The council chamber door thudded closed, signaling the end of another tiresome meeting. Civil unrest, the finances of watchtower repairs, fluxuations in the resentful energy surrounding Lanling – Luo Qingyang's head was spinning from all the information.

Jin Ling had left her in charge days ago, and still, she felt no better prepared to handle matters of state than she had been when she was spending her days as a wandering cultivator. The only part of this last meeting that she'd understood at all was the discussion of the steady increase of corpses in the smaller towns surrounding Jinlintai.

Other than that, she was at a complete loss.

Luo Qingyang sighed. She walked down the grand halls of Jinlintai, her feet carrying her by memory as she retreated into her thoughts.

She wished someone would come to take all this responsibility from her. She hadn't been trained for any of this!

Alas, Luo Qingyang had no powerful uncle who would spirit her away for some much needed respite. Jin Ling was a lucky boy… and supremely unlucky at the same time.

She couldn't believe that the responsibility of running the huge Jin Clan had fallen to such a youngster. He was probably better trained in political matters than she was, but it was still a lot to shoulder.

And on top of everything, his uncle was none other than Jiang Cheng. That was enough to upset anyone.

In fact, her knowledge that Jin Ling was related to Jiang Cheng had been one of the biggest barriers the boy had faced when he'd asked her to serve as one of his advisors.

She smirked, recalling Jin Ling's tenacity and desperation in recruiting her. How he'd practically begged her to serve as an advisor so that he could always trust that someone would tell him the truth. How he'd said that he knew he was removed from the troubles of many of the people he would be responsible for.

And then, after she'd finally agreed to help him, how he'd asked if she knew anything about his father since he'd heard of the story of how Jin Zixuan had protected her once in the cave on Muxi Mountain.

That boy was surely something.

"What's that look about?"

She knew that voice. She loved that voice.

Luo Qingyang immediately snapped back to the present to find a beautiful woman walking toward her. Her hair was held out of her face with a lavender ribbon and further decorated with two sleek hair pins and a single flower with petals in the same shade as her ribbon.

She moved with such grace that she seemed to float across the marble floor. The light green sleeves of her hanfu fluttered around her wrists and the hem danced around her ankles, giving her an ethereal quality.

"Qingqing," Luo Qingyang breathed.

She raced forward to gather her wife in her arms. She hugged her tight and twirled her around, lifting her off her feet slightly in the process.

"Was the meeting that bad?" Yu Qingqi asked through fits of laughter.

"Naturally," Luo Qingyang said, setting Qingqi back down and looking around while various council members meandered past them.

"Where is Mianmian?" she asked.

Qingqi shook her head, a teasing smile on her lips. "You're reunited with me for a moment before you start looking for our daughter instead?"

"Who else is going to catch frogs with me and chase you around to show you the huge centipede we found?"

Qingqi's smile vanished. "You need to stop encouraging her with that. You know how those things frighten me!"

Luo Qingyang took her wife in her arms again and gave her a quick kiss.

"I'll protect you from Mianmian, don't worry."

Qingqi shoved her away playfully. "You'll protect me from creepy insects, you mean?"

"Sure."

Qingqi pouted.

"All right!" Luo Qingyang said. "I'll do better to discourage her from scaring you."

"In that case, I can take you to her now."

Qingqi took Luo Qingyang's hand in her own and pulled her down the hallway in the direction of their living quarters.

"You were going to keep her from me if I didn't promise to do better?" Luo Qingyang said in mock disbelief.

Qingqi looked back over her shoulder. "Naturally," she said with a wink.

Luo Qingyang's heart fluttered.

She was lucky to have what she did. If she could give her wife and child an easier life by working for the Jin Clan for a while, it would be worth the unhappiness she felt with the position. She only hoped she wouldn't do something to jeopardize everything she'd worked for.

She'd lost everything before, and though it was for a cause she believed in, she'd been forced to build her life up again from scratch. She didn't want to do that to her family.

"So why is Mianmian not with you?" Luo Qingyang asked, continuing to allow her wife to pull her along.

"I wanted to go out and get you something," Qingqi said. "I had Huiyin look after her in the meantime."

Qin Huiyin was a nice girl and was one of many Jin disciples who was completing a newly implemented part of their training that involved helping to initiate younger students into cultivation. Since Mianmian was only two years of age, she was at a good place to start down the path.

