Tsu Ma studied her a moment, then nodded. "Good. But let us go in. Your father will be expecting us."
Li Shai Tung was sitting in the Summer House, a small comset on his lap. Tiny three-dimensional holograms formed and faded in the air above the set, each figure giving its brief report before it vanished. Tsu Ma sat close by the old man, keeping silent, while Li Yuan went to get drinks. Fei Yen stood by the window looking down the steep slope toward the terrace and the ornamental lake. From time to time she would glance back into the room, her eyes coming to rest on the casually seated figure of Tsu Ma.
He was a broad-shouldered, handsome man. Riding, she had noticed how straight he held himself in the saddle, how unruffled he had been when leading his horse across a fast-flowing stream, how easily he brought his mount to jump a wall, as though he were part of the animal he rode. And yet he was immaculate, his hair groomed and beaded with rubies, his tunic an achingly sweet shade of pink that was almost white, edged with black, his trousers of a blue that reminded her of the summer skies of her youth. She had seen how tightly his thighs had gripped the flanks of the roan horse; how commanding he had seemed.
Li Shai Tung finished his business and put the comset down, smiling at Tsu Ma, then at his daughter-in-law, greeting them wordlessly. Li Yuan turned from the cabinet, carrying a tray of drinks. He was host here in this room.
Fei Yen took her drink and seated herself beside her husband, facing the other men. She was conscious of how Tsu Ma looked at her. So open. And yet not impolitely.
"You're looking well," Li Shai Tung said, looking across at Fei Yen. "You should ride more often."
Li Yuan leaned forward. "She was magnificent, Father. A bom horsewoman! You should have seen how she leaped the meadow gate!" His eyes flashed wide as he said it, and when he looked at his wife it was with unfeigned admiration. Tsu Ma saw this and pushed his head back slightly, as if his collar were too tight. He reached into the inner pocket of his tunic and took out a slender silver case.
"May I smoke?" He held out the case and Li Yuan nodded, looking to his father for approval. The old man said nothing, merely smiled.
Tsu Ma removed one of the pencil-thin cheroots and lit it, then inhaled slowly, seeming to relax in his chair as he did so. The silver case lay on the arm of the chair.
He watched the smoke curl up, a thin, fragile thread of heated ash. "I must thank you, Li Yuan. Today has been perfect." His eyes settled on the young man's face, finding nothing but open friendship there, perhaps even a degree of admiration. He was used to it; accepted it as his due. But the look on Fei Yen's face—that was different. That, too, he recognized, but kept the knowledge to himself. He raised his glass, toasting his host and hostess silently, his smile serene, sincere.
Li Shai Tung watched all, nodding to himself. He seemed well pleased with things. For the first time in months he was smiling. Tsu Ma saw this and asked him why.
"I'll tell you. When we are alone."
The T'ang had not looked at Fei Yen, and his comment seemed quite innocuous, but she knew how traditional her father-in-law was. He was not like her own father; he would not discuss business in front of women. She set her drink down untouched and stood up, patting Li Yuan's hand, then turned to bow low to the two T'ang.
"Excuse me, Chieh Hsia, but I must go and change. The ride has made me tired." It was untrue. She had never felt more alive. Her eyes shone with a barely contained excitement. But she lowered her head and went quietly from the room, turning only at the door to look back, finding, as she'd hoped, that Tsu Ma's eyes were on her.
"Well?" said Tsu Ma when she had gone. His manner seemed no different, and yet the word seemed somehow colder, more masculine than before.
"Good news. Both Wu Shih and Wei Feng have agreed to our little scheme."
Tsu Ma looked down. The development was unexpected. "Is that wise?"
"I thought so," Li Shai Tung continued, noting his hesitation. "In the present circumstances I felt it... safer... to have the balance of the Council know of my plans. It would not do to alienate my oldest friends."
Tsu Ma drew on the cheroot again, then looked up, meeting his eyes. "No. But that's not exactly what I meant. This whole business of covert action. Surely it goes against the spirit of the Council? If we can't be open with each other—"
"And can we?" Li Yuan's words were bitter, angry, but at a look from his father he lowered his head, holding his tongue.
"I understand your feelings, Li Yuan," Tsu Ma answered him, smiling at the old T'ang to show he was not offended by his son's interruption. "But Wang Sau-
leyan must surely not be allowed to triumph. This way, it seems we play into his hands."
Li Shai Tung was watching him closely. "Then you will not give your consent?"
Tsu Ma's smile broadened. "That is not what I said. I was merely pointing out the underlying logic of this course. Whatever you decide I will consent to, my father's oldest friend. And not only because of my respect for my father. I know you would not follow this course if there were any other way."
Li Shai Tung smiled then looked down into his lap. "If it helps reassure you, Tsu Ma, I will say to you what I have already said both to Wu Shih and Wei Feng. I do not wish to circumvent the Council in this matter. This is merely a question of research. A fact-finding exercise before I present my case to Council. The brief of the Project will be to study only the feasibility of wiring up Chung Kuo's population. It will fall far short of actual experimentation. After all, it would not do for me, a T'ang, to breach the Edict, would it?"
Tsu Ma laughed. "No, indeed. But tell me ... who did you have in mind to look after the Project? It's a sensitive scheme. The security on it must be watertight."
"I agree. Which is why I'm placing Marshal Tolonen in charge."
"Tolonen?" Tsu Ma considered it a moment, then smiled. "Why, yes, I can see that that would work very well."
He met the old T'ang's eyes, a look of understanding passing between them that escaped the young Prince's notice. For Tolonen would be opposed to the scheme. He, if anyone, would be guaranteed to keep it in check.
"But see, I've talked enough already, and you still know so little about the scheme itself. Let Li Yuan speak for me now. Let him be my voice in this matter."
Tsu Ma looked across at the young man, interested. This was why he had come: to hear Li Yuan's proposal in detail. "Speak," he said, his left hand outstretched, palm open. A broad hand with long fingers clustered with heavy rings. Smoke curled up from beneath the hand.
Li Yuan hesitated; then, composing himself, he began itemizing the discoveries they had made at various SimFic establishments, discoveries that had broken the Edict—things meant to harm the Seven, now harnessed for their use.
Tsu Ma listened, drawing on the cheroot from time to time, his smile growing broader by the moment. Until, finally, he laughed and clapped his hand against his thigh.
"Excellent! My word, it is excellent." He rose and went to the window, looking down the slope. "You have my agreement, Li Shai Tung. 1 like this plan. I like it very much."
Tsu Ma turned, looking back at the young man. Li Yuan was smiling broadly, pleased with himself, proud of his scheme, and delighted that he had Tsu Ma's approval. Tsu Ma smiled back at him and nodded, then turned to the window again.
At the bottom of the slope, on the terrace above the ornamental lake, a woman was walking, looking back toward the house. She wore riding clothes and her long dark hair hung loose where she had just unfastened it. She was small, delicate, like a goddess made of the finest porcelain. Tsu Ma smiled and looked away; he turned to face the two men in the room with him.