Threads 393-Recovery 1

“I see. And would you say that your experience overseeing infrastructure development in the outer base districts gives you some insights, despite the difference in density and geography at Snowblossom?”

It was difficult not to fall into a rote tone when conducting interviews, but it was important, Ling Qi thought, to present herself as interested and to give her questions some small personal twist. But, by all the eight moon phases was she glad that this was her last one for the day, and nearly done to boot. This applicant had probably passed.

“Indeed. The outermost of Xiangmen’s districts are quite far from Her Grace’s light, and in many cases, they were ungoverned or had developed improper parallel structures of government during the old times,” spoke the interviewee, a young man of middling first realm and some half a decade her senior. “While it is not the same as virgin earth development, many of the same principles apply due to the need for a complete overhaul in construction and rites.”

He was earnest, she would give him that. She shuffled the papers holding his recommendations and history, running her eyes over them without reading. She had already memorized them all, but in the prior interviews, she had found that being too still and focusing her gaze on the interviewee for too long was unsettling and hurt their morale too much.

It probably didn’t help that some of her meridians were beginning to function fitfully again, which made it difficult for her to properly contain her qi. Even now, the papers in her hands felt like sheets of lead, and it took a great deal of concentration to keep her arms from trembling as she straightened the papers out and set them on the work desk at her side.

Ling Qi was still wrapped in fabric bandages worked through with paper and silk talismans from the tips of her fingers down to her toes, but she had remained conscious the last time they had been changed, instead of blacking out when the pain suppression failed. She considered that progress.

The short, wavy hair that was just beginning to tickle at her earlobes was also a nice reminder of recovery. She’d spent most of her life with ragged, short shorn hair. But now, it just felt unnatural.

“It’s interesting to know that the ministries of Xiangmen are still performing such work. It speaks well that their vigor for the task has not decreased. Yet, if this is so, what drove you to apply for a position so far from the capital? It is quite a change to uproot yourself and…” She pulled up the memory of his dossier. A young wife, no children yet, and not expecting either.

Shame. He was somewhat handsome; one of her maids had been eyeing him in the waiting room. She’d have to tell her there was no opportunity there. “—Your wife. Is it the offer of property to first comers that interests you?”

“I would be dishonest to say it is not,” he said, and she marked that down as a point in his favor. Too many felt the need to tell an obvious and pointless lie. “To establish my family there under the protection of Lady Cai and yourself is a great growth opportunity. At the same time, I am sincerely excited to be given the chance to oversee even a small part of the Heiress Cai’s vision for the south.”

A little obsequiousness, but that was normal, and his statement had been mostly true.

There was something else troubling him as well. She saw it as a dark pressure on his aura; it rode his back like a malevolent spirit. She tilted her head and focused her eyes on the young man. He paled as the faint blue light washed over his face.

… Ah. She heard the whispers that hissed free from mental scars. Familial fallout, due to disapproval of the match with his wife, who was merely a mortal cook. Obstacles had been placed on his career. There was nothing illegal, but there had been social snubbing, and problems too small and uncertain to be more than squirming suspicions.

She sharply drew down her qi, feeling the ache and burn of it cycling back into her body.

“I see. It is not wrong to seek your own prosperity, but I am sure you recall your teachers’ lessons.” Ling Qi shuffled the papers one last time and placed them firmly on the desk. “That concludes the interview. I will contact you regarding your position at Snowblossom within the week.”

That was one more applicant for the short list. Cai Renxiang would be pleased to have another reliable clerk for the small battalion she was building around herself.

The man rose to his feet, bowing low and thanking her profusely. She nodded back, said the correct things for the dozenth time that day, and dismissed him.

After he left, she let her straight and proper posture slump into the comfortable cushions of her wheelchair and carefully grasped the cup of ice-cold juice set out on the table beside her. Before her injury, she hadn’t thought much on the bodily control a cultivator came into as they rose through the realms and stages. Now, every movement had to be deliberate, and she had to focus on individual tendons and muscles, willing them strength so that none failed her. She sipped from the sweet, throat-soothing juice and sighed.

“Big Sis?”

“Yes, Hanyi?” she asked without opening her eyes. She’d felt her junior sister coming.

“Ready for dinner?” Hanyi chirped. It wasn’t really a question; she was already crossing the room.

“Of course. Your timing is getting better, Hanyi,” Ling Qi praised.

Hanyi fussed with the cushion behind Ling Qi’s head and grasped the handles on the chair, getting her ready to wheel out. It was still irksome, being so helpless.

“Hey, just remember that Mister Manager is coming to dinner today, too,” Hanyi reminded.

“I remember.”

Hanyi was trying so hard to be helpful. Ling Qi just wished she couldn’t see the tinge of brittleness in her junior sister’s smile. Hanyi hovered so much these days.

The polished wooden rims of her wheelchair rolled silently across the floor. There were no bumps or jostling, even with the slightly rougher construction.Bao Qian had commissioned good work.

“Did you get any good ones today?” Hanyi asked.

“The last one. I think Renxiang will like him. A few others are acceptable. Assuming all of the applicants I recommended pass Renxiang’s review, this number of staff should be enough until we’re ready to expand again. Did you enjoy your recital today?”

“It was boring to repeat it again, but Zhengui liked it!” Hanyi replied brightly.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Her chair was maneuvered through the doorway of the dining room. It was well lit despite the gloomy sky outside, and the table wasn’t exactly groaning with the spread, but that would have been wasteful for only a few people, even if their household would eat all the leftovers.

Hanyi wheeled her up to the head of the table.

“I’m gonna go check on the cooks now. Okay, big sis?”

“No sneaking sweets. I’ll know,” Ling Qi called after her.

Hanyi pouted, but nodded in resignation.

The first days with Hanyi staying in the house with her had been fraught. Hanyi was intimidating to the mortal staff and not a little mercurial, but between Ling Qi doggedly keeping on her to behave around family and Hanyi’s inability to be dignified for long stretches, their reverence and fear had worn down.

Mostly.

She felt her mother and their guest arriving now.