Chapter 6

The two talked by candlelight. Before they had finished, the donkey in the stable downstairs suddenly broke into hoarse, raucous braying.

Wei Xun normally tended the skinny donkey. Since he had disappeared, no one had spared a thought for it these past two days, leaving it alternately hungry and well fed. It had long since grown disgruntled. Its braying tore through the silent night, followed immediately by a man's pained cries of "Ow, ow, ow!"

Baozhu immediately cut Thirteenth Son off, snatched up her bow, opened the window, and nocked an arrow, aiming at the stable below. The man had taken a vicious kick from the donkey and scurried out of the stable with his arms over his head like a fleeing rat. Then a cold gust hissed over his crown, and a feathered arrow pierced straight through his headcloth, lodging in his topknot like an exceptionally long hairpin.

Still shaken, he felt the arrow atop his head and looked up. Behind a second-floor window, a woman stood aiming a bow at him. Had the arrowhead been two inches lower, he would have lost at least one eye. She had quite literally raised her noble hand to spare him.

Clutching the injury beneath his ribs where the donkey had kicked him, the stranger endured the pain and called softly, "Please have mercy! Young Master Little Fox sent me to see whether Miss Zhu'er was well!"

That coded phrase struck Baozhu like a flash of lightning. Her heart instantly began pounding like a startled horse, and the rhythm of her breathing as she held the bow fell apart-her elder brother Li Yuanying's childhood nickname was Little Fox, and no one outside the palace knew her personal name. Almost a month had passed. She had never imagined she would hear words connected to her past in circumstances like these.

Struggling to contain her excitement, Baozhu lowered her voice and ordered Thirteenth Son, "Go. Open the door and tell him to come up!"

Thirteenth Son exclaimed, "But he's a stranger! I-I might not be able to..."

"Everyone I've met today was a stranger to me! One more won't make a difference!"

Baozhu urged him repeatedly, leaving Thirteenth Son no choice but to take his stick and go downstairs.

What an unsettled night this had been. Huo Qi had left, only for a strange man covered in horse and donkey dung to appear. Thirteenth Son reluctantly escorted him upstairs. By candlelight, he saw a man of about forty dressed as a merchant, with three long, thin wisps of beard on his refined, fair face. Having been kicked by the donkey and then forced to climb the stairs, his face was contorted with pain.

The innkeeper came out to investigate in the meantime. Thirteenth Son hastily claimed that he had been kicked while adding fodder for the donkey's night feed and had made the noise himself, coaxing the innkeeper back inside.

The two entered the room. Baozhu still stood guard with her bow and demanded sharply, "Say what you just said again!"

The man glanced at Thirteenth Son without speaking. Instead, he took a booklet folded into a narrow strip and a small silver pouch from his breast, then presented them reverently to Baozhu with both hands for inspection.

Baozhu could barely hold the bowstring anymore. The pouch was a Fish Bag, an identification token worn by officials, containing a Fish Tally. Hooking the bow over her elbow, she accepted the booklet with trembling hands and opened it. On the Yellow Wisteria Paper reserved for court documents, beneath the official seal of the Ministry of Personnel, the official's name, Yang Xingjian, was clearly written. He was a princely household aide of the lower sixth rank. A silver Fish Bag was an identification token worn by officials of the fifth rank and above; receiving one beyond his rank represented exceptional trust and favor.

The man knelt and bowed his head to the floor in a formal obeisance, calling softly, "May Miss Zhu'er enjoy every blessing! Young Master Little Fox sent me!"

At those words, Baozhu felt warmth surge into her chest. Her voice thick with tears, she asked, "Who are you? Does my brother-does he know I'm not dead?"

The middle-aged man continued to watch Thirteenth Son warily and refused to speak. He knelt upright, both hands properly resting on his knees, his bearing dignified and solemn, every inch a virtuous scholar-a stark contrast to his filthy, bedraggled attire.

Baozhu immediately ordered, "This little novice already knows my true identity. Speak freely!"

Only then did the man answer solemnly, "Your subject Yang Xingjian serves as chief clerk at Prince Shao's Residence. While in Youzhou, Prince