Bai Meizhen pursed her lips in displeasure, looking down at the cobalt blue liquid curling around her fingers. The strands curling up from the container held in her other hand glittered mockingly.

“The venom is fully neutralized then?” Bao Qingling asked. Her paramour sat across the table from her, thin fingers steepled in front of her face. It failed to hide the smirking curl of her lips.

“I’ve said nothing of the sort,” Bai Meizhen said waspishly.

“Hm,” Bao Qingling replied, one eyebrow raised. She appeared unconvinced.

It was strange, Bai Meizhen decided. By all accounts, even her own earlier experience, the white hot rage of pricked pride should have filled her mind. She should have been furious, plotting retaliation. Instead, exasperated annoyance. “Fine, you have won this round,” she sniffed. “I shall have to put forth more effort next time.”

“Yes. you will,” Bao Qingling replied.

Bai Meizhen narrowed her eyes. She did enjoy this game. When she had asked Qingling for an activity that she would enjoy, she had been pleased to find that it was not too dull. Qingling had proposed a game wherein Bai Meizhen would concoct a unique venom and she would attempt to neutralize it with antivenom.

Bai Meizhen had naturally won the first few times easily, but Qingling had, to her irritation, begun to win rounds herself.

“I suppose so,” Meizhen said, letting the liquid fall back into the container.

“Perhaps we should introduce a time limit?” Bao Qingling offered.

“Hmph, unnecessary,” Bai Meizhen replied, drumming her fingers on the tabletop. They sat in the comfortable, humid darkness of Qingling workshop, surrounded by her cauldrons, furnaces and alchemical equipment. Hundreds of little spiders, no more than hand sized, scurried about the walls and ceilings carrying out mundane tasks.

And yet, despite her prickling pride, Bai Meizhen could not banish the thoughts which had been plaguing her over the last few days, ever since her last lesson with the ambassador. “Qingling.”

“Hm?” the other girl tilted her head.

“What is your opinion on the matter of Cai Shenhua’s new development?” Bai Meizhen asked.

Bao Qingling’s eyes lit up. “A fascinating project, more ambitious than any in the modern era. The sheer complexity of the formation of the human spirit, not merely flesh but inducing the creation of a human spirit through artificial means is ambitious beyond words. Though I feel that there was risk in running afoul of Twilight era laws on soul arts, the use of traditional pearl formation as a basis was a neat sidestep of the issue. Additional artificial spiritual organs are a known and accepted cultivation practice after all. I believe she may have used the works of Medicine Saint Guang in the maintenance of pregnancies wherein the fetus suffers cultivation rejection in high realm mothers, and requires artificial incubation as a basis, but my own knowledge is too limited to judge for certain.”

Bai Meizhen blinked, and then blinked again at the sudden flood or words from her taciturn partner. She had forgotten, Bao Qingling admired the Duchess greatly.

“Interesting. I would enjoy hearing more,” Bai Meizhen cut in smoothly. A deflection but not fully a lie. “But I was referring more to the social impact. What do you think?”

She did not allow any emotion into her voice, casual was the word.

Bao Qingling wrinkled her nose. “It is not wholly unreasonable to wish for additional test cases before wide scale adoption, but assuming the procedure is not Dao limited, there is no reason for all of the foolish fan clutching.”

Bai Meizhen pressed her lips together in a thin line. “It is strange, reactions to the matter do not follow traditional political lines. For myself, the Ambassador and my Aunt are ambivalent. There is even an interest from otherwise unfriendly factions. Increased match possibilities reduce the issue of bloodline sickness. But there are many voices from below which call this unnatural.”

Bao Qingling snorted. “As if ‘natural’ has ever been a desirable state. The natural state of a human is cowering naked in a cave and scavenging the leavings of spirits and beasts.”

Crude, and Bai Meizhen thought that most would argue other definitions for ‘natural’, but that was not what she was getting at. “Is that the opinion of the Bao clan?”

Bao Qingling didn’t answer at first. She didn’t seem very enthused by this line of conversation. Bai Meizhen had a feeling that if anyone else were asking, they would have been summarily ‘blown off’ as the more vulgar might say.

“You’re right that it has created some odd dividing lines,” Bao Qingling finally said, tone grudging. “We are close to the Celestial Peaks. There are many among those who have shown an interest in this. The world was made for us, the children of the Nameless. To conquer, tame and alter it too our wills is our birthright. This includes overcoming the limitations of flesh, which exist due to the enemies of the Nameless. This is reasonable. But there are many, especially among those inclined to more local traditions, that it is a perversion of nature, that men and women have their roles in the making of life in the image of the Nameless.”

“That even if such a child appears normal, they must be wrong, just another artificial spirit,” Bai Meizhen said quietly. This was the undercurrent she herself had found among certain of her family in correspondence. Grandfather certainly thought so. It was odd to hear that the faction which often opposed her aunt thought the opposite. But they did have an odd obsession with expanding the population of the clan.

“Yes, that,” Bao Qingling shrugged. “Personally, given their talk of abstaining from physical pleasures, you would think those sort would be happy to cut out the ‘tempting’ portions of reproduction, but I have never claimed to understand that old nonsense.”

Bai Meizhen allowed herself a small chuckle, but it seemed that she really was going to have to be direct. “It is interesting for the potential marriage lines it opens though, no. Why we might even one day be able to make an open match.”

Qingling stared at her. Meizhen looked back. Qingling continued to stare. Meizhen shifted uncomfortably.

“An amusing conjecture,” she finally said, dragging her eyes away. “The world is changing quickly.”

“It is,” Bai Meizhen winced. What in the world was she thinking, saying something like that. There was forwardness and then there was that. Foolish girl, she always pushed too far and too hard.

“Well, would you like to try another round? I should have the time,” Bai Meizhen said briskly

“Yes,” Bao Qingling said slowly. “I would appreciate that.”