Ship Tease / Qian Qiu

"I will wait for the day that you can honor your promise, and become my worthy opponent. Perhaps that way, I will be able to gaze at you a little longer."

Although the world is vast, there is only one Shen Qiao.

— Yan Wushi realizing how much Shen Qiao is starting to mean to him.

Whether you're introduced to these two through the novel or its adaptations, one fact remains: the sparks in Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi's relationship remains as strong as ever.

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Main Story

General

• Yan Wushi is constantly touchy-feely with Shen Qiao, mainly just so he can try and get a reaction out of the other, which he finds fascinating. The donghua has scenes where he's either touching Shen Qiao any way he can, to getting into his personal space where he's practically whispering directly into his ear in almost all of his appearances.
• Yan Wushi likes to talk in ways that come off as if he and Shen Qiao are sleeping together, far before they ever became an actual couple. Many people end up thinking Shen Qiao is Yan Wushi's boy-toy, and it doesn't help that Shen Qiao doesn't exactly deny these claims, but it's mainly because people wouldn't believe him and think he's trying to save face.
• Over the course of the story, Yan Wushi tends to act jealous of those who get close to Shen Qiao. While it's part of his teasing at first, soon enough his jealousy becomes more and more genuine. It even extends to his split personalities, who he envies since Shen Qiao treats them more warmly than he ever did him.
• After hearing Yu Ai call Shen Qiao "A-Qiao", Yan Wushi immediately adopts the Affectionate Nickname and always calls Shen Qiao "A-Qiao", to the other's initial confusion.

En Route to Chang'an

• At one point, Yan Wushi asks Shen Qiao if he wants to feed him medicine through a "lip-cup", where he would put a drink into his own mouth and transfer it to the other via a kiss. Shen Qiao is outraged at the suggestion and starts choking, much to Yan Wushi's amusement.
• When they're eating in a restaurant, a man approaches the pair. Under the assumption that Shen Qiao is a male escort, the man asks Yan Wushi if he can borrow Shen Qiao for some time, and Yan Wushi teases Shen Qiao that he should play along so that they can make some money.
• While informing Bian Yanmei about Shen Qiao, Yan Wushi tells his disciple that he had Shen Qiao stay up late with him every night, causing the other to be tired the next day. In truth, Yan Wushi was forcing Shen Qiao to train and spare with him, but the way he phrased his statement had Bian Yanmei (understandably) get the wrong idea.

Escort Mission to Southern Chen

• After a short battle, Yan Wushi and Shen Qiao are sitting in a cart together and the person they're escorting comes by to thank Shen Qiao for saving his concubine's life. Yan Wushi then maneuvers Shen Qiao so it looks like he was throwing himself onto him, paralyzes the other and kisses him.
  Yan Wushi: (to Yuwen Qing) Are you done watching?

The Underground City of Ruoqiang

• When Yan Wushi's damaged qi results in his soul separating into different personalities, the first Split Personality to wake up after the original Yan Wushi is Xie Ling, who embodies Yan Wushi's personality in his childhood. Upon seeing Shen Qiao, the first thing Xie Ling does is call him meiren-gege, which means "pretty big brother".
• The second Split Personality to emerge is A-Yan, who's immediately open to Shen Qiao about his affection for the other with none of the malicious intentions of the original Yan Wushi.
  A-Yan: I know all the things he has done to you. Yan Wushi is ungrateful and heartless, but I will never let you down. A-Qiao, one cannot find a second person in this world who is as good as you. If he doesn't cherish you, I will. Will you let me?

Heading to Weizhou

• While Shen Qiao has a bizarre nightmare where Qi Fengge scolds him for using his sword to catch and cut fish, Shen Qiao starts murmuring in his sleep. Yan Wushi takes notice and soon hears Shen Qiao muttering "Xie Ling...", which causes Yan Wushi to experience a surge of powerful emotions. In response, he steals a kiss from Shen Qiao, and even when the latter wakes up and gets angered by his actions, Yan Wushi still can't help himself from leaving a kiss on the other's cheek for good measure.
• After Yan Wushi tells Shen Qiao that Xie Ling is gone and will no longer surface again, Shen Qiao tries to act stoic about it, but Yan Wushi notices that Shen Qiao is shedding tears. He then notes in his head how Shen Qiao would always treat Xie Ling with gentle affection, but would then treat him with nothing but frosty distance, causing him to feel displeasure at the difference of regard.

Huang Family Banquet

• During their stay in the Huang Residence, Yan Wushi forces Shen Qiao to watch a man and a woman to dual-cultivate (or in other words, cultivate through sex), and gets uncomfortably to close to Shen Qiao while talking into his ear, making Shen Qiao a hundred times more uncomfortable.
• Chapter 90 is when Yan Wushi fully comes to terms with his feelings towards Shen Qiao and how he has come to admire and respect Shen Qiao's ability to stay true to his core... as well as care for him more than he was willing to admit. His Love Epiphany is best expressed in the "story" that he tells Shen Qiao, and it's obvious what it's an allusion to.
  Yan Wushi: There was once a man. He found a rock amongst piles of gold and silver. But he could not bring himself to believe that this was nothing more than an ordinary rock. Because he believed that, since it was found underneath layers of so much gold and silver, it must have been a treasured jewel. As a result, he would carry this rock with him wherever he went. He had even found a number of people to evaluate it, and polish it down. But every single person, without exception, would tell him that this was only an ordinary rock, and that there was nothing exceptional about it at all. What do you think happens at the end? In the end, he finally believed, that this rock he had was truly nothing more than an ordinary rock of little value. But in his eyes, it was a rock that he would never find again in this world.

