The delegation found them beside a peach orchard.
Ji Xuanyue considered this inappropriate.
Not because delegations required ceremonial halls.
Because the peaches were excellent.
She was holding one when six riders appeared on the eastern road.
Shen Yaoran looked up from beneath the tree.
Ji did not.
She took another bite.
The peach was slightly underripe.
Still good.
The riders slowed.
Not ordinary travelers.
Ji knew before they reached the orchard.
Uniform spacing.
Carefully neutral clothing.
Three horses carrying document cases.
One rider in partial military armor.
No banners.
That last part interested her.
Shen looked at Ji.
"Capital."
"You know?"
"I suspect."
Ji looked east.
The road disappeared behind low hills.
The imperial capital remained perhaps three days away at their current pace.
Two if the roads improved.
Minutes if either of them stopped pretending distance mattered.
Ji returned to the peach.
"Do we run?"
Shen stared.
"No."
"Good."
"You were joking."
"Yes."
"Mostly."
The riders stopped several dozen paces away.
Nobody dismounted immediately.
Ji understood.
They had found her.
Now none of them wanted to be the first person to approach.
She finished the peach.
Shen watched.
"You're making them wait."
"I was eating."
"Terrifying."
Ji looked at the pit.
"There is nowhere to put this."
Shen pointed toward the ground.
"That seems solvable."
Ji tossed it beneath the tree.
The first rider dismounted.
Woman.
Late forties, perhaps.
Dark travelling armor beneath a plain outer robe.
Sword at her waist.
She left it there.
Good.
A man dismounted behind her.
Older.
Official robes stripped of most insignia.
Then another woman.
Merchant clothing.
Expensive fabric chosen not to look expensive.
Ji recognized the effort.
The remaining three appeared to be aides or guards.
The armored woman approached first.
She stopped ten paces away.
Bowed.
Not deeply.
"Ji Xuanyue."
Ji blinked.
No lady.
No title.
She liked that immediately.
"Yes."
"My name is Duan Ruolan. Acting commander of the remaining capital watch."
"Acting?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"My commander died."
Ji nodded.
Duan's expression did not change.
The older official stepped forward.
"Luo Yancheng. Former deputy minister of metropolitan administration."
"Former?"
He smiled without humor.
"We are uncertain which ministries technically remain."
"That sounds familiar."
His eyebrows rose slightly.
Ji thought of Zhao Wenyun.
The merchant woman introduced herself next.
"He Mingzhu. I speak for the eastern and southern merchant associations currently handling most civilian freight entering the capital."
"Speak for?"
"They agreed I could come."
"Good."
He Mingzhu seemed surprised by that response.
The last principal delegate was a thin man in physician's robes.
"Su Jian. I oversee four of the larger relief shelters."
"Officially?"
"No."
Ji smiled faintly.
"Also good."
Su Jian looked confused.
Shen stood.
Duan Ruolan's gaze shifted to her.
Recognition.
Different.
Not from face.
From presence.
"You are Shen Yaoran."
"Yes."
Duan bowed to her.
Shen returned it.
Luo Yancheng looked between them.
"We had heard you were travelling together."
Ji sighed.
"From where?"
"All directions."
"Of course."
He Mingzhu glanced toward the peach trees.
"This is perhaps not where we expected the meeting."
Ji looked around.
"Do you dislike peaches?"
"No."
"Then it seems fine."
Shen smiled.
The delegation did not.
Not yet.
Ji gestured toward the shade.
"Sit."
Three of them froze.
Ji noticed.
Again.
Command.
Too easy.
She sighed.
"I mean you may sit."
That helped slightly.
They moved beneath the trees.
No table.
No chairs.
The aides spread travel cloth.
Ji sat on the grass instead.
Everyone stared.
Shen sat beside her.
He Mingzhu adapted first.
She sat.
Su Jian followed.
Luo Yancheng took slightly longer.
Duan remained standing.
Ji looked up.
"Comfortable?"
"Yes."
"Fine."
The aides stayed farther back.
Ji looked at the four delegates.
"You came from the capital."
"Yes," Luo said.
"Who sent you?"
Silence.
Ji waited.
Duan answered.
"No one person."
Better.
"Explain."
Luo folded his hands.
"There is a provisional council."
Ji closed her eyes.
Shen looked away.
Luo paused.
"Problem?"
"No."
Ji opened her eyes.
"I have had several councils recently."
He Mingzhu's mouth twitched.
Luo continued.
"The capital council has no claim to national authority."
"Good."
