Lu-Woo Meeting

Two aged and masterful puppeteers meet to discus the future of our young protagonist as she sets out on her first ever adventure outside of Fenjing.

Two old men sat in a small atrium on soft, forgiving bamboo floors. They say across from each other, both with great poise, eating small delicacies.

“Do you think she is being sent there to indicate that Po knows about the plot?” The slightly smaller Master Lu asked.

“No.” His lifelong companion waved his hand. “Po is not so subtle. I believe it was a suggestion from his son.”

“Ah, yes, you have brought young Heng up well. Unfortunate that he should not display the same compassion that his grandfather knew.”

“In idolizing his grandfather he creates an image not of who was, but who he wants to be.”

“History is quite dubious this way, is it not?”

“Reality as well.”

The two men sat quietly again and mulled over their agreement on philosophy. The issue at hand still gnawed at Master Lu, so after a moment he broke the silence yet again.

“You suppose they will find the girl?” He pondered.

“Yes. Master Lin knows where she is, he has most likely told his grandson.”

“An interesting pair, Huang and Yi.”

“Like Yin and Yang. They are very powerful together. Po does not know this, but I wonder if Heng has seen it. I fear that the Lin family has already assumed it, they seem to be encouraging the couple.”

“Do you think they will be used to combat the Fen clan?”

“The problem that the Lin family faces is that the upcoming split will be much more divisive than the Fen Clan’s re-organization under Heng. The Lin Family is losing a great patriarch, the Fen family gaining one.”

Still unsatisfied with the subject that seemed to be unable to be rid from his mind, Master Lu turned the conversation backwards once again. “But Heng does not approve of the Xi match, would he really be plotting to retrieve the girl? What is the harm in simply disowning her?”

“Unfortunately, for him the subject has gone past his sister. It is now about the children. He is curious about their abilities, their loyalties.”

“And you can do nothing about his inclination?”

Master Woo laughed and shook his head, “He has been taking to the ideas and philosophies of that orphan boy.”

“Bai Zhou?”

“Yes, they meet almost weekly, it has made him raise important questions about loyalty, dangerous ones.”

“And so he has lost his loyalty to you?”

“To me, to his father, I fear that he even questions the Emperor.”

Master Lu raised his eyebrows, “does he? This is dangerous indeed.”

“Perhaps.” Master Woo seemed to brush the problem aside, making Master Lu even more curious. “But the end result is that I, we, can do little to avert the coming disaster. Huang, Yi and Mei will return with Lien, and she will be forced into the Xi house, and another war will be provoked.”

“A twisted plot indeed.”

“Perhaps with this final annihilation of the Xi house there will be a more lasting peace in Fenjing.”

“Is that what you thought when you destroyed it last time?”

“Was I wrong?”

“It’s different for you now, old friend. You have suffered at the hands of your own massacres. Even the orphan is a ghost from your past. I know that you see the truth about this kind of peace, it is not lasting, it is silence, but not serenity.”

“Silence but not serenity.” Master Woo repeated these words with an approving smile. “This seems to be the life… the fate of young Lien.”

“And with so many powerful men overseeing her demise, how could it not be?”

“Indeed. Perhaps we should focus instead on Heng’s plans, his perception of Yi.”

“I have not given the Fen house direct knowledge of her abilities or her dispositions.”

“She will eventually be sent to Chang’An, perhaps even after the coming succession. There she will meet Master Tan.”

Master Lu smiled brightly at the remembrance of this fun loving and bright young boy, though he knew Master Tan was an ageing man by now. “Then what?”

“Then Master Shang.”

Master Lu nodded gravely. “It is dubious to make plans that succeed us.”

“And yet, in children, do we not?”

“Young Yi will be affected by the injustice that she finds in the life �" the future death �" of Lien. Do you suppose then that she will join with Shang in your succession?”

Woo was silent, indicating both that he did not know the answer, and that he had grown disinterested in the politics they were discussing. After a long moment of silence he asked wearily, “If I thought that it existed, I would do anything to guide that girl to freedom, rather than plotting with her as a pawn.”

“Me too, old friend. Me too.”

Author's Note

This scene is heavily reliant on the main book, but with careful attention more of the plot is revealed in these two pages than in the first two hundred pages of Family.