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Chapter Twenty-six: Serial wedding
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Saumur – Lionel Darcy's Estate
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13th March 1827
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- Of course, it's not a nursery, Mamma Jane! They no longer need a nursery they are almost teenagers…
Jane let out a long sigh while making superhuman efforts to smother the smile that wanted to appear on her lips.
It was a nice place for kids… And, even while outwardly frowning, she could see why it would be the youngsters' paradise. This place had clearly been imagined to give young children everything they could dream off.
Well, young upgraded children…
There were swings five yards over the huge trampoline net, the stairs had been replaced by slides and knotted cords. And all around the central round building a circular Tyrolean had been installed to give all users a feeling for what real speed could be like.
Luckily there had been lots of safety features included everywhere…
In fact, thought Jane, it would be perfect since it would incite the lazy bunch she was currently shepherding to stop lying around like some opium addicts of old and move and play like normal children…
Hopefully…
- They are a long way from teenagers… Five years away for the eldest of them. And you know like I do that that they tend to be on the immobile side of life.
- That's why we imagined that… That's what we think will sting them into moving more!
He let out a long sigh.
- I know that they won't become from one day to the other fans of athleticism but there are a lot more funny things here than in the rest of the Consulate.
- …Why not the world, frowned Jane. Let's not enthusiasm make us use paraboles.
She took a long breath and, finally let a smile appear on her lips.
The little rascal facing her immediately copied said smile with one of his own. The satisfied successful sort of smile that was too rare in his life.
- But I admit that it is a funny and original idea.
She looked at Lionel.
- Has Charles been helping? I've seen rope bridges up there. And rope bridges are everywhere in his park in London.
- We asked him to help us provide the things… He was extremely useful.
Jane's smile took another dimension. She could literally see Charles spending hours with Lionel and the kids creating the place, designing the various features and testing them himself.
- I suppose he tested everything.
Lionel nodded enthusiastically.
- For safety reasons! He said that if it could hold his weight it would be safe enough even for a bunch of kids making foolish experiences.
- Did he enjoy it?
- He did…
Jane took a long breath.
- Well, if he tested everything for safety reasons and since his three daughters will be amongst those who will use the place, I do believe that he took every precaution to make that whole playground as safe as possible.
She shook her head while sighing.
- I will inform my sisters that next week we move to France to spend a few weeks at your Estate.
Lionel was immediately in her arms hugging her with upgraded enthusiasm.
- Thanks a lot, Mamma Jane… I knew you would approve.
- How could I not? You've done quite a good work here. But before bringing the little ones here I'll have to come with my sisters in order to test the features…
His eyes doubled in size.
- For safety reasons, of course!
- Of course, acknowledged Lionel, one is never too prudent.
- Exactly, dear, one is never too prudent.
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Saumur – Lionel Darcy's Estate
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14th March 1827
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- Lydia, Kitty, come down now! You've spent the last two hours testing the whole thing, I do suspect that you've become users and no longer are testers…
Jane who had done her duty and tested everything at least twice wasn't sure that her tone was serious enough to incite her little sisters to behave like grown-ups and not like retarded adults!
Mary who had been, as usual, the first to stop the testing phase looked up at her sisters' antics and smiled at Jane.
- We should have such a thing in Spalatro… Somewhere over the sea. It would be interesting.
Lizzy who had clearly enjoyed the swings and the swing lines shook her head.
- Charles has helped to create and design it, dear. I'm quite sure that the commercial aspect of the whole thing hasn't escaped his entrepreneurial mind. There will soon be such things in every place where families gather.
She looked around the place.
- And I think Lionel created this whole thing to have his siblings here with him.
She pointed at the floor towards the labs.
- He's busy inventing tomorrow's Earth and I think he wants *Link* at his side to compute…
Mary frowned at her.
- That's a word they use a lot… What does it mean?
- It's more or less a game of logical comparisons and reckoning. *Link* is able to look at lots of different facts and features and extrapolate the possible outcomes. When they explain it, they give the impression that it is fun.
- For them it is, Lizzy, said Jane. At least when they are *link*ed. When they are out of the link, I'm quite sure that this…
And here she pointed at Kitty and Lydia who had just tried to swap their swings -while swinging- had crashed -elastically- on the bouncing-net just over them.
- …Is what they will find funnier…
Lydia, with Kitty just behind her, was already climbing along the central rope to get back up to where the swings could be reached.
- Lydia! Called out Jane. It has been two hours. I think we can admit that the whole thing has been built with safety in mind.
- We need to know if the swings are sturdy enough to resist to an acrobatic swing swap, answered Lydia. It's important we can't risk the little ones' safety.
Jane couldn't help but shake her head.
- The worst is that I regret having stopped.
