Honestly, yeah. I don't get where's the fire. We aren't Cai's minions, we're allies of convenience. I willing to take a symbolic defeat to maintain our appearance of respectability, but I don't want a real and expensive defeat propping her up, when it won't work anyways.
It's not concern over Cai - unlike some, I don't think that even Cai's "student government" collapsing would be more than a moderate setback to Ling Qi. Ling Qi is now fairly strong on her own, has reasonably well-established allies and only a couple of notable enemies (Kang Zihao, Sun Liling - and Liling seems to have some respect for Ling Qi and seems to mostly care about good fights. While Kang Zihao has... somewhat fewer followers than he once had). Zhengui has hatched, so she doesn't really have any critical attachment to her home (also, she should have set up those formations she knows...). Rare pills, slips and stones can be stashed somewhere safe (say, the trial location, or find a nice hidden cave). Ling Qi herself could simply live elsewhere, as could Meizhen.
She'd probably have to fend off one or two attacks from people with a grudge against Renxiang or against Qi herself who were cowed by the student government - perhaps a group attack even, although I'm not really sure how many people even Kang Zihao can put together and motivate to go after her (yes, he's done a largish number before - but he kept
failing and then they got brutalized by members of Cai's faction, and by now the number of people willing to follow him is... probably somewhat less than before). But, on the flip side, she's also unfettered. She'd lose the allowance, which would be inconvenient - but she's got somewhat less of an urgent need for pills now.
No, my concern at least is over Ling Qi's actual friends - Chu Song claims the Bai isn't in danger from what Sun Liling's up to ('yet'), and then there's Gu Xiulan, especially with the other Golden Fields bunch occupied. Although Gu Xiulan does have an elder sister who might give someone going after her a bit of a pause if they're tempted to go too far, said elder sister has some limits to what she can do to an outer sect disciple... yet (of course, said disciple might want to pass on getting in to the inner sect...).
Perhaps if the update had Chu Song give some more details on what Liling's up to I'd prefer talking - for example, if it's a duel, or a team fight of Liling and Feng against Renxiang and Guangli? No problem; I'm not sure Liling winning will actually change anything as far as Cai Renxiang's governmental efforts go (really, as I see it, all Liling wants is to establish she's the top fighter - she doesn't really give a damn as to whether Renxiang brings together the rest of the disciples in some kind of organization, she just wants some good fights). But is it just Ling Qi that Sun Liling took measures to keep away from the fight? Although, to be honest, that seemed to be more because Ling Qi can shut down her trump card(s) than a general clearing away of obstacles to her craved-for duel.
When it gets down to it, I'd really like Ling Qi and Chu Song to establish a neutral relationship. It's not like there's any particular grudges either way, they both have things in common and can probably come to occasional arrangements. Unfortunately, Cai Renxiang seems to have decides that Chu Song is an opponent (? - although that seems to be a non-concrete judgment), so a positive relationship there might be awkward. And I wouldn't mind a chance for a fight between them (although that risks showing Ling Qi's hand to an almost certain future competitor); it'd be a good challenge and, assuming stakes are reasonable, for little risk.
