The moon hung above the eastern eaves, perfectly round, its light washing the Sacred Family's estate in silver-white.
Xiao Ning'er walked slowly along the bluestone path outside the courtyard wall, her steps so light that her soles barely made a sound against the stone.
She should have gone straight back to her courtyard. After the meeting ended, she had indeed headed that way, but before she had gone two streets, she changed her mind. She turned a corner, circled through more than half the city, and finally stopped here.
A row of locust trees grew outside the western wall of the Sacred Family's estate. Their crowns were dense, and moonlight filtered through the gaps between the branches and leaves, scattering a layer of broken silver across the wall.
She leaned against the rough blue-brick wall, lifted her head toward the night sky, and let out a long breath.
Moonlight fell across her face, softening the shadows of her lashes and the bridge of her nose. Her shoulders relaxed, and her back, held rigid all day in the meeting hall, finally rested against the cool wall.
Those elders changed their faces faster than turning the pages of a book. One moment they were pounding the table and shouting abuse; the next, after her soul transformation, they wore flattering smiles. Looking back on it now, the whole scene seemed so absurd she wanted to laugh.
She did laugh, just a little. Her lips curved in a faint, self-mocking smile, and her white breath dispersed in the night breeze.
A voice suddenly came from the top of the wall. "What are you looking at? Is it that funny?"
Xiao Ning'er whipped her head around and saw Shen Fei sitting atop the wall.
He wore a dark gray outer robe without a belt, its