“What punishment?” Lanyun demanded, incredulous. 

“You did throw a tantrum outside the front entrance, sullied the doors of the city with mud, and insulted His Imperial Majesty,” Erluan reminded him.

“What about the contract?” Lanyun asked.

“The contract was something that you wished for,” Yushen said. “The issue of your punishment is a separate matter and still needs to be addressed. What does the council suggest?”

“Perhaps, community service?” Baili offered. 

“That’ll be letting off someone who insulted His Imperial Majesty too easily,” Mudan disagreed. “He should at least be sent to solitary confinement in Heishui prison for the next year.”

“How will he be able to find the items we’ve requested if he’s in confinement?” Baili said.

“I do think that there’s no need for such extreme punishments,” the male celestial sitting beside Mudan spoke up for the first time during the trial. “Community service can be a healthy way to reform his disrespectful habits.”

“I agree with Xialing and Baili,” the female celestial sitting between the male celestial and Lianbing said. “It would serve no purpose to waste a perfectly good contract by taking away any opportunity for him to complete it.” 

“Not you too, Yinxing” Mudan groaned in disappointment.

 “Let’s take a vote,” Yushen said. “All in favor of Lanyun fulfilling community service as his punishment?” 

Baili, Xialing, Yinxing, Lianbing, and Yingliu raised their hands. Seeing them in agreement, Wenzhu also raised his hand tentatively. 

“Six to one, the motion passes,” Yushen declared. He then observed Lanyun with a contemplative gaze. “What do you do for a living, Lanyun?”

 “I primarily help my grandmother with her business,” Lanyun said. “She’s a shaman and apothecary in our village. I tend to her medicinal garden and run other apothecary-related errands. In addition to that, I help the village farmers with their harvest in the autumn, and I help the fishermen with their catch in the summer.”

“I see,” Yushen said contemptuously. “You shall serve your community service by assisting the imperial gardener. Completion of eighty hours within the next three moons shall suffice.”

“Okay, but,” Lanyun began.

“But?” Yushen raised a brow.

“I would like to request a place to stay while I’m serving my hours,” Lanyun requested. “It’s a bit too much to scale Mount Tiankou every time I need to complete my community service, especially eighty hours worth.”

Yushen nodded slowly in understanding. “Very well. We can surely arrange some sort of accommodation for you here.” He glanced at the celestials below him who were all attempting to appear as inconsequential as possible. 

“Xialing, didn’t you recently renovate your palace?” Yingliu said innocently. “Surely, you’ll have some spare room for a human now?”

“Actually my palace is still under renovation.” Xialing shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “Lots of dangerous equipment and sawdust. It would all be a bit too much for a human’s frail health. Wenzhu, your place is very clean and spacious, is it not?”

“We’ve been having irrigation issues due to the new carp pond I’ve recently installed,” Wenzhu said. “There’s been random bouts of flooding in guest rooms, and black mold, which I’ve heard is not good for a mortal’s health.”

“Unlike my fellow brethren, I would personally love to host our guest criminal,” Mudan quickly said as Yushen’s face began to darken. His following words, however, only further soured Yushen's mood. “Unfortunately, half of my palace was destroyed by a pixiu, so it isn’t fit for receiving anyone at the moment. Lianbing, your palace has always been one of the most beautiful of them all, with your extravagant spending. The last time I visited, you had multiple spare rooms, no?”

“But isn’t your palace the closest to the Imperial Gardens?” Lianbing wondered innocently aloud. 

“Perhaps, but I’m sure it’ll be much more comfortable for the human to walk a few extra minutes than suffer through the endless construction noise,” Mudan replied. “I thought you said at the last court hearing that His Imperial Majesty could rely on you in any situation, unless, this is where you draw the line in your generosity?”

Yushen appeared visibly more annoyed. 

“Well I…” Lianbing’s eyelashes fluttered as she sought a suitable excuse. “You see…” She glanced at the celestial seated above her.

Yushen exhaled a long, irritated sigh.

“I will gladly show hospitality to the human and provide him shelter in my palace for these next three moons,” Lianbing said with an extremely forced smile. 

 “Then it is decided,” Yushen announced, standing up from his seat. “You shall stay at the Winter Palace during your service here.”

Immediately, all the other celestials stood as well, bowing their heads down towards him.

“Do I need to sign a contract for that too?” Lanyun asked, uncertain of the correct proceedings.

Yushen laughed dryly. “Do you think of me like the fae, who will try to fool you in some way? You have my word as the Emperor of the Heavens, and that will always be enough.”

“Bow your head and say your thanks,” Erluan hissed quietly at Lanyun from his side.

Lanyun quickly lowered his head. “Thank you for your understanding and generosity, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“You’re welcome, Ren Lanyun,” Yushen said. “And good luck.”

“That sly peony, I can’t believe he managed to outwit me,” Lianbing muttered bitterly under her breath. She strode forward with quick strides before suddenly turning around, snapping at the human struggling to follow her. “Hurry up. Are you waiting for the flowers to bloom?”

Lanyun stumbled forward, raising his bound hands before her. “I’m trying my best, but it’s not exactly easy when my hands are tied together.” He couldn’t believe how quickly the celestial’s demeanor had changed. During the trial, she had appeared as the epitome of grace and beauty, but the facade immediately dropped once they had left the Heavenly Court together. 

