In and out, the needle plunged into the meat of her forearm, drawing the weeping edge of the wound closed, with a glittering thread of colorless qi. Blood that flickered with phosphorescent light glittered like jewels on the table below.
Cai Renxiang was silent and still, save for the near mechanical motion of her other hand as she repaired her self inflicted wound. Perfection was, as always a prerequisite. Scars and blemishes were unacceptable, Mother had carved that lesson into her bones, and she had not the skill to spin new flesh wholesale as Mother did.
So she stitched, drawing the torn flesh of the cursed wound together a little more with each precise motion. This was her penance for allowing things to grow so far out of control. For failing to anticipate the red princess's plot.
No that was not right, she supposed. This was the punishment for being insufficiently prepared, that Sun Liling would return and raise chaos had been a foregone conclusion. Her subordinates declared her victory outside even now, but she knew better. This had been a draw at best, her throne was maintained, yet bandits wandered at the very border. What would Mother think?
Cold fingers, harder than diamond dug into her small shoulders, drawing blood, and she trembled. The terrible inhuman radiance of Mother's eyes made her heart seize in her chest. Babbled apologies fell from her lips, but there was no mercy. Only Mother's hands and pain.
Cai Renxiang let out a soft breath as she finished her work, laying aside the needle for a delicate pair of scissors as she finished the seam. The worst was prevented. She had not been defeated, truly. Sun Liling had bloodied her nose, but little more. The princess was not fool enough to face them directly again yet.
It was immensely frustrating, she mused as she began to clean and put away her tools. Intrigue was not her strong suite, she knew that. There was very little plotting in Mother's court, because mother knew. She always knew, and the miserable pigs who bowed and scraped and danced for her amusement knew that she did.
By the time of her birth, none dared plot against the duchess. The Chu had been her first example, their refusal to accept the new order and the curbing of their rights ending in single handed erasure of all save their youngest generation, who had been crippled instead.
Which brought her problems now, if Bai Meizhen's words were true. She had remembered the name, when the boy, Fu Xiang had mentioned her, but only later had she matched it to those Chu, the ragged remnants, left alive as an example to Mother's other vassals, reduced to common soldiery.
It seemed that would be changing though, with this girl, she mused. Yet another small issue, which, with the others was quickly becoming a mountain. Her base of power, at least was secure. The son of Xuan was a solid ally, asking little in return for his service. That was a simple matter of trade politics, unlikely to change, though she had caught his eyes lingering on her from time to time. If he bore an attraction, that only tied him all the tighter to her cause.
The Huang boy was a simple creature, easy to manipulate. His hated foe lay on the other side of the divide, and that would be enough. His crude appetites were easy enough to use as a leash. If need be, she could promise some small aid to his ailing house. Mother had granted her a limited set of resources to secure such alliances after all.
The eastern bloc was trickier. The Han boy was more intelligent than his indolent reputation would have indicated, and he had a strong group of supporters. Cai Renxiang rose from her seat without swaying, despite the light headedness that came from feeding too much blood to Liming.
Her gown stirred, silk brushing across her skin as the eyes on her chest shifted, and a susurrus of hungry voices whispered in her thoughts. She crushed the intrusion with the ease of Long practice, and Liming stilled. She crossed her dimly lit room and placed the teakwood container back on the shelf, taking a moment to ensure its exact placement. Turning on her heel, she extended a hand and her saber rattled briefly before flying to her hand.
She could not simply sit and think. There was a schedule to keep, a meeting with Fu Xiang to review intelligence and plan future operations, she would need to speak words of encouragement to her many lesser supporters as Guangli began training them, and then she would need to focus upon her own cultivation. Her lagging physique galled her.
She reached the door and cast it open, striding across the symmetrically perfect hall that lead from her chambers to her homes sitting room. She would have to begin refitting the mansion Sun Liling had abandoned, if she could find the moment and resources for it. She had left it alone in the vain hope that that barbarian would settle down after her punishment.
Bai Meizhen had been right in that. It had been a futile thought, and she resolved to listen more closely to the girls advice on the matter in the future.
Acquiring the good will of the Bai daughter had been a windfall. She did not know the details of what had occurred to leave the girl so distraught, but she was thankful for it in a way. The distant, distrusting Bai were notoriously difficult to wrangle into alliance. That she could acquire a tentative closeness merely with a sympathetic ear and her mid afternoon tea time was nothing short of heaven sent providence.
...It helped perhaps, that Bai Meizhen was not unpleasant to spend her tea time with. The girl was well educated and politically savvy, even if she lacked the initiative to make use of it. The alliance with Bai was useful, and would be into the future. Mother understood that, and so did she. A house like the Bai would not stay down for long. Even at their lowest, no one save the imperial house had dared make any direct moves. Reviled as they might be, power was power, and whatever rumor might say, her measure of the pale girl said that she would remember her friends well indeed.
She was still dubious of Cai's justice of course, but she was a readier listener than most, the Bai had suffered much for the 'freedoms' built into the empires traditions. Control was necessary, the empire was a quilt coming apart at the seams, pulled by the petty and endless squabbles of hundreds of clans. The establishment of the Sects and even the Ministry of integrity were but poorly crafted patches, peeling away and adding their own rips to the fabric of society.
Bringing order to the chaos of the outer sect was her first test, and she would not fail. She had not survived Mother's training only to fail now. These rebellious dogs would be brought to heel one way or another.
