecting the two. He’d apparently transmigrated into a dragon who liked being a hermit.
The only landmark he managed to find was an impressive and ornate-looking magic portal on the east face of the mountain. It was fairly large as far as human doors went, maybe the size of a single garage door, but Shen Yuan was nervous enough about his size and strength that he didn’t want to risk trying to squeeze through; what if he broke the archway halfway through and got sliced in half?
The portal probably meant that someone visited the mountain somewhat regularly, right? Was Shen Yuan the familiar of some kind of powerful wizard, maybe?
Shen Yuan hung around the portal for another day, to try to get more accustomed to his new form and to see if anyone else would come through looking for him. He didn’t seem to be getting hungry, which was convenient. Was he magical enough to not need to eat at all, or was his metabolism just slow? You only needed to feed pet snakes once every few weeks, right?
Shen Yuan desperately hoped it was the former; he really didn’t want to have to swallow raw meat whole, or anything.
He certainly was magical, in any case. He’d been idly messing with the energy he could feel coursing through his veins and shimmering in his core, and he’d managed to summon lights and make flowers bloom. He didn’t have any memories of using this magic, but his body seemed to have some kind of muscle memory for it.
It was around dawn of the third day when he shoved the magic into a shape that somehow felt right and felt an alarming rush of heat blaze out from his chest and spread to the very tips of his legs and tail. He barely had an instant to panic when his vision suddenly flickered, and he found himself looking at the trees around him from a significantly different perspective. They were much larger all of a sudden, and he was standing on two legs rather than four.
Shen Yuan looked down at himself again and let out a relieved sigh to see that he was wearing extremely fancy-looking robes. He had a human form, and the human form conveniently got to keep wearing clothes even when he shifted back and forth. Thank heavens.
Oh, and now he could go through the portal without any troubles!
Shen Yuan first cautiously poked a stick through the shimmering boundary and withdrew it, to ensure it wasn’t some kind of fancy incinerator rather than a doorway, but the stick emerged unscathed. Probably safe, then.
He stepped through the portal and found himself in a ludicrously opulent palace, lavishly decorated with gold and jade and gems and silks and fine tapestries. Just the entrance hall alone looked like it would have cost an absolute fortune to appoint, and Shen Yuan could see two hallways leading off to the side and at least a dozen doors leading away to other places.
“Hello?” he called, his voice echoing off of the high, arched ceiling.
No response. Maybe this place belonged to him? It was a bit of an unorthodox dragon’s hoard, but it certainly matched the outfit that Shen Yuan had found himself in.
He spent some time wandering through the place, finding an extraordinarily lavish suite of rooms not far removed from the entrance hall, and the staggering amount of clothes in the closet were all his size. A dining hall was entirely empty of people, but the table had several dozen dishes artfully arranged upon it, along with a selection of tea and wine laid out as if being presented for his selection. The food and tea was still hot; Shen Yuan could see steam rising off of it, and the scent in the dining hall was mouth-watering. Considering that the rest of the palace was completely spotless and he still hadn’t found any people in here, presumably this was some kind of magically-created feast, right?
Shen Yuan still didn’t feel any sensation of hunger, but the food was appetising enough that he simply had to help himself to a few morsels, just to try. It tasted just as good as it looked! He had a few more helpings before wandering off to explore the rest of the palace ( his palace, as seemed increasingly likely).
His wanderings came to an abrupt halt when he found the library. Jackpot! This was just what he needed to be able to work out where he was and what was going on! Assuming, of course, it was in a language he could understand. Shen Yuan pulled a book at random off of one of the shelves and flipped it open; the writing was fortunately in Hanzi. Yes! He was going to spend as much time as possible here!
Shen Yuan had eventually decided to go exploring the further reaches of his palace again. The library was fantastic, and had a wide selection of fiction which he had (perhaps inadvisably) been sucked into. But this was a cool magical palace, it was bound to have some neat artifacts and secrets hidden in the cellars and hidden corridors, right?
He was eagerly bounding down the stairs into what he hoped could maybe be a dungeon when he very nearly ran over a small person who had been ascending the staircase, tottering under the weight of an enormous clay jug. Shen Yuan managed to screech to a halt just before crashing into the person, but they startled violently. The jug slipped out of their hands, the clay shattering on the stone and wine messily splattering over Shen Yuan’s legs and feet and the entirety of the small person.
“Ah, I’m s–” Shen Yuan reflexively started to apologise, but the person immediately dropped to their hands and knees and pressed their forehead to the wine-soaked stairs.
“Deepest apologies, Master Shen! This one has no excuse for their clumsiness, and understands that only the harshest punishments will suffice for the crime of sullying your robes!” they exclaimed, trembling violently.
“...what? No, it’s fine, it’s not like I don’t have several hundred sets of robes. What are you doing here? I thought I lived alone?” Shen Yuan asked, confused. The person didn’t look quite human, they were maybe only three feet tall and their proportions were a bit uncanny. Maybe his basement was home to some kind of dwarven civilization, and he just hadn’t noticed it before?