“Dear celestials, why is no one doing their job properly around here,” Lianbing complained, pinching the bridge of her nose. She flicked her wrist, and the ropes around Lanyun’s wrists instantly froze over before shattering into a hundred tiny, glittering pieces. 

Rubbing his sore wrists, Lanyun hurried after her. The celestial realm’s Jade City was massive, and Lanyun did not want to get lost in the maze-like streets. Lianbing had led them down an emptier alleyway of a neighborhood with high stone walls surrounding both sides.

“Ugh you stink,” Lianbing continued to complain, raising her hand to cover her nose with the sleeve of her pale blue robe. “My palace is going to smell like a human now.”

Lanyun lifted his arm and sniffed his sleeve but couldn’t distinguish anything particularly foul. 

Lianbing wrinkled her nose at his action. “How uncouth.”

When they arrived at the Winter Palace, the two shishi guards bowed in greeting as Lianbing approached the front entrance with Lanyun in tow. Seeing Lanyun, they instantly began growling at him as he attempted to enter behind the female celestial. Lanyun hastily pulled his leg back from the threshold as one of them snapped at his foot, threatening to pierce his shoe with a sharp fang. 

“Good boys,” Lianbing praised the shishi with a smile, giving one of them a pat on the head. “You know better than to let the foul human enter now, don’t you?”

“Excuse me?” Lanyun questioned. “Did you already forget that Yushen had given me his word that I could stay here?”

“That’s Emperor Yushen to you,” Lianbing said warningly with an icy glare. “How typically human. You have neither an ounce of respect nor class.” She turned around, facing her palace. “Riri!”

A young woman with long white hair and amber colored eyes appeared at the doorway. She had a small, red design that resembled a flower on the center of her forehead.

“Please take our new human guest, Ren Lanyun, to his room,” Lianbing instructed. “He will be staying with us for a short period of time. Make sure he’s thoroughly cleaned as soon as possible. I don’t want his human stench contaminating my palace more than it has to.”

“Yes, Princess,” Riri said, keeping her head bowed until Lianbing entered the palace and disappeared from sight. She then glanced over at Lanyun. “Follow me, please.”

Lanyun cautiously stepped over the door threshold, keeping an eye on the two shishi. Although they still growled at him, he was able to successfully enter the Winter Palace.

“This way,” Riri said, leading Lanyun through the open courtyard. 

The exterior of the Winter Palace was various shades of white and blue, befitting of its name. Upon entering it, Lanyun felt the temperature drop drastically. Despite it only being early autumn in the human realm, the Winter Palace defied the natural order of seasons, with a thin layer of snow on the roof tiles and floor. Ice statues of trees and plants decorated the courtyard while a few servants carefully polished the sculptures. The sunlight refracted off of the ice, casting geometric patterns onto the snow. Lanyun could smell the frost in the air. There was a sense of silence and tranquility that he had always felt with every winter. It was as beautiful as his grandmother had described the home of the celestials to be.

“Be careful not to touch them,” Riri warned, following Lanyun’s wondrous gaze as they passed by an ice replica of a gingko tree. “Mortal hands will instantly be afflicted with frostbite upon contact.”

Lanyun moved further away from the tree, walking closer by Riri’s side instead.

“This will be your room,” Riri said when they arrived at a small annex of the main building. 

It appeared to have been a former storage closet converted into a temporary servant’s room with no windows. The room barely fit a single bed and a small rectangular table with two chairs. Although it evidently wasn’t meant to be a place of residence, Lanyun was already satisfied with the fact that there was a bed. He was no stranger to sleeping outside on hard terrain, so he obligingly accepted the room.

“The bathhouse for servants is there,” Riri said, pointing to a building on the opposite side of the courtyard with white plumes of smoke drifting out of the chimney. “Princess Lianbing has asked that we mask your human scent as best as possible.”

Lanyun nodded amiably, wanting to wash up as well. “I’ll do that first then.” 

Walking towards the bathhouse, Lanyun paused once he arrived at the door. He turned around and saw that Riri had continued to follow him. “Is there anything else?”

“No,” Riri replied. “But I am here to offer my assistance.”

Lanyun instinctively pulled his clothes tighter around his body. “A-assistance with what?”

“Do not worry,” Riri said, holding her hands up before Lanyun’s eyes to see. “I’m quite good at ensuring that no trace of your human scent will be left once I’m done.

Staring at her unnaturally long, sharp nails, Lanyun had a suspicion that there wouldn’t be a trace of his skin left either if he let the white-haired woman “assist”. 

“No, thank you,” Lanyun quickly said. “I’m sure I’ll be just fine by myself.”

“If that is your wish,” Riri said, seemingly dejected by his refusal. She put down her hands, tucking them into her long sleeves once again. “I’ll set out a fresh set of clothes for you to change into once you are finished with your bath.”

“By the way,” Lanyun asked before Riri turned to leave. “I had a bag with me before I woke up in the Heavenly Court’s prison. Do you know what happened to it?”

“It was probably burned,” Riri immediately said before hesitating at Lanyun’s crestfallen expression. “But I’ll confirm with the Heavenly Court’s servants.”

“Thank you, Riri,” Lanyun said with a small smile and entered the bathhouse.