by JC Kang
Yangyang pulled at the sleeve of her stealth suit. “How much of the musk and flower toxins do we have?”
“Tian smashed most of the flower toxin when he incapacitated Gardener Ju.” Wen patted him on the head.
There was no blame in her voice, but Tian’s shoulders slumped of their own accord all the same.
“And I used most of our supply of the musk in Yue Heaven and the Trench,” Jie said. “Some of our Blossoms might have a little, but if they are receiving Hummingbirds in their rooms, it will be almost impossible to get ahold of.”
“A party.” Wen clapped her hands together. “Young Lord Shi Han wanted a party, but Lord Shi didn’t have the coin for it. How about if we take the party to him?”
Yangyang shook her head, sending her ponytail wagging. “How would you justify it? A Blossom wouldn’t do it for free.”
“Old Feng,” Tian said. The actor had done well this morning, after all. “We bribed him to recommend Wen for Shi Han’s First Pollination. What if we get him to come with us? It would be a gift.”
“Wait,” Wen said. “I just remembered, they won’t be there. Shi Han mentioned that he and his father will be at Lord Wu’s reception tonight. Lord Shi planned to boast to Lord Peng that Shi Han had his First Pollination with me.”
“It’s going to be at a new luxury river barge, straight out of his shipyards.” Meisha traced a boat-like shape in the air with her slender finger.
Jie raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”
“Everyone has been talking about it,” Yangyang said. “Most of the Blossoms from my House are going. It will take off from Songyuan Quays at the second waxing gibbous. The Emperor would have been there, had it not been for the possible threat. Of course, I had to decline, because of my best friend.”
Tian smiled. It was so sweet that Yangyang would turn down an event for a friend.
Jie looked to Wen. “How come we hadn’t heard about it?”
“Maybe Gardener Ju would’ve told us, had she survived.”
Tian shuddered. Though he hadn’t killed Gardener Ju, his actions had led directly to it. It was the first time he’d been responsible for someone’s death.
“Are any of our sisters going?” Yangyang asked.
“Not that I know of,” Jie said. “I’m sure they would’ve reported it.”
Wen turned to Meisha. “So you were you invited. If you showed up with some pretty friends, would they let you aboard?”
Yangyang and Meisha exchanged grins, and nodded in unison.
Meisha winked. “Lord Wu likes to make sure his receptions are memorable.”
“That will get you three in,” Jie said.
Wen batted her eyelashes. “I’ll get the key from Young Lord Shi Han.”
“We’ll need it to swap it out with a fake so he doesn’t realize it’s gone,” Jie said. “We can find a duplicate in the Northwest Promenade on the way.”
Meisha leaned into Yangyang. “We can relay the real key off the barge.”
“You’re doing the swimming, if it comes to that,” Yangyang said.
“You should.” Meisha pinched Yangyang’s cheek. “You’re much more insulated than I am.”
“How do we get it to the courtyard house?” Jie asked. “That’s an hour’s palanquin ride from the quays. Three-quarters that time by rickshaw.”
“There should be horses. I can uh, borrow one.” Tian gulped hard. The map appeared in his head. “At full gallop, my father’s best charger would take a count of three-hundred ninety-seven to reach the main streets’ intersection with the hutong warrens. We’d have to slow down inside the alleys. I’m sorry I can’t tell you about horses I don’t know.”
Gawking, Wen shook her head. “If you’re caught violating your banishment…”
“None of us can ride a horse,” Jie said. “We don’t have any other choice. To save time, I’ll be at the courtyard house.”
Wen laughed her refreshing laugh. “Where you can use your charms to get the key from the steward.”
“Maybe not.” Jie held up a hand. “I think he prefers thorns over blossoms.”
Tian tapped his chin. What did that mean?
Jie met his gaze. “It means he likes to hold hands with boys instead of girls.”
Tian’s finger froze. These clan sisters—now his sisters—would hold hands with these lords without a second thought. In little over a week, they’d become even more like family than his own, accepting him when nobody else did. Only Princess Kaiya and Peng Kai-Long had ever been as nice to him. For once in his life, he belonged. He owed it to them. “Then I’ll do it.”