“This lowly one was fetching wine for Master Shen’s dinner this evening. They did not realise that Master Shen would wish to visit the cellar at this time, or they would have taken greater care to not sully Master Shen’s sight with their presence. No apologies can suffice for their failures.”
Shen Yuan inhaled sharply when he came to the realisation that his palace was, in fact, not magically-self cleaning, but that he had at least one servant who had worked unseen in the background to meet his every need. His eyes caught on the metal that glinted on the wrists of the person grovelling before him.
Chains. The person was in chains. He didn’t have servants, he had slaves . Fuck.
Shen Yuan crouched down to get closer to the person’s level. “It’s fine. Really, don’t worry about it. I need you to do something for me, all right? Gather up everyone who is working in this palace and bring them to the front hall in a sichen, please.”
The person trembled even more violently. “Lord Shen, please, the– the others are not to blame for this one being inexcusably flawed.”
Shen Yuan’s stomach twisted. Dammit, just what kind of a bastard had he transmigrated into? “I promise I won’t punish them. Just get them together, all right? Make sure you get everyone.”
The person sagged in defeat. “As you command, Master Shen.”
“Thanks. Here, let me he–” Shen Yuan reached out to help the person get to their feet, but they flinched before he even touched them. He sighed and drew his hand back, rising back to his feet. “I’ll see you all shortly.”
Shen Yuan hustled back to the parts of the castle he was more familiar with, miraculously managing to remember how to get to a large storage room he had previously found.
He obviously had to set the enslaved folks free, but who knew how long they had been trapped here? Would they have anywhere else to go? Shen Yuan couldn't just send them out into the wilderness with only the clothes on their backs!
He grabbed as many bags and sacks as he could find, hoping he would prepare enough. Damn, he really should have asked that person how many slaves were in his palace. Ugh, and he didn't even ask for their name, how inconsiderate could he be?
Actually, come to think of it, they knew his name, or at least his family name. They called him “Lord Shen”, after all. Maybe it was just a coincidence? They probably couldn't read his mind or anything, or they wouldn't have cowered as much. It was entirely possible one of the enslaved folks had overheard him talking to himself, though…
In any case, that wasn't terribly important right now. Shen Yuan hoped that forty bags would be sufficient to supply everyone.
He heaved open one large chest and shovelled two generous handfuls of coins and gems into each of the bags. Ugh, the original goods had so much money, what the hell had he even needed slaves for? What was wrong with hiring people and compensating them fairly, huh? It wasn't like he couldn't afford it!
Next, Shen Yuan went over to the weapon racks and grabbed some daggers, maces, and slings to add to the care packages. It might be dangerous out there on the mountain, they should have the means to defend themselves.
After a brief bit of consideration, Shen Yuan also pulled together a first aid kit with bandages, salves, and medicine.
That done, he added the care packages and the first aid kit to a qiankun pouch for ease of transport and made his way to the dining hall. As usual, there was a lavish spread of food arranged to cover the entire table. Shen Yuan tried to pick the dishes that seemed like they would keep well enough for at least a few days, bundling the food up in napkins and tucking those away in the care packages as well. There! It was hardly adequate compensation for however long they had been trapped in this palace for, but having food, money, and a means of self defence should give them a decent start in establishing new lives.
He managed to finish his packing just in time, and hurried off to the entrance hall.
Fifteen. There were fifteen people kowtowing to him as he strode into the Hall. That was less than what he had worried about, but still! That was fifteen people too many when every last one of them was wearing shackles!
All of them were about the same size as the first person he had ran into, with slightly pointed ears and inhuman proportions. Some kind of spirit or fairy, maybe?
“This is everyone?” he asked. “No one is late, or sick?”
“No, Lord Shen. This is everyone.” The person who replied was the one whose clothes were still splattered with wine. Ah, dammit, he should have included a change of clothes in the care packages. Well, too late now, unless he wanted to make everyone wait on him.
Shen Yuan sighed and stepped forward, pointing at the spokesperson. “All right. You. Come here, please.”
The person cringed, but they got to their feet and walked up to him, head bowed and eyes downcast.
Shen Yuan crouched down and took hold of the person’s wrists, running his fingers over the chains binding them. He could feel the magic buzzing through the metal, shackling the fey being to this palace. He grimaced and unravelled the spell. Then he slipped a finger underneath the cuff and carefully peeled it off of the person’s wrist like it was made of paper. He did the same for the other cuff, letting the chains drop to the floor with a series of clinks. “There we go,” he muttered.
The person’s head jerked up in surprise, and Shen Yuan saw for the first time that these people had brilliantly green eyes. “Lord Shen?” they asked.
Shen Yuan could only manage a sheepish expression. “I’ve… had a change of heart. You’re free to go,” he mumbled awkwardly, quickly turning to rummage in his qiankun pouch to yank out one of the care packages and press it into the person’s hands. “Sorry about, uh, everything up until now.”