Jin Ling had hand-selected Qin Huiyin to serve as the guide for Mianmian. He'd said that Huiyin was at the top of her class and had the respect of her peers and the adoration of her instructors.

At first, they'd worried that Jin Ling had simply picked a girl he had feelings for so that he could keep her close to him. But after working with her for a time, Yu Qingqi and Luo Qingyang had found no reason to disagree with Jin Ling's choice. Huiyin was a good girl with a cultivation level that was already stronger than Qingqi's.

This fact devastated Qingqi, which was a completely different matter.

Due to complicated family dynamics, Qingqi hadn't trained much in her youth and still did not possess a golden core, despite her age. It frustrated her to no end. Luo Qingyang had promised her that even if she could not improve her skills, she would protect her and Mianmian until her dying breath. However, this had frustrated Qingqi further still, so Luo Qingyang had refocused her energy on helping her wife to train rather than trying to comfort her.

Qingqi's progress had been painstakingly slow. But she was improving.

She opened the door to their living quarters. There was a table at the opposite end of the entry room. The walls were lined with flowers. Gardening was a favorite pastime of Qingqi's, so much of their home was filled with various plants, mostly flowers.

A girl somewhere around fourteen years of age poked her head through a partially open screen to the left. Seeing who it was that had entered, she emerged and bowed to both Qingqi and Luo Qingyang.

"How are you, Huiyin?" Luo Qingyang asked politely.

Huiyin opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by a yell from within the room she'd just exited.

"Mama!"

A small girl raced out from behind Huiyin. Her long black hair was unkempt. Luo Qingyang suspected she had been playing out in the garden. Mianmian could never retain a respectable appearance after playing outside.

But Luo Qingyang didn't care.

She picked her daughter up, planting a kiss on one of her plump cheeks. Mianmian giggled.

"She is doing well with her training," Huiyin said, smiling at Mianmian and Luo Qingyang.

"Are you still trying to teach her music?" Luo Qingyang asked.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Qingqi slip into a different room, but thought nothing of it.

"I know you find it strange," Huiyin said, bowing her head. "But your daughter shows great promise with the traditional Lan cultivation methods."

"If she's doing well and you can teach it to her, I don't care what method she learns," Luo Qingyang said.

Though she did worry how much she would be able to help her daughter in the future if she was to learn a cultivation technique with which Luo Qingyang was unfamiliar.

Qingqi returned from the other room. The very air around her seemed to quiver with excitement.

"Surprise!" she said, holding up a necklace with a pretty green jade pendant.

Luo Qingyang smiled and held her hand out to take it from her.

"I know you're not one for jewelry," Qingqi said. "But I thought of you when I saw this and I thought you might still like it."

She was right. Looking at the pendant more closely, Luo Qingyang was able to identify the shape as that of a phoenix. Its feathers looked elegant and its neck was long and graceful, but there was power in the way that it held itself.

"I love it," Luo Qingyang said quietly. Mianmian poked at the little jade bird in her mother's hand.

"Let me put it on for you?" Qingqi said.

Luo Qingyang chuckled and set Mianmian back down, much to the girl's displeasure. She gave the necklace back to Qingqi and turned around. Qingqi's soft hands brushed her face as she reached forward to rest the phoenix on Luo Qingyang's chest. She moved her fingers back and Luo Qingyang suspected she was purposely letting her skin slide against hers. She did like to tickle her whenever the opportunity arose.

Determined not to give her the satisfaction, Luo Qingyang stood stock still, keeping her laughter held tightly in her throat.

Eventually, Qingqi sighed. Luo Qingyang thought she detected a note of disappointment.

With the necklace in place, Luo Qingyang turned. Qingqi looked at the pendant for a brief moment, whispered something about how beautiful it looked on her, and then embraced her, kissing Luo Qingyang deeply and holding her close. The warmth of her reached from Luo Qingyang's toes to the tip of her tongue. She fiercely kissed her back.

Huiyin cleared her throat awkwardly and the two separated. Luo Qingyang didn't feel embarrassed though. She refused to feel badly about loving her wife.

From the impish grin on Qingqi's face, it seemed she didn't feel bad either.

"I can take my leave if you have no further need for me," Huiyin said, looking a little pink in her cheeks.

