Chunhua silently held Jia’s gaze throughout the entire retelling of Yoshika’s confrontation with Yan De. Ancestors, she even listened intensely. Once Jia was finished, she sat back and took a long sip of tea before grimacing.
“Ugh, cold. The trouble with these private conversations is that there are no servants to replace the tea.”
Jia reached across the table to tap the side of her cup, directly infusing it with the essence of Warmth in a bit of improvised magic. Not a spell or technique, just a horribly inefficient application of raw power.
Chunhua raised her eyebrows at that.
“What an impressive waste of power.”
Jia shrugged.
“Refining an actual technique to warm tea would be a bigger waste of time, I think. I can spare the essence, and Warmth happens to be an element I’m quite comfortable with.”
It wasn’t the affinity of Yoshika’s true body anymore—that was now Unity itself—but it had been back before her ascension, and she could still remember Jia and Eui practicing with it together. She’d always appreciated how violent elements like Lightning and Destruction could become something as gentle as Warmth when brought together.
“If you use it often enough, it might still be worth it, but I take your point.”
It was a little surreal talking about warming tea with essence after she’d just finished telling Chunhua that her husband was trapped in the Void between worlds.
“Do you have, uh, anything to add, Lady Chunhua? About Yan De, I mean.”
Yue’s mother gave Jia a flat look.
“Don’t underestimate the power of small talk, empress. I’m considering it. I also don’t recall giving you permission to use my given name.”
“One of the advantages of my station is that I don’t have to ask it.”
Yue boggled at her as Jia gave Chunhua a sweet smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“Yoshika, what the hell are you doing? Stop antagonizing my mother!”
Chunhua’s eyes flashed, glancing between the two of them curiously.
“Was that a telepathy technique? My, you two are close. I thought Yan De’s claims that you were ‘corrupting’ my daughter were exaggerated.”
Yue shook her head and sighed.
“It’s not as if he cared about anything but how it reflected on him. What concern is it to him who I love? It’s not like it would influence who he chose for me to marry.”
“Yan De was not blind, Yue. He knew you might reach xiantian, and that if you did, then your choice would become critical to the future of our sect.”
“Well, you should be pleased to know that I’ve made my choice, and the future of our sect is to be joined to Jiaguo along with me.”
Chunhua’s eyebrows rose again, then her eyes widened as Yue took Jia’s hand in hers and stared her mother down, as if daring her to object.
“I see.”
She glanced down at the inert soul tablet and frowned.
“Yan De will not return. The technique he used—True Awakening of the Dragon’s Soul—is meant as a final preparation for divine ascension. Even if he could...it’s not in his nature to ignore an ocean of world-ending power.”
The non-sequitur caught Jia off guard, but she was almost glad to be back on topic.
“You’re sure? He can’t touch it without being annihilated, and he still has entanglements here, doesn’t he?”
“No. He is a prideful man, and he sought to leave a legacy, but his ultimate goal is divinity and there is nothing he won’t sacrifice to pursue it. The clan, the sect, the empire, even this world are nothing more than fuel for his ambitions. It was always his plan to leave it all behind one day.”
“You’re not as bitter about that as I thought you’d be.”
Not that Jia expected Long Chunhua to miss her husband—Yue had made it quite clear that her parents had a loveless marriage—but Yan De’s absence did put her in a difficult position. Chunhua’s emotions were back to being tightly controlled after her earlier ‘slip,’ but Jia could sense her resignation and focus.
“As Yue could tell you, this is not the first time. My husband was absent for most of her childhood, and had he succeeded in his endeavor he would not have returned.”
Yue pursed her lips, nodding.
“Except this time he wasn’t able to prepare a comprehensive plan for the sect’s future. Just some unfinished plans, an estranged daughter, and an innocent village of mortals held hostage.”
Chunhua didn’t grimace, but the gentle tsk of irritation spoke volumes coming from her carefully crafted image of poise.
“I told him Zheng Long was a mistake, but Yan De is not good at letting his prizes go. It’s just as well that you intervened, empress. I’m not certain I could have convinced Ren and Hao to stand down.”
Jia raised an eyebrow at her.
“Would you have tried?”
Rather than respond, Chunhua plucked the broken soul tablet off of the table and brushed at it gently with her thumb, staring at it as she spoke.
“Perhaps. My will does not always align with my husband’s, but even in his absence, I cannot countermand him. That is the price I paid. But Yan De is rarely forthcoming with anyone—even me—and it falls to us to interpret his will in his absence. I do not believe he ever intended to follow through on his threats against Zheng Long’s family—if only because he could not fathom a world in which he would need to.”
“That sounds like sophistry to me.”
She shrugged, and met Jia’s eyes.