Top notch social skills there, Shen Yuan , he thought bitterly to himself. Nothing he could do about it now, though. He decided to not look at whatever expression he’d caused with his awkwardness and pointed at a new person. “Next. You.”
He worked his way through all fifteen of his former slaves before finally getting to his feet. The people were clustered together, clutching the bags he had given them and eyeing him warily. This body probably deserved that much. It probably deserved worse, if he was being honest.
“Okay. Like I said, you’re free to go, no strings attached. If… you want to still stay here I suppose that you can, but–” That last sentence seemed to alarm the crowd, because they hurriedly glanced at one another and then dashed out of the portal onto the mountain. “...yeah, that’s what I figured.”
Well, hopefully they’d be able to figure something out. Or go home to wherever they came from originally. Shen Yuan sighed again and pressed his hands over his eyes. What other awful things had the original goods done? Probably all this gold and stuff was stolen or something. What was he even supposed to do about that?
Feeling depressed, Shen Yuan retreated to his chambers to take a nap.
After two days, the food laid out on his dining room table started to go bad and Shen Yuan was forced to grapple with just how much work had been taken care of by the workforce he had entirely taken for granted. Unsure about how garbage had been disposed of previously, he had scraped the inedible food into the largest pot he could find in his kitchen and hauled it out of the palace to bury the contents out on the mountain. He loaded the dirty dishes into the sink, but there wasn’t any tap for water? Did he need to take it out of a well, maybe? And what was he supposed to do about soap? Sponges? Maybe he was just supposed to wash with cold water and rags? But some of the food was really crusted on there!
What kind of magical palace was this, that didn’t have a dishwasher?! What a horrible design!
Shen Yuan gave up and left the dishes in the sink. Maybe they’d just clean themselves overnight. He could hope. (They didn’t.)
His laundry was likewise not being done, and while Shen Yuan didn’t seem to sweat much in his current form, his robes still gradually became dirtied with the dust that was starting to accumulate in the corners with no one to clear it away, as well as with inkspots from his writings in the library. After he disastrously attempted to wash one of his outer set of robes by taking it down to the river on the mountain and ended up with a ruined garment that was somehow even dirtier than it had been when he started, Shen Yuan decided that he would just need to ration his vast collection of robes, and left the soiled ones to pile up in an unused room of the palace.
Fortunately his fears about having unknowingly been eating meat that had been sliced off of some prisoners down in the dungeons turned out to be unfounded when he found an enchanted larder in his kitchen that provided ingredients on demand. Unfortunately, it only provided ingredients, not prepared food, and trying to cook on an open fire was a disaster. The attempted steak was charred beyond recognition, Shen Yuan’s best guess at how to make soup had boiled over and formed into some kind of horrible gelatinous mass, and he somehow even managed to burn the rice when he tried making that!
Shen Yuan ultimately settled for boiling water for tea and munching on raw vegetables or fruits when he felt like eating. Fortunately, he still didn’t seem to need to eat, but he desperately missed being able to chow down on something tasty nonetheless.
He holed up in the library and tried to ignore the gradual decay of his surroundings, but after two or three months went by he had to admit that he did really need help. He had the funds; surely he could hire some housekeepers?
Actually, he should have thought of that before! His parents had hired cleaning services to look after his apartment in his past life, he knew how this sort of thing should go. Surely there were some people in the nearby towns who would be willing to be live-in housekeepers in exchange for being very richly compensated?
Shen Yuan excitedly picked out one of his least ostentatious sets of robes; he probably wanted to give off the impression of a wealthy homeowner, not some kind of royalty. He packed some coins away in a pouch and hustled out of the portal to assume dragon form. He’d talk to people as a human first, of course, but flight was a much more convenient way to cross the veritable sea of trees between his mountain and the nearest road.
“Where did you say that you came from, Master Shen?” one of the people who had been attracted by the potential of a job asked him.
“Uh…” Shit! He didn’t know the name of his home! Shen Yuan gestured towards the mountain that was visible in the distance. “I’m from there?”
“You’re from Qing Jing Peak?!” another person exclaimed.
Shen Yuan was so excited to have learned the name of his mountain that he neglected to pay much attention to the tone. “Yes! That’s where I’m from! I’m looking for people willing to go back there with me and–”
“No humans live on Qing Jing Peak,” a burly looking man said, stepping forward. “It is home to a wicked dragon; even entering the forest near it is gambling with one’s very life.”
“O-oh? Is that so?” Shen Yuan replied nervously. “Are you sure that isn’t just an exaggeration?”
“It was only ten years ago that a hunter from this town dared to trespass on the peak. He was dropped from the sky into the middle of the town square,” the man growled, and Shen Yuan blanched.
