(Another) Baron's Letters
***
Dusk's shadows chased the retreating sunlight from the broad plateau that Chang Xiao Dan called his own.
The mundane bustle of industry didn't cease, but gradually shifted. Restauranteurs and barkeeps, prostitutes and pickpockets; preparing for the rush of clerks and laborers whose toils waned with the light.
Ah, to strive and achieve. How long had it been since he'd last tasted the gratification of advancement.
Chang Xiao Dan didn't envy his vassal's meager accomplishments for a moment. It was beneath him.
His study was situated at the top of the baron's tower, twice as elevated as the outer wall. Lavish qi wrought crystal panes wrapped the entire tier from floor ceiling. Elaborate etchings of cranes seemed to dance along the panoramic view among his mills, markets, and mortals.
A pink flair flickering over the western battlements interrupted his wool gathering. His next meeting was on her way then. Such a high vantage definitely improved signal fidelity from the guard installations. That was only a peripheral benefit though.
No, this extravagant overlook had everything to do with one simple fact; the tableau of his demesne from above, was a very pleasing view.
A chill in the air and a single professional knock preceded Zhu Dai Lu's entrance into the study. "It is the appointed time Milord." She sketched a bow, appropriate for addressing one of marginally higher status, then took a seat facing his desk. "Milady, have a seat, I insist." Chang Xiao Dan replied dryly.
"Clan Zhu is prepared to ratify the contract modifications…" she continued.
"And appropriate consideration, I'm certain." Chang Xiao Dan murmured.
"With the bargained for consideration," Zhu Dai Lu corrected.
He gestured for her to continue.
"Clan Zhu will provide the following;
One recipe, for one cyan advancement aid, not to be distributed beyond Clan Chang's legitimate heirs.
Three score great bows carved from second grade hardwood.
Two hundred head of spiral horn sheep
Finally, profit sharing from joint caravan routes will be shifted two percent in Clan Chang's favor."
Chang Xiao Dan arched an eyebrow, "And assignment of proceeds from the lumber concerns?"
"Upon appropriate consideration," Zhu Dai Lu deadpanned.
"Bargained for consideration by my recollection," came the smug reply.
Zhu Dai Lu actually frowned. "Demand surges from infrastructure booms in the western marshlands and southern frontier have caused the value of lumber to outstrip preliminary assessments. Two percent, and discounted transport fees for agricultural goods."
Chang Xiao Dan nonchalantly shrugged.
"Acceptable. Clan Chang concedes the following," he recited,
"Dissolution trigger number six, lack of productivity, is hereby expunged.
The demand for dissolution and disgorgement of bride price under trigger six is hereby rescinded.
Fourth Young Mistress Zhu may claim the rank of Baron in concert with successor Chang.
The first male issue, in addition to the first issue overall, from any subordinate union shall be entered into Clan Chang's registry, and the Baroness will retain regency rights,
Clan Zhu gains right of first refusal for any single subsequent issue within four years, to be entered into Clan Zhu's registry as the Fourth Young Mistress's contribution. Inheritance or succession via Clan Chang is of course precluded.
Loss of consortium shall be tolled and compensated in equity upon the earlier occurrence of: either party's advancement into cyan, or the passage of 7 years.
The next three harvests of hundred year ghost lily, not to exceed 50 bushels each, shall be reserved for Clan Zhu at 60 percent market value;
And a shrine honoring the Mother Moon shall be erected and staffed in the baroness's cloister."
"And veto power over subsequent recognized unions?" Zhu Dai Lu intoned, eyes glinting… dangerously? amusedly? Chang Xiao Dan couldn't tell.
"Only if patrilineal heirs and estate receive reciprocal power, and only concerning candidates for status above odalisque," Chang Xiao Dan countered, "lest one seek outside consortium and evade dissolution trigger one to enjoy an… unforeseen elevation to dowager."
