Ren was glad to leave the capital city for the training grounds; The cutthroat politicking spilling out of the place was why she enlisted in the first place. She had to admit that the trip had been worth it though, and not just because of avenging her comrades. Seeing the 11th Regiment finally receive its share to rebuild itself was gratifying, and it was just as good to have all the prestige they'd fought and toiled for finally be put to use.
The Fire Lord had been impressed enough with Xing to ensure priority allocation of all resources to the 11th, which extended to choice selection of recruits. Still, it'd be a grueling couple of months of careful culling to raise the battalions and fully fill in the missing numbers of the 11th Regiment. It was already a pain back when they were campaigning to get the trickle of reinforcements up to standard, with the fires of battle often serving as the best method of forging the clueless recruits into proper soldiers. Within the Fire Nation, where there were no Earth Kingdom partisans to scare the inexperienced and over-confident rookies straight?
Captain Ren was not looking forward to training up her officers and her rank and file.
She consoled herself that at least she would be free from Fire Nation politicking, unlike poor Xing. It was certain that her little brother would have to deal with nobles and bureaucrats while the 11th was rebuilt. Whether he liked it or not, Xing had to establish the same parody of a friendship that every other influential person did while he remained within the heart of the Fire Nation.
And with the fame and mystique attached to his name, poor Xing would likely have to deal with snakes and bootlickers by the cartload. Ren snickered as she imagined the number of dinner invitations Xing would be forced to attend.
Hopefully Colonel Sho would still be around for a while to look after his younger peer. The venerable commander was the most level-headed and reliable of Colonel Lidai's small but close circle of friends. He'd make sure Xing didn't get plied with wine or get 'introduced' to bright, pretty daughters.
Hopefully.
If it was Colonel Dao doing the minding, then Ren could only pray that Xing wouldn't become a young father before the rebuilt 11th even had the chance to deploy.
Captain Ren sighed as she imagined all the trouble her young, brilliant adopted brother (screw what Kai thinks) would get dragged into. Shaking off the thoughts, the newly promoted captain got to work in her new office and summoned her new lieutenants. She'd have a quick look at the new graduates before throwing them into the sparring circle for a few rounds and then seeing how they handled Xing's wargame.
It'd be nice if at least one of them was a cute and well-mannered scion.
*****
"A bit too sparse, don'tcha think?"
Sho ignored Dao's rumbling comment as he walked through the gates of a noble's manor. His soft but firm steps were drowned out by Dao's more unrestrained stomping. Sho didn't let that distract him from taking in his surroundings, though, and he noted how unworn the compound seemed.
Parts of the courtyard still showed the circular patterns of weights being dropped onto them to compact the ground, and the tiles that led towards the house still had that freshly cut sharpness to their edges. In contrast, the roof tiles on the buildings ahead were dull with age, betraying the history of this manor that hadn't been completely rewritten by an eager noble's renovation.
"It does have its charm," Koda's more refined voice chimed in from behind Sho. "Spacious enough to host a decent party. Nothing gaudy sticking out, though I suppose that's due to the tenure of the previous owner more than anything else…"
There was a soft thud, followed by a surprising admonishment from Dao. "Oi, it's disrespectful to speak ill of the dead. 'Specially in front of their family."
Sho kept himself from rolling his eyes as he focused on the small assembly waiting in the main hall in front of him. The widow of the household stood stiffly, and was dressed in rather plain red silks, with a white armband to signify her mourning. Her servants wore clean but clearly cheaper clothes, and though they kept their heads bowed there was no hiding their nervousness.
The widow bowed in greeting as Sho and his group came to a stop several paces away. "Greetings to the honorable warriors of the Fire Nation. Please accept my welcome, I am Lady Saishen."
Neither Sho, Dao, Koda or Yashen replied, it wasn't their right as mere companions and witnesses.
Instead, Xing stepped forward and bowed in return. "Thank you for your welcome, Lady Saishen. My humble self is Xing, recently promoted to colonel." Crisply and simply delivered, just as rehearsed. Sho kept an eye on the woman, practically still a girl now that he paid attention to her features. Her face was still plump with youth, some pinkness showing through the light facepaint, and the ink on her brows accentuated her eyes rather nicely, though the resignation did dampen the youthful vigor in them.
Very pretty, by any standard, which would've made her marriage to her late husband a thing of some prestige. Her looks might have discounted her dowry by a hefty margin too…
"Colonel Xing," Saishen said with a faint tremor, "would you and your companions like some tea first, or would you prefer for a tour?"
"If you do not mind, could I ask some questions first?"
The widow and the servants stiffened, though she slowly nodded after a second's pause. "What might I help you with, colonel?"
Gently, Sho silently advised, and judging from the looks of his friends, it was a shared sentiment.
"If I might be blunt-" Ah, shit. "-what will you do after this?"
Saishen blinked in confusion. "I'm…sorry?"
Xing's head tilted slightly to one side. "Will you be returning to your family, or have the parents of your late husband take you in?"
"Too quick," Yashen muttered tightly, though neither he nor the other commanders tried to intervene. It might be better to see how things play out instead of cutting in and marking Xing's reputation as a child in constant need for guidance in courtesy. Besides, he had some leeway as a mere commoner. At worst, they could just admonish him later and apologize to the widow for the rudeness.
Lady Saishen paused for a second to recompose herself, though she still wore confusion rather than offense as she answered Xing. "I…will return to stay with my parents."
So the young lady was not with child yet…
Sho quietly took a step back and elbowed Dao before the walking thundercloud could voice what he was obviously thinking.
Xing gave a short nod. "I see…"
The widow's eyes narrowed a fraction. "Why do you ask?"