Chapter 9
“Absolutely not,” Wen and Eldest Sister Jie said in unison.
If Wen shook her head any harder, her brains might leak out. Heavens knew that after crying all night and into the morning, it didn’t feel there was much fluid left in her head. But Tian—sweet, refreshingly innocent Little Tian. He’d been so endearing with his confused expressions when the girls spoke of the dance between dragon and phoenix, and so clearly he didn’t understand what he was volunteering for.
“Why not?” Yangyang was scowling.
“He’s the same age as a Seedling,” Meisha said, “who we wouldn’t put in harm’s way.”
Tian’s forehead scrunched up in the most adorable way. “Harm’s way?”
Yangyang chuffed. “He’s of the age where other clan brothers would.”
“I can do it.” Tian puffed out his chest.
“Oh, my sweet boy.” Wen patted him on the head. “You wouldn’t really be holding his hand. You’d be Polishing his Jade or letting him Pit your Peach.”
Tian shrugged. “Those are simple tasks that a servant does, but I’ll do it for the clan. And peaches aren’t in season.”
Meisha and Yangyang giggled, and the poor child didn’t know they were laughing at his expense.
Sighing, Wen took Tian’s hand. It was time to disabuse him of all his innocent notions, and perhaps ruin everything that was so adorable about him. “Polishing Jade is poetic way of describing your mouth on a man’s penis. Playing the Flute, the term that the actor, Old Feng used when he brought you to this very House to spy, is a more vulgar way.”
His eyes widened as he looked from her to Yangyang, from Meisha to Jie. “You mean, when you hold hands with a man…”
Jie took his hands in hers. “We are doing much more than holding hands, and we are usually undressed.”
His mouth open and closed, but no words came out.
“Oh, my sweet boy.” Wen rested her forehead to his.
“Do you know the difference between boys and girls?” Meisha asked.
He broke contact and gave a hard nod. “Of course. Boys niaoniao standing up. Girls squat. Girls put their hair up all pretty, and wear nice dresses. When they’re young, their chests are like Jie’s. But when they grow up…” His gaze swept from Meisha’s small breasts to Yangyang’s fuller cleavage, and finally fixed on Wen’s for a moment before turning away.
None of them so much as flinched, having had all modesty trained out of them. Of course, he hadn’t grown up in the clan—probably hadn’t ever seen a woman’s naked body—and still held on to social mores.
He’d have to come to understand some stark realities. Wen stood, and his eyes returned to hers. Then she untied her sash and opened the folds of her gown. She untied the laces to her bust binder, which floated to the ground; and then those of her underpants, which slipped down to her ankles. She was bared, save for the throwing stars strapped to her thigh and the knife strapped to her forearm.
His eyes lowered to her breasts, in the most analytical, objective way, then down to between her legs. His brow furrowed. Even with these truths revealed, he was still adorable. When he spoke, his tone sounded awestruck. “You are beautiful.”
The wonder in his voice stood in stark contrast to Shi Han’s reaction. Heat flared in her cheeks, something which rarely happened anymore, at least not involuntarily. She tightened the go
wn around her. “To serve the clan and the Emperor, we let men, and sometimes women, enter us. But for you, since you don’t have the same parts, you’d have to let Steward Zhu Pit your Peach.”
For a moment, the poor boy looked as if he were about to faint. Then his expression crystalized into an intense focus, puckering up like a dried date. The way he tapped his chin in deep thought, he was probably calculating the airspeed of an Eldaeri messenger bird.
“If that’s what it takes to get the key, I’ll do it.”
“Absolutely not,” Jie and Wen again said together.
Wen cupped his cheek. “You’re too young to do this. You don’t know men the way we do.”
“At the very least, we can use him as bait,” Yangyang said.
Meisha nodded. “Or a distraction.”
Like they’d used Yuna in the Trench. While that hadn’t led directly to her death, it had been a contributing factor: had she not entered the Red Dragon Tang as a distraction, she wouldn’t have run into her long-lost mother. Wen shook her head.
Jie, however, nodded.
“At least let me do that,” Tian said.
