Only in certain historical contexts. Certainly it's not weak in the mythical China of Xianxia.
In comparison to historical Europe, yes, China had stronger feudal authority...but not in Cultivator China, where the old clans have their House Atomics, and its not nearly as connected as Historical China because the great highways and river courses which made traveling across the immense landscape of China, and the pacification of the wilderness made communication and travel safe and easy.
The imperial seat presented here is closer to First Amongst Equals between the Dukes, who're basically sovereign kings on their own, with their vassals having a great deal of free rein because deathworld.
Her discomfort was only made worse by how… fragile everything around her felt. She spent almost all of her time with her peers in cultivation, so these trips into town always felt almost disorienting. She had come to rely on the senses afforded by her cultivation, to see the people around her so lifeless and dark, with barely a spark of active qi and aura to differentiate them stones and pots, it felt like she had walked into a world where all the color and sound had drained away.
"It's not like they're not really there though," Sixiang said quietly, avoiding speaking aloud. "If you bother to look closer, you can still see the things that make them people. They're just not as loud as you cultivators."
Ling Qi accepted the light chiding. Sixiang was right of course. If she actually paid attention she could still easily read the little stories told by mortal auras. For all of their low volume, they were actually much clearer than her peers, whose intentions and thoughts were much more well cloaked, presenting only broad themes to casual inspection.
...Ling Qi, are you using your
threat assessment sense as your main measure of people?! To the point where you can't really notice 'unarmed' people without taking a moment to pay attention?
Though it looks like most Cultivators hide their specific arts, meridians and skills mainly by blaring their primary cultivation colors loudly. Neat.
"Are you sure I can't walk next to you Big Sister?" Hanyi complained.
She could come out when they reached the house, Ling Qi thought calmly.
Guess Hanyi does have enough control to be fine. If a bit chilly.
Being here in public amongst mortals was an exercise in self restraint, of shutting down the passive effects of ones qi as much as possible. It felt like shoving herself into a dress that was three sizes too small. She didn't understand how Elders, who had so very much more to repress could manage it. She wasn't even doing it perfectly. She saw the minute twitches in the postures of passerby as they heard the faint sound of music, and the faint shivers of those who passed nearby. She could probably suppress the feeling entirely if she chose to exercise her stealth skills, but then she would have to deal with people literally not noticing her physical presence, and avoiding the security formations meant to look out for that kind of thing.
Huh, that sounds like she doesn't actually HAVE a problem with controlling her qi, she's just unused to anything between the extremes of 'broadcasting her domain' and 'wrapped everything up so theres nothing to see'.
She just needs to practice. She has all the skills, she just needs to work on the sliding dial instead of the hard toggle.
This time though, as she stepped inside, she found herself briefly coming face to face with a young mortal woman a few years her elder in drab but clean and well kempt clothing. Ling Qi saw almost in slow motion as the young woman's eyes widened in first surprise, then alarm. She saw the way that the mortals grip on the bamboo broom in her hands grew tight enough to whiten her knuckles, and the way her eyes darted too and fro, noting with alarm the parts of the path which were still unswept.
Of course that all happened in a split second, by the time the gate had clicked shut behind her, the young woman had stepped out of her path and bowed low, murmuring a quite "Lady Ling." Ling Qi was just as glad that the young woman had not gone for a full kowtow. She had seen the consideration pass through her body language.
It still felt bizarre. "You may raise your head," it would probably be less alarming if she just kept to a polite distance
Etiquette helps, but hmm...Ling Qi probably should visit more often in the day so they get used to her presence.
Also lady over there, don't worry, Ling Qi didn't even notice the dirty pathway until you panicked. Most cultivation sites are messier.
Relax.
She glanced toward the house, pinpointing the presences of her Mother and Sister as she stepped past the young woman, eager to put the awkwardness behind her.
