29.3 Update. (Patreon)

Hello everybody. I was a bit dissatisfied with how the conversation went, and so I have decided to update the chapter, swapping the POV character and some of the events. For those that do not wish to reread the chapter, this is the part that was changed. I hope you enjoy it.

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It was a pavilion on the outskirts of town. Neutral ground. A high garden, built to give a commanding view of the land outside the walls, looking down onto the valley that surrounded the Verdant Hill. It was quiet and out of the way, with no one else on the street at this hour.

The trees bloomed beautifully, the flowers smelled sweet, and the Lady of Verdant Hill waited calmly for her guest.

It had taken some convincing for her husband to agree, but he had eventually given in. The silly man was always so jumpy after the incident. These cultivators had given her no cause for concern yet, but that’s just the way her husband was.

He worried and fretted constantly. Why, if the men of Verdant Hill would hear about his woes, they would surely spit blood! Her lip curled up with mirth at the thought.

She adored him. He was a constant amusement, as were the reactions of the people. To see the dichotomy between the man she knew and the man they knew. The Stern Patriarch of Verdant hill, and the man who would rather curl up into her bosom and moan about how unfair life was. He worked. He struggled, he doubted himself. Others said those were unattractive qualities. Better what he was, than a statue of virtue. She knew men like that. Humorless sentinels, dispensing their justice without remorse.

While sometimes this little village was boring,  sometimes, she longed for the hustle and bustle of Pale Moon Lake city, she had to admit, her husband was right about some things

Her hand shook a little, the tremors from that old thing working their way into her limbs. Really, that was the worst part of this whole thing. In all honesty? She liked the grey streaks in her hair. And while the surges were unpleasant, they were worth it. They had let her leave with barely a word to her honoured father. It wasn’t quite an elopement with a common-born man, but a “damaged” woman simply wasn’t worth an argument.

“My lady, she's here.” A guard whispered to her, his eyes set and full of conviction. She resisted the urge to ruffle the young man’s hair. He was about her own son’s age. So eager and loyal,

she graced him with a smile, and thanked him.

She sat up primly, and waited. She did not have to wait long.

Lady Wu hadn’t thought much of Hong Meiling, the last time they met. Thin, with nearly pinched features. Hunched over slightly behind her stunningly beautiful friend, glaring at any who dared to look at her. “A shrewish girl, with a tongue like a dagger” was her description.

Now, as the young woman wearing peasant’s clothes walked towards her,  she saw none of that.

The woman walked with a straight back, her head held high. She was not quite what one would describe as classically beautiful. She was a bit too sharp looking for that, with her angular face and intense amethyst eyes. But while her eyes drew one’s gaze… it was something intangible that held your attention.

She had a weight about her. A kind of quiet strength that drew the eye and made one think “this is a woman to be obeyed.”

She knew now why the guards had obeyed her immediately, when the demand came to shut down the well.

But as Meiling drew closer, Lady Wu noticed the slight cracks. Meiling... was young. Young, and not at all prepared for this meeting. Running on bravado and her own grit.

It was quite endearing, and amusing, that a cultivator was nervous to meet her.

But... this girl wasn’t really a cultivator, was she? She wore her simple clothes with pride. Her face was clear of any kind of makeup, for what could a farmer’s wife need makeup for?

Lady Wu clenched her fist, forcing the shakes away, and rose. The young womancocked her head to the side, her nose twitching, and a brief look of confusion rolling over her features.

“This Wu Zei Qi greets Lady Hong, and thanks her for coming.” She stated serenely, her bow perfect and graceful.

“Hong Meiling pays her respects to Lady Wu.” Meiling greeted politely, startled out of her examination, and returned her bow.

“Please, join me.” the Lady said pleasantly, gesturing, and retrieving a fan from her sleeves.

The younger woman nodded, trying to keep her affection of bland disinterest as the tea was poured.

When that was done, the Lady waved off her servants, both bowing, and departing.

