Threads Of Destiny(Eastern Fantasy, Sequel to Forge of Destiny)

[yrsillar]

"Let me speak with Xia Anxi," Ling Qi said after a moment's thought. She wasn't certain how genuine his interest had been, but it would be interesting to speak to a musician from such a distant tradition. Plus she had paid more mind to the other Bai yesterday, it wouldn't do to snub.

"I will imply my interest in his assistance with keeping relations high then," Meizhen said.

"Why not just tell him?" Ling Qi asked curiously, taking a drink from her slush filled cup. She quite liked this, maybe she should try it with other drinks, the texture of the ice was pleasant.

"It is good to allow your subordinates to appear as if they are anticipating your desires," Bai Meizhen replied. "It is a kindness for new members of my entourage, or so Lady Xilai says. I trust her experience in the matter."

"It is not an uncommon practice, though it is not my preference," Cai Renxiang said absently.

"Good thing, else I'd have made a fool of myself," Ling Qi chuckled.

"Indeed," Cai Renxiang replied.

They shared a laugh, the three of them. It was good to relax now while they had a chance, veiled from the public eye. Tomorrow, they would be back, and the theatre of society would resume. Now though, they could simply be good friends.

***​

"The first match was at least a little interesting," Lao Keung said, leaning against the railing which separated their box from the general crowd of the stands. "Good spearwork at least."

"Hm, workmanlike at best," Xia Anxi drawled, he remained in the seat beside her. It was actually a little funny how stubborn he was being in that regard. "Neither combatant had any real grace. But yes, an entertaining brawl."

Ling Qi nodded absently. Gun Jun had won, but it was a close thing.

"The dedication of both combatants was admirable." Bai Meizhen said. "I will not blame the Sect for the dullness of the second and third though. It was inevitable given the competition, just as my own first match was last year."

Bai Meizhen, Cai Renxiang, Lao Keung and Xia Anxi all occupied this lower box with her today. They were essentially the Bai-Cai alliance junior division, as it were.

"Pfft, you make it sound funnier than it is," Sixiang snickered.

"A certain respect is deserved for Lady Bai," Xia Anxi said. "But being expected does not make it any less dull."

Lu Feng's match had just ended, and as expected it was a swift one. Just as Gan Guangli's before it had been. Third realms as advanced as they were against second realms… being allowed to show off their skills a bit in kindness from their opponents was the best they could expect.

"I'd heard you went very soft on your opponent in the first match Lady Bai," Lao Keung said. It wasn't quite a question, like when he'd asked permission to stand instead of sit. Still Ling Qi felt like he was probing at her friend.

"Pain and fear are tools like any other," Meizhen replied. "While the strength of the clan must be maintained, there is little purpose in terrorizing an individual whose only offense is poor fortune in a drawing. Using those tools in such a… random way devalues their threat."

"I see, thank you for explaining your reasoning, Lady Bai," Lao Keung said.

As they were having that conversation, Ling Qi observed Xia Anxi out of the corner of her eye, as he was doing to her.

"This next one, you implied that you knew her?" he asked, drumming his slender fingers on the arm rest.

"I fought her," Ling Qi clarified, looking down to the arenas, where Chu Song was now taking up a position opposite another older disciple. He was only early green realm though, compared to her solid appraisal. "She was strong, but lacked the flexibility to deal with me."

"Unfortunate for her," Xia Anxi said. "Is it true that she openly insulted your liege?"

"Not so much at the tournament," Ling Qi said. It was more that Ling Qi riled her up. "Well I may have baited her."

"Oh? Do tell," Xia Anxi said, raising an eyebrow.

The words felt crueler now, looking back, but Ling Qi couldn't bring herself to feel particularly bad. "I asked her why I should care for the memory of a clan a hundred years dead."

"Blunt, but effective," Xia Anxi chuckled. "Ah, she must have raged. Those sorts always do."

"Yes," Ling Qi said, looking down at the match. Chu Song and the other disciple were clashing in the midst of a stony field, and she was seemed to be coming out the better. Chu Song's cultivation hadn't improved much, but to Ling Qi's eye, her skills had. Her movement and demeanor were both much more controlled, her swordplay more disciplined.

"Though I must wonder why the Duchess left any of the Chu alive at all. It's best to finish things with foes. Anything else is just buying future trouble," he mused. "Of course, I am sure I simply cannot see such a cultivator's plans."
Ling Qi didn't answer at first. Why had the Duchess spared any of them? Going as far as she did, there would have been no more objection to finishing the clan entirely, perhaps allowing spouses and children to change their names and join their partner or parents clans. Why allow the Chu to persist at all? "Perhaps living examples are more effective than dead stone and ruins?"

Xia Anxi nodded thoughtfully. "A fair point, yes."

Below in the arena, the boy Chu Song was fighting broke away with a movement art, and leapt into the air. A great condor materialized above him, carrying him into the sky in its talons. Ling Qi saw Chu Song's expression twist into a snarl as she reached up and clenched a fist. She felt the wind in the arena change, a massive downdraft slamming her foe and his beast back to earth.

"I made an impression it seems," Ling Qi observed.

"You can fly, that is right," Xia Anxi said thoughtfully. "Tell me, what is it like?"

Ling Qi blinked, turning her gaze to him. He was still looking down at the arena's watching Chu Song hound down her foes. "Its the most refreshing thing in the world. The feeling of being unmoored from everything weightless and free."

He nodded and a moment of silence passed, Ling Qi listened absently to the polite and formal back and forth between Meizhen and Lady Renxiang.

"What is the sea like?" Ling Qi asked. "I've seen forests and mountains and vales, rivers and plains of snow, but never the ocean."

"It is powerful," Xia Anxi said, sounding a touch nostalgic. "A million, million tonnes of water pounding upon the shore in a rhythm as old as time, glittering beauty of wave and surf, vast beyond even the confines of the horizon, with depths of mystery to match even sacred lake Hei."

"My, how poetic," Ling Qi said.

He sniffed. "I do write the lyrics of my personal songs."

"Ugh, lyrics. I am not much for spoken words. A clear melody carries meaning better," Ling Qi replied.

Sixiang grumbled in her head.

"The spoken word is among the first works of art made by man," Xia Anxi replied haughtily. "You should not dismiss it so."

"Is that so," Ling Qi said, tilting her head. She considered him for a moment. "If you will excuse the question, how did you come by your talent. I was under the impression the Bai did not have much focus on music."

"The esteemed White Serpent do not engage with such arts," Xia Anxi said, his eyes flicking briefly toward Meizhen. "But the Blue have their work song, and even the red and the green their marching hymns and drums. The Xia draw their song from the sea which has its uses in cultivating our coral."

"Coral?" Ling Qi asked.

"Ah yes, a southlander wouldn't know," Xia Anxi chuckled. "Most think it a sort of stone, but it is more akin to your trees, living and immobile, it grows underwater in sprawling and beautiful formations. We tend and cultivate it for our underwater holdings, both in our homes and as fortification against the leviathans which prowl the kelp beds of the red jungle. But even beside that, the spirits of wind and wave have always responded well to song."

Ling Qi struggled to picture that, but it was interesting. She did know there was some weilu traditions toward shaping trees through song, her dossier on the Meng had indicated that they made heavy use of living wood and plant life in their traditional architecture.

"It does sound beautiful, I'd like to see it someday," Ling Qi mused.

"Perhaps I might send for a painting, to remind me of home," he said flippantly.

"Ah, trivial of course," Ling Qi said dryly. The match was wrapping up. Chu Song had won handily, not even bringing out her spirit beast.

"I am a man of some means and talent," Xia Anxi preened.

"Naturally," Ling Qi chuckled, leaning back in her seat. There would be a brief intermission before the fifth match began. Where to take this conversation from here…

[] Talk shop, your own musical inspirations and teachers, try to draw out his. (80% chance to raise bond level to 1)
[] Talk more about places, about the sea and the sky, and the differences in the expressions of beauty. (60% chance to raise bond level to 1. Gain 1 XP toward expression.)

 

[yrsillar]

"I wonder," Ling Qi mused. She had an idea, and Sixiang was amenable to helping. "You make the sea sound beautiful, but I think the sky is a greater inspiration for artists."

"As you have never seen it, that is unsurprising," Xia Anxi replied. "The majesty and romance of the ocean is the pinnacle of the world's beauty."

"I don't know," Ling Qi said, keeping half an eye on the arena. "The sky is the vault of heaven, the closest the material world comes to the Father's essence. It is the open canvas of the world, free for inspiration to strike like lightning, and creativity to blow in on the wind. Since it represents the world's creative forces, it seems obvious that it would be superior."

"Well, I suppose one who followed modern orthodoxy would think so," Xia Anxi said with a sniff. "The eight elements model is an artificial imposition on the world, which the five elements better represent. The ocean, being the tears of the Nameless father for his slain wife, is the ultimate representation of emotion, which is ultimately the source of art."

Well this was working, some condescension still, but he was taking her seriously. She would have to thank Sixiang later for feeding her information.

"You can thank me by actually remembering this stuff and learning on your own," Sixiang grumbled.

"Hm, I think water as a representation of persistence and stubborn advancement is more accurate," Ling Qi said. "Emotion is better represented by spontaneity. Is that not how passions work?"

"It is not spontaneity which makes art," Xia Anxi said, finally turning fully in his seat to face her. "PFah any dabbler may have inspiration. A true artist, of song or pigment or any other type, must have in them a persistence, a refusal to leave a work unfinished. This is the passion of the sea, deep and abiding, shaping beauty of islands and beaches over eons with the wear of the waves."

Ling Qi smiled faintly. "True, although I'd argue the wind does the same with the mountains and hills. But all the same without inspiration and innovation, you will only endlessly repeat the styles of your ancestors."

"And what is wrong with that?" he replied. "To iterate again and again, this is how the world advances. So to with art. I study the work of my ancestors. There is no need to reject the past in order to create new things. They have given us tools, only fools refuse to use them."

"I suppose I have been told that I follow in the style of Grandmistress Lei, though my only teacher was the spirit Zeqing," Ling Qi said, loosening her grip on her qi enough that her mentors name vibrated with the meaning underneath the base sound.

"A testament to the Grandmistress' skill that her style became so much a part of the world," Xia Anxi said, a note of fervency in his voice. "That is what I mean, even one with no learning uses the tools left by behind by those such as her. The works of the Coral Serpent, first of our line are much the same. Even the urchins and toughs of the docks sing her songs, crude as the rendition might be."

Ling Qi tilted her head to the side. "...How would you know what songs street urchins and labourers sing?"

Xia Anxi's golden eyes widened marginally before his expression smoothed over. "I speak in metaphor of course, to express how deeply a true grandmaster affects the world."

"Right," Ling Qi said, not letting her dubiousness show. Something to file away for later. "To get back to the original point though, I think the nature of the heavens is more expansive. Within it you have the seasons, from which my winter is drawn, you have weather, which shapes both the people and the land, and crucially, it is omnipresent. Any person, anywhere may look to it.