She looked at Mary who was the most serious of them all.
- Would going back up there be undignified?
- Only if we don't find rational reasons to do it, answered Mary with a smile. Did we test the flying ropes while two people were using it together?
- Not that I remember, said Lizzy.
- How derelict of duty of us, said Jane with a smile. Let's correct that mistake.
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London – Darcy Townhouse
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15th March 1827
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- You are sure about that? We will be in Qin for at least a week, I'd feel a lot more reassured if they would stay in Pemberley. I know that nothing ever happened to a child here in the Nursery. On the contrary they know nothing of that new place.
Fitzwilliam didn't look happy at all and he smiled at Lizzy's frown.
- I assure you that it has nothing to do with his father, but I do find Lionel weird! And since Charles and Charlotte are already the weirdest members of our little family, I'm not feeling safe when I think that they will be under Lionel's influence.
Elizabeth had no doubt that Fitzwilliam was telling the truth. It wasn't because of Lionel's filiation with George Darcy that he was expressing doubts.
- Jane will be with them, remember. And they are under nobody's influence but what they call *Link* and as you know like the rest of the family, they are able to enter the *link* even when far away from each other. So, there is no reason to be more afraid of their weirdness in Saumur than in Pemberley…
- Pemberley is more than just a home, insisted Fitzwilliam. When they are there, a part of me knows intimately that they are under the Estate's protection. While they are at home, they are safe…
She smiled and embraced him from behind while lying her head against his shoulder.
- You are right, and it is the same fore us. It's only in Pemberley that I ever feel safe. It's there that I sleep without ever being plagued by nightmares. It's our haven and I'm very happy that it has embraced the rest of my family with such approval.
- So? Why not holding them back? We even built an underground laboratory for our very own Darcy mad scientist. There's really no reason to let the little ones go to France.
- Lionel would like to play host, said Lizzy. He's very excited to have guests and the little ones are excited too. He has, with Charles' help and complicity, created a perfect place to have fun when you are an upgraded human…
- We could have the same here…
- We could but we won't…
She stopped his protests.
- We will not for two reasons. First because it would irk Lionel and you know like everybody else in the family that you don't want Lionel to be suspecting that you want to ostracize him. And second because the children are excited to be invited at Lionel's place. It's not Lionel's lab that they want to be at, it's Lionel's very own home. That estate Geoffrey gave him -with the involved Aristocratic title and income- is proof that we – the old ones- are able trust a young one, that there is a chance that we will be able to trust them…
- Jane will be there…
- Jane doesn't count… They know, like they always did, that Jane will be there, not to herd them in, but to make sure that they are happy and safe. She's the real, perfect mother figure every young child dreams to have. By some incomprehensible magic she has the gift to be able to be at the same time overwhelmingly present and still invisible in terms of power. They know that, should they need her, she will be there immediately for them and, at the same time, they have received every proof that she will never be their warden.
She shrugged.
- She was probably born with that gift since she always was that for me and my little sisters. The one who was always with you, ready to help, but, at the same time, not there to judge and restrain.
She took a long breath.
- She's the only one who can do that with children. I believe that her gift is still there with adults but different. She's, as you've seen, very able to make friends with even the most antagonistic people. And, should she be willing to insist, she'll soon know how to make said friendship last.
- I have seen her do just that a lot of times, indeed. And her friendship with Josephine has probably been the most important relationship when the relation between Great Britain and France was at his most dangerous point.
He turned around and stroked a kiss on his wife's brow.
- Without her we would have been subjugated…
- We would have but, luckily for us, Charles let her go.
It was Fitzwilliam's turn to sigh.
- Poor Charles, had he been more steadfast in matters love we would be a part of the French Empire.
- Or the American Empire, whispered Lizzy. Before Jane, Geoffrey was very ready to get away from under Napoleon's thumb.
- And the war between them would have been like no war before, agreed Fitzwilliam while taking his wife in his arms. None of them would have given up without a definite victory. The rivers and the seas would have been blood stained and we would have been in the crossfire.
- Thank God there was Jane and her gift, smiled Lizzy.
Shed looked her husband in the eyes.
- Did I ever ask why you fell for me and not her?
- You did, and I answered but my opinion on that matter has probably evolved since my first answer.
- What do you believe today?
- That fire needs to associate with water to become something bearable for Mankind. Jane was too tame for me. I needed your fiery disposition and Geoffrey's fire needed her soothing character. You brought me to speed while she slowed him down in such a manner that he was no longer a danger for himself and the others.
He smiled at Lizzy.
- You know that under the tiny coating of diplomatic openness you layered on me, the old grumpy bear is still there.
- I love that old grumpy bear…
He nodded.
