Chapter Five #2
I hear words like Xiao, and Fourth Family, and Spirits which are usually what I hear people whisper when I walk into the room.
But this time I hear a few new words thrown in. Words like Bride and Marriage. I bristle a bit at that; marriage is a generous term for it. Coercion more like.
I tighten my hands around my jade plaque.
It’s a punishment, the emperor telling me to get back into line.
I have drawn too much attention to myself and the rumors circulating around me have grown too prevalent.
There is only so much the emperor can turn a blind eye to.
My position is important to the peace and safety of all citizens of Da Xian.
No one else can fill it either, the ability to cancel magic is what makes the Fourth Family so valuable.
And with so few of us left… well, it makes me invaluable, not just because of my family name.
Especially since Wen is not an acting spirit hunter, although he has been trained in it. He has branched off and joined the Ministry of Justice.
I suppose that has made me a tad careless. I thought there was nothing the emperor could do to harm me. I thought he wouldn’t dare.
I, apparently, was wrong.
And now I have nothing left but to be wrong and take my position near the very front of the room.
A position that I hate taking, because it displays a rank I do not wish to hold.
The only thing being a Fourth Lord is good for is making it so that the other officials won’t leave me alone and that they always try to embroil me in the politics.
I glance back at Xiao Wen as he filters over to stand in his ranked position behind the Minister of Justice. My future father-in-law should be one of these red robed officials. I wonder if he looks anything like his daughter.
I quickly pull my gaze away and bow my head as the eunuch announces the entrance of the emperor.
I peer up over my brows as I take in the emperor and note his stately stride.
His robes flow behind him as he walks. The emperor takes a seat on a massive golden ornate throne carved in the design of a dragon.
They are majestic and ancient creatures that exist on a level above us, untouchable and untainted by our petty lives, just as our emperor is.
Or at least that is what he would have us all think.
Just like that, the court begins. I find most of it difficult to even pay attention to. With the emperor’s ministers it’s all the same. They are always trying to either curry favor for themselves or make their nemesis look bad.
It’s all lofty speeches and grand gestures and a lot of “for the good of the people” being thrown around. As if these ministers have spent a day outside their walled manors and house parties to know what the people’s good actually is.
I don’t even know why I need to be here. For the most part my jurisdiction falls outside of everything being discussed. I have no armies or cities under my control.
The funds I have allotted to me are in the name of spirit-catching, no one is going to detract from such a noble cause.
They’re too scared they will wind up being a victim of an otherworldly crime if I’m not allowed to do my duties.
And I have always made sure to stay out of any of the factions so that I won’t make enemies who will target me just out of spite.
Technically I have a say in court, but what exactly am I supposed to use that say for? To ask for more comfortable lodging houses on the road?
Actually, I wouldn’t even mind doing that because it’s a cause that is near and dear to my heart and would actually benefit the people, but I know that if I bring it up then the other ministers would oppose it just as they oppose anything that does not immediately benefit their end goal.
Then it would just become a battle one that I would be ill-equipped to win since it’s frowned upon for me to use my sword on these ministers.
Or worse, the members of the court will use it as a bargaining chip to gain my support and get me wrapped up in this useless and fruitless game of constantly maneuvering pieces.
Lord Yu steps out into the center aisle. He is a governor in charge of the western provinces of Da Xian. I’ve been there often enough; it’s largely farmland and smaller villages.
He lowers his head into a bow before stating, “Your majesty, there have been rumors flowing like waters from the north that there is a spirit living amongst the people of Yanzhou killing innocents and disrupting trade.”
I stiffen indiscernibly. Now this is actually a matter that has to do with me. Yanzhou is the easternmost city in the western provinces. Why, it’s practically next to the imperial city. If there is a killer roaming freely through it killing on a whim that is a real problem.
But why is Lord Yu bringing it up before the court instead of writing to me personally? As though I need to be commanded to do my duty.
Is it simply because I am here today and it is more convenient? Or is there some hidden plot in all this? Some way for this man to gain an upper hand by having the emperor command I go there rather than just summoning me himself?
My mind is spinning as my name echoes throughout the council chamber. “Lord Xiao,” his majesty calls.
I sigh silently to myself. I knew that I would not be able to avoid being singled out.
I step into the aisle, bowing again. “Yes, your majesty.”
“I have been informed that you have dealt with the spirit plaguing the green road.”
I keep my eyes lowered and hope that no one notices my grimace as I feel a twinge in my lower back. “Yes indeed, the spirit of whom you speak has been eradicated.”
“You are dedicated and trustworthy in your role as a Spirit-Catcher.”
I lower myself further. “I do not deserve such praise. It is my humble duty to serve your majesty and the better good of all the people.”
The words try to clog in my throat, but I force them out all the same. To speak to the emperor in any less respectful a manner is to court your own demise. Regardless of whether I am an important member of the Fourth Family. Not even I can be disrespectful to the emperor in his own court.
“Please rise.”
I straighten with a sigh of relief and have to force myself not to glance in the direction of Wen and the other officials under the Ministry of Justice to see if my future father-in-law is watching me right now.
“As a reward for your heroic actions, bringing peace and stability to the lives of the people of Da Xian, I have already bestowed your marriage to Mu Fanqing, daughter of an eight-rank official in the Ministry of Justice. Cultivator Mu is well known for her own thoughtfulness and dedication in her studies as a scribe. With such abilities she will be able to greatly aid the Xiao family in their righteous quest to eradicate all spiritual beings from our land of Da Xian. It is a match fated by the heavens.”
I bite my lip to keep from telling his majesty exactly what I think of his “gift.” It’s a punishment sloppily disguised as a reward.
I know it. His majesty knows it. Everyone in this court probably knows it.
It’s an insult to my intelligence, really, to pretend otherwise, but that is the way of the court.
Nothing can be said openly, everything is understood indistinctly.
“You honor me, your majesty,” I manage to force out instead.
I can’t help the small smile that pulls at my lips as I think of my bride-to-be and quickly duck my head.
The emperor thinks a bride will keep me in line, but he doesn’t know that I’ve already signed a marriage agreement with this Mu Fanqing.
Being wed to her is not quite the punishment his majesty believes it to be.
“The wedding shall proceed on the auspicious day that has been chosen, you may stay for three days until the bride returns to her maternal home and then you shall head out to Yanzhou.”
So, I’m getting married and then my life can go back to usual. And Fanqing and I can continue to be as much of strangers as a husband and wife can manage to be.
I hold my arms out, making sure to add a little shake to my sleeves as I drop into a low bow. “As your majesty decrees.”