"It may be true that the majesty of the sea is exclusive to those who live on its shores and above or below the waves, but the rest of that is nonsense," Xia Anxi dismissed, leaning upon the arm of his seat. "Weather arises from the cycle of rains, and even the winds arise from the interaction of sun and sea, fire and water, which is why it is absurd to class them as their own element. I shall grant you the seasons on technicality, as the Celestial movements may be considered a part of the heavens, but the depth of the seas are as infinite as the skies, the waves a match for any procession of clouds."

He hummed a bar, and Ling Qi felt the change in the areas qi.

Push and pull, everlasting. Pressure. Sunlight glinting on rippling wavers, the infinite colors glittering beneath clear blue water. Near weightless suspension, floating on the current of the world.

Life, blooming with vitality. Living clouds of fish, gleaming in the dappled light that extended beneath the surface, wonders and horrors on a scale greater than the dry lands above.

Mystery, deep and infinite. The black abyss where the sloping sands dropped off. The infinite expanse where not a single island remained in sight.

Drumming her fingers on the arm of her seat, Ling Qi hummed back.

Wide as the world, stretching beyond comprehension, wisps of white the only stains in an infinite expanse. The feeling of soaring, freedom from the bonds of the earth, able to travel whatever direction one wished.

Colors, hues beyond counting splashed across the world, casting it in their light. The shadows of mountains and hills and cities silhouetted against the setting and rising sun. The white cloak of winter, setting all the world a-glitter. The stormy ides of spring, awakening chaos and bringing life to the world.

Noise and life. The howl of the wind through the mountaintops. The cries of birds migrating to and from far lands. The whisper of the breeze in the streets carrying all the scents of life.

"Ling Qi," Cai Renxiang's stern voice cut her off, and Ling Qi realized just how spiritually 'loud' they had gotten.

"Xia Anxi," Meizhen joined her, sounding more amused than stern.

"My apologies, Lady Cai," Ling Qi said.

"It seems we became too enmeshed in our conversation," Xia Anxi apologized, bowing his head.

Ling Qi had to admit, privately that it had been interesting. She hadn't directly… contested with another musician since that sect challenge early in the year. Maybe she should do it more often in the future. She had felt her music was stagnating a little lately.

"Oh boy, is it time to actually wrangle some music theory into this head of yours? Besides me, I mean," Sixiang teased.

+1 to Expression XP
Bond with Xia Anxi raised to 1

"It is no concern," Meizhen dismissed. "But the matches are beginning."

"It would be rude to ignore them," Cai Renxiang agreed.

"Less entertaining though," Lao Keung drawled from the railing. "The fifth match is already over."

"Already?" Ling Qi said, blinking in surprise.

"Hm, I suppose after last year, the Han wished to show their virtue of speed," Bai Meizhen mused. Ling Qi peered down where a lazily smiling Han Jian raised his hands to the stands.

"I understand that the Sect's inability to give them face at last years tournament was problematic," Cai Renxiang said.

"The Han? Those would be the maquis of the east?" Xia Anxi said, catching up. "Hm, I hope the Guo know what they are doing with those."

"I rather doubt that the Han will choose to march like fools into the empty desert, to declare themselves king's of the grave," Bai Meizhen said dryly. "But yes, I imagine the Guo Lords are wary of the Han's rise."

"It is a delicate situation," Cai Renxiang agreed. "The Han are not so belligerent however. I have heard that the Han heir has secured a marriage for his son with a less valued Guo scion."

"Is that so," Ling Qi said, looking down at Han Jian. She wondered how Gu Xiulan would react to that. She knew, despite everything, that girl was still smarting from Han Jian's rejection. No matter how impossible his reciprocation would have been.

"It is good that they are being proactive," Lao Keung said neutrally. "The Guo are wise."

Ling Qi hoped so. Perhaps she should ask Xiulan about things, when she wrote her next letter. At home, surrounded by her family and their soldiers she doubted the other girl was in any danger even if there was some turmoil. Still she worried for her friend.

Below, the sixth match was beginning. Ma Jun, her brief bodyguard, and Fan Yu, who she had… mixed feelings about.

"Hm, didn't you say that girl was one of yours?" Xia Anxi asked.

"She followed Lady Cai," Ling Qi replied as the arena shimmered, bringing the combatants to a storm-wracked mountain top. "And guarded me for a time, with her sister. It seems she will be a peer though."

"Too modest," Xia Anxi chuckled.

"Odd, I do not recall seeing any Fan on the guest list," Bai Meizhen mused.

"There is one, an older brother I believe," Cai Renxiang said, watching the opening movements. Fan Yu armored himself, pulling up stone and soil, Ma Jun began to summon shimmering flower petals around herself.

"The Fan would be… ah the remaining agricultural clan in the east," Xia Anxi said, peering down. "Quite potent as things go over there, I am not certain about this one though."

"Some tribulation of the heart. No certainty in his movements, cultivation unstable," Lao Keung grunted.

The two lashed below, stubborn stone against flashing petals and wind, neither came away marked.

"Well whatever you say, it seems you instilled some pride in that girl," Xia Anxi said to her, watching Ma Jun circle the arena, feinting, dodging, chipping away at her opponent. "The colors, the metre, they scream of drive."

Ling Qi hummed to herself. "Frustration too."

She wondered what that was about. She would have to ask Gan Guangli.

Below the shape of the match was becoming clear. Ma Jun was having difficulty hurting fan Yu, but he… he was only weathering her. Twice, she saw openings where he could have struck out at her, and twice Fan Yu failed to take them. It was…

"Pfah, the match is already over," Lao Keung said disdainfully. "Even if it goes on for awhile yet."

"I agree," Bai Meizhen said. "He is frightened, and that fear does not drive. It commands. Unfortunate for him."

Ling Qi was silent. She thought of the boy who had mocked her on her first day at the sect, who had been loudly against her throughout those early days. There had been, if she was honest with herself some satisfaction in surpassing him, even if she chose not to be blatant about it. Then there was pity, by year's end.

Now, there was not even that. He simply wasn't relevant to her life.

She would have to congratulate Ma Jun later though.

As the match ended some time later, she continued to chat with the others in the box. The final two matches went as expected. Xiao Fen's opponent fought hard, but was simply outmatched by her speed, brutality and martial skill. Han Fang's opponent managed to not be beaten in the initial ambush, but fell shortly thereafter.

And like that the first round of the tournament ended. It had been predictable. The next one however, would begin to show some real clashes.

But for now, they would descend to congratulate the winners from their side.

 

[yrsillar]

Actually being on the tournament field at ground level was a little nostalgic, Ling Qi thought. It was here, just last year that she had taken her first real step in establishing herself before the eyes of the Empire. It was here, for the first time that she showed her strength without holding back. It was here, she supposed that the little seed of arrogance which had brought her near ruin in the dream of the Forest King, had been born. Yes, in many ways it was an important place.

She supposed it was the same for Gan Guangli.

"My apologies for not congratulating you earlier, Sir Gan," Ling Qi said cheerfully.

"My performance thus far has only been the minimum required to not besmirch our ladies name," Gan Guangli replied. "Nor that of our esteemed guests!"

"You have performed to my expectations," Cai Renxiang said evenly, stepping forward.

They stood beside one of the four arenas on the grassy field that filled the space between the platforms and the stands. Stands that were swiftly emptying as the audience went forth to partake in the other attractions of the Sect's tournament. With Gan Guangli stood that Gun Jun fellow and ma Jun, who looked as she were torn between bouncing on her heels in joy at her success, and frightened glances at their Bai guests.

"I am pleased to see my allies subordinates succeeding as well," Bai Meizhen said primly, looking up from Xiao Fen, who stood stiffly under Bai Meizhen's examination. She had received a few scratches in her fight, nothing worth the medicine hall, but Meizhen seemed inclined to fuss a little anyway. "I am certain you know Xiao Fen already, but with us today are Bai Xia Anxi, and Bai Lao Keung, my new subordinates."

Ling Qi caught a brief expression of thoughtfulness on Lao Keung's face as she introduced them. It was something she had noticed, first with Xiao Fen and now with these. When introducing her kin, Meizhen went out of the way to refer to them fully; Bai Xia, Bai Lao. Other white serpent Bai didn't do this.

Lao Keung spoke first, clapping his fists together and offered a formal military bow. "I am Lao Keung. As I will be heading MIss Bai's personal security, I expect we will be working together."

Xia Anxi offered a slightly condescending smile. "And I am Xia Anxi, part of the diplomatic attachment. I hope you will keep anything from troubling us while we work."

"Naturally!" Gan Guangli said, reaching out to clasp wrists with a slightly bemused looking Anxi. He either missed, or more likely ignored the tone Xia Anxi used. "I will look forward to working with you both in the name of advancing both of our Ladies interests."

"I am certain you will not disappoint me," Cai Renxiang said formally. "You have done good work, both in maintaining my project and raising your followers as well."
The other two with him bowed low in response to her words.

"Lady Cai is too kind," they said, almost in unison.

"A commander may only hope for talented officers," Gan Guangli said cheerfully. "If-"

It was a flash of red in the corner of her vision. No, rather it was a crimson that filled her spiritual senses. The coppery scent of blood mingling with freshly turned soil. Ling Qi turned her head toward the source of the sensation. There at the edge of another arena, with the victorious Lu Feng, stood Sun Liling. Had she been so tall when last they met?

Sun Liling glanced away from Lu Feng, briefly meeting her gaze before her eyes swept away to the rest of Ling Qi's party, who had noticed her as well. The princess of the west had changed since Ling Qi had last seen her. Her crimson hair held a streak of vibrant green, and the sharp edged smirk she wore seemed more literal than before. The biggest change was to her spirit though. She was a sink of power. Her skin drank in the qi of sun and water in the air, the power of the earth and soil flowed into her feet, visibly so, to Ling Qi's spiritual senses. Her dantian burned in Ling Qi's spiritual sight like a miniature sun, environmental qi churning, digesting into hungry crimson.

She was formation stage, the sixth step of the third realm, a full two stages above where she had been just a couple months ago.

"Yo! Looks like we're all here again huh?" Sun Liling called out cheerily, waving. She seemed totally oblivious to the stony silence of the Bai around them as she strolled over to them. Sun Liling wore the same loose black silk pants she always had, but her shirt was a pale cream color, embroidered with sunflowers, and over it she wore a loose and unsecured vest of crimson. It wasn't silk, but some plant fiber that seemed still alive. "This sure is nostalgic."

There was a beat of heavy silence, and in it, Ling Qi finally noticed Ji Rong, standing in her shadow. He hadn't grown explosively at least, stronger of course but not unreasonably so. His expression was stony, and she couldn't read him at all.

"Princess Sun," Cai Renxiang greeted politely. "I am glad your return was untroubled."

"Yes, it seems that the west has at least managed its transport infrastructure," Bai meizhen said in a voice as cold as Ling Qi's Hoatfrost Caress technique.

"Right?" Sun Liling laughed. "Roads right, how do those work? How're a buncha meatheads supposed to know?"

