"-and then, Po told us this with an honest face, 'I didn't know tigers can eat that much'."
"Just like that? Seriously?"
"Yeup."
"Oh. My. God," Bao massaged his face, huffing air out of his beak "He's so clueless and pure. I legit envy the goose."
Crane cracked an amused smile under the candlelight. "You'd adopt Po?"
"Twenty times," Bao replied without missing a beat, his conversation partner snorting, "No, you don't get to laugh because you don't understand. I need that sugar in my life like I need air."
"Aren't I enough for you?"
"Sorry darling, you ain't my sugar. You never were."
And Crane, well, he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a little hu-
"I mean, come on! Would the sugar of my life remember – no, scratch that, keep a promise he made decades ago? Sing in front of an audience, just because he made a passing teenage promise? Even if he knows he's a wobbly little mess who cannot for the life of him function properly in front of one plus people? Nah Jia, you are way above fruity level."
Hearing that, Crane reared his head back, blinking owlishly at such a passionate delivery.
"W-wow, that's… high praise, from you. You still love greens this much, huh?" Crane mumbled, the heat jumping up to his cheeks like it was playing hopscotch. In his heart, he didn't find agreeable Bao's reasoning for him to still be so high up, 'above fruity' people don't just disconnect from each other for such a long time and without at least writing to each other.
"Hey, you know what 'above vegetable' level people also do?" and the avian Master had to realize that his doubts might have shadowed his features. By the pointed look Bao was suddenly giving him intensely, while a single blueberry popped into his beak, his best friend had been more than aware enough of his little slip.
"Huh?"
"Not be frowny jerks. I mean, could you imagine being in my company and actually feel troubled? Ha! Absolutely barbaric."
Crane felt the disappointed air leave him, his eyes moving downcast to the bare wooden floor of his room.
"Yeah, I know…"
"You better. Like, seriously, ever since you got here, it's amazing how much you frown. Wait, there is a better word. Stupidious, Stupidous, stupendas-"
"Stupendous."
"That. See? Big words? I fancy them very much. Frowny jerks? Not so much. New habit or…?"
Crane didn't reply right away. The moonlight shot through his room's window and hit his face, illuminating it for Bao to see it clearly. With that glorious hat off his head, hanging from the edge of Po's bed in the background with Crane's red robe folded under it, there was nothing to hide behind.
"Well… I don't know."
Bao's jaw went slack, far from impressed from these pitiful and sad, uttered words. He showed his unappreciation by wrapping a wing around Crane's much more defined, but now helpless frame out of the blue, and without asking so, he gave him a tight side hug.
"Ring-ding-ding! Hear the chimes? It's the arrival of a new event! Jolly good time!" he whisper-shouted in a fake, high voice, one that sent Mr. Ping's ardent advertising of his shop to shame. Before Crane could ask anything, or even accept that yes, being aggressively snuggled is his life now, Bao continued.
And boy, oh boy, was he giving it his all.
"Now that the Big Guy Mackinson over there is snoring louder than an explosion, it's time for our weekly show of 'A Little Heart-to-Heart'. Starring the week's giga-mega celebrity, the one who made people literally spin off their chairs in amazement, the king of the fruit and greens level; Master Crane! Co-starring the host for tonight, a fashionable specimen of his species, the Lord of the Flames, the Emperor's most trusted man alive; Yours truly! F-F-F-First quest-"
And Bao stopped, because Crane's body was shaking in his attempts to stifle coy giggles, while looking at him like he was the biggest idiot on earth, and the white-naped crane's eyes twinkled seeing this. He leaned close with a devilish grin, and using his slightly shorter beak, he started softly preening Crane's shoulder feathers. The Master burst out in beautiful laughter, ferociously trying to struggle out of Bao's hold. Turns out, twenty years of intense training and a whole bunch of Elemental Chi was enough for one to get out, and the Emperor's Trustee found himself pushed away rather easily. Sadly, the knowledge of what balance was had been thrust away too, and for a single passing moment, Bao was weightless.
"Okay, okay, I'm answering, I'm answering!" Crane said in rapid hushed tones, nervously glancing at the sleeping panda on the bed to make sure they left him undisturbed. His wings, in the meantime, caught and brought Bao to a standstill, gripping him by the shoulders while he calmed down. 'Damn, he has a strong hold' Bao quietly thought, too smitten to make a quip about the lack of modesty in the situation.
"So," the Master began after his lungs reacquainted themselves with air, "These days are… a little hard for me with, you know, this whole Elemental Chi business. It's maybe a bit too big of an obstacle for me to defeat in the end, but… yeah. I don't know."
Bao tilted his head.
"Aham. Sooo…?"
Crane gazed back at his friend's face, devoid of anything resembling sympathy, even seemingly expectant of something from him. He knew that face. He had faced that many times.
"So… I'm probably just overreacting," he said with a sigh.
"Mhmm. And…?"
"Are you really going to make me say it?"
His answer was an infuriatingly passive face and an awaiting raise of the eyelid, unfazed by the verbal challenge.
"Goddamnit all to hell…" Crane cursed, wishing he had teeth to grit together, "And I guess I have what you like to call as 'worthless artistic reluctance'."
"And nothing more," Bao said, stressing it out. He raised a wing to pat Crane's shoulder, "Good. And damn right you do. Draw a picture or play on that erhu after training, that ought to calm your jitters."
"Already planned on doing that. Wow, 'calm your jitters', did you get some new expressions in your arsenal?"
