Chapter 1826 – Forbidden Tomboy 6 – Scheming

“Very well.” John’s gaze wandered over the gathered selection. “Nightingale, Undine, I would appreciate your counsel.”

The two goth women bowed their heads in grace and rose up with him. The others continued their meals, beginning to chat between them as soon as traditions permitted. John knew they would keep themselves busy.

Lu Zhi manifested one of her jade fans with a roll of her wrist. She fanned air in her face slowly, counteracting what little warmth there was. Rave found it cold, but everyone else appreciated the mild temperature, resembling late Spring or early Summer. Floral scents rose from the flowerpots that lined the walls.

The imperial tomboy guided them out of the semi-open areas of her estate and towards her private retreats. A small school of ducks waddled past them, a clear change that they were now in the realm of Lulu. She guided them to a relatively small room. It was still bigger than the one John had back in Springfield. In it was a table surrounded by shelves, stacked with board games.

“Xiangqi?” she asked.

“Why not?” John asked. “First, though, a request.” He gestured at Nightingale, just to let the harpy know to shield the area from observation. “Bend over.”

The Heavenly Jade Empress gave her future husband a knowing smile. A blush played over her features as she did as requested. The short skirt of her Chinese dress rode up her juicy derriere, giving a teasing view of the lower curve of her perfectly shaped cheeks. Like a savage, John grabbed the rim of the dress and shoved it, revealing a pair of innocently white panties.

What was beneath them was far from innocent.

The gem-encrusted head of a butt plug sparkled between the pale globes of the empress’ behind. John had chosen a dark blue jewel for it. He put his thumb on it, pushing the toy a bit deeper into her stretched sphincter. Small, circular motions made sure she really felt it.

“You will keep this in the whole day,” he told her.

“Yes, Master,” Lulu moaned.

It was delectably indulgent for both of them. The colour of the sex toy was the colour of Fusion and, by extension, John himself. Wearing a butt plug was kinky at all times, wearing it during official business was downright decadent. That John had a remote control for the vibrating function only made it more perverted.

Alas, they were both perverts.

John gave her ass a quick smack, then squatted down behind her. His tongue dragged over her wet pussy. He held onto her thigh, then penetrated her. The imperial tomboy was already moaning and screamed once his attention focused on her clit. Within three minutes, an orgasm rolled through her that made her shapely thighs tremble.

“Good girl,” he said, her sweet taste fresh on his tongue, and got up. A second swat added a bit of red to the other cheek, then he pulled her panties back up and her skirt back down. Knowing that the most powerful woman on the planet was running around with a remote-control vibrator up her butt was going to make this a very horny day.

“Do you require attention, my patriarch?” Nightingale offered.

John shook his head. “We’ll have plenty of time later, when Lulu is busy elsewhere.” They were guests and guests only had so much to do. A sovereign in her own seat of power never ran out of work. “Let’s stay focused.”

“Wise,” Undine approved.

“Yes,” Lulu agreed, cleared her throat and straightened up. She looked like she could have gone for another two or three orgasms, but time was a limited resource. She sat down opposite of John, after placing down the gameboard. “I wish to involve you in a scheme.”

“What a surprise, we usually do everything above-board,” John joked and sat down opposite of her. Little clacks filled the room while they both placed down their pieces. “Whose position are we undermining? Xi Pang?”

“Yes and no,” Lulu answered. “The prime minister is game too large to be hunted yet. We wish to diminish his herd before we aim at his heart.”

“A supporter then?” John asked.

Lu Zhi nodded. “Are you familiar with the Legend of the White Snake?”

“Unless it is majorly different in the Abyss, I should be,” John answered. The Legend of the White Snake was a Chinese folktale of great renown. By his estimation, it was about as big over there as Hansel and Gretel was over in the west, although such things were difficult to estimate. “A snake spirit, Bai Suzhen, falls in love with a man named Xu Xian. They go through tribulations, but end up married. Bai Suzhen has a son, but is then imprisoned under a pagoda. That’s where it traditionally ends, I believe.”

“A basic summary, yet it forgoes a pivotal character. The sister of the white snake, the blue snake Xiaoqing, who supports Bai Suzhen throughout her adventures. In the popular sequel, she is even the one who ends up freeing her.” Lu Zhi moved one of her pieces ahead. “Like many legends, more of it is true in the Abyss than even the mundane. Bai Suzhen was real, so was her husband, so was her sister – concubine to her husband.”

Undine chimed in, her voice like a singing crystal yet deadpan. “To have both sisters as wives, such degeneracy.”

“Whoever would desire such a lifestyle,” John agreed with insincere enthusiasm. His eyes scanned the board. The special rules of Chinese chess warped his understanding, but he adjusted swiftly enough. He pushed a piece forwards.

“And they are monster girls to boot,” Lulu added jokingly. “Truly, no sane man would want thi- Dude, I can see you perk up.”

“I like what I like,” John declared and gave the slime lady next to him a squeeze. Undine was still standing. Nightingale had sat down on another chair. “Please, continue.”

“Of their love came three great clans. In the Xu Clan, the blood of snakes runs thin. They rose to great prominence, so great that they were chosen by the Azure Dragon once and, later, gave birth to one that was Heavenly Jade Emperor. They are thus one of the Imperial Houses.” Lulu whimsically moved a piece ahead, taking one of John’s, then made his next move for him, taking out the very same piece she had just moved.

