With the High Court's investigation beginning and the trial soon to come, there was no one in the Camelia who wanted to be seen near Mingzhe, let alone talking to him.
Except, apparently, Hikari.
Well, Chenzhou and Eirian wanted to do both, too, but Mingzhe wouldn't let them.
"Let's get some fresh air," Hikari suggested. "We can take a walk."
Mingzhe stared at him, wondering if he'd just always missed how out of touch his friend could be at times. "I don't think either of us would make it more than a few steps before your guards had to step in."
Hikari blinked rapidly, and Mingzhe could practically see him reconsidering. "The garden then. The Yang Manor has high walls."
They did, unnecessarily high for a garden inside a heavily protected estate, but it still wasn't high enough to block several of their neighbors' top floors from overlooking them. "You can't be seen with me, Hikari. I shouldn't even be here."
Hikari frowned. "That's ridiculous. We're best friends. Of course, I can be seen with you."
It was Mingzhe's turn to blink dumbly. "Your mother just charged me with treason, Hikari. I can't imagine she'll be any happier than the crowd outside." She would be much, much worse than the crazed crowd, and the whole situation had apparently made Mingzhe so desperate that he hadn't even stopped to think about the risk before he decided to come here.
But Hikari just shook his head, as stubborn as his mother. "No, no. It's fine. I told you, the plan is not to hurt you, it's to remove Lord Ye."
"But I'm the one on trial." Mingzhe tried. "Not Lord Ye. The people of the Camelia only see me." Which was terrifying. Mingzhe didn't think they all believed the rumors, but there were enough that it could make his life incredibly difficult until the trial was over.
Or incredibly dangerous.
Did Hikari really not realize there was a chance Mingzhe wouldn't even survive the trial?
"The people of the Camelia are soldiers. They follow orders." Hikari scoffed. "It's practically in their blood. They've been ordered not to hurt you, so they won't. They can barely think for themselves." He added at the end, rolling his eyes.
"Don't be cruel, of course they can." Mingzhe felt oddly stung by the accusation.
Hikari sighed. "You're too soft, Mingzhe. Soldiers take orders. They live and die by them. In exchange for giving them the peace of not having to carry that responsibility themselves, we command them, and they remain loyal and dutiful." He said it with such conviction, such easy belief that Mingzhe couldn't form a response. "That is how it has always been, Mingzhe. When we fail at our duty as leaders, that is when revolution happens, but do you know what history has shown us?"
Mingzhe shook his head, mute.
"It's that those who revolt are never good leaders. They may take power for a short time, but it never lasts."
"Power never lasts for anyone." Mingzhe finally managed to make his mouth move. "All bloodlines fall eventually. All empires turn to dust. Power is not meant to be something that lasts forever."
Hikari's look was pitying, and it made Mingzhe bristle. "That is only because no one has proven good enough to handle it." His delusion shines even brighter when he says, "My family has held power for longer than any other. We may only have been at the Camelia for two thousand years, but we were leaders before that, in the land we lost. Our blood and sweat helped form that kingdom, our wealth from the mines kept it running, our skill with metal made it beautiful. We fought desperately to save it, but we were too few, and they were too many." He stopped, emotional, his eyes shiny and wet.
How deep did the Yang family beliefs run that Hikari, who'd been born so long after those times, still spoke of them with such passion? They had discussed them briefly before, when they were very young and first becoming friends, but Mingzhe didn't remember him being like this.
Or maybe he simply hadn't noticed because Mingzhe had felt the same about the Zhao's and the Camelia. He'd outgrown that blind faith in perfection, though he still managed to love his family and his home. As an adult, he was more than capable of admitting both had their faults as well as their strengths.
That didn't seem to be the case with the Yangs, and that kind of blind faith was dangerous. Bordering on zealotry.
How the hell had he never seen it before now?
Had anyone? Everyone in the Camelia was happy to say the Yangs were loyal and strong. That Lady Yang only did what was best for the Camelia, but no one said anything about being too loyal, too driven.
To blind.
It had to be on purpose. No one hid that well by accident, especially a family with so many eyes on them.
At some point, one of them had realized how dangerous it would be if they were identified as zealots, the threat they could represent to any other noble or ruling family in whatever land they chose…
Maybe they'd learned it after fleeing their home in the Land of Song and Snow, after everything had collapsed and even their belief hadn't been enough to save it.
Maybe they'd brought it all the way to the Camelia instead, knowing from the beginning that it would be secret.
"Don't worry, Mingzhe." Hikari gave him a smile and squeezed his arm in reassurance. "It may be hard for a while, but you'll be okay in the end. Once Lord Ye is removed, we'll restore your reputation completely."
Mingzhe tried to understand how Hikari could think it would be so simple or straightforward and couldn't. His old friend clearly had no idea how the world outside his family's walls worked, despite being a part of that world his entire life.
Were all the Yangs so willfully blind? Or was it just Lady Yang's children?
Had she raised them that way on purpose, so they'd never be a threat to her?
Or did she share the belief, but hide it better?
~ tbc