Yue

 22nd October

07:17 GMT +8

"So… What do you think?"

The Harmonious One tilts his hat back slightly, the mandala surrounding him oscillating as he does so. "You have the sort of problems most men would kill for."

I look away as a particularly bright conjugation appears in his aura, turning to look at the space dock where the last dockside checks are being made to the Zheng He before its scheduled launch later this week. Something else that makes this version of Earth different from every version of DC Earth I remember: it's a lot more technologically advanced-.

I glance down towards the clouds covering Europe.

In most places it's more technologically advanced. China, Japan, India, Persia and the Songhai Empire all maintain space fleets. They're… Not exactly advanced by the standards of the wider universe, and the schizo tech I'd expect from a DC universe is almost entirely absent… Or at least I think it is. Given how advanced everything else is, I might just not notice it.

"Killing I understand. Modern Chinese culture is… I still haven't adapted to it."

He carefully lifts his hat from his head and pulls out a copy of the Book of Rites before returning his hat to his head and thumbing through the book. "There are good Confucian reasons for refusing. Since you do not come from a society where polygamy is normal and she comes from a society where monogamy is one of the normal relationship structures, your relationship would be rendered more stable by not deviating from that model. I can quote…" I shake my head. "No?"

"I've read Confucius' work because it was a set text. I'm not a devotee. I can hardly claim that defence."

"Very well." He tosses the book aside, sending it drifting through the void. "And what does Harriet Taylor say on the subject?"

"She was against political or economic marriages, but that's.. not really relevant. Both Jades have their own careers… I wouldn't expect them to comply with any restrictions which I wasn't complying with myself…"

The Harmonious One looks shocked. "Do you mean to say that you married Ms Nguyen without telling me? That was jolly rude."

"No, wh-? No, of course not. It's just that a lot of 'traditional' scholars-."

"I would hardly call someone who wrote less than two hundred years ago 'traditional'."

"You know what I mean. Extended monogamous cohabitation wasn't really a thing back then. Or at least it didn't get written about. Though Harriet would probably have approved of people learning what marriage entailed by experience, at least where children weren't involved."

"Ah." He nods. "You are treating your present arrangement as equivalent to marriage, gaining the restrictions but not the benefits."

"I suppose?"

"And even with the power of avarice on your finger. Truly, you are a virtuous prince among men."

"Larfleeze made it very clear to me how important virtue is. Also… I like to think that I'd behave… You know, appropriately to anyone I was involved with anyway."

"Hm. Speaking as a long time observer of Chinese culture, I imagine that Lady Yifei is the best person to tell you how practical such an arrangement would be." He frowns. "Un.. less she's got no more idea than you do, having not been in a serious relationship since she acquired her power ring and everyone would just sort of be muddling through with no one miraculously having-"

"Yes, thank you."

"-all of the answers." He smiles brightly. "Glad I could help." He looks up at the Zheng He and gestures grandly towards it with his right arm. "Tell me, what would your China governed by drug-addled Levellers-"

"They're not-"

"-make of this?"

"-drug addled, and they're not even really Levellers any more."

"You said they were communistic?"

"No, I said-. Political ideologies and political realities are often very different things. They actually-"

"And just like that, communistics are not communistical. It must have been very confusing for everyone involved."

"I try to judge people by what they actually do, not by what they say they do. And to answer your actual question, I think they'd be thrilled that there was an Earth where China was the most powerful nation on Earth. And then they'd steal the designs and start copying them." He bows his head, smiling. "What do they have you up here for, anyway?"

"Just.. in case." He shrugs grandly. "The Zheng He is rather expensive, and is protected against most predictable forms of attack. And -as was pointed out- I am quite skilled at reacting to unpredicted forms of attack. I'm sure that it has absolutely nothing to do with Lord Lord Fate replenishing the wards around Chengdu and wanting me out of the way."

Ah, yes. The antipathy which the longest serving member of the Heavenly Guardians feels for my chaos magic using friend is certainly not something which he would ever allow to interfere with the conduct of his offices. No. Another problem with the.. frankly toadying that happens with some of the Guardians. Or maybe I'm just being 'perniciously individualistic' again. Lord Nabu tolerates other magic users but… Well, there have only been a couple of chaos magic users in the support tier ever. And none have ever received the Mandate and actually joined the Heavenly Guardians. Harmonious One himself hasn't actually complained in my hearing, but he does make sarcastic quips at Lord Nabu's expense.

"Have they found you a new partner yet?"

"No, no. With Khyber dead, I'm afraid that they have 'sent me to Liao' literally."

I frown. "What did you do to deserve that?"

"It's technically a promotion, so I can't complain." He turns his head to look at me. "And I do mean that."

"That it's a promotion?"

"That I can't complain. The super criminals are few, the weather fair and I'll have plenty of time to work on applying chaos magic to stochastic analytics…"

"It's a waste of your talents."

He shrugs. "We are but functionaries, yoked to the great destiny of our nation. And so on and so on and so forth."

"If you're interested in transferring, I can put in a word with Dox. We don't have any magic users in the Corps at the moment."

"Now that does interest me. Might I assume that wearing a ring is not required?"

"You can assume that."

"But would I be right?"

"The Darkstars don't wear them and the fleet won't either. I'm sure that you'll be offered one."

"Mmmmmmmn. I don't think that the hat would approve. I'll give it some thought, see how things pan out. But." He raises his hat once more. "I thank you for the offer. Most generous."

"It serves our needs too. The Reach can counter Lanterns."

"Oh, I wasn't expecting a free ride." He returns his hat to its proper station. "When are you meeting Lord Fang?"

"A few minutes."

He momentarily covers his face with his hat, and when he moves it away he's borrowed Lord Fang's face. "Would you like me to growl at you a few times to reacquaint you with the sensation?"