“Hey!” John complained, weakly. It would have been his move.

Lulu held up both wooden pieces. “The Bai Clan followed the Xu Clan. They are differentiated by the thickness of the snake’s blood. You westerners call the species lamia, snake-tailed men and women. They are tied at the tail to the Xu Clan, serving, effectively, as a cadet branch of them. The last of the three is slightly different.”

“The Xiaoqing Clan,” John noted.

“Indeed. Like the Bai Clan, they are lamias. In old times, they moved back to their ancestral forests. The province of Jilin, to our east, is effectively under their control. However, their control is another extension of the Xu Clan. They are an influential family courtesy of their proximity to Korea and the capital. They are the urban branch of the Xu Clan, effectively. Together, the three of them have control over great swathes of land rural and urban, and great sway within the Forbidden City as well.”

“And they support Xi Pang?”

“The prime minister has offered them much in the interregnum. Privileges have been given, privileges that we must rescind for our ambitions. Simultaneously, the family must become our ally. In this, we have two great pieces on the board.” Lu Zhi executed an illegal move by putting her general in front of John’s. “It is you and Xi Pang himself.”

“You cannot directly entice them, not before you have rescinded the privileges,” John analysed the situation out loud. “To take a privilege from them makes you an enemy and former enemies can be talked to. To take the privilege after earning their friendship makes you a traitor and no one is more distrusted than a traitor. There’s an order to these things.”

“So it is,” Lu Zhi agreed and pushed the game aside. “Now, hubby-“

“Just for the record: I was about to win.”

Lulu pouted for a moment, then moved on. “Now, hubby-“

“The ears of the matriarch are sharp,” Nightingale interrupted next.

Lulu grumbled, “Now – hubby…” she started, sharply, daring Undine to interrupt her next. The slime lady appeared tempted, but did not. “…your role is to drive a wedge between the current head of the Xu Clan, Han, and Xi. There are two avenues you have for this: you can exploit Xi’s greed to make him move against the Xiaoqing Clan or you can pull them into your camp by making your resources more attractive than what Xi affords them.”

“I suppose a mixture will work best… What do we know about Han?” John asked.

“Vain, corrupt, ambitious, conniving, schemer,” Lulu listed. “They call him ‘the true snake’ behind his back. He has ambitions to do as his ancestor did and marry the two heads of the other clans.” The Heavenly Jade Empress raised a hand. “Before you voice distaste, know that the last time their lines mingled was four generations back. We keep strict records of such things.”

“Very well… that sounds easy enough… How smart is he?”

“Smart enough to be effective, not smart enough to be competitive.”

In other words, the kind of person John specialized in taking advantage of. “Yeah, that will be no issue whatsoever. I assume he will be present during the gathering planned later today?”

Diplomatic visits were layered matters. There was a festivity to celebrate his visit and various attached events for specific strata of the ruling class to interact with him. No one was served if John had to split his attention between various camps, all simultaneously vying for his attention. The meeting of the nobles was the first one and before the actual festivity. A sign of favour by the Heavenly Jade Empress, given in exchange for current and future loyalty.

“How do you two think I should go about this?” John asked the goth duo with him. He had not taken them along just because they were pretty faces.

“If he is as corrupt a person as presented, disposing him would be just,” Nightingale answered first. “Is that within measures?”

Lu Zhi shook her head. “We are in no position to select for the just, we must settle for the controllable.”

“That narrows the viable paths,” Nightingale lamented. She was not possessed enough by her desire for just governance that she would advocate for it in the face of practicality. No justice could be delivered by the deposed and just individuals were always in short supply. Self-serving people that could be incentivized to do well enough, those were plenty.

“It would be best to lure him so he breaks for us when push comes to shove,” Undine gave her opinion. “To make overt moves against Xi Pang now alarms him.”

“He already knows of our alliance,” John thought out loud.

“He need not know about its depth,” Undine stated.

The Gamer agreed with that assessment. “Very well… I can suggest a lucrative trade deal to him. If they control Jilin, they likely control the ports there as well?” A nod. “They also likely have a large number of woodworkers?” Another nod. “Then I could offer them preferential shipments for wood exported from Fusion?”

The Heavenly Jade Empress clicked her tongue. “To withdraw a domestic privilege in exchange for a foreign one… the calculation works in our favour, but I dislike it.”

“As do I. It is the utmost I can offer… but maybe I’ll find easier routes. It depends on how personal his greed is.” John shook his head. “I won’t needle you for intel. I’ll go have a chat with Claire about thi-“

“A person approaches,” Nightingale warned.

Their scheming quieted. An urgent knock on the door awaited answer. “Enter,” Lu Zhi declared, her tone displeased. One of the ladies-in-waiting peeked her head into the room. Her hair was short and black. One of her eyes was visible, but only because the way she hid behind the door caused the long bangs to fall to the side. The iris was a solid black.

“Uhm, L-lulu…”

“We are not drinking tea, Daiyu,” the Heavenly Jade Empress admonished in the softest possible tone.

It was not soft enough to keep the small woman from quivering nervously. “Eeep! S-sorry! I’ll leave!”

“Stop!” Lu Zhi said. “You must have a reason to interrupt us. State it.”

“Oh… right… t-the… Phuong is here… She demands an audience.”

Lu Zhi groaned.