"A wise bird once told me; every day is another day to better your troops, be it literal or just mental."
Crane squinted at his friend in the dark. "I didn't say that."
"No kidding, Sun Tzu. I got this from that box of wisdom you call your Pa. I had twenty years to warm up to him in your absence, by the way," Bao said, and suddenly he was embracing Crane once more, proper and needy this time, and his whispers were desperate, "He is so much boring than you are, pleaseneverleaveagain."
Jia's body was warm and just so soft to feel it against his feathers once again. Once again, and forever from now on, because the next time Jia left, he would carry a Bao-sized package on his back. All rationalities and responsibilities be damned, the white-naped crane heckin' deserved the other avian back in his life, and that was a fact so firm, jade looked like pudding next to it. Then he felt that strong, graceful wing slide up his back, and Jia was embracing him, telling him what Bao hoped; He too had missed their closeness.
"I won't," his ears heard the subtle, under-the-breath words, and the urge to fan his face from the incoming waterworks was as powerful as ever, "But- yeah. I really hope I can get ahold of this. Because I don't think I'll believe what would happen if I don't."
On the next day, Crane leaned on the white, polished windowsill of the Palace's tower, watching from high up how the zealous capital came to life on this morning. From up there, his hometown resembled the Lin'an from his colt years, yet it obviously progressed so much in the meantime. The streets ran the same busy lines of dirt, the houses and compounds hugged each other in the same pre-made system, as in the closer to the palace, the higher and more luxurious they looked. The people were the same too, the rushing nobles and clan heads ignored everyone and everything in their scramble towards their destinations, while the commoners ambled, swayed, even stopped to chat with each other occasionally.
He did notice some new additions though, such as the patios sticking out of the highest building of the wealthier compounds. He remembered how big of a sensation it had been when a lower-class family built one, and how the rich shunned them until they were chased out of the city for good. Seems like having this little extension was the damnest of sins only if a non-rich family built it, otherwise it was a fashionable architectural choice.
Crane wanted to appreciate all that, he really did, but he had other problems at the moment…
"Come on…" a whisper said from his side, and the avian Master felt yet another poke coming at the side of his head.
He stopped the offensive talon and directed it away. "Are you deliberately being this annoying this soon?"
His company grinned at him innocently. "Yes."
"Once, it was impossible to wake you before noon."
"And once, it was impossible to have the power of five plus one elements. Times change, huh?" his company snarked back, "Now gimme some flame, pretty pweeease…"
Crane finally turned to the side to see none other than Bao with his leg raised, blunt talon pointed at the Master, while his tongue poked out of the side of his beak. Crane mused how one could put such an astounding amount of concentration simply to annoy him, but he guessed if there were one thing Bao relished more than anything, it was the fire and being a general nuisance. Only then did he just come at the third place, so this must have been bright news to the Emperor's Trustee how he could interact with his favorite three things at once.
Crane snorted. Getting outclassed by fire, mhmm. Good thing he wasn't the jealous kind.
"Continue like this and the whole palace may burn down. Just saying," he warned pointedly. The approaching claw halted its advance, Bao looking up in thought for a moment, before smiling even more wickedly and closing the rest of the distance.
"Boop."
Crane let out an airy, disbelieving chuckle. "You are a riot."
"And you can control fire at will."
"But I can't? Not at will, at least."
"Hm, true, but the scroll said you need to be angry or at least aggravated for that to happen anyway. 'Aggravated' is a fancy word and I like it, so I will make you aggravated," Bao said, his voice distracted by the continuous poking at Crane's shoulder.
"The only thing you will make me is rethinking what my younger self thought when he agreed to be friends with you," Crane replied, yet not prying his shoulder away from the prodding.
"And the prize for the biggest lie ever told goes to… Master Lei!"
Crane felt his face constrict in a cringe. "Please don't combine my name and title."
"Jia Crane?" Bao suggested, but he too winced at his own word, "No wait, you are right, that's horrible."
"Why are we here again? Dad wants to speak with me, sure, but - why make it a big deal?"
Bao finally stopped his prodding and let his foot drop to the ground.
"Why? Can't Daddy Dearest want some family time with his own son?" he said, his playful tone smoothly flowing from his ever-teasing smile.
"He visited my room two days ago by himself. If he wanted some 'family time', he could have done that again and not in front of a bunch of important people," Crane rebuked, pushing himself away from the windowsill, "Speaking of, do you have them?"
The crazy grin that overtook Bao's face was one that hunted people's dreams.
"You mean these?" he said, his wings disappearing inside the hem of his yellow tunic. When they came back, two grey metal balls laid on his white feathers. These little balls weren't of the sizeable kind, they couldn't have been bigger than half of a tofu bun. They were also imperfectly spherical; there was a dent on top for both, where a closed up daffodil flower bud rested.
Crane nodded.
"How do they work again?" Bao asked, hungrily eyeing the little spheres like they were the greatest thing ever. Crane raised a talon to take one of them, then threw it onto his left wing while walking back to the windowsill.
"Still remember Po's lesson?" Crane asked once he stopped, and Bao's heart sped up when instead of sarcastic flatness, mother-hen worry or the soft hue of shy happiness, the face of a Mastermind welcomed him. That cocky smirk and half-lidded eyes were unnatural on Crane's face, but Bao knew his best friend thoroughly; He may have been a shy, sarcastic little artsy-pants usually, but every person had a not-so innocent side. The 'Mastermind', as Bao liked to call it, was Crane's naughtier side.