Something churned in Wen’s stomach. They’d only met less than a week ago, but to lose him too, so close to Lilian and Yuna…her heart would burst.
Meisha looked at the water clock. “We only have two hours to get ready, get in a rickshaw, find and buy a fake key, and then make it to Songyuan Quays. We need to start now.”
“We’ll have to borrow some of your gowns.” Yangyang looked to Wen.
Tian’s eyes studied the three as he tapped his chin. “Meisha is taller and skinnier, and Yangyang is shorter and fatter. Will you fit?”
If a stare could kill, Yangyang’s glare would have surely slain Tian. Meisha gaped, while Jie buried a snort.
Wen covered her own chortle. His lack of subtlety just added to his adorableness. “Little Tian, never call a woman fat.”
“Or old,” Meisha said, then pointed her chin at Yangyang. “Even if they are.”
“Enough fun,” Jie said. “Tian will go ahead to the Northwest Promenade to find a duplicate key. He’ll meet you at the quays and give it to you, while I scout out Lord Shi’s courtyard home.”
This time, Jie let Tian depart through the window. Wen led the way through the hall, up the stairwell, and to the second-floor mezzanine, while Meisha and Yangyang zigzagged over the joists and joints of the House’s nightingale floors. She paused at times to shield them from the eyes of the scurrying Florets. She was almost to her room when—
“Wen,” the Florist called from down in the common room.
Shit. Wen went to the balustrade. “Yes, Florist?”
“You will need to work tonight after all.”
“But Florist, after Young Lord Shi’s First Pollination…” It hadn’t been particularly vigorous, but Wen had requested the night off for this mission, and let the Florist’s imagination do the rest.
“A courier from Lord Peng just arrived with a palanquin. He would like you to join him for a moons-viewing reception on Lord Wu’s river barge tonight.”
Well, that was a fortunate coincidence. Wen fiddled with her pinkie. No doubt Lord Peng had gotten wind of Shi Han’s First Pollination with her, and now had to flaunt her on his own lap. While this would mean a convenient ride to the quay, it also meant either Meisha or Yangyang would have to seduce Shi Han and coax the key off his neck. She bowed to the Florist. “I’ll be down after I prepare.”
She continued to her room, slid the door open, and went in.
Rummaging through her rack of gowns and wardrobe, now wearing only simple loincloths for their periods in lieu of lacy underpants, were Yangyang and Meisha. Wen sighed and closed the door behind her.
“Where’s your gold-and-red satin?” Yangyang asked.
Wen snorted. “As if you’d fit in that.”
“Since you will be fawning on Lord Peng or his sons or all three, we decided I would be the one to work Shi Han.” Yangyang squeezed her breasts between her arms. “I’m better suited than Twiggy here.”
Holding up the coveted gold dress, Meisha used her free hand to flap the skirts. “You’re so short, you’d be tripping over the hem.”
Wen suppressed a chuckle. As Tian had pointed out, her wardrobe would not be a good match for either the taller Meisha’s waifish physique, or the shorter Yangyang’s voluptuous curves. With both fastidious about their image, it might’ve been faster had they returned to their respective Houses and used their own clothes. “Your best friend is here, though,” she said.
“I have other ways to entertain a teenage boy.” Yangyang batted her eyelashes at Meisha.
Meisha pantomimed vomiting.
After all the losses, it was good to have a good laugh. Wen reached for a blue silk outer gown.
Meisha pulled a lilac-colored dress from a rack and held it up next to her in the mirror.
“No,” Wen yelled, a pit in her stomach. While many of her gowns and dresses had been gifts from patrons, this one she’d chosen herself, the first one she’d bought with patron gratuities. She snatched it away.
Releasing the garment as if it were a snake, Meisha backed up several steps.
“I’m sorry.” Wen clutched it to her chest. It was only by timing and circumstance that she still had it in her room. “Yuna adored it. I was going to gift it to her for her Plucking.” Instead, she’d dress her body in it. Yuna would return to ash beautiful.
“No, I am sorry.” Meisha sank to her knees, hands in her lap, and pressed her forehead to the ground, the elegant obeisance the mark of a Blossom and not a Black Lotus Fist.