When they were alone together, Lady Wu studied Meiling from behind her fan. The girl didn’t know how to proceed in the silence, shifting a bit. After a moment, she reached out, and took a sip of tea.

“One normally waits for their elder to drink, before drinking themselves.” Lady Wu said arily, and Meiling froze at the gentle rebuke, panic flashing in the back of her eyes.

Lady Wu smirked but took pity on the younger woman.

“Forgive my teasing, Lady Hong. I did not mean to provoke such a reaction.” Her fan snapped closed, and she placed it on the table. The time for games was over. “Come, let us speak frankly on the matter.”

The girl seemed taken aback. Again a subtle thing, but her heart was clearly on display for the whole world, if one knew where to look.

“Firstly, on behalf of our Verdant Hill, this Wu Zei Qi thanks you.” She raised her hands, clasping them before her.

“Thanks to your quick action, a tragedy has been prevented, and the culprit located. We believe it was a cistern. You said it was contaminated water, so we had a search party look for any possible cause. One of the Tanneries uphill had a leak in a cistern that was filled with filth and rotting fat. The guards are still checking, but we believe this is the source of our malaise.”

Hong Meiling nodded along at the explanation, her brow furrowed in thought.

“I’ll check the cistern to see if it feels like what I dealt with earlier. And I’ll make something to decontaminate the well.” She agreed so easily, no, that would not do!

“One must watch what one agrees to, before they negotiate a payment.” Lady Wu said mildly, swirling her tea around in its cup.

This time, the wince was quite visible.

“How much experience do you have, in selling your services?” She asked, and Meiling cocked her head to the side again, debating something…

“Little. Father dealt with them, or they were members of the village.” Meiling admitted, still confused and curious. The interaction was obviously not going the way she had constructed in her head.

Lady Wu nodded. “We shall have to fix that. Send a message when you wish tolearn, and I shall have a lesson prepared.” she declared.

“...why?” Meiling asked again, eyeing her with those flinty chips of gemstone. Oh my, that was an intense gaze! It gave her the shivvers.

The older woman raised an eyebrow. “Why shouldn’t I? What do I have to gain from antagonising you, save for you ire?  Oh, I could probably weave a spell of words around you. Use your nervousness to get you to agree to something you wouldn’t normally. And that would last until you got annoyed, and my hair would probably get even greyer. I know what happens when somebody annoys a cultivator.” She pointed to her hair.

“No, Hong Meiling that would not do. So I, like my husband, would prefer an amicable relationship. There is nothing else to this. I invited you, to get to know you, and thank you for your actions. That is all. Though… I do have questions you could answer, if it wouldn't be too bold.”

Meiling considered her statement, mulling it over in her head, and finding it satisfactory.

“What manner of questions?”

Lady Wu smiled. “Well, this one has been on mine, and my husband’s mind, but it was not Cai Xiulan who slew Sun Ken, was it? Your husband knew before the news was out.”

The girl smirked.

“It was Bi De.”

“….the chicken that my husband asked to kill that pack of wolves?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes. And last year, Jin killed the Wicked Blade.” The girl said, as if this was not an earth-shaking revelation.

It was Lady Wu’s turn to gape, and she realised that this is what her husband must feel like. The odd floating feeling that strained her sense of belief, but absolutely certain it happened.

The food came, as she was still trying to recover from that revelation, the servants returning to bring out meats and pastries for their meal. It was all fine, high quality ingredients… including a stack of those “pancakes”. Meiling seemed quite amused at their appearance.

The conversation started to drift to more pleasant topics, as the girl grew more sure of herself. The growing season, how exactly one went about cleansing a well, to more womanly topics. How birth felt and how to keep one’s child focused.

It was at the end of the meal, when Lady Wu’s hand started to shake again. Meiling’s eyes immediately focused on the limb, her nose twitching.

Slowly, she held out an arm.

“May I?” Meiling asked.