And it was roaming free.
"'Course. Still can't believe I made you guys scared enough to teach me those Kung Fu secrets. You know I wouldn't have actually ratted you out, right?"
"I did, Po didn't. He gets anxious when he's scared."
"Nevermind that! So, what now, what now?"
Crane grinned and held his wing out of the window. The ball cozily laid there, flower bud looking back at the avian Master.
"This beauty right there is called a 'Mist ball'. The product of what happens if you modify fireworks to have less spark and much more smoke, explicitly made for the practitioners of Kung Fu. It still needs ignition to work, thus the flower, but you get what I'm saying," he began, motioning his friend to step up next to him.
Bao was more than happy to oblige.
"Now, remember what Po taught you yesterday about Chi. Got it?"
Bao took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His wings clasped together tightly in front of his chest, his heart beating even faster than when he prepared for his first explosion. Then he relaxed his appendages, right until the tips formed a yin-yang symbol in front of him. Crane smiled and did the same, albeit only with one wing as he was still stretching the other beyond the window. They moved their appendages together in the standard arc, both flowing in the air like waves would on water. Soon, both Bao's and Crane's right wing tip glowed in accordance, the sheer energy escaping from their combined effort tickled the bud. It tickled it and tickled it so on and so on, until the flower finally accepted the fresh wave of power, and began opening its petals with a yellow shine. The petals stretched and flexed until they stood rigid and invigorated, but by then Crane had already thrown the ball into the air.
City officials received numerous reports that day, of a low-flying cloud that blinked into existence right next to the Palace Tower with a snappy puff.
Crane didn't have time to marvel at the effectiveness of the shop-bought Mist bomb, because a pair of wings suddenly took hold of his shoulders, and began rocking him into a daze.
"I could literally KISS YOU NOW! Holy flames, this will be amazing!"
"Please don't."
"Right, right, we don't have time. We have grumpy people to prank!"
And with that, they were cruising down the halls. Or, more like Crane was trying not to fall beak-first to the ground thanks to Bao's rough but excited tugging on his wing. After one particular corner, they turned onto a corridor, one that felt… weirdly familiar, Crane noticed. Then he realized; They were right at the hall where the Tea room had been yesterday, which confirmed itself when his eyes landed on the blue doors at the far end. Knowing that his father invited him to the Council room and remembering Bao's tour the day before yesterday. Crane guessed that they had arrived.
Bao stopped right at that moment, and the avian Master bumped into him.
"And! We're here…" Bao intoned dramatically, his wings taking hold of the handles on the massive double doors. They opened after a grand push, and Crane…
Well, he had mixed reactions.
The ceiling was as high as the corridor's, a spacey feel permeating the room. From his point of view, the windows made up the entirety of the left, while a blank wall stood on the right. Being the place where the Empire's businesses were spoken about, the decor was expectedly grand, Crane found the scattered golden, jade and silver statues, the ceramics, the throne, and the marble ground a little overwhelming from an artistic view, breathtaking from a regular one. Things were clean and orderly, no lie about that (a little too orderly if you asked him), and the avian Master felt really insignificant among all these riches. Speaking of that throne; a straight, carpeted path led from the doors to the glorified seat, and it was just as glorious as the stories had told. The Dragon Throne, as they called it, was a bedecked and well-crafted chair, standing at the top of three small steps like one would on top of a mountain after a finally completing challenging hike. A table stood in front of the chair, a piece of bloodred cloth covering its surface, Crane guessed it was of silk if its fine texture were anything to go by. From the middle, two great reredos spread off behind the throne, and mighty dragon heads pointed down towards the seat from the top.
His father was standing there, leaning on the small table with a cup of steaming tea held between his wings. In front of him, a tall gazelle knelt, wearing a pair of blue tunics and pants; One of their antlers was missing. Crane couldn't make a judgement on their gender as the gazelle was facing away from him, and the quiet discussion between them and Qiang wasn't audible enough for him to make a sound decision. Upon his son's enter though, his father's beak turned up to a smile and gave the tiniest of nods, fatherly and happy was this tiny gesture, before he focused back on the gazelle's words. Crane nervously reciprocated everything, his beak edging to fall from the fact that his father was sitting in the Dragon Throne!
Well, 'sitting' more like.
On the left-side of the room, where the morning sun's rays seeped through the thin windows, the many Eunuchs sat. As Crane tip-toed through the eery silence among the echoing walls, he made a note on the large group's age; Most of the hundred or so Eunuchs were wrinkly, worn old men, Shifu looking like an infant compared to them. Their form-fitting, pure white tunics with its long sleeves hung from their characters, and a golden belt encircled their pudgy waists, the words 'New Zhao' sewn above it into the robe. Crane had wondered what the phrase meant, because both his father and Bao had the same phrase on their own robes. Hell, even his and his friends' given attires all had 'New Zhao' somewhere. Only a couple younger members saved the bunch from looking akin to grey haired/feathered weirdos, one which would have made Crane question if the local Nursery Home had a massive break out.
He suddenly didn't think Bao's earlier comments had been harsh or rude. In nature, maybe so, but their raw fact status was undeniable.