"It currently coordinates food, water, street patrols, corpse recovery, refugee shelters, and basic repairs."
Ji looked at Su Jian.
"Shelters."
"Yes."
"People still displaced inside the city?"
"Many."
Ji nodded.
"What does the council call itself?"
Luo hesitated.
Ji narrowed her eyes.
"The Capital Recovery Council."
"That is acceptable."
Shen coughed.
Ji looked at her.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Luo continued.
"The surviving metropolitan offices send representatives."
"Military?"
Duan answered.
"Capital watch. Some army remnants."
"Court?"
"Some."
"Merchants?"
He Mingzhu raised one hand.
"Temples?"
Su Jian nodded.
"Guilds?"
"Yes."
"District heads?"
"Yes."
Ji considered.
"Who leads?"
Another silence.
He Mingzhu said, "Depends on the hour."
Ji smiled.
Duan almost did.
Luo sighed.
"We have no recognized supreme authority."
"Yes."
"That is why we came."
There.
Ji looked toward the eastern road.
"You want to know what I intend."
"Yes."
"Before I arrive."
"Yes."
Ji looked back.
"Ask."
No one did.
Ji waited.
Shen plucked a blade of grass.
He Mingzhu finally spoke.
"Do you intend to take Cangyuan's throne?"
"No."
Immediate.
All four delegates exhaled differently.
Duan spoke next.
"Do you intend to appoint someone to it?"
"No."
Luo:
"Recognize a claimant?"
"No."
Su Jian:
"Dissolve the remaining government?"
"No."
He Mingzhu:
"Recognize the Recovery Council?"
"No."
That hurt more.
Luo nodded as though he expected it.
Duan remained still.
"Disband the capital watch?"
"Why?"
Duan paused.
"That is not an answer."
"No."
Ji looked at her.
"What does the watch do?"
"Maintain city order."
"Currently?"
"Yes."
"Abuse civilians?"
"No."
"Collect unauthorized tolls?"
Duan's expression changed.
"We removed two officers for that."
"Good."
"Then?"
Ji shrugged.
"Why would I disband you?"
Duan looked genuinely uncertain.
"Because we served Cangyuan."
Ji stared.
"So did half the people I've met."
"We served the imperial capital."
"Yes."
"Under the Emperor."
"Yes."
Duan's jaw tightened.
Ji understood.
"You think loyalty itself is the crime."
A pause.
"We do not know what you think."
Fair.
Ji looked down at her hands.
Then back.
"I did not kill the Dragon-Crowned Emperor because people obeyed him."
Silence.
"I killed him because of what he chose."
Duan listened.
"Following lawful orders that were not crimes does not make every soldier culpable."
Her shoulders loosened by a fraction.
Ji continued.
"Following unlawful slaughter because someone above you ordered it does not erase culpability either."
The shoulders tightened again.
Good.
Both could be true.
Duan nodded.
"I understand."
"Do you?"
"Yes."
Ji believed she did.
Luo spoke.
"Then there will not be another… general judgment."
Ji looked at him.
"No."
The word travelled visibly through the group.
He Mingzhu closed her eyes.
Su Jian breathed.
Luo's face lost some of its careful neutrality.
Ji continued before relief became misunderstanding.
"I am not returning to punish the capital."
"Yes."
"That does not mean everyone inside it is protected from consequences for anything they have done."
Silence.
"If someone participated in the slaughter, ordered it, profited knowingly from it, or continues hurting people now, my arrival does not make them innocent because I said I am not attacking the city."
Luo nodded slowly.
"So no collective punishment."
"No."
"Individual accountability."
"When warranted."
Duan looked at her.
"By you?"
Ji paused.
Good question.
"Not necessarily."
Another pause.
"I am not replacing your courts."
Luo almost looked grateful.
"If your courts are functioning."
Less grateful.
Ji continued.
"If they are covering crimes to protect powerful people, that becomes another issue."
He Mingzhu smiled faintly.
Luo glanced at her.
"Do not."
"I said nothing."
Ji looked at Shen.
Shen smiled.
Apparently everyone had that problem.
Su Jian asked, "Will there be fighting?"
Ji looked at him.
"I do not intend to start any."
"That is not the same as no."
"No."
Su Jian's face tightened.
Ji did not soften it.
"If someone attacks me, I will respond."
"Yes."
"If someone uses my arrival to attack civilians, I will respond."
"Yes."
"If factions decide the capital is a good place to settle succession disputes with armies…"
He Mingzhu closed her eyes.
"They are discussing that."
"Of course they are."
Duan looked irritated.
