Fengqing

Fengqing is the slash ship between Feng Xin and Mu Qing from the Heaven Official's Blessing fandom.

Canon
Feng Xin and Mu Qing have known each other for over 800 years. They first met when they were still mortals and both working under Xie Lian, the Crown Prince of their nation. While Feng Xin was the Imperial Bodyguard, Mu Qing was the personal servant of Xie Lian. Their first interaction is not depicted, but they have disliked each other from the very beginning. The two frequently got into fights so Xie Lian often had to step in and make them both revise idioms together.

Feng Xin especially distrusted him and has always had a hard time reading Mu Qing’s feelings. This resulted in him quickly accusing Mu Qing of various things and a lot of conflict due to their miscommunication.

The two eventually got promoted to deputy gods after Xie Lian ascended. They continued to faithfully serve him and work side by side to sort out prayers for years. The fall of their kingdom caused several fights to spark between them, but the three stayed together even after Xie Lian was banished following the war. They were on the run for a few years and lived in poor circumstances, working miniscule jobs to support themselves.

After his ideas for the miserable situation got turned down and with the motivation to take care of his own mother, Mu Qing ultimately left Feng Xin and Xie Lian. Feng Xin felt as if his suspicions that Mu Qing couldn’t be trusted were confirmed and they parted on bad terms. The next time they saw each other was when Mu Qing returned to bring them food that he had gotten access to after returning to the Middle Court. Due to Feng Xin’s and Xie Lian’s situations worsening, Feng Xin actually accepts the offer.

When Xie Lian returns home however and tells Feng Xin what transpired on the spiritual mountain, Feng Xin becomes absolutely enraged with Mu Qing. He and Xie Lian reject the food and throw it at him before chasing him out of the shack. Mu Qing leaves in the end, although he’s hesitant and even apologizes for what he did.

Feng Xin and Mu Qing reunite after both ascending on their own. Not much is known about what transpired between them during the 800 years before the start of the novel, but they both became martial gods of the South. While Feng Xin became the martial god of the Southeast, Mu Qing became the martial god of the Southwest. Their rivalry became incredibly well known in the mortal realm, as well as in the Heavenly Capital where they would frequently have fights.

After Xie Lian ascends for a third time, they both disguise themselves as junior officials called "Fu Yao" (Mu Qing) and "Nan Feng" (Feng Xin). They accompany him on his first two missions in the mortal realm, the first being the Ghost Bridegroom incident. They arrive together in a small tea shop where they converse with Xie Lian about the objective of the mission before searching shelter for the night. The group ends up in one of Feng Xin's temple where Mu Qing proceeds to thoroughly criticize the appearance of the statue and also tells Xie Lian about Feng Xin's reputation as a god of "giant masculinity", reciting a poem about it to tease Feng Xin.

Novel

 * Chapter 174: While running away from the avalanche, Mu Qing gets stuck in a hole in the ground. Feng Xin stops in his tracks to turn around and help him, although it's too late and they both get swallowed by the snow.
 * Chapter 235: Feng Xin saves Mu Qing's life by jumping into the lava pit and leaping up with him so Xie Lian could get them back on the bridge. He carries Mu Qing on his back due to the latter's injuries as well, admitting that he heard Mu Qing's conversation with Xie Lian and being surprised that Mu Qing had such a sensible side.
 * Chapter 244: At Puji Shrine, they playfully banter with the brooms before eating together.

Donghua

 * Episode 1: They’re both shown in bridesmaid attire in a quick shot.
 * Episode 7: They’re tied chest to chest when Ruoye pulls them into the air during the sandstorm which disgusts them both. They also both giggle together in the cave later on.

Manhua

 * Chapter 29: When Xie Lian greets them, Mu Qing’s ponytail is flying into Feng Xin’s face due to the wind. In the next panel Feng Xin removes the hair from his face while being annoyed.

Fanon
Fengqing is one of most popular ships in the TGCF fandom. While the amount of fans was relatively small in the beginning, the ship’s fanon content grew with TGCF’s rising popularity and the adaptations. On AO3, Fengqing is the most written ship for both Feng Xin and Mu Qing. It is also the 3rd most written ship on AO3 in the TGCF tag.

Many people are fond of their tension-filled dynamic, their sometimes comical interactions in canon, the possible rivals to lovers development and their contrasting personalities. Them canonically not hesitating to save each other when one is in danger has also contributed to the love for this ship.

A common argument as to why they would be a good romantic match is that they have the ability to fulfill each other’s needs. While Feng Xin is an extremely protective and devoted person who yearns to be a source of reliability, Mu Qing is an incredibly misunderstood and affection starved character. Fengqing fans see a lot of potential in this and find the concept of their former hatred developing into a bond of love appealing and touching. Them knowing each other best and working exceedingly well together despite their rivalry is also beloved by many.

One of the most wide spread depictions of their relationship is actually that of a cat and dog. Mu Qing is commonly seen as a cat due to his graceful appearance and seemingly cold but secretly affectionate nature while Feng Xin is usually seen as a dog because of his loud presence and loyalty. Not only is this motive expressed a lot in fan art, but was also partially confirmed as canon as the manhua showed them with cat and dog features.

The sexual aspect of the ship is also enjoyed by many. The contrast of Feng Xin being revered as god of giant masculinity (a mishap by mortals that led to Feng Xin’s deity title being a euphemism for a large male member) and Mu Qing practicing a cultivation that requires abstinence from worldly pleasures like sex is often a topic in pornographic fanworks. Since Mu Qing even teases Feng Xin about his reputation in canon, many joke this as either him being curious as to how true it rings or him actually bragging to others that he has intercourse with such a god.

The ship is overall well liked and also supported by those who mainly ship other ships. They are jokingly depicted as the third wheels of the main couple of the novel, Hualian, as they travel alongside them but are shown to be annoyed whenever they’re affectionate with each other. However, Mu Qing has often been the target of discourse within the fandom. As a lot of Fengqing fans are very protective of Mu Qing, they are usually the first to defend Mu Qing whenever such discussions circulate.

Many hoped for more depth or insight from the novel into their characters and relationship. There’s often agreed upon disappointment that Mu Qing never received a proper apology and that Feng Xin’s character lacks development and complexity. Most are currently waiting for adaptations to reach Fengqing's proper introduction as their full appearances have mainly been hidden so far, especially in the manhua.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

TUMBLR

TWITTER

Trivia

 * A lot of Fengqing shippers, especially those who have it as their main ship, put the bow and sword emojis in their Twitter display name as a symbol for it.
 * The emojis are a reference to their respective weapons.
 * Mu Qing knows a poem about Feng Xin's reputation as a god of "giant masculinity" by heart.
 * They have always been and still are on the same level of martial might.
 * Not only do they share a rivalry, but their worshippers dislike each other too and constantly try to beat each other in the Battle of the Lanterns.
 * They're often compared to the sun and moon as well.
 * Many fans like to imagine that Feng Xin took care of Mu Qing and his severe injuries post-canon.
 * The ship name "NanYao" is commonly used for Fengqing when in their alter ego disguises, although sometimes Nan Feng and Fu Yao are depicted as their own characters and thus that would be their ship name.
 * There are multiple tropes that often appear within fanworks when they're depicted as their own characters. Most commonly those are Nan Feng and Fu Yao being the adoptive children of Fengqing or a Romeo & Juliet kind of concept where Nan Feng and Fu Yao are in love but their respective general is against it.