Back to the not-so-friendly group, they sat behind six rows of tables, positioned parallel along the window and the carpeted path. Every second row elevated slightly, making sure that all the members of his Majesty's civil servants were on display. Now that Crane noticed, the Eunuchs didn't even try to look inviting; most of them bore either the same sneer, or a bored, yet snobby thinning of the lips, like they were too privileged to even be here. At the middle of the front most table, an elder Bengali Tiger caught the Master's attention, wearing the same set of attire and a pair of ridiculously big glasses, scrutinizing a stack of papers in front of him with such a sharp eye, the writings may have just evaporated in place. Then he looked up, right into the Master's eyes, and Crane could swear he saw hell scorching the earth, cutting its crust until everything tumbled into its core.
He had to roll his head. He carefully brushed his feathers that morning, so he really couldn't afford his nape to stand like a frightened cat in the dark.
On the other side of the room, the situation was much more different. While the Siren sang in his ear, and his fragile heart sped up when he made eye-contact with the Eunuchs, he felt his spirits ease and his resolve tighten when he looked this way. The heads of the major families all kowtowed there, some wearing lush robes that almost rivaled the quality of his Majesty's, some wore rough armor of a wide range of paler colors, accompanied by the banner with their family name and crest that stuck out of their back like a flag. Their faces were pleasantly sober, showcasing no emotion whatsoever, but Crane could feel the pure respect aimed at him. They were bowing before him like they would to an Emperor, and the avian Master's posture dropped.
He didn't… deserve that. No, none of that.
Silencing every complaint or displeasure he had, and putting them away for a later meltdown, he strode forward to the middle of the Council room, then stopped. By now, the Eunuchs managed to be bothered enough to look his way, and like a herd of sharks they began eyeing him. From his place, he could finally hear the conversation between his father and the kneeling gazelle.
"-and you say the drought has killed over three-quarters of the province's crops?" his father asked calmly, his eyes assessing the fellow in front of him.
"Yes. Please your Highness, I beg of you… the people of Guang won't survive the winter. We need subsidies, privileges, e-even monopolies, otherwise our market presence and trade contracts won't hold up and millions of people will starve."
Qiang narrowed his eyes. Watching the gazelle, now recognized to be a female, he put down his tea and began scratching the underside of his beak with his wing slowly, before he cleared his voice.
"I would like to ask the opinion of the Nobles on this matter."
The gazelle blinked at Qiang. Confusion poked its foggy head through her desperate features, but she nonetheless stood up, her feet shaky, and faced the strict masks of Lin'an's most important people. Crane could hear her gulp from the bottom of the small staircase. The shushing whispers and grumbles soon overtook the room as intellectual and crucial discussions bloomed all over the right side of the room.
"How much of China's agriculture does Guang province contribute on a yearly average exactly?" a random voice rose above the noise, halting all conversations. All eyes on the gazelle, she fiddled with her arms as she spoke.
"Nineteen percent."
This seemed to be a satisfying answer, because the nobles resumed their discussions, now lightly nodding amongst each other. Barely seconds later, a peacock stood up at the front row, his feathers colored in a way that he couldn't have been from a festival, because he was a festival; neon blue, green, red, even strong pink.
"The nobles would officially allow Guang province to have certain monopolies on certain agricultural commodities for the following year's time, but we kindly ask that you establish a trade union with the rest of the provinces affected, so as to not demolish their own market."
"C-certainly," the hopeful gazelle said, then turned to His Majesty. The Emperor always had the last word in every decision as per customs, and today wasn't about to be an exception.
"Bao, would you be a dear and bring me a map of South China? I believe I left it in the Tea room."
The bird in question, Crane noticed, had moved away from him to the Dragon Throne, now standing at the right side of his father. Upon hearing this request, he stretched; his sleek back popping in three places, and lazily nodded, before taking flight. Crane felt his head rear back in surprise at his best friend's sudden speed, so much so that passing thoughts about a possible race began forming in his head, and how it would have to take place to decide who was faster between the two of them.
Bao was rapidly out of the double doors, the sound of his wings mixed with some cries of surprise from the outside corridor reflecting back to the Council room. A few awkward seconds of silence passed, when nobody knew what to do, but the Emperor's Right Hand was quick to return. Appearing in the doorway like a droplet of rain on a leaf at a monsoon, a middle-sized scroll clutched between his talons, he soared above the carpeted path. He soon arrived back where he took flight from, and with a stylish move, he threw the scroll up into the air. The rolled-up paper landed vertically on the edge of the covered table in front of Qiang, fell over, and rolled out to its full extent, filling the empty surface under. Bao made the move look so easy to do, even the Eunuchs looked taken aback by his careless, but efficient move. He, on the other hand, looked completely unbothered as he lazily retook his place next to Qiang, said elder avian smiling softly. Crane tilted his head at his friends sudden carefree attitude, wanting to know what was going on in that empty field for a mind, but then it all became clear when Bao winked at him, and began coughing that fooled none; he was disguising his snickers under them.
That little showoff…
That was the moment Qiang took ahold of the two sides of the scroll-now-known-as-map. His eyes scrutinized the thin lines of where the land of his country ended and the South China Sea began, curving down so evenly, one could have doubted it was a true depiction of reality. His yellow pools jumped between the rougher dark spots, with names of great cities written above them, showing the densely populated coast the curve was.
He didn't spend much time with his beak burried in the scroll.
"Mhmm," he hummed contentedly, putting down the map and looking up at the jittery gazelle.
All eyes on him, Qiang opened his beak.
"Your appeal for Guang province to have certain monopolies is denied."
"But-!"