Bai Meizhen blinked, momentarily nonplussed.

"Well, I guess we managed on our own, just like always," the princess continued cheerfully. "Honestly things are goin pretty great back home! Gramps had some tips for me, and I got to see my people again."

"...I am pleased for you," Cai Renxiang said slowly.

"You sure are," Sun Liling said. "Anyway gota couple things to say! Mind if I have your ear for a second?"

Ling Qi was starting to feel unnerved looking at Sun Liling's half lidded eyes and wide smile. It felt unnatural, like the bright lure or sweet scent meant to lure prey.

"I do not see why not," her liege said. There wasn't really a reason to refuse.

"Right, so first, no hard feelings either way, regardless of which of our boys wins yeah?" Sun Liling said, slipping her hands into her pockets. "Just a fun lil challenge, right?"

"Of course," Cai Renxiang said slowly.

Sun Liling nodded cheerfully. "Other thing's a bit bigger. I need you to pass a message to your Mother. Gramps has decided, since we're all doing this imperial unity thing, he's gonna head south too, clear out our bits of the mountains! So, he's gonna be coming to meet the Duchess so they can talk coordination, yeah? Don't want to step on each other's toes!"

Silence hung in the air at her declaration, and Ling Qi glanced at Gan Guangli, who seemed bewildered too. The less said for Bai Meizhen and the other Bai the better.

"If that is King Sun's wish, I am certain mother will prepare to receive his simulacrum," Cai Renxiang replied, barely missing a beat. It is good to see such cooperation."

"Nah, he's gonna have his alternates overseeing the muster. General Lu's got that mostly in hand. He'll be coming in person. Ask your mother to open a line so we can figure out the date, yeah?" Sun Liling said.

Silence again, and this time, Sun Liling didn't give them time to reply, turning to saunter away. "C'mon boys, we got other people to see.

Ling Qi blinked, mortified as Sun Liling pulled her hands from her pockets to swat both Luf Feng and Ji Rong on the bottoms as she passed them by. She glanced to Ji Rong, who briefly met her eyes, looking conflicted before he hurried to follow.

"What." Lao Keung said.

"What." Bai Meizhen agreed, glaring at Liling's back.
Xiao Fen made a sound not unlike a furiously burning fuse.

"I do not even know where to begin," Xia Anxi muttered.

"And I do believe it would be best if you did not," another voice startled Ling Qi, and she glanced back to see Xia Lushen standing behind them, one hand on Bai Meizhen's shoulder. "This is not business for you."

"Lord Xia," they all swiftly greeted.

"Lady Cai, I hope you will deliver this message to your mother swiftly," Xia Lushen said pleasantly. "It does seem of great import."

"Naturally," Cai Renxiang said. "I must apologize to you my guests, this is most urgent-"

"It is nothing, we will meet again this evening," Bai Meizhen said, recovering

"Although, may I ask to borrow your retainer, Lady Cai?" Xia Lushen asked. "It was her note which originally brought me here."

Ling Qi blinked remembering that she had sent a missive indicating that she had made her decision on the sale. She hadn't expected such a prompt response.

"Of course, Lord Xia. Ling Qi you are free until we meet back with our guests this evening," Cai Renxiang said distractedly.

She nodded to her liege as the group broke up with a few more pleasantries, following after Meizhen's uncle as he walked toward one of the exits. She turned her attention inward toward Sixiang, the muse hadn't said a word in some time.

"...Yeah sorry, trying to figure out what I was looking at, got blocked by the princess' spirit. Who… I'm not sure if they were flirting or threatening, it was kinda both. That was a weird conversation," Sixiang muttered. "Please don't fight her again anytime soon. I don't wanna get involved with that."

Not planning on it, Ling Qi thought. "You honor me with your swift reply, Lord Xia," She said aloud.

"It is nothing," he said. "Merely a small favor. I suppose you would like to know what I have to offer."

"If you would please," Ling Qi said

"Most simply, I can offer stones. Two hundred green stones will go far for a young lady your age," He said pleasantly. "However, if mere stones will not interest I may offer some small studies I and my apprentices have done on soil and fertilization. Your spirit undoubtedly does good work, but given the constraints of your environment, it may be best to stack advantages."

Ling Qi nodded, either of those would be a boon.

"On the other hand," he mused. "Medicines. I am not an unskilled alchemist…"

Ling Qi perked up. "I did acquire the recipe for a cyan breakthrough drug recently, perhaps you could help me acquire some of its reagents?"

"Have you now? So resourceful," Xia Lushen chuckled. "Yes, that would be within my power. I take it you already have a maker in mind?"

"I mean no insult," Ling Qi said humbly.

"No, it is good to develop your own networks," he dismissed. "Aside from that I could offer some insightful conversation. Our ways are not particularly close, but some of my meditations may aid you."

[] 200 Green Stones
[] Soil Studies (+10 bonus development rolls in fief)
[] Rare reagents (Begin Forgotten Elixir Quest, complete Part 1 of 4 immediately)
[] Insight Sharing (+1 Isolation and Ending XP)

 

[yrsillar]

"I think I would prefer the soil studies," Ling Qi said, considering it for a long while. She was likely still a few years from her Cyan, fourth realm breakthrough, while she would be establishing her home sometime this year. One thing she had learned well was that benefits and good fortune built on each other, like a ball of snow rolling downhill. That was why the great families were great, even if they had a bad generation the sheer inertia of their power would keep them rolling.

She intended to make sure her family had as much of that inertia as she could.

"A fine choice," Xia Lushen said with an amiable nod. They exited the hall which passed under the stands stepping out into the sun outside the arena. The lands of the Ling will never suffer from parasites and weeds."

There was something vaguely malicious about the way the smiling old man pronounced those words, but given the Bai's proximity to the western jungles, she could hardly fault him for that. "I am certain that Sir Xia's studies will be more than enough for the calmer lands of the wall."

"Indeed," he mused. "Although…"

He frowned, gazing back over his shoulder into the arena. "Regardless, you will be well defended from encroachment. I do not have the items on my person, would an exchange at the end of the tournament be acceptable?"

"Of course," Ling Qi said. "Thank you for all of your consideration, sir Xia."

"No worries," he chuckled. "But I am certain you have your own business to attend to."

Ling Qi nodded agreeably and bowed respectfully to the senior Bai as they parted ways, making her way down the path toward the guest pavilions. The trouble was her plans were now unsettled. She'd meant to remain with Renxiang and the others until her appointment with Wang Chao and Xuan Shi.

"Bit of a conundrum, maybe walk around a bit? You do have that dossier to look through," Sixiang said. "Besides, I'm sure you can find some good fortune underfoot."

I'm hardly going to trip over opprtunnities, Ling Qi thought. Restraining her urge to roll her eyes. Honestly it wasn't a bad idea though. Just observing the nobility of the Emerald Seas while she analyzed the information she had been given wouldn't be a bad way to spend some sudden free time.

"You're helping me process and analyze everything," Ling Qi said under her breath.

"Whaaat," Sixiang complained. "It's all boring stuff though."

Too bad, Ling Qi thought. This is what they signed up for it.
"Pretty sure I didn't sign anything," Sixiang grumbled.

Ling Qi chuckled, a small smile on her lips as she joined the crowds among the pavilions.

***​

Tiangong, the Labyrinthine Realm, this was the capital of the Meng lands. Said to have been won from the hands of a mighty spirit of chance and fate in a game by the founder of the Meng long ago, this was the deed for which he was granted leave to found his own branch clan. Despite being one of the provinces oldest settlements, it was the third smallest of the county capitals. Only the Jia, who had built a city wholesale after the Duchess' victory and had harsh residency requirements, and the Luo who as a rule simply did not gather often in permanent cities, were less populous.

It was probably the biggest by area though, Xiangmen aside, said to sprawl widely across the hills and valleys and fens. It was called Labyrinthine for a reason though, Meng works, and the original spiritual nature of the region meant that pathways were never quite stable, and which districts neighbored others changed at times. Hou Zhuang;s information said that there was an order to this, but his observations and information hadn't been able to discern it.

The Meng did not use normal imperial warding methods against spirits for this reason, but had their own systems of spirit traps and mazes which they guarded jealously. The other settlements in the north of the region were similar, if on a smaller scale. Meng architecture often used raised walkways due to the marshy ground, where they did not build directly into particularly old growth trees like Xiangmen in miniature, and favored loops and rounded shapes over straight lines and shapes. This informed their thinking, or so the common knowledge said.

In the south, in the lands gifted by the fallen Hui after the Duchess' war, things were different. The former counts of the region had been more imperial leaning and so the settlements there were built accordingly. The meng were attempting to integrate and overhaul the infrastructure but it was slow and halting. Hou Zhuang's notes indicated this was due to a conflict within the Meng's ruling halls on how the matter should be handled.

This, he determined, was partially due to some vestigial old weilu structures. Namely the practice of having small circles or councils in the place of individual leaders. More than half of their viscounties were headed by branch clans, and the lines were blurry. In the modern day this amounted to advisors and vassals having more sway than was normal. Sometimes lofty isolationist silence was what it seemed to be. Sometimes it was internal paralysis.

Ling Qi wouldn't have believed an imperial clan could be like that, but recently, she had been finding her conceptions on what authority was, challenged more than she liked.

"Well, its not all bad right?" Sixiang mused. "If one person is messing up but it takes three to make a decision, it can reign in the one bad guy right?"

She supposed that wasn't wrong, but the way people worked, she was pretty sure that just meant a bunch of arguing and nothing getting done as everyone selfishly pursued their own gain. Then again… clearly such things existed and least sort of worked. Perhaps she simply didn't have enough experience.

"One day I'll chip a little more of that cynicism off of you," Sixiang grumbled

The mountain might be worn down by the river, but it would take ten thousand years, Ling Qi thought, smiling self deprecatingly. She looked up from where she stood by the refreshments table in a wide airy pavilion. It belonged to a southwestern viscount, and she had drifted in here to mingle and make nice for awhile. They certainly had a good array of ciders and juices at least, Ling Qi mused. The families main income came from their orchards if she recalled…

Her thoughts were interrupted as her gaze panned across the gathered nobles and servants, and found her gaze falling on a familiar figure. Meng Diu stood talking with the elderly host of this little gathering. Her heavy makeup done up a little differently than the last time Ling Qi had seen her. She spoke softly with the viscount, and naturally Ling Qi could not make out what they were saying.

That woman was surprisingly good at moving unnoticed. As she watched the viscount bowed and she inclined her head before they split off, and Meng Diu caught her eye.

"Hmph, what did you say about opportunities?" Sixiang asked smugly.

It doesn't count if a person is arranging them, Ling Qi grumbled in her head.

Ling Qi lowered her eyes, and then inclined her head, beginning to stroll toward the arrangement of flowers in the center of the pavilion.

Soon Meng Diu stood beside her. Though the older womans artfully arranged hair barely came up to her shoulder, Meng Diu's presence made her seem rather larger. The open paper fan in her hand shaded the older womans mouth and nose.