"Sagacious as ever, Milord." The grin in her voice failed utterly to influence Zhu Dai Lu's pallid lips. "I believe we have reached an accord." They moved to endorse the documents.
"And… satisfaction… eventually." The rakish grin upon Chang Xiao Dan's lips elicited a gasp from the open doorway.
Upon garnering the focus of two fortification stage cultivators, the dusky skinned young woman flushed and fixed her eyes firmly on the tray clasped in her hands.
"Master, I've brought today's missives and your evening repast."
The figure that shuffled into the study wasn't particularly beautiful. Broad featured and broad bodied, Lin Shun was no northern jade doll. Despite her peak inspired robes and hair ornaments, from the arc of her lips to the jut of her hips, Lin Shun's allure could only be described as exotic. Of tribal stock and mediocre cultivation talent, the yellow stage was nonetheless vitally robust and exceptionally obedient. Truly, the Duchess's facilities turned out laudable materials.
As Lin Shun carefully placed the tea service and bundled letters on the desk, Chang Xiao Dan's gaze lingered on the slight swell of her abdomen, and the blessing growing within. Blessings were so hard to come by these days.
"And who's… dispatch… requires our attention this eve?" Zhu Dai Lu's eyes were glinting with amusement this time, Chang Xiao Dan was sure of it.
"Several letters from baronies and one from an undersecretary of the Liu, offering condolences, as well as young prospects as consorts or adoptees, to preserve the Chang's noble title."
The temperature in the study dropped precipitously and the decorative blooms arranged on the tea tray withered. All amusement had fled Zhu Dai Li's eyes; iris, pupil and sclera dimming to the hue of a starless night. Lin Shun ducked behind the heavy pine desk, her gasping breaths visible in the chilly air.
"Hmm…" Chang Xiao Dan hummed as he leaned forward in his chair, long practice allowing him to hide the flash of annoyance that the sight of his wife's unbecoming lapse in restraint brought him. It had been over a year since she had purged her domain blade, yet some ill effects remained.
Zhu Dai Li's puissance was beautiful. But her prodigious cultivation of death qi was ruinous to pillagers and pregnancies alike.
Chang Xiao Dan sent a pulse of qi across the room: a bulwark of impenetrable granite to sequester his women; bolstering Lin Shun's durability and oppressing Zhu Dai Lu's pestilent aura.
As the rumbling qi settled, each woman released a slow calming breath, then regarded the other with an impartial nod. Lin Shun retired from the study undamaged by the outburst. A win if there ever was one.
Chang Xiao Dan slid the offending pages across the desk towards Zhu Dai Lu. He was mostly sure that ink alone would be spilled in any retaliatory dispatches.
"Ahem. And what word from the western steppes?" Chang Xiao Dan revived the discussion.
"Defiance." Zhu Dai Lu promptly replied, "The sharecroppers are dissatisfied with the conversion of terraces for medicinal plants. With whispers of war abounding, they believe it more prudent to dedicate the land to surplus rice.
"My initial idea is to call in their debts, repossess the plats and find some peasants who know their place," Chang Xiao Dan declared. He hadn't suffered years of Elder Shi's tongue lashings so some mortal could tell him what to till.
"That could work," Zhu Dai Lu said, tilting her head slightly to the side in an impassive rebuke, "or it could drive the other commoners to unite behind the malcontents and further act out against your authority."
Chang Xiao Dan huffed in annoyance. "My second idea is to rebalance the crop division and then reassign the ringleaders' debts to the night soil supervisor."
"Transferring the leadership to less frequently patrolled grazelands alongside the new herd should dispatch any unrepentant dissenters." Zhu Dai Lu coolly suggested.
Chang Xiao Dan was actually speechless.
"Any other letters?" she segued.
"The usual droll, to be assigned to the secretaries." He replied. "Only the last one, from Lady Ling is of any interest."
"Lady Ling?" Zhu Dai Lu asked. "On behalf of Lady Cai?"
"Sadly, no," Chang Xiao Dan replied. Such exchanges of favors could garner significant advantage. "Just a query for counsel from an established baron."
