v7c32: The Work Continues, in Light and Shadow

It was one thing to read about ancient Chinese court drama.

It was another thing entirely to see it play out.

The first night had been amusing enough, with the Lord Magistrate and Lady Wu blackmailing the hell out of the Wu Clan. Our amusement had quickly faded though, when the first thing the Wus did after leaving was order the kidnapping of the Lord Magistrate, Lady Wu, and the Auditor.

…I had very nearly gone down there myself, to say nothing of the way Meimei’s eyes had gone cold and dark. None of us had taken it well. The rooftop we were watching from suddenly had a dragon on it, lightning crackling around his whiskers, while Babe had bristled, his eyes literally sharp—his sword intent had been a palpable aura. The bees had risen up in a flight around us, buzzing ominously.

Xue Ji, however, saved their asses before Meimei could start busting out the poisons, and sent the bastards packing.

Literally.

They looted their castle so fast I couldn’t stay angry, the cultivators sprinting away from their house with comically large bundles on their back. Chairs and tables stuck out at odd angles, and chains of valuables dangled from their necks and arms.

===============================

The next day it was just me and Mei for the first part—we couldn’t exactly keep a low profile while taking an ox, a fish, and a baby into the Imperial Palace of the Azure Hills.

It was actually my first time being in a provincial capital’s Palace, and it was grander than I imagined.

Banners of deep reds and golds draped the walls like a cloak; the proud Phoenix stared from every one of them, so lifelike it seemed it might take flight from the walls. The wood was smooth, lacquered by the finest artisans, and then there was the art. While most of it was from the Azure Hills, there were vases from as far away as Ivory Cloud Savannah, forty thousand Li to the southeast. Wood block prints from Victory Flame Bay. A glowstone mount the size of a house that came from Amber Sap Thicket; a menagerie of stuffed and preserved exotic animals; each one was an ancient thing, occasionally brought over the thousands of years of the Empire… and each one showing the sheer scope of the Dominion of the Phoenix.

Even in the Azure Hills, it was stunning. It was a bit gaudy, sure, but it was cool to see all the artifacts and art. It would have made one hell of a museum if the place was open to the general public. It was so fascinating that we nearly missed the Special Court session, slipping in the back just as the Governor entered, thanks to the Azure Jade Trading Company person who vouched for us.

After that… well, it was a court case, really. Like watching one on TV. Mei had been very interested in the proceedings, watching as the Auditor laid everything out in front of the Governor.

Though someone else had caught her eye.

“He seems familiar,” Meimei told me, pointing at the Lord Director of Civil Service Examinations. “I don’t know why though. I’ve never met him before, I don’t think.”

I squinted at the old man, but nothing really stood out to me.

“Maybe it’s the freckles?” I asked quietly. They did look kind of like Mei and her brother’s, across the nose and cheeks. “Your mom came from Pale Moon Lake City, right?”

Meimei studied him for a moment longer, before shrugging. “… I don’t think it matters. Either we aren’t related… or he’s the reason why my mother was the daughter of a courtesan. Either way, I don’t want to know him.”

Which was, in the end, fair enough.

The verdict was reached. The evidence was overwhelming. The call for Lord Wu’s arrest was made. And the city erupted into violence.

Relatively short-lived violence, but violence nonetheless.

The Wus tried to escape, and they were thwarted by the preparations of Teacher and his allies.

He had asked us not to intervene… so we left it alone, for the most part. The only thing Meimei, Washy, Babe and I did was make sure it didn’t spill out into the main population centers, and that the fires didn’t spread. But we ended up not really having to do anything.

The Lord Magistrate, Lady Wu, Azure Jade Trading Company and the Plum Blossom’s Shadow had planned things out meticulously, and had taken nearly everything into consideration.

We watched as the members of the Wu Clan were captured. There was one sketchy point where Lord Wu’s ship almost escaped… until Xue Ji pulled out a knife like Suyan had. It looked a bit like a kukri; a bent, vicious-looking blade that took inspiration from a cicada’s wing—and threw it with a flick of her wrist off the docks.

The blade shot out, spinning like a dervish, slashed through the rigging, then spun back around like a boomerang for Xue Ji to catch, with nobody else any wiser.

========================

And that… that mostly ended the Lord Magistrate’s involvement. It had been a dramatic show indeed. Worthy of a woodblock print tale, and Babe seemed to agree. The villains brought to justice, and the good guys victorious.

But it wasn’t the complete end of things.

“We are unneeded for the next part. The wheels of the government are in motion, and with his escape attempt, Lord Wu looks all the more guilty,” the Lord Magistrate observed, as he slurped his noodles.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“Yeah, you get to leave, while I have to stay here and sort through everything, and make sure it sticks,” the Auditor complained around a mouthful of noodles. “It’s a damn mess, and it’s going to take months to track down collaborators—and you’re right, Wa Shi, toasting the spices like that does improve the taste.”

Wa Shi beamed, and the Lord Magistrate chuckled at the complaining before his face turned solemn. “Take care of yourself, Sheng Yanjing. It is no small task you are undertaking here.”

Yanjing sighed.

“There are going to be a lot of assassination attempts,” he said after a moment, and I grimaced at his matter of fact tone. He had a small grin on his face, like it was no big deal, but I could see the tremor in his hands. “You think you can spare Xue Ji for a few months? She’s quite handy at seeing ruffians off.”

“I’m afraid I must decline, Sheng Yanjing. My place is with the Lord Magistrate, as charged by Lady Nezuhua,” Xue Ji said, sounding actually apologetic. “However… I will talk to my Lady about your troubles. A friend of our Lord Magistrate does receive special considerations.”

“Truly?” the Auditor asked. Xue Ji nodded. Sheng Yanjing let out a sigh of relief. “I suppose I’ll just keep on my toes until then, hmm?”

“We’ll be in the city for a couple of days still,” I shared. “And I think, after all this excitement, a day at the beach is just what everyone needs.”

The Lord Magistrate, whose brow had been furrowed still with worry, nodded.

“I think that’s what everyone needs as well,” he agreed.

======================================

Chen Lianji of the Plum Blossom’s Shadow sat within a well-lit room with the leaders of his organization, his heart calm, and his brush at the ready. The cipher for this meeting had been set, and he had memorized all the steps necessary to encode things.

A process that his fellows were currently in the middle of doing as well. Some of their early meetings had not been encoded, and as the Wu Clan had shown them, a cipher was very necessary.