Tears threatened. “Please stand. You didn’t know.”
They dressed in somber silence. Both Yangyang and Meisha chose translucent shawls, bust binders, and leg wraps. The ensembles could be loosened or tightened to suit their figures.
With little time to spare, they applied light make-up and glided down to the front doors. Seedlings all bowed low without question as they passed; it was not uncommon for Blossoms from other Houses to call on friends on their nights off.
Outside, light from the White and Blue Moons shone on an ornate palanquin sitting in the courtyard. Large enough for two lords to sit across from each other, it would be a tight fit for three. Eight bearers, the courier, and four guards, all dressed in Lord Peng’s blue livery, were impatiently fidgeting, but now stopped and slavered. They bowed in a disorganized fashion, no doubt dazzled by the beauty and grace that only Floating World Blossoms could project.
The courier straightened. “Miss Wen, you honor our lord.”
“The honor is mine.” Wen bowed and straightened. “Would it be too much of an imposition if two of my friends joined?”
If one thing was more reliable than the Iridescent Moon’s seat in the heavens, it was men and their urges. To a man, the guards and bearers wore silly grins. The courier opened and closed his mouth before finally nodding and gesturing for them to alight.
“We will need to hurry,” he said, “if we are to make it in time.”
Yangyang pointed with her chin. “The palanquin bears the insignia of Phoenix Trading.”
Wen silently reprimanded herself for missing it. Yuna’s death was affecting her attention to detail.
The courier looked, and turned back. “Oh, yes. Lord Peng was using his own. Phoenix Trading owes him many favors, and graciously allowed him to borrow this one for your comfort.”
Wen exchanged glances with Yangyang and Meisha, who nodded.
One of the bearers kneeling by the doors on the palanquin side bowed his head and slid them open.
As the invited guest, Wen ducked in first, followed by Yangyang, the senior, and finally Meisha, who sidled up against Wen. Despite earlier concerns of size, three Blossoms took up not much more space kneeling on the fluffy cushions than two cross-legged warriors. It was still a tight fit, with Meisha’s slender hips pressing against her own.
When the door closed, Yangyang and Meisha sprawled
their legs out and lounged. With a quiet laugh, Wen did the same. In private, comfort took priority over propriety and grace.
The palanquin lifted into the air, and they set off. The gates to the Peony Gardens opened, where the guards received their broadswords. The bearers picked up the pace, jostling them.
“The moons will be beautiful tonight,” Yangyang said, while signing, These bearers have to be new team. They’re awful.
It’s like we’re already on a boat, but in a storm. Meisha squirmed. “On the river, I bet the reflection will be magnificent.”
“I’ve never been to one of Lord Wu’s receptions; I hear they are legendary,” Wen said. If there are a lot of guests coming by palanquin, the lords probably ran out of liveried servants, and had to hire extra.
“His parties are the thing of epic tales, at least if you’re a male.” Meisha laughed. I didn’t recognize any of the bearers or soldiers.
Heart squeezing, Wen pressed her ear to the wall to better hear the men’s muffled conversation.
“We’re just supposed to make her late,” the courier said, breathless.
Wen’s eyes widened, and she signed, Possible trap.
Yangyang and Meisha shifted.
The palanquin came to a stop.
Chapter 10
It wasn’t the first, and probably wouldn’t be the last time Jie was being followed.
Unlike previous occasions, however, her current stalker was doing a decent job of avoiding detection. Whenever she’d almost caught a direct glimpse of him in a reflective surface, he’d duck behind a store signboard, or the handful of city folk headed home for the day. The skill hinted at Black Lotus trailing techniques, and after a run-in with a supposedly dead former member, it was impossible to rule it out.
Most likely, though, it was another street urchin, following her at the behest of the mysterious Fixer Zhang. No matter how omniscient Fixer Zhang wanted to portray himself, he hadn’t known about Lord Shi’s invitation to Lord Wu’s moons-viewing party. So, let her tail believe she was just following the original plan, to meet Lord Shi at his home. The less accurate the information he reported back to Fixer Zhang, the better leverage Jie would have for finding out the rest of Lilian’s story.