"With that said…" Qiang cut off her panic, nodding to the Bengali tiger Eunuch, who clicked his tongue and readied to write, "Your problems do need to be attended. But I'd rather avoid juggling such high privileges between major provinces, so here's what will happen; In the following year, the administrative center of your province, the city of Panyu, will be named center of trade. Every export or import, shipment or land trade happening to the south of Zhejiang province must go to Panyu from now on, where a grand market will be established. You will also name the cities of Zhanjiang, Gongmen and Yazhou as alternative centers if a trip to Panyu cannot be made. It goes without saying that you have to also establish grand markets there."
The tiger was diligently writing every word down, even if he looked ready to give up desk job for good. Qiang shifted, his elbows coming up to rest on the table, while he laid his long beak onto his intertwined beak in front of him.
"B-but your Highness! Excuse me for interrupting, but Gongmen city is impossible! It is under the care of the Kung Fu Masters Council, I-I have no power over there."
"Let that be my trouble, all right?" and at that, a decent amount of people in the room (Bao included) glanced at Crane, who suddenly felt rather lightheaded, "Where was I? Ah yes! The trade union is not a bad idea either. I want it established as soon as possible with the seven provinces this arrangement will affect. What you do with the income from Panyu and the union is something I trust you will be honorable enough to use it for the purpose it was given for. You also said you have unrest problems as a consequence to the lack of food, some of your people going guerilla, no?"
The gazelle's whole body was shaking. "W-well, yes. Yes, I said that."
"Dissatisfaction is a great motivator, huh? All right, your entourage back to Guang will include an army of a thousand men. They will be given the orders to hunt down the rebels, bring them to Lin'an where they will receive their deserved punishment. Would all these arrangements save the glorious province of Guang?"
"…Yes," and Crane still couldn't see her face, but she was shaking and weeping, a silent sob cracking her voice, which was all he needed to know, "Yes! Thank you! I-Thank you your Highness. Guang province w-won't forget this kind deed of yours."
The gazelle obviously wanted to gush more, and Crane could understand her; With this deal, Guang would get enough bonus income to keep itself afloat. Having that province fall to the depths of chaos would drag the whole Empire with itself, and his dad couldn't afford such problems when stabilizing China as a whole was still a major concern.
Guang's half-antlered representative kowtowed once again, bowing even on the ground before Qiang, before hastily standing up and heading out of the Council room. His father let himself finally relax in his throne, taking hold of his now lukewarm cup of tea and turning to look at his son for the first time today. His mood elated like his face did, soft and giddy like the feel of cuddling the whitest of blankets. At the same time, the old Bengali finished scribing and put down the brush, his elder furred cheeks looking much more spoiled. Those features turned sinister the moment he began standing up, those long, covered arms lifting his body from his chair. His gruff, deep clearing of throat disrupted the serene silence of the room.
"Jia Lei of the New Zhao dynasty," he began sternly, gathering the attention of every soul inside the room, "…and Master Crane of the Jade Palace. Admirable titles, truly. On behalf of his Majesty, the Emperor's personal unit of advisories and the Guardians of the Empress' heavenly figure, the Eunuchs, we welcome you back to Lin'an. We hope your stay would be the start of a long-lasting, beautiful friendship."
…
Nope. Bao had been completely on point; these people were scary. The way that gluttonous glint appeared in the elder's look after listing off Crane's titles was enough to make him think about backing right out of the room silently. Also, 'Jia Lei of the New Zhao dynasty'? What was that about?
"M-much appreciated."
His stutter seemed like a reaction the Eunuchs had hoped for, the sudden smirking murmurs between each other and the satisfied nods were giant tells. By Bao's half-lid, but tense eyes, he really wasn't happy about this introduction either. His father was outright glaring at his own personal group of helpers, and the Master could swear an undertone of breathless growling echoed from among the nobles' side.
The unsubtle deliveries of greed layered by malicious intentions, those he could understand. But everything else? It's like he was missing something crucial, a bigger picture.
"Son! I was waiting for you," Qiang hollered, gaining his attention back. Crane still had to blink at seeing his Pa in the Emperor's clothes, sitting right there where every other Son of the Heavens once sat. The older bird motioned him to come closer, so that was what he did. With a single move, he stepped over all the three small levels of the little staircase. Apparently, people had opinions about this innocent action, as subtle hisses cut through the air at that moment like razor-sharp needless would through skin. It all came from the nobles' side, paired with a bunch of snort-y chuckles from the Eunuchs, and upon gazing to both sides, he confirmed his suspicions; The nobles were actively trying to set their faces straight, especially now that he looked that way, while the Eunuchs bathed in some kind of divine triumph.
Something crucial, something, something…
"Don't worry son, you'll learn the proper etiquette later. Now come! There is something I must show you," his father's bright voice regained his attention again, and he only paid a small whim of thought to how fast Qiang changed from an angry glare to bubbling excitement, but he quickened his pace nonetheless.
Qiang beamed up at his son (since when did Crane get taller than him?) once Crane stepped right in front of the throne, then motioned to his right, towards Bao, who, contrary to the Emperor, hadn't ceased his heated clash of the gazes with several smug-looking Eunuchs; it became even more heated. Scoffing, the white-naped crane turned his head away in a high-and-mighty manner like the diva he was, and stretched his wings out. Crane watched him swiftly take off again, flapping above the nobles' heads with elegant and tiny movements, until halting next to the blank, red, marble wall behind them. Only now did Crane notice the wide, tightly curled up rugs attached to where the blank wall and the ceiling met. The hovering Bao's leg shot out at that moment, and while Crane couldn't exactly see what he had done, he could make an educated guess. Especially when after the action, the rug began unfurling downwards with great rustles, quickly filling a good seventh of the great room's right wall. On the rug, a bird-like character clad in battle armor was depicted with a crossbow held steady in his wings, as he rained fiery arrows on an unknown army from above. Their features were hard and furious, with their long beak open in a screaming battle-cry towards his bloody surroundings.
