Work Text:
The quarterly peak lord meeting had a tendency to go one of two ways. Either things were done efficiently and quickly with minimal pain and suffering, or things went to hell in a hen basket before lunchtime. Yue Qingyuan thought everything had been going rather well, which should’ve warned him that things were about to take a sharp turn.
“I want to review the budgets!” Qi Qingqi said loud but firmly, interrupting Huang Qinghuo’s soft spoken report about the artifact warehouse. “Shang Qinghua should have the documentation with him, right?”
No, Shang Qinghua did not have the documentation with him because peak budgets were usually discussed in private. However no matter how many times Shang Qinghua told her that, Qi Qingqi seemed dead set on making everything that could be discussed in short private sessions drag out in public meetings.
Continuing as if she hadn’t derailed the topic, Qi Qingqi said, “Xian Shu needs a larger stipend. Shang Qinghua should be able to rearrange the budgets to make that happen.”
Yue Qingyuan sighed like he did every time that was brought up in meetings. He wasn’t going to say no in front of everyone and embarrass Qi Qingqi, but he couldn’t say yes and lead her with false promises.
“No.”
Everyone turned to look at Shang Qinghua who was diligently sorting through the meeting notes, his attention fixed on his own work and nothing else.
Qi Qingqi blinked and asked stunned, “Excuse me?”
“I said no.” Shang Qinghua placed a page to the side for review. “Qi Shimei should know by now that what she’s asking for is inappropriate to bring up in a public setting, not to mention I can’t do anything about it.”
Shang Qinghua put down his brush and looked at his martial sister. He was just tired of her constant whining about money when she was the one in charge of spending it.
An angry look twisted Qi Qingqi’s pretty features as she snapped, “Yes you can! Why else are you in charge of the money?”
“I’m not,” Shang Qinghua said, folding a page of scribbles. “Qiong Ding is responsible for the sect’s finances and allocating funds. If you need an increase in your stipend, I recommend you speak privately to Zhangmen Shixiong. The budgets I make for each peak are suggestions on how to best utilize out stipends in addition to what we make on our own. Generating revenue is something each peak is capable of to remain self sufficient, and even if I were in charge of the money, I wouldn’t siphon from one peak to give to another.”
The last part made several lords’ mouths drop open in surprise at the implication that Qi Qingqi had been trying to convince Shang Qinghua to take from the other peaks to bolster Xian Shu’s funds. Shen Qingqiu’s eyes widened as he hid his face behind his fan, his interest in the discussion piqued.
Qi Qingqi sputtered and sat back in her seat, frustrated at being called out publicly despite her own attempt to do the same.
A few peak lords spoke softly among themselves, mostly about not knowing the funds weren’t controlled by An Ding, and some about what changes they could make to the budgets.
With a sigh, Shang Qinghua stood up and said, “If you have questions pertaining to this, raise your hand.”
Five hands went up, including Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu.
“Alright,” Shang Qinghua said, snagging his brush and a page to write on. “Song Shidi, why don’t you start?”
Shang Qinghua used to think stupid questions didn’t exist, but he’d been proven wrong so many times since transmigrating that he fully expected his fellow peak lords to ask some dumb shit. It was a pleasant surprise when everything asked was actually smart, well thought out, or were seeking genuine answers.
That made it so much easier for Shang Qinghua to give answers, even if it wasn’t something the group liked to hear. He could practically see Yue Qingyuan shrink back every time he was mentioned, like he was guilty for not doing his role but also too shy to speak up and take charge. It was a bit ridiculous how a simple quarterly meeting had gone from a mess to a lecture on budgeting, statistics, and investing, all led and taught by Shang Qinghua!
“—and that,” Shang Qinghua said, tucking his brush into his hair, “Is all I have to say on the matter of investments. Last question, then we can break for lunch and resume the agenda.”
Hopefully it would be a smart question like Huang Qinghuo, or a question that was actually an answer presented as a question like Song Qingkuai’s, or something easy like Wei Qingwei’s query.
All hope of it being simple was dashed when Shen Qingqiu’s hand went up.
“Yes Shen Shixiong?”
Shen Qingqiu fanned himself lightly as he asked, “Why is it that Shang Shidi has been handling so much of Qiong Ding’s responsibility instead of Zhangmen Shixiong?”
Unlike his usual barbed comments regarding the sect leader, this question from Shen Qingqiu seemed like he was actually curious as his eyes lingered on Shang Qinghua. It must have been infectious because the other peak lords including Qi Qingqi murmured in agreement and glances between Yue Qingyuan and Shang Qinghua.
This would be a good time to lie and act like there were no problems.
Or…Shang Qinghua could tell the truth.
“Our predecessors did a poor job setting us up for success,” Shang Qinghua said bluntly. “Seeing as how a third of us didn’t know Qiong Ding managed the peak stipends, how some peaks generate more internal revenue than others, and how some have failed to generate their own income—” he glanced at Qi Qingqi briefly, “—they never taught us how to succeed the way they did. Each peak is meant to be sustainable should we ever be cut off from the others. No one is at fault here for lacking knowledge.”
A sound of understanding rose from the peak lords, and Liu Qingge nodded sharply in agreement as he skimmed his own notes from the discussion. Whatever Shang Qinghua was saying had to be good if the War God was writing things down.
Turning back to Shen Qingqiu to finish his tirade, Shang Qinghua said, “Simply put Shen Shixiong, An Ding filled in for Qiong Ding as a temporary fix that was never meant to last this long. We’ll work on remedying that as soon as possible.”
The Qing Jing lord seemed satisfied with that answer, as was Yue Qingyuan as the man dismissed them for lunch. The hall was filled with chatter as Shang Qinghua shoved his notes in a pile for later while he muttered under his breath, not realizing several people looked at him with less disdain and more intrigue.
“Shang Qinghua.”
The man in question tensed and glanced up from his food. He’d been reviewing something pertaining to the meeting’s next discussion point while he ate, and Shen Qingqiu approached the man knowing he wouldn’t have a chance to leave.
“Shen Shixiong,” Shang Qinghua said in greeting, looking around as if he expected to be ganged up on. “How can I help you?”
Most peak lords took lunch in the great hall, but some scattered to get some fresh air. It seemed Shang Qinghua was one of the latter, even if he did bring his material with him.
Shang Qinghua was sat on a stone bench which had just enough room for Shen Qingqiu to join him on without encroaching on each other’s space.
Turning his fan over in his hand, Shen Qingqiu said, “Shang Shidi’s discussion was quite enlightening. If you require assistance with the restructuring of the finances, Qing Jing would be willing to help.”
It was strange but Shang Qinghua had proven himself to be rather impressive today in how firmly he handled the derailed situation and made a plan on the spot to fix it. Not to mention he took questions and direction from the other lords well, including Yue Qingyuan who seemed shocked at times to realize some of his own work had fallen to the wayside. Shen Qingqiu hated to admit that Yue Qingyuan was diligent at keeping up to date with his own work and running the sect smoothly, so for something that important to have slipped his notice must have been because it was handled so well by Shang Qinghua.
Speaking of, the man looked at Shen Qingqiu with cautious surprise before saying, “Thank you? Does Shen Shixiong have a reason he’d like to help?”
“Can this shixiong not help just for the sake of helping?” Shen Qingqiu asked as he rose to his feet. “Qing Jing is stable and according to today’s lecture has been operating without any issues that need to be immediately addressed. We’re more than capable of lending a hand to relieve An Ding of its workload. Now hurry and finish. Your food’s getting cold.”
With that Shen Qingqiu turned to leave, unaware of his shidi’s baffled expression and pleased that he was the first one to approach Shang Qinghua