- Without you and my desire to make you proud of me, I would never have found in me the strength to stand up and tackle Great Britain at its least fortunate moment. You believed in me and I was too great a coward to risk disappointing you. So, I went on and, with your help and that of many others, I avoided Britain's downfall.
- That you did, and William has learned a lot by listening to your lessons and following your example.
- It was a pleasure to have him as a pupil, said Fitzwilliam. He has his father's brains and his mother's heart. The best mix possible that gave us, at last, a King who's worthy of the Throne.
- I do hope you have told him that you are proud of him…
He nodded.
- I did and I do it each time I consider that he had been outstanding. But the reverse is true too. I never forget to let him know my disappointment when he fails. I owe it to him and to Great Britain.
Lizzy nodded to show that she understood.
- And I am proud of you, love. Have I ever said to you that you have never disappointed me?
- Never, you are sure about that? I do remember the first time I professed my love for you. You didn't seem very enthusiastic…
- I was angry at you, not disappointed with you, love. I was no fool, you know. I was totally aware that you asking for my hand was a very unexpected privilege, but I will admit that the choice of words you used was disappointing. Sometimes speaking too much is a mistake. Had you just knelt at my feet and professed your love, I would probably have accepted out of amazement, materialism, and spite...
He frowned at her.
- Spite?
There, her smile was back.
- At that time, I was terribly upset with Aunt Catherine. To spite her would probably have been somewhere in my mind while accepting your offer.
- Thank God for your anger, then…
- Indeed, and even if your second demand was pushed by the dire circumstances, we all remember, I will acknowledge that it was a lot better turned and had no chance to really be refused…
- Till the end, I wasn't sure you wouldn't send me packing…
She shook her head and pulled him nearer.
- Which shows how socially impaired you were. At the time, that big brain of yours was still telling you lies. Had you listened to your heart which probably already knew that I was a lot better inclined to you, you would have known that there was no chance for you to get an unfavorable answer. My heart had already been won over by what I had discovered about the kind man who ruled over Pemberley.
She winked at him.
- The fact that said kind man was also exquisitely handsome played, of course, no role with my change of mind…
He thanked her with a long kiss.
- But it helped, nevertheless, whispered he.
- It helped but not as much as you could imagine, love. Had it been the key factor I would probably have accepted your first proposition. Because, you know, a delightful outside has never been a guarantee for a man's good heart. Meanwhile I had had multiple occasions to witness your kindness. And that was a lot more important than the fact that you were the most handsome man I've ever met.
He kissed her fingers while showing his admiration.
- You do have a way with words, my Lady…
- Big brains like to be in company…
- I've noticed that, my Lady!
He looked at the door of their bedchamber.
- What about showing you my appreciation with more than words?
She stood and took the initiative by pulling him towards their bedchamber.
- I would like that but afterwards you'll still have to give your answer to the Kids' request.
- I know and it could be that I need a few more physical arguments to be swayed.
- Let's the swaying begin…
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Beijing – Forbidden City, Imperial Gardens
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Second month of the year 4515
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- Stop fidgeting, said Ounnga. You are disturbing your maids' fine work.
Sunteu shook her head and shot a despairing glance at her -soon-to-be- sister. She felt as if she had been sitting on that awful stool for hours now. And judging by what she saw on her head and what had been designed by the Imperial Hairdresser, she was in for a few hours more.
- I shouldn't be here…
- I agree but only because you should be wife number two and not wife number nine. You are, whatever silly ideas you have about a peasant's daughter not marrying an Emperor, the most important person currently present in the Palace.
- I am o…
Ounnga stopped her immediately. She had listened to Sun's crap for years now and had it not been her duty to ensure that all their allies could get a position that was in accordance with their political -or diplomatic- influence, she would have forced Sun and Younglin to marry years ago.
- No, you are a lot more than that! You are China's ticket to world influence. Today is the day where China becomes linked by blood with the two most important Empires on the Planet. Today, thanks to you, we, the Chinese rulers, we become a part of what the whole world calls the Clan and let me be very frank, I am enthusiastic about it.
Since Sun and her husband had agreed on Sun being his ninth wife, the marriage couldn't take place before all the slots in front of her had been covered.
So, they had waited to gather all the spouses and decided to launch a huge wedding ceremony where all the brides would enter the family at the same time. It would be perfect in terms of image and it would soothe all those whose daughters hadn't been chosen.
And Ounnga had never denied that those last years when she continued to be the sole wife and the Empress had been very satisfying for multiple reasons.
First, she was now the proud mother of four with two healthy and rambunctious sons who, for obvious security reasons, had been placed under her grandmother's wing to be raised like true Mongol Warriors somewhere in the North.
The daughters had stayed with her and were her daily delight.
