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Opening framing. He's portrayed himself as cold to us, which is probably a good move on his part to establish bona fides with the Meng conservatives without actually changing anything, so I'm going to mark it up to neutral in my head.
He is foundationally opposed to the heron general, and he probably thinks the downfall of the hui happened yesterday.
Also, the phrasing "settle the ripples" really meshes well with his domain, doesn't it?
The third example of water surfaces used as defense we've seen then- Bai, Gu, and Meng.
Thinking about attacking into water, it's the refraction that makes it hard- you can see the thing straight on, but on the way to it lines of sight aren't straight, so everything ends up aimed high.
But that seems to apply to marshes and oasi, where there's a lot more focus on life- predators and prey- than the monohydric distances of the bai's lake.
Might be something for Ling Qi in there, since she is looking for new perspectives, and refraction defenses can be done with clear ice as easily as water. (Less effectively? Lower density equals shallower angles of deflection?)
Makes you wonder how many places he's seen where the old spirits were wiped out. Bet you he's doing the 'i told you so' internal monologue thing about the local spirits.
Bet this is exactly the guy who would prosecute the Daio if stories about fox mama for out. We'll want to be careful to not bring Su Ling into contact, to avoid that can of worms.
Thank you! Dan steps up with a reminder that they new generation is new and most be judged on their own words and actions. 'Be fair' phased as praise for the three of us personally.
And a reminder that if he wants the 'new ways' to change, we are the lever he has available and we've been on his side thus far.
Laying the seeds to have him with us against shenhua and thinking it was his own idea.
This has so much nuance! He knows she had only had a few years of actual study, so there's going to be huge gaps, so anything she has learned she's probably learned for a reason. So he baits with an implication of a sort of bribery, and the threat of lower status in his eyes.
She responds with a hint that she has more original sources than the tapestry up her sleeves- leaving open the possibility that her knowledge is coming from her part of the loot and thus giving him a pedigree he'd be able to rationalize- distances herself implicitly from the hui, and then the core of it.
Honest, and student. I think these are separate things here, really- honest is about what she is putting in, student is about what she is getting out. She isn't doing this to undermine or leverage it is what she is saying with the honest bit, inviting him to expose some honesty and thus vulnerability of his own. And she's going to keep selling out more, reconstructing it and digging into it's secrets. Student is a declaration of long term intent, in a way that is almost entirely nonthreatening.
Also, 'dreaming way of the pure one' is a very specific subset of the dreaming way, which is not a distinction that many would make, I think. Both knowledge and membership is implied by this denial.
And he does not expose honesty in turn. He's refusing personal relationship overtures, but I think this is him endorsing us- I can see him saying exactly this to the Meng conservatives and having it come across to them as endorsement, so I think we were suddenly over the edge of what he felt was his place to say.
I hope he says it to them. "I can work with them" would be very solid step in peeling them away from the duchess.
Interestingly, ling qi reciprocates on his implication of constrained power, though again with sincerity and honesty against his opaqueness.
Seeing more clearly when you are closer in the fog, vs concealment available at all distances in a swamp?
Also, "I must be" not "I just be seen as". It's the second that matters and they both know it, but this point that she actually has to be sincere about it for her to be able to act as if she were not. It's an internal point, and it says good things about her actual loyalties and identification.
Thus, he goes exactly for the spot that rubs everyone who lived through ogdei the wrong way. And he doesn't do it by asking her, he does it by stating it as fact. Besides pointing out that he's talked to the wang about us, because she's the one who would be able to tell him, he's contrasting us favorably with the previous group.
The way he hesitated over adoption was definitely deliberate, emphasizing the word choice: not blood but still family.
He's on our side in the 'don't do a colonialism' school of thought. That might be worth digging into more later.
"Remain strong and united"
Huh.
So, first off, a reminder the need for this in the immediate term, of the Sun marching an army in and the two-fronted war they are 'helping' out with. (Do I have that right? Sun is ostensibly coming personally to assist the duchess on campaign?)
Second, a declaration that they are not going to forment any... alternatives to the duchess- at least, not in any way that would weaken the emerald sea.
Third, optimism that this is a good thing, implying it doesn't have to be a thing that erodes the old ways in exchange for strength.
His response?
He's got a model in his head of what is in our head now, and he understands it. That means he can work with us, and he can represent us honestly after the summit. I think we did do about as well as can be expected.
Here's the gamble!
This would piss off his elder no doubt, but his elder is the most likely vector for the outside disruptors at the moment...
But in the moment, we are asking this boy if he is willing to choose us over his family.
He says yes.
He says yes, and we smile and hold eye contact, and he makes a joke, and we smile and hold eye contact, and he points out that we should stop and go to our lady, and we smile and hold eye contact. And he gets embarrassed and looks away. Crush, hi.
I love the unconscious intimacy Ling Qi offers here. She's letting herself be happy with him, and letting him see it.
SUPER cute. I like it.
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