"Several commanders believe whoever controls the capital has the strongest claim."
"To what?"
"The empire."
Ji stared.
"That seems premature."
"Yes."
Luo said, "Historically, possession of the capital matters."
"Historically the Emperor also claimed dragons obeyed him."
Silence.
Luo inclined his head.
"Point taken."
Ji looked east again.
"What do they expect me to do?"
He Mingzhu answered.
"Some expect you to kill them."
"Good incentive."
"Some expect you to choose among them."
"No."
"Some believe if they demonstrate enough military strength before you arrive, you will recognize them as useful."
Ji stared.
"Why?"
"No idea."
Shen laughed.
He Mingzhu looked at her.
"Thank you."
Shen nodded.
Duan said, "One faction believes you intend to rule through whichever army submits first."
"No."
"Another believes you intend to dismantle Cangyuan entirely."
"No."
"Another believes you intend to hand the empire to Lanyue."
Ji's expression changed.
"No."
Strong enough that the grass moved.
Barely.
Everyone felt it.
Ji stopped immediately.
Control.
The pressure vanished.
She breathed.
"Absolutely not."
Duan nodded.
"That rumor is common."
"Lanyue did not ask for Cangyuan."
"No."
"I do not rule Lanyue."
"No."
"I will not give another country an empire because I killed its Emperor."
Luo looked relieved.
Ji noticed.
"Were you worried?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because people are frightened."
That was honest.
Ji nodded.
"Fine."
Luo looked at the document case beside him.
"There is another matter."
Ji looked at it.
"Paper."
"Yes."
"Why is it always paper?"
He Mingzhu said, "Civilization."
Ji stared.
She had heard that recently.
"Do not become Gao."
Nobody understood.
Shen laughed.
Luo opened the case.
Removed a folded document.
Then stopped.
"This is not a request for recognition."
"Good."
"Nor appointment."
"Better."
He looked uncomfortable.
Ji waited.
"It concerns the imperial dead."
Ji went still.
The orchard became quieter.
Not actually.
Birds continued.
Wind moved.
Someone farther down the road shouted at a mule.
Ji heard none of it for a moment.
"The Emperor."
Luo nodded.
"And others."
Ji looked at him.
"What about them?"
"Full funerary rites have not been conducted."
Ji frowned.
"Why?"
No one answered immediately.
Ji stared.
"Why?"
Su Jian spoke.
"Fear."
Ji looked at him.
"Of what?"
Su Jian met her eyes.
"You."
That landed.
Ji sat very still.
Luo unfolded the document.
"We recovered many bodies after the collapse."
Ji knew.
Some she had caused.
Some not.
"The former Emperor's remains are secured."
Ji's jaw tightened slightly.
"His household?"
"Those recovered."
"Court officials?"
"Many."
"Soldiers?"
"Thousands across the city and approaches."
Ji looked down.
"Why aren't they buried?"
"Many are."
Luo answered carefully.
"The ordinary dead first."
"Good."
"Military burials where families claimed them."
"Yes."
"Common cremations where identification failed."
Ji nodded.
"But the imperial rites…"
He stopped.
Ji looked at him.
"People think I will object."
"Yes."
"Why?"
He Mingzhu answered.
"Because public mourning can be interpreted as political loyalty."
Ji stared at her.
"To a dead man."
"Yes."
"I killed him."
"Yes."
"He is still dead."
"Yes."
"I am aware."
He Mingzhu's mouth twitched.
Ji did not smile.
Luo continued.
"Some surviving officials fear holding imperial rites will look like an attempt to preserve the old dynasty."
"Are they?"
"Some probably intend it that way."
Ji sighed.
"Of course."
"Others simply believe the dead should be buried according to custom."
"Yes."
"The families are afraid."
Ji looked at Luo.
"Of me."
"Yes."
Something inside Ji hurt.
Not guilt exactly.
Worse in a quieter way.
She remembered the capital during her first arrival.
People watching from behind shutters.
Courtiers who had believed dragons would save them.
The throne room.
The Emperor.
His certainty.
Her answer.
Death.
She had wanted him to understand.
He had.
At the end.
Then she killed him.
That had been the judgment.
Not this.
Ji looked at the folded document.
"What are you asking?"
Luo swallowed.
"Permission."
Ji stared.
"No."
Everyone froze.
Luo's face drained.
Ji realized.
"No."
She shook her head.
"That is not what I meant."
Luo waited.
"You do not need my permission."
Silence.
"He is dead."
"Yes."
"I killed him because of what he did."
"Yes."