Second, being the only wife of the Emperor had a lot of very concrete advantages. Be it within the intimacy of the family and everywhere in the Empire where she had been forced to journey to establish or reestablish peace.
Peace often linked with a girl of the Clan offered as wife or concubine.
Having a lot of women to bed had been a very respected tradition for all the Sons of Heaven who have climbed the Throne of the Middle Kingdom.
The number of wives, on the other side, had always been a matter nobody had dared to normalize. Political or diplomatic matters had always brought up the necessity to add a new wife.
This time, considering the rebellions all over the Empire, having a lot of wives from the very beginning had been a clear necessity. And since Sunteu had chosen the ninth slot, it had been decided that there would be nine wives as soon as the weddings could be organized.
Slot two had been easy to cover. Princess Eijun, the fifth daughter of the Tenno, who in fact was the second daughter since all the others had been stillborn or had died incredibly young, was a sweet girl of seven Ounnga would take great pleasure to prepare for her eighteenth birthday when she would join her husband's bed. The Tenno had made the proposition as soon as it had been clear that Yonglin was not only secure on his Throne but backed by the Darcys. Eijun had been with them for five years now and was more Chinese than most members of the Mongol Elite who ruled the Empire would ever be.
Slot three to seven had been given to the new Clans in Power in Qin after the two official rebellions and the one they had been able to smother before any troops had to be launched.
She and Sunteu had chosen the putative brides themselves and all were healthy young girls who were still able to run and to dance while being smart enough to become useful members of the household. In each Clan they had selected three candidates who were currently living in the Palace to give the first wife the chance to find out which ones had the dimension of an Imperial wife. So, only one of the three would become a wife. The others would be sent back to their Clans with enough gifts to ensure them a substantial dowry.
The candidates had no idea what the Emperor was looking for and they had not been informed that it would be Ounnga and Sun who would make the ultimate choice.
With Fluffy's discreet help.
And meanwhile the rebellions had continued to thrive.
Thanks to Sun's father's tremendous gift as an assassin a lot of would-be rebels never even reached the point when they could decide to join a rebellion or the other, and thanks to that a lot of lives had been saved since a lot of Clans who could have joined the rebels had to solve inner strife when their current ruler died.
Still these five last years the cost in lives in Qin had been horrendous. If every dead caused by the rebellions was honestly added, said rebellions had probably caused more victims than the Qin unification wars. The official number turned around over a million. The real death toll, if you could believe Ru Qonru's estimations, was at least twice as much.
Which was only a fraction of what the Ming-Qing transition war (estimated 25 million dead) or the Three Kingdoms' war (estimated 38 million dead) had cost, but those ancient massacres could in no way be linked with her dynasty. The Demon Wars as they tended to be called on the other side had been Yonglin's doing and the family would noever be able to dodge the responsibility of what had happened.
The civilian death toll had been ridiculously low when compared to other rebellions of the past but still around a half of the dead had been peasants and townsfolks who had had the bad luck to live where opposing armies were about to gather.
And there still were provinces with guerilla wars going on…
A lot less than last year -there were rumors that the Emperor's Demons had been busy hunting- but a few still fought against the Imperial troops in quarters where the Han were still minorities.
- This multiple wedding thing doesn't seem right. I would have preferred a discreet wedding with just you, Yonglin and the family present. Here it will be the event of the Year.
- It is the event of the decade, dear. It is the moment when our beloved Qin goes back into normalcy under the new administration. It is proof that we have secured the land and that we have won the collaboration of the surviving Clans and perhaps even the hearts of the people. It is now time to show to the whole of the Empire that looking at the future without fear and apprehension is possible. Qin is no longer a war-ridden country but a land where everything is, at last, possible.
- Millions died because of us…
- Millions would have died despite us. But thanks to us those who died have secured Qin's future as a technological giant…
- We are not yet there, grumbled Sun who had witnessed what a real technological Giant looked like.
- Indeed, but we have lifted all the barricades our road to the future had sprouted. Now we can speed up and to caught up with the Westerners. We are training teachers like never and in less than a generation we will have more scholars than the rest of the world. And the best of them will be sent to the LIT to learn to be world class scientists. Our grown-up sons will rule over the mightiest Empire ever.
- The Westerners won't just sit idly at the side looking at us catching up…
- Of course, they won't and it won't change anything. We have proven in the past that we are the most industrious people on Earth. Science was our thing until the Hongxi Emperor became besotted by the Self-destructive shit the adepts of Confucius were spreading.
She couldn't help but shake her head.