Visiting the Bixia Sect

• When Shen Qiao demonstrates the Canglang Sword Arts to Yuwen Song and to Shiwu, Yuwen Song can only express his opinion by reciting an excerpt from the Luo Shen Fu, which is a poem where the narrator serenades the goddess of the Luo River. Yan Wushi is displeased at this and forces Yuwen Song to squat in response, all because the kid recited a poem that could easily be used to describe Shen Qiao's beauty. In other words, Yan Wushi got jealous. Of a child.
• While they're sparring with swords, Shen Qiao asks Yan Wushi where his sword is. In his mind, Yan Wushi reflected about how he only reclaimed Taihua in an attempt to humiliate Shen Qiao, and he simply tossed the sword aside once he got it back. However, Yan Wushi is reluctant to say this to Shen Qiao since he doesn’t want to lose the very little trust Shen Qiao has left in him.

Infiltrating the Imperial Palace

• When Yan Wushi consults Bian Yanmei for advice on how to court Shen Qiao, Bian Yanmei gives his answer, although he's under the assumption that his shizun seeks only a brief hookup with Shen Qiao.
  Yan Wushi: How do you know that all I want is a fleeting dalliance?
  Bian Yanmei: (thinking) Could it be that you want to spend a lifetime together with him?

Battle at Banbu Peak

• During the time Shen Qiao settles his business with Xuandu Mountain once and for all, Yan Wushi decides to adopt a baby deer that he names A-Qiao, and it's implied that it's to help him cope with Shen Qiao's absence.
• While Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi are going on a date the night before Yan Wushi fights Hulugu, Yu Shengyan and the steward start betting on where Yan Wushi is taking Shen Qiao. Yu Shengyan bets that they're heading to a brothel, but once he learns that Yan Wushi named the baby deer "A-Qiao", he realizes that Yan Wushi is actually and seriously in love with Shen Qiao and wishes to take back his bet.

Extras

Novel

Extras 7 and 10

• Shen Qiao is worried that Yan Wushi is suddenly acting aloof and distant when he usually has No Sense of Personal Space around him, and is concerned enough that he even asks someone else for advice on how to court someone. When his attempts to start with small talk don't go over so well, Shen Qiao drags Yan Wushi to an alley and impulsively kisses him on the lips, but Yan Wushi isn't satisfied with merely a peck and they start passionately making out. When an unfortunate passerby happens to see them, Yan Wushi decides that they need to continue their business elsewhere and takes Shen Qiao to an inn. It's obvious what they do next, which is preluded with this exchange:
  Shen Qiao: In my opinion, we should just forget...
  Yan Wushi: You kissed me, and now you intend to abandon me after playing with me?
  Shen Qiao: [struggles to find a good excuse] It’s still early in the day...
  Yan Wushi: You mean then that it's fine once it's nighttime?
  • Just to hammer it in, immediately after the exchange, Yan Wushi pins Shen Qiao onto a table and the scene immediately cuts to the innkeepers questioning what's happening upstairs because of the crashing noises they heard. The innkeeper assumes that the two are sparring, although the innkeeper's assistant correctly guesses that they're having sex.
  • The audio drama decides to add a few steamier touches: before the Fade to Black, the audience can hear Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi exchange several heated kisses as they breathily moan each other's names.
• After Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi have Their First Time, Shen Qiao wakes up and when he remembers what happened, he pulls the covers over himself and balls himself up. He then attempts to put his clothes on underneath the sheets, only for Yan Wushi to tell him since his trousers were ruined, he had someone run into town to get a new one, much to Shen Qiao's embarrassment.
  • Yan Wushi then attempts to tease Shen Qiao more by trying out a new nickname since Shen Qiao wouldn't call him "Yan-lang" outside of bed. He starts calling him "Shen-lang".
    Shen Qiao: (flustered) You... Just go back to calling me A-Qiao!

Extra 8

• In another extra where Shen Qiao turns into a child, Yan Wushi finds him and tries to tease the other, who doesn't remember him. Shen Qiao, who remembers only what he knows when he was still seven years old, recognizes Yan Wushi but also remarks that his master said he was supposed to be a younger person, which seems to irk the other man.
  Yan Wushi: Am I not young? Have you forgotten who complained a few days ago that I was too full of vitality [in bed], and asked me not to do it for too long?

Extra 14

• While waiting for Shen Qiao outside an inn in spite of the cold air, Yan Wushi directly refers to Shen Qiao as his "sweetheart". More specifically, he uses the word xin shangren (心上人), which can translate to either "sweetheart" or "beloved".

Audio Drama

Mini-Theater

Episodes 41 to 45

• Episode 42 has Shen Qiao interview Yan Wushi with questions asked by the fans. Yan Wushi answers the last question rather boldly.
  Shen Qiao: The netizens also want to know, on a typical day, what's your favorite thing to do?
  Yan Wushi: The person reading the questions.
  Shen Qiao: [sighs] Yan-zongzhu, leave me out of this!
• Episode 44 Yan Wushi muses over Shen Qiao being a good partner and when worrying over Shen Qiao finding a partner, Shen Qiao says he will not stray from his Taoist path. Yan Wushi notes that there are different types of cultivation partners and adds that Shen Qiao should just come to Huanyue Sect.
  Yan Wushi: If you don't want to be my disciple, I can give you a different status~
  Shen Qiao: There's no need.
  Yan Wushi: (laughs) Just what kind of status were you thinking? My Huanyue Sect does not accept manservants or flower boys.

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