The Blood-Stained Empress

C10: Hanging Clouds

*

Li Meixing makes eye contact with Bai Wei, and Bai Wei steps into the courtyard to announce Li Meixing's arrival. The conversation abruptly ends, and soon afterward, a tall and handsome man looking to be a couple of years older than Li Meixing greets her with a hug.

Li Meixing's slender frame stiffens as she involuntarily remembers the tightness of her chest and utter grief when the three of them--Li Meixing, Li Huoxin, and Li Shaomei--had hugged for the last time. Li Meixing grips at Li Huoxin's hanfu, relieved that she's been given the opportunity to embrace her loved ones once more.

"Are you alright?" Li Huoxin asks in a concerned tone, noticing the oddity of Li Meixing's actions.

For a moment she contemplates telling him everything--about what happened at the banquet, about Huang Siming's betrayal, and about coming back in time--but she decides against it. Even given her close relationship with him, telling him would just give him an additional burden at the back of his mind since he won't be able to act on anything without evidence of the truth in the enormity of the implications that her words would bring. Expecting him to commit the most serious case of treason after hearing an unbelievable tale about time travel would be too much to ask for.

For now, this will be her burden alone.

As a result, Li Meixing grins. "Of course. Gege is here, so how can I not be alright?"

Li Huoxin laughs and fondly pats the top of her head. "Mm, that's more like it. How have you been while I was away? Is Mother alright?"

"It's been okay at home." Li Meixing struggles to find a particular event to expand on before adding, "I-I met the crown prince earlier. Mother had me talk to him since he and Father have been working together more often."

"What? He was here earlier and he didn't tell me?" Li Huoxin heaves a sigh. "I'll go visit him tomorrow then to give him my report." Li Meixing casts her gaze downwards with a rueful half-smile. Li Huoxin and Huang Siming had always been extremely close. The two of them were childhood playmates that never left each other's side, swore their allegiance to each other when they started going to school, protected each other's backs on the battlefield, and then... Huang Siming let everything shatter to the ground. "So, what do you think of him? Is he just as impressive as I am?"

Li Meixing laughs and rolls her eyes. "Gege, who else in this world is as arrogant as you are?" This kind of playful attitude of his is perhaps what she missed the most. Once the war with Su Kingdom became serious and his missions outside of the city became more frequent, they didn't have any time anymore to joke around. "The crown prince was polite and let me take him on a tour around the garden. How was your mission at Huisu City?"

"It went pretty successfully; it was just a quick check-up, after all," Li Huoxin reassures. He turns back to look inside the courtyard before apologizing, "Sorry, Xingxing, I need to discuss something with Father. I'll find you later?"

"Alright!" Li Meixing watches him leave, the smile slowly fading away from her face as an overwhelming sense of helplessness crashes onto her. What should she do? What can she do? Li Meixing gently rests her head against the marble pillar. Since she was brought back in time one morning ago, her mind hasn't had a moment of rest, and her heart has been rapidly fluctuating between relief and desperation. She needs a moment of quiet. "Bai Wei, lunch."

"As you wish."

________________________

Large, puffy, and soft, as if a gentle touch would sink them from the sky and disperse them amongst the flowers, the clouds leisurely drift across the pale blue sky. The sun's rays fade away periodically as they hide behind the grey tufts and shine through once more. A chilly breeze rustles at loose leaves and sends them fluttering to the ground in curtains of auburn and crimson red. Nearby, the steady stream of water cascades over smooth pebbles and settles in a large, open pool that ripples with each gust of wind.

Four years from now, her family will be executed. The reason behind their execution will be the attempted assassination of the future emperor, and the future emperor will be Li Meixing's first love and Li Huoxin's childhood best friend. He'll be ruthless and unforgiving, and he won't dwell on the past. It was their mistake, the Li family's, to have trusted in him. Time passes like the thinnest of sand, slipping past fingertips into a mound of the inevitable future.

Li Meixing emptily stares toward the distance as she bites into the steamed fish. She has two options to choose from in order to save her family: either become closer allies with Huang Siming, or prevent him from receiving the throne in the first place. The first option is too reckless; there's no surefire way to ensure that he won't attack them even if they become closer. The second option it is, then. But how should she go about doing it? Tensions with Su Kingdom will soon ignite into a long, brutal war, and the scene for Prime Minister Song's grand debut at Huisu City is gradually coming into place. Other than this information, though, Li Meixing doesn't know much else.

She can't help but curse her previous help for being so unknowledgeable. What she needs now, above all, is knowledge and power. With knowledge, she'll know how to act, and with power, she'll be able to act on that knowledge.

"D-da xiaojie, did something happen? You seem different from usual. More pensive and serious, as if you're preparing for something."

"Eh? Really?" Li Meixing removes herself from her thoughts momentarily to wryly respond, "Then normally, how am I like?"

Bai Wei refills the teacup and hesitantly expands, "Da xiaojie is normally more spontaneous and free-willed, always with a smile on her face and rarely stopping to think—"

"—Ah, not stopping to think?" 

Bai Wei blushes upon realizing what she said. "I-I didn't mean it that way! Da xiaojie is actually very intelligent, it's just that Master [Prime Minister Li, aka Li Meixing's father] never notices. And I know that even when you're being spontaneous, you're still thinking through every action and calculating a million different scenarios. En, da xiaojie is the best!"

Hah, maybe you're giving me too much credit. Li Meixing laughs and continues teasing Bai Wei, "Really? How come I myself don't even know about this?" The other maids serving Li Meixing giggle behind their sleeves.

"En, it's true!" The little tassels on her hairpin swaying back and forth, Bai Wei profusely nods. "For example, just a couple of days ago you made a poem on the spot about the autumn leaves, and it was so impressive that Madam [Ying Nurong, aka Li Meixing's mother] even commented on it!"

As the eldest legitimate daughter of a first-rate family, she is expected to excel in literature, dancing, playing the guqin, and knowledge of proper etiquette. Li Meixing had always loved to read and write, and she was especially drawn to the beauty of poems. Whenever she was bored, she would describe her surroundings or her emotions in a poem and recite it to Bai Wei, who was always enthusiastic to listen. A sudden idea surfaces in Li Meixing's head. The key to everything—information, connections, and power—is always money.

"Bai Wei, how much would you pay for that poem to be yours?"

"M-mine? If it's da xiaojie's, then naturally I'd pay a fortune. Da xiaojie's technique is one of the best, and every line flows seamlessly. To have one of them would be a blessing."

Li Meixing grins and hurriedly finishes the meat bun in her hand, now eating at a significantly faster pace. "We'll set out in a shichen to the streets of the capital city," Li Meixing declares triumphantly. "Prepare a brush, ink, paper, and a stand of some sort that resembles the ones that street vendors use. Engrave the name Moonlit Letters on the top of the stand."

"E-eh? As you wish." Bai Wei, confused but not questioning her mistress, curtsies and efficiently distributes the tasks among the maids.

"Xi Tan."

A man clad in black suddenly appears before Li Meixing. He kneels with one knee on the ground and his head respectfully lowered.

Li Meixing looks at him, feeling conflicted and relieved at the same time. Xi Tan has been her personal bodyguard for years and follows her wherever she goes. That night at the imperial banquet, the guards must've dealt with him first before framing her family. "Could you lend me two sets of male clothes?"

Xi Tan silently nods and promptly disappears.

Li Meixing takes a final sip from her tea and returns to gazing at the clouds, her lips subtly curved upwards in a determined smile. She finally has a plan.