"My grandson's services proved useful, did they not?" Meng Diu said without preamble. She appeared to be examining the large flower arrangement before them.

"Meng Dan proved a noble young man and an incomparable scholar," Ling Qi agreed. His talents were very useful for gathering information."

"This pleases me," she said softly. "That child often becomes too wrapped up in his texts, it is good to see that he may apply his talents elsewhere."

"In fairness, much of his work did end up taking place in a library of a sort," Ling Qi said.

"Yes, that creatures ring," Meng Diu said frostily, her fan's lazy waving picking up for a moment. "Truly the Gods love their games."

Ling Qi glanced her way. It wasn't in fashion to refer to the great spirits that way. "So I have learned. Still in this case, the outcome was good."

"Yes," she agreed. "That tapestry… you are wise to sell it baroness. It would only bring you trouble. I hope that my clans price will prove acceptable."

"So do I," Ling Qi said after a moment's thought. "It would hurt me to disappoint you, when you have been so kind."

That finally drew a thin smile from the older woman. "Baroness Ling is developing well.."

"Lady Meng is generous," Ling Qi said. "But if I may, there is a question I would like to ask you."

"Ask it," Meng Diu replied, her fan snapping shut and disappearing into her voluminous sleeve. She turned to fully face Ling Qi.

"If I am to consider my options properly I must know the dispositions of my allies," Ling Qi said carefully. "How much strength does the interest in my projects hold in the councils of the Meng?"

Meng Diu met her eyes, and Ling Qi held her steely gaze, straightening her shoulders as she faced the pressure of the higher cultivator. She loosened her grip on her own nascent domain, allowing her song to compete with the slow steady melody of Meng Diu.

"More than we have had in centuries," Meng Diu said plainly, the pressure of her presence receding. "Your Duchess' rise broke many things. It broke many people. This included my Father, who came to her call under the Divine Tree. My brother resents this, I do not. My Father was right to come, and right to die to burn the webs which choked this province."

"I see," Ling Qi said, reassessing things. She knew Meng Diu was sister to the current Meng clan head even without Hou Zhuang's information.

"It is not enough to simply live by the old ways. They must be developed. On our terms, not that of outsiders," Meng Diu said. "Our land is not the Artificial cradle of the Peaks, our ways are superior for this land. It is not enough to sit behind our mists and sing while the world passes us by."

"I do not disagree," Ling Qi said."Isolation serves no one."

Those words rang with something deeper than words, a chord of her spirit.

Meng Diu nodded slightly turning back toward the flower arrangement. "One in four of those whose voices matter, but success in our ventures grants legitimacy. Most can be convinced. We are not exempt from the charge that is in the air. The knowledge that the world is turning. Some oppose us, turning even further inward, but this path is not yet set in stone."

Spoiler: Meng Breakdown

Meng Clan: 0
--Weilu Conservatives(50%): -1
--Weilu Reactionaries(25%): -2
--Weilu Reformers(25%): 2

"I understand," Ling Qi said slowly. In reaching out, those who wished to keep up with the world on their own terms hoped to gain further legitimacy for their movement. In this she, or rather Cai renxiang could be a rallying point. Look at us, their actions could say. The ways of our ancestors may still change the path of the province. "I will keep that in mind."

Another slight nod. "Good, on to happier things."

"Happier things?" Ling Qi said, tilting her head.

"I have decided that I quite enjoy winter music. A passing whim I am sure," Meng Diu said. "I would like to offer patronage for your junior sister."

Ling Qi's eyes widened fractionally. "You honor me, Lady Meng. What did you have in mind?"

"Two possibilities," she replied. "I may see the southwest opened to you, or I may promote you in the capital."

Ling Qi contemplated her words. She could tell by tone and emphasis on words that Meng Diu would prefer the former. Ling Qi could see why, her… 'brand' would be helpful and she had just learned that the Meng clans traditions were… spotty in the south.

On the other hand, promotion in the capital… that could do a great deal for her. She understood what Meng Diu was doing, this offer made it clear that the woman was willing to help her and be done with it, but she was also open to further cooperation.

[] Open the southwest (Lesser boost in popularity for Hanyi, may boost Weilu Reformer support in long term. Bond 1 with Meng Diu)
[] Promotion in the capital (High boost to Hanyi popularity, no change in reformer support)

 

[yrsillar]

"I think I would like to work the southwest into our plans," Ling Qi said, inclining her head. "It will be some time before we can afford regular trips to the capital, I think."

"The road to Xiangamen is long," Meng Diu agreed, sounding pleased. "I will speak to those who make such decisions and put them in contact."

"Thank you Lady Meng," Ling Qi said. "Might I have another question?"

Meng Diu silently gave a small nod.

Spoiler: mechanics

Meng Diu Bond Gained, set to 1
Labyrinth Lords Questline Begun

Ling Qi as silent for a beat as well, working out in her head with Sixiang precisely how she wished to phrase her question. "What vision do those who seek reform have for the future? What makes them differ from what people call moderates of the weilu tradition."

"A fair query. One which I could answer for the remainder of the day. The ones you speak of are best represented by the Luo clan. They have their pride, they maintain their traditions," Meng Diu said slowly. "But they are content with that, they lack conviction. And so they are worn away, year by year, as a mountain in the face of the wind."

Ling Qi didn't say a word, remaining silent as the older woman spoke.

"So too, those you would call conservatives. They are more fierce in the defense of our way, but they have long ceased to seek to turn the minds of others. They stand in a dying garden and declare 'No more' but they have not sown a seed in a thousand years. As for the other's," Meng Diu's lips curled in contempt. "Time's hand cannot be turned back. A burned grove is gone. It can never be restored, only replaced. What we wish for is simple young Lady, we wish to restore the vigor of our people to remind them of why our traditions were once followed, and why they are still worth following."

She smiled humorlessly. "But I speak in sweeping words. In the immediate term, baroness, our goal is to restore the honor of our faith, the Pure Way to acceptability, after the debasement of the Hui. And to drum up support for repair and investment in our southwestern territories. The south of the province is still in flux, all these centuries later. It is there where we might reverse our decline."

"I admit, I am a little uneducated on those matters," Ling Qi said. "You do not see yourself in opposition to the Duchess in any of that."

"I am in opposition to her pet killer certainly," Meng Diu said with a frown. "But in my century serving at the court, I have found that this is not the same. The stars of her great followers rise and fall in the Duchess' consideration."

Ling Qi nodded silently. Her mind flashed to the cold expression of the Heron General Xia Ren. She did not think she would ever like that woman. She reminded Ling Qi of burning forests and the taste of blood on her tongue. "I see, I will need to speak to my liege, but I would like it if we could correspond in the future. I would like to know more of the ways in which I have apparently stumbled."

The older woman nodded. "Of course, It is important to cultivate the youth after all. Perhaps we will have time when you come north for your auction. Until then, allow me to introduce you to viscount Rui."

Ling Qi gave a short bow of gratitude, and folded her arms behind her back, following after meng Diu as the older woman began to introduce her to the various worthies at the little gathering.

***​

Ling Qi stretched her arms over her head and let out a sigh of satisfaction.

"Look at you, being all uncouth," Sixiang laughed, the ghostly image of their face appearing over her shoulder. "Tut, tut, what would everyone think."

"There's no one around to complain," Ling Qi said dryly, shaking out her sleeves to make them hang properly again as she lowered her arms. She paused for a moment, considering. "No one who could politely admit it anyway."

There were probably a lot of perception focused cultivators around after all. She began to walk again, leaving the pavilions further behind as she headed toward the hills. She had flown this far, but she had felt like strolling the last little bit.

"Seriously though, you've gotten better," Sixiang said idly, their phantom weight resting on her shoulder.

Ling Qi let her gaze wander up to the afternoon sky. "So have you. Do you remember that first party?"

Sixiang cringed theatrically. "Ugh, we were both a couple of bumpkin's huh?"

"A bit," Ling Qi chuckled."It was disrespect on my part though."

"...Yeah," Sixiang agreed.

There had been a certain contempt, Ling Qi thought, for the idea of nobles. It was still there in the corner of her heart, if she was honest, every time she saw a display that could have fed a city if it was sold. But, it was just the way things were. The strong do as they will, the weak do as they must. That was life.

"It doesn't always have to be like that," Sixiang said idly.

"Sure, I believe in Renxiang after all. But its always going to be a struggle not to revert to the resting state, even if we succeed at everything," Ling Qi mused. She smiled faintly. "My original point was, all these displays and rituals… they're not so different from what the priests do with spirits huh? This stuff, it's all carefully constructed to discourage us from staving each others heads in with rocks."

"You'd all probably be more flashy about it," Sixiang chuckled.

"A fancy rock is still a rock," Ling Qi chuckled. And that was what she was doing now, trying to extend those rituals, that acknowledgement to a whole other people. That they might all avoid painting the mountains crimson.

When in the world had she begun to think that she had any business taking on such a problem?

"When you decided you were gonna reach the peak of cultivation," Sixiang said

Ling QI didn't reply, they had arrived.

She saw Xuan Shi and Wang Chao up on the hill, but there was someone else here too. Luo Zhong stood at the top of the hill with them, smiling easily as he chatted with the animated Wang Chao. Zhengui watched them all with what she recognized as polite befuddlement, which probably meant they were talking politics.

"Hello honored guests," Ling Qi said politely as Sixiang's image blew away on the wind. "It looks like we have picked up one more."

"Sect brother Luo met us on the way, and I didn't see the harm in bringing him along," Wang Chao declared cheerfully. "We already intended to invite him to our gathering after, no?"

"I am sorry for the intrusion, but this sounded quite interesting," Luo Zhong said in a conciliatory tone. "Naturally I will leave if our host wishes."

It would be rude. Not unacceptably so, but just enough. It reminded her of why Luo Zhong irritated her just a little. "I don't mind your presence. Although… Sect brother Xuan?"

"This one has no objections," Xuan Shi said placidly. "If Sir Wang and Lady Ling believe brother Luo's integrity."

Of course not.

"Do you know what we were intending, Luo Zhong?" Ling Qi asked politely.

"Some casual technique and formation demonstrations," Luo Zhong said, straightening up from his bow. "Sect brother Xuan's innovations are impressive, or so I hear."

"Sect brother Luo is too generous," Xuan Shi said, shrugging his broad shoulders. "And this is merely a casual meeting."

Ling Qi blinked at the hard emphasis Xuan Shi put on that word, and she knew Luo Zhong caught it too, from the way he straightened up marginally.

"Huh, Turtle-boy doesn't usually stand up for himself like that," Sixiang mused.

"Yeah, Big Sis said this was just for fun," Gui said haughtily, it really didn't suit him.

"Haha, of course it's just for fun sir Ling," Wang Chao chuffed. "I think we've all had enough of serious concerns for the day. You would not believe how my sister grilled me over my performance in these last months."

Ling Qi smiled. "I am sure your Elder sister is merely showing affection in her own way, she only wishes for you to excel.."

"Bah, she's gotten to you already!" Wang Chao said, throwing up his hands.

