Unintended Cultivator

“I’m leaving,” announced Sen. “When I’m done making examples and fixing the problem with the defenses, I’m leaving.”

He was standing at the window and staring down at the damaged spot in the courtyard. It was something he’d found himself doing more and more often. He found it was a good reminder to himself never to be too confident that he’d thought of everything. He’d assumed that he’d made them safe here. That assumption had cost people their lives, and that was something he couldn’t make right. It had only been dumb luck that Grandmother Lu wasn’t in the courtyard when that explosion happened. While it probably wouldn’t have hurt him at all, and just left Lo Meifeng in a foul temper, he had no such confidence that Grandmother Lu would have survived it or come away unscathed. That business with the people he’d helped to heal swearing allegiance to him had been the final sign that he’d been in the capital for too long. He drew too much attention here. Not that he could say with any certainty that his presence caused the attack, but it seemed all too likely that it had been a message directed at him.

“That might be a hasty decision,” ventured Lo Meifeng, although she sounded very tentative about it.

“Perhaps, but I have other responsibilities and obligations. I’ve been away from my daughter for too long. I never planned to be here more than a few days. It’s been weeks and weeks. I’ve sent a letter to Auntie Caihong explaining things. Not everything, but the broad strokes. Besides, are you honestly telling me that you think having me here is more of a help than a harm?”

Lo Meifeng was quiet for longer than necessary before she let out a breath and said, “No.”

Grandmother Lu chimed in then.

“Well, at least both of your brains are still working. I’ll be the first to admit that having Sen here provides benefits. He’s scary. That solves some problems before they ever start. The issue with scary is that it provokes extreme responses. If we want to get things in order here, we need things to stabilize.”

“And I don’t stabilize things,” said Sen. “Not here, at any rate. I’m too unpredictable for the capital. I don’t answer to anyone. No one knows how to react to me.”

“Don’t answer to anyone, boy?” asked Grandmother Lu.

“That’s what I thought,” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“And you want to go home,” added Lo Meifeng.

“Of course, I want to go home,” said Sen. “I wanted to go home before I ever got here. At home, there’s a little girl who is always happy to see me. My biggest problems most days are dealing with a mildly unhinged nascent soul cultivator and making sure my academy has enough food and instructors. Annoying at times, I’ll admit, but I almost never have to kill anybody. It seems like every time I come to this damn city, I end up having to kill a lot of people. Which would you pick?”

“I can concede that, in your place, I’d probably pick being at home as well,” said Lo Meifeng.

“There you go.”

“There are still things to do before you go,” said Grandmother Lu. “Don’t let your mind leave before your body does.”

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Sen nodded and said, “I know. And I won’t. First things first, what do the two of you think of the information that Fong Huifen provided? Accurate?”

“Probably. I’m more concerned with why she provided it if I’m being honest,” said Lo Meifeng.

“A valid concern,” said Grandmother Lu, “although, ultimately, not that complicated.”

“No?” asked Sen.

“I haven’t met her, yet, but I’d be willing to bet that she’s like me. She’s getting old. She isn’t someone doing things that only serve her pride. At least, probably no more than any other noble. She’s looking for ways to preserve and protect what’s hers. Angering a cultivator who already proved he’s willing to end a noble house doesn’t serve those ends. If I was her, I’d be looking for some way to make you like me, or at least make you not actively dislike me.”

“So, you don’t think she’s manipulating me?” asked Sen.

“Don’t be foolish. Of course, she’s manipulating you. She’s just being smart about it. You don’t need to lie to manipulate someone, especially if the truth will get you what you want. Giving you that information creates at least a little goodwill on your part. If she does something that interferes with your goals down the road, it may stay your hand or at least make you more likely to let her make it up to you. It’s also a good way for her to weaken one of her rivals. And she accomplishes all of that by helping you do the thing you want to do.”

“Then, we’ve confirmed it. Patriarch Wu was involved?”

“It appears that way,” said Lo Meifeng.

Sen looked out the window at the courtyard again. He didn’t like the idea of being manipulated, but Grandmother Lu was right. It wasn’t manipulation in the sense he normally thought of it. Fong Huifen hadn’t lied to him. She hadn’t even suggested a course of action. She’d given him information and told him to confirm it for himself. In the end, the only thing she’d done was point him in a particular direction. It was a direction that would ultimately benefit her and her house but only because it was true. The entire thing would have collapsed if he’d found out it wasn’t. So, Sen asked himself, what’s really bothering me about this? He stood in thoughtful silence for a few minutes as he considered the question. The only answer he could come up with was that he didn’t like that he’d been so easy to read, but it wasn’t like he’d been opaque about his intentions. Fong Huifen had simply observed those intentions and found a way to make them useful to her. The whole thing was deeply cynical, but he couldn’t deny that they’d both get something out of it.

“I suppose,” said Sen, “that I have to give the woman credit for seeing an opportunity and grabbing it.”

Lo Meifeng made a surprised noise. Sen gave her a questioning look.

She shrugged and said, “You don’t generally respond well to manipulation.”

“Usually, when someone is manipulating me, they do it in such a way that I’ll get nothing for my trouble. She provided something useful. I won’t pretend that I like it, but I also won’t pretend that the information she offered was useless. We aren’t friends, but she’ll get what she wants. We won’t be enemies either. That’s probably about as good as it gets in politics.”

“And what about the House of Wu?” asked Lo Meifeng.

“What about it?” asked Sen.

“Well, I guess I’m wondering if they’ll get the same treatment as the House of Xie. Not to put too fine a point on it, but we’re already stretched thin here. I don’t think we have the kind of resources or manpower to take over two noble houses.”

“Oh. That. No, I’m not going to punish the entire house. I mean, they might have it coming. Hells, they probably have it coming, but I don’t know that for sure. Plus, tearing down another house could have consequences I can’t see. It might destabilize the entire kingdom for all I know. I didn’t come here to start a civil war. So, the House of Wu gets off light.”

“You do intend to do something, though,” said Grandmother Lu.

“Of course. I said the House of Wu gets off light. Wu Chia-Hao is another matter entirely. Patriarch Wu will pay just like everyone else. He’ll pay with his life.”

“You can’t just drag him into the street and kill him,” said Lo Meifeng. “I mean, you can, but you shouldn’t.”

“I know,” said Sen. “I’ll let him die in his sleep or something else that everyone will find palatable but not before he talks. That man will tell me everything I want to know first.”

“Why would he do that?” asked Lo Meifeng.

“Just because we all know that I’m not going to destroy his house, I’m not planning on letting him in on that piece of information.”

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