The Fourth Fall - Chapter 18 preview (Patreon)

**Author Note: Preview chapters are rough/first drafts. These chapters have not been edited, expect that there may be errors - however, feel free to point out consistency issues!*

Wu Ying shifted a little, trying to settle his body, relax his mind and body in the formal robes he was forced to wear. The ceremonies had run for the last two hours, various speeches, rituals and the passing of tea and documents, the presentation of gifts for the Princesse's dowry such that she could live a life of comfort afterwards, if her husband died. Such that she could be seen as bringing value to the kingdom.

Some of those gifts were mundane, border towns and villages that now dedicated their taxes to the Princess. Not ownership, not yet, though eventually it would transfer over. Once the formal treaty negotiations were over, once the new borders were ratified. Other gifts were more beautiful, but impractical. Bolts and bolts of silk, coloured and woven by the greatest of weavers. Delicate porcelain bowls, some so fine  you could swear you could see through the edges, painted and fired and glowing with luscious illustrations. Paintings from masters, both old and new. Jewellry, boxes and boxes of jewelry as befitted a princess.

More cultivator specific, enchanted items arrived too. A comb that would untangle hair with a single stroke, making the hair lustrous and shining. A brooch that glowed and shifted the colour of its gems as the speaker's emotions and intentions shifted, reflecting the mood of those around. A storage ring and the traveling tent and gear that went into it, such that the Princess could always be relaxed.

The fourth Prince watched this all with a smile on his face, a small delicate one that was polite and impersonal as it arrived for his wife to be, displayed by dukes and nobles and generals and cultivators. He thanked them, always unflailingly polite as he sat on the hard wooden chair and never once gave away his boredom or discomfort.

A Prince, a proper prince, who understood the game that was played. Wu Ying could admire that, even as he gently rotated his ankle and shifted his weight again.

"You should stand still," Fa Yuan muttered, out of the corner of her mouth. She wove the air with subtle chi, ensuring none could hear her so as not to disrupt the proceedings.

"I'm trying, but the wind wishes to move. I might have overdone it, at the stage," Wu Ying replied, hiding the quiet grimace within himself as he felt the throb of the wind, the swirling breeze and the shifting air as those around traversed the land. A subtle breeze kept moving through the corridors, earmarking the attendees for Wu Ying.

Not that he was on guard duty at the moment. The Right Guardian had taken over, being delegated to the Fourth Prince directly for now and during the ceremonies. A necessary change, for sake of dignity and respect, to allow the Verdant Green Waters to stand there, during this important ceremony.

And also, for Wu Ying's own good. He would play guard and watch over the group during less official ceremonies or meetings, but such events especially with the King in attendance, his less polished and impatient demeanour was less than desirable. It didn't help that...

"You took on all Three Swords of the Iron Pass. Of course you're feeling it now," Fa Yuan muttered. "What drove you to that foolishness anyway? I thought you had grown up."

"Can a man ever truly mature?" Wu Ying said, with quiet amusement. "Should he? For the Dao is about embracing all parts of us, even the foolish, the youth. Finding the right time and place to express it."

"In the middle of a wedding?"

"I saw no one objecting."

"Because they wanted to see exactly how strong you are."

"Yes." Wu Ying knew that had been part of their goals. Knew that they had intended to test him. It was why he had allowed himself to let loose a little, but still held back on some deeper secrets. Like his ability to sense the surroundings through the air, his ability to almost teleport himself where he needed to be or even the full speed of his wind form, if given full reign. He had also not poured his sword dao into Ren, though that was more practical. After all, dismembering your sparring partners was generally frowned upon.

She side-eyed him, that smiled a little as his answer. Rather than pursue that conversation, she asked instead. "And how did the Three Swords fare?"

"Well. They're skilled." Wu Ying considered, then added. "I would not wish to face them together." He nodded a little where the three stood on the opposite side of the procession, where they spoke and hung with other members of the Wei nobillity. Even as they held disparate conversations, they stood in such a way that they covered each other's backs, they shifted a little, hands and feet moving in a weird synchronicity that ensured that none of them were ever fully uncovered.

Fa Yuan lips pursed but nodded. After a moment, she added softly. "If you have time, you should test the General of the Fourth Army. I believe they'll be coming with us."

"I believe Elder Hsu has already tried." He had to stop himself from laughing as he recalled the conversation related to him. "The General was quite blunt about his refusal."

"Oh?"

"He was quite firm that he did not embrace men on the battlefield or sparring rink." Then, even more amused, added. "Though he offered a private dinner afterwards."

Fa Yuan's eyes widened, scandalized. "He didn't."

"Oh, yes. I understand that is why Elder Hsu has refused to continue to participate in the ceremonies." Wu Ying was amused, for the man had very strict views about such companionship. While he was not abstinent, he did lean towards a regulated among of fornication, to carefully manage the amount of Yang chi within him.

It was not, entirely, unusual as the process of subsuming oneself in another, of passion and intercourse was an exchange of chi at the deepest level. Or at least, some schools of thought believed so. Others felt it no different than passing chi into another via healing, or projecting chi during a battle into an opponent's body. And that too, was not incorrect.