Luo Zhong watched them pensively in silence. Xuan Shi did so with an unreadable air.

Ling Qi watched Luo Zhong out of the corner of her eye, considering. How did she want to handle his presence?

[] Be polite, but no more, as he had let her feel her own way along, he could do the same, if Luo Zhong has a concern, he is free to bring it up.
[] You can afford to be more gracious, as a minor power move if nothing else, and you are curious what he is up to.

 

[yrsillar]

Well, the best thing was just to be pleasant, yes? She'd just mess things up trying to toe the line of politeness. So sure, let him be, she'd just treat him like any other plus one Wang Chao had brought along. Maybe she could get him to cough up what he wanted without dragging it out.

<Sixiang,> Ling Qi thought. <Could you let Xuan Shi know my thoughts on this? I'd like to not leave him out.>

She didn't forget his words, his impression that she didn't respect him. She saw no reason to feed Kongyou's plots on that account.

"So, how did you hear about this, Sect brother?" Ling Qi asked.

"Ah, Sect brother Wang was discussing his meeting with some of our peers," Luo Zhong replied pleasantly. "The chance to see the craft of the venerable Xuan in action was too good to pass up."

Of course he had, Ling Qi thought. Wang Chao liked attention, if she was being unkind, she would say he liked to brag. It wasn't the worst flaw to have, but she supposed it did have its downsides.

Wang Chao grinned. "Of course I did! I'm proud of my companions! Ah, Lady Ling, you may end up fielding some questions regarding your gardening."

"It's not really something worthy of attention yet," Ling Qi demurred. She was certain Wang Chao was overestimating things. Her hobbies weren't important, at most a few might be interested in Zhengui.

"Yeah! This ones just practice, even if it turned out pretty good," Gui chirped.

"Hmph, Elder Sister and Gui should have more pride," Zhen hissed.

"Weigh this ones opinion how you will, but thy design principles are sound, however they came about," Xuan Shi said thoughtfully, glancing her way.

"He says he's fine just treating the guy as another guest, as long as he acts the part," Sixiang whispered.

"I hadn't heard you were expanding your hobbies, Sister Ling," Luo Zhong chuckled.

"Simply exploring my little brother's nature more thoroughly," Ling Qi said. "But please,this meeting is not about me. Brother Xuan, I'm interested in seeing what you've done with your armors since I last saw them deployed."

"Yes! I am looking forward to testing my might against your shell!" Wang Chao agreed excitedly.

Xuan Shi looked at her for a moment and nodded once. "As Sister Ling wishes. Let us find a clear space then.

He turned and they followed. Zhengui's trundling footsteps drowning out the natural ambience as they climbed the rest of the way to the top of the hill, to a wide patch clear of any scrub, brush, or indeed grass.

"Well cleared," Xuan Shi mused.

"Big Sis said it was okay to eat everything, since we would grow it back later," Gui affirmed.

"This one is thankful for the consideration," Xuan Shi said politely. She had spoken to her little brother at length about trying to be polite, and it seemed to be working. "Most key in recent efforts has been the development of these gauntlets. More than armor, they are mobile forges and carvers."

He extended his arms shaking out his sleeves to better show off the blocky gauntlets she had seen him wearing for some time now, they were made of some kind of ceramic, glazed in dark brown and green colors that matched his robes, meticulously articulated to allow for near full range of motion.

As she watched they whirred and clicked and panels on the back of his wrists opened, spitting hexagonal ceramic plates into the air, she felt the qi in his arms pulse and complex formations flashed across their surface with a sizzling hiss, the plates began to whirl lazily around him.

"A combination of an art with a talisman?" Ling Qi mused

"Ah, I have heard of this! I did not know that you could perform such crafts without the backing of Shen," Wang Chao said, watching the panels fly. "How do you perform the replication?"

Luo Zhong watched silently, but Ling Qi could feel he was paying attention.

"The plates are stored uncarved, the purpose of the gauntlets is to store and impress the formation patterns," Xuan Shi said graciously, allowing more and more of the whirling panels to emerge. "This one merely developed upon the work of his ancestors in the art. An old construction art made useful to this purpose."

Ling Qi nodded watching the flows of qi moving through the gauntlets, the panels and the steady pulse of Xuan Shi's dantian.

She was a little surprised when Luo Zhong spoke up."The panels themselves only have the simplest of receiving, functioning and energy storage on them. The gauntlets do not merely create and store the physical shells for imprinting, but… Ah, no you've hidden the controlling arrays, haven't you."

Xuan Shi blinked, and gave a slow nod. "Yes, this one chose a comprehensive approach. The Cai school of thought, with its interlocking talismans, is most intriguing."

"Here, here, no one better to take inspiration from than our Duchess," Wang Chao said, only to blink. "Er, that is except your own Duke of course my friend!"

"The Duke Xuan eyes are cast upon other seas," Xuan Shi chuckled. "There is no offense. All wise in talisman craft look hungrily upon the developments of the Emerald Seas."

"Brother Xuan is generous to us," Luo Zhong said, smiling thinly.

"Not without cause," Ling Qi said lightly. "So, Wang Chao and I planned some games with Sir Xuan to test his work. Did you plan on participating, Brother Luo?"

"Well, I am not much of a warrior, but if you will have me, I might have a few tricks to test the device's capabilities with," Luo Zhong said. "Assuming Sir Xuan approves."

"Comprehensive testing may only help improve these simple projects," Xuan Shi said humbly.

"Ah, give me the first go will you?" Wang Chao asked, rolling his shoulders as he stepped forward.

"I have no objections," Ling Qi said, dipping her head.

"Nor I," said Luo Zhong.

"Go get him Mr. Avalanche!" Gui declared cheerfully from the sidelines. "I'll make sure you don't break the hill!"

Her little brother was a good boy really, Ling Qi thought. She felt his roots growing throughout the hill binding dirt and stone together in a web of living wood

"Haha, Sir Ling overestimates me," Wang Chao laughed, stepping away from them to follow Xuan Shi further out into the cleared dirt, moving a good fifteen meters away.

Ling Qi glanced toward her unexpected guest, crossing her arms loosely as the other two boys took up places across from each other. Wang Chao crouched, taking a runner's starting stance. Xuan Shi stood with a wide stance, his tiles whirling around him by the dozens.

"Brother Luo certainly involves himself in many projects," Ling Qi said lightly.

"It is wise to have a diverse array of investments," Luo Zhong said.

There was a tremendous bang and the hill shook violently under their feet, a spiderweb of cracks spreading backward from the point where Wang Chao had stood. The shockwave of impact as his charging shoulder struck the gathered barrier of hexagonal plates sent her hair fluttering and Wang Chao became visible again, his feet having dug furrows in the dirt where he had landed after bouncing off.

"It seems that lack of focus could be detrimental though," Ling Qi said.

"A possibility," Luo Zhong admitted. "But we cannot all be blessed by fortune. Some endeavors fail, and thus it is important to have other plans."

Ling Qi gave him a look out of the corner of her eye as the hill began to quake in rapid succession, light flashing and air rumbling as Wang Chao began to attempt to batter through in earnest.

"And you see opportunity here?" Ling Qi asked.

"The Xuan will be a greater presence going forward, it would be good if I could make connections, going forward. The same goes for your matter. It seems I might have made an error though," Luo Zhong said.

"This is after all, an informal gathering. I am sure you will have opportunities, if your impression is good," Ling Qi said.

He chuckled. "This reversal does not escape me. But look, Sect Brother Wang is about to make a breakthrough, I think."

Ling Qi looked back in time to hear the faint crack of shattering ceramic and see the fragments of a broken tile fall to the ground. Wang Chao stood, breathing heavily on the cratered hilltop, but a moment later he grinned. "So there is a limit to how much energy you can redirect!"

"Brother Wang is vigilant," Xuan Shi said, a touch of pride in his voice. "But can he keep up such speed for long enough?"

"Nay, not like this," Wang Chao laughed. "But its interesting! You aren't stopping me, that would be much harder! You are stealing my momentum!"

She thought she saw Xuan Shi smiling behind his collar. "Repurposing the enemies qi allows the technique to maintain itself for longer action. ...But Brother Wang has seen that the storage may be overwhelmed."

"Hmph, perhaps with my beast and my spear I I might break through for a few blows," Wang Chao said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But truly I am not certain I could defeat you unaided Sect Brother."

He did sound a little disgruntled but not much. Ling Qi supposed Xuan Shi's status as a ducal scion salved any wounded ego.

"Unbreakable defense is where the sons of the Savage Seas excel, even one such as me," Xuan Shi said.

"Hm, does it work as well with spiritual attacks?" Wang Chao asked.

"Perhaps Sister Ling would care to try?" Xuan Shi asked.

"Of course," Ling Qi said, with a nod. She glanced once more to Luo Zhong and then stepped forward, passing Wang Chao, who was already loudly blustering about his performance and Xuan Shi's talismans to Luo Zhong.

She came to stop a few meters from Xuan Shi only to pause as a voice spoke in her mind.

"Heya, my guy wanted to know if you've figured anything out!" Kongyou spoke, their tone gratingly cheerful.

<He's seeking clan connections to the Xuan,> Ling Qi thought back, keeping her expression even.

"Well, I hope my performance isn't too disappointing, I haven't been cultivating my direct attacks much recently," Ling Qi said aloud.

"The type of assault offers more than its potency," Xuan Shi said, spreading his arms wide. "Please, test me, Sect Sister."

Ling Qi nodded once, and spread her arms, singing a high clear bar. The wind howled, the ground frosted, and the whirling panels immediately snapped together into a solid dome that flashed a deep, nearly black blue as it met the force of her Hoarfrost Refrain.

Ling Qi allowed silver to bleed into her eyes as she studied the way her offensive qi scattered. It struck like a blizzard wind, but shattered on contact with the tiles, strands of qi unwound and separated, a fractal breaking that shredded the qi of her attack into smaller and smaller parts absorbed by the tiles.

The wind whipped up, her gown and cloak fluttered, and the ice of winter howled again to the same effect, three times more, a quick and strident melody, and Ling Qi's eyes narrowed. The feeling of his defense was all too familiar.

Isolation.

Weaponized, or perhaps, armorized? That was what his defenses did, they broke things down again and again, until each strand of qi each mote of power was alone and weak, then absorbed them. The adaptive component… each time they met a similar construct, his arts and the arrays of the talismans were able to break the offending technique down faster, more efficiently, taking less damage.

Her voice rose and an eagle screamed. The tremendous phantom swooped down and dashed itself upon the intractable barrier that met it. Twice more the eagle, and then again the ice. The Hoarfrost scattered slower this time, not quite as slow as the first time she had used it,but slower all the same.

"Sister Ling has had a revelation," Xuan Shi said mildly as the barrier around him broke apart, leaving them face to face on the now well ruined hilltop.

"It is a powerful effect, but as with anything, there are limits," Ling Qi said. "It is still very impressive."

"Not so much," he said, with a small chuckle

Ling Qi nodded, but her thoughts were distant. It felt… strange to encounter something so familiar in another's arts, even if their isolation was not the same.

