"It all started with a massage, Your Highness," the spy said, uneasily shuffling from foot to foot.
Emperor Xiang found the spy's body language promising since it seemed to indicate that this week's report was going to live up to his expectations. Given Chu Qiao's innate ability to cause and draw trouble, he'd set up spies outside the Yuwen family holdings in order to keep an eye on her. On rare occasions, a spy would actually make it into Green or Red Hills and would see something useful. Even if nobody made it in that week, hearing about Chu Qiao's antics was often a nice diversion that interrupted the tedium of ruling.
"And where was this massage taking place?" Xiang asked the spy.
"Jille Pavillion, Your Highness."
Xiang's eyes widened in shock, but he managed to contain his surprise otherwise. He knew well that Chu Qiao hated the place and that she and Yuwen Yue had seemed content to leave it and the pool inside to the Xiulis. His spies had standing orders to pursue anything Chu Qiao did that was out of the ordinary, and setting foot inside Jille Pavillion—especially so near the end of her pregnancy—certainly qualified. Even more astonishing was that his spy had actually made it inside Jille Pavillion without being spotted.
"Continue."
"I couldn't see and hear everything that was going on from where I was hidden, but I saw Chu Qiao lead Yuwen Yue to the large pool and...assist him with the removal of his robes. She said something about teaching him to use his powers, but her instruction method seemed to be less than professional."
Xiang smothered a smile.
"Indeed."
"Yes, Your Highness. She told him to get into the pool, and he sat down on a ledge in the water that left only his head and shoulders out of water. Chu Qiao took off her outer robes and knelt behind him somehow and started massaging his shoulders in order to...increase his focus, she said. He said something I couldn't understand about trying to kill him; she laughed somewhat suggestively and said that there would be time for that later."
This report was the most entertaining one Xiang had heard since that one spy had managed to observe Yuwen Yue's way of teaching Chu Qiao the finer points of archery.
"I'm assuming that Yuwen Yue managed to survive the night."
"As far as I know, Your Highness. Of course, after what I saw, I can't imagine much of anything being a threat to either Yuwen Yue or Chu Qiao."
"What exactly did you see?"
"Um, well, Your Highness, I can't really explain it. She stood up from behind him, stepped to the edge of the pool, made a motion with her hands, and the water...it just...formed steps all the way to the bottom of the pool. She slowly walked down these steps until she was at the bottom, then the stairway just collapsed all around her as if it had never been there."
Xiang knew about the Wind and Cloud Decree, of course; he knew that Chu Qiao had used it to save Yuwen Yue and her Xiulis at the icy lake and to put an end to those who had shot arrows at her and her people. Still, to hear his subordinate talk about seeing such a display of power was unsettling.
"Your Highness?"
"Please continue."
"The water was right at her shoulders. She spread out her arms so that they were hovering over the surface of the water and then said something to Yuwen Yue that made him get this look on his face."
"What type of look?"
"I guess you could call it...predatory."
"I see."
"He then...Your Highness, he raised his own hands and...it's like he made the water move without touching it."
"Yuwen Yue?" Xiang asked, unable to hide the surprise from his tone or his face. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Your Highness. I saw it with my own two eyes. He was definitely moving the water on his own."
Xiang rocked back in shock. He'd known that Chu Qiao possessed the Wind and Cloud Decree, but to know that she'd obviously given some of that power to Yuwen Yue…
"Are you okay, Your Highness? Should I-"
"I'm fine. Tell me what happened next."
"He made the water ripple, and he slowly...took off Chu Qiao's robes from underwater using nothing but water."
Xiang shook his head.
As usual, Chu Qiao learned from Yuwen Yue's teaching methods all too well.
"And then?"
"And then she...congratulated him on his success."
"I'll bet she did. Please move on to the next detail that's relevant to your report."
"Thank you, Your Highness. After...everything, she moved to the opposite end of the pool and began to form a...I don't really know how to describe it. I've heard tales of cloud cones that can form on land and destroy all in their paths; this was kind of like that, but with water. It was like a whirlpool but above the surface."
"I've seen the damage that those can cause. Did this one do any harm?"
"No, Your Highness. Chu Qiao seemed to have the cone completely under control. She kept making it larger, but it never seemed to threaten anything. The larger it got, though, the lower the water level became. The lower the water level became, the more of Chu Qiao you began to see. Yuwen Yue noticed this pattern and began to make his own cone."
"I'll bet he did."
"It took him longer than Chu Qiao to get his cone going, but not too much longer. There's an economy of motion to Chu Qiao's technique that suggests years of training, but with Yuwen Yue...The raw power on display was intimidating. He quickly had a large cone of his own going, and the water level began to recede farther down Chu Qiao's body. She let the water reach a certain point, but then she started shrinking the size of her own cone so that the water level stayed the same."
"Surely Yuwen Yue rose to the challenge."
"He did. He continued making his cone bigger until it was the size of both cones and then began building it up even higher, draining the water level in the pool at a satisfactory rate."
"Did he succeed?"
"Not exactly. Chu Qiao...did something with her hands again, and the water just...It's like she pulled the water Yuwen Yue was drawing from out from under his cone so that the whole thing crashed down on top of him."
Xiang smothered a laugh with a cough and held up an impatient hand to stave off any questions about his well-being.
"What did he do next?"
"He somehow made the water solid so that he could spring off of it to catch Chu Qiao. She didn't seem to try too hard to elude him, though, and he was very gentle with her when he caught her. He pulled her as close as he could given the circumstances; she wrapped her arms around her neck, pulled herself up, and whispered something in his ear. They stared intently at each other for a moment before the water started roiling around them. A large cone quickly spun up in the pool, enveloping both of them completely."
"And they didn't drown? How long did they stay in the middle of the cone?"