“It is a useful skill. But let’s not speak of the past any longer. I’ve finished reflecting. Yan De would die before returning weaker than he left, and while his imprisonment was caused by factors beyond his control, I believe that he made up his mind the moment he invoked the Dragon’s Soul. From that moment, his course was set, and whether he joined the god-emperor as a peer, or part of his host, or indeed was cast out into the void by an enemy, there would be no return.”
She put the broken talisman away and lifted the inert one in front of her face, regarding it for a moment before rendering it to dust with a pulse of her power. Chunhua flicked the remains of the jade dust from her fingers before turning her attention back to Jia.
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“Yan De is gone and left of his own volition. Zhihao is dead. Ren and Hao will make arguments for me to disinherit Yue and recognize them as De’s sworn brothers for the sake of the clan’s future. Tell me then, Empress Yoshika, why I shouldn’t. I see what you are trying to do by marrying Yue, but you are no man. That would be an end to Yan’s lineage, and the empire does not recognize same-sex marriages anyway. It will not work.”
Yue sat up and smirked, having her answer ready this time.
“Actually, it does. Qin Ling and Qin Xiang are on record in their official capacity as arbiters of imperial law, witnessed by Grandmaster Xin Hai, recognizing the union of Lee Jia and An Eui. Our engagement is perfectly legal, and there is precedent for clan lines to continue from a formally recognized female heir—even rare matrilineal lines such as your own Long clan.”
“A line which ended when I joined Yan, the only legacy of which is the techniques I passed on to you. That too ends if you marry a woman, Yue. I cannot tell you who to love—I am happy for you, truly—but even without Yan De, I have duties to our clan.”
“Oh, naturally. I know full well that your duties to the clan trump your duties as a mother, and I do not begrudge you that. But who says that I cannot have children simply because I am marrying a woman? Even father sought out a consort after Zhihao’s demise, did he not?”
That gave Chunhua pause, and her eyes flickered to Jia, who kept her own expression perfectly straight as she let Yue speak for herself.
“He did, yes. With some reluctance. It was his preference that his descendents should share my bloodline.”
Yue smiled mirthlessly and nodded.
“Indeed. And you can rest assured that my future sons and daughters will carry the blood of dragons in their veins, just as you and I do. That’s what Yan De wanted, isn’t it?”
Her mother froze, just for a moment, then sighed.
“I suppose it was inevitable that you would find out. Yes, we are fiend-blooded, for all the difference it makes. My mother was only half dragon, and even she derived less power from that connection than the average half-spirit does from their ancestry. Yan De believed that Zhihao might awaken that blood with the right techniques.”
Jia shrugged, drawing on her experience from her own spiritual inheritance and Eunae’s struggles. Though surprisingly, it was Kaede who had the most salient knowledge.
“It’s not impossible. Fiends do concentrate power in their bodies, and part of the reason Yamato has such a high rate of awakening is because they pass some of their ki onto their children. If such techniques exist, though, they’re almost certainly martial, rather than spiritual.”
Chunhua stared at her, her mouth hanging open before she caught herself.
“I—I see. In hindsight, that seems quite obvious. My mother...may have known that, but she did not see fit to tell me. By the time I was born, she’d long since adapted her mother’s magic to Qin’s ways.”
Yue tapped her chin thoughtfully.
“Perhaps I ought to give Ruiling’s techniques another try and see if anything comes of it. In any case, there’s nothing in Qin or Jiaguo’s laws that would prevent me from having children if I marry Empress Yoshika, and I’m sure she would not begrudge me a consort or two—would you, dear?”
Jia smiled wryly and shook her head.
“It’s standard practice for the Seong clan—though I would hope you treat your consorts better.”
“Hmph! Who do you take me for? I’d like my children to have better fathers than I—as low a bar as that may be.”
Chunhua’s eyes flickered between them, a thin frown forming on her manicured features.
“I believe I will need more time to consider all of this. I would like to support you, Yue, and Empress Yoshika, you seem trustworthy. Yet you are an enemy sovereign. A union between our clan and your empire may draw our nations together—or ostracize the Awakening Dragon beyond repair. I must think about what is best for us all.”
Jia and Yue stood and bowed together, and Jia offered Chunhua a smile.
“Take your time, Lady Chunhua. I’m sure everyone will have the opportunity to lay out their arguments when the summit assembles before the imperial clan. Until then, please don’t hesitate to ask if there’s anything you need of us.”
Yue’s mother stood to return the bow.
“I will, of course. You’ve given me a lot to think about. It’s clear the world is changing, and I must meditate on my new place within it.”
Chunhua was surprised one last time when Yue strode around the ornate tea table to give her mother a hug.