AN: Sorry guys no vote, I underestimated the amount of content needed for this scene.

 

[yrsillar]

The texture of the concept expressed through these talisman's felt strange compared to her own understanding, embedded now forever in the blade she had a part of herself. It was privation of a sort, but the closest she could come to articulating the difference here and now was that she cultivated loneliness in scarcity. The deprived wasteland of deepest winter. His seemed more like that of a starving man surrounded by a feast he couldn't touch, to be alone even in the densest crowd.

Familiar in its way, but not quite intersecting?

"Sister Ling?"

Xuan Shi's voice broke her from her thoughts. She raised her head and put on a smile. "Apologies, I lost myself in thought for a moment. I think that's enough of an initial test for me."

"As Sister Ling wishes," Xuan Shi said, bowing his head.

Ling Qi returned the gesture and turned away. "Shall you give it a try Sir Luo?"

"My host is gracious," Luo Zhong said, turning away from Wang Chao. "I may have a technique or two to try."

"Feel free, son of Luo," Xuan Shi said.

Ling Qi moved back from the cleared area and moved to stand beside Zhengui, resting a hand on his head as Luo Zhong took up the field. "Thank you for preparing the ground Zhengui," she said absently, brushing her fingers over smooth scales.

"Zhen was pleased to help," his other half said snootily, bumping his broad head against her shoulder. Ling Qi chuckled and reached up to rub the serpents brow ridges as well.

"It's kinda boring with everyone busy," Gui said quietly. "But that is good too, 'cause it gives Zhen and Gui time to think."

"It gives I, Zhen time to argue with thickheaded Gui perhaps," the serpent hissed.

Ling Qi gave a small hum of acknowledgement, she knew Zhengui needed time to contemplate and work through things too, beast cultivation was narrower, but not so different really. As she watched, Luo politely bowed to Xuan Shi before a flick of his wrist brought a paper talisman into his hands.

"Well I'll find time to talk to you if you need it," she said. She wasn't going to be overbearing but she would be available.

Zhen gave a happy hiss as she gave his head one last pat and returned her hand to the top of Gui's head.

Qi burned across the characters inked on the talisman in Luo Zhong's hand, and Ling Qi cocked her head as she felt threads of qi extending into the spiritual realm, calling, or rather, pulling on something, like a leash or a tether. Crimson fire bloomed within the circling tiles, right between Xuan Shi's feet.

The whirling tiles slammed down in a solid dome, cutting Xuan Shi off from the outside entirely. A breath passed and then they came apart, the fire was gone.

"Well it would have been disappointing if it was really so easy," Luo Zhong chuckled.The same fire burned on one character of the paper talisman, fitful and sparking.

"It was an obvious solution, to create a construct within the defenses," Xuan Shi agreed. "But one would be more foolish not to try, if the option is there."

Ling Qi cocked her head to the side a little as she watched Luo Zhong nod and sweep the talisman held between his fingers through a few rapid, sharp movements. The light burning in the characters changed,red bleeding to silver, lighting up new characters. Again she felt a pull on threads extending out of the material.

"What fun," Wang Chao said loudly as he reached her side. He watched with interest as a horse sized hound of silver fire erupted from the earth under Xuan Shi's feet, carrying him skyward on the platform formed of the barrier panels that had snapped into place under his feet. The talisman in Luo Zhong's hand swept through the air vertically, trailing glittering blue light, and a second hound wrought of Clouds and lightning coalesced from the mist left behind by her own arts, diving down to strike like lightning against the dome forming over Xuan Shi's head. "It seems like brother Luo is taking this a bit seriously!"

Ling Qi glanced his way. "It does seem so. What is the art he is using, those aren't bound spirits, I can tell that much."

"Luo contract techniques," Wang Chao said. "He used them in our tournament too."

That jogged Ling Qi's memory. In studying the clans of Emerald Seas she had seen that mentioned that the Luo had retained a somewhat unorthodox spirit binding and relations tradition from their branch of the Weilu. She'd not put much thought into it before.

Green light burned on the talisman, the silver wolf dissolved and the wind picked up with an animal howl, a nigh invisible green flash the only sign of the third 'spirit' summoned it felt like sharp edges and spring wind, and she saw chips of ceramic go flying as it struck innumerable times in quick succession at the whirling panels.

"So that's why I can feel his qi pulling at something out of sight," Ling Qi mused.

"Pretty costly from the feel of it," Sixiang whispered.

"Right, contract arts don't allow the full spirit to be drawn on, but only a certain fraction determined by negotiations," Wang Chao said, putting on his knowledgeable voice. "And only to do certain specific things."

"Is that so," Ling Qi said, offering a smile. Push and pull, give and take, that explained what she was feeling from those weird liminal connections. It was not too unlike what she'd done with the river spirit, offering power for a service or boon.

Transaction, it was not completely alien to her own thoughts of community and communication, but the way Luo Zhong employed it felt… coarse to her, that was the best word she could find. Impersonal perhaps.

The lightshow on the hill ended as Xuan Shi crashed back to earth. There was a single tiny chip in the brim of his hat. "An Impressive trick. Such a small thing, slipping in amidst the bright and flashing threats. "This one will have to adjust the formations threat detection."

Luo Zhong smiled faintly, raising his hand to allow a glittering dragonfly seemingly made from glass to alight on his fingers. "Against powerful techniques, your work is truly superlative, Brother Xuan. This little trick could hardly change the course of a battle."

"Perhaps not alone," Xuan Shi said inclining his head. "Nonetheless, this one humbly thanks Brother Luo for providing this consideration."

"Well that was a fine demonstration!" Wang Chao said loudly, walking off toward the two of them. Ling Qi sighed, and giving Zhengui one last pat on the head, followed after.

"A good opening," Xuan Shi agreed. "Thou must all be considering paths toward circumventing mine technique by now."

He sounded pleased by that. It surprised her a little. It seemed that Xuan Shi did have something of a competitive streak, if pushed.

"Maybe, maybe," Wang Chao said with a grin. "What sort of form do you think the game should take going forward?"

"Perhaps paired contests?" Luo Zhong suggested carefully. "My own cultivation advantage does weight things, but Brother Xuan's mastery is great."

"I do believe we were thinking of something similar, a few scenarios with more complex objectives might be enjoyable," Ling Qi said.
"True, the wide world is no dueling arena," Xuan Shi said.

"Ah, game objectives, how fun," Wang Chao chuckled. "Well I'd object to Ling Qi and sir Xuan teaming up. I can't imagine dealing with that to be less than obnoxious."

Ling Qi cocked an eyebrow. "Am I to be insulted, sir Chao?"

"Hah, as if. I know you feel complimented by that sort of thing," Wang Chao said.

Xuan Shi chuckled. "I and sir Wang then?"

Ling Qi hummed to herself looking over at Luo Zhong.He still wore an expression of pleasant interest. She thought she might have a better grip on the older boy now if only a little. She doubted they would ever be friends, but it was unrealistic to imagine that she could be friends with everyone.

[] Accept the team up, it could be a workable coalition. (Luo Zhong dialogue and community insight speculation.)
[] Decline, a little hardship is good for the soul Wang Chao. (Xuan Shi dialogue and isolation insight speculation.)

 

[yrsillar]

"That seems fair," Ling Qi said. "One senior and one junior disciple for each side. Although I'm afraid I don't stack up to a scion of the great Xuan clan."

"Sister Ling should be less humble," Xuan Shi said, surprising her. It had been a rote bit of etiquette, not the sort of thing that would earn a response.

"Brother Xuan is too kind," she said reflexively. "Anyway, I doubt we want something as simple as a head to head duel…"

"Oh! Zhen and Gui can make a thing for capturing! Those games are fun!" her little brother announced.

"A flag capture sort of game," Wang Chao said thoughtfully. "I have no objections."

"Nor I," Luo Zhong agreed pleasantly

They spoke a little longer, deciding the rules. The victory objective would be of middling size and movable, and the defenders would have five minutes to prepare, the offensive team would win if they could take and hold the objective for two minutes, while the defensive team would win if they held for the time limit of ten minutes or took the objective back after losing it and then held it for two minutes themselves. Sixiang and Kongyou would be valid participants, but there would be no other bound beasts involved.

Luo Zhong and she descended the hill to give the other's time to prepare.

"You see the benefit the rules give us,yes Lady Ling," Luo Zhong said.

"Yes, it doesn't require Brother Xuan's defenses to be broken, merely bypassed. Quite gracious," Ling Qi said. It made things more fun after all, she appreciated that.

"Gracious, yes," Luo Zhong said thoughtfully. "You have been quite gracious yourself."

She gave him a sidelong look, not turning her head as they reached the bottom of the hill. "It is uncomfortable for a guest to be left on their own to grasp a group's dynamics."

"True," Luo Zhong agreed, looking up at the stars. "One who does manage earns more respect I think. Though it is a shame if they never return."

"Hah, like he ever sent an invite. Were you supposed to ask I wonder? Or maybe he figured you'd poke Alingge for an invite," Sixiang mused.

Personally, Ling Qi wasn't certain she bought his words, but she acknowledged that they seemed to think of things differently.

"Time is a cruel master. One never has enough of it," Ling Qi said thoughtfully. "When weighing which engagements to attend, is it wrong to place weight on those which are enjoyable as well as profitable."

Luo Zhong smiled thinly. "We all weight our priorities differently. Such is life. But, all the same a wider network has better utility than a smaller one, I think."

"On that we must disagree," Ling Qi said. "I find that a smaller, more trusted circle is superior. But I can at least understand your argument. The thought is much the same as what goes into those contracts of yours, isn't it?"

"The Luo lands are wide, and we have ever been a bit more mobile than our erstwhile peers, new resources and agreements must be pursued aggressively," Luo Zhong said, giving a slight dip of his head. "Our familial arts are a reflection of our lives, that is all. One must be both persistent on the hunt and flexible in action."

"Aggressiveness can be a negative trait too," Ling Qi said blandly.

He frowned. "I admit, I am at a loss for when aggressiveness has been my sin against you, Lady Ling."

Ling Qi frowned. In the end his conflict with Bao QIngling wasn't her business.

"Ah you do have a connection through that Li Suyin, who leaped over us all," Luo Zhong said thoughtfully. "And I suppose you would have seen that embarrassing incident. "I apologize if it made you think poorly of me. I allowed frustration to make me hasty and unwise. That pursuit should have been left in private."

"Why continue pursuing a deal that is clearly unwanted?" Ling Qi asked.

"Because I believe it really is the best arrangement possible, for both of us, and she will not even list what objections she has, that I might address them," Luo Zhong said with a frown. "But… we are veering into personal matters."

"You don't see it as… unworthy for a man to pursue a woman that way?" Ling Qi said warily.

He blinked, and for just a second she saw genuine confusion on his face before comprehension dawned. "I see. From your point of view, it must seem much more predatory. I assure you I have no capability to do a single thing to that woman she does not allow, nor would I if I could. It is merely a contract dispute which has grown heated… and realistically one likely to be abandoned. That I gave you such an ugly impression is something I sincerely apologize for."