“Th-that’s terrible. I’m very sorry to hear that, but I–”
“What are you playing at? If you say you want to bring people to Qing Jing Peak, either you’re planning on leading them to their deaths, or you don’t know anything about this area and were planning on dragging anyone foolish enough to follow you somewhere else entirely. Somewhere you felt like you needed to lie about, and offer a ludicrous amount of money as bait.”
“No, that’s not it, I really–”
“Best case scenario, you’re a slave trader. Worst case, you’re some kind of evil spirit in disguise, looking to lure people to their deaths. I think you had better move along,” the man spat out, looming threateningly over Shen Yuan.
“...all right. Sorry to have bothered you,” Shen Yuan conceded, lowering his gaze and backing away. The people in the town clustered together defensively and watched him leave.
Plan A was a bust.
Okay, Plan B. If he could prove that he was a nice dragon, then people might give him a chance, right? Shen Yuan flew to the next town over in dragon form and landed carefully in the middle of their town square. Hello, everyone, nice to meet you, I–
His attempt at making a friendly and honest introduction was met with screams and people desperately stampeding away from him.
Wait, I just wanted to…
It was no good; the town square was already deserted. No one was going to listen to him like this. Dejected, Shen Yuan went back home again.
Shen Yuan spent several days moping on his mountain. Maybe he could just stay in dragon form, and stop going into his palace. The mountain was fine without housekeeping, and he didn’t need to worry about laundry when he didn’t wear any clothes. Ah, but it was going to be so boring. The beauty of nature was all well and good, but he didn’t want to spend the rest of his (possibly eternal?) life just watching the sun rise and set and the seasons change. He’d at least like to make use of his library, but just stepping inside of his mess of a palace was depressing. Maybe he’d be able to get used to it, eventually?
Shen Yuan’s thoughts were continuing along this endless depressing cycle when he suddenly heard footsteps. Not deer or some other animal, human footsteps! Hope lurched in his chest. Maybe someone from the first town had decided they wanted to take the job after all?!
He turned his attention excitedly towards whoever was coming towards him and spotted a ponytailed man with a bare sword in his hand emerging from the trees. …probably not here on friendly business, then.
Hello, Shen Yuan tried, hoping that the sword was maybe just for use in hacking his way through the underbrush.
The swordsman scowled and levelled the blade at him. “Dragon. You have ventured beyond the bounds of your territory and threatened the safety and wellbeing of innocent people seeking only to live their lives. I have been hired to eliminate the threat that you pose.”
What, all on your own? Shen Yuan asked, tilting his head to listen. He couldn’t hear any reinforcements. Considering the behaviour of the original goods, it seemed unlikely that a single human would be able to take him down; surely that would have been tried before.
“I am more than enough to deal with a vicious beast such as yourself,” the swordsman growled, before lunging forwards.
He was very fast, Shen Yuan had to give him that. He crossed the space between them in an instant, and his sword lashed out. The sharp, stinging pain of a particularly nasty papercut made Shen Yuan hiss and jerk his foreleg back. He’d stuck his sliced finger into his mouth to try to soothe the cut before he realised that the reflexive movement of his foreleg had accidentally smacked the swordsman away, and he was laying crumpled at the base of a tree.
Oh, shit! Are you all right? Shen Yuan let his foreleg drop back down the ground and hurried over to the man, peering at him. He didn’t kill him, did he?
The man was still breathing, thankfully. He groaned and tried to scramble upright, but his sword dropped out of his hand; his forearm was crooked and already starting to swell. He hissed a curse and tried to fumble for the sword with his off hand.
Uh, look, I’m really sorry about that. Shen Yuan reached out and flicked the sword away; it embedded itself in a tree, vibrating, several metres away. He’d rather not get any papercuts if it was all the same. I really didn’t mean to hurt you. Or anyone else.
The swordsman barked out a laugh. “Then what do you want from me, dragon? Do you want to hear me beg for my life? I won’t give you the satisfaction!”
I don’t want anything from you. I’m not going to kill you, either.
“Some fate worse than death, then? Is that supposed to scare me?” the swordsman snapped.
Shen Yuan closed his eyes and heaved a sigh. I’m not trying to scare you. I didn’t want to scare anyone. I just wanted to hire some help, that’s all I wanted. Obviously I didn’t make myself clear enough. Just… go home, all right? I’ll even let you take your sword back with you, if you promise not to try to cut me with it again. Here, he said, and waved a forepaw over the swordsman. Gentle green light flickered over the length of the man’s broken forearm. Within moments, the swelling went down and the limb straightened out.
The swordsman stared at his arm and flexed his fingers experimentally. “What are you playing at?”
Nothing. I’m just living my life, same as the people who hired you. You can’t kill me, so you should leave. Give everyone a refund, or something.
The swordsman spat. “Not a very smart dragon, are you? If I go back, I’ll be a laughingstock, and you’ll just end up needing to contend with more people being sent up this mountain to eliminate you.”
Hmn. I don’t suppose you can do laundry, can you? Shen Yuan asked, and was answered with a glower. Well, worth a shot. Fine. Give me a moment.
