The manor home of the Valient family was deceptively simple on the outside. There was no decoration outside, but the family crest of two swords crossing under a crown of Camelia flowers.
It reminded Eirian of Vitali, and she was pleased to see the other woman when they were escorted to the solariu,m where the current members of the family were gathered. They were a large family, but only because they included cousins and more distant relatives as well as direct heirs. Vitali herself was a second cousin, but the family stepped back to let her take the lead in greeting Eirian.
"I'm glad to see you well, my lady." Vitali looked her over with a critical eye. "You're healing well." She paused, squinted. "Except for your eyebrow."
Eirian automatically slapped a hand over her missing eyebrow and growled. "It's taking forever to grow back."
"Maybe you could paint it in?" Vitali suggested. Behind her, her family looked vaguely horrified but slowly began to look relieved when Eirian didn't appear to take offence.
Vitali waved everyone to their seats, and tea was served. "This is about the rumors, right?" Eirian nodded, and Vitali didn't hesitate to continue. "I asked around. Our forces are often assigned to work with the Zhao's forces. Very few of them believe the rumors about Lord Zhao, but I did find out something interesting."
"Finally," Eirian muttered. "What?"
"All of them heard the rumors first from Zhao soldiers," Vitali reported, victorious.
Yuze sat up in his seat next to Yuze, where he was holding himself so stiffly that he might as well have been a statue to avoid touching Kai Low. "From the Zhao soldiers?"
Vitali nodded, and so did several of her family members. Another cousin spoke up. "We found it strange when we first heard it and made sure to question everyone again to be sure."
"That makes no sense." Eirian felt a headache coming on. "The rumors are about Mingzhe."
"If I may," Lord Valient, Vitalia's cousin, waited until Eirian nodded at him to continue. "It makes sense that the rumors originated with Lord Zhao's own troops. Soldiers tend to talk about those they serve with most often and get angry at even the best commanders during trying times."
His wife, who strongly resembled Vitali, nodded in agreement. "And soldiers do love to complain. It helps them deal with the stress and danger that comes from their work."
"This has gone far beyond that," Eirian argued.
Lord and Lady Valient nodded. They weren't arguing. "But this seems to be more than the normal complaints about too much work and too little play."
Vitali hummed. "Almost targeted, wouldn't you say, First Eye?"
Yuze agreed. "It's a very specific rumor."
"We heard very little variation to it, as well," Vitali added, frowning. "It was the exact same thing over and over."
"There's no way that's not intentional." Eirian decided. That was not how rumors worked. That wasn't how nature worked. Similarities could be random, could be a coincidence, but nature didn't copy itself. Its beauty was in its uniqueness. Humans copied one another. "Someone started a very specific rumor to hurt Lord Zhao."
Vitali nodded. "That's what we think."
"The more concerning question is why," Yuze murmured.
"Lord Zhao occupies an enviable position." Lady Valient pointed out.
"So does everyone else in the nobility."
Kai Low's face twisted in argument. "Then why not go for the top?"
"Less suspicion." Lord Valient responded immediately. Clearly, the family had put a lot of thought into what was happening. "Easier than taking on Lord Ye. Especially since…" He trailed off as he looked at Eirian, but his point was clear. Eirian was cousin to the King. Was well known for being very close to Eric. She was his heir, at least until he had children of his own. Going after her husband risked threatening the crown, and even if they won, there was no guarantee they were safe. No crown would ever believe someone willing to elevate themselves through such methods would just stop when there was more to climb. And they couldn't let anyone get away with those methods unpunished, either, lest everyone else decide to use them. Being married to Eirian afforded Chenzhou a certain level of protection.
Lady Valient shifted, awkward, and cleared her throat. "With all due respect, I don't think that's the case." Everyone turned to her. "Your relationship to the king is well known. But so is Lord Zhao's relationship with you and Lord Ye."
Suddenly, Eirian understood. "You think someone is targeting Chenzhou or me."
Lady Valient took a deep breath, but it was Vitali who answered. "We think someone is targeting Lord Ye. The rumor is too straightforward. Too serious. It will require Lord Ye to take action."
Eirian froze. "Most of the evidence we have gathered so far is that someone is deliberately targeting Mingzhe."
"So what?" Vitali shrugged to make her point. "That doesn't make it untrue. Not that we believe it." She added quickly. "But either way, it's already big enough that Lord Ye had to act. Had to order the investigation. And he'll have to make a ruling at the end."
Something cold washed over Eirian because Vitali was right. Chenzhou would have to make a ruling at the end of the investigation. If whoever was behind this handled everything correctly, it wouldn't matter what evidence Eirian and Yuze found. Chenzhou would be criticized the same for not punishing Mingzhe as he would be for doing so. No matter what, people would find a way to claim Chenzhou was showing undue favor, or they would spin it into some nonsense about romantic rivalry between Chenzhou and Mingzhe over Eirian. It would grow into something monstrous that would plague them all for years, if not decades.
The only way to avoid that was to find out exactly who was responsible and prove every word was a lie beyond a shadow of a doubt.
But convincing anyone of anything beyond all doubt was impossible. Some people would only ever believe what they wanted to, no matter what kind of evidence you put in front of them.
It was, in retrospect, an utterly brilliant plan.
Practically infallible.
But now that Eirian knew what it was, she was going to find a way. She wasn't going to lose Chenzhou and Mingzhe now that she finally had them and they were finally happy.
~ tbc