Threads 495-Reception 4

“Ah, Baroness Ling. Excellent to finally meet you in person! Such a standout.”

Mei Jiayi was the daughter of a viscount under the Jia clan. She was nearly a hundred years Ling Qi’s senior, but she was equal in cultivation and in charge of her family’s arts patronage. She’d been one of those in Hou Zhuang’s lists. Ling Qi found her easy to connect with, asking for details on arranging patronage for common cultivators and providing some details on her project with Hanyi, which the older woman found fascinating.

Sixiang’s interpretation of her voice had been eerily prescient. She had a naturally loud and attention-grabbing voice.

“Mah, you can pick up a lot of a person from how they write,” Sixiang dismissed. “Knew she’d be very yang.”

It was especially amusing because Mei Jiayi’s head only just reached her chest in height, but she was finding that was pretty common. The other woman wore a dress of bright red, contrasted with darker lines of black embroidery, tracing out organic curls like stylized vines or branches. Her hair was cut into a short bob but adorned with pale rose-pink flowers.

“Lady Mei, as bright as I imagined you to be,” Ling Qi greeted pleasantly, offering a short bow, which she received in turn. “I apologize that I haven’t been able to arrange a meeting sooner.”

“Oh, no need for that. You’ve been so busy! I hope your junior sister’s performance circuit has been going well?”

“It has been. She’s been quite enamored with it. It’s all she thinks of, for the most part. Has my advice on spirit communion borne any fruit?”

“It got her a dunking come the flood season,” another of the ladies nearby tittered.

Perhaps half a dozen others were nearby; she didn’t recognize them all, but the cut and colors all indicated Thundering Hills nobility. The Hills were in the southeastern region, named for their many waterfalls along the path the headwaters of the Jing River carved through the mountains and hills.

“Hmph. As if I’m afraid of putting my hands upon the hilt occasionally. I am, in fact, quite satisfied. The Mistress of the Whitecap Whorls has been much more agreeable lately,” Mei Jianyi informed her. “What are a few bruises for that?”

“A few more than I would like,” the other woman said. She was taller by a little and more slender compared to Mei Jiayi. “I suppose I now know who has put such ideas in your head.”

“I shall not apologize for giving good advice,” Ling Qi said cordially. “It’s gotten me quite far, Miss…”

“Teng Zang, fourth daughter of Viscount Teng,” the other lady introduced herself, fluttering a fan in front of her face as she offered the small customary bow. The others introduced themselves as well. They were a collection of young misses, ranging from a decade her elder to more in Mei Jiayi’s range, from viscount and baron families in the Hills region. If she had to judge from the dynamics, Mei Jiayi and Teng Zang were the heads of this clique, though there was nothing so formal as an official position.

They were all certainly here on the guest list as attachments to their mothers and fathers, who were, in turn, here as guests of Jia Hong and his clan, giving face to their vassals. It was a stark reminder of how utterly out of place she was at her age and status and how that bent expectations.

They hid it very well, enough so that she would never hold it against them, but there was a slight hesitation in every interaction. These ladies were having to catch themselves from treating her as lower status than she was. Nothing egregious, just hitches on the exact etiquette they should be using with her.

“Honestly, Baroness, I do wonder if you are trying to overawe the field with the rumors you’ve been generating today. What plots does the heiress have that she needs you to give her such cover?” Mei Jiayi joked as the introductions wound down.

“Ah, that would be telling, wouldn’t it, Lady Mei?” Ling Qi joked back.

“At the very least, won’t you say something about your encounter with the patriarch? There’s been rumor that he might have been involved with your summit,.” Teng Zang inquired.

“I’m afraid not. He is hardly my teacher, only a senior brother. I had not met him before this day.”

“And who is it who could have mentored you both?” one of the others asked, an edge of hunger for information in her voice.

“I’m afraid our teacher prefers their privacy. My senior brother may be playing a bit of a joke himself.” She sighed, resting a hand on her cheek. “I was only to pass a message, to and fro. It was shocking enough that my Senior Brother chose to take a moment to debate certain cultivation matters with me. Patriarch Jia is generous indeed.”

“… Yes, our great patriarch is quite jovial,” Teng Zang said. However, she could not hide a glimpse of a frown. That was fine with Ling Qi. People would be curious about what she and Patriarch Jia had spent their time under veil speaking about. Cultivation was an obvious, easy answer. It helped that her explanation was true but without detail.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

The furor of people digging for what the message was definitely wasn’t going to die down. If she had to guess the most likely direction for rumors to spread…

“Elder Jiao and Auntie Xin. In fact, I’d half bet that guy was deliberately tweaking old man Jiao’s nose with that.”

Disturbingly plausible.

“I found him to be pleasant conversation, but I understand how he could overwhelm others,” Ling Qi continued. “I can see without a doubt why he is one of Her Grace’s most esteemed allies. The Thundering Hills is fortunate to have such a lord.”

She observed the reactions; it was about what she expected, the usual gamut of polite agreements. However, there was a small frisson of discontent in the spirits. Nothing strong.

Judging from where it began, it must have been the mention of the connection to the Duchess. Not disloyalty to the provincial throne, nor even dislike of its policies… Ah, that was it. She knew that the Jia family was perhaps the most openly dedicated to central rule, even to the detriment of their own privileges and power as counts. It was their strongest quirk. Even the Wang, the other new clan elevated after the fall of the Hui, didn’t present such zeal toward centralization.