Shen Yuan backed away from the downed swordsman and went to the portal to his palace, smoothly shrinking into human form before stepping inside. He glanced around the entrance hall for a moment before his gaze landed on something suitable. He pulled a portrait-sized carved jade bas-relief of a dragon off of the wall and stepped back through the portal.
The swordsman had gotten to his feet and was attempting to yank his sword out of the tree it was embedded in. Shen Yuan walked up to him. “Take this back with you, then,” he said, offering the bas-relief to the swordsman.
The swordsman’s head snapped around to stare at him, and he blinked before letting his gaze drop down to the offered item. “Is this supposed to be a bribe?”
“No. Give it to the town, tell them that this is a physical token of my promise to leave them in peace. You can claim that you beat the promise out of me or whatever, I don’t really care,” Shen Yuan said with a shrug. “Will this serve well enough to convince them I’m not a threat?”
“Are you planning on abiding by that promise?”
“Sure. I never planned on causing any issues in the first place. They’re perfectly safe.”
The swordsman stared at him for another long moment, then took the bas-relief. He faltered a little; apparently the item was heavier than expected. After adjusting his grip, he glanced at his sword and grit his teeth. “I… promise to not try to cut you with my blade again. That means you’ll permit me to leave with it as well, correct?”
“Yeah,” Shen Yuan stepped forward and grabbed the hilt of the sword, pulling it out of the tree and offering it to the swordsman. “Off you go.”
The swordsman sheathed his blade and glowered at him one more time before turning around and stomping off into the woods again.
Well, that wasn’t exactly a friendly exchange, but he had managed to convey his feelings to a human! That was promising, surely Shen Yuan just needed to try to recreate those sorts of situations, and he’d be able to get someone willing to listen to him.
After doing a survey of the surrounding area, Shen Yuan identified a large walled city as the best option for his next attempt. City-folk were supposed to be more open-minded than rural people, right? And they’d probably feel more secure and more willing to talk to him behind the security of the walls. Perfect!
Shen Yuan landed gently in the field outside of the city walls, ignoring the rain of arrows that ricocheted harmlessly off his scales. He took a brief moment to check that he was as presentable as an enormous dragon could be, then ambled up to the closed gate. The number of arrows pelting him intensified, but continued to be entirely ineffective. Shen Yuan reached out with one foreleg and politely knocked on the enormous door. Excuse me, I would like to speak with the person in charge! he broadcasted.
There was nothing by way of a reply, except for the continued barrage of arrows.
Shen Yuan sighed and knocked again. Hello! I'm here on business, I promise I'm not here to set your town on fire or anything. I'd just like to talk!
Still nothing. Maybe there wasn't anyone high-ranking enough at this gate to respond to him?
Shen Yuan reared back onto his hind legs and delicately set his forepaws against the city wall, careful not to push too hard. He rested his chin on the top of the ramparts and took a closer look at the soldiers who were there shooting at him. Were any of them wearing fancy armour? Excuse me, would any of you happen to be the commander? Shen Yuan asked.
The soldiers went pale and frantically scrambled away, dashing down the stairs and disappearing into the city streets.
Hm. Well, this wasn't exactly promising, but there was nothing to be lost from being optimistic! Maybe the soldiers had left to fetch someone in charge! Shen Yuan would just need to wait until someone came here to speak with him.
He watched the frantic activity of the inhabitants of the city, and felt a little guilty about it all reminding him of nothing so strongly as an anthill after it had been kicked. Sorry, sorry! He knows you all aren't ants! Shen Yuan isn't an evil dragon who views humans as beneath him, really!
Shen Yuan patiently waited, watching the figures in the distance dashing to and fro.
Eventually, a small cluster of humans emerged from the skittering masses and approached the gate that Shen Yuan had stationed himself at. It was made up of several heavily-armoured and armed men, and as well as one man who was sumptuously dressed and unarmed.
Shen Yuan brightened up immediately. They had listened to him! Surely this man was the guy in charge, right?
The group stopped a healthy distance from the gate, and the well-dressed man gave a deep bow. “Greetings, esteemed Shenlong-Jun. Please allow me to apologise if you found our hospitality lacking.”
It's fine. It's not like arrows can hurt me anyway. And you can just call me Shen Yuan.
“I have been informed you are here ‘on business’? Might I inquire what this business may entail?”
It's nothing particularly complicated. It is just that my home is lacking in many amenities and I'm looking for people to take back there to fix that. Shen Yuan replied.
The leader paled. “My apologies, Shenlong-Jun, but this town is small and humble, it does not contain any princesses which could be offered–”
What?! Princesses?! No, no, absolutely not! I don't want any princesses! A princess would probably be even more hopeless at doing housework than Shen Yuan was, it would only exacerbate the problem! If anything, I want the exact opposite of a princess!
The leader blinked once. “I… see. The opposite of a princess, that can be arranged. One moment.” He turned to the pair of guards on his left and gave them some quick instructions; they immediately hustled off.
