36. Spies, Lies, and Family Ties

Yanli almost startled at the sight of Meng Shi, but caught herself. A’Cheng noticed, but she gave him a very small head shake.

As the Jiang contingent walked up toward the dais where Nie Popo sat on the throne, Meng Shi did not break eye contact with Yanli until they came to a stop, whereupon she dropped her eyes and suddenly transformed into a humble, nameless, low-ranking maid of Madam Jiang, there to help her on her feet.

The fact that Jiang Fengmian had brought his wife to the meeting in the first place was scandalous, in Yanli’s opinion. The only value she had would be to engender sympathy from the Nie, so it was clear to her that he was hoping to play on Nie Popo’s motherly instincts. It soured Yanli’s mouth even more. She turned her attention to the other people with him, which numbered less than thirty. Even though they had managed to clean up and find suitable robes, they looked exhausted and worn down. If that was the totality of the survivors from the sacking of Lotus Pier, then it was indeed a tragedy. Yanli wished she could muster more compassion for the situation. People had died, after all.

(Just like her mother.)

It wasn’t until Jiang Fengmian got to the front of the hall that he registered who else was there. He came to an abrupt stop and turned to Nie Popo with a stiff, diplomatic smile.

“What is the meaning of this?” He asked, motioning towards Yanli. His wife, the new Madam Jiang, gave him a very confused look.

“These are honored guests of the Nie, the Yiling Wei sect. Sect Leader Wei Yanli, and her brother, Second Young Master Wei Cheng. I believe you know them.”

He actually recoiled, and any sympathy she had for him withered in Yanli’s heart. The names registered with the rest of his people, including his wife, who all drew back in shock.

After a moment, his placid expression was back in place. Had it always been so forced and false? Yanli could not trust her memories of him anymore.

“You dare insult Yunmeng Jiang with this farce?” He asked Nie Popo, politely but pointedly, as if talking to a child.

Yanli felt A’Cheng tense up next to her.

“Their presence here has nothing to do with you,” She responded firmly, not moving a muscle, one hand on her saber and the other on the arm of the throne.

“How can you expect me to believe that?” He spread his hands, his tone still blandly condescending.

“I expect you to not call me a liar, Sect Leader Jiang,” Nie Popo snapped at him. Around her, Nie settled into stances that made it clear they were ready to fight.

He patted the air in front of him as if calming a dog. “Nie Popo, I am here under duress after facing unimaginable hardships and tragedies. It is not too much to expect that the Nie sect would, at least, treat a sect leader with respect.” He waved a hand at Yanli. “These are bastard children of no name and no consequence to the gentry. I must insist they be removed.” He clasped his hands behind his back, waiting for his demand to be complied with.

“We have a name, and we are cultivators. It is our right to start our own sect, which Sect Leader Nie himself has recognized.” Yanli said loudly, her voice filling the hall.

“You are a disgrace to Yunmeng Jiang and have no place in these discussions,” he said simply, as if describing the color of the sky. He wasn’t even looking at her directly, his gaze settled on the back wall.

Yanli raised her hand to hold A’Cheng in check, as it was obvious he was a hair’s breadth away from assaulting a sect leader.

“By your own admission, according to proof you shared with others, our father was Wei Changze, former disciple of Yunmeng Jiang and your distant cousin. While our parentage was outside of a formal marriage, it was nonetheless confirmed by none other than yourself. His first born son, Wei Ying, has legitimized us by his right of inheritance.” She paused and stared at him directly. “I never met my father, and he died when I was nine years old, but he was still a better father than you ever were.”

There were several audible gasps throughout the room, including from the Nie. Madam Jiang covered her mouth with both hands, looking wide-eyed between them. A’Cheng whispered “JieJie!” in a delightfully scandalized tone.

Jiang Fengmian finally looked at her, and all she saw was the same hateful anger he had directed at her when he ordered her kicked out of Lotus Pier.

“You are nothing,” he said, his tone final and absolute.

“You asshole—” A’Cheng started to move forward, but Yanli firmly grabbed his forearm.

