Threads-463 Meng Dan 2

“Then, I will accept, and raise my head with the pride of serving the Cai,” Meng Dan vowed.

“Welcome!”

The rest of them raised their voices and their cups, and Meng Dan smiled, raising his own.

“We will not celebrate too much. There is enough of that outside, and there is a great deal of work to be done,” Cai Renxiang said. “I assume you have been keeping abreast of the messages arriving for us.”

“I have. All of the courtly clans have sent you invitations, from the highest to the lowest.”

“That is to be expected, and I will decide which of them I may attend to. Reduced as they are, there remain worthies among them.”

Gan Guangli advised, “I would suggest the Zuo. They were only ever minor players prior to Her Grace’s ascension to the ducal position, and they have grown well in her light. They have numerous interests in ceramics and beast regents, and my Jia contacts are well acquainted with their business.”

“Good contacts for our nascent products,” Xia Lin supported. “Although they have less reach than the Bao, they will also not expect as much control of the arrangement.”

“I will defer to Sir Gan’s judgment,” Meng Dan demurred. “You are, of course, expected in Her Grace’s house for much of the time, but in addition to that, we also have a missive from the Gold Autumn School…”

“Checking after their graduates,” Ling Qi concluded.

“Indeed. I will leave that matter to you. You know my thoughts,” Cai Renxiang instructed.

“… As well as numerous theater troupes and artists, hungry for your commission. They seek to glorify your name in the boughs of Xiangmen. Some of them,” Meng Dan said, “are even not simply oblique tendrils of influence from the committal clans and court families.”

“Ling Qi, please handle this as well. Meng Dan, you will assist her with determining what is worth our time,”

Ling Qi tilted her head in acknowledgment. She could see the logic in pairing the two of them up. While she was a quick study, Meng Dan was much more immersed in the noble culture of the Emerald Seas.

And it wasn’t like she objected.

She caught Meng Dan’s eye and smiled. “Of course, Lady Cai. I am sure the two of us can discern who is worthy of your patronage.”

Art was an exercise in communication. Ensuring that her liege’s name remained on the lips of the people of the capital and that their deeds remained in people’s thoughts was just the bare foundations of what they would need to do, going forward.

“Xia Lin, Gan Guangli, I expect you will look into and make contact with the court clans I determine to be worth our time. I will see to my familial duties. We will begin on the morrow, and reconvene for reports and new objectives in three days’ time.”

“Is that when you will next be free of your duties?” Ling Qi asked.

“It is,” Cai Renxiang replied. “It is longer than I would expect for the mere formality of checking in. I expect Mother wishes to prepare me for the meeting with our imperial guests.”

She searched Cai Renxiang’s face. The fear wasn’t there, even beneath the steel, just a dogged, almost angry resolve.

Her senses flicked down toward Liming and the hidden threads binding the two of them.

… They were bleeding less. She wondered if Cai Renxiang knew.

It wasn’t a topic she could bring up here though.

“Then, I must wish you good fortune, Lady Cai!” Gan Guangli rubbed the back of his head. “I admit, I find myself nervous at the notion of being in the same place as the empress herself.”

“Oh? You’ve much to be guilty for?” Meng Dan teased.

Ling Qi hid a grin behind her hand. “We did leave him alone with Su Ling on our last expedition.”

“Miss Ling!” Gan Guangli exclaimed, scandalized.

“Amusing,” Cai Renxiang said, in a voice so dry it denied any such thing. “Please attempt to be professional when I am not watching you, Gan Guangli, Ling Qi.”

“And why is Xia Lin left out?” Ling Qi demanded.

“I do not need to say that to Xia Lin.”

Xia Lin flashed a smug grin at her.

Xiangmen awaited.

***​

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“I’m glad to see you as well as you are.” Ling Qi leaned against the bannister of the porch overlooking the small inner garden of the manor.

“My, I don’t know what Miss Ling is talking about.” Meng Dan rose from where he had been seated at the edge of the central pond, the rhythmic cycling of his qi during cultivation falling away. “It is a tad early to be getting to work, isn’t it?”

“It is. I just thought I would come talk to you anyway,” she said flippantly. “And you do know. I’ve been told many times lately that my eyes have become quite sharp.”

The sun hadn’t even properly risen yet, only appearing as a sliver of molten gold on the horizon, casting rays across the sky.