Lady Wu stared at the proffered hand, and obligingly surrendered herself.

The shakes stopped nearly immediately, as their hands touched, and Meiling’s eyes closed. They remained connected, as a somewhat odd feeling crawled up her arm. Slowly, gently, it quested up her arm.

Meiling frowned heavily, and consideringly.

“Could you get someone to clear the table?” She asked. “But leave the teapot.”

“It's in the spine, whatever this is. It's old, and… feels like it’s.. Caked on, for lack of a better word.” The girl mused, her eyes now fully focused on her task. Her voice was gentle, but matter of fact, explaining what was wrong.

Lady Wu frowned, as she asked for chalk, and a piece of copper wire. That sounded familiar.

“Did father, or Uncle Bao try something similar?” She asked, as a formation was drawn on the table.

Something twinged in Lady Wu’s memories.

“Yes. It reduced the intervals drastically.”

Meiling nodded, considering the problem.

“So, what this should do is get the rest of it out. There isn’t much, but it's quite stuck. I have more Qi than either of them now, and I may need to get a bit… well, I apologize, but this might feel a bit unpleasant.”

Meiling dipped the end of the wire into the teapot, filled with fresh water. Meiling placed one hand onto her arm, and one onto her back, against the spine.

Lady Wu braced herself.

Something filled her body. She nearly panicked at the half remembered feeling, wondering why in the hells it was a good idea to do this. Like that time, she felt something foreign invading her body her very soul--

And felt it scrape. It didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt quite relieving. Like peeling off a scab. Something ground something else, the water in the teapot swiftly turning black.

She was sweating, and shaking, as Meiling started whispering soothing words.

“Not much longer now, Lady Wu. You’re doing a fantastic job.” Meiling told her, keeping her in place as she started to shake.

Until finally, after what felt like an eternity, it was done.

She let out a strangled groan, as she felt the Qi retract, collapsing slightly into the younger woman’s arms.

“See? Not so bad.” Meiling said, stroking the back of her head and hugging her, before seeming to realise who exactly she was stroking. Her hand paused for a moment.

And then she kept doing it.

Lady Wu took a shaky breath. It did feel nice. Already, she could feel her heartbeat slowing, and the pain in her back that was so constant she had forgotten it even existed started to fade.

“You’re going to need some acupuncture later… but you said something about payment before.” Meiling said mildly, purposefully putting on a countryside accent. “It's going to cost ya, yanno?”

Lady Wu felt such relief she nearly asked Meiling to name her price-- until she caught the mirth hidden in the back of her eyes.

“I hear lessons from Lady Wu would be quite expensive.” She mused with a cheeky smile.

Lady Wu couldn’t help it. She went from slumped against the smaller woman, to pulling her into a hug.

“However many you wish.” She whispered.

It was several minutes before they separated, Lady Wu regaining her composure. The sun was setting, the food was eaten, and her head felt clearer than it had in decades.

But even this pleasant evening had to come to an end.

“Thank you, Meiling.” She told the smaller woman sincerely. They had just remained seated beside each other, watching as the sun set.

Meiling just seemed satisfied that what she had done had worked, a bit embarrassed by the heartfelt praise.

“Good night, Lady Wu.”

“You may call me Auntie, if you wish.” She offered.

“Good night then, Auntie. If you feel anything, send for me.”

Lady Wu smiled brightly, as Meiling turned to leave.

“Though, I do have one more question, if you know the answer…. Why did your husband come here?” she asked.

Meiling answered immediately, turning back around to look at her. “He wanted a quiet life. Away from all the intrigue and fighting.”

Meiling let that revelation land, and departed into the night.

Lady Wu sat there. Slowly, her shoulders started to shake. She clapped both hands over her mouth and started to giggle like a girl half her age. It was terribly undignified, as they nearly became great peals of laughter.

Oh, her husband was going to work himself into another frenzy over that little piece of information.