The spy blushed and looked down at his feet.
"I see."
"Chu Qiao especially seemed to find the buoyancy pleasing."
Only military discipline kept Xiang from losing his composure.
"Some pregnant women find bathing in pools to be relaxing and soothing."
"She seemed quite relaxed after the cone suddenly collapsed back down into the pool. So did Yuwen Yue, to be honest."
"Well, I'm sure they were both exhausted after expending all of that energy to make the cone."
"Exactly, Your Highness. I'm sure that's it."
"Do you have anything else important to report?"
"Not really, Your Highness. After the big cone, they both relaxed in the water and recovered their strength. Yuwen Yue climbed out, used his powers to dry himself off, and put on his robes. Chu Qiao was content to...continue resting while watching Yuwen Yue getting dressed."
"I'm sure she was."
"As far as I could tell from where I was, Yuwen Yue picked up a spare set of robes that Chu Qiao had brought with her, went back to the pool, pushed away the water Chu Qiao was floating in, and dressed her in the corner of the pool. He picked her up in his arms and then used the water like a rising platform to gently push them up and out. I caught some of what Chu Qiao was saying about rooms that she'd prepared for the evening and night, but given the tone of her voice, I elected to retreat with the information I had."
"I'll bet you did. Thank you for your report; you've done well. You may leave first."
"Thank you, Your Highness," the spy said, bowing, clasping his hands, and walking backwards a couple of steps before turning around and leaving with almost insulting quickness.
Xiang waited for the spy's footsteps to fade away entirely before looking at his most trusted eunuch adviser and letting loose with a torrent of booming laughter.
His adviser looked at him in startlement but eventually joined in the laughter itself. Xiang started clapping his hands slowly as if Chu Qiao herself were present. His mind took him back in time several years ago to when she had first been made the archery coach of the Xiulis and she'd beaten up Xiao Ce and had expected to be scolded for it.
"Good girl!" he chortled. "Well done! Well done!"
"Pay that man double what he normally makes," he said to his eunuch after regaining control of himself. "That was the most entertaining report I've ever heard in my life."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Xiang sighed in satisfaction.
"When Chu Qiao sets out to get vengeance, she never does it half-way."
"Your Highness?"
Xiang chuckled.
"This whole thing was a setup from beginning to end. Our spy didn't make it in; they let him make it in. What are the odds that nobody saw him sneaking into a compound crawling with Xiulis who were no doubt aware of Chu Qiao's presence? This has Chu Qiao's name written all over it, but Yuwen Yue knew what she was doing."
"How do you know, Your Highness?"
"In that entire report, did our spy ever mention seeing more of Chu Qiao's body than her shoulders and maybe the top of her chest?"
"No, Your Highness."
"He knew."
The eunuch inclined his head in deference.
"Chu Qiao knows better than most how important the element of surprise can be. However, she also knows how effective a good deterrent can be. She knows that she'll be giving birth soon and will be unable to watch over Yuwen Yue for awhile. She knows that this particular spy has one of the biggest mouths in the business and only manages to stay employed—and alive—by virtue of being able to sneak into almost anywhere. She knows that he'll report to me and will then spread all sorts of wild and outlandish tales among the servants, who will spread them far and wide. Everyone will soon know that both Chu Qiao and Yuwen Yue are even more extraordinarily powerful than they used to be and are not to be messed with."
"What does that have to do with vengeance, Your Highness? That sounds more like protectiveness to me."
"Does Chu Qiao ever try to get vengeance without there being some element of protectiveness involved?"
The eunuch inclined his head once again.
"First, she gets vengeance on an irritating spy who's been annoying her for a couple of years by forcing him to give the most awkward briefing of his life. Then she gets vengeance on Yuwen Xi and Yuwen Huai by forcing them to watch her "training" Yuwen Yue in their home from the afterlife. She also gets vengeance on her husband, who's likely been tormenting her with similarly distracting teaching methods for years. And then, of course, she gets vengeance on me."
"You, Your Highness?"
"Me. There's nothing Chu Qiao values more than freedom, and I'm the one who basically put her under house arrest. While she's never strayed far from Green Hills or Red Hills, I know that she chafes at the idea that she isn't truly free. She knows I haven't trusted her. She knows I've thought she'd leave Yuwen Yue someday. She knows I've figured that her rebellious nature would get the better of her one day. So she sets up one of my spies to witness evidence that she's given an obviously hefty portion of her powers to Yuwen Yue, that she's very much in love with him, and that, even this close to delivery, she's still capable of wielding immense power. And, of course, she also forces me to try to keep control over myself during the most awkward report in the history of the kingdom. Well done, Chu Da Ren. Very well done."
"Would you ever consider giving her her freedom, Your Highness?"
"Of course not! That woman causes chaos wherever she goes. If she were to walk through the gates of Chang'an without Yuwen Yue at her side, they'd fall in!"
"Apologies, Your Highness."
Xiang waved him off and then smiled.
"I might, however, decide to relax some of her travel restrictions as a gift in honor of the birth of her firstborn."
"That would be most generous, Your Highness."
"I know it would. Do you know something else?"
"Your Highness?"
"I'm glad that Chu Qiao's not really my enemy."
Both men shuddered at the thought.
"Now tell me what's next on the schedule today."
His adviser started listing off appointments and responsibilities and he found himself mentally sighing in resignation. For all that he couldn't imagine marrying a woman like Chu Qiao, he still found himself envying his friend for the happiness he'd found. Not that he believed that there was anyone in the world more deserving of happiness than Yuwen Yue, and yet…
Xiang gave himself a swift mental kick and admitted the truth.
Only Yuwen Yue could handle standing in the middle of the relationship equivalent of that whirling water cone while managing to hold on to a woman like Chu Qiao.