At the bottom, the following text was sewn into the rug;
Min Lei, the Righteous
Crane couldn't think about the fact that hey, I know that name, because another rug was unfolding to the right. Another bird, this one showing distinct features of cranes, black-necked cranes, but the theme of the rug differed; Instead of armor, battle and weapons, the figure had numbers, scientific phrases and papers flying around himself, while he himself was diligently writing on one. His clothing was modest, only the Emperor's hat and nothing else from the regular attire associated with his Majesty. Now that Crane noticed, they looked like a commoner, actually.
Yong Lei, the Clever
Other rugs began to unfold one after the other until the blank red wall was no longer visible, sans a tiny part at the very bottom. A cheering crane appeared with food, money and happy faces surrounding his fragile frame among a setting that looked like a festival. He was holding a baby in one wing, the other wrapped around a beautiful female crane. The Master didn't need much clue to guess who she was, the Empress' attire was obvious enough.
Jing Lei, the Prosperous
Another crane appeared, this one casually sipping a cup of tea while people with varying rich clothing bickered around him. From those, Crane recognized some of the Lords of the most influential Chinese provinces, the Emperor of the Korean Goryeo Dynasty, the Emperor of the Sunrise Land, the Head of the Mongol tribes, the kings of the Southern Trading Kingdoms, even Siddhartha Gautama was there, with all his divine glory, quarreling with the rest above the calm shoulders of the Chinese Emperor.
Wei Lei, the Mastermind
The next one was a stern, steely eyed specimen of his kin, surrounded by golden armored and winged soldiers of seemingly endless extents. Behind them, a kingdom of gold poked its head out from amongst the clouds, as the army ripped through the heavens and descended onto the soil.
Fan Lei, the God of War
And the sixth one was looking up at an opened sky, while he raised a shining wing above a patch of dead grain. The rug showed the grain amid shining purification, as one half was dead with blackness, while the other was healthy and yellow. In the background. the ruins of a city were seen, but there was one thing off about it; Half of the debris seemingly levitated, and the wall was already standing tall anew.
Qiang Lei, the Retributionist
"Do you like it?" Qiang asked, his plain excitement of the topic vigorous and much.
"I… don't understand. Pa, aren't those-"
"Yes," Qiang looked to be at the brink of crying from elation, "You remember the stories, right? I told you they were true."
Bao watched as his best friend's beak loosened until it almost dislocated. He would have laughed and teased Crane for keeping this little quirk of his alive even now, but he had a bigger problem.
"Erm, excuse me? Would you two be kind enough to share with the curious audience?"
Qiang's yellow pools turned to him, while Crane kept on gaping at the rugs. He was so stunned to the core, he barely even blinked.
"Well… as you may see," Qiang began, motioning to himself, "Jia inherited many things from my fragile being, a little too many if you ask me. Thankfully, most of his personality is purely his mother. Bravery, reliability, uncontainable love, and a pragmatist way of thinking. That's all Yan."
Crane's beak snapped back to its place, and his feathery cheeks pleasantly warmed up. Withing a short moment, a whistling wave of wind hit the heads of the noble families, some of them even lost their headgear in the process while the ones with flags sticking out of their backs found themselves wobbly on their feet. Bao and Qiang tracked how Crane took flight and arrived in front of the rugs with a single great flap. The Master's eyes fastened on the art of the rugs, looking in between them in such disbelief, one would think his world was crumbling underneath him.
"One thing they definitely shared is how they believed," Qiang said, before turning to Bao, "Let me ask you a question Bao. Have you ever told Jia something new, and he didn't believe you on the spot?"
Your son is having a meltdown, but sure, let's chat.
Bao's eyes turned up in thought while his beak opened slightly as he tried to resurface some old memories.
"Yeees, actually," he said, crossing his wings in front of his chest, "There was this one time I told him about how I helped some farmers in the outskirts with the older kids of the orphanage, and for the life of me, I couldn't make him believe. Had to fly him there to show him in the end, and that was the day I learnt that 'giving the benefit of the doubt' was nothing but a bad joke to him."
Qiang chuckled and nodded. "Exactly. He and Yan always needed evidence before they listened. Sadly, there was one thing he had never believed; his bedtime stories."
"Bedtime stories?"
"Stories of his ancestors. No matter how much I tried to tell him that everything in those were not fiction, but history, he wouldn't believe," Qiang said, his face brighter than Bao has ever seen it.
Guess the return of Jia really upped his days.
Crane was immersed in the many depictions of Emperors from the old times, ones he had never heard of before. While he did that, still hovering above the heads of the nobles, his wings made those almost notably bigger gusts than one would normally do. Bao made a short 'huh' sound and let's his wings unfold.
"No wonder he is an artsy pants. If you can't believe it, why not envision it and then create it?"
"That was the philosophy of my darling."
Bao missed this sentence for a reason, and only one reason; A fresh memory jerked awake in his mind, so fresh, it spawned literally the last night;
'I don't think I'll believe what would happen if I don't.'
At the time, Bao didn't understand. He lacked the proper context and foreknowledge. But what Qiang had been telling then and there was exactly what he needed;
Crane didn't believe in things until there was evidence for it.
