Serpent's Eyes 3

Unruffled, serene. Bai Meizhen raised her head and adjusted her bow to that of a filial daughter without a word, as if this were only expected. Xiao Fen had known of course and so reacted the same, but her other retainers did have their moment of frozen shock. But no one would have expected her to inform lower castes of such news beforehand.

“You honor me beyond any words this humble daughter could offer,” Bai Meizhen said. “My humblest thanks are given to Bai Suzhen, who would allow me to call her Mother.”

“An honor you have done. You have brought humiliation and failure to the enemies of the clan, and great gifts and knowledge from those the clan would call friend. You are given nothing, save my affection, all else is earned, Bai Meizhen, who is to be my daughter.”

Old and formal lines, a careful recitation and a bit of theater for the observers in the hall, who spread word throughout the palace of Zhengjian.

Her Aunt’s footsteps were loud in the buzzing silence as the taller woman strode up to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder, a touch without censure or punishment. Intimate. “We will not dally in the hall. Come, I have had a fine meal prepared so that you may enjoy the taste of home after your long journey.”

“Of course, Mother,” Bai Meizhen said, straightening up. She allowed herself a small genuine smile, looking up allowed for the first time to meet Bai Suzhen’s eyes in public.

Her Aunt-no, her adopted mother’s sharp, metallic eyes crinkled very slightly in amusement.

They swept out of the hall with their entourages, and a cavalcade of whispers at their heels.

***

Bai Meizhen’s eyes stung and her nose burned. Her expression screwed up in untoward pleasure. It was entirely unseemly for her to make such sounds from a single mouthful of food.

“It is quite impossible to get the same intensity of flavor outside of the province isn’t it,” Xia Lushen said with some amusement. “I am glad you enjoy my special blend of Blood Boiling Black Sauce.”

Bai Meizhen coughed into her hand, unable to avoid a slight flush on her cheeks. It was fine though it was only her Aunt, her husband, and their Xiao. The other’s in their entourages had been shown to another room.

“The ingredients do not retain the proper potency and sizzle in other climes, preservation a nightmare. A shame, don’t you agree?”

“Y-yes Unc- Father,” Bai Meizhen corrected herself. Her tongue was still burning blissfully. Beside her Xiao Fen regarded her own tiny bowl of the sauce critically, observing the faint black fumes rising from its bubbling surface as if they held some great mystery.

When she dipped her sliver of carp and placed it in her mouth, Bai Meizhen watched with some amusement as a full body shiver struck her, though she managed to avoid making any undignified sounds.

Bai Suzhen, was of course much more dignified, merely letting out an approving hum toward her husband as she chewed. “You have outdone yourself today, Lushen,” she said calmly. “Foreign food is often so bland, is it not, Meizhen?”

“It is, there are many interesting dishes in the Emerald Seas, but their offerings can be much too heavy and lacking in flavor,” Bai Meizhen agreed, carefully dabbing another thin cut of Hei Rainbow Carp into the sizzling black sauce. “Though, I have heard of something in the south called an ice pepper I am intrigued to try.”

“I have not had much chance to experiment with those, perhaps you may bring some with you next time you return,” Xia Lushen agreed affably.

“I am certain my contacts can arrange a supply,” Bai Meizhen said.

“In time, but leave such business from your mind for now,” Bai Suzhen said. “There is much to do, the private ceremony, the etching of your name, the Shedding Ceremony, this we will do tonight, alone. The rites are simple, given our close relation. But there are less private arrangements tomorrow.”

Best to get business out of the way, so that it did not soil the private time later. Bai Meizhen supposed She still savored the strip of savory, sizzling fish on her tongue but she pushed the sensation more to the back of her mind with a simple cycle of her qi. “Ah, I was not the only carriage arriving.”

“You were observing. Good. Yes, there will be a dinner for the younger generation, to ensure those who were scattered can renew their ties,” Bai Suzhen said blithely. “You will attend, and ensure you are not overlooked.”

“I have prepared. I understand that I must speak with my cousins and let them know me as I know them. I do not dread it,” she said. It wasn’t a lie, even if the icy vindictive satisfaction settled in her stomach was not as intense as she might have once imagined it in a child's fantasies. Now it was…. What had Cai Renxiang called it?

The satisfaction of necessary work done well. It was a quiet, serene and not unpleasant sensation.

Her eyes wandered a bit as she recalled names and faces, indifferent and calculating at best, malicious at worst. But she could admit to herself, from her meditations, that those were the memories of a child who had held herself hissing and rigid warning away any who might have wished to approach.

“I shall be pleased to see how they have grown, and see where we might find common cause for the clan.”

Who would stand aside, who would fall in line, who would present themselves to be crushed. She even allowed herself the possibility of finding true common cause. To do otherwise would be to insult her Aunt- her Mother’s efforts to shift the clan.

Though there were limits to that, Bai Suzhen’s Xiao did not sit with them, instead standing behind, eyes up and at attention. And despite herself, Xiao Fen was clearly uncomfortable sitting as she was, her eyes kept darting to her Elder. But she had not been reprimanded for seating Xiao Fen like this.

Bai Suzhen regarded her across the table seriously, the small still wriggling tendril of a lake beast speared on the end of her chopsticks. A small, fleeting smile crept onto her lips. “You will do well. The younger generation shall be improved by your emergence from your shell, Bai Meizhen.”

“I daresay the morrow will be quite entertaining,” Xia Lushen said lightly, stroking his chin. “It is always a pleasure to see my Lady wife at work. I expect you will be no different.”

She smiled tentatively. She still did not feel right being compared to Bai Suzhen so favorably, but…

“You will certainly leave the youngsters to their business, husband,” Bai Suzhen said mildly. “You shall have enough to occupy your eyes.”

Such as the elder generations machinations and observations, Bai Meizhen was sure, but it wasn’t her place to mention those things.

“Maybe, maybe, but it is a Father’s place to dote, is it not my Lady?” he replied, tilting his head.

It was. Though she had never felt it. She loved her Aunt, but her husband was… He was making a great effort, she felt. It was not just an insincere gesture of obligation. She had no idea what to do with the notion of a man who truly wanted to be her Father.

“It is. Within limits,” Bai Suzhen said fondly. “But, when we have completed our luncheon, we will be descending to the lakeside. I have arranged for a ship to take us out onto lake Hei for us to enjoy the sun and the sky and the waters, and for the oaths and ceremonies to be performed in the evening at their most auspicious.”

It really was humbling, even knowing that her Aunt likely had created a simulacra to allow her this freedom, to have the Clan heir’s attention for the entire day like this.

…She had always wondered, just what she had been missing, being alone as a child.

“Shall you challenge this old man’s fishing spear then, young lady?” Xia Lushen asked, seeming to notice her lapse into silence.

“I suppose I will,” she said. “Though I expect Mother to defeat us both.”

“As is natural, but this is no shame,” Bai Suzhen said.

Bai Meizhen took another bite of the carp dipped in the delicious sauce her new Father had made, listened to the two people across the table speaking back and forth in a way she could only call intimate. She had worries, concerns. Goals and grudges. She still held some dread for wading into the pool which her cousins had made their territories in for years while she hid away in her little nest.

But today at least, there was nothing but this strange warmth that she had only really experienced in some quiet moments with Qingling. She did not know how to articulate what he felt, but she did think she understood Ling Qi a bit better now.

She had only just gained this, and already, she felt she would kill to keep it.