Threads 293-Construction 6

“May I ask for your understanding of this summit in your own words?”

Ling Qi didn’t know enough about him. If most of her information toward Cao Chun was going to be filtered, that couldn’t stand. The Jin were the ducal clan of the Alabaster Seas. They had minimal relations with the Emerald Seas. She knew they were mercantile, somewhat like the Bao, but much more heavily invested in shipbuilding and shipping. They controlled all ports on the mainland empire, save for a single city in the Thousand Lakes.

He really was very handsome. Though his voice was warm, his manner was sterner and more serious than Meng Dan’s.

“This operation seeks to defuse an additional front of the war against the tribes of these mountains who have fallen roughly into three ‘factions’ or confederations. Your target is aligned with a foreign group much further south in the plains of ice beyond the mountains. These foreigners control their barbarians to such a degree that you are negotiating directly with them.”

Ling Qi observed his face as they climbed the stairs. He laid out his points swiftly and with confidence. She also noted his choice of words. “I would word it differently. The White Sky Confederation and their Polar Nation appear invested in fully integrating the cloud tribes who have joined them. These tribes are mostly those furthest from the empire who reside in the harshest peaks.”

Jin Tae mused, “How ambitious of them.”

“Oh, you don’t believe they are puffing themselves up?” Ling Qi prodded.

“Possibly. I have at least heard credible reports of true civilizations beyond the Empire’s shores though. So I would rather not assume. Regardless, I have studied the maps. These folk are too far distant to mount a credible military campaign against, should they stay in the southern foothills of the Wall.” He looked her in the eye. They reached the top of the stairs, facing each other in the room there. “And it seems their most likely military option against us is unleashing their auxiliary tribes with support in the form of equipment and safe infrastructure.”

Ling Qi hadn’t quite considered it that way, but inferior talismans were generally a weakness of the cloud tribes, and their camps were considered their only real strategic vulnerabilities. “I’m glad that you are considering this effort in such a clearheaded way.”

“It is an interesting little puzzle. It is enjoyable to turn over scenarios in the mind, isn’t it? Regardless, I do believe your approach is correct. There is no profit to be found in war with them at the present.”

She nodded. That was probably the most helpful position she could hope for from the Ministry of Integrity and the capital. If he were more supportive, she would honestly be suspicious. Although perhaps that was a consideration of his? She liked to think no one was actively looking to sabotage the summit, but of all present, the Jin did have the most conflicts with the Bai and the Xuan, the Cai’s allies in the Empire.

“War in the Wall will not be helpful anytime in our lifetimes. That is the reason behind my interest in this negotiation. The longer an association goes, the more sturdy it becomes, no?”

That might be simplistic, but not outright wrong.” Jin Tae crossed his arms. “In the end, kingdoms and empires compete with those next to them, and some must lose so that others can win. It is because they are too far and out of competition with the Empire that I have some confidence in this effort. Should the borders come closer or transport formations advance, this may change.”

That was sincere, she thought. “Not outright wrong.”

He chuckled. “But as you said, that is not the foreseeable future.”

Ling Qi would have to keep Jin Tae “in the know” on some level to satisfy Cao Chun and the ministry presence, but how did she want to handle that?

There was an appeal in reaching out, trying to find if there was some commonalities she could speak to. It was her first impulse even. But she had to consider the practicalities. The Jin were opposed to both the Bai and the Xuan, their closest external allies, who she already had friends in. While she couldn’t say that was an intractable problem, she could not afford to spend the time on solving this problem. It was another way in which she simply wasn’t strong enough yet.

And while Cai Renxiang would ultimately decide on the level of relationship tonight when they gave their reports, she also knew her suggestions would have a great weight. For now, she would recommend that it would be best to treat the Ministry and the throne with the respect they were due, but she couldn’t afford to give them too close an eye on their decisions.

“It is not. Only the Great Spirits can see things so far ahead,” Ling Qi said. “We, who live here on the ground and under the sky, should focus on what we can see.”

He laughed, covering his mouth with his hand. “Well said. Truly, did I not know any better, I would think you a scion of the old blood in these lands. Let me compliment you on your thorough assimilation, Baroness.”

Ling Qi couldn’t pick out his intentions in those words. Sixiang found them ambiguous, too. In her gut, she felt it was a backhanded compliment. “I have been a thorough student.”

“As one should,” he said agreeably. “One’s immediate environment cannot be ignored.”

She nodded. “Regardless, should we proceed to the meeting hall above? We should arrange our reporting schedule, and I will need to hear your requirements, so that Lady Cai may decide if they may be accommodated.”

She spoke very formally, never looking away from his face. Her language was very deliberate. The Ministry had power here, but it was not in charge.

He gave a narrow eyed smile in return and tipped his head to her. “Yes, Baroness. Let us keep everything in order.”

***

She spent the better part of the next hour with Jin Tae in the partially constructed meeting hall above ground, speaking about the procedure for their interaction. She and Jin Tae would be the primary points of contact for their respective factions. He would be present during the arrangement of work team cooperation and any sharing of military planning, and he assured her that he would have latitude to approve decisions within certain limits. They would proceed from there.

On a more personal level, once they had decided it, Lady Cai would have her provide Jin Tae with their diplomatic strategy and what immediate steps they would take, and they would promise to consider any advice which Cao Chun passed through Jin Tae in return.

Advice, consider, and “items of interest.” These words and phrases were and would be doing a great deal of work, Ling Qi thought grimly.

<If you guys abused words any harder, I might have to call the language guardians,> Sixiang joked as they made their way out of the embassy house.

Ling Qi wondered if spirits attached to the sanctity of language actually existed.

<Not really. Human words change their meaning and character too swiftly. And they’re too closely attached to humans to have their own will. Can’t I make even one joke without you having to be all serious about it?>

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“No,” Ling Qi said blandly. She drew a nervous glance from the group of workers on the bridge span as she crossed it, some inches off the partially built structure. As she stepped down from the air onto the ground on the other side, she paused. The wind was blowing strangely.

She tilted her head as a sourceless breeze tugged at her hair, carrying with it the faint cry of a crow. Convenient. She’d begun to worry that she would have to work out how to contact the foreigners without invitation. Being on the edge of troublesome in their timing was a foible of all cultivators of divination.

“Upon your road south beyond its end, and approach the base of the Haven in the circle of five stones.”

Ling Qi closed her eyes, considering the picture she had built in her head by flying above, seeing through eyes of silver that she surrounded herself with. She took a turn to the left where she knew the road would end. She had already seen and noted a gap in the trees there, and she had glimpsed stones similar to the warding stones they used.

It did not take terribly long to leave the imperial road and enter the still unorganized woods. The sounds of life were still muted and distant, hidden under the sounds of movement and construction. That was no different in the south. The road she found there might be more winding, a trench dug and filled with gravel against straight gleaming stone, but it was still a road.

And the circle of stones was no less impressive. Each stone was smaller than an imperial wardstone. Over the road, there was an arch made by three heavy blocks of smoothed rock, and another arch was on the other side. Three other stones were arrayed around, steles carved with meticulous pictographs and murals rather than flowing script.