“Be that as it may, Qinghe Nie has a formal alliance with Yiling Wei. It is not your decision whether they remain or not,” Nie Popo said, and bounced the tip of her scabbard on the floor in much the same way Lao Wang used to do with his cane. “I suggest you bring your request to the table, Sect Leader Jiang.

He was not happy about it, but realized that there was no point in continuing to try to get Yanli ejected from the room. Instead, he turned away from her as if she did not exist and explained to Nie Popo in formal language about the alliance he believed existed, but could not prove due to the destruction of Lotus Pier.

He was lying.

It was a surprise to realize it, but she had seen him in enough little white lies in her childhood to recognize that he was not telling the truth, and he knew he was not telling the truth. She frowned as he kept talking.

“I am having our archivists look for our copy of the agreement,” Nie Popo assured him.

“You won’t find it,” came the soft but firm voice of Meng Shi. Madam Jiang looked at her in shock, but Meng Shi stepped away from her and walked up to the front of the Jiang contingent.

“How dare you contradict me,” Jiang Fengmian said causticly. “Take her away.” He motioned to two of his older disciples.

“HOLD,” Yanli said, throwing some qi into her voice so it reverberated through the room. Jiang Fengmian looked at her in disbelief.

“You have something to contribute, Sect Leader Wei?” Nie Popo asked with no small amount of amusement.

“I do.” She stepped forward. “It is good to see you again.” She said to Meng Shi, careful of not saying her name.

“And you, Sect Leader Wei.” Meng Shi bowed courteously in accordance to Yanli’s rank. “If I may ask: Where is my son?”

“He is on an important night hunt with Sect Leader Nie and my other brother, who you may remember from that situation with the goats.”

Now everyone was looking confused except A’Cheng, who hid his smile behind his sleeve.

“Who are you?” Jiang Fengmian asked, stepping up to Meng Shi, grabbing for her arm, and yanking her backwards so hard she nearly fell down.

Before anyone could say anything, A’Cheng launched himself forward and punched Jiang Fengmian in the face, sending him sprawling halfway across the room. A’Cheng stood there for a moment, radiating satisfaction, the then bowed politely to Meng Shi, offered his arm to her, and walked her over to stand in front of Nie Popo.

Around them, everyone was suddenly armed.

“What is the meaning of this?” Jiang Fengmian shouted, rolling to his feet and pinching his nose, which was so smashed that blood dripped down his chin onto his robes.

Nie Popo rubbed her temples. “Where is the Lan silencing spell when you need it?” She sighed. Then she sat up straight. “Nie, stand down! Sect Leader Jiang, order your disciples to put their weapons away before I decide this is an act of war.”

“That bastard hit me.” He pointed at A’Cheng, who snarled back at him.

“Enough, Wei Cheng,” Yanli said loudly. He looked at her, and then bowed deeply before turning to stand back by the dais again—orderly, politely, and in every way the epitome of a disciple following the command of his sect leader.

Jiang Fengmian gave a hand motion that Yanli knew well, which meant for his disciples to stand down but be ready for a fight. Did he really believe she was so dumb and ignorant not to remember the Jiang ranger hand signals? She fumed, but pushed the anger down. That was for later.

“You claimed Sect Leader Jiang was lying. That’s a serious charge Miss…?” Nie Popo left the opening for Meng Shi to give her name, or not.

“This one is Meng Shi, honored Interim Sect Leader Nie,” Meng Shi said, bowing gracefully and elegantly. Madam Jiang stared at her as if she had never seen her before.

“Miss Meng? I don’t suppose Sect Leader Wei’s seneschal, Meng Yao, is a relation?” Nie Popo asked, although it was clear she already guessed the answer.

“He is my son, Interim Sect Leader Nie.”

“Call me Nie Popo, everyone does.”

“Thank you, Nie Popo. To continue: This one was asked by the Yiling Wei seneschal to keep an eye on Yunmeng Jiang, in order to let him know if the Wen moved against them. I managed to escape the attack with young Madam Jiang, and have been trying to get a message to Yiling since then.” She turned to Yanli. “I did not know you had departed for Qinghe.”

