"I should think the answer is obvious then," Ling Qi said. "The renown of the Wang clan is known far and wide."
Wang Lian nodded once. "Good, I had hoped you would choose that."
Ling Qi was silent as they began to descend the many steps which lead to the foot of the mountain, carved alongside the wide road made for carriages. "Will there be trouble, you think? It's likely that what her grace claims, what we build will abut Wang lands."
"It will be good for her grace to take more for the Cai," Wang Lian replied. "Too much of the Hui land was divided. As for the Wang clan, do not concern yourself. It will be a millennia before we can expand."
"Why is that, if you don't mind the question," Ling Qi asked. "It seems such an uncommon attitude."
"We do not have the men to hold more," Wang Lian replied shortly.
"I do not think that is the whole reason," Ling Qi said quietly. "Those with power are rarely content with what they have."
She worried for a moment that she had overstepped herself when Wang Lian did not reply, and had begun to formulate an apology when she saw the older woman's shoulder's shaking. Not with anger, but quiet laughter.
"I forget already, what it is like to be young. There is more to ambition than lifting larger weights, killing more foes, and painting maps," Wang Lian chuckled. "Of course we want more, but why should we need to go out and conquer for that?"
"I overstepped myself," Ling Qi said. "I apologize, I simply want to better understand the Wang Clan's thinking."
Wang Lian's humor faded as they paused on a landing that interrupted the steps. It was a shaded nook under the shade of a pair of trees with a stone bench beneath them. "You know no doubt that our matriarch was an architect in the service of the Hui before she joined her Grace's rebellion. But I think you do not understand. Do you know of the practice we have in our clan for those who will achieve the higher realms?"
"I do not," Ling Qi admitted, curious.
"Before we depart to find our first Names, and set the foundations of our Way, we are brought before the Matriarch," Wang Lian said, her eyes drifting shut. "There we are shown her vision. I can't describe it too you, not fully, but it is the vision of a far greater future, of teeming cities carved into the mountains, stretching over the rivers, filling the forests, not in the rigid imperial style, or the outdated ways of the past, something that is both of them, made better in the fusion. People are the engines of prosperity and growth. Where they gather they sharpen one another, and greater heights are reached. So much of that has been wasted in the Emerald Seas, pointlessly grabbing at lands when we had scarcely made use of what we had."
She spoke with absolute confidence, and for a moment, Ling Qi felt a shadow in her mind the silhouette of a mountain gleaming with the lights of a city from top to bottom, spilling out into the gentle hills and valleys at its foot, following the natural lines of the land.
"Dreams by any other name," Sixiang chuckled.
"We build Miss Ling, and there is already so much of the Emerald Seas to be built yet," Wang Lian finished.
"That is why you take in Cloud Nomads I suppose," Ling Qi said. "Someone must fill those cities, and few wish to come so far south."
"Nomads are human," Wang Lian grunted. "We may be called fools for that, but it is true. A man is a man, he may be valorous or cowardly, cruel or kind. The young and the willing can be taught the proper ways of living and cultivation, we can take their strengths for ourselves. It is as simple as that. You're White Sky seems to understand that. A hopeful thing."
"I understand," Ling Qi said as they resumed walking.
"Perhaps you do, but my time is running short," Wang Lian said. "Is there anything else you wish to speak to me about?"
Ling Qi mulled it over in her head for a moment, a brief internal consultation with Sixiang, whose focus was on guiding her manner in the conversation. They agreed that Wang Lian's mood was good. "I have some curiosity about the Black Lotus pass, what is the trouble there?"
"Besides it being a nest of the unquiet dead you mean?" Wang Lian harrumphed. "Thrice looted, first by Ogodei, then by the desperate of the resisting warriors Yuan had gathered, and then by the vultures in the war's aftermath. It is no wonder that the dead there are enraged."
"Sect Head Yuan would do such a thing?" Ling Qi said, startled.
Wang Lian grimaced. "I do not mean him ill, and his wife was Li beside. If any had a claim it is her and by extension him. But war does not leave the time for proper mourning and purification rites and the dead do not understand extenuating circumstances."