Said Confucius adepts had played a major role in the last three Rebellions that had shaken the Empire. And the death toll within their ranks had been appalling. They had tried everything, including assassination, and in retaliation Yonglin Emperor hadn't shown any leniency with even the most prestigious of them. And those few who had escaped the Emperor's police had disappeared without a trace. Her bet was that they hand probably been cornered by d'Arcy's Demons.
Confucianism was perhaps not dead as a Philosophy but there was no longer any scholar able -or courageous enough- to defend or teach it.
- Now that we are back on track, we will soon be back at the top. It's just a question of numbers, dear. We are more numerous and, if we do what's necessary to give our people's children the best education available, which we will do, believe me, we will also have the greatest number of world-class scientists. In twenty years, we will set the trends in Science…
Sun didn't react. She loved Ounnga like the sister she never had, and she admired her smartness.
What she did not admire was her overwhelming chauvinism. For Ounnga China and the Chinese were the cream of the barrel and everybody else was somewhere between not worth looking at and dirty but useful tools.
And when all was said, she wasn't even Chinese…
- You do remember that I am a half-blood, don't you? If one listens to you, I should be considered as a freak.
- You would be a freak but for your father's greatness, answered Ounnga without even frowning. He's one of those rare Human Beings who have succeeded to transcend they poor upbringing. He has shown that he was worthy of becoming one of us. And look at where he is now in those Western Empires. At the very top and his blood will soon rule over half the world. What other proof do we need to convince the world that the Chinese Culture is what makes the difference?
- What about the Hongxi Emperor? He was part of that same Chinese Culture and by listening to Confucius' teachings, which is another milestone of the so-called Chinese Culture, he threw China's place in the world into jeopardy! It seems' to me that said Chinese superiority is clearly overrated and only shows that all Human beings can be fools, their origins notwithstanding. A Culture is only better if those who profess it are better too. Being arrogant and condescending to those who don't share your views of the world is the best way to be ostracized and despised. Do we really want to follow once more a path that only brought us isolation and obsolescence?
- We are still more numerous and richer…
- Which is no proof of superiority just a factual situation that could change rapidly for quite a lot of different reasons. Imagine a plague or a war. We've just lost two million people because our so-called Superior Chinese Culture is unable to let people evolve without being compelled to do it by force. Not really a marker of superiority, wouldn't you agree?
She pointed at herself.
- And believe me from where I come from, the so-called Superior Chinese Culture is just another way to squeeze the little people in order to get them to pay for the Lords' extravaganza. If by Superior, you mean better equipped to tyrannize your people and threaten the rest of the world then I will have to agree.
- You've spent too much time in Pemberley.
- And you probably not enough, answered Sunteu. Not everything labelled Chinese is worth to be kept, dear. There are lots of reforms they have implemented over there that are, in my opinion, way better than the traditional Chinese answers. The times are changing thanks to Yonglin's choices. We should use those times of change to get rid of every old-fashioned shit the Chinese Culture still considers as unyielding. Everything can be returned, dear, at the condition that those who have the power to do it stop to look at the traditions as if they were better than what has emerged somewhere else and that had clearly proven to be more efficient and more suitable.
Ounnga couldn't help but shook her head.
- Listen to the woman who goes on pretending that a peasant's daughter shouldn't be elevated to the rank of Yonglin's ninth wife…
- That's because I doubt that I have what it takes to be the wife of an Emperor, not because I agree with the place the so-called Superior Chinese Culture reserves to the female half of the Race. It's more of a personal thing than a cultural thing… I am perhaps as smart as everybody pretends but that still changes nothing at the fact that for fifteen years I have been raised as a Peasant girl whose only perspective would be to marry and beget lots of children. And even if everybody makes great efforts to push me into acquiring the knowledge I lack, it's still not what I consider the best education for a wife of the Son of Heaven.
- Most wives of the Emperor of old had the brain of a sparrow and the education of a street whore, countered Ounnga. And that conjunction didn't bother the Emperors in the least. When all is said and told Emperors' wives' only duties are to be bedded and to bear healthy children. Everything else is the brainchild of an idealistic little girl who has been exposed to too many western innovations…
Sunteu couldn't help but smile at her sister who had those last years proven that she felt the same as herself.
- Had I not discovered my role as your protector I would still protest about our arrangement. But, at least, being Yonglin's wife will give me the means to be the best protector available. And even if I think that you are a political fossil who's forgetting that life means change, even for a country, I still like you quite a lot…
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Beijing – Forbidden City – Great Hall
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Second month of the year 4515
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- I hate that dress, hissed Sunteu.
- I already know that, answered Ounnga. It is probably the twenty-fifth time you said it.
- Thirty-one, whispered Eijun who was at Ounnga's side since she would be the first one to be presented to her husband. She said it thirty-one times.
