Chương 139: Chapter 139
Iroh sighed from the throne as an official read out the last of the official reports. A third of the old families were involved in the attempted uprising. Nearly two thousand soldiers were, by duty and discipline, dragged along with them into treason. Several pawns and allies across the capital city were also apprehended.
And yet, that was about the best outcome from all of this, barring a lack of a conspiracy at all.
For one thing, the actual death toll was very low, with most of the captured nobles and soldiers blinded, deafened or similarly maimed, but ultimately still alive enough to be interrogated. Under the influence of Sozin's Comet, Xing's invisible bending had drained the heat in a wide area, rendering a whole swathe of the city covered in a chilling frost. The unnatural cold was thankfully kept outdoors. The boy had happily made it known that it was only through the celestial event that he could manage such 'precise' control over his bending.
That Azula and Toph barely shivered while everyone around them quite literally froze was a more obvious testament to that.
Besides that, Ozai had, against everyone's expectations, chosen to remain a docile prisoner rather than take the bait. According to Toph's acute eavesdropping, he was more than reluctant to join his liberators. While Iroh was relieved that his brother did not further damn himself, Azula was disappointed that her father would now face a full trial rather than outright execution.
How bitter the child must be, the Fire Lord thought somberly. How badly did her family, her uncle included, fail Azula, that the princess could wish death upon her own parent without batting an eye, or not care at all about her brother's quest to find their mother. Azula had been the one to propose and eagerly signed off on the official decree fully disowning her completely from the royal family.
She'd stamped the paperwork with her seal faster than Iroh, Zuko, and the officials present could ask her to reconsider. Only Xing asking if she was sure gave her pause...for all of a few seconds before she shrugged and went ahead with it.
It was a failure that Iroh resolved to try making up for in the future. He had favored Zuko with his attention for too much, and mistook Azula as a mere court maiden in the making, consequently treating her as such. She might no longer be part of the royal family, but that was only on paper. Spirits willing, after things have settled down, Iroh could make the time to travel to Ba Sing Se, and try to properly mend the bridges with his niece.
As it currently is, he now had to oversee the execution of the traitors trying to free his brother. Their families would be further punished, which was already taken into consideration. The majority would see their already shrunken privileges be further curtailed, forcing them onto the smallest, barely habitable islands that would have no chance to grow and prosper any further.
Some of them, the more problematic, older dynasties, would be rendered extinct, the soon-to-be widows and orphans forced to either renounce their family name or join its destruction. What little wealth they had would be seized to fund reparations, the meager islands they held would be given over to minor nobles.
Politics would do the rest, the black mark on the families making them social pariahs that even the Thieves' Guild and criminal lords would avoid.
Corruption might still persist throughout the Fire Nation, but the innate desire for unity, stability and prosperity that ran deep in its people's veins made the concept of traitors - especially traitors whose plans would incite chaos and backward ruin - highly detestable. Avatar Aang dethroning Ozai did not leave as great an impact on the people as did the dissemination of the true extent of his crimes, particularly regicide and military incompetence on the Continent.
Simply making it known that Azula, the competent and still admired (if not secretly beloved) princess, was disgusted enough by her father's betrayal to renounce her claims to her family was enough fuel for the common folk to put into perspective just how much of a villain Ozai was.
Of course, carefully sown whispers would also make it known that Zuko did not follow along out of the need to redeem his family's reputation. He and Iroh would be framed as the reluctant brother and son who was forced to pick up after Ozai's horrid mess, and save the Fire Nation from a more humiliating defeat by the Avatar and his allies. With a solid chunk of political resistance removed, as well as serving as convenient scapepuma-goats, molding public perception shouldn't be too hard a process.
Iroh simply needed to stick within the plans Xing and Azula had so helpfully crafted for him back in Ba Sing Se.
They had adapted it from their original plan of trying to build a peace with the Avatar without losing too much of the colonies. Iroh had been made party to the plan, and honestly the feasibility of it all was questionable. But it was supposed to be Azula's gift to her father, until he recalled her to strip her of her post and forced her to flee and rise up in rebellion.
And attempted to messily kill Iroh while framing it on Xing at the same time.
Fire Lord Iroh sighed again. His brother had his talents, but looking with the clarity of hindsight now, Ozai's recklessness and pettiness far outweighed any cunning or actual skill he possessed.
Really, to kill his wife's former lover out of spite? To kill their father out of impatient greed? To suddenly turn on his daughter just because she was proving far more capable than he was?
With the bar set so low, it was impossible for Iroh to not be better. The unfortunate part about it was that he was forced to sit on the throne, to clean up the mess. At the end of the day, his dream of owning a cozy tea house would have to be put aside. He owed it to his broken family and his battered home. He owed it to the children like Xing and Azula that were forced to grow up far beyond their time to fix the world as best as they could.
"What's next on the agenda?" Iroh glumly asked his officials, forcing himself to endure the next piece of work out of a mountain's worth of tasks.
*****
With the return of the royal couple, Su-Wei could finally breathe a sigh of relief. While her impromptu role as Ba Sing Se's steward wasn't too hard, her baleful glare being more than enough to keep everyone from misbehaving, the constant grind of dealing with courtiers and petitioners and idiotic suckups was severely straining the aging woman's sanity.
