Chapter 360: The Most Stressed

~~~

“I believe you should be the empress.”

Lu Mei slowly puts down her book. Whatever she might have expected when Xiao Shuang entered her room, it was certainly not this.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I believe you should be the empress,” Xiao Shuang repeats.

“That is…” Exactly what she is after, but hearing it voiced by her main competitor makes her naturally suspicious. “Exceedingly generous of you. Might I ask where this generosity stems from?”

“It is not generosity but basic observation,” Xiao Shuang replies. “I have been noticing it ever since we arrived here. You know all the relevant people in court and have several allies among them. You make deals, compromise, and push your goals with ease. You understand their enmities and history. In short, you understand the empire in a way I do not.”

Lu Mei’s first reaction is not to feel flattered by Xiao Shuang’s summation. That comes later. Instead, she worries that Xiao Shuang has been observing her so closely that she noticed all of that without her realizing it.

“While all of that is true, I have been here for a couple of years now,” Lu Mei points out. “There is no point in comparing our progress.”

“It’s more than that,” Xiao Shuang says. “You have been raised to be good at these things. While my training did not omit matters of diplomacy, the emphasis was always on my cultivation.”

Lu Mei suspected as much. She cannot even say it was the wrong choice for Xiao Shuang’s training to be structured that way. From the perspective of the Divine Frozen Palace, Xiao Shuang had centuries to learn about all manner of things. It was better to capitalize on her cultivation so she’d make an impact on the Crimson Cloud Tournament and focus on other things later.

“You still have time to learn,” she says.

“Maybe so, but I do not have the inclination to do so. Right now, I am needed as a warrior first, and I accept that. It’s best for me to hone those gifts. Besides, I do not enjoy lying and scheming, while you seem naturally gifted. Despite being far weaker than I, the role of empress suits you best.”

Lu Mei’s eyebrow twitches.

“You really let your tongue loose there,” she says

“Perhaps,” Xiao Shuang says, flashing her a small smile.

“The Divine Frozen Palace would take offense if I became empress,” Lu Mei says, wondering why she’s not agreeing to this already.

“That might be an issue, but the empire needs an empress,” Xiao Shuang says. “Things are well now, but once open hostilities begin, it will become necessary. Our husband will be spread too thin. The Empire needs another figure. We agreed we’d decide between us, and I believe this is the best choice.”

A vein throbs on Lu Mei’s forehead. It is not that Xiao Shuang is saying anything wrong. Indeed, Lu Mei always assumed she’d eventually become empress for all the reasons Xuao Shuang just listed, but something about this just annoys her.

“No,” Lu Mei says.

Xiao Shuang tilts her head. “No?”

“I could say something about how my father’s wife would get unreasonably angry and probably send assassins after me again, which would complicate things with the Eternal Flame Clan, but that’s not it,” Lu Mei says, before pointing a finger at Xiao Shuang. “You’re thinking you can dump all the responsibility on me and become an empty-headed fool like Bei Hong! I don’t like that!”

“I am doing what is most prudent,” Xiao Shuang counters, crossing her arms. “You’re being needlessly contrarian.”

“You think focusing only on your cultivation is what is most prudent? He already has Emperors helping him. Will one more strong person really make a difference?” Lu Mei asks. When she sees the small flinch on Xiao Shuang’s face, she smiles. It all finally makes sense. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”

“It’s not a secret that I want to ease his burden,” Xiao Shuang replies.

There is an odd weight to that statement. Xiao Shuang’s Dao. Hearth. It might sound innocuous, but the ways in which Xiao Shuang’s mind works to preserve it are anything but. She picks a course and follows it through with bullish intensity. That might satisfy Xiao Shuang, but it won’t satisfy Lu Mei’s Greed.

“Me becoming the empress won’t do it. Not in the way you think,” Lu Mei counters, an idea already taking shape in her mind.

“Oh, then what do you suppose will help? Do you mean to make me the empress instead?”

“Never,” Lu Mei says, before smiling. “However, what will ease his burdens is not you becoming another overwhelmingly powerful person. If you mean to stand at his side, then it would not be the worst thing if you learned a few things. In fact, you must. You are a wife of the Emperor. It’s forbidden for you to be clueless about matters of state.”

She offers Xiao Shuang a chair.

“Sit down,” Lu Mei says, smiling. “I think it is time you learned the fine art of politics.”

“I suddenly regret coming here.”

~~~

“You look terrible, Boss.”

Liu Jin smiles weakly as Su Daji lets herself into his room. She’s caught him at a bad time. He has just reassimilated the flesh and soul from the copy he sent to investigate Serene End. The memories of the flesh, which his copy pushed to limits Liu Jin never had before, combined with the damage lingering in his soul from modifying Xiao Nan’s meridians, made the experience far more unpleasant than he expected. His skin is pale and sweaty, and the taste of blood lingers in his mouth.

