Threads 406-Courtesies 1

    There was quite a bit of fanfare in White Cloud Town for Cai Renxiang’s visit, something that had happened regularly for the better part of the last two years. She knew that Cai Renxiang had been in and out more than once without a peep from the town’s government. The most reaction they had received had been when they had needed to use the governor''s emergency transport formation to chase after some bandits.

    This time, however, the streets had been swept, the gates thrown wide, and the traffic cleared as Cai Renxiang arrived at the head of a small column of soldiers. The heiress managed to look fairly regal atop a white horse, bridle held loosely in one hand as she sternly recited the proper pleasantries to the town''s arrayed officials.

    This was the difference between being a disciple, even one proclaimed as the tacit, default ducal heir, and being a power in her own right with her own deeds and base of power, however small.

    Ling Qi sighed and withdrew her sight back to her physical eyes, letting her awareness through the distant wisp shuffle into the back of her thoughts.

    "You have an hour. I would expect it to be very close to exactly that. Lady Cai is very punctual, and there is nothing the town’s officials are likely to do to delay that."

    "Yes, Lady Ling." The maid attending her bowed. "I will inform Madam Qingge at once."

    Ling Qi nodded, putting aside the last of the morning''s paperwork as the girl hurried out.

    "Jeez. Why''s it gotta be such a big deal? We talk to boss lady and visit her all the time," Hanyi complained.

    "Because Lady Cai is paying the Ling clan the respect of an official visit in recognition of my accomplishments. Think of it like one of your shows, but with more talking and bowing and serving of tea."

    "Oh, that makes sense. I guess," Hanyi said dubiously.

    Ling Qi smiled. "Don''t worry, Junior Sister. All the parts are accounted for. You just have to stand behind me and look like a proper lady."

    "Easy. No one’s a more proper lady than me," Hanyi bragged. "Should I take you out to the main hall?"

    "Please," Ling Qi replied, leaning back in her chair. When her chair was turned and the chair''s wheels began to carry her out of the office, she reflected that it almost felt normal now.

    She had to get permission to start doing walking exercises soon.

    ***?

    The main hall of the manor in which the Ling clan resided, such as it was, had been prepared for Cai Renxiang’s visit. Its furnishings had been changed out and rearranged, such that the floor was clear, leading up to an elevated portion of the floor. A rich carpet had been rolled out, and the servants of the house kneeling in kowtow on either side. Ling Qi, her mother, and Hanyi were all up on the raised dais, arranged to receive their honored guest.

    Everything was arranged just so, from the draw of the shades allowing sunlight to spill in naturally, to the posture of each of the members of her household. Normally, a vassal would have soldiers as well to display martial readiness for their liege, but Ling Qi did not have those yet.

    It was all very ostentatious, but she was glad to give her people some practice in receiving important guests, though of course, besides her mother, she didn''t think any of them really understood this visit in that way. She felt they were all performing admirably though.

    As she felt the light pulsing through the halls of her home, she directed her attention toward the door. Cai Renxiang''s approach had the feel of gear-teeth turning, the regular click and grind of metal in smooth operation. The light her liege cast from around her head even now, preceded her in the dimmer hallway outside, washing out the shadows.

    Cai Renxiang arrived at the door of her hall flanked by a pair of her own courtiers, low cultivators Ling Qi vaguely recognized from her times at Snowblossom as administrator and assistant to her liege. With them were the two maids assigned to greet them at the gates, who were doing an excellent job of looking poised instead of scared stiff, as she could tell they were.

    "Lady Cai, your humble and oathsworn retainer welcomes you, and apologizes that she may not offer you the proper respects due to her condition." Ling Qi clasped her hands before her chest and lowering her head as much as she realistically could in her chair.

    "And I am truly glad that your duties are going well enough that you have the freedom to spend some time on this reception," Ling Qi said. "Snowblossom is prospering then?"

    "As much as it can, given the limitations of size and infrastructure. I understand that you have indicated that you would be well enough to visit yourself in some weeks."

    "I have received the physicians'' tentative approval to travel after my next inspection. They would like me to begin performing some basic physical and spiritual exercises."

    "To prevent any more than the minimal atrophy I observe. Will you?"

    "I believe so." Ling Qi looked at her mother. They had discussed this in the quiet hours of the morning. Mother was reticent, but Ling Qi was improving, and she needed to be able to move again. Inspecting their soon-to-be home at Snowblossom was a fine enough reason. They''d be back together soon enough.

    "She''ll have Zhengui and I, so it''ll be no problem," Hanyi boasted. "I''m gonna drag Sixiang to come, too!"

    Ling Qi chuckled. "I don''t think they’ll need dragging to come along."

    "Your presence will be appreciated,” Cai Renxiang said. “The surveyors and their scholarly attachment have missed Zhengui''s presence, and they will likely wish to have him look over their results for completion''s sake."

    "Of course. I think he has missed his little friends as well. He was enjoying the work. I''ll be glad to get him back to it."

    Cai Renxiang nodded, eyes wandering thoughtfully over the room. They rested briefly on her mother before twitching away a hair too fast.

    "The house will be quiet without you all, but it is my hope that we will not be apart for long," Mother said. "But I shall take my leave now. Hanyi, you as well."

    Mother understood that they would need privacy to speak on other matters.

    They were silent until the doors of the dining room were shut and the faint shimmer of Cai Renxiang''s social screening arts began to rise.

    "You should keep it up, but I don''t think it is necessary for us anymore," Ling Qi said without moving her lips or passing a single mote of air from her lungs.

    Cai Renxiang observed her, tilted her head... and then did the same. "Is that so?"

    Her domain was still recovering, but in the wake of her burning, she had found that she could speak without speaking, and hear and be heard by those who wished to communicate with her. It had startled a maid or two, as well as Mother. Hanyi had taken her new ability in stride.

    It was hard to put into words, but she understood instinctively that for certain people, those she was closest to, this mode of communication was inviolate. Only a cultivator of the upper realms might break their privacy; and even then, only with active effort.

    "You have not stopped cultivating," Renxiang observed.

    "Neither have you. But... Renxiang, why are you bleeding?"

    No one else would see it. No one who did not have her senses and understanding of Renxiang would notice. But Renxiang''s light was tinted red, down at the roots. It was as if Liming''s threads, already woven into her, had begun to writhe and tear at her flesh.