Hikari arrived within the hour. Mingzhe was pacing the length of his office when the Yang heir let himself in.
Hikari took one look at him and sighed. "I hear Lord Yin paid you a visit."
Mingzhe ran a hand through his hair, trying to smooth it back down, but just ended up making it more frazzled. "That makes it sound much more pleasant than it actually was."
"Lord Yin is always pleasant." Hikari's smile hinted at his amusement.
Mingzhe glared at him but managed to make himself sit down, ignoring the buzz under his skin that made him want to crawl right out of it. He wondered if it was his magic, but he didn't understand it enough to know. He needed to start training with Eirian again, but his magic had been so exhausted after he'd used it on the river that he could barely feel it anymore. He'd probably used it all up.
"What did he say?" Hikari took the seat next to him.
"That I should disappear quietly." Mingzhe couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "All these years of sacrifice, and I still have more to give, but he thinks I should just give in and fade away."
Hikari frowned. "I didn't think it was that bad."
"I didn't either!" Mingzhe hung his head. "I knew there were rumors, but aside from the Court meeting, no one has brought them up to me directly. They've never had a problem bringing anything up to my face before. Maybe I should have noticed."
"Probably." Hikari rarely pulled his punches. It was something Mingzhe had always appreciated. "But I would have thought the same at first. It has not been so long since the…event anyway. Hard to say when you should have known something was off. I don't know that I would have noticed in time either." He offered to gentle the rebuke.
Mingzhe rubbed his eyes, trying to stave off the sudden weight of exhaustion. "I did nothing wrong."
Hikari could only offer a shrug. "Sometimes it does not matter. Life is cruel that way."
"That doesn't mean I have to accept it." Mingzhe had been a rule follower all his life. It was rare for him to step outside what was accepted as right and the way things were done. The current situation, while terrible, was not completely out of the norm, and there were established ways to deal with it. High society frowned on lending credence to rumors by acknowledging them, in large part because there were simply so many, and reputation was everything in society. Mingzhe didn't personally agree with that; there were many things that mattered more than reputation, but trying to convince the majority of nobility of that was a lost cause.
Worried, Hikari put a supportive hand on his shoulder. "You should be careful. I don't disagree, but we are not the majority. Unless we can somehow convince a majority, even if you are vindicated in this investigation, doubts will linger. Especially since…" He trailed off, shifting in his seat.
"Since what?" Mingzhe pushed. Hikari was usually hard to make uncomfortable. Lady Yang believed in training her children to be prepared for anything, which resulted in some very interesting training methods, but meant that Hikari and his siblings were very rarely surprised or out of their element. Until he'd met Hikari, Mingzhe had been convinced his own mother was toughest in the Camelia. He still wasn't sure if he was happy she wasn't.
Hikari sighed. "You are very close to Lord and Lady Ye, Mingzhe. Very close." Mingzhe opened his mouth to explain, but Hikari waved a hand. "Don't. You don't have to explain. I don't believe there's anything wrong with it. You should find happiness where you can. But in this case, that happiness is of great benefit to you. To the detriment of others."
"To whom?" Mingzhe demanded. "Just because they chose me doesn't mean they would choose someone else if I weren't there."
Hikari put his hands up in a calming motion. "I know. I agree with you. It is common sense, but you and I both know that common sense is distressingly rare among the nobility. Someone will make an issue of it. Someone will say Lady Ye manipulated the evidence. Someone will say Lord Ye was lenient. Someone will say Lord Rong and Ambassador Kai only looked in specific places as a favor to Lord Ye."
"None of them would ever do that." Mingzhe meant to be angry, even defensive, when he said it, but it just came out weak and broken.
Hikari gave him a small smile. "I don't think you would ever love someone who would." His smile fell. "To your own detriment."
Mingzhe refused to believe that it could ever be a bad thing. "What do you think I should do?"
Hikari took a moment to think about his answer. "Our soldiers are loyal. Those who have served the Zhao's and the Yang's would never doubt you. The issues will arise if you try to command others. I think you should step back."
Mingzhe's face fell. The sharp pang of betrayal lodged itself in his chest. Irrational as it was, Mingzhe had asked Hikari because he knew he'd give him an honest answer.
"Maybe, in a few years, it will be forgotten enough that you could come back."
He was trying to make Mingzhe feel better, but it didn't work. For some reason, Mingzhe had not expected his oldest friend to suggest the last thing Mingzhe wanted.
Hikari hadn't even tried to suggest something more hopeful first. Like he'd already given up.
The door flew open, making both of them jump, as Chenzhou entered. He had a scroll in his hand, was so focused on it that he didn't immediately realize Hikari was present. "Mingzhe, have you seen the numbers for the supplies sent to the new outposts? They're higher than they should be-" He finally looked up, spotted Hikari, and stopped.
Hikari immediately climbed to his feet and bowed. "Lord Ye."
"Lord Yang." Chenzhou rolled the scroll up and shot Mingzhe a concerned look. "Is everything alright? I thought you were scheduled to oversee training today?"
Hikari, too obedient to straighten without Chenzhou's say so, remained in his bow as he answered. "Lord Zhao summoned me, Lord Ye. Training has been going well. The soldiers of the Crimson Army are pushing themselves to ensure they are ready."
"Ready for what?" Chenzhou frowned. "The war is over; they are allowed to rest. Rise, Lord Yang. I apologize for interrupting." He glanced between them, eyes narrowed.
"It's no trouble, Lord Ye." Mingzhe pushed himself to his feet and bowed, not waiting for Chenzhou to release him.
Chenzhou frowned, and Mingzhe realized he knew Mingzhe well enough by now to realize he was upset without being told.
~ tbc