Thus, hypothetically (such a fancy word), if there were no evidence that he wouldn't destroy and kill things just by looking at them, then…
'Oh, hell naw' Bao oh-so eloquently thought as he watched Crane hovering above, blankly eying the picture of Fan Lei on the one before the last rug. He won't be having his Not-So Little Jia be all mopy and self-doubting, not if he had anything to say about it.
Right at this moment the wind once again picked up, and Crane landed soon after, his crimson robe slowly falling with him to conceal his legs once again. He approached the throne with his head hung low, and Bao would have pursed his lips if he had any. Seeing Jia so confused, so heartbroken from this revelation alone definitely didn't jump up to his top favorite things. His own lunatic little heart drummed a single, cooing beat in his ears, and the white-naped crane sighed; he never really liked how empathy felt.
"So… they were really true?"
Qiang nodded. "Indeed."
"I'm sorry Pa. I should have believed you."
"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. Actually, your resolve gave me a great opportunity to tell you all about your glorious ancestors outside of singular events," Qiang's raised his leg and pointed a talon at Crane's chest, "The same ancestors whose blood flows in you, whose spirit you embody, whose very essence you carry. The forgotten, but true heroes of China."
Bao tongued the inside of his cheek on the sideline, silently thanking whatever God out there that Jia didn't inherit Qiang's dramatics. He always liked his Little Jia shy and silent, because it gave a new taste to his own 'in-your-face', boisterous life. Speaking of, upon glancing at Crane to see what his reaction was to his father's passionate monologue, Bao wholeheartedly expected something akin to besotted wonder, a wonder that would materialize on a hanging scroll at Crane's room that night.
But instead, he was left intrigued;
Crane was not besotted.
He was frowning.
And what a frown that was. Not the frown of skepticism, or the frown of concentration. No, it was the frown disagreement. Qiang turned, and now he too was in knowledge of this surprising turn of events. When the Emperor blinked in confusion, Bao smiled; things were about to be interesting.
"Son? You… have something to say?"
Being suddenly put into the spotlight, the avian Master blinked, his expression rearranged; But it was all in vain, they had caught him.
"Uh…" Crane intoned with all the coherency of his mind at that moment. He looked between the two birds in front of him, both very close to his heart, and he knew that even if he had known how to lie, he would have broken down mid-"anyway. Add in the pressure from the many intrigued spectators from both sides, and the towers of the fortress his resolve embodied fell over each other, bringing down the cracking walls with them.
He sighed and shook his head.
"Dad, in the last twenty years, I…" he began saying, the red robe on him as uncomfortable as if it were made of silk suddenly, "I have learnt. I saw some things, events too, and they… they made me realize that everything has more to them th-than just – blatant goodness. As per natural of course, the good makes the bad exist and vice versa, but…"
Bao had to step down, because Crane's stuttering persona suddenly vanished, a somber one taking its place.
"We think of 'heroes' as inherently good, but that just cannot be part of our dual reality. But we like to give these expressions to anyone who - who does even a smidge of goodness, b-but there can't be heroes, not in real life, not in fiction, o-only in theory," there, Crane's heaving posture dropped, the ground under his fortress swallowing the towers, "I'm sorry, Pa."
…
'Interesting' was the word that went through Bao's head. So Kung Fu really did teach fancy philosophy, just as he had hoped. Or maybe it was just Jia being an oddball. The Council room seemed to share his sentient, as rumbling conversations fired off all over the place at that moment, debating the truth value and the applications of such way of thinking.
"Son, I understand," Qiang replied softly, brushing Crane's cheek, "We take this one step at the time. For now, let's be content with what we discovered today, all right?"
And that… that was an evasive maneuver if Bao had ever seen one. Qiang didn't even look a little like he wanted to oppose or even think about his son's words. He looked at Crane like he was his 8-year-old colt again, who did something mildly mischievous; amused, almost entertained at the antics, but too carefree to give it another thought. Crane too looked befuddled at the unexpected reaction, but after being put in the spotlight and made to tell something so intimate to his person, he took the evasion with a small sigh of relief.
Bao, he, well- he wanted to scream. He expected a juicy debate, that's what made philosophy so entertaining, didn't it? Then what was this anticlimactic, boring mess of an end that made him want to snore the day away!?
Whatever.
"So, tell me son, what do you remember of the Righteous Min Lei?"
With a huff, Bao left the sappy father-son duo and skipped off the three-step pedestal, taking one step at the time as per customs. He knew that Crane was watching him, probably with a barrage of scaredy questions in his pools, but Bao didn't turn around; Instead, he walked over to the Eunuch's side, went around their six tables and arrived at the windows. In quick succession, he opened all of them wide, letting a fresh breeze into the room, and the closest Eunuchs thanked him with a sigh. Little did they know that they were the only ones who could have recognized his growing crazed grin, yet they didn't do so. Bao would praise the ashes first before he did anything remotely kind to these pieces of rotten bark, leeching on perfectly healthy trees.
He had much funner things in mind.
He found Crane's eyes and bobbed his head. A signal, one that the Master immediately recognized, and for a ginger moment the 'Mastermind' flashed through his facial feathers.
Good. He didn't forget.
Bao wasted no time to resume his place next to Qiang, his mood appropriately recovered from the abyss. He decided to listen in on the conversation just for the sake of knowing when the fun would begin.
"-and Fan Lei, oh yes, the greatest of them all, and unarguably the most misunderstood."