- A well-behaved soon-to-be wife doesn't rat out her fellow sisters, hissed Sunteu who was more irked by the fact that she wasn't armed -at least not visibly armed- and thus, probably not capable to play her role as a bodyguard, than by wearing the gold and silver dress Yonglin Emperor had chosen for her.
And who was exquisitely beautiful.
Aside from being a beautiful dress it had a few well-placed pockets to hide a few throwing stars. Whatever happened, she would not go down alone.
- I'm not ratting out, I'm just correcting a false affirmation, countered Eijun. An Empress needs to always speak the truth. It's mandatory.
Sun and Ounnga exchanged an amused glance. Eijun was a sweet girl who, thanks to Ounnga's no-nonsense style of childbearing, would never be a spoiled brat but who could, from time to time, be considered as self-righteous.
- If you say so…
- I do!
Another amused glance was exchanged and Ounnga would probably have uttered a reprimand when they were interrupted by the Great Gong's wall shattering sound.
- Time for the show, said Ounnga while looking at the small group of beautiful young women who would follow her into the main Hall.
Sun would be the last of the group and, even if nobody had said anything about it, she would be there to cover their back. Nothing would happen to any of her sisters, at least not as long as she was still able to fight.
Don't be worried, Mom and I have been surveying the whole circus for hours. Nobody's there to ruin your wedding. Just relax and enjoy. Today you will become Empress.
Ounnga is the sole Empress…
The only one with an official title, but Yonglin Emperor is very aware that you, and in a smaller part, all your sisters, are the glue that will hold this madhouse of an Empire together.
With our help, whispered Fluffy into her mind, it should be possible to convince everybody that peace and prosperity is better than strife and destruction.
Is Father already there?
He and the rest of the family have arrived last evening. He had been meeting with your soon-to-be husband since last night. He and Yonglin Emperor have finalized the Emperor's plan linked to the Southern rebellions. Down there the rebels are against being within the Empire not against the technology we have brought in.
Quite the contrary, whispered Speedy, they love their new rifles…
Will you be sent to intervene?
Not yet… Yonglin has accepted to send a missus dominici to discuss the conditions of a surrender.
Will they accept to surrender?
When the only other choice is genocide even the most fanatic freedom fighter takes a few minutes to look at the proposal.
And let's say that we've already dealt with the most fanatically unreasonable ones. The ones who still are alive are a little more open-minded. Things should be better within a year or two.
Why so long?
To give them a chance to save face. There will be a few minor skirmishes mixed with a sprinkling of battle-like meetings where the rebels will show that they have corones where they are needed and where the Generals in charge of the counter-insurrection will be able to crawl, month after month, into the rebels' hinterland. And at some point Yonglin Emperor will propose a truce and the real negotiations will begin. We already know that, if it is served in a shiny package the rebels will accept the peace if the Empire stops trying to assimilate the locals by force.
Will the colonization by the Han population stop?
It seems that that part of the assimilation program has not yet been really understood by the Southerners. Han merchants will go on buying land and building trade posts where the fine new Chinese products will be proposed to the local population. And as it has happened everywhere else, the Han population's growth will be faster than that of the locals…
And one day they will no longer be the majority, whispered Sun who had discovered that aspect of the Chinese Empire these last years while working with Ounnga.
The Son of Heaven didn't send people by ordering them. He just followed the very efficient way the first Qin Emperor had established. Han merchants who chose to settle in the Empire's Marches, i.e. anywhere where the Han were still a minority, would be exempted of any taxes for two generations. And even if the Province lost its quality of Imperial Borders, the third generation would still only pay half the normal taxes.
That's the way of the Chinese! Lull your opponent into believing they are in charge while you sell your Culture to them. And since they will have paid to get it, they will be reluctant to abandon it…
Smart people, your people, Sunteu! They don't ignore the force approach, and they don't hesitate to use it, but they have learned that more peaceful ways to influence their neighbors have their upsides.
While talking with the Nightcrawlers they had entered the great Hall and could see that Yonglin Emperor was standing in front of the row of eight thrones his new wives would occupy once married with him.
His own Throne and the one Ounnga would occupy had been erected on a stage behind said Thrones and were awaiting the Emperor's good will.
The Great Hall was packed full and, to everybody's surprise, all have been informed that kowtowing wouldn't be mandatory today since there would be foreign Rulers in attendance.
Powerful foreign rulers…
And said foreign Rulers were indeed in attendance at the right of the stage.
Napoleon was there in his red and gold Consular Uniform in company of his wife, his son and his daughter-in-law. At his left was the British King with his wife the Russian Regent, just beside her was the Tenno who had arrived discreetly the night before and even further left the Seljuk Sultan was standing in company of his son-in-law the man the Imperial court knew quite well and had dubbed the Shadow.
