Threads 364-Maps 5

As the rest of the table broke up into smaller groups for refreshment and more casual talks, she gave a nod to Cai Renxiang and broke off, heading to the corner of the room where the old man waited for her.

“You believe you can mollify me,” Cao Chun said without preamble. He really was quite annoyed.

“I think I can,” Ling Qi said. “Sir Cao, this is the clans’ right.”

“And if you think I could not see your manipulation there, using their pride and your connection with the Wang, to get your way and let them think it their own idea, you are a fool. It may not have been some grand scheme, but it was well played all the same. Those your age are often too given to overcomplicated plots when simple social tricks will do.”

“I thank you for saying so. May I explain my thoughts?”

He grunted, gesturing for her to continue.

She hummed for a moment, letting him see her examine the wards against eavesdropping and clairvoyance that he kept around him, as natural for the higher cultivator as her own breathing was to her.

“I think it is necessary for the basic information exchange to occur, if this is to last longer term. This is not merely for my own reasons, which you might call soft and overly sympathetic, but also for practical ones as well.”

He regarded her with stony silence but did not move to interrupt.

“If we truly are superior to them, then it will only be made more obvious through cooperation. If our methods are better, then there will be those that adopt them. If elements of their practice are useful, our people will adapt them and make our own practice better. And the more I learn, the less useful I find the term ‘barbarian.’ It terminates thought. By all measures, it means only ‘not of the empire.’ A useless distinction, considering the Sage conquered most of us. That the Xuan joined our great realm well after his death of their own will when they saw what we had built is notable.”

“There is a vast gulf of time between the subjugated lords of the forest and the savages of the Wall or these frozen foreigners.” Cao Chun’s expression twisted, and his hand tightened on his cane. “It is unworthy for any who live in the Peaks to treat those of the provinces as if they were barely better than barbarians. I am most irritated when I find such infections of thought lingering like malignant tumors among my kin.”

She lowered her head respectfully. “I am glad Inspector Cao believes this. We of the Emerald Seas have been troubled, but we are as imperial as the nobles of the Heavenly Peaks. My point, though, is that we were not always so.”

“You propose that these foreigners can be brought to us?” The corner of his lips quirked up. “Ambitious, though you do not believe it.”

“… I don’t,” Ling Qi said. There was no point in trying to lie to a cultivator two realms above her. “But that is because I am not certain imperial authority is what makes people civilized.”

“And what does, then?” the old man asked mildly. She was pleased to see him engaging her in this discussion. “Bereft of order… You know what people are like, girl. I have read your file. You know what savages men are when they are ill-policed.”

“Plenty and peace is what tames the beasts within us.”

Cao Chun’s expression grew condescending. “Baroness, never come to the lands of the Peaks if you think so.”

“Perhaps not all unworthy urges then, but those that lead to direct violence. In a civilized setting, a man might scheme after his neighbor’s wealth, but he will not draw a blade nor gather his warriors to take it.”

“Granted, but it is the watchful eye of authority which makes this so.”

“And are we not establishing the beginning of authority here? It is my hope that this can satisfy you. I believe we will come to peace through becoming familiar neighbors. You do not believe this, but if we show our excellence, it will move them toward us, just as they have moved the southern cloud tribes toward them.”

She paused before adding, “And allow me to share this. From what I have observed, the central authority of the Polar Nation is weak. When I asked after the presence of their capital, I saw dismissal and derision.”

It was only a slight exaggeration and a little twist on what she had learned of the Iron King in Grydja’s shack and through Jaromila’s story. Jaromila’s family had not used the direct authority of the capital to pursue her; they were not the Liu handing down edicts for Ling Qi’s mother to be ruined. They had to scheme and plot to kill Jaromila’s father, and they had to hide it well to boot.

“Such an outcome would surely be the proverbial tree that only my grandchildren might shade under, but it is our duty to plant such seeds, no?”

Cao Chun leaned on his cane heavily. “I do not know who taught you your manipulations, girl, but they are skilled. You tell me to my face that you do not believe it will be possible, but still, you continue to play on my rightful pride in our institutions.”

There was, Ling Qi thought, value in ambiguity. Truth was important, but without varnish, it was a blunt tool, a hammer or a wildfire. Under the Hui, burning every scheme equally had been the right action. She did not think it would be so forever. She felt a faint itch under her eye, a meridian twisting.

Unvarnished truth was not always the right way. Sincerity in your communication was important, but truth as a virtue in itself was less so.

“I know what you believe, and I am explaining how my actions may pay out under that perspective,” Ling Qi justified. “I am only providing information and asking you to examine it. If you think it is nonsense, just say it is so.”

“I understand now why that miserable coward Jiao had his attention on you. Better that you took service under the Cai. Better headaches than waste. It is correct that I do not have the authority to gainsay the clans here. You have at least convinced me that you have dedication to the empire in your own way. I will handle any elements that wish to complain too loudly of this.”

“Thank you, inspector.” Ling Qi bowed respectfully, as one would to an honored elder or teacher.

He snorted. “You are on the edge of mocking me. Get you gone, baroness. I must think for now. Bring the Zheng to the embassy this evening. The culprit must be discussed further.”

She rose smoothly and left him without a further word, looking out over the rest of the recess where her eyes met Meng Dan’s. He tilted his head slightly, silently calling her over. With him was his uncle, Meng Deming.

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

It seemed it was finally time to become acquainted.

***

“Greetings, Sir Meng, I hope that you have settled in well. My apologies that I have had no chance to welcome you properly before now.”

She had made her way over to Meng Dan and his uncle without hesitation and given her greetings with a low bow. That Meng Deming had rebuffed her prior tentative offer of a meeting was left unsaid. He was the social superior here so some deference was expected.

“This whole matter has been hasty. My nephew was able to convey your needs well enough while I worked to settle the ripples of that woman’s little bout of swordplay.” Meng Deming looked down at her with a piercing gaze, and Ling Qi allowed his senses to sweep over her without resistance. In turn, she took a closer look at him.

Serene. Quiet frog song, the chirping calls of crickets, wind through the reeds, and mist under a moonlit sky. But the reeds stirred, and there were ripples beneath the water, dark shapes that she could not make out.

It was not dissimilar to the feeling that Gu Xiulan’s mother had given her when Ling Qi had met her at the first New Year’s Tournament. Meng Dan’s uncle was more ill tempered than he appeared.

“Sometimes, the world does not allow for long contemplations,” Ling Qi said. “I am most thankful for your intervention with the mountain.”

“It could have been done without me in the new way, obliterating the spirits of this place and forcing them to grow in a new mold. It was the opportunity to avoid that as much as anything that I came here,” Meng Deming said frankly.