"Sure," Luo Qingyang said. "Thank you for looking after Mianmian."

"No!" Mianmian whined, pressing Huiyin's hand against her face. "Stay!"

Huiyin laughed lightly. "I'll be back. Don't worry."

"Noooo!"

"Honey, let her go," Qingqi soothed. She gave Huiyin an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. You have things to do."

"It's no trouble at all," Huiyin said. "I like spending time with Mianmian. Let me know if you have need of me again."

Huiyin bowed to each of them, gave Mianmian a knowing smile, and then took her leave.

"Alone at last," Luo Qingyang said.

Something tightened around her ankle. She looked down to find Mianmian clinging to her like her life depended on it.

"Well more alone, I suppose," Luo Qingyang corrected.

Yu Qingqi laughed and bent to pry Mianmian from her wife's feet. Mianmian resisted, grabbing her mother's other leg once Qingqi had pulled her from the first one.

"Shall we go out to the garden to collect insects?" Luo Qingyang asked.

Mianmian perked up, immediately abandoning her quest to trip her. "Can I take some home?"

"No, dear," Luo Qingyang said. "Those creatures already have their own homes. We are only to visit them."

She pouted, but only for a moment. She then hopped up, brushed herself off, and gazed earnestly at her parents.

"When are we going?" she asked.

"We can go now if-"

Qingqi was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Head Advisor Luo?" a male voice said. "Head Advisor, are you in there?"

The hair on Luo Qingyang's arms stood on end. This sounded urgent. Qingqi and Mianmian looked at her with wide eyes.

She strode to the door and threw it open, startling the Jin councilman outside.

"What is it?" she asked.

He bowed to her briefly. When he straightened, his face contorted, betraying his fear.

"There is a force heading for Jinlintai," he said.

A weight sank in Luo Qingyang's stomach. A force? An army? Was this from the civil unrest? Had it truly gotten this bad already?

She couldn't speak. Her voice had been snuffed out like a candle.

So Qingqi stepped forward and asked levelly, "A force comprised of…?"

The councilman regarded her as if unsure whether or not to answer someone who was not also a Jin advisor. But, without any prompting from Luo Qingyang, he bowed quickly and replied.

"It appears to be an alliance of several smaller clans," he said. "We are unsure what they want or why they are headed this way. There has been no official declaration of war."

"Right, but there are several different clans headed this way bearing their banners and accompanied by no children?" Luo Qingyang clarified, having found her voice again.

"That is correct."

Then it was very likely bad news. Jin Ling was leagues away and a war had come to Jinlintai.

Of course it would be under her watch! Of course this would happen to her!

Once Jin Ling returned to find his homeland in ruin, Luo Qingyang would surely lose her position and all the stability it had afforded her. Why did he have to put her in charge?

"How long until they arrive?" she asked, straightening her back and lifting her chin so as not to give away any of her internal strife.

"Our scouts estimate that they will be here within a day and a half at the earliest."

"Do we have time to send for Jin Ling?"

The councilman wrung his hands. "The sect leader is reportedly not at Lotus Pier. We are unsure of his whereabouts."

Of course, of course, of course…

Luo Qingyang turned back to Mianmian and Qingqi. Her daughter already bore the expression of a girl who knew her mother was leaving again.

"I'm very sorry," Luo Qingyang said. "You two should go to the gardens. It seems that I have another meeting to attend."

Tears welled in Mianmian's dark eyes.

"You said we would all go together," she pleaded.

Qingqi picked her up. Mianmian wiggled against her but didn't fight very hard.

"She didn't mean for this to happen," Qingqi explained. "She's very important and other people need her help right now. You and I can go have fun, can't we?"

Mianmian was not convinced. The tears that had pooled in her eyes began to overflow.

"But you won't catch insects with me!" she wailed. "You're too afraid!"

The councilman looked nervously between Luo Qingyang and her wife, clearly too nervous to ask them to return to the matter at hand but also held in place by his need to collect the head advisor for planning.

Qingqi motioned for Luo Qingyang to leave. "Go," she said. "I can handle this."

Luo Qingyang gave her a sympathetic look. She kissed her distraught daughter atop her head and then followed the councilman out of her living quarters and back into the room that had become her prison.

Jin Ling needed to return soon. If he didn't, with the way things had been going, there might not be anything for him to return to in the future.