"Not because I wanted ownership over who is allowed to mourn him."
Nobody moved.
Ji felt anger rise.
Not at them.
At the shape of the problem.
"Bury him."
Luo stared.
"Lady Ji—"
"Ji."
He stopped.
"Bury him."
Ji looked around the group.
"Bury the others."
"Soldiers too."
Duan's expression changed.
"Yes."
"Officials."
"Yes."
"Anyone."
Ji's voice tightened.
"The dead do not need to earn permission from me to stop lying in storage."
Su Jian lowered his eyes.
Ji breathed.
Control.
The anger settled.
Luo said carefully, "And imperial rites?"
Ji looked at him.
"If people want them."
"Yes."
"If families want them."
"Yes."
"Then yes."
"What if some use the rites to express loyalty to the old dynasty?"
Ji frowned.
"Are they hurting anyone?"
"No."
"Planning another war?"
"Unknown."
"That is different."
Luo nodded.
Ji continued.
"Mourning is not rebellion against me."
The words felt absurd.
Necessary.
"There is no me to rebel against."
Silence.
"I am not your Empress."
He Mingzhu looked down.
"I am not founding a new dynasty."
Duan's expression softened.
"I am not asking anyone to replace old loyalty with loyalty to Ji Xuanyue."
Ji looked toward the eastern road.
"If someone loved him, they may mourn him."
A pause.
"If someone hated him, they may not."
Another.
"If someone served him faithfully and still believes some part of what he built mattered, that does not automatically make them my enemy."
Luo's eyes lowered.
Ji noticed.
"You served him."
"Yes."
"Did you support the war?"
His face tightened.
"No."
"Did you oppose it?"
A longer silence.
"Not enough."
There.
Ji looked at him.
He did not hide.
"I signed logistics approvals."
"For?"
"Civilian administration."
"Military?"
"Some."
"Knowing?"
"Sometimes."
Ji felt the Gate.
Not opening.
Present.
Causality was rarely kind enough to let people summarize themselves cleanly.
"Why did you come?"
Luo looked at her.
"Because I thought someone should tell you the capital is afraid."
"That does not answer."
"No."
He breathed.
"Because I remained."
"Why?"
"Cowardice."
Duan looked at him.
Luo continued.
"And responsibility."
Both.
Good.
"I did not have the courage to stop the Emperor."
He looked east.
"I had enough courage to stay when the city needed clerks."
Ji said nothing.
Luo looked back.
"I do not know what that makes me."
"Neither do I."
He nodded.
Strangely relieved.
Ji looked at the funerary document again.
"Hold the rites."
"Yes."
"Do not put my name on them."
"No."
"Do not say I approved them."
Luo paused.
Ji sighed.
"Fine."
Shen covered her mouth.
Ji continued.
"You may say I did not forbid them."
He Mingzhu laughed once.
Duan looked at her.
She recovered.
Ji pointed at Luo.
"One sentence."
He nodded solemnly.
"Ji Xuanyue did not forbid funerary rites for Cangyuan's dead."
"Yes."
"No additions."
"Yes."
"No 'under her merciful protection.'"
Luo looked offended.
"I would not."
"Someone will."
"Yes."
Ji sighed.
The peach orchard seemed safer before politics arrived.
Duan Ruolan finally sat.
Ji looked at her.
"Comfortable now?"
"No."
"Progress."
Duan almost smiled.
"There is one more request."
Ji looked at the sky.
"Of course."
"This one is from me."
"Fine."
"When you reach the capital…"
Duan stopped.
Ji waited.
"May we clear the main avenue?"
Ji's body went cold.
Not visibly.
Inside.
The road.
Eleven days.
Villages emptying.
Soldiers withdrawing.
People vanishing before her.
The capital gates.
A path made by fear.
She looked at Duan.
"What do you mean by clear?"
"Restrict civilian movement."
"No."
Immediate.
Duan blinked.
"Close surrounding streets."
"No."
"Move market stalls."
"No."
"Evacuate buildings nearest the route."
"No."
Duan's expression tightened.
"For your security."
Ji stared.
"My security."
"Yes."
Shen looked down.
Ji almost laughed.
She did not.
"I do not require evacuation for my security."
"No."
"Then why?"
Duan considered lying.
Did not.
"Their security."
Ji went still.
"If someone panics."
"Yes."
"If there is an attack."
"Yes."
"If crowds gather."
"Yes."
Ji understood.
Still no.
"No forced evacuation."
Duan frowned.
"Ji—"
"No."
The use of her name mattered.