"If you'd like, this can still be your home."
There was a thoughtful pause on her part, and Sho noticed how the servants were exchanging glances.
"What would the price be?" she cautiously asked.
"Do you hold any affection for your dead husband?"
Saishen almost recoiled at the bluntness of the question, and there were several raised eyebrows from the staff behind her.
"I…"
"I only ask that you seek to annul your marriage," the boy continued, likely already finding the answer in her panicked politeness, as Sho had. "Shiluo died in disgrace, and his brother, the late Duke Cho, had also suffered a…an allegedly harsh end. You should not suffer any great scandal for the annulment."
"I-I… Why?"
The young colonel lightly shrugged. "I will be fighting in the colonies, alongside my regiment. There's frankly no reason for me to maintain a home here in the capital. It's also currently too far from the barracks where I need to oversee the rebuilding, so that's not practical as well."
"I…see." Saishen's posture slackened a bit, probably in disbelief, as she sighed out the words.
And judging from how Xing's back seemed to straighten, he was probably flashing her a reassuring smirk. "I've heard of how the late fu- general was envied when he wed you, Lady Saishen, and I'm sure there's still plenty of suitors waiting for you to finish mourning. This manor, in such a favorable district, might be an asset to help you negotiate better deals with them."
The silence that followed was awkward and heavy as all eyes remained on young Xing. Finally, the widow's lips twitched up into a faint smile as she spoke.
"I'm surprised you are not naming yourself as a suitor."
"Huh? Me?"
"Told you," Yashen muttered at a scoffing Dao. "That's twenty pots of wine."
"He's smart, but still unversed with the upper classes," Koda agreed with amusement.
Beyond the colonels' murmurs, Xing actually reeled back with some indignation. "I'm not Cao Cao. And I'm still too young, am I not?"
"Betrothals are a thing," Sho finally spoke, earning a quick look from Xing as the realization struck the boy.
"Oh. Right."
There was a soft giggle from Lady Saishen as the tension in the air slowly bled away. "If I may be honest, that is one of the expected…outcomes."
Now it was Xing's turn to blink as he returned to stare at the woman, and then shifted it to Sho and the other colonels.
"It is?"
"It is, though it's not too common nowadays," Koda helpfully provided, "but then again, neither is transferring a disgraced commander's property to his successor. It would make sense to complete the humiliation by also taking ownership, if you will, of the disgraced's family."
Seeing the boy's face scrunch up with a mix of disbelief and disgust, Sho couldn't help a short chuckle. "You're not looking at this from a noble's perspective, Xing."
The colonel suffered his younger peer's glare for a few seconds. "Then why didn't you tell me about it on the way here?"
The four seasoned colonels all grinned as one.
"Well, you seemed to have everything all sorted out," Yashen drawled, and then glanced laconically to his colleagues. "And it did sound like a good plan."
"Quite so!" Dao agreed before breaking into booming laughter. "You asked good questions, so it'd be a shame to waste the answers!"
"And we didn't want to ruin your fun," Koda added with a gentle smile.
Xing glared at the four of them angrily, and in that moment, Sho saw the young prodigy as what he was supposed to be: a mere boy. Not a skilled and hardened warrior who just months ago bled and almost died alongside his fellow comrades, not a cunning strategist that had kept a tattered regiment fighting against all odds. This was just a boy dressed as a military commander, on the verge of a childish tantrum from suffering a small prank by adults.
He shouldn't have had to grow up in the battlefield, amidst the bloodshed.
Sho pushed that sobering thought away with a soft sigh, and took a step forwards to lightly ruffle Xing's hair. "Come, come, don't take it too hard. It's not like you've misstepped. If anything, your strategy showed how spiteless your intent was towards Lady Saishen."
Said lady nodded, smiling more freely now as she seemed to regard Xing with less reservation. "I am grateful that you do not regard with me…hostility, Colonel Xing."
The boy stopped pouting and pushed Sho's hand away before shaking his head at her. "You weren't responsible. Shiluo was, and he's paid for it already, whether I like it or not."
With the atmosphere lighter, negotiations went more or less as Xing had wanted, without having to press the point too much. Lady Saishen would publicly annul her marriage to General Shiluo, and once that one-sided declaration went through, ownership of the manor and everything in it would be transferred to her. In the meantime, She and her relieved servants were free to continue staying there.
There were no other conditions nor betrothals. Xing had only wanted to erase Shiluo's memory. To make him forgotten, rather than notorious.
As far as humiliation plots went, it was rather simple. Boring, even, for the standards of the upper classes, who'd find creative ways to dishonor even the dead.
They left in better spirits than when they entered, and only as they approached the carriage that Sho recalled something of interest.
"Xing, what is a 'Cao Cao'?"
The boy gave Sho a blank look for a moment. "Uh…"
"Another of your 'spirit talk'?" Dao butted in, and Xing gave a shrug.
"Sort of…"
Before Sho could press any further, there was a shout and the pattering of hurried claws. A rider in fine red silk rode up to the quintet on a finely barded ostrich horse, bearing a scroll in hand.
"A messenger from the royal palace," Sho helpfully identified for Xing.
"Colonel Xing! Colonel Xing!"
Xing presented himself before the messenger with a crisp salute. "I am Colonel Xing. What does the Fire Lord request of me?"
"It is not the Fire Lord," the messenger corrected as he offered the scroll. "Princess Azula requests your presence."
"Oh ho, the princess huh? Compared to a wido-ooof!"
Sho's elbow grazed Yashen's as both of them had the same idea, and stopped their friend's running mouth to drag them into trouble again.