Ling Qi took in a deep breath of the cool afternoon air. So much like Renxiang in a way, he seemed wholly sincere, as if those implications had never even occurred to him. Indeed, she felt that he was quite sincere in apologizing for 'giving her an ugly impression'. At the same time though she was certain that he wholly believed those words. She simply couldn't accept them.

"I'm not sure you should. It might break something," Sixiang murmured. "Still, I guess its good to know he stands there I guess."

"I accept your apology," Ling Qi said politely. "So, what are your thoughts on our strategy?"

***​

Ling Qi danced through the newly grown woods atop the hill, a wraith of dream and wind and mist. Flickering in the shadow of blossoming green and verdant qi. She ran, leaped and played along the web of qi that ran through the local dream, following them to their anchors.

Luo Zhong's arts felt disconcerting. There was a resemblance there, to the wild qi that coursed through Alingge's meridians. She could see the places where they diverged. Where the ancient, nameless people became hill and forest and mountain, and then Weilu and Hill tribe. His qi was paper and ink, leather and metal, bindings and tethers and words.

Her foot fell upon a narrow branch for an instant, barely bending the pale green wood. Sound erupted around her, the noise of a dozen snarling and howling hounds returning in force, as Ling Qi dipped back into the physical world. She felt the wind shift before she saw the man sized bullet shoot toward her, Wang Chao catapulting himself at such speed that she could not even perceive him as more than a blur.

She dispersed, no more than a cold winter breeze, a shower of snowflakes and chilled air, and in spirit, she grasped a tether of fire and metal, letting it pull her along to her destination.

Yet for all that his aura was a net of bindings, it still resonated with her own qi. Connection, community. Luo Zhong was not, Ling Qi thought as wise and savvy as he liked to portray, but he was only one knot in a wider net. His contracted spirits were manifestations of the spirit of his families city. She felt that strength touching on him, mother and father and siblings and relatives, all bound to a great place spirit that had seen them all grow from diapers, an immense support, an immense pressure. Just one dog in the pack, full of pride and desire to give back what he had given, overriding all concerns for those outside the pack.

S[irit contracts aside, this was family as most in the Empire saw it, Ling Qi thought. Binding and obligation, duty and responsibility. Blood above all other concerns. It bothered her,like a fly buzzing in her ear. Family was an obligation true, but… that was incomplete. But, there was only so much time for navel gazing.

She doubted Luo Zhong would have been pleased to know just how much she could read through the rivers of qi flowing into the liminal, which he had left for her navigation. Even now, he underestimated her. Then again, that was a little unfair, so few knew of her growing study of dreams yet.

"Hey now, you're forgetting something," Sixiang whispered.

Of course, it was Sixiang's new talent for possessing qi constructs which allowed this to work at all. Sixiang possessed a summon, and then Luo Zhong's contract and her bond allowed her to swiftly pull herself to Sixiang's location.

Ling Qi reemerged back into the material In the the face of a tremendous bang that shook the hill. A slender hound made of crimson fire stood upon a crackling plane of joined ceramic panels, shrouded in glittering mist, its canine face gave the impression of grinning, and its eyes sparkled black like Sixiang's.

Behind the panels Xuan Shi stood with his hands raised, feet set wide. On his back was strapped a long stick of green wood with a single bright orange leaf sprouting from its top, Zhengui's flag. Ling Qi grinned, the silly thing really took the seriousness out of the air.

She met Xuan Shi's eyes through the gaps in the panels, and saw them widen as her gaze flicked over his shoulder to where a tiny gossamer winged butterfly rested on the flag, shrouded in glittering rainbow mist.

The panels moved quickly. Like the door of a vault, snapping shut to isolate forever the priceless treasure within. But she was the wind, and no vault could keep her out.

An instant later, the flag was in her hands

Then, the panels snapped shut around her a featureless prison without hinges, doors or cracks, split only by the wide grin of nightmare. Ling Qi laughed.

Of course it wouldn't be so easy.

Twenty minutes it took, before the game finally ended. The flag had ultimately ended up in her hands, but she didn't think either she or Xuan Shi cared that much. It had been fun, and that was enough.

But all diversions had their end and soon, Ling Qi was on her way back to meet with Cai Renxiang.

AN: Alrighty that little arc got away from me a bit and ended up in more parts than I intended, but that is the end

 

[yrsillar]

"I hope your own meeting went well," Cai Renxiang said. Her voice was clipped, and Ling Qi could see some of the subtle signs of stress that only someone close to the heiress would notice in her posture and expression.

"It went," Ling Qi paused considering her words. They walked through the loose crowds moving between the noble pavilions. The great cathedral like cloth structure of the Cai tent looming large ahead. "It went acceptably. Xuan Shi and Wang Chao are both doing well."

Whatever her thoughts on the extra there, her main goal had been a success. Wang Chao was too bullish to let someone he perceived as a friend isolate themselves too much. Of course that could be twisted too, but for now she'd call it a win.

"How did her grace take your message?" Ling Qi asked.

"My mother will begin a correspondence negotiating a state meeting," Cai Renxiang said tersely. "It will be delayed. It would be inappropriate for a commander to leave the field at a campaign's denouement, and inappropriate to receive one of King Shao's status in a military camp."

Ling Qi digested that, considering the implications. It seemed very lukewarm to her, but in an indisputably polite way. That, she supposed was to be expected.

"It is likely that this is only an opening exchange," Cai Renxiang said. "These kind of negotiations are never simple."

Ling Qi gave a shallow nod. It made sense, Sun Shao's sudden interest in a meeting and a military campaign were almost certainly meant to disrupt the Duchess' plans and strain her relations with the Bai. Yet, because of who he was, she could not simply ignore or trample over him as she might a lesser obstacle.

Ling Qi felt a twinge of discomfort at that. Even the peak of cultivation was not immune to the winds of the world. That… bothered her. She should have known that though? Had Sun Shao not been humiliated last year. The victory she had cheered for in the finals had meant the eighth realm King of the West watching his great granddaughter be beaten and humiliated with no recourse.

"What troubles you?" Cai Renxiang asked, glancing over her shoulder as they reached the open square before the Cai pavilion.

Ling Qi realized that she had stopped her expression scrunching up into a scowl. She smoothed her features and offered her liege a smile. "I'm sorry, just considering some of the strategic troubles we might face."

"Hm," Renxiang didn't seem to entirely believe her, but didn't press, resuming their walk.

Was being safe really so impossible?
Ling Qi dismissed the troubling thought from her mind. She half expected a comment from Sixiang, but the muse was silent. They were stepping into the realm of the Cai after all. Yes, that was certainly the reason.

They approached the pavilion, but turned aside at the entrance, following a path which lead around the left side, a few moments passed in silence, save for the noise of from the grounds.

"I am glad you did not forget your appointment, given all the excitement," Ling Qi said quietly.

"...Don't be absurd. I do not forget appointments," Renxiang said stiffly.

They rounded the corner of the pavilion, coming into sight of the carriage yard. There was the Duchess' carriage just as resplendent as it had been last year, though lacking its beasts. There was also a second, more humble carriage painted in pale green, though still thrumming with qi enhancement. Her father presumably. Beside it though, was a third. Larger and bulkier, it was painted a light rose pink.

Ling Qi had felt the security formations of Elder Sima Jiao when she had entered the command tent of the Sect's forward base under the earth. She had felt the open threat of the security formations wrought upon the Bai ambassadors chambers. She had felt the overwhelming presence of the court at Xiangmen and the ancient pillars of beast bone there.

None of them made the hairs on the back of her neck rise like this simple unobtrusive pink carriage. It felt wholly mundane, she couldn't even feel the flow of basic arrays meant to strengthen the wood and stave off the need for maintenance. There was nothing at all to feel, but that somehow made it more ominous.

Two White Plume soldiers stood near it, but they felt almost like accessories.

"Lady Cai," one of the soldiers stepped forward, clapping his fists together and bowing his head. "Her grace has informed us that you and your retainer are to be allowed access to the young miss."

"Thank you, Captain Wei," Renxiang said evenly.

"Please be aware that the interior of the carriage is under the effect of qi suppression and prepare yourself accordingly," the soldier replied, stepping aside to open the way. Ling Qi had heard of the effect, something mostly used for imprisoning very politically sensitive criminals. Renxiang had used something similar for their opponents in the first year, though those were only rated for lower ranking cultivators. Anything more was hellishly expensive to maintain.

She followed renxiang up the steps of the carriage and through the door. She winced as she crossed the threshold,almost missing a step as the door closed behind it. It felt like being punched in the gut, to suddenly have all of her meridians shut down at once, like that day in the blizzard with Zeqing so long ago. She could barely even feel the energy in her dantian.

She was still far from mortal, no formation could take away the qi she had moulded into flesh and bone over the last two years, or the changes she had made directly to her spirit. Her mist still slept under her skin. Still, she felt… less.

The interior of the carriage was filled with a soft light and softer furnishings, small tapestries covered the walls and her feet sank into the thick and fuzzy carpet. It was naturally larger on the inside than out. At the far end of the cozy chamber, there was a large crib, carved of immaculately shaped and polished white wood, filled with a luxurious mattress and silken blankets. Over it hung an arrangement of crystal and jade chimes, turning slowly. The chimes were the only source of qi in the room, just a simple little formation that sent out timed puffs of wind to make the chimes play a soothing tune.

They shouldn't have worked under the suppression, but that was the work of an Eighth realm.

Beside the crib was an older woman, just barely third realm, who was already bowing deeply to her liege.

"The young miss has just been fed and cleaned, Lady Cai," the nursemaid said. "She is a calm child so all should be well. Would Lady Cai like me to stay and attend?"

"No," Renxiang said, looking at the crib rather than the woman. "...Although it may be for the best."

That sort of uncertainty from Renxiang felt truly unnatural to Ling Qi.

The nursemaid nodded once businesslike. "I had thought so. Privacy with family is important," she said, and Ling Qi felt the woman's eyes flick her way. "I will leave but if the young miss needs anything, please ring the bell on that table. It will signal me."

Ling Qi felt like this woman must be very familiar with higher ranking cultivators. She wondered would her own servants gain this sort of unflappable air in time? Renxiang murmured an agreement and the nursemaid bustled on out, not giving them another look. Renxiang took a few steps closer and she followed.

Cai Tienli lay in the crip, one chubby fist stuffed firmly in her mouth. She was… a baby, like any other Ling Qi had seen save for the richness of her swaddling. Perhaps her hair was growing in a little quickly given her age, a light honey brown fuzz on her scalp. Her skin was a shade duskier than her sisters, more resembling their father or the Prime Minister. Her eyes were bright green and followed the slow movement of the glittering chimes above as she chewed on her fist.

Somehow Ling Qi had expected her to be stranger. Maybe to have an inkling of glitter around her, a precursor to the halos of light that surrounded her Mother and sister. Then again, Ling Qi thought, eyeing Renxiang's back, even her sisters had grown less pronounced, hadn't it? She didn't quite remember when that had changed, when Renxiang's aura had dimmed and faded away in calm times.

