Mei Hua left the Wu Manor mid-afternoon. Wu Tengfei had rushed over when word got to him that she was visiting his home. Unlike Pei Zhi, he hadn’t seen Mei Hua in person yet, and had only heard through his wife that she was properly well. When he saw her walking and talking like always, he actually burst out into tears. If Jin would have let him, he’d have hugged her with all the sincerity of a brother. But even after all these years, Jin would give Wu Tengfei the stink-eye if he got too close to Mei Hua, so he could only hover around her like a worried grandmother.
Wu Tengfei’s smothering behavior was what eventually chased Mei Hua away from Wu Manner. He forcibly pushed all kinds of strengthening tonics and medicines into her arms before she left, despite knowing the Fairy Doctor was taking care of her. She didn’t know what to do with all of them, so she sent them to the Guilei. A pregnant woman would have more use for them than Mei Hua.
Guilei, who suddenly received a plethora of tonics and medicines out of nowhere, was a little alarmed. After Mei Hua talked about matchmaking if she had a daughter, Guilei had the distinct impression of being a pig fattened for slaughter later.
While Guilei was worrying about unexpected favors, Mei Hua was scolding Jin for his inappropriate behavior. Jin was naturally unrepentant. In his own words, he was just being affectionate with his own wife, what was there to complain about? Seeing he didn’t care at all about appropriate behavior in public, she could only give up her scolding and walk away in a huff.
As she walked around the Palace trying to cool her temper, she decided to put her time to good use. Pei Zhi claimed Lanhua was a wayward child in need of discipline, but Mei Hua had no idea if it was true, or if it was, to what extent. She began asking the fairies, Beasties, and whoever else was around what the state of Lanhua was in and how her family had been running the country.
From what she heard, it seemed that Jin was very good at taking care of the big things of Lanhua but not the little things. Other countries worried about invasion, pestilence, and natural disasters, but not Lanhua. The Fairy Emperor’s protection meant everyone was healthy and safe, even the poorest didn’t have to worry about starving to death. And because he could see into the hearts of men, truly wicked people weren’t allowed in, thus making crime almost non-existent. If one asked a random person on the streets about living in Lanhua, they would say it was very good compared to other places.
But…
Jin was a Mountain Spirit in human flesh. His understanding of humans was entirely intellectual from studying his Sister’s scrolls, supplemented with his interactions with Mei Hua. When it came to identifying as a human, that feeling of unity with others of the same type, he had none of it at all. He examined humans as humans examined wildlife, and only the bare minimum for his wife’s sake.
To Jin, trying to understand the particulars of human culture and behavior wasn’t worth it. They were too unpredictable. What was acceptable in one place, wasn’t acceptable in another place. If he had to figure out every single rule for every single random group of humans, he felt like he might just go crazy. So he didn’t want to bother.
Furthermore, he reasoned that there was actually no need for him to learn the specifics. Humans were universally adaptable. Stick them in a place for long enough, they’d conform to it. Likewise, the humans in Lanhua would eventually conform to Lanhua. So why bother learning about the countries the humans came from when, in a hundred years or so, all those influences would have faded away? He didn’t have to lift a finger, they’d figure themselves out all on their own, just as they’d always done. This could be said an admirable quality of humanity, which he didn’t plan on interfering with.
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Mei Hua didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when she heard this. Jin wasn’t entirely wrong, but he wasn’t entirely right either. While humans were adaptable, that was just for surviving. Without leadership, common goals, and guidance for those goals, humans would naturally bicker and fight. Even good hearted people would struggle in an environment that lacked clear instructions, or where the rules of engagement shifted frequently. It was only when everyone knew what the rules were, and everyone was equally expected to uphold those rules, that humans gained a sense of stability and security. And only with those two things, could they truly flourish.
Ye was slightly better than Jin in this sense. He would routinely visit the two towns and the smaller villages, getting to know the heads and common people of each location. When it came to knowing the power dynamics and internal alliances and conflicts, all the minute details, Ye was the most informed and interested. As long as no one gave him trouble, he was generally very friendly with everyone and made no distinction based on social class. Rich or poor, he would treat them the same.
But Ye had a major flaw: he was capricious and mischievous. For serious conflicts that required his intervention, no one knew if he was going to be a wise leader and solve the problem, or if he was going to get a chair, eat some snacks, and tell everyone to duke it out while he watched. He would even switch between behaviors, making him even more unpredictable. This gave everyone involved a serious headache, but there was no one else to turn to. Jin didn’t want to do it, the sons were somehow always absent when a problem popped up, that left Ye.
Concerning her sons… though they understood humans a little better than Jin, there was still a disconnect and apathy. They also suffered from their Father’s obsessive nature, focusing almost exclusively on one thing to the neglect of everything else. While they were experts in their areas of interests, since none of them wanted to be leaders—taking unfortunately after Mei Hua—they naturally lacked the talent to do so. Shan Hui was the closest to wanting to lead others, but his short temper scared people away from depending on him for guidance.
After listening to all this, Mei Hua realized there was no real structure to anything in Lanhua. No laws, no courts, no nothing. Towns and villages made their own rules, with the most powerful families in each place taking the initiative to guide everyone else. What may be scandalous in one place was normal in another, what was illegal in one place, was legal somewhere else. There was no consistency to anything.
Mei Hua almost cried when she found all this out. Don’t even talk about Lanhua having a shallow culture, they were barely a nation! Wasn’t this form of leadership much too lax and haphazard?! It was no wonder Pei Zhi had requested Mei Hua do something! How was this little country going to survive if things kept up this way?!
After some deep soul searching, she glumly decided to accept her title of Queen Consort. There was just no getting around it. If she didn’t step up, Lanhua was going to fall apart at the seams. And since this wasn’t a distant place, but right in her backyard with her very best friend being the most affected, she couldn’t keep running away or pretend she didn’t see anything.
After her son’s wedding, she’d call a meeting and get things properly sorted out. As a Mountain Monkey, she lacked the ability to take charge of the nation on her own and wouldn’t dare to try. But if she gathered the most talented individuals together and discussed things with them, then surely she could find a good path for Lanhua.