Unintended Cultivator

Sen regretted turning the decision over to Lo Meifeng almost immediately. The regret didn’t have anything to do with her. He’d just let his own weakness get the best of him. That he didn’t want to kill anyone else was a bad reason not to finish the job. Not that his other reasons had been wholly without merit, and he’d made the decision about that particular woman the last time the three of them had met. He also knew that Lo Meifeng’s default position would be to eliminate the threat the woman posed. Yeung Fen would have to prove incredibly convincing to a highly suspicious person who was already unfavorably disposed toward her. In the end, though, he had made the decision hers. Taking the decision back would probably make Lo Meifeng worry that he didn’t trust her judgment. If Yeung Fen did somehow manage to find the right words to save her own life, Sen was a little worried about what to do with her.

She couldn’t stay in the capital. Well, she couldn’t be seen to be working for him in the capital, at the very least. He had to assume that some people, and some of the wrong people, would recognize her. The problem was that she couldn’t be left to her own devices without supervision. It wasn’t like he could just send her off somewhere distant to handle things for him. She’d just slip away the first chance she got. Sen shook his head. That was just him borrowing problems that didn’t exist yet. He had enough real things to deal with already, such as all the preparations for leaving. Preparations that would prove more substantial since he wouldn’t be leaving by himself. He had to stop three people to find someone who knew where to find Grandmother Lu. It turned out that she was observing some of the Xie children who were outside getting some play or maybe exercise. Sen wasn’t really sure. He stepped up next to her and considered the children.

“You still mean to take them with you?” she asked.

“I do,” said Sen, hearing the disapproval in her voice.

“It’s a cruel thing you mean to do,” she said. “You, of all people, know what it means to grow up without parents.”

Sen felt a brief flare of anger and pushed it down hard.

“There is a difference. I don’t mean to put these children out on the streets. They will not starve. They will not lack for education.”

“What kind of education? What will you have them learn?”

“They will learn something their parents never did. They will learn how to be useful. I will make them into farmers, blacksmiths, and carpenters.”

“Not soldiers?”

“I suppose that once they come of age, I can’t prevent them from joining the army. But I will not teach them how to fight. I will not arm them to rise up against us.”

Grandmother Lu let out a soft sigh.

“They didn’t choose this fight, Sen.”

“Neither did I,” he gently reminded her. “All things considered… I think I’ve been restrained in how I’ve treated this entire family.”

“Perhaps you have. I just dislike punishing the children for their parents’ mistakes.”

“I don’t have a better solution. I won’t kill them. I can’t bind them with oaths. I don’t dare leave them with their parents to be poisoned against us day in and day out. I can’t leave them in the capital, either. Just because I won’t harm them, I’m quite certain there are those who wouldn’t hesitate to kill them simply to repay their parents for past sins.”

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“I said it was cruel, not senseless,” said Grandmother Lu. “I also don’t have any other or better ideas. You know that some of those children will be reluctant to give up the privilege they once enjoyed.”

“I do. I expect that will lead to some rough lessons for them. That kind of behavior doesn’t get you very far when you don’t have any actual authority or house guards to back it up.”

“So, you won’t interfere if they get into fights?”

Sen shrugged and said, “Not unless things get out of hand.”

There was a moment of silence as Sen looked out at the children and hardened his heart. They won’t always be children, but they will always be Xie, he reminded himself. You can never let yourself trust any of them. Not ever. Grandmother Lu let out another sigh.

“Try not to let them see you look at them like that. You’ll frighten them to death.”

Sen forced his face to relax.

“I’ll try to remember,” he said before changing the subject. “I’m going to need to find carts and gather supplies to take them north. Food. Tents. Guards. The usual.”

“Carts?” asked Grandmother Lu, a small smile on her face.

“Peasants travel by foot and by cart. Best to get them used to that right away.”

“I take it you’d like me to arrange for that, boy?”

“If you would be so kind, Grandmother. I would appreciate it. I have a number of other things to do over the next few days.”

“More important than seeing to the disposition of these children?”

“Not more important but possibly more complicated. Minimally, they’re things that I’ll probably have to see to personally. I can’t really send Shen Mingxia out to recruit core formation weapon masters.”

“True enough. Idle curiosity. Why did you bring her with you? She’s a sweet enough girl, but she’s not…” Grandmother Lu trailed off, seemingly unable to find the right word.

“Powerful?” Sen suggested.

“I suppose that’s as good a word as any.”

“Honestly, it was a joke that got out of hand. Plus, I thought she could use the experience dealing with mortal nobility. I didn’t expect all of this,” he said, sweeping his arm in an all-encompassing sort of way. “If I’d imagined any of this in advance, I’d have left her up north.”

“So, not pure recklessness or infatuation?”

Sen gave Grandmother Lu a surprised look and laughed.

“Maybe a bit of recklessness but not infatuation. I’m not that cruel.”

“I was just checking. Very well. I’ll see to getting you carts and tents.”

“And clothes,” said Sen. “They’ll need appropriate clothes. It’ll be harder for them to act haughty in peasant clothes.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll be the one to tell all those girls that you’re taking away all of their pretty things? There’s going to be tears.”

“It can’t be avoided,” said Sen. “I’ll tell them if you think it’s for the best.”

“Heavens no. You’re going to have enough trouble without them hating you even more than they probably already do. I’ll deal with it. What will you be doing today, though?”

“I need to go and collect some formation flags I asked to have made quite some time ago. And to keep a promise. After that, I need to find out how you hold an auction in a city like this. Sects have been a thorn in my side for years. It’s time to see if we can’t make them useful to me for once. I intend for them to help finance all the work we have ahead of us.”

“No preferential treatment for your sect matriarch lover?” asked Grandmother Lu with an amused look on her face. “I hear that she’s supposed to be the most beautiful woman in the city. How disappointed will she be if you make her bid on things?”

Sen rolled his eyes.

“One, I very much doubt that she’s going to turn up personally to bid on things. Two, this is business. She’ll understand. In fact, she’d probably be disappointed in me if I didn’t make her sect bid like all of the others. There are some strange power dynamics at work between the sects here that I won’t even pretend to understand. I’m not interested in creating waves there.”

“She sounds almost reasonable. So, when will you introduce us?”

“I expect that I will introduce Lu Jia, acting matriarch of the House of Lu, to Lai Dongmai, Matriarch of the Golden Phoenix Sect, before I leave the city.”

“That was a suspiciously formal way to describe it, Sen.”

“That’s because I have no intention of introducing my grandmother to my lover in an informal way that might invite the wrong kind of conversations.”

“You’ve gotten a little too sharp for your own good,” said Grandmother Lu with a look of mock annoyance. “Take care you don’t cut yourself.”

Sen grinned at her and then offered her a deep bow.

“I will heed your wise advice, as always, Grandmother.”

He grinned even wider when she swatted the back of his head.

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