Oh, you can mention that I am offering a generous benefits package and– ah, they're already gone. Shen Yuan sighed again. Well, it would probably be better to discuss the employment contract matters directly to the people he was going to be hiring, anyway.
“Begging for Shenlong-Jun's patience,” the leader said, bowing again. “They will return soon. Is there… any other business that you are seeking to address here?”
No, that was pretty much it, Shen Yuan replied.
An awkward silence descended upon them all after that. Shen Yuan fidgeted a little; he'd never been good with this sort of thing. His social skills as a dragon might have atrophied even further than they had in his previous life as a nerdy and sickly shut-in. At least in his old life he still interacted a little bit with other people through online forums.
He didn't think he could handle just waiting here and staring at each other wordlessly, it was mortifying! Um. So, are you the mayor? Shen Yuan eventually asked, mostly trying to fill the silence.
“I have the honour of being the baron of this area, my lord,” the leader- the baron, Shen Yuan supposed- replied.
Oh, so you're in charge of more than just this one city, I suppose. Is it fun?
The baron blinked, then swallowed. “It is my duty to protect and care for these lands, my lord. It is… surely beneath the notice of one such as yourself.”
Damn, that was his one idea for a topic of conversation! Hm. I see. Well, I hope that your land will continue to prosper.
“I, ah, certainly hope for the same, my lord. If there is anything in particular that you require, then–”
The baron's guards certainly were efficient, because they came hustling back, interrupting Shen Yuan's socially-inept agony. They each held one of the biceps of a teenager, hefting him fully off the ground and carrying him toward the baron swiftly.
The pair stopped just a short ways past the baron, towards Shen Yuan, and set the teenager on his feet. Shen Yuan was frankly impressed at how synchronised their movements were with one another, so he wasn't paying much attention to the kid they'd delivered to him until the teenager crumpled to his knees.
Ah, there was no need for the kid to kneel, Shen Yuan was a fully modern employer! He didn't need any kowtows!
“My lord, would this tribute be satisfactory?” the baron asked Shen Yuan, gesturing at the teenager in front of him.
Honestly, Shen Yuan was feeling a bit disappointed. The kid was very pretty, certainly, he could see that at only a glance, but he was so scrawny and seemed quite young. Would he even be very much help with the chores? Shen Yuan had been picturing someone more like the cleaning lady that his parents had hired to look after him in his previous life, a no-nonsense matronly woman in her sixties who completed every task with brisk efficiency.
This kid… well, since he was young, it would hopefully be easy for him to learn and adapt? That was something.
But Shen Yuan was really expecting there to be more applicants! He'd prepared job interview questions and everything! And now it was all for nothing, because Shen Yuan needed help too badly to narrow down his pool of potential employees from one down to zero.
… Just the one? Shen Yuan still asked, feeling quite put-out and glancing from the kid back to the baron.
The baron blanched. “Sh-Shenlong-Jun, I would beg for your mercy and understanding. My city is not a terribly large one; I fear we would suffer greatly if you were to take a great many of our citizens. Of course, if you insist, I will do my utmost to fetch the people you require…”
Ugh, and be stuck here in the awkward silence until the bodyguards fetched more people? No thank you! Besides, judging from the impoverished state of the poor kid in front of him, the economy of this city wasn't doing well. Shen Yuan didn't want to cause a collapse if he stole too many of their necessary workforce.
No, this should be sufficient , Shen Yuan replied.
The sigh that the baron heaved was swallowed by a startled little shriek as Shen Yuan vaulted over the city wall and landed right on the street in front of the kneeling teenager, his footfalls light as a cat's.
Shen Yuan did his best to express friendliness and harmlessness with his body language. Greetings! I am Shen Yuan, and I look forward to getting to know you a lot better! he declared to the teenager.
The kid flinched and trembled, and did not offer his own name in response. Maybe he was shy?
Well, that was okay, first impressions weren't everything, he could ask for the kid's name later. Shen Yuan glanced around searchingly for a moment, confused. Do you not have any luggage?
The kid's shoulders hunched and he hesitantly shook his head. Yeah, definitely extremely shy.
Hm. Do you need some time to go grab it?
The baron was the one who responded, shaking his head emphatically. “Shenlong-Jun, there is surely nothing that this young man could bring with him which would compare to the splendour of your palace. Bringing any luggage will surely only be inconvenient for my lord.”
Oh, maybe the kid wasn't just shy, he was mute? That would explain why the baron rushed to speak for him. That was a bit of a shame, Shen Yuan had been hoping that he could have some conversations with his employees, but beggars shouldn't be choosers, he supposed.
As for the luggage, well, the baron certainly wasn't wrong about that; Shen Yuan had vast closets full of fancy clothes, which was the only reason why he hadn't run out of clean clothes to wear despite having absolutely no idea how to do laundry in a setting that didn't have any washing machines! Any one of those outfits would be a vast improvement over the rags the teenager was wearing now.
