My heel thumped the ground in irritation for a little while. I’d thought we agreed this wouldn’t happen! Not to mention I was going to be busy as hell in three months, due myself, and my apprentice was moving off to Riverbridge to start her own practice. And why can’t we just live in a quiet little village, tucked away from everything?! I don’t like this whole grand capital plan, but at least I convinced the planners not to make the imperial palace some walled community compound. That would just lead to uppity fools who isolated themselves from the outside world running the country.
Which wasn’t to say the small mansion Li and I would be stuck in wasn’t… sturdy. I built the walls myself after we got back from the kingdoms south of the barrier peaks, and… well, I could break them. But I’d be about the only cultivator who could. The qi-reinforced stone, wood, and metal put the Tortoise King’s little dome to shame. Certainly looked better, even if I would’ve preferred a simple cabin. The architects insisted on things looking impressive, I insisted on humility. Li insisted on compromise, so we found a middle point.
But back to the wedding. Half a dozen attendants, three per bride. It’s a tradition to have several bridal decoys to protect the bride’s innocence until the ceremony was completed… but having all of them be about six months pregnant defeated the purpose.
Though to be fair, most of the women in attendance were in the same boat, myself included. For once, Kaoru seemed a bit cross about her condition. Seems she wanted to take a break, then muttered something about the Goddess, and I just shook my head and told her not to worry about it. I knew what she was like. And honestly, I’m mostly irritated with Chiaki, actually following through on what we’d all told her no on. From the groomsmen’s position, Chang looked away as my glare landed on him, showing the burn marks still fresh on his face. He’d have those scars for the rest of his life, even if he ascended. Kaoru… well, there was nothing more lasting than the wrath of a kitsune-gami.
Alright. Deep breaths, and stop upsetting everyone. This is a happy occasion, and everything that’s bothering you is a combination of horomones and outside circumstances. Smile, bless the happy threesome, and play nice.
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Well, that worked, and it was a nice ceremony. Just our usual civic traditions, though Kaoru filled in a few points that we’d lost when religion was stamped out by the four. In return, all records and mentions of them in history were erased, save as a blight upon our land that the Hero Xiang and the First Emperor Li saved the world from.
“Hero.” Bleh. Such pretentious drabble. I just like beating things up, and don’t like people who hurt others because they can. I would’ve happily stayed Mistress Song’s pet bunny my entire life, had the Tortoise King not killed her. And now that I’d had my revenge, the hard work began.
After all, you can’t destroy a government without creating a new one if you’re any kind of responsible. And as much as I hated being the one to get the job, I was the one who decided on removing the heads of state in a literal fashion. I broke it, I bought it.
Finally, the feast. A special meal, we actually slaughtered a cow. Beef was hard to come by, as cattle were far more valuable for their milk… mmm, but this was so tasty. And a quick announcement of the new threesome… and the new couple, as I’d had them slip Chiaki and Chang into the ceremony. There was precedent, and it hadn’t taken much to pull off. The two of them went into shock as I smirked. Actions have consequences, children, and I can be sneaky too.
Some might argue about contracts under duress, or age of consent, but none of that really applied to our laws just yet, and now that the shock had worn off my son and his new bride were too thrilled to care. Maybe they would in a few years, but I’d make sure the case was quietly grandfathered by then.
Bleh. Laws. I didn’t much care for them, but I didn’t like the alternative either. Li was getting into it, he’d come to live off rules and structure, but I just wanted to relax for a while. Sadly, that plan would have to be put off for a few centuries. I’d take it out on Kaoru, but we were both too pregnant to spar safely, and… well… since we ascended, we… couldn’t actually spar safely. Last time we did, it had been too close to a fair fight, and we cratered some land that might’ve been otherwise used for farming. Even after I fixed the damage, Li told me flat out I wasn’t allowed to fight at full strength anymore. Just another thing to be irritated about.
Huh… they have curry!
Sorry, but I have more important business to handle now. Later!