by JC Kang
“I look forward to it.” Fixer Zhang rose and shuffled off. Jie looked for reflective surfaces, just in case a vain woman happened to be walking by looking in a mirror, but like before, she had no such luck.
Now she had two hours to work out the details of her real plan for getting into the safe. While many of the clan assets around the capital moved to the palace to counteract the potential threat to the Emperor, she’d have to use the Floating World cell…and lie to them about her true intentions.
Chapter 2
With Yuna’s death weighing heavily on ten-year-old Zheng Tian’s shoulders, he trudged to his assigned spot inside of the Yushan Jade Market. Located in what was once a vaulting brick warehouse, eighty-seven vendors hawked all qualities of jade, in everything from bracelets to carvings, necklaces to statuettes. At this mid-morning hour, there were ninety-three customers milling about the stalls, admiring the wares, haggling with the merchants, and buying trinkets.
He pulled at his blue gentleman’s robes, which the cell believed suited his current acting abilities, and looked around without being obvious. The motion caused the stitches in his shoulder to pull, though they hurt less each day. That wasn’t important now; somewhere among the crowds was the mysterious Fixer Zhang.
From what they’d learned from questioning Triads before leaving the Trench, he was their go-to for information, smuggled goods, people with special talents, and who knew what else. Jie had surmised from her earlier interaction that he probably also had his tentacles reaching into the nobility. The potential connections had Tian’s brain dancing with possibilities. Combined with sadness over Yuna, it was a distraction from the task at hand.
As she’d taught, he constantly checked reflective surfaces as he worked his way through the market, yet always kept an eye on Jie. She kept her ears covered with a red headscarf. Despite the bright color, it was still hard to keep track of her, given how short she was compared to the people around her.
A boy about Tian’s age brushed by him.
Tian seized the urchin’s wrist and held it up.
The boy gave a sheepish grin and dropped Tian’s coin purse.
Tian swept it out of the air. Not that there was much more than rocks in the pouch, anyway, to give the appearance of fullness and complete his disguise. Tian released the kid, and watched as he ran off. His pickpocketing skill was so poor, he would more likely get caught than score a purse. He turned back to Jie.
She was gone.
No, there she was, a flash of her green dress moving through the forest of people. She flashed subtle clan hand signals. Swap is on. All eyes on girl in grey. Continue exchange.
Girl in grey? There were six in the market! Still, the swap was on, so Tian went along his assigned route, scanning for—there, Little Aina in plain pink, a Seedling from the Lily Pond, had a package bound in brown silk. She passed it off to Little Duoduo from the Orchid Palace, wearing a matching dress and hair pinned up in the same fashion. Only two of the six girls in grey were on the move, one headed this way. Just twenty-seven paces away, the package switched to Meisha, skinny Blossom of the Orchid Palace, who cradled it with nonchalant grace. He was up next to receive it.
The girl in grey passed. Instead of continuing his leg of the relay, he turned and trailed her out of one of the market’s many entrances.
When no one was around, he ran and caught up to her, grabbing her dress at the shoulder. “Hey!”
She spun around, eyes wide, and struggled to break free. “I didn’t steal anything, I swear!”
His eyes landed on a coin purse in her hand.
“I didn’t steal it.” She clutched it to her chest.
This couldn’t possibly be Fixer Zhang. Could it? Maybe? After all, the clan traitor’s and Faceless Chang’s identities had both been surprises. “Where did you get the brown silk package?”
“A man gave it to me, and told me to give it to the girl with the red headscarf.”
Most likely she was…what was the term? A horse? Still, Jie was wearing a different-colored headscarf from when she’d met her informant—possibly Fixer Zhang—earlier, for the very purpose of making Fixer Zhang come in person to identify her. Tian tapped his chin. “What did he look like?”
She held a hand above well above her head. “This tall, hair in a ponytail. He was wearing a brown tunic.”
That could describe at least four people who’d passed through the market. Tian put two fingers to his eyes. “How far apart were his eyes? What shape was his nose?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Where did it happen?”
She pointed to the centermost entrance on the east.
