Threads 492-Reception 1

“Haha! Lady Ling simply cannot help herself!”

“I’ve done nothing worthy of note, merely had a small conversation with an esteemed gentleman,” Ling Qi retorted in the face of Gan Guangli’s booming accusation.

“Indeed. Nothing at all worthy of comment,” Meng Dan said from behind the rim of his cup, eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Which elder of the Argent Peak Sect then?” Xia Lin asked, far more bluntly. “I do not doubt you have good relations, but I know none who have such a relationship with the Jia patriarch.”

Ling Qi clapped her hands together, bowing apologetically. “I really can’t say. Being serious, it is a private matter. I really did not expect the patriarch to publicly acknowledge our relationship like that.”

Gan Guangli rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Whoever it is, they must have passed on the same troublemaking tendencies to both of their students. If I thought your control were any less, I might simply start listing out names to bait a reaction…”

“So rude, Gan Guangli,” Ling Qi huffed. “I shall have to tell Su Ling that you are getting out of hand.”

“I doubt she would be your ally on this battlefield, friend,” Gan Guangli advised.

“Yeah, nah,” Sixiang thought. “Don’t want to rely on that one here.”

Rude, Ling Qi thought internally.

“Still, I wonder what his intention was, aside from making a minor stir,” Meng Dan said thoughtfully, glancing toward the other side of the throne chamber where the patriarch had gone with his entourage. “Goodness, will the Jia be plotting as well?”

She rolled her eyes at his implication. Of course not.

Probably.

Hm.

“Yeah, you might not want to discount that one, Miss Icy Beauty.”

Ling Qi made a face. Sixiang had better apologize. She wasn’t like that at all! She didn’t have the complexion for it, for starters.

“You look like you are trying to cultivate a stone from your guts,” Xia Lin said. “Be more mindful.”

Ling Qi sighed. It seemed she was besieged most anywhere she went these days.

Time had passed since she had been left behind by Jia Hong, pondering his words and her twists of insight. The party had progressed a great deal. It was interesting to see so many powerful cultivators loosening up.

“Drunk. The word you’re looking for is drunk, Qi,” Sixiang commented. “And hoo, yeah, I can see it. The atmosphere is getting funky up here.”

Ling Qi looked from one face to the next among her companions and noted the faint strain on their brows and in the set of their shoulders.

The air was heavy with sovereign Law. She understood now why the younger and less cultivated guests would be continuing the reception in the palace gardens below. She was looking forward to it herself. Her sharp senses were no boon here. In fact, she could feel her head starting to ache, a vein in her temple throbbing despite her effort to regulate her blood flow.

“The announcements are coming soon,” Meng Dan said quietly, earning a nod from the rest of them.

“That is a relief. I hope our lady…” Gan Guangli trailed off, speaking no more.

It would be impolitic to say it, even if the rumors had already surely gotten around. Cai Renxiang’s own betrothal would be announced tonight. She had not seen her friend clearly since this reception had started, only glimpsing her with the guests from the Celestial Peaks, members of the imperial family, and palace apparatus. With all the interference from higher realm cultivators, she’d not been able to pick out any details or discern who the chosen fiancée was.

She just hoped her friend would be well. She knew Renxiang did not have her anxieties around marriage, but still…

“She’s gonna be fine,” Sixiang soothed.

Ling Qi nodded faintly. In the distance up by the throne branch and the high table, there was a bright, clear toll of a bell, rippling out over the sea of noise and quieting thousands of voices.

It was time.

The vast crowd in the throne room milled; they did not form up into clear lines or order as they had for the earlier ceremony, but there was a ripple through the sea of people and fine silks as they all oriented themselves forward, drifting apart from where they had clumped up in conversation. She and her fellow retainers did much the same, drifting apart into a loose semi-circle as they all turned to face the front.

Cai Shenhua stood at the base of the throne, still arm in arm with Diao Linquin. In her hand, a cup was raised high in toast. “As we part, for elders and youth to both enjoy their own cups and counsel with less restraint, I have a final announcement for this joyous day!”

Ling Qi craned her neck. She was taller than most, but she was well toward the back. She glimpsed Cai Renxiang approaching, hands folded behind her back, and step toward the couple. Diao Linqin raised her hand and laid it on her liege’s shoulder.

That, too, was signalling. There was no love lost between the prime minister and Cai Renxiang, but it seemed Diao Linqin wanted to show that she was not immediately putting her weight against the heiress simply because Renxiang was not of their union.

“Today, the Cai clan reaches out further. My daughter has proven her will in taking up a task none thought could succeed, and going further still, taking on a weight even I did not intend to place upon her yet! For this, despite her youth, I call her my heir,” Cai Shenhua announced without her usual languid grace, but a burning intensity that matched her blinding eyes. “Today, as I take my bride, so, too, does my daughter accept her fiancé.”

There was only a smattering of sounds, muffled hastily when the butt of a spear and the base of a shield clanged loudly against the marble as the man who could only be Kang Zihao’s father stepped forward, shining like a candle against the vast shadow behind him.

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Then, the Empress stepped forward as well, the beads of her headdress clacking gently in front of her veiled face. Standing beside Shenhua, the comparison to a doll was even easier to make. The Empress did not even come up to the Duchess’ chest, and yet, her presence loomed just the same, a cloying darkness that drank in Cai Shenhua’s blazing light.

“In this year, the forty-sixth of Our reign, We judge Our honorable servants of the Cai clan to have completed the first of the tasks assigned to them when their title was granted: stability; prosperity; and order among the people of Our Emerald Seas.”

The Empress’s voice was different from Shenhua’s. It was soft, elegant, and cultured, and every syllable was spoken in perfect scholarly diction. It also reverberated, deep and clear, reaching every corner of the throne room despite its low volume.

“To this end, we grant the Cai clan the honor of our blood, a grandson of my body, to join their own line. Step forward, Mu Wuye.”

“Forward, Cai Renxiang.”

As her liege stepped forward, Ling Qi was able to see her new fiancé for the first time, emerging from the crowd of imperial attendants and family. They were tall, about as tall as her, and quite thin with slender limbs and an aristocratic face. Their hair was bone white and long, tied back in a neat martial knot. Their clothes were surprisingly simple, a knee-length dark tunic over white embroidery with spiraling golden draconic coils.

Everything about them screamed of neatness and meticulous discipline. They reminded her of a sheathed sword.

She was also very sure, for just a moment, that they were a woman. Only… No… She didn’t think…?

Cai Renxiang lowered her head and offered out her hand. “I, Cai Renxiang, greet my husband-to-be, Mu Wuye. Let this alliance blossom and bring prosperity to the house of Cai.”