Duan meant it.
Ji continued.
"No empty roads."
"Crowd control—"
"Normal crowd control."
Duan stopped.
"If a market would normally be open, leave it open."
"Yes."
"If people normally live in those houses, do not drive them out."
"Yes."
"Do not order everyone indoors."
Duan looked at her.
"Do not make them bow."
That surprised all of them.
Ji continued.
"No mass ceremony."
Luo opened his mouth.
"No."
He closed it.
"No children lined up."
He Mingzhu's mouth twitched.
"No flowers thrown on the road."
Shen whispered, "Specific."
Ji ignored her.
"No banners."
Duan nodded.
"None?"
Ji thought.
"Normal ones."
"What is normal?"
"I don't know."
Duan sighed.
"Fine."
Ji looked east.
"When I entered the first time, the city emptied before me."
No one spoke.
"I remember."
Duan's voice was quiet.
Ji looked at her.
"You were there."
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Inner eastern wall."
Ji remembered a wall.
Thousands of faces.
Some soldiers.
Some citizens.
Too far to distinguish.
"I saw you."
Duan's hands rested on her knees.
"I thought the wall would collapse when you passed beneath it."
Ji swallowed.
"It didn't."
"No."
"Were you afraid?"
Duan looked at her.
"Yes."
No hesitation.
Ji nodded.
"Good."
Duan frowned.
"That is a strange response."
"I would be concerned if you weren't."
Shen smiled faintly.
Ji continued.
"I do not want the city recreating that day for me."
Duan understood.
"No empty road."
"No."
"No forced bows."
"No."
"No evacuation unless there is an actual safety reason unrelated to my ego."
"Yes."
Ji looked at Luo.
"No ceremony."
He sighed.
"There will be some ceremony."
"No."
"Ji."
She stared.
He surprised himself too.
Then continued.
"You are entering the imperial capital after killing its Emperor and the Dragon Emperor."
"Yes."
"People will gather."
"Yes."
"Officials will appear."
"Yes."
"Someone will bring a banner even if we burn all available banners tonight."
He Mingzhu nodded.
"That is true."
Ji frowned.
"So what do you want?"
"Permission to manage what we cannot prevent."
Ji considered.
That was fair.
Annoyingly.
"Do not stage fear."
Luo nodded.
"Do not stage worship."
Another nod.
"Do not stage surrender."
Duan's expression changed.
"Yes."
"Let people stand where they would stand."
"Yes."
"If they choose to bow…"
Ji stopped.
People had choices.
Even choices she disliked.
"If they choose, fine."
Luo nodded.
"If they choose not to…"
"Also fine."
He Mingzhu smiled.
"That will need to be said."
"Why?"
"Because people are people."
Ji sighed.
"Say it."
Luo reached for paper.
Ji pointed.
"Do not write while I am still talking."
He froze.
Shen laughed.
Ji continued.
"I am entering the capital."
"Yes."
"I do not intend to attack it."
The pen moved.
Ji stared.
Luo stopped.
She waited.
He lowered the brush.
"I do not intend to claim the throne."
"Yes."
"I do not intend to appoint a new Emperor."
"Yes."
"I am not demanding public submission."
"Yes."
"No one is required to kneel, bow, evacuate, close a business, or leave their home because I am arriving."
Luo nodded.
"Normal security may remain."
Duan relaxed.
"Normal government functions may continue."
Luo relaxed.
"Funerary rites may proceed."
Su Jian relaxed.
Ji looked at He Mingzhu.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Trade?"
"Fine."
He Mingzhu smiled.
"Excellent."
Ji sighed.
"And none of that means people committing crimes receive protection."
"Yes."
Luo finally wrote.
One paragraph.
Then another.
Ji stared.
He stopped.
"This genuinely requires two."
Shen looked over his shoulder.
"It does."
Ji looked betrayed.
Shen smiled.
"Administrative growth."
"I dislike you."
"No, you don't."
The delegation remained for lunch.
Because the orchard owner eventually appeared and discovered six horses eating grass near his trees.
He was furious.
Then recognized Ji.
Then became more furious when everyone assumed he would stop being furious.
"Those horses are ruining the ground."
Duan stood immediately.
"Our apologies."
The orchard owner pointed.
"Move them."
They did.
Ji watched.
The man looked at her.
"You too."
Ji blinked.
"What did I do?"
"You threw a pit under that tree."
Ji looked.
The peach pit.
"Yes."
"Pick it up."
Shen turned away.
Ji stared.
Then walked over and retrieved the pit.