"One can only imagine what … counsel… a circle of sirens and bawds desires of an heirless noble and his unsecured birthright," Zhu Dai Lu deadpanned.
She raised a finger and a gust of spectral qi bore the letter from Chang Xiao Dan's hand to her own. "Ah, it seems our terraced croplands have drawn attention," she reported. "Lady Ling is asking for advice on establishing agricultural infrastructure for her new estate."
"Why ask us, when the Wang are already involved?" Chang Xiao Dan pondered.
"Why indeed? If raising pretty flowers for her liege, the Diao make much more apt exemplars." Zhu Dai Lu stoically lampooned.
"What are your real thoughts?" Chang Xiao Dan chuckled.
"It's a ploy," Zhu Dai Lu answered without hesitation. "Lady Ling lacks neither the contacts nor the capital to acquire the information she wants. And she ought not be so foolish as to make baronial development plans by rolling the dice on counsel from untested allies."
"No, this is an attempt to suss out those local powers unwilling to work with her in good faith. The poor neophyte must have exhausted every parlance and pleasantry in her little head penning similar missives to each barony of the Foundation.
"And should we be unwilling to work with her?"
Any struggle with indecision failed to mar Zhu Dai Lu's countenance. "Presentation of that bloodline tapestry and formal recognition of this barbarian empire were satisfying snubs of the peak clinging fops," she began, "but it is dangerous when the instruments of peace and stability insult the powers that be. The Ling are yet small, and not of significant use to justify such a controversial association."
Chang Xiao Dan nodded along. It was an unspoken truth that northern tribesmen and southern imperials had been swapping bloodlines across the wall via pillage and peace bonds, for generations. And northern aspersions cast on southern "mongrel" lineages tended to grate.
"Yet her achievements speak for themselves," he stated, "Word has it that she has been at the spear tip for several assaults on the barbarians, beyond and below."
"And should hostilities erupt, she is useless… here… to us" came the measured reply.
"She is exceptionally deft in her dealings with spirits and beasts."
"I am perfectly capable of dealing with local spirit courts," came the slightly less measured reply.
"There are perhaps, more nuanced approaches than utter annihilation." Chang Xiao Dan smirked. Zhu Dai Lu did not.
He continued, "And that Xuan Wu's performance in the Icebreaker aftermath, shows great agricultural potential."
Zhu Dai Lu floated the letter back to Chang Xiao Dan with a gesture. "In the end I believe that both the decision and the face of engagement should be yours Milord."
"Very well Milady." Chang Xiao Dan's smirk grew wider. "I'll pursue the intercourse. Overawing wives are oft anathema to their ilk."
"Humph." The corner of Zai Dai Lu's lips almost twitched. "Veto."
The two lapsed into contemplative silence. A heavy and deep silence pulsing with ambition that neither were afraid to unveil.
Zhu Dai Lu shattered that silence with an icy surge of qi; covetous and ineluctable. It clashed with an equivalent wave from Chang Xiao Dan; possessive and indomitable. The tower quaked, as death and mountain qi twisted into a wailing obelisk, shooting relentlessly towards the heavens. They stood then, and bowed, as equals this time; their qi whirling about each other.
As Zhu Dai Lu exited the study, Chang Xiao Dan stood and walked to the window overlooking the southern wall. He touched a glyph, and the window emitted a pink burst of light to the receiving mirrors below; informing the guard that their lady reaper was on the move.
There was a tempest brewing out in the darkness, threatening to shake, or even drown his little plot of land. Would the storm's break result from barbarian aggression, noble umbrage, or just natural imperial avarice?
In the end did it matter?
He was the bedrock, bolstering order and bulwarking prosperity. It wasn't his way to see benefits carved away and gain nothing in return.
"Dear Lady Ling," he said as a sheet of paper drifted onto his desk and a brush was lifted by invisible qi, "It is an honor to hear from one such as you…"