Yes, I suppose you're right; it won't matter once we get back to the peak. Shen Yuan admitted. Then he reached out with his forepaws and gingerly scooped the teenager up, bundling him up close to his chest. It would probably have been more dignified for the kid if he had been allowed to ride on Shen Yuan’s back rather than being carried, but Shen Yuan had no idea how slippery his scales might be for a human, and the last thing that he wanted was for the kid to fall off mid-flight! What if Shen Yuan couldn't catch him in time?! It was too much of a risk.
Well, it was nice chatting with you all. Have a good one! Shen Yuan said his farewells and took off, soaring up into the sky.
He wasn’t very far from the town when he noticed that his new employee was shivering quite badly in his grasp. Was the kid afraid of heights? Or maybe Shen Yuan was flying too high, was the air up here too cold and thin for humans to exist comfortably? Concerned, Shen Yuan swooped down much lower than he normally did, practically skimming the tops of trees as he passed them. This elevation should be okay, right? He also shifted his grip a little, entirely enclosing the kid so that he wouldn’t need to look down. Don’t worry, I’m not going to drop you.
The teenager still didn’t stop trembling, but there wasn’t anything else that Shen Yuan could think of to try to make things more comfortable for him. He decided that he should just get to Qing Jing Peak as soon as possible. If the trip was upsetting his new employee, it would best for it to be over and done with as soon as possible! He put on an extra burst of speed and soon enough the forests and bamboo groves of his home peak appeared on the horizon.
Shen Yuan landed right in front of the magical portal that served as the front door of his palace.
He carefully set the kid down, and the teenager proceeded to crumple to his knees once more. Did this kid really like kneeling, or was there something wrong with his legs?
Shen Yuan swiftly shrank into his human form and crouched down in front of the teenager, carefully hooking his hand under one of the kid’s elbows and tugging him upright. “There’s no need to kneel, kid. I’m not so old-fashioned. Up you get,” Shen Yuan coaxed, relieved to see that the teenager apparently was able to stand on his own. The kid glanced at him for just a moment before hurriedly dropping his eyes. Ugh, this was already shaping up to be a disaster, wasn't it?
Ah! He suddenly realised he'd completely forgotten to ask the baron what this kid's name was! And he might be mute! Shit!
“Um. You… you aren't actually mute, are you?” Shen Yuan asked, hoping he'd maybe misunderstood the previous exchange.
The kid flinched a bit. “No, my lord,” he whispered.
Shen Yuan immediately brightened up. “Ah! That's wonderful! Can you tell me your name?”
“It… it's Luo Binghe,” the teenager mumbled.
“It's nice to meet you, Luo Binghe. Come now, let's get you inside, hm?” Shen Yuan used his grip on the kid's elbow to lead him through the portal.
Shen Yuan couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed about the state of his home. He'd specifically hired Luo Binghe to fix this situation, so there was really no way to hide how slovenly he was, but, ah, did the first thing his employee saw really need to be the massive piles of dust bunnies collected in the corners? Feeling himself blush a little, he hustled through the corridors and hoped the teenager being pulled along behind him wouldn't notice.
Okay, what now? He wanted to make a good first impression, so, tea? Yes, discussing the terms of the employment contract over tea sounded like a good idea.
Shen Yuan lead them into his kitchen and immediately despaired over the state of it. He hurriedly sat the kid down in one of the chairs and frantically snatched up the piles of dirty dishes scattered over the table, dumping them into the sink, which was already overflowing with more unwashed dishes.
It was fine, he could salvage this, he just needed to brew some tea and… all his teapots were dirty! Fuck!
Okay, it didn't need to be tea, right? They could just have a conversation over some other kind of drink? Shen Yuan managed to scrounge up two clean glasses and filled them with water, putting one of them down in front of Luo Binghe. The kid apparently still hadn't looked up from where his hands were clasped in his lap. Such a shy boy. But, well, Shen Yuan wasn't about to complain when it meant he might not have seen the complete disaster of his kitchen.
“Alright. So,” Shen Yuan started, clearing his throat. “I apologise if the trip here was uncomfortable.”
Luo Binghe seemed to pause for a moment, then slowly shook his head. “It is of no importance, my lord.”
Hm. Maybe Shen Yuan should get a carriage or something for when he hired more employees. He’d need to make a road too, then, though…
“I appreciate you were able to come here on such short notice. I… oh! Yes, that's right, I almost forgot!” Shen Yuan exclaimed, and fished around in his sleeve for one of the pouches he had prepared. He set it on the table next to Luo Binghe's (untouched) glass of water. “This is for you.”
Luo Binghe's eyes flicked up to Shen Yuan for just an instant, then dropped down to the pouch. With somewhat shaky hands, he carefully picked the pouch up and opened it, revealing the gold coins and gems within. Luo Binghe just stared at it, seemingly confused.
