Chương 98: Opportunity

It was easy to think a thing, say a thing, plan a thing. But the doing was always more fraught. So it was here too. Ling Qingge had found strength here, of a sort. She did not know if it was the mystic effect of cultivation on her will and spirit, or if it was a simpler change. If it was living without worry for the next days meal, sleeping without limbs shaking from exhaustion, of seeing her young daughter smiling every day, of being able to indulge in reading the classics again.

Looking back, at the end of Tonghou, and the beginning of this, Ling Qingge wondered how close she had come to breaking. Or rather, how much more she could have broken, before she had nothing left in her. That listless helplessness she had felt when arriving, once the initial dreamlike quality had worn off, leaving her feeling listless… she was glad to leave it behind. Yet, advancing was frightening. It had taken her much longer than she would have liked to gain the courage to make this request of her daughter.

To ask more of her, knowing the circles she now walked in, and the mud she was asking her to tread in. But it was not enough for Ling Qingge to sit here, in this house, living off of her daughters largesse. It was not enough to merely while away her days in idleness. There were many others who deserved help, more than her certainly. So many whose small kindnesses had allowed her to last long enough for this dream to come.

But, staring at a blank sheet of fine paper, which would have cost her a week's worth of coins, she found herself at a loss for how to convince them of it. Desperation and danger had done it for her. But how did one convince another to turn their life upside down for a dream?" She eyes the box, full of silver coins still. Ling Qi had never asked for its return. If she had to guess the girl had forgotten it already. If her words could not do, perhaps the weight of silver would.

Even if they would not come, she would have given them something. She set her brush to the page, refusing to delay any more. Better to begin a task poorly, than put it off forever.

Min Hua, I hope my disappearance did not cause you too much distress. I humbly apologize that it has taken me so much time to get into contact again. After the help you gave to me, and the risks involved in accepting my payments… It was unworthy. My mind has been much occupied though, with the matter I spoke of when giving you that coin. I will not speak of the details but, my daughter arranged to solve the immediate problem. She also invited me to live in the mortal environs of her Sect.

The journey, and arriving here, it has all been very fraught. She has in fact earned a title of nobility, and made significant connections. I… could not quite believe everything, even having accepted the base fact of her survival. However, before I may begin to ramble to you, my friend. I wish to convey an offer. The House of Ling is young and new, and there is much room in it. The Sect provides, but it is better if one is not so totally reliant. So there is an offer I would like to extend…

Min Hua stared down at the pages scattered on her table. The letter had been packed full of them. She would call it all a fantasy. Of cultivators and Great Sects, of days lived in the shadow of mountains that pierced the clouds, of the presence of powers in the air, and a daughter who seemed more a fairy or a spirit than a child. Who was apparently connected with the Duchess? She would have to say that Ling Qingge had snapped under the pressure, if not for the evidence she had.

The silver the younger woman had, in those final weeks and months, coin enough to buy a house, to live off of. Some of it, whole coins lay scattered on her table now, resting on the pages. It was more than any woman of their ilk could ever throw around. They weren't pretty silk wrapped courtesans in the houses of the lords. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She'd picked up Ling Qingge's story over the years. And it wasn't a happy one.

Fool her, for even being as involved as she was, and yet now… this. Could she uproot herself, at this age? Should she even? The border was trouble, but…

"Gran…" She shook off her thoughts, hearing the drag and thump of the door shutting. She looked up to see her granddaughter Leidi, limping into the room, scuffed, a bruise on her eye and her jaw.

"Child, what happened?" She asked, but her eyes could already pick it out. A fight, a fall, which meant…

"Ahha, the Red Copper Street gang raised their fees again. I didn't keep my mouth shut. I'm sorry Gran, I lost my whole wage…" She grimaced, glancing out to the dusty street. The foolish, too brave girl was lucky she'd not lost more than money. The fool girl who looked so much like her Mother, before the red fever had taken her.

"It's fine Leidi. Take a seat, I'll clean you up. An old friend came through for me today, so the money is no trouble. After though, we'll need to talk."

I understand that I am asking a frightening thing of you. Too risk yourself and your children on the border. I will not lie to you. The rumors of barbarians in the south are true. Though here in the center of the Sect's power, there was only one incursion. Crushed by the Elders and the disciples, there were no deaths at all in White Cloud Town. It is…

impossible to describe everything I saw that day, but, I truly think this place is not much more dangerous for those like us, who know that barbarians are hardly the only source of fear. I implore you, take this offer up, but if you will not then take the coin I sent with it in good faith, as thanks for the help you have given to me. Zhang Wen stared blankly at the letter in her hand and the silver on her counter.

Ling Qingge was a blurry face in her memory, a coworker once, when she had still been young and desirable, and able to make good coin from that. One she had drunk with on occasion, commiserating over their position. For all that the highborne girl hated their job more than she.

A woman ruined because the man they had thought they loved was only seeking a night of pleasure was hardly a rare story, but though she knew Ling Qingge's was more complex, it had still been good to have a sympathetic shoulder to complain on.

"Moooooom Shu stepped on my doll!"

"You left it on the floor! It's your own fault!"

"You squished her!" Zhang Wen sucked a breath in through her nose. She was not even halfway through the whole fantastical ramble. She leaned on the counter hard, tried not to sway. She'd needed to work so long these last weeks, Feng's illness had drained away everything she had saved, hoping to buy Shu an apprenticeship, and put her in debt to boot.

"Feng, I will fix it. Shu apologize to your sister," She said without looking up from the silver. She couldn't…. She couldn't begin to process this. But if nothing else, her small kindness in the past had bought her the chance to sleep well for a few nights.

I have been granted great fortune. And so, truly I would like to share it, with those who gave me kindness. There is opportunity here, for you, though I know it may sound presumptuous, putting myself above you. I…. truly despise that city, Tonghou, the place that homes us all. It is a miserable place, and I think that you would agree. To make a life in the south cannot be worse than those streets. Should you agree I swear that you will be well kept here, that you will live well here.

Ling Qingge Dong Hua leaned back in her seat, the final page in hand. Ling Qingge, it was strange to match the shrinking girl from her memory to these letters. She thought it was all a bit overwrought. In the end she'd just been willing to give the woman kitchen scraps, both when she'd lost her will to work after her girl had run, and after she'd lost her position at the kitchen. Just… what one should do. Wasting food, nothing good ever came of it.

"Mother, what is all of that?" her daughter, Dong Chyou asked, poking her head into the kitchen.

"Just an old friend who let their brush get away from them," Dong Hua said, quietly shutting the letter to hide the shine. She wasn't so certain about this but…

"Come in and help me set things out. Tell me, you've still been bothering old man Gong for your letters?"

"Um, Mother, he's said he didn't mind. I just…."

"It's fine, its fine." Dishes clattered in the kitchen, and Dong Hua wondered if she couldn't do her daughter one better.