The sun would’ve been at the man’s back, making it impossible for anyone inside to make out his features. He also would’ve had line of sight on Jie. Fixer Chang knew what he was doing.
“She’s just a mule,” Jie said.
Tian’s heart just about jumped into his throat. The half-elf delighted in sneaking up on him! He swung on her.
Gone was her usual mischievous grin, replaced by a downcast expression. “You can let her go.”
Tian released the girl, and she scampered off, still clutching her purse.
“We have the package,” Jie said, “and if Fixer Zhang had eyes on me, he shouldn’t know where it ended up. We can’t let him know our real plan.”
The real plan. Jie had said the clan wanted the contents of a safe, and they had to beat Fixer Zhang to it. He nodded.
“Now come on, we’re going to call on an old friend.”
✽ ✽ ✽
Tian hid in an alley with Jie at his side, watching Lord Shi of Jinjing County taking tea with his son, Shi Han, on the patio of a teahouse. Located in the northwest, it was near a district with many courtyard homes of minor nobility.
He’d often seen the forty-one-year-old Lord Shi at court—the Emperor favored him, to the point where they travelled together—but fourteen-year-old Shi Han only came occasionally. He’d always kept his distance from the younger children, but sometimes conversed with Tian’s good friend, Peng Kai-Long.
Both father and son carried a little too much weight in their cheeks and torsos, and their brown robes did little to hide it. The wen insignia on their shoulders depicted a black flower with four petals on a white field. Two identically dressed guards stood watch nearby, broadswords hanging on their hips, as opposed to the fine dao blades tucked into their masters’ sashes.
Tian rubbed a hand over his own stomach. In just a week of exertion and no sweets—well, he had snatched a red bean paste bun from the Peony Garden a few days before—he’d lost plenty of weight.
“The diet and activity are doing you good,” Jie whispered without looking at him. She’d been so focused since their return from the Trench.
His chest filled with pride, though it didn’t feel that good, considering his slowness might’ve cost Yuna her life.
Jie pointed her chin at the pair. “See the way Young Lord Shi waves his hand at the servant?”
Tian nodded. It was a dismissive gesture, bordering on rudeness.
“And see Lord Shi scowl? I would guess he is disappointed in his son.”
It was a sentiment Tian knew too well. He’d never lived up to Father’s expectations, and now he’d even been banished from the capital. Of course, he was still here, and getting caught by the authorities would mean a slow death.
“Here he comes,” Jie said.
Tian turned to the flash of swishing blue robes.
Old Feng, a second-rate actor from the Floating World’s Red Boat Opera, sauntered toward Lord Shi’s table. He waved a hand. “Lord Shi!”
The two guards sidestepped together, hands on their weapons, barring his way.
Holding up two hands, Old Feng took a step back. “I’m an old business associate, here with a proposal.”
Lord Shi’s bored expression brightened, and he beckoned. “Let him through.”
After several groveling bows, Old Feng straightened and pus
hed through the guards as if they were ants, coming to the table. He bowed again.
In this, his acting was much better than when he’d nearly gotten Tian captured a few days before.
“Please.” Lord Shi beckoned to the seat between him and his son.
With a broad smile, Old Feng plopped into the chair. “Thank you, my Lord.”
Young Lord Shi Han looked up at the Iridescent Moon. The way he fidgeted…
“Yes, he wants to be somewhere else, soon.” Jie’s whisper tickled Tian’s ear.
“How may I help you?” Lord Shi asked.
Old Feng dipped into a surprisingly grand bow for someone sitting. “I am glad you asked. I hear you are reporting to the Emperor tomorrow.”
Lord Shi sat up straight. “You are well-informed.”
Only because Jie told him as much. Tian snorted.
“In my line of business, I need to be.” Old Feng rubbed his hands together.
“And what line of work is that?” Shi Han asked.
Lord Shi hissed. “Quiet, boy. Adults are talking.”
Lips tightening into a hard line, the boy hung his head.
“Ahhhh…” Old Feng looked from father to son and back to father again. “I’m Feng of Feng Trading. Your steward bought some red wheat liquor from me many years ago.”