“No matter what happens, mother, I am truly glad to see you again. I would love it if we could spend some time together before the assembly. Perhaps to discuss wedding plans?”
“That would be lovely, yes.”
Long Chunhua bid farewell to her daughter and the empress before returning to her seat and finishing her tea. She sat there for a moment, quiet, calm, and devoid of thoughts. Then, when she was sure that she was well and truly alone, she deflated.
“By the emperor, what a terrifying woman...”
She wiped delicately at her brow and heaved an enormous sigh. Her heart was pounding out of her chest as she poured herself a glass of stronger spirits, rather than something more dignified like wine.
The trick to proper emotional control was healthy outlets. Emotional trinkets like Zhihao’s talisman, or allowing herself a moment to unwind with a strong drink after an especially harrowing meeting. Nobody could maintain perfect poise at all times, not even Chunhua, and it was only fools who tried. Admittedly, even she didn’t usually let her guard down so much, but Empress Yoshika had been a trial.
“Does she even realize it, I wonder? Surely she knows, but most people aren’t equipped to see it. I’m sure she felt it in me.”
Chunhua knew that her aura control was worthless in front of Yoshika. That she had maintained it at all, including the strategic relaxing of it during their confrontation, was merely an effort to hide her own awareness. She feared that she hadn’t succeeded.
One of the techniques passed on to Chunhua from her mother was the ability to read auras—not only within the echoes of a spiritual tablet, but in person as well. Yan De had never taken to the more direct approach, as he preferred to shut down his empathy entirely, but Chunhua kept herself sharp, and there were few souls that she couldn’t at least partially read.
Not that she needed all her expertise for the empress. Yoshika’s soul was impossibly bright and overwhelming, and Chunhua could all but see the world buckling and straining under her presence. She had been scarce in the retelling of her story, but even without it Chunhua knew at a glance that Yoshika had copied the True Awakening of the Dragon’s Soul or otherwise knew a similar technique.
She was a match for even God-Emperor Qin. She had to be.
“And Yue wants to marry her.”
Whatever else could be said of her daughter, Yue had definitely inherited her father’s ambition. Chunhua’s hands were shaking as she tried to trace the lines of the future her daughter was trying to create. Would Qin try to destroy her? Would it be better to disavow her entirely, or try to stand behind her?
Long Chunhua was, at her core, a coward. She was terrified of what would happen if she supported her daughter—and no less terrified of what might happen if she didn’t. If it came to a war between Qin and Jiaguo, Chunhua didn’t want to be caught on either side of it.
“Unity, then. I’m sure it’s exactly what Yoshika wants, but I have to sell it to the rest. That their marriage is the first step towards a lasting friendship between our empires—rather than a bloodless coup against Qin’s most powerful vassal.”
And what a hard sell that would be. It was the only future she could tolerate, however. A risk, but a calculated one, when all the other options led to certain destruction.
A polite knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and Chunhua quickly schooled her expression and reined in her aura. Who could that be? She didn’t sense a strong presence, but that only raised her suspicion further. It was the carefully subdued presence of someone controlling their aura, rather than the faint aura of a mortal. The distinction was subtle, but Chunhua could tell the difference.
Qin Yongliang, perhaps? She’d met the first prince a few times, and his aura control was said to be the best in the world. If he focused, he could hide his presence entirely, even from her.
She’d already sent the servants away for her private meeting, so there was nothing for it but to answer the door herself. Prepared for an unwelcome surprise, she plastered a welcoming smile on her face and opened the door. She was not ready for the visitor she found waiting.
A woman, taller than her by a head and with skin as fair as any northern noble, accented with only the barest touches of makeup. She didn’t need it. The woman was naturally possessed of the kind of beauty that the vainest women Chunhua knew could only dream of mimicking. Her long, flowing hair was mostly loose, aside from a few artful braids, and colored a pale blue that Chunhua had only seen once in her life, as a child. Her dress robes matched her hair—pale blue and white like a quiet winter sky where embroidered dragons took flight.
For jewelry, she wore mostly silver with only a few touches of gold in small loops of chain that hung from her ears and horns. Her draconic horns, which rose from her head like branching antlers, to complement a pair of eyes that Chunhua couldn’t help but compare to the ones she’d just been facing.
Like Lee Jia, the visitor’s eyes were gold with vertical slit pupils. The similarities ended there. Where Jia’s eyes were bright and youthful, the visitor’s eyes were dark and glinted like the actual metal, and her pupils narrowed with the intense focus of a predator unconcerned with anything that wasn’t directly in front of her.
She did not bow or nod to Chunhua as she spoke, and her voice was flat and direct.
“Greetings, great granddaughter. My name is Long Xiaofan, and I know you, though we have not met before. We must speak.”
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