"Hah, you must be so disappointed to be missing the fun!" Zheng Nan laughed. His arms and legs were a blur, as he jogged beside the carriage, keeping up with the trotting horses with no sign of strain.
"It is quite vexing," Gu Xiulan said absently, studying the raggedly dressed young man. The Zheng truly were unrefined, it was difficult to square his vagabonds garb with his status as a scion of a venerable clan. Well appointed in other ways though.
"Get some oil on him and I'll be the match," Linhuo laughed.
Xiulan huffed, how had her spirit developed such a filthy mind. "What are the Zheng's thoughts on those matters?" She asked idly. Captain Yun had been reluctant to let him join their little caravan. The Zheng's reputation with young lords and ladies were legend for a reason after all. However, he bore a scroll with the official seal of the Zheng's leading council addressed to her Father and Grandfather. Refusal would have been far too rude.
However, she was to remain in the carriage, and he outside it. He had taken this restriction with laughter, and promptly asked Captain Yun if his tent was also off limits. Gu Xiulan had never seen the old officer so mortified. Of course, throughout the following day, she had seen Zheng Nan proposition half of the troops, men and women alike. She supposed he was just playing around, using his clan's reputation to deflect scrutiny.
"According to my Master, the grannies are grumbling a bit," The red haired young man replied easily, bounding along without a care. "Wondering if that new duchess will put on a real show."
"No worries about these new underground beasts?" Xiulan asked idly, peering ahead. The scrub and marginal lands of the western border were giving way to golden sand at this point, with only unnatural patches of green here and there marking the little holdings and farms.
Zheng Nan laughed boisterously. "Ancestor Zhi and the Reveler broke the cave demons over their knees an age ago. If they want a scrap, they'll find us ready for it. They're a cowardly lot though. Can't imagine what could have got them so stirred up."
"How very flippant," Gu Xiulan drawled, resting her cheek in her hand. "Does the prospect of war excite you so?"
"Perhaps it does," The young man replied, a flash of something sharp in his good natured smile. "Things have been a little rough this past millennia, and we Zheng keep finding ourselves left out. Are you telling me, with that arm of yours, that your blood doesn't boil at the notion?"
Gu Xiulan shot him a sharp look. "We of the Golden Fields have had quite enough of ruin," she replied. It was the proper thing to say.
He let out a hearty guffaw, bounding over a road totem and landing in a spray of sand. "As you say Miss Gu, but I have to say, you were a much more entrancing sight with the heavens power coursing through your veins."
She scoffed. "Spare me your idle compliments, cad of Zheng, I am not so naive as all of that."
"A cad I might be, but a Zheng does not lie," He laughed. "You dwellers of field and valley are just too wrapped up in your games to sup properly from the wine of life."
"You should try to have more fun," Linhuo whispered. "Isn't that why you drank the lightning? So you could be strong and unrestrained?"
"You know, you never did give a straight answer," Xiulan said irritably, ignoring her spirit. "What interest do the Zheng clan have in the people of Gu?"
"I already told you, my message is for your Father and Grandfather's ears," Zheng Nan replied, amused. "My Master was quite clear on that, when he gave it to my bond siblings and I to deliver."
Which meant the Gu clan were not the only ones the Zheng were sending messages here. What plot could be afoot in the land of Ebon Rivers.
"But," she glanced his way as he spoke up. "A simple fellow though I might be… I imagine that those grannies are getting a little tired of the world moving along without our say you know? Things these days are getting a bit lax aren't they?" he commented breezily.
"I am not certain what you mean," Gu Xiulan replied carefully.
"Heh, just that it's a real shame that clans like the Gu have been so troubled. We mighta scrapped with your featherbrained forebears, but you're still a peer, ya know?" Zheng Nan replied, still smiling, but something about that wide grin spoke more of threat than joy. "Though the Guo are good lads of course. Earned their spot with blood and sweat, and do things in the proper ways, as far as you lowlanders can manage. Got a sister going out that way too."
Gu Xiulan swallowed, put off by the sudden seriousness of his tone and the implications of his words. "...I appreciate the regard of such a storied clan. I am sure my Father will receive you with great honor."
"Hah! I'm sure he will," Zheng Nan said brightly. "I'm looking forward to getting a taste of those storied Gu roasts. And maybe finding someone less uptight to chat up!"
Gu Xiulan smiled tightly. "Yes, perhaps so. Regardless, please excuse me, Sir Zheng."
Xiulan drew the curtain shut as he nodded an absent dismissal, turning his eyes to a returning outrider. She leaned back into her padded seat, clasping the pendant hanging from her neck in her hand. The flows of Ling Qi's energy were like a cool balm on her hand. She wondered at the true implications of the Zheng's words. She was no master of imperial politics, not like Mother, but, all the same, it felt as if she had just learned something important. Between the appearance of the Duchess at the tournament and her declaration of alliance with the Bai, this barbarian war, and now the movements of the Zheng…
Just what was happening in the Empire of late?
And what was this excitement she felt?
AN: Another piece from the commission backlog. Hope it can tide you over while I get the next arc set up.
