A nice start to
confuse snek maid a new turn!
Seeing Xin again is sweet, my greatest regret regarding the Cai route (as good as it is) is how it means less Xin time.
She even has some good words and implied advice here. Answering Ling Qi's question about the end of Zeqing and her own role in it and how avoidable it was, or not. Whether fully true or not, it should keep Ling Qi from being consumed by any lingering questions regarding it or guilt. Although I don't think she'd really be the type for that anyway. Still, it's a nice touch and Xin continues to be Best!Mom.
We also learn a little about how Divination works in the setting, and that Fate doesn't truly seem set in stone. At least not on a level human existences can comprehend. Taken together with the Xuan admiral twins words, it seems that a sufficiently skilled Diviner can predict with some accuracy who will be important and great turning points in history which may take place. But they can't predict the outcome, yet alone model the whole road of events as, let's call it, a path to victory. This is great news, at least for me, since it means people and their actions matter and they have agency. And not everything is predestined or woven into a strict tapestry of fate that is followed strictly. Predictions are still possible, assuming you have all the factors and account for them. It just becomes... complicated. And probably difficult to know *all* factors. Furthermore, interference is possible, too. So, overall. I am quite happy that Divination or future sight is quite useful and valuable, but not the ultimate 'thing'.
Also, as a side note. Jiao is still playing his role as grumpy old man to the dot. If he hadn't wanted Ling Qi to notice he is upset, she'd never noticed. I am pretty sure he secretly approves of all the chaos she causes and 'interesting times'; of course he'd never admit to doing so. One can also say that in the end, it's less Ling Qi and more Xin pulling the strings, but as noted above; Xin can manipulate and arrange for events, but in the end she isn't 100% accurate and the world isn't a game board. No Aizen level schemes here, and what Ling Qi does and who she is as a person still matters.
Hanyi, for her part doesn't just seem to have cultivated a new Realm level for herself but also a new level of adorableness. Truly, a frightfully potent spirit she is.
I think my favourite line was
"We are treating it as a bit of an impromptu trial, and have rewarded a few disciples for their decisive actions during the storm,"
. Translated, that means that several people in the Outer Sect got handed a reward looking like this: 'Survived Ling Qi going for a walk. - 5 Sect Points'
Leading to several people in the Outer Sect asking 'Who is Ling Qi? And how do I make sure she stays at home?' ... Given that it is possible that Elder Jiao was the one to authorize these Sect Points, I am
convinced that is exactly how the rewards were worded, by the way.
Now, the second part is pretty surprising. A wild Sun Liling appears.
The question is why now. And why like this. Liling wanted to be spotted. Maybe even wanted to be confronted.
She is far from stupid, just usually focused too much on direct conflict and the short term gains to see the large picture and make it to the finish in good condition. At least, that's how she has been. Who knows if she changed.
Going from what we do know of her, though, she should be capable of following Ling Qi undetected. Maybe even if Ling Qi sneaks, since Ling Qi's stealth isn't terrible but not really good for her level and Liling is supposed to be a pretty good tracker. Anyway, we can conclude that Liling wanted to be spotted.
I am not sure if she wanted to be confronted, her wavering Qi might have been indecision about staying or not. Or it was a feint.
We don't have enough information, so everything here is speculation.
One interpretation is that this is political and wasn't about us, the Cai or even the Bai. But that Liling is making a play here to leak information from the Sun to the Cai and embarrass someone within the Sun faction, for her own gain. That seems rather... far-fetched to me, and overvaluing the importance of Renxiang, Meizhen and Liling in the schemes of the adults and actual imperial politics. They are some random kids. Of important people, to be truthful, but they shouldn't have meaningful influence on anything or be actually important at this stage.
On the other hand, at least Liling believes they are all important given her comment about choices made. And there is the theory that Meizhen and Renxiang tea parties lead to the Bai-Cai alliance and a major shift in imperial politics, but... I don't know. I never saw tea as *that* serious, you know? So I believe Liling has a vastly overinflated view of her own importance, or that of Meizhen, Renxiang or any of their actions.
Another interpretation is that Ling Qi upset Liling or her plans and is suddenly appearing on her radar again. Going by our latest actions, the most likely candidate for something like that would be the end of Zeqing and what it did to the Outer Sect mountain. Maybe it did mess with Liling's plans for the Outer Sect, of forming a new faction via proxy and messing with Gan. It would certainly be amusing if it did, but it also seems rather far fetched to me. I don't know why Liling would seriously care about what goes on in the Outer Sect, or about Gan. Even if she can embarrass Renxiang further by having him fail, or messing with Meizhen's designated maid in the Outer Sect, that all feels rather... narrow-minded? She should worry about other things first. On the other hand, from what we can tell she does seem the narrow-minded type, so it's not entirely impossible.
My personal favourite interpretation is that Liling simply wants to mess with Ling Qi and Renxiang. She followed Ling Qi to unnerve her and maybe observe her a little. Ling Qi isn't exactly a player, but she did surprise Liling a few times and maybe Liling now decided it is worth keeping tabs on her. Seems pretty unlikely to me, but who knows. More likely, I think, is that Liling is creating some smoke her and obfuscating issues. With her comment about trouble in the border regions she isn't giving anything away or providing a warning. Everyone knows that the Sun don't approve of the Bai-Cai alliance, and the relevant players will know if the Sun are brazen enough to send actual agents or use whatever means to cause trouble. Maybe Liling is simply re-stating her feud with Renxiang here, and wants Renxiang to go after her in the Inner Sect. Distracting Renxiang and drawing her attention and resources. Given their current rankings, maybe she wants to be challenged by her and crush her in a duel. That seems fairly reasonable, if blatant.
Maybe Liling is aiming for a more political angle and is initiating a major distraction here. Assume for a moment that someone will start trouble at the Cai/Bai border. Liling is now claiming that the Sun are responsible, and so people investigating these troubles will first look to them, maybe missing the actual party who is responsible and making any responses less effective. Maybe causing distrust between the Cai and the current border nobles, or something along these lines. That's... not impossible, but is a pretty round-about way to go about things and seems like a pretty far shot to me. Also, again, placing far more importance on the opinion or information Renxiang and Liling have or provide to their respective families.
So, without further information my educated opinion on Sun Liling and her current schemes are 'I have not the foggiest idea'. With further information from the outside or the next developments that will hopefully change but right now the best course of action seems to be to shrug and go on. If Liling wants to shadow and follow Ling Qi we can't really prevent that. Liling's 'warning' doesn't give us any reasonable course of action, and may in fact be a feint.
What we can take from this is that Liling has not forgotten about Renxiang or Ling Qi and is not a happy camper. In fact, she is quite salty. That's actually a little surprising to me, I was of the opinion that there is a decent chance that Liling learned from last year and was looking forward now. Letting old kiddy grievance rest and focus on improving herself and her own path. It makes sense that she doesn't, and sticks to her old ways, but it is still disappointing.
For us that should mean actually *not* making the same mistakes as Liling and focus on our own (and our friends) path, and look ahead. That does mean keeping an eye on her, but not focusing the majority of our efforts on some petty playground war. Even if Liling really, really seems to want 'Playground War 2.0, never change a losing approach!'