"You always told me the story of how he won a battle just by a swing of his wing..."
"A province filled with silent people, and Fan Lei opened a home to them. Glorious isn't it?" Qiang began with a voice colored with wonder and wishfulness. He turned to the rug depicting the ex-Emperor in question, and opened his wings wide, this gesture alone making the room feel even more spacey.
"He was what we all should aim to be; valiant, loyal, powerful, but wise enough to know his own limits. 'Always knew how much power he needed to defend China, but he was never greedy. He took what he needed to complete his goals. For that, I won't hide it; I want to rule like him."
Crane turned to his father, looking up at him in a new light. The elder crane looked at Fan Lei's picture like the little rabbit kids would look at Po whenever the panda was holding a public Kung Fu training at the village; bright face, with small dimples forming at the base of his rough beak just by that sheer smile. Qiang's wings fell to the table until they laid there exposed, the right one on top of the left one, utterly relaxed these appendages were.
Crane looked back to Fan Lei's depiction and wondered.
"Pa, which tale will you tell tonight?"
"Well Little Jia, I brought something special today. Remember Fan Lei? I told you about him quite recently."
"I remember him! He was really cool! Though, I still don't get it how he beat all that people... He must had big wings, like, house-sized wings!"
"Well, hehe, no, he had normal sized wings. But you see, he could beat all those men because he was really powerful. Powerful like- like a thousand houses! At each wing!"
"Wow... I'm not powerful like him or you or mom or… or Bao- but I am definitely smarter than Bao! Pa, was Mister Fan like me? Was he smart?"
"He really was! You cannot have power without knowing how to wield it, and Fan… well, he was extraordinarily full of wit."
"Will the tale have it? His smartness?"
"Tonight's tale will show you how Fan Lei defeated mean people… just by looking at them!"
So that was Fan Lei, huh?
While he was resurfacing a memory, he trailed down to that name at the bottom, sewn into the rug with dashing orange lines of an untied ribbon dancing in the wind. His eyes inadvertently jumped over to the next rug, the one depicting his father. The same design made the name, and a quick look at the rest of the ex-Emperors' names confirmed that it was not an accident or a coincidence; it was a pattern.
Then his eyes jumped at the bottom of the seventh rug.
The last rug didn't portray anyone or anything. A basic dragon motif crawled over the place where a picture should have been, one that was found somewhere in basically every hall of the Palace. But Crane didn't watch the dragon, oh no, that thing's attention gathering effect was subpar to the sheer force those four words underneath had. The Master's mind blanked from sheer disbelief after reading those for even the fifth, sixth and seventh, frantic time.
Jia Lei, the Beautifier
"Dad… what is that?" he asked without taking his eyes off the rug.
"Oh, that's just a placeholder," Qiang easily mentioned, "Couldn't make you one yet. Not until your reign, that is."
My… reign?
…
…
MY WHAT?!
"Oh that's rich," Bao's laughing voice appeared from the side, before the bird in question patted Crane on the back, "You see that Qiang? Your son has gained some serious acting skills. I mean, that terror looks so real, I'm almost convinced he really has just now realized."
The Emperor ignored him, instead opting to watch his son. Said avian Master shrugged off Bao's wing and took a step away.
"Son, you… have you not realized your status as the heir to the New Zhao dynasty all this time?"
"I…" Crane said, still frozen in the same trap of time, his focus glued to that damned piece of carpet, "need to… break. Yes, a break. That sounds-"
Before anyone could say anything, Crane turned on his heels and was already out of the Council room. The only evidence that he hadn't just simultaneously teleported away were the sudden gale-like wind, one that actually picked up and threw some Eunuchs from one place to the windows, and a great kerf above Qiang's name on his own carpet, that cut so deep, the marble of the wall behind it cracked up.
"Hm…" Bao mused, watching the double doors open deflect from the walls with a thud in Crane's wake. His mouth tasted bitter, "Well, there goes the prank."
Qiang didn't react. He was too busy also frowning at the doors, his intense gaze warming the interior of the Council room.
Story Miscellaneous
#22: This story is rated T. In the hypothetical situation where I went R rated, there would have been some changes. For example, Bao would have swore, but in an eloquent way. His teasing/flirting would have probably contained more suggestive word plays. The action scenes would have been more bloody and, dare I say, realistic. A darker tone would have panned out thorough the story.
#23: In real history, Chinese Emperors had around 1000 Eunuchs working udner them. The Author decided to only use 100.
#24: The Author is mere 19 years old, which means he still frequents something called a 'high school', thus the reason why uploads are to be expected to drop less frequently and irregularly.
#24A: I am really, really sorry guys, I'll try to establish a schedule ASAP.
Chapter 8 Miscellaneous
#1:This chapter is what I named 'The chapter that could'. This chapter alone altered how I tailored the story to go. At the beginning it was supposed to follow the formula of the last chapter; 3 scenes, all characters having their arcs continued. Originally, the first scene was supposed to be Bao, Crane and Po meeting with Qiang at his 'office', and that idea evolved and devolved into the second scene of this chapter.
#2:Speaking of this scene, watch out for later chapters, as references to established things here will happen-
#3:The province of Guang (Guangdong), Zheijang, the cities of Panyu (Guangzhou), Zhanjian and Yazhou (Sanya) are all real life places in South China.
#3A: Fun facts: Guangdong province today has enough GDP to rival decently sized countries such as Mexico. The story takes place in Lin'an (today:Hangzhou), the center of Zheijang province.