open post: Empress Liu Mingyan

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan has a lot on her mind.

In the three months since Luo Binghe vanished into thin air, Xin Mo abandoned at the foot of his throne, his Empire—her Empire—has... changed. The throne remains empty, of course—to have anyone else claim it, even temporarily, would be conceding that his absence is unintentional, either accidental or, more likely, a malicious coup. Whoever did the claiming would be the prime suspect for mal intent, including Mingyan herself. So it sits, empty, at the center of his great hall, Mobei-Jun standing sentinel beside it, never to be looked at directly by any visiting dignitary or sniveling demonic petitioner.

She's been redirecting all audiences to her wing of the palace instead. Her hall is not quite so grand, but it is nearly as imposing, and her own throne no less terrible and beautiful. When Luo Binghe is in residence, she primarily uses this hall for meetings with her network of all-female spies—not because Luo Binghe doesn't know about them, in his vague and uninterested way, but because Liu Mingyan has learned from experience that if they encounter him they turn very quickly from useful and competent agents to fawning and lovestruck young maidens, and then it's only a matter of time before they join the ranks of the harem. Liu Mingyan does not resent this; there would be no point. But she prefers to conduct her business in private nonetheless.

Now, of course, even from her own throne many of her edicts must be delivered as if they're orders that Luo Binghe left for her to give. Ning Yingying has been surprisingly useful on this front; despite Liu Mingyan's disdain for what she believed a naive and trusting heart who had given up her sect loyalty to marry for love, Ning Yinging does know Luo Binghe, perhaps better even than Liu Mingyan does, offering insight into what Luo Binghe would have said, if he had in fact instructed Mingyan on how to handle this matter. Liu Mingyan does not always take this advice—she does not always want to do what Luo Binghe would have done, especially as his absence stretches from days into weeks into months, but she does not resent it, either.

In truth, what Liu Mingyan resents is the idea that Luo Binghe will return, and she will be expected to relinquish rule back to him, and everything she has built—the tenuous and confusing peace between herself and Sha Hualing, and thus the quelling of the constant threat of southern rebellion; the ease with which she receives the other wives and soothes their fears, rather than holding herself above them;¹ the shifted tenor of court itself, with fewer public displays of violence²—all of it will go back to normal, and Liu Mingyan finds she has less taste for normal every day. It's not that she doesn't want Luo Binghe to return—of course she does—but she wishes that somehow he might return different. It's a futile thought, and a disloyal one to think about a man who created this life for her, a man she cares deeply about, but she cannot deny that she thinks it.

So when she steps down a secret stairway into a corridor that should lead to her chambers and ends up in an unfamiliar hallway instead—the light entirely wrong, the architecture unfamiliar—her first thoughts are uncharitable. It seems obvious that this is the same trap that ensnared Luo Binghe. It also seems unfair to make her the one to bring him home, and be the agent of her own undoing. She'll do it—he is her husband, and while that doesn't mean the same thing to her as it does many of his wives, it does mean something significant, as undeniable as it is ill-defined—and her Emperor. But—

She sets her jaw behind her veil and wraps her fingers around Cheng Luan's hilt, proceeding silently down the hallway.

[NSFW: Susan's thread, Janet's thread]

¹ Well, sometimes she's still above them. If you know what I mean.
² Not that there has been no violence—it's just generally conducted elsewhere. Her floors are harder to clean than Luo Binghe's.

Comments

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan nearly laughs at that--her breath stirring her veil. "That's a difficult question to answer," she says, watching him with interest. There are high stools against an equally high counter, in this room, and she chooses one, alighting on it gracefully. "Perhaps we'll start with my easier ones?"

[sagramore]

"Certainly. I'm at your disposal," as he sets the bottle down and gets out glasses next.

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan watches him pour. Useful--it will easily betray any shake in his hands when she asks, "Do you know Luo Binghe?"

[sagramore]

Sagramore looks up at her and smiles. "I do."

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan visibly relaxes. This reaction would be more startling if she had not already met Nina, but she still shakes her head, a little, in wonder. "Would you," she says slowly, "would you say he is happy here?"

[sagramore]

"You know, lady, I believe he is," his own expression softening in turn. He hands her a glass. "I think he's happier here than he was at home, to tell you the truth."

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan accepts the glass. "If he is happy at all, then you are correct." She could continue to keep her cards close to her chest, but there appears to be no reason for it, not if this man, like Nina, is a friend to Luo Binghe. "My husband has the capacity for many emotions. Until today, I would not have listed joy among them."

[sagramore]

"Ah. Yes. That follows."

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan hesitates. She does not lift her veil in front of men, but this is not her world, and the glass Sagramore offers is large and bulky, not a small porcelain cup she can easily sip behind its gauze. "Avert your gaze," she instructs, in the tone of one used to being obeyed.

[sagramore]

"Lady." He casts his eyes down at the bartop with the immediacy of someone comfortable obeying.

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan lifts her veil and, in one graceful motion, downs the entire glass of wine Sagramore had poured for her. She hums. "Interesting. I have never had anything quite like it, I tend to like green plum wines." She touches the corner of her mouth, delicate, to catch a single drop of wine, and then replaces her veil. "You may raise your eyes."

[sagramore]

"Oh, would you prefer that? I've had one here with a friend. I can find it again." He lifts his eyes to her.

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan considers this, then shakes her head. "If I am here only briefly, why not avail myself of things I cannot obtain at home? And there is very little in my world I cannot obtain." Other than happiness, apparently, if Luo Binghe is to be her blueprint--but she has not had enough wine to follow that particular thought.

[sagramore]

"Of course." He refills her glass before taking another sip of his own. "If it's not impertinent of me to ask, have you become empress in your husband's absence?"

[empressliu]

"I was already Empress before he left," says Liu Mingyan, a little archly, but she understands the angle behind his question. "And--yes, I have taken over much of his duties. Acting on his behalf, of course, as far as any of his court knows."

[sagramore]

"Of course. If he fails to return, can you succeed him, or will that cause difficulties for you?"

[empressliu]

Lui Mingyan toys with the stem of her wineglass. "If he had the means to return," she says, instead of answering. "Do you think he would choose to do so?"

[sagramore]

Sagramore takes a moment to try and draw on that dream-memory of Luo Binghe's home, and whether he said anything specific there about going back. "I'm not sure," he says finally, honestly. "I think wherever Shen Yuan is he'd like to be."

[empressliu]

"Shen Yuan," Liu Mingyan repeats. "His lover?"

[sagramore]

"His lover." There's a tenderness to it that doesn't hide his affection for either of them, but the lover in question in particular.

[empressliu]

"You approve," says Liu Mingyan, observation more than question, and then raises her hand to her veil again. "Eyes down."

[sagramore]

"I do, lady. I think well of both of them."

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan knocks back her glass of wine. "What sort of man is he?" she asks, replacing her veil. "This Shen Yuan. Eyes up."

[sagramore]

He hovers the bottle this time, with a questioning look. "He's a good man. He treats strangers well and his friends even more kindly. He's endured a great deal of hardship in his life, and it's made him compassionate, someone who sees the good in others. He's stubborn and generous and brave and loyal. It's to my honor that he's my friend."

[empressliu]

Liu Mingyan hesitates, then nods; the wine is not strong, but she has been drinking it quickly. She will savor this glass; Sagramore is willing enough to avert his eyes. "Everyone here speaks of friendship with such ease," she says. It feels, on its own, like an admission of a sort.