A lot of other Westerners were standing behind the Rulers and quite a lot of them were members of the Darcy Clan.
As soon as Sunteu appeared her father stood out to the rank, bowed toward his various rulers and walked towards Yonglin Emperor.
He stopped in front of the Tenno and bowed. Kokaku-Tenno bowed back, walked to place himself at d'Arcy side and both walked to place themselves in front of Yonglin Emperor where they bowed.
- May we, your Majesty?
Yonglin Emperor nodded once.
- You may…
As soon as they had been granted their authorization, he walked towards the waiting soon-to-be wives.
The Tenno stopped at his daughter's side, bowed at her and stood at her side.
D'Arcy didn't stop and went on until he was at Sunteu's side.
That's highly unseemly…
You are my daughter, and it is tradition in my far away and exotic country that the father brings his daughter to the wedding and gives her away to her new husband.
It is not how it is done here…
Things are a-changing, daughter… We thrive to teach barbarians the right civilized ways of the world.
He pointed at the Tenno.
It seems that we already convinced your Nippon neighbors.
Who's whom's Barbarian is still an open chapter…
I'm quite sure that our Cultures and our people will mix and that the Bastardly thing that will come out of it will be, at the same time, very satisfying and very unsettling for all those who have difficulties to accept this world's evolution.
You thrive in Chaos, father…
Chaos is life, dear! And as you'll soon see life is worth being lived.
Soon… Soon… That's very improbable. He cannot touch me before he has been upgraded and since that won't happen for the next two years, mine will still be a lonely life for quite a few months.
Two years is nothing. Especially for those who have been upgraded at a young age. You'll stay young and healthy for a very long time. Don't regret the delay. There is pleasure in waiting, believe me. It took me quite a few years to find the perfect mate and it was worth every second I spent before.
I don't know if he will be the perfect mate, father. I do like him but I'm not sure that he hasn't approved of this whole scheme just because of you. Our relation won't be like yours with Jane or like he with Ounnga.
Then, hope that it will be like Maureen with me and Jane, then. I know you like each other, ask her to tell you what happened when you have a few hours. It could be perceived as scandalous but as Jane always says when asked: love is not a pie, it does not shrink when more people are sharing.
He winked at her.
And, since I'm not a very honorable man, I did ask a friend to make sure that you wouldn't be too disappointed by the match. And you can be reassured, he likes you too. And not only because it creates a dynastic link between Qin and Western Europe. He likes the exotic touch you bring as a half-blood and he's even more fond of your unbreakable will to survive. He believes and he isn't wrong there that it is a very favorable trait to have within a family. He's very convinced that his presence on the Throne has given Qin a real chance to survive as a world power and he links his coronation with me…
And you are behind it, aren't you?
I would like to acknowledge your suspicion, but it wasn't me. It was Fluffy who intervened because of the summoning rite. She couldn't let another Demon…
Nightcrawler, intervened said Fluffy.
Nightcrawler, take hold of Qin. And once she was here, she decided that the current dynasty left much to be desired. So, she did a little meddling and Yonglin was the only one who was strong enough to look her in the eyes without losing it… He did it all alone, you know. He refused to be enslaved and that was what Fluffy was looking for…
Not only, intervened Fluffy. He was also the smartest I got to test, and I liked his lady Niohuru. She reminded me of Betty. Headstrong and ready to fight for what she believed important. I was glad he was able to resist. With our help that dynasty will last quite a long time.
Thanks, Fluffy, said Sunteu. I needed to be sure…
When in doubt, ask me, signaled Fluffy. Nominally I'm Betty's but I do fear that she knows that I've gone to the next level and consider myself at the family's service.
You are a member of the family, said d'Arcy. And we all know what gift God made us when he sent you to Betty.
Should I call myself Theodora from now on? It's a lot more dignified than Fluffy.
Do you need more dignified?
No, you are right, what I need is acceptance and Fluffy is my name and I'm proud of it in ways nobody could imagine.
Hush, signaled Sunteu, Ounnga has arrived with Eijun.
They looked at the stage and could see that Ounnga had accepted the Tenno's proposal and was presenting Eijun to her husband.
In less than an hour, added d'Arcy to his daughter, Yonglin Emperor will be family and that means that we will respect and nurture Qin's independence also because of familial reasons. There is no better insurance and he knows it!
Like Jane had done with him in Mesopotamia, as the first wife, Ounnga was proposing the little girl as her husband's second wife. Of course, she and her husband being decent people it had been incorporated in the Tenno's speech that he was entrusting his daughter to the Lady Qin who would make her protection and her health her very own duty.
Yonglin Emperor, to every present Chinese's shock, went on his knees to embrace the little girl.
