Chenzhou had missed the rhythm of working in his office. In a strange way, it was the rhythm of peace. He had time for breakfast in the morning with Eirian and Mingzhe when he could be parted from his family. And Brendan, whom Chenzhou was becoming more and more attached to. He was a little ball of sunshine, living up to his family name despite his patronage. He was so much happier than the small, quiet thing Chenzhou had first met in the capital, in the cold, white manor that Eirian claimed was home but hadn't felt like one at all.
Chenzhou was contemplating adopting him officially, but he didn't want to push his luck. He knew Eirian was still nervous about the responsibility of raising him, and she was his guardian, not Chenzhou. But he didn't see her ever allowing him to return to the capital without her and certainly not to her father or stepmother's care when neither of them had reached out since he'd left. As nervous as she was about making mistakes in raising him, the boy adored her, and Chenzhou didn't think it was just because she was the only one around who looked like him. He might not have been old enough to voice it, but Chenzhou was convinced the child understood that he'd been saved from something. Eirian and Eric were the only blood relatives he had that hadn't been a part of the first year and a half of his life.
Chenzhou had never allowed himself to dream about having children, had buried the desire as deep as he could. He had never been able to stomach the idea of bringing children into the world when he knew he wouldn't live long enough to finish raising them. Anna had never brought it up after their first year together. Despite her own desires, she'd agreed with Chenzhou's concerns, and on top of that, she'd been afraid of what would happen to her if they did have children and Chenzhou died. Her desire to stay outside the politics of the Camelia had left her without allies who could have helped her if Chenzhou had died and control of the estate had been challenged.
The subject reminded him that he needed to make sure his will was updated. He'd added Eirian when they'd married, but he still needed to add Brendan to the family registry, and he now had a few personal belongings he wanted to leave Mingzhe as well. The only people that would be listed in his will were Yuze, Anna, Eirian, Mingzhe, and Brendan. He wasn't leaving Anna much, just a few things she'd once gifted him and hadn't wanted to take with her, while he was still alive, and a small bequest that would take care of her if she chose never to marry. Eirian wasn't the type to be threatened by any of that, so he didn't anticipate a problem.
He glanced up from the pile of reports in front of him. Henri was working at a second desk that had been brought into his office after Chenzhou had returned. Normally, he would have returned to his own lodgings and returned to managing his family's holdings, but Chenzhou had asked him to stay because of everything that was happening. His sister was more than capable of handling their family concerns, while Henri assisted him in running the Camelia, and Chenzhou couldn't ask Mingzhe due to the investigation. He'd already been warned by Henri and Li that they'd overheard talk about his closeness with Lord Zhao amid the rumors, and while Chenzhou was loath to give them any reaction, he also wasn't willing to put Mingzhe in a more dangerous situation than the one he was already in.
Marian had been keeping her ear to the ground as well, but most of the Ye's staff were loyal to a fault, and according to her, they liked Mingzhe. The few who didn't seemed to have more of an issue with the makeup of their relationship than with Mingzhe himself. The bigger issue were the families that made up the court. Mingzhe hadn't been invited out or called upon since they returned, despite this being one of the busiest periods for them. He should have been inundated with meetings to review what had happened during the war and discussions of how to make improvements moving forward. That he was being shunned by the members of the court was a significant statement and one that infuriated Chenzhou and would enrage Eirian if she heard. Mingzhe had yet to tell either of them himself. Chenzhou had only learned through Henri and Li and was determined not to say anything until Mingzhe did. He had no doubt the other man was embarrassed and hurt by the situation, and it wouldn't get any better if Chenzhou brought it up before he was ready to talk about it.
Mingzhe's mother was acting behind the scenes, and Chenzhou was a bit afraid to find out what she was up to.
"The last batch of wounded are settled into the hospital," Henri noted. "There are a few reports of additional injuries among the border camps, but nothing serious. They've still not had any contact with Song and Snow."
"Pray that continues," Chenzhou muttered as a knock sounded. "Enter."
Captain Li stepped into the office, quickly closing the door behind him. He had a look on his face that Chenzhou didn't like. Wary and resigned and looking all too done with everything. That face meant something had happened that was going to be a headache, but wasn't necessarily bad.
Chenzhou signed and put his quill down. He leaned back in his chair as Henri looked up from his own work. "What happened?"
Li, who'd been captain of the Camelia's guard since before Chenzhou was born, sighed and put his hands on his hips in a gesture Chenzhou hadn't seen since he was a child, and was arguing with his tutors. "Do you know where your wife is?"
Chenzhou froze, alarm running through him. "What? Is she okay? What happened?"
"She's fine." Enough amusement crept into Li's voice that Chenzhou relaxed. "She wasn't actually the one fighting. This time."
Chenzhou got defensive. "Eirian hasn't gotten into any fights while she's been here." Henri snorted, but kept his mouth shut. "She hasn't."
"I suppose it's possible we have different definitions of fighting." Li offered gracefully, ignoring Chenzhou's scowl.
"Who's fighting and why is Lady Ye involved?" Henri asked, but sounded like he didn't really want to know.
"Healer Akari-"
"I hope she punched him in the face," Chenzhou said without thinking. He regretted it instantly because it was unprofessional, not because he would have paid a ridiculous amount of gold to see it.
"Lady Ye, Lord Rong, and Ambassador Kai Low ran into Healer Akari in the street."
Henri muttered something offensive under his breath.
"There was a…conversation between Healer Akari and Lord Rong, which then became a somewhat heated conversation between Healer Akari and Ambassador Rong."
"What?" Now Chenzhou was confused, and Henri looked the same. "What do they have to talk about?"
"Lord Rong apparently." Li didn't sound any happier about that than Chenzhou felt.
"What does that mean? They were arguing over Yuze?" It didn't make sense. Yuze hadn't said anything that implied he'd reignited his relationship with Akari, and Kai Low had captured him during the war. "Wait, if they were the ones arguing, what was Eirian doing?"
Li gave him a flat look.
Chenzhou groaned. He knew the answer. "She was egging them on, wasn't she?"
~ tbc