The orchard owner nodded.
"Good."
Ji returned.
Shen's face had become dangerous.
"Nothing."
"I hate you."
Duan Ruolan was biting the inside of her cheek.
He Mingzhu had failed entirely and was openly laughing.
Even Luo Yancheng looked less official.
The orchard owner sold them lunch.
Not gifted.
Sold.
Ji paid.
She liked him.
Before the delegation left, Duan approached alone.
Shen had wandered toward the trees with He Mingzhu.
Luo and Su Jian were speaking with the aides.
Duan stopped beside Ji.
"Can I ask something not from the council?"
"Yes."
"Why are you coming back?"
Ji looked east.
She had expected the question earlier.
Still had no perfect answer.
"To see."
Duan waited.
"That's all?"
"No."
Ji thought.
"To finish understanding what happened."
"Can that be finished?"
"No."
Duan nodded.
Ji continued.
"To decide what comes next for me."
Duan's gaze sharpened.
"Not Cangyuan."
"No."
"After."
"Yes."
Duan looked relieved.
Then guilty for being relieved.
Ji noticed.
"It's fine."
"What?"
"You are allowed to hope I leave."
Duan stared.
Ji smiled faintly.
"Many people probably do."
"Yes."
"Do you?"
Duan considered.
"Yes."
Honest.
Ji appreciated it.
"And?"
"And I also hope you enter first."
Ji frowned.
"Why?"
"Because the capital has spent weeks talking about you."
"That sounds terrible."
"It is."
Duan almost smiled.
"But most people are arguing with a story."
Ji looked at her.
"They should see the person."
Something in Ji's chest tightened.
Duan bowed.
Small.
Then returned to the horses.
The delegation rode east.
Ji and Shen remained beneath the peach trees.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Shen handed Ji another peach.
Ji looked at it.
"Where did you get this?"
"Bought it."
"With what?"
"Money."
Ji stared.
"That was not the question."
Shen smiled.
Ji took the peach.
They walked east.
By sunset, the delegation was far ahead.
Probably carrying two paragraphs.
Dangerous.
Ji thought about the capital.
Funerals.
Empty roads.
People afraid to mourn.
Soldiers wondering whether service itself condemned them.
Officials hoping she would appoint someone.
Others hoping she would disappear.
Everyone trying to predict what Ji Xuanyue meant before Ji Xuanyue arrived.
Shen walked beside her.
"Are you angry?"
"Yes."
"At?"
Ji thought.
"People needing permission to bury someone I killed."
Shen nodded.
"That bothered you."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because…"
Ji stopped walking.
Shen stopped too.
Ji looked toward the road.
"I wanted him dead."
"Yes."
"I wanted him judged."
"Yes."
"I wanted him to understand why."
"Yes."
"I did not want…"
She searched.
"Ownership."
Shen waited.
"Of the aftermath."
"Yes."
Ji looked at her.
"Does that make sense?"
"Yes."
"I don't want people proving they agree with me forever."
"No."
"I don't need them to hate him."
"No."
"I hated what he did."
"Yes."
"That was enough."
Shen nodded.
Ji started walking again.
"I think power keeps trying to turn everything after the decision into part of the decision."
Shen looked at her.
"Explain."
"If I kill someone, people assume I must also decide whether they can mourn him."
"Yes."
"If I remove a ruler, I must choose the next."
"Yes."
"If I stop a tax collector, I must design taxation."
"Yes."
"If I destroy an army…"
"You must design national defense."
Ji sighed.
"Exactly."
Shen smiled faintly.
"Power invites continuation."
She thought of He Yuanbo.
One movement becoming the next.
Not power exactly.
Choice.
Responsibility.
But responsibility also had edges.
"I can stop."
"Yes."
"After the thing I chose to do."
"Yes."
"Even if other problems remain."
"Yes."
Ji frowned.
"That still feels selfish."
"Sometimes it will be."
Ji looked at her.
Shen continued.
"Sometimes stopping will be the wrong choice."
"Yes."
"Sometimes continuing will be."
"Yes."
"That is why rules are annoying."
Ji smiled.
"Gao would phrase that better."
"Probably."
They walked until night.
Several Realms away, Mu Shuyin discovered that Jin Lianzhen always walked on the left.
Not generally.
Specifically beside her.
Mu tested this.
Once.
She moved left.
Jin moved farther left.
Mu frowned.
Two hours later, she tried again.
Jin shifted.
Left.
At midday, Mu stopped on a narrow bridge.
Jin stopped beside her.
Left.
Mu looked over.