“It's an advance on your salary,” Shen Yuan explained. Did they not have such things in this world, maybe? “To compensate for the inconvenience.”
Luo Binghe's expression changed for the first time, a bitter smile crossing his lips. “Inconvenience,” he muttered, then sighed, schooling his expression back into neutrality. He pushed the pouch across the table towards Shen Yuan. “This one thanks Lord Shen for his consideration, but this one has no family to send the funds to. Lord Shen can take it back.”
Shen Yuan blinked. “Um? I suppose that I would have been willing to send the funds to support Binghe's family if that was what was desired, but the intention was for you to keep the money. You are the one who will be earning it, after all.”
Luo Binghe seemed equally confused. “What use will this one have for the money?”
Shen Yuan bit back his initial urge to snarkily reply that money could be exchanged for goods and services, and was extremely glad that he did so because he immediately realised the flaw in his plan. “Oh, damn! I completely forgot that there obviously aren't any shops here! And there's no convenient way to order express delivery, either, ugh! I'm such an idiot!” Shen Yuan exclaimed, clapping his hands to his head in exasperation. “Um… I can transport Luo Binghe down to the nearby towns to go shopping if he likes? Perhaps once a month? No, no, probably once a week is better, right? Like a weekend? Yeah, that makes sense. Binghe, I can take you down to any nearby towns once a week so you can make use of your salary.”
Luo Binghe stared at him. “Begging Lord Shen's pardon, but will this one still be alive by the end of the week?”
“What?! Yes, of course? I'm not a slave driver or anything, I wouldn't work you to death in the span of a week!” Shen Yuan exclaimed. “You'll of course have the usual employee working conditions and protections, I– wait, how old are you?”
Luo Binghe was looking at him like he'd grown an extra head. “This one is fourteen.”
Ah, damn, properly the kid should only be working part-time, being a minor and all. But… Shen Yuan had a lot of chores that needed to get done, and he only had this one kid to do them all. And it wasn't like there were people who enforced labour standards in this world! He hoped. “Right, so full time work will consist of forty hours a week; the rest of the time you may use as you see fit,” Shen Yuan said, deciding to shamelessly ignore Luo Binghe's age.
“What will this one be doing during those forty hours?”
“Ah? Did the guards not explain anything? Housework, obviously. I need someone to maintain my palace. Also… I don't suppose you can make food, can you?”
Luo Binghe flinched a bit at that last question. “Th- This one is able to cook. He would be happy to prepare meals for Lord Shen, as well as any other time that Lord Shen might find himself feeling hungry.”
“Ah, so diligent! What a helpful employee I've hired!” Shen Yuan exclaimed cheerfully. Even if the kid was only a half-decent cook, that was a full half better than Shen Yuan, here in this world without microwaves. “I will look forward to it. Do you have any other questions, Binghe?”
Luo Binghe paused, his gaze wavering, then lowered his eyes. “This one cannot think of any at this time. But he would ask for Lord Shen's patience with this lowly one as he learns how to best complete his duties.”
“Certainly. Luo Binghe may feel free to ask me if he has any questions in the future,” Shen Yuan agreed. He glanced at the still-untouched water glass. It certainly wasn't as good as tea, but Shen Yuan felt like he was being a bad host if Luo Binghe didn't even try it. “Er. You can feel free to have a drink, if you like.”
Oh! Maybe it was good manners to wait until your host drank or ate first, before doing so as a guest? Shen Yuan wasn’t sure what sort of etiquette was standard in this world. He took a swig from his own glass, just in case that was what was giving Luo Binghe pause.
The kid blinked at him, then took a small sip of his water. Well, maybe he wasn’t thirsty.
“Right! Well, let’s get you set up then,” Shen Yuan declared. He had prepped some of the empty suites for people to be able to move in. They were probably some of the cleanest places in the palace, since aside from a layer of dust, Shen Yuan almost never ventured into them to make any sort of mess. He lead Luo Binghe to one of them now. “These are your rooms. You can wash up in the bathroom. I… assumed that you would be bringing your own wardrobe, but I can pick out some of my robes for you to use. They’ll probably be a bit big on you, so you may need to make some alterations. Can you sew?”
Luo Binghe’s eyes went wide. “This… this one can sew, my lord, but…” he glanced over Shen Yuan’s sumptuous robes. “This one is unworthy of such finery. He will wash his current garments so as to not be offensive to Lord Shen; they will be adequate.”
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow. “What will Luo Binghe wear when he is washing his one set of robes? And what of when he outgrows this set? Will he run around nude?”
Luo Binghe flushed a little and lowered his eyes. “This one did not consider such things, he begs forgiveness.”
“You’re just a kid; not thinking things through comes with the territory. I’ll try to find plain robes for you to make use of, and maybe there’s some fabric around here that you can use to make your own. In the meantime; you can wash up and get settled in.” Shen Yuan left Luo Binghe alone in his new rooms and tried to think if he had seen any fabric in this place that wasn’t ludicrously expensive.