Threads 405-Standing 3

Ling Qi ran her fingers through her little sister’s hair, humming softly as the young girl curled up against her. The pressure on her chest and lap was a little uncomfortable, but no more than that, beneath the many layers of medicinal wrapping.

Looking out over the garden, she tugged the blanket up further as streamers of colorful fire rose into the sky, flickering and dancing. There was a small festival today dedicated to the Sect Head’s dragon companion, and the town’s priests had not been stingy with the flash paper and the powders which turned the flames of the bonfires set out at the ritual points throughout the town to such beautiful colors.

“The first time I saw this, I spent it fretting over the hazard presented by such high burning fires,” Ling Qingge said, cradling a cup of warm tea in her hands.

“I suppose it would be dangerous under less careful management,” Ling Qi replied.

The sounds of music and people dancing around those fires drifted over the walls. Most of the household had been given leave to go out and join the festivities if they liked. She hoped they were having fun.

“One can say that of many things. I am glad for the timing. There will be much work in making the household presentable for the heiress’ visit.”

Ling Qi chuckled. “It is convenient. Knowing Lady Cai, she probably accounted for it in one of her scheduling worksheets.”

Mother raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh, she’ll write out these grid squares on a scroll before meditating and cultivating. She fills them in without even opening her eyes. Everything is just so. But she gets this particular tic in her cheek whenever she’s forced to alter the timeline more than once or twice. Too many, and her teeth start to grind.”

It was, Ling Qi thought, probably one of her liege’s more humanizing habits.

“Should you really be speaking of such foibles?” Ling Qingge asked warily.

“Ah, apologies, Mother. You will need to hold this dark secret now,” Ling Qi said gravely.

Mother sighed. “Be serious, Ling Qi.”

“She isn’t the type to be offended by such a minor characteristic being known. Neither her ego nor her position are so fragile,” Ling Qi reassured. “I say it mostly to remind you not to overthink this visit. She is my liege and superior, but she is also my friend. Our household is more than capable of performing their roles under such eyes.”

“I know this, and yet my heart cannot internalize it.”

“Your efforts are not in vain, Mother. There will come times when we host much more prickly visitors, even those looking for an excuse to be insulted or to impugn our less than stellar honor.”

Despite her accomplishments, there was still a clinging disdain for who she had chosen to bring on in her household. It was muted now under the weight of her deeds, but it would be a long time before it went away entirely, if it ever did.

It wasn’t fair, but the world never was. Recognizing what other people saw, even if she found it false, was also Clarity.

“I know this. I do not fully understand everything you do, but I can see the shape of it,” Mother said. “It was inevitable, if you did good work for the heiress… I suspect Lady Cai will not be the only guest we will entertain, even in this year.”

“I may delay the onslaught with our household’s move to Snowblossom.” Ling Qi brushed her fingers through Biyu’s hair. “Will you be well, with the move? It is likely to begin before year’s end.”

“So that is why you were speaking with experts on whether Sir Xuan’s work could be extracted.”

“Indeed,” Ling Qi agreed. “It is very good work, and worth the expense to move it. We’re developing quickly, and under an aegis, but the south is still dangerous.”

“We will go,” Ling Qingge said. “I will trust you when you say the settlement is ready.”

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Ling Qi closed her eyes, accepting the weight of that statement. She didn’t want her family to be some distant thing she visited on occasion. Was that worth endangering them? Was it endangering them? Snowblossom was under sovereign protection, too, and her fellow retainers were an absurd concentration of force for a new barony.

Mother’s chair creaked as she stood. She watched the dancing flames rising into the sky for a moment longer before turning to Ling Qi and holding her arms out. Ling Qi carefully lifted Biyu, allowing Mother to take her. If it weren’t for her physical cultivation, she thought Mother might have started to have trouble holding Biyu like this, with how big the girl was getting.