Jin qing struck a match and watched the tip light ablaze.

She watched it burn a little, the only source of light in a dark millet field. Any light from the moon was blocked out from the clouds overhead, and it took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the sudden light. 
Basking in the little bit of warmth for a little while, she dropped the match into a preprepared nest of kindling and blew on it softly. A fire was lit, the wind blowing in the perfect direction, and the nearly ripe millet crop would be the perfect fuel for the hungry destruction of fire. 

Jin qing threw over some more millet stalks that she had cut over the fire, sending a wave of sparks that flew up in the air. She knew she needed to leave quickly before anyone saw her, and turned back to her horse. 

This is a farming town that is as close to the border as she can get in one night. It would be easy to pin the blame on the Wei or the dry season that somehow sparked a fire. 

She spurred her horse to ride at full speed back to the capital and back to her safe room. No one was to know she left tonight.
With Yu Qi's help, she was able to get out undetected. To get back in would be a trickier issue, but she has learned of a passageway that was thankfully small enough for her slender figure to slip through. 

Now all she needed to do was to wait. Wait for the poor, sleeping farmers working in those fields to wake up and find that their crop was destroyed. 
But if Qiang An's words were right... they wouldn't be so unfortunate after all.

Jin qin smirked. because their great emperor Tian Xiang would provide and take care of them, would he?

She dismounted her horse and quickly returned it to the back stables, and ran back to her room. There was an hour or two before sunrise, and she breathed a sigh of relief to see that the two children were still sleeping soundly. 

Hanging her cloak up on the hook by the door, Jin qing decided that she was in no mood to sleep- despite being awake the entire night. 
She took in a deep breath to ease her racing heart, tapping on the wooden table to still her shaking her heart. 

Jin qing couldn't tell if she was shaking from excitement or other factors. 

If everything goes right... it'll be one step closer to bringing the Song down after she leaves. 

And after that... I'll return to the Wei, help drive Sheng Feng back to the falling Song. They'll need my help desperately, and I'm actually impressed that the Wei hasn't fallen without me. I'm sure Sheng Feng is laying siege to the capital now... I wonder is the Li family alright? 

Jin qing sat there in silence, watching the little flame on the candle flicker in the air. A smug smirk spread across her face as the feeble flame reminded her of the blaze that must be raging across the fields now. Her hand hovered over the flame, feeling the intense heat against her fingertips.

If she just closed her eyes a little, she can feel the heat spreading throughout the rest of her body, remembering the sensation of flames flickering against her skin when Gui Fei burned down a part of the Liang palace to hide the assassination of her parents. 

Her hand must have stayed there for longer than she imagined, and pulled back her hand when it suddenly cramped and almost touched the flame. 

Jin qing smiled and paid no attention to it, fanning the flames with her hand to play around with it as if it was only a toy. 

A toy to a child who knows how to play. 

<>

"Where are you going...?" Nian Zhen asked, looking up when she saw Jin qing put on a thin silk cloak over her dress. 

Jin qing cleared the breakfast dishes from the table and put them back into the box. "I have to do a few things." She answered "I'll be taking the box with me- I'll be back by lunch if things go smoothly." she was just about to turn around when she felt a little tugging on her dress and looked down to see Xiao wen tugging on her skirt. Jin qing smiled and pulled her skirt back from his hands "If you're worried about being bored, do you want me to ask Qiang An if he can drop by and visit you two? The two of you seemed to like him a lot just from yesterday's lunch with him."

"can you ask him to bring snacks?"

Jin qing burst out laughing and pinched Xiao Wen's cheeks teasingly. "Goodness! You sure do love sweets just as much as I do. I'll be sure to ask him."

Nian Zhen poked her brother's side "but don't expect him and the snacks to come. He's usually very busy since he's a guard."

"But big sister Jin qing will bring snacks during lunch, right?" He asked, looking up with wide eyes. "Right big sister Jin qing?"

"Don't look at me like that."

His eyes shone from the light shining through the windows, and his pleading expression reminded Jin qing of Xi Yan whenever they went out to town to buy jewelry. That incident seemed so long ago, and she couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh. 