“I did not expect you here so soon,” he says.

“That’s a lie. There’s no way you expected us to stay in that boring place until your copy finished helping those two,” she replies before pointing at him. “And don’t try to change the subject! I knew I’d find you like this! I knew it!”

She stomps over to a small table by the corner and picks up the teakettle there. A flash of her Qi heats it up.

“It is not as bad as it looks,” he says as she all but shoves a steaming cup into his hands.

“No, you tripping and falling on your face when you were a kid trying to learn that movement technique was not as bad as it looked,” Su Daji says. “This is bad. The soul is not a toy. I know that better than anyone.”

Right, the Su Daji that exists before him is the product of two souls being pushed well past any reasonable boundary. The original Daji might have chosen that, but Su An was simply caught in the circumstances.

“I’ll be sure to keep your words in mind,” Liu Jin says, taking a sip from his drink. Tea always calms him. “Creating another soul fragment, especially as I am now, was too reckless. I’ll not do it again.”

Su Daji looks at him suspiciously before nodding.

“Good,” she says. “Did you get something good out of it?”

“Serene End told me where to find the disciples of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows,” he replies, drinking more tea.

“Oh,” Su Daji says. “You know she’s just trying to use you to kill them, right?”

“Of course,” Liu Jin says.

Regardless of what Serene End might have said about the Peerless Heavenly Sword Peak, the truth is that all three powers of the other side of the Dead Plains exist under a tenuous peace. They cannot directly attack one another, so she cannot be the one who kills the disciples of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows.

However, there is no problem for her if he is the one who does it.

“Are you going to do it?” Su Daji asks.

Liu Jin takes another sip from his cup before answering.

“I’d prefer it if it doesn’t come to that,” Liu Jin replies. “It will all depend on what they plan to do.”

Had Serene End wanted to, she could have destroyed a city or two without him being able to do anything about it. She hadn’t because there would have been no way to obtain his willing cooperation after a stunt like that. However, there is nothing like that holding back the disciples of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows. If they mean to do harm to his citizens, he will have no choice.

This would have never happened if he hadn’t revealed himself.

Su Daji frowns and pokes him in the forehead. Well, she tries to. The palace immediately puts up a barrier that stops her offending finger half an inch away.

“That’s just unfair,” she says, trying and failing to push her finger past the remaining distance. “Boss, drop this so I can poke you.”

Liu Jin takes another sip. “No, I don’t think I will.”

“Cheater! Coward!” She puffs her cheeks. “Anyway, this is all your fault. You already know that.”

Liu Jin blinks. “Aren’t you supposed to tell me not to dwell on dark thoughts?”

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“I keep you honest and away from dumb thoughts, Boss,” Su Daji says. “It’s a heavy duty, but it is mine. When you told me what you planned to do, I told you it was dumb. I’d be surprised if there was someone who knew and didn’t tell you that at one point or another.”

Liu Jin decides not to answer because he’d just be proving her right.

“However, you thought differently. You decided to listen to yourself rather than the rest of us. Why?”

“Because it was what was needed,” Liu Jin says. “Had I not done anything, I would have gained maybe a decade or two before Cao Bian acted, but that would have meant allowing Cao Bian to act unhindered for that long. He would have just kept accumulating advantages. I’m not sure if I could have stopped him. The Crimson Cloud Tournament presented the perfect opportunity. It caught everyone by surprise and left them all unbalanced.”

Liu Jin allows himself a small smile.

“Even now, they are not sure how to act. Just because the Death Fashioning Scripture wants me alive, they are on the verge of conflict with the Temple of the Thousand Shadows. That’s more than I could have hoped to do on my own. I might have put myself and others in danger… but if I can stop the entire continent from being overrun, the price is well worth it.”

“Well, there you go,” Su Daji says, shrugging. “You’re a terrible, unrepentant tyrant. At least, try to enjoy yourself. I’ll let you brush my tails if you want.”

Liu Jin laughs when she offers one of her tails to him.

“That seems more like a reward for you,” he says. “Did you enjoy your trip to the Dead Plains?”

“It was terrible,” she answers without hesitation. “It’s boring to stay in those Flame-Wheeled Wagons for so many hours, and awkward having to listen to you and that Big Sister woman talk. The temple was creepy, and so was the Lotus guy. The monsters in the Dead Plains were all ugly, and there’s nothing fun to do there. Your bird stole my prey, and we got ambushed! I don’t think I even talked to Xiao Nan. He might as well be a stranger to me now.”