- Welcome into my Household, Eijun, daughter of Morohito, Nippon's Kokaku-Tenno. Some day, when you are ready, you will be my wife. In the meantime, you will be my ward and my protegee.
He looked up at her father, stood up and, to every Chinese present attendee's horror, bowed to recognize that he was facing an equal.
- I thank you, Morohitosan, to entrust me your daughter. She will be treated with the honors her blood requires.
The Tenno bowed in response; but his bow was visibly deeper than that of Yonglin Emperor, not just the small emphasis you owed to the Master of the House, but so deep as to recognize and insist that for Nippon and him Qin and Yonglin Emperor were higher in the world's hierarchy.
The symbol didn't get unnoticed by the crowd and even if nobody dared to make a sound, the tension within the room clearly lessened.
The Tenno straightened his back, bowed towards Ounnga and slowly went back at his former place.
Ounnga turned around and went to the next beauty waiting in the row…
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- Congratulation, dear, said Maureen a few hours later when the feast had taken over the protocol. She was in Lexi's company while Napoleon, Alexandre, Fitzwilliam, d'Arcy, Morohito and Yonglin were commenting the current military events around the Qin Empire.
Lizzy, Elizabeth and Ounnga had disappeared to visit the Nursery and, probably, put an exhausted but reluctant Eijun to bed.
- Thanks… answered Sunteu. I still have difficulties to admit that I am an Emperor's wife.
- What's important is the wife part, not the Emperor's side. You'll soon see that they need us to stabilize them. Power is a huge stress generator, and it is the wives' duty and opportunity to help him to bear it…
- I won't be a real wife for quite a few more years…
- And I admit that it can be frustrating, but sex is only one facet of a wife-husband relationship…
- A very satisfying one, said Lexi with a gratified smile.
- Indeed, acknowledged Maureen, but, as said, there are other facets and you need to know them even if, like I am, you'll be supported by your sisters who will shoulder a part of the burden. Ounnga is an extraordinarily strong female and, until now, she's clearly been able to play the stabilizing role all by herself, but now that the stress of the rebellion wars is about to disappear Yonglin will stop focusing on it and be soon engulfed in his Empire's reality. He'll soon be able to notice the hugeness of what is about to burden him. That's when you need to support him on every possible level.
- We will of course support him, said Sunteu whit a frown. Like every wife supports her husband.
- You'll need more than words to understand, dear, said Maureen. It is something Jane has taught me as soon as we were sisters in wedlock. I don't know how she discovered it but it is vital especially for a man who yields as much power as our husbands.
- Vital?
- I don't use hyperboles just to make a point, dear. I mean what I say. He won't die suddenly, especially not after he's been upgraded but it is about his mental health not his physical health. A man with great power needs to be surrounded by females, if possible loving females, to help him manage the streams of power he will, because of his job, be showered with.
- And how will I -we- be able to do that?
- Easily once you know what to look for and how to deal with it…
She closed her eyes and focused on Fluffy.
You here?
Where else should I be? Most of the family's here and I checked on Jane and the kids a few minutes ago. They are all in perfect health even if their current actions are worrying your sister wife. Lionel's playground is on the extreme side…
I think they need it to be extreme. Normal playgrounds bore them. With Lionel's they tend to do a lot more than normally. And exercising is a good way to remain healthy.
The bug doesn't admit unhealthy, remember?
I do but still they need to learn how to use their body under a little more challenging circumstance. Lionel's playground is good for them…
Since they seem to agree with you, you should have them exercise more!
Good. You wouldn't know about some Grove in Beijing's vicinity, would you?
You mean something like the Pemberley Grove? With huge ancient trees and a spring full of Water Sprites?
That would be just perfect…
We did a few surveillance-works for Lady Niohuru…
Ounnga?
No, her mother Toregina. She's Lady Niohuru now that her daughter has become Lady Qin. She's a Shaman, you remember?
I remember, what I don't understand is why you work for her?
We don't exactly work for her, she asked Jane and Jane asked us and since it is fun and challenging to follow the telluric streams all over the world we weren't opposed to a little exploration. We weren't aware but we know now how to syphon the streams' energy. It's not as tasty as soul matter but it is fulfilling, and one can find some almost everywhere.
Maureen could feel the Nightcrawler's intense satisfaction.
There is no such thing behind the veil… The more we discover this Earth and the more we like it…
And since you are going nowhere, that's a good thing, so, what about the Grove?
There are a few but only one in Beijin's vicinity. It is within a rather crumbled and disparaged Chang'e shrine.
That will have to do…
She looked at Sunteu.
- I think you'll have to convince your husband that you need a new palace, dear. Come let's get to him and explain why.
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Next chapter soon to come… A Chapter about AIs' interest with Portals and Travelers
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