"Alright, alright. You win." Jin qing answered, smiling when she saw a smirk spread on his small face. "I promise I'll be back snacks. Satisfied?"

"Yes! Thank you, big sister Jin qing!"

Jin qing was quite amused to be called big sister again and turned around to start walking out. "You two behave, okay? Don't get your clothes dirty again after the bath yesterday. Just because you're in the palace doesn't mean you can waste things, understand?"

"Understood!" They said in unison before Jin qing slid the door shut. 

Word travels like... well, fire. 

Already she can hear the buzz of anxiety around the palace about the field that has mysteriously burned up in the dead of night. All she had to pretend now was that she had just heard of the news and act just as surprised. 

If she wanted to see how Tian Xiang would manage this... there would be no better way than going to the emperor himself. 
The guards outside the door once again let her in without a problem, and Jin qing had to stop herself from smirking when she saw Tian Xiang's furrowed brows, clearly in concentration. 

"Worrying about the fire that started last night?" Jin qing asked, casually walking up the steps to the throne and stood in front of the golden table. 

"Word must have traveled much faster than I'd thought."

"Well, it's so late in the season. A loss of harvest would be devastating."

"Have you come to see how I'm going to struggle or come to help?"

Jin qing didn't try to hide her smirk this time. "A little bit of both. I can't be helping someone that's supposed to be my enemy."

Tian Xiang straightened, his golden robes catching the sunlight and made him shine more than usual. "Aren't you going to be a little lenient with so many people at stake?"

She pretended to think about that. "Mmm. Here's an obvious suggestion- open the store and distribute food."

"Do you take me as an idiot?"

"Maybe."

"Guess what- I'm not an idiot." Tian Xiang rolled his eyes "The town is rather large. If I distribute food freely like that, we'll be in danger of running low."

"You're the emperor. Figure it out."

"Aren't you known to help the emperor of Wei when he's in situations like this?"

"Are you the emperor of the Wei?"

"No, but are you going to let innocent people die because you decided not to help me? The stores won't be the only thing that will be suffering some losses if you don't."

While Jin qing pretended to think before, Tian Xiang's words genuinely made her hesitate. She had previously given her actions careful thought, but how Tian Xiang was wording... By all means, she should be wholeheartedly helping him if it means saving lives. 
She was many things, and she tries not to be a hypocrite. 

People are still people, no matter where they came from. 

Jin qing shrugged after a second of silence. "I've said this to the emperor of Wei before. If you can't manage an empire without me, you don't deserve to be called an emperor. How would you handle this crisis?"

Tian Xiang sighed "I was hoping to coax an answer out of you, but alright." He looked back down at the map and the long scrolls of information and numbers that were impressively detailed considering the short amount of time since the fire. "Count what is left and compare the amount to the consumption levels of the previous year. Give out what is necessary and ration out their supplies as we draw bits from the other surrounding areas to take the pressure off the main storage section." He looked up "Sounds alright?"

Jin qing didn't find anything too majorly wrong about it. It seems like Qiang An wasn't bluffing when he said that Tian Xiang would be able to feed anyone who had suffered a bad harvest. 
Though, she wondered if that system would fall apart if it was much more widespread- leaving little to take from other areas. 

He made it sound like the stores can't handle too much stress and would be relying on the extra feed that would have gone to trading or storage to fill in the gaps. How much would I need to burn to ensure that he runs out of grain to feed his empire?

"You're not saying anything. I'll assume you're thinking of something to nitpick but is failing to."

"Something of the sorts." Jin qing answered quickly "It's been a rather dry summer, so I wouldn't be surprised if more fires spring up."

Tian Xiang's sharp features darkened, his brows furrowing together even deeper. "That is true. I've already sent people to watch over the fields day and night to stop something like that from happening. I also sent orders to harvest the crops as soon as it's ready and store them away to minimize losses. I wonder if the same thing is happening in the Wei..."

If someone was purposely burning it... perhaps. 

"It most likely is." Jin qing lied through a smile. "How long do you think you can hold it if more fires spring up?"

"I'll do my best."

That didn't assure Jin qing as much as she feared she would by his answers, and was happy to know that. 


The pieces of her plan are starting to fall in place. The burning of the poor fields last night was just the start... there would be many more to come.