Jin looked back.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"That is false."
Mu continued walking.
Jin followed.
Left.
Inside Mu's Gate, Jin Chengyu laughed.
Mu ignored him.
The road crossed a rolling upland Realm where the local people built wind-towers from pale stone.
Long cloth vanes turned above each settlement.
Neither Gatebearer knew the language particularly well yet.
They had solved this by speaking very little to locals.
This had worked better for Jin than for Mu.
Mu preferred questions.
Jin preferred pointing at things until context surrendered.
By afternoon, Mu tried once more.
She moved left.
Jin moved left.
Mu stopped.
Jin stopped.
"What?"
"You keep doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Standing there."
Jin looked down at the road.
"On the ground?"
"On my left."
Jin stared.
"I am walking."
"On my left."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Jin frowned.
"Because you are on the right."
Mu closed her eyes.
Inside the Gate, Chengyu said:
She did that too.
Mu opened her eyes.
"Chengyu says Xuanzhen did the same thing."
Jin's expression changed.
A beat.
Then:
"Xuanzhen says he is lying."
Mu waited.
Inside:
She always took the left because she claimed she could hear better from that side.
Mu repeated it.
Jin looked offended.
A moment later, her eyes narrowed.
"Xuanzhen says Chengyu deliberately walked on her right because he knew she preferred the left."
Mu paused.
Chengyu answered immediately.
Obviously.
Mu stared.
Jin stared back.
"So."
Mu said slowly.
"Yes."
"You walk on my left."
"Yes."
"Because your founder did."
"Apparently."
"And I let you."
"Yes."
"Because mine walked on her right."
"Apparently."
Silence.
They both looked at the road.
Mu moved to the left.
Jin immediately felt wrong.
Mu saw it.
Her mouth twitched.
Jin glared.
"Move."
"No."
"Shuyin."
"You said it was not a problem."
"It is not."
"Then walk."
Jin took three steps.
Stopped.
Inside her Gate, Xuanzhen was radiating fury.
Across from her, Mu was visibly struggling not to laugh.
Jin pointed.
"You are doing this deliberately."
"Yes."
"Move."
"No."
Jin stared.
Mu continued walking.
Left.
Jin remained in the road.
Inside Mu's Gate:
I like her.
Mu thought:
You would.
Jin caught up.
On Mu's right.
She lasted perhaps twenty paces.
Then crossed behind her.
Left.
Mu burst out laughing.
Jin's expression became murderous.
"You will never mention this."
"I will mention it constantly."
"I am an Empress."
"That seems unrelated."
"It should matter."
"It does not."
Jin looked offended by the entire universe.
They continued.
Left and right.
By evening, they reached an abandoned watch hut.
Mu inspected the roof.
Jin watched.
"What?"
"The last shelter I trusted collapsed."
"Recently?"
"No."
"Then?"
"Old habit."
Jin stared.
Mu smiled.
"Long story."
They decided the roof was acceptable.
A small fire followed.
Then food.
Then silence.
For approximately four minutes.
Inside Jin's Gate, Xuanzhen said something.
Jin's eyes narrowed.
Mu noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Your face."
"I do not have a face."
Mu stared.
Jin sighed.
"Xuanzhen says Chengyu used to steal her tea."
Mu went still.
Inside her Gate:
Borrow.
Mu looked at Jin.
"He says borrow."
"Of course."
She stole my inkstones.
Mu relayed that.
Jin's eyebrows rose.
A response came.
"She says they were communal."
They had my name carved into them.
Mu laughed.
Jin closed her eyes.
"This is going to be intolerable."
"Yes."
"Every old argument."
"Apparently."
"Every habit."
"Yes."
"Every correction."
"Yes."
Mu looked at the fire.
Then at Jin.
"You invited me."
Jin opened her eyes.
"That was before I knew my founder had centuries of unfinished sibling arguments."
Mu smiled.
"Do you regret it?"
Jin considered.
"No."
Immediate.
Mu's smile softened.
"Neither do I."
The Gate resonance settled between them.
Less strange now.
Not weaker.
Familiarity becoming their own instead of merely inherited.
Jin added another piece of wood to the fire.
Mu watched.
"You placed that wrong."
Jin stared.
"What?"
"The airflow."
"It is wood."
"Yes."
"It burns."
"Poorly."
Jin looked toward the fire.
Then at Mu.
"You are going to be irritating."
"So are you."
"Good."
Mu smiled.
"There it is again."
Jin frowned.
They argued about the fire for twenty minutes.
Inside their Gates, a brother and sister argued about tea.