Tian snorted. Of course, Old Feng only knew about there being a steward from Jie’s report on Lord Shi’s local household. And of course, Lord Shi’s blank expression showed he knew nothing about this fictional transaction. Which meant he probably let the steward run his house in the capital.
“So.” Old Feng cleared his throat. “I want a permit to import red wheat from Rotuvi, so I can distill it into wine here. Maybe you could bring it up to the Emperor.”
Not that the Emperor cared about such mundane matters; some ministry was likely in charge. Lord Shi, however, smiled. “I will consider it…”
The trailing tone suggested he was waiting for a bribe. Sadly, Old Feng was poorer than dirt, thanks to a gambling and alcohol habit. If he really imported red wheat liquor, he’d probably drink it all himself.
“Get to it,” Jie muttered under her breath.
Old Feng motioned to the west. As planned, Wen strutted by in a white-and-yellow gown, whose neckline dipped low. One foot crossing in front of the other, each step revealed a shapely leg. Still, something was off about it. Her usual nonchalant grace was gone, replaced by forced elegance.
Tian tapped his chin. Yesterday had been Wen’s seventeenth birthday, and the only gift she’d received was the news of Yuna’s death. She’d taken it particularly hard, since Yuna was her Big Sister both in the clan and in the Peony Garden, and now she had to live a lie told to her House: that Yuna’s bond had been bought out, and she’d returned home.
Whether Wen looked more awkward or not, Lord Shi probably couldn’t tell from the way he was gawking. Shi Han’s eyes followed her as well, though not with such obvious hunger.
“There’s nothing more beautiful than a Floating World Blossom,” Old Feng said. “My Lord, I confess, this is no chance meeting.”
“Oh?” Lord Shi didn’t look back at Old Feng, head instead rocking with the sway of Wen’s hips.
“I noted that Young Lord Shi must be close to his First Pollination. That Blossom’s House is the premier location for all the realms’ great lords. The great Lord Peng’s two sons both chose her for their first.”
Lord Shi licked his lips. “I can see why.”
“I’ve taken the liberty of contracting her House, the Peony Garden, for Young Lord Shi.”
If Shi Han was excited in the least, it didn’t show.
And they needed him to be excited, if Jie’s plan for getting the contents of the safe for the clan was to work.
Chapter 3
With the loss of two dear friends in less than a week, Dan Wen found it hard to fake an alluring smile at the pudgy lordling. Still, clan business came first: the Emperor needed the contents of Lord Shi’s safe, and getting Young Lord Shi Han to choose her for his First Pollination was all part of Jie’s plan to crack it.
It shouldn’t be this hard: after all, Old Feng had specifically pointed her out. Still, Shi Han leaned back in a chair in the Peony Garden’s common room, manicured finger on his chin. His brown robes did little to hide his bulk. With all the vigor of a fourteen-year-old youth, his eyes roved over the seven other Blossoms, who wore titillating gowns and held even more suggestive poses.
Her heart juddered. He hadn’t once even considered her, his eyes sliding past to an older House sister.
Sitting at his side, his even bulkier father’s eyes never left her. The ruler of Jinjing County, Lord Shi Mu was thought to be one of the Emperor’s most loyal vassals. So why did the clan want the Floating World cell to investigate the safe?
Wen tried to focus on the task at hand. If only she could be like Elder Sister Jie. She’d met with Fixer Zhang’s representative this morning to find out more about the conspiracy that had led to Lilian’s and Yuna’s deaths. Putting whatever she’d learned to the side, she’d pivoted to the clan mission with renewed focus.
It was time for Wen to do the same. There was still one way to tilt this back in her favor: manipulate men’s fragile egos. She, Jie, and Tian had spent an hour observing Lord Shi and his son, learning their timbres and intonations when speaking, and their body language. More for Tian’s sake, but it was time for her to put that information to use.
Wen modulated her voice with the clan’s Mockingbird’s Deception to mimic Elder Lord Shi’s, and used a Ghost Echo to throw it. “Which one did Lord Peng choose for his two sons’ First Pollination?”
