Blood River

9. Love and Truth: Part Five

Past
Past thoughts
Present
Present thoughts

It had been months since the wierd conversation Jin Guangshan had with his son.

No, not that day where their dinner ended with three members of the family leaving before finishing their meal, but rather the day after.

Gaungshan had called the boy to join him for afternoon tea on his pavilion that day.

The sect leader's pavilion had a tea room, there he sat quietly sipping on his freshly brewed tea, across from him sat his third son, the boy simply fiddled with his fingers waiting for the tea to get colder.

"You know what I called you for?" Jin Guangshan asked and the boy looked up at him before nodding his head no slowly.

"The Wen Sect is running havoc in Qishan and Gusu, they overthrew the royal family in Qishan, and are attacking smaller clans in Gusu." The man informed and the boy simply nodded along, to show he was paying attention - he was aware, sect politics and current events were also thought in their classes on top of history.

"You are good enough to be promoted to your older brothers' level, so you must know who the Nie sect is?" The man inquired taking another sip of his tea, his eyes devoid of any emotion as he glared at the younger, who nodded before responding.

"The Nie Sect of Qinghe have been the second strongest for generations, they work democratically and believe everyone to have a right to power, hence, they allow any of the Qinghe cultivational sects to attempt an open dual between sect leaders for control over the whole continent. They neighbour Qishan and do not have a good relationship with the Wen's and hate their authocratic dictatorship. The Nie Sect is widespread known for their military skill, they use sabers instead of swords and have been at the top in terms of strenght for centuries now - despite the open invite, no one has managed to overthrow them yet, to say, no one has tried." Jin Ying spoke all he'd heard about the Nie's during his lectures, the sect leader nodded along to every part, for a second admiring the boy, they say he has bad memory, yet he does so well academically, The man pondered observing the younger.

He took another sip of his tea before looking at the child who had yet to drink his own, "who is the current sect leader, his children?" The man asked.

Jin Ying responded calmly again "The current sect leader is Nie Zhenhai, he has two sons with different spouses, the first was Xie Haoran, his second and current spouse is Mei Lihua, he had a child with each, having two hiers"

"Their names?"

"The eldest, the sect hier, son of Xie Haoran a porminent cultivator from the Xie clan of Laoling, Nie Mingjue, Courtesy Zhànfēng, 16 years old. The second, Nie Xi, son of Mei Lihua an artist from the Yunmeng area, 10 years old." The boy responded eloquently again, without a single mistake.

"Do you know what an alliance is?" The man again asked and the boy nodded.

Once he noticed the sect leader didn't intend on speaking, he spoke, "a union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries, sects or organizations" the boy spoke, finally taking a sip of his tea.

"Jin Ying, you're teachers say you're smart" the man started and the boy smiled, the Jin sect lecturers rarely gave compliments, so he was happy to know they thought so, "if you were the sect leader and war was brewing, you would ask for an alliance from the strongest around, right?" The man asked and the younger Jin hesitantly nodded.

"If they shut down your request and gave you a new one instead, would you take it?" The man asked and Jin Ying pondered for a while.

"I would debate the options, come to a middle point, that way I wouldn't lose any of what I asked for and they would still get what they want according to what I am willing to give" the boy spoke and the man again nodded.