She ignored the sigh of relief she heard from behind her as she stepped up to the door. The scene repeated itself with another housekeeper, busy with polishing floors in a side hall, but the awkwardness vanished from Ling Qi's thoughts a moment later. She felt her little sister's qi move first, but there was only a difference of moments before the little girl ran around the corner, almost taking a spill on the polished floors. Almost, because Ling Qi had moved without thinking, flickering down the length of the hall to catch her younger sister in her arms before Biyu could faceplant on the floor. "Hey, careful now," she said chidingly, scooping the girl up in her arms as she stood. "You shouldn't run in the house."
Biyu squirmed in her grasp until she could look up at Ling Qi with a bright smile. "Wanted to see Sis-y."
"Oh, how did you know I was coming?" Ling Qi asked absently, feeling another presence coming from around the corner Biyu had come from.
"Heard the song!" her little sister declared enthusiastically.
Biyu's talent is QUITE clear.
Hmm, actually that sounds like the Sensory Talent from chargen? Being able to hear Zhengui as whispering even as a mortal could be either a talent in Fire or Wood, but being able to hear Ling Qi's Music meridians on top of that speaks of Sensory talent.
And her enthusiasm is great.
I'm guessing she faceplants a lot though, given her energy. Zoom zoom~
"Sheesh, she's all little and squishy, are you sure that's she's your sister, Big Sister?" Hanyi asked.
She is, and you need to be nice to her, Ling Qi thought. Out loud she grinned down at her little sister. "That's no excuse, walk next time."
Playdate would be cute, except Hanyi's restraint needs work yet.
"I have been studying trends in presentation and dining for the nobility. I know it is unlikely, but I should like the household to be acceptable if you ever entertain guests," Ling Qingge said quietly.
Ling Qi hadn't even really considered that as an option, even though she really should have. Well, maybe she could invite Xiulan as a test sometime?
...start with Suyin please. So they don't traumatize.
'Thank you," her mother replied with a slight smile. "I admit, things have been somewhat hectic recently, with the terrible storms up in the Mountain. The Sect kept us all safe of course, but it was very unnerving."
"The wind was really scary," Biyu announced solemnly as this time Ling Qingge scooped her up seating the younger girl on her lap as she sat down next to a small table which still held an open book.
Ling Qi laughed sheepishly, glancing away. "Yeah I guess that would have been pretty rough huh?"
Ling Qingge narrowed her eyes, and just for a second, Ling Qi felt like she was seeing the woman she had known when she was still Biyu's size. "Ling Qi… were you involved with the matter?"
Ling Qi considered deflecting, but that wasn't what she was here for. "...More like I was the cause," she admitted.
So...she's like this since she was a kid huh?
Oh, huh, I guess Hannyi is also innately 'Understandable' because she's just human enough that she doesn't basically talk in magic language all the time?
I think its more that Zhengui doesn't actually
have a voicebox capable of making sounds in the human range(turtles can make a wide range of chirps and clicks, while snakes don't even have much modulation ), and so instead just beams meaning at you when he talks, which is just loaded directly.
Remember when we met Heijin as a mortal? He's quite chatty, but we heard nothing.
Hanyi, since she has a physical, humanoid form, can produce human noises. As she's a
singer and a music spirit, she's probably capable of making a broad range of sounds.
With this and the whole thing earlier, the guards and servants of the other high-class households, Ling Qi is getting the panicky -incoming-VIP treatment. She had some experience with that — the whole shaman event and the lumberyard mortals, the deference from the Red and Yellow cultivators under Renxiang's council — but it still seems to be weird for her. When will she be acclimated? It's been roughly almost a year since people have been regarding her as a representative of high-class authority and power.
I'd highlight that Ling Qi spends almost all her time around cultivators and spirits, and almost all of THAT around more powerful cultivators and spirits.
She maintains her self image as being weak because, amongst other things, she had weekly lessons with a Cyan spirit, her best friends are Greens(aside from Suyin), and she spars with Ducal Scions who can, even now, body her all over the place easily.
Maybe one day we can introduce Best Snek Q_Q
Not unless we get a domain power that will protect them.
I will note that about half of Ling Qi's current domain powers would shield people from Meizhen in one way or another. She's like a little umbrella.
Not QUITE enough to introduce Meizhen to mortals YET, their baseline is too low for the current buffs to cut it.
But she's working on it.