No. Grief was messing with her concentration. Had her voice come out raspy enough?
Lord Shi sat up straight, brows furrowed. That was to be expected, especially if she’d done it correctly, since he’d wonder why he’d heard his own voice when he hadn’t even spoken. He opened his mouth—
“Brilliant question, my Lord.” Florist Qin, acting as interim Gardener for the House, gestured toward Wen. “That would be Wen. She is especially skilled at first times.”
Lord Shi’s lips snapped shut, and he leaned back. Of course, no vain minor lord would turn down a compliment about his taste. Just as he had an hour before, his eyes undressed her. It was a daily occurrence, but today, it made her feel dirty.
Still, her tactic had yielded the desired result: young Shi Han’s gaze came back to her.
Tilting over to expose more of her cleavage, Wen forced a smile. The movement came off awkward, the smile blunt. She was so useless today, unable to perform the most elementary suggestive body language. She suppressed a sigh.
Tearing his eyes from her chest, he waved a dismissive hand and turned to the Florist. “She’s beautiful, but why’s she so sad?”
Heavens, this was an unmitigated debacle.
“My Young Lord,” the Florist said, with a lilting giggle. “Only a virile young lord like yourself can bring a smile to her lips.”
His own lips twitched into a grin, making the thin wisps of peach fuzz dance. How satisfying it would be to smack it right off his face.
Lord Shi cleared his throat. “She is the one.”
“But Father—”
Lord Shi scowled. “She is much prettier than the maids you grope back home.”
Wen’s smile, fake as it was, slipped for a split second. After three years of spending her days gratifying entitled men, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that this little brat took advantage of girls whose livelihood relied on enduring his unwanted advances.
“Fine.” The boy waved another dismissive hand. “Do I get a party, too, like Young Lord Peng?”
Maybe the father paled, or maybe it was just Wen’s imagination. “There’s no time to plan such a grand event.”
Or most likely, Lord Shi couldn’t afford the king’s ransom that a party of that magnitude would cost. Wen fiddled with her pinkie. Young Lord Peng’s party, a once-in-a-generation event
, had been a way for Gardener Ju of the Chrysanthemum Pavilion and Lord Ting to launder illegal drug sales. Ironically, Gardener Ju had also used the party as a dry run for Lilian’s successful assassination of Lord Ting. Gardener Dan had used it in a plot to preserve House Corsage Lusha’s record virgin price.
Tears threatened to blur her vision, but she blinked several times to make it look like innocence. As a result of that one party, Jie had been violated and lost the astronomical bid on her virgin price, Lilian had killed Gardener Dan, and Jie had been forced to kill Lilian. On top of that, it had turned out that Gardener Ju had once been one of the clan’s most celebrated operatives: the Steel Orchid twin who’d burned down the Floating World to stage her own death. Tian had killed her to save Jie.
“Fine. Shall we begin?” Shi Han was saying. He rose out of his chair, his eyes locked on her chest.
Wen bowed low, allowing him an even better view. The House sisters bowed as well, staying genuflected as she straightened. There’d never been any shame in giving herself to men. It was for the clan that raised her, and really, she had power over the Hummingbirds who thought they controlled the Blossoms. If only Lilian had seen it that way, maybe she wouldn’t have betrayed the clan, and died for it.
Now, though, Wen’s heart squeezed. This was the first male she would receive since learning of Yuna’s death last night. She’d just cleaned the girl’s body earlier today, preparing it for cremation. Tonight, after their mission was accomplished, she’d dress Yuna for her final journey.
That was later. All that mattered now was this moment. Wen held out her hand. “This way, Young Lord.”
His expression remained sour as he took her hand and, fingers limp, allowed himself to be guided through the common room to the stairs. Never before had a young lord seemed so unmotivated. Maybe he’d wanted someone else? Even if she really wasn’t in the mood for this, it still hurt not to be wanted. Behind them, one of the giggling House sisters settled in Lord Shi’s lap. It was surprising she had enough of a perch, given how much space his belly took. The rest of the girls dispersed, returning to their preparation for the night.