But no, just a baby, if one that seemed to have an unusually steady gaze. But maybe that was just her imagining things.

Renxiang laid on her hands on the side of the crib and looked down, expression unreadable. The baby's eyes flicked toward her, the object obstructing the view of the chimes, and made a wet sound, reaching up her spit covered hand.

...It was cute.

"What am I meant to feel right now?" Cai Renxiang said quietly.

"I'm not sure I understand Lady Renxiang," Ling Qi said with a frown.

"I do not understand why I was allowed here. What does mother want from this?" Renxiang said. She looked down at her sister, who let out another wet gurgle in response.

"I…" Ling Qi had not really considered it from that point of view. Of what Shenhua intended to result from this meeting. "I wonder if that is a helpful way to think of things."

"Am I meant to discover affection, thus binding the Cai clan more closely to avoid future strife? Am I meant to see a rival, a show of how easily I may be replaced if my performance wavers? Am I meant to…"

Ling Qi laid a hand on her shoulder as the wood creaked under the heiress grip. Below the baby, Cai Tienli's face scrunched up looking as if she might cry.

"Isn't it better to think, 'what do I want from this?'" Ling Qi said. "Lady Renxiang, you've already made choices that surprised your Mother haven't you, if only a little?"

She didn't believe the Duchess really thought they would choose the project they had.

"Even if she intends my latitude, I still do not know what to feel," Renxiang replied. "This child is my sister. What does this mean? In many clans we are rivals, in the classic conception of clan duty we are meant to support and work in harmony."

"I think you are supposed to love your siblings," Ling Qi said dryly.

"I do not know what that means," Renxiang said with a sharp frustration. "No one defines love, instinctive understanding is always expected. It is unlikely that we will see one another on more than the passing occasion, and at formal events. What does that statement mean in this context?"

Ling Qi pursed her lips. "I… don't know if I have a good answer. I think… there's a difference between clan and family. You are born into a clan, you are obligated to support and aid your clan. Family, I think, is something else."

It was something she had been pondering for awhile now, here and there.

"What then is family?" Cai Renxiang asked.

"Family are those who you keep by you, not out of obligation, but because they make you happy enough to take up that obligation willingly."

Renxiang didn't answer at first, and in the crib, Cai Tienli started to cry. She saw Renxiang's hand twitch toward the bell.

[] Ask Cai Renxiang if she wants a sister. (75% Success. Likely to result in heart demon for Renxiang even on success.)
[] Keep your peace. What your liege does is her own decision. (50% Success. Success better for Renxiang's emotional health.)

 

[yrsillar]

Spoiler: mechanics

Target number 6 or higher
Roll 26 Two degrees success

"Cai Renxiang, do you want a sister?" Ling Qi asked.

Her liege didn't answer, but she also didn't reach for the bell. In the absence of heated voices the babies cries died down as well.

"Do you know what the root of corruption is, Ling Qi?" her liege asked back.

"...Greed, I suppose," Ling Qi replied, crossing her arms. She had an inkling of what was going to be said.

"Avarice plays its part," Cai Renxiang said absently. She lowered her hand into the crib, and the baby grasped at her fingers, the last of her cries trailing off into gurgling curiosity. "But no. Family is the root of corruption. A man pays an examiner to grade his son kindly. A woman speaks to her sister in the Ministry of Law and has a childs indiscretion swept under the rug. A man and his brother look out for one another and quash all competition for their positions. For some it is pure greed. But for most, it is the desire to put their family ahead."

Ling Qi frowned, stepping up beside her liege. "Is that truly corruption though? That is just… people working as they do. Of course you want to improve things for people you care about."

Her breath caught in her throat as she caught a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. Like a knife blade ghosting against her throat. The ringing chimes turned, innocently glittering in the dim light.

"It is, and that is corruption can never be truly stamped out. You may cut the branches, fell the trunk, burn the leaves, but the root remains. It begins with little things, but it grows and grows," Cai Renxiang said. "This is, I think you are right to say, being human. One who aspires to rule cannot have this. To rule with such personal biases is an abrogation of the responsibilities of your position"

Ling Qi frowned, choosing to change tacks. "The Scholar Kong often compares the ruler to the head of household, their responsibilities and duties are much the same. Reciprocal obligation is the root of good rulership as much as personal virtue."

For a moment her liege actually smiled. It was a thin brief thing. "Your memorization has improved Ling Qi. But, I do not think the Scholar's words make your point.In your conception, his wisdom is most certainly designed around what you call clan."

"...You can find wisdom in a work even if you don't agree with the author," Ling Qi huffed. The nursemaid had been right, Cai Tienli was a remarkably calm child. Just lowering their voices had been enough to soothe her distress.

"What is the obligation of a sibling Ling Qi, in your own words," Cai Renxiang asked.

"You offer them affection, tutelage, and protection," Ling Qi said, thinking of Biyu. "...You help them avoid your own troubles."

Cai Renxiang hummed to herself in response, watching the baby in the crib. "I am known as cold and impersonal, and my duties will demand distance and travel, what affection can I offer? I am a mere young mistress, whatever my title, what tutelage can I, who can not even fully comprehend Mother's Arts, give which would exceed what my Mother will arrange?"

She paused, but continued before Ling Qi can respond. "And… of the things which could threaten a daughter of the Cai, what protection can I offer?"

Ling Qi swallowed, whatever she was going to say silenced by those whisper quiet words. Her mind filled with a child screaming, and eyes of glass in an artificial face, so unsettling like her liege's. She had no retort. None that would not stick in her own throat as a lie. "You are not cold," she said quietly. "And I do not think distance is truly so great an obstacle."

Cai Renxiang didn't answer.

"Renxiang," Ling Qi said quietly. "You haven't answered my question."

"I do not know, Ling Qi," Cai Renxiang said tersely. "I do not even know how to evaluate that matter. But it is irrelevant. What I want cannot be what I do. The Emerald Seas is more important than Cai Renxiang. That is what it means to rule well. I cannot act against that."

Ling Qi felt a twinge of sadness. "I advised you once before that you do no one any good if you break yourself."

"And I have heard you, my advisor," Cai Renxiang said, straightening up. Her fingers escaped the baby's grasp. "But I will not stumble over the line from maintenance into indulgence. I understand and accept your point of view, but the responsibility I have been born to… and that Tienli has been born to, is heavier than what you bear, even now."

Renxiang spoke with poise and conviction, but Ling Qi was not fooled. She was hurting herself, even if she was wholly sincere.

Cai Renxiang backed up a step from the crib, and formally bowed her head. "Your Elder Sister greets you Cai Tienli, may you bring much pride to the Cai clan in the future."

Cai Tienli let out a wet hiccup, her head turning to follow Cai Renxiang with an infant's incomprehension.

"Come Ling Qi, I have done my duty," Cai Renxiang said quietly, sweeping past her.

"...Yes, Lady Cai," Ling Qi said.

***​

The rail under her forearms was warm, heated by the formations.The noise of the tournament grounds a buffer against her thoughts. The rest of the evening had been spent in a while of minor meetings and politicking, supporting her liege as they worked to drum up more than lukewarm acceptance of their task. It had felt more tiring than usual. Mostly because of the question in the back of her thoughts.

Where did you stand, when you knew you couldn't fulfill your duty to family?

She winced as a body went sprawling in the tournament grounds below. Gun Jun knocked from his feet for the eighth time. Lu Feng tossed him about like a child, and there was little he could do. Even Ling Qi felt some sympathy as the young man rose, shaking to his feet, despite the obvious tremors. She suspected he had fractured something on that last throw.

"He should yield," Lao Keung said from beside her. "There is no honor in hurling yourself face first into a wall."

"I do not know about that," Ling Qi said absently. "In battle certainly, but this is a tournament. Showing persistence has its virtues."

"Showing pride," the young man beside her snorted.

"...Pride is the luxury of the strong," Ling Qi admitted. "But, who is it, who wishes to admit being weak?"

"A living man," Lao Keung said.

"I admit some sympathy to both points,' Bai Meizhen admitted from the seating behind them. "It is somewhat distasteful, to give the Sun so much opportunity to gloat, but to admit loss is…. Difficult."

"But unavoidable in the end," Cai Renxiang said.

There was a thunderous crash from the arena, Lu feng had grown bored, and finished things with a single strike, sending Gan Guangli's friend crashing through the trunks of the trees they had been battling amidst with a contemptuous flick of his wrist. It amade the whole battle more sour that he likely could have done so at any time instead of toying with the younger disciple.

"Well, I for one, admire his resilience," Xia Anxi said, casting a careful look at Meizhen. "As the lady says, pride is not something to be so easily cast aside."

"Hm," Lao Keung said.

Below the false environment dissolved and Lu Feng bowed toward the crowds, or rather the box where Liling and the other visitors from the Western Territories were seated. Leaving the arena he passed gan Guangli. There was an exchange, but Ling Qi couldn't hear it.

"The next match is your peer with the girl from the ruined clan, isn't it?" Lao Keung asked.

"Yes," Ling Qi said. "Chu Song, I faced her myself last year."

"If our hosts will forgive the question. What crime did the Chu clan commit?" he asked idly, peering down.

"Refusal of a full county census and accounting of military assets," Cai Renxiang said. "And assault on a provincial official. The inspector sent to perform the census returned without his tongue or eyes. Later, treason, when they refused the second order."

"Such bold defiance. I cannot imagine how they thought such a thing would end for them," Meizhen said, a subtle sneer finding her lips. In the arena below Gan Guangli and Chu Song squared up.

"The consensus is that they believed that her Grace's hold on the province was weak, despite all her personal might," Cai Renxiang said. "That the other counts were merely waiting to be rallied against her reforms."

"After all, if one duke had been cast down, what protected this one?" Lao Keung mused. He earned a sharp look from Xia Anxi.

Meizhen smiled thinly though. "It is natural that new strength will be tested. And just as natural that those who overestimate themselves will be crushed."

"That is the way of the world," Lao Keung agreed. "Still, a shameful waste. The Elders of Chu were truly blind fools."

"Is it though? Such a weasel would have always been poised to bite the neck of the province, left unmolested," Xia Anxi said haughtily. "Better that they be fools than wise."

"True, what of this one then? You punished her for defiance the year before, and your fellow is poised to do so now," Lao Keung asked. "When do you believe it will be enough?"

",,,, Even now, for all her pain, she lives above all but a few in the province." Ling Qi said cooly. "She has been allowed into the Inner Sect, on the back of her talent. I do not think it is fair to say that she is still being punished by anyone but herself."

"An interesting perspective," Lao Keung said, smiling wryly. "Yes I suppose from the dust, even a hut must seem like a manor."

Ling Qi glanced his way, he looked pensive. Below, the match was beginning.

[] Ask him what he thinks of repentance and forgiveness then, where is the line? (+1 to Motion)
[] Ask him what he thinks of punishment, what is the virtue of rulership to him? (+1 to Power)