Forget the old dreams of working in the palace, after this, she would be seeking a nice plot of land overlooking Lake Laogai, surrounded by fortifications to ensure that no one could ever disturb her. The surly Yama and matronly Kilin were free to continue being dutiful, Su-Wei had had her fill of court politics and was old enough to be left alone, damn it!
She greeted the couple and their 'close companion' in the throneless throne room, not bothering to bow before them like the others.
"Welcome back, kids. I hope you're done with little excursions." Su-Wei didn't hide her satisfaction at beating Yama to a snarky greeting.
The couple nodded back as they walked up to the raised dais where the throne used to be. "We shouldn't have any outings for a while yet," Xing answered lightly. "So, nothing's gone to shit yet?"
"Nothing unexpected," High General Mozi replied in his usual flat, no-nonsense voice. "Generals Sung and Yiu, along with most of their followers, have accepted your offer and have pledged themselves to your new Ba Sing Se. The retraining of the city's garrison is proceeding smoothly, with dropout rates well within expectations."
"The dismantling of the walls separating the Outer, Middle and Inner Rings are proceeding ahead of schedule," Yama grunted. "The flighty bastards in the Village of Hidden Clouds are complaining, but that's all they'll be doing. The reallocation of land within the Agrarian Zone is on pause until the coming harvest is done with, but otherwise the new farmers are settling in alright. Someone's supposedly figured out the right spots to grow kai-lan, but that'll need you two's approval. Hopefully with that the bloody migrants will finally shut their traps about food from the islands…"
Yama muttered the last sentence with little heat, which gained many smirks within the throne room. Su-Wei and the other 'migrants' to Ba Sing Se's court had long gotten used to the man's faux gruffness of the old earthbender. For an earthbender, the City Advocate was more gust of wind than bark than bite. Besides, he, like a surprising number of native nobles, had gotten quite fond of the leafy green. Enough so that Su-Wei would bet that right after this complaint, he'll be breaking for lunch with his fellow native born officials that'd see kai-lan in at least two different dishes.
Su-Wei was more of a fermented cabbage person herself, so she couldn't empathize with their dietary fascination.
Back in the throne room, a young man stepped up, annoyance etched on his face. "My father's got several prototypes and proposals awaiting your review," Teo declared curtly, still not willing to be comfortable in the role Xing had elevated him to. While his father, Jishi, was the Head of Technology, the Mechanist's self-inflicted work had made Teo's status as deputy serve more as a courtier representing his father more than anything else. Su-Wei sympathized with him, but after the great reveals that was the flushing toilet and a self-filling tub, she would gladly continue pitying Teo while his father remained busy with his life's calling.
Xing's grand idea was to have the tub and toilet found in every home in Ba Sing Se, connected by an underground web of water pipes. Su-Wei hoped that included stretching the pipes all the way out to her home by Lake Laogai.
"The Northern Water Tribe ambassador just arrived yesterday," Ty Lee, the unofficial spokesperson for when meetings required far more smiling than Su-Wei could manage, brought up. "He and his people are still resting up, but they should be coming over to pay their respects in the evening."
Azula gave a slow, reluctant nod. "Thank you, Ty Lee. What's your read on them?"
The other girl shrugged her shoulders. "They're nice people, and seem friendly enough. Ambassador Siku seems genuine in building a relationship with us."
Su-Wei didn't know the specifics, but both princess and prince had only allowed Ty Lee to take part in palace work only after much convincing from the girl herself. It was some concern over not wanting to wrongfully exploit Ty Lee's talents - whatever that was beyond her cheery disposition and spry body - but Su-Wei didn't really know enough to pass judgment.
Xing and Azula were not the kinds of people to abuse those close to them, nor are they the types to exaggerate talent. For them to be so careful with Ty Lee meant that there was something going on here. Something more private than their not-so-hidden closeness with Suki.
It was then Su-Wei's turn to give her report. "The appointments you both suggested have been partially accepted. Our Head of Justice, Judge Bao, is absent today because he's still closing up a case in the Middle Ring. A potential counterfeit ring, apparently." Why that made Xing grin was beyond Su-Wei, and she didn't even try to fathom her grandson's spirit-touched mind. "Engineer Sato has agreed to the position of Head of Internal Logistics, and will be presenting himself later, along with the first draft of the new road network you requested, once he's done with it."
"It's fine," Xing said with a casual wave of his hand. "We'll visit him after this."
Su-Wei glowered at her adopted grandson, quietly relishing the way he flinched in response. "Please don't. It'd make it look like you're trying to intimidate or quietly admonish him. Let him present himself formally for his first official introduction."
"As you say, Lady S-"
She widened her eyes to glare at him harder, and Xing coughed to stop himself.
"As you say, grandmother."
The smirks that spread across the room, along with Xing's flushed embarrassment, reminded Su-Wei why she tolerated being in court at all. She matched Azula's grin as she continued with her report.
"Anyway, regarding the coronation…"
Other officials then followed after her to provide their own reports, and the first official court of an independent and sovereign Ba Sing Se proceeded without incident. Su-Wei did not hide her unabashed gladness that the day continued on in a boring, uneventful manner. After all the madness that followed in the past year, she fully appreciated the concept of 'boring'.
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