“Actually, we ended up in Gusu first. It’s a long story,” Yanli said, motioning her to come stand by her side—showing to all present that Meng Shi was under the banner of, and protected by, Yiling Wei.

“Are you really Da'Ge’s mother?” A’Cheng whispered. Meng Shi smiled at him and he grinned back, because there was no better proof than Meng Yao’s own dimpled smile on her face.

“You put a spy into Lotus Pier?” Jiang Fengmian snapped at Yanli. “You are truly your mother’s daughter, duplicitous and—”

“Sect Leader Jiang, if you don’t shut up I will have you gagged,” Nie Popo said. Every Nie in the room readied for a fight again.

“I will be informing Sect Leader Nie of this outrageous behavior.”

“You do that,” Nie Popo said dismissively, then turned to Meng Shi again. “Why do you claim he was lying?”

“Because I heard him discuss the matter with Sect Leader Jin, who offered to forge a so-called legal copy that could be discovered in his own records, to back up Sect Leader Jiang’s claim. He was very eloquent in talking Sect Leader Jiang into agreeing with his plan, claiming that he could not assist directly but would be glad to help Sect Leader Jiang force the Nie into it. After all, he said, weren’t the Nie already at war with Qishan Wen?”

That sounded wrong to Yanli. What would Jin Guangshan gain if they went up against Wen Ruohan, other than the complete destruction of both the Jiang remnants and the Nie sect?

Ah.

Nie Popo was one step ahead of her in that reasoning, her face turning an alarming shade of red.

Jiang Yanli had the pleasure of watching Jiang Fengmian go pale as a ghost as the realization sunk in that he had been played by Jin Guangshan. He was clearly fishing around for something to say.

“Sect Leader Jiang, I suggest you chose your next words carefully,” Nie Popo said in a quietly dangerous tone of voice.

“I see no reason for you to believe anything she says.” Jiang Fengmian huffed, standing proud at the front of his people. Yanli thought that maybe his pride was all he ever had to fall back on.

There was a small commotion as Madam Jiang wobbled a little, looking pale and faint herself. Nie Popo pursed her lips unhappily.

“Sect Leader Jiang, may I recommend that your expectant wife be escorted back to your lodgings?” Nie Popo said critically, the weight of damning judgment in her voice.

Jiang Fengmian closed his eyes for a second, then turned and ordered two disciples to assist his wife out of the hall.

After she was gone and everyone had been given a moment to calm down, Nie Popo turned back to Meng Shi.

“Those are serious accusations. Do you have any proof?”

She shook her head. “I do not have anything at hand. However, if you can send word to your spies in Lanling to follow Jin Zixun, who is Sect Leader Jin’s nephew, I believe they will find ample evidence in both his ongoing correspondence and his direct orders.”

“That kid? He’s a useless brat,” Nie Popo said, raising an eyebrow.

“He is a kid, and a brat, but not useless. Desperate children are often very useful to men in power.”

Silence descended at her pronouncement, heavy and somber.

Jiang Fengmian continued to get paler, but unsurprisingly, did not rise to defend himself. Yanli wondered who he thought was coming to save him. Her mother had been the only person ever to fight for him, as much as she fought with him. For the first time, Yanli saw him as a pathetic man, truly alone in the world. There was no excuse for her mother’s actions, but it was becoming clear that the man never deserved her loyalty in the first place.

Nie Popo stood up, her natural height extended by her place on the dais, standing in front of the Nie clan throne.

“Sect Leader Jiang, do not look to the Nie for your salvation. You are welcome to remain in the Unclean Realm as our guests, and given your wife’s condition, I highly suggest you take me up on that offer. I will have a woman’s doctor sent to her as well. Eat, sleep, and plan your next course of action under the protection of the Nie. This offer will not be revoked, I swear to you. But further than that, expect nothing for the time being. We will resume this discussion when Sect Leader Nie has returned from his night hunt.”

Nie Popo waved an elegant hand through the air and a group of Nie guards broke away from the wall to make it clear that her dismissal was an order, not a suggestion.

Jiang Fengmian paused to stare at Yanli. She waited for him to say something, anything, but he eventually just turned his back on her.

Again.