At least in Wu Ying's view. They were both correct, and yet, wrong. For the degree of intimacy, the degree of personalisation and empowerment was, as always, personal. Casual for one was intimate for another, immersive and life-altering or a dalliance, it was personal. As individual as a dao, as convoluted as a woman's honor or a man's decency.

Amused, Fa Yuan said. "That upfront is he, the fourth General?"

Now the pair were looking at the man, standing only a short distance from the Prince and Princess, behind them and below the dais of the King who oversaw all this. A big man, rotund and bearing the physique of a strong man gone to seed. But still strong. For the armour he wore, the traditional scale mail garb could not be light, and yet he wore it with ease and even Wu Ying, with his little knowledge of formations and enchantments could sense the chi that swirled around it. Formations and runes of weight, but not to make the armour lighter but the opposite.

The man was like an unmovable rock, and the wind swirled around him, parting around the Earth cultivator as though understanding that this was one mountain that would take many years to wear down. Then again, the Fourth General, the Rock of the Wei, was like his army, the defensive specialist of the kingdom. They were not fast, they were not a group you repositioned easily.

But where they stood, they held. Even the Shen armies had learnt that, learnt that and maneuvered around the army when possible, to strike behind or deeper into territory. Yet, slow they might be, their very presence curtailed any deeper attacks, forcing the army to only probe along the edges of the provinces they had been stationed at.

A big man, a neatly trimmed mustache, lined eyes. A Core Formation cultivator at his peak, nearly a dozen rings around him. Yet, like before, Wu Ying sensed that this was a man who would never take that final step. Not because his meridians and dantian were clogged with impurities, but because his own dao had never been fully compreheneded, the immortal spirit within him starved of enlightenment and understanding. A small thing, beating within the body.

"And the first General?" Wu Ying asked, curiously. He could see the man in the back, a handsome man though he might be older, so handsome that it even hurt to look at him. Women all over the palace hallways cast covetous glances his way, and a part of Wu Ying was glad that Yang Mu was not invited to these ceremonies. Only a part, for the Handsome General was a name that everyone knew as well as his tragic story.

"He will not be with us. The King will not let him leave his side," Fa Yuan replied.

And that too was part of the story. Too handsome, too charming, too smart for his own good. Though he had never shown an iota of disloyalty, his very presence was a threat to the King. He could have raised an army, convinced a dozen others, married and seduced and maybe won the throne through bloody civil war.

So rather than chance that, the Handsome General of the Wei stayed behind and guarded the King of Wei and guarded his city. Not his palace, and he never had more men than the royal guards. His army was smallest of all, his men rotated out on the regular - or so loyal that they were never allowed to leave or be promoted.

Not that the Core Formation cultivator was a personal danger either. Not when one of the guards standing beside the King was a Nascent Soul cultivator. And what a life, Wu Ying could not help but imagine. To be so powerful, and yet so constrained.

"So only the fourth General and the First Prince," Wu Ying replied, confirming the important members of the royal family they would expect to see.

Those thoughts of constraint could also be turned to the man standing beside the King, overshadowed now when he had first been the main player. The last member of the expedition, for the King surely would not come. That kind of danger was not acceptable, especially for an initial meeting between nations.

The First Prince of Wei, Wei Cao, was a mid-Core formation cultivator, around seven or eight different layers utilised within his body. He was thin and elegant, the epitome of a gentleman scholar with his smooth white jade features, thin and angular face and graceful nose. Dressed in imperial robes of gold and silver and red, he carried no visible weapon and through the entire proceedings had managed to look not just interested but present.

A contrast to the bored and disatisfied King of Wei, who shifted on his chair occassionally while waiting for the ceremonies to be over. The only personage in the front who could allow that degree of shared boredom to show, for none would take him to task. Nor even, likely, consider it too great an insult.

"Yes. I'd ask you to learn of the Prince's strengths, but..." she trailed off.

Wu Ying understood. One did not just challenge the First Prince of another nation to a sparring match, no matter one's standing or cultivation stage. Nor did Wu Ying consider the First Prince to be a concern, at least not in a martial sense. Like his father, the man's meridians and dantian were clogged with impurities, though not as dangerously so. Still, the lack of control of his aura and the pulsing, almost oily and slightly tainted odor that arose from him - and much of the royal entourage - was highly noticable. His strengths had been gained by pill and bath, not dedicated cultivation.

Finally, the gift giving was over. The pair stood up, bowing to the assembly and then turning to the King to offer him a bow. Wu Ying knew the next steps, a retreat to a change of clothing and finally, the reception in the evening. They would have ten courses, full courses of meals, ranging from fresh fish to duck and noodles to celebrate the nuptials, with desserts arriving afterwards and a free flow of drink. Wine would be poured, in such quantities that it could drown a village.

And through it all, Wu Ying knew, more posturing. More subtle jabs at one another and their supposed allies.

But at least, finally, it was over. And the celebrations, while long-lasting, would mark the end of hostilities. Perhaps for good. Who knew, perhaps one day, with more marriages and maneuverings, both kingdoms might join one another.

Stranger things had happened.