"I see," Ling Qi said, mulling that over. "I had come to understand that the problem was not just the expense of the exorcism needed."
"It was considered Hui land after Ogodei," Wang Lian said. "After that ceased to mean a thing there were some... squabbles. The Diao and the Wang alike both claim some legacy of the Li through marriages. Ours is the better, the Matriarch's second cousin had a Li Grandfather. The Diao need to go back some four generations to find theirs. It is not worth a great conflict, but one cannot simply abandon a point of pride either."
Ling Qi hummed to herself. She felt an unpleasant aching. If they truly claimed the Li as kin, surely they would want them laid to proper rest. It took some effort to stop herself from saying that. "Thank you for your explanation, Lady Wang."
The older woman gave her a side eyed look, but simply grunted in the affirmative if she wondered at Ling Qi's goals, she didn't voice her questions. They stayed there on the stairs a moment longer before Wang Lian spoke again.
"My time is running short, but for now I have a question for you Baroness."
"I will answer as well as I can," Ling Qi said politely
"What are your intentions toward my brother?" Wang Lian asked, not looking at her.
Ling Qi blinked, Sixiang wheezed. "He is a dependable ally and no more, Even if I had an interest, I would not presume above my station," Ling Qi said, her words rushed.
"Hmph, the Bao do not see your station that way," Wang Lian huffed. "A shame, nonetheless. Chao is a simple man, he needs a cannier sort at his side, and the Cai would not have taken you if you were the wrong sort of canny. But I am not in the habit of pushing these things. I don't suppose you've noticed him showing an interest elsewhere?"
Ling Qi did her best not to seem off balance. "...Not particularly no, maybe Alingge?" Ling Qi said. "He was eager to include her in things at least."
The older woman squinted into the distance. "The girl from the old tribes in Luo lands? Hmph, my little brother is odd. I'll have time to observe for myself. I'm sure you've noticed Chao is not good at hiding things."
"I have sought not to take advantage," Ling Qi said carefully.
"Of course you haven't," Wang Lian said without inflection. "Regardless, I need to take my leave now. I look forward to speaking in detail on your plans later, Baroness."
LIng Qi bowed her head as the woman beside her lost definition, stilling and then then losing color, becoming no more than a pillar of featureless earth. Even that then broke down, dissolving into a cloud of drifting dust. Ling Qi raised her sleeve, shielding her mouth and nose as it disappeared.
"Why in the world does that sort of thing keep coming up?" Ling Qi said irritably.
"Cause it's a big part of the human experience I gather," Sixiang said dryly. "Honestly, we gotta talk sometime, Ling Qi."
"This isn't the time for it," Ling Qi deflected.
"Nah, it isn't," Sixiang agreed easily. When they spoke again it was inside her head. "Back to the boys then? Make sure Wang hasn't convinced Turtle Boy to go sledding down the side of the mountain or something silly?"
She wouldn't put it like that, more like checking again to make sure they were getting along.
"Who isn't anyone's mother again?" Sixiang snickered.
Ling Qi rolled her eyes, and reappeared back on the landing, skipping a half dozen steps with each blink as she returned to the main plaza.
She found Wang Chao and Xuan Shi standing in the shade of one of the trees planted in the miniature gardens that dotted the plaza, already deep in conversation. The both of them looked up at her approach.
"Miss Ling! I was just discussing with Sir Xuan what sort of activity he thought would be the most entertaining when we got together tomorrow."
"This one did not feel it was correct to come to a decision without one of the participants," Xuan Shi said.
"Right, we need your input! I was thinking maybe we could have a competition between us to see whether I might break his defense before you could bypass them or if sir Xuan could keep us both out for an allotted time," Wang Chao said, grinning excitedly.
Ling Qi tilted her head to the side, considering. "You know, that does actually sound fun."
Goodness knew she was probably going to need a chance to relax by tomorrow afternoon. Her Grace would soon arrive, and tomorrow, she would be back to attending the Bai. Stepping into the shade with the two of them, Ling Qi began to ask for the details of the game.
A glance to the north where a growing star gleamed in the darkening sky told her time was short.