The road ahead would not be quiet.
Neither woman seemed particularly unhappy about that.
Back in Cangyuan, morning brought hills.
The road climbed for most of the day.
Ji and Shen spoke little.
Not because anything was wrong.
Because the air had changed.
More travelers eastbound.
Fewer westbound.
Military patrols appeared occasionally.
None stopped them.
Every patrol recognized Ji.
Every commander behaved differently.
One bowed.
One saluted.
One simply moved aside.
Ji preferred the third.
By late afternoon, they reached the final high ridge before the capital basin.
Ji knew before she saw it.
Her body remembered the slope.
The angle of the road.
The way the mountains opened.
The smell of the river far below.
Ji stopped.
Shen came beside her.
The capital lay in the distance.
Cangyuan.
Not the empire.
The city.
Walls scarred.
Outer districts rebuilt in patches.
One gate tower missing.
Several palace roofs visible above the inner city.
The imperial complex still stood.
Mostly.
Ji stared.
The first time she had seen it from this direction, she had not stopped long.
There had been people behind her.
Witnesses.
Fear ahead.
A Dragon Emperor waiting.
A human Emperor still believing stories.
Eleven days behind her.
Everyone she loved dead.
Ji remembered the woman who had stood here.
No.
Not stood.
Walked.
She had barely stopped walking at all.
Shen said nothing.
Ji looked down at her hands.
No blood.
No trembling.
No pressure.
The Gate remained quiet.
Present.
Not hungry.
Not demanding.
Taihua did not speak.
Neither did He Yuanbo.
Good.
This was Ji's moment.
She looked at the capital.
"I hated them."
Shen waited.
"Some of them."
"Yes."
"Not all."
"No."
"At the time…"
Ji searched.
"I knew that."
"Yes."
"But it was difficult to feel the difference."
Shen nodded.
Ji looked toward the walls.
"I thought if I stopped, I would…"
She stopped.
"What?"
"I don't know."
Break.
Remember.
Become human again too early.
Lose the anger keeping her upright.
Maybe all of them.
Shen did not choose for her.
Ji breathed.
"I'm not sorry I killed the Dragon Emperor."
"I know."
"Or the human Emperor."
"I know."
"I'm not sorry I judged the people who caused it."
"No."
Ji swallowed.
"But I am sorry everyone else had to watch me arrive like the end of the world."
Shen looked at her.
"That is different."
"Yes."
Ji understood that now.
She could regret fear without regretting judgment.
Regret consequences without rewriting culpability.
Remember the woman she had been without condemning her for surviving the only way she could.
Ji stared at the capital.
"She was me."
"Yes."
"Still is."
"Yes."
Ji smiled faintly.
"I think Taihua would say something annoyingly precise."
"Probably."
"He Yuanbo would offer tea."
"Definitely."
"Gao would ask whether we are standing here all night."
"Yes."
Ji laughed softly.
The sound carried into the wind.
Then faded.
Shen looked toward the city.
"Tomorrow?"
Ji considered.
At their walking pace, yes.
They could reach the outer districts before evening if they continued now.
But that was not what Shen meant.
Ji looked at the capital.
"Tomorrow."
No urgency.
No march.
No crowd behind them.
No need to make the city wait in terror through the night.
Ji turned away from the ridge.
"There was a waystation half a li back."
Shen's eyebrows rose.
"You remember?"
"Yes."
"From the march."
"Yes."
"Did you stay there?"
"No."
"Of course."
Ji smiled.
They walked back.
The waystation had survived.
Someone had repaired the roof.
A family now operated it.
The owner recognized Ji halfway through asking whether they wanted one room or two.
He froze.
Ji waited.
Then said, "One."
Shen looked at her.
"You still snore."
"I do not."
The owner stared.
Something shifted.
Fear did not disappear.
It became confused enough to share space with ordinary hospitality.
"One room," he said.
"Yes."
"Dinner?"
Ji smiled.
"Yes."
They ate noodles.
Again.
Shen complained.
Ji reminded her that she had survived Earth food.
Shen said this remained culturally insensitive.
Ji did not know what that meant.
She laughed anyway.
Outside, the capital remained beyond the ridge.
Close enough that its lights eventually appeared against the night sky.
Ji looked once through the window.
Then returned to her bowl.
Tomorrow would come.
It had become less frightening to trust that.
She ate.
She slept.
And for the first time since she had walked toward Cangyuan's capital as judgment, the city did not wait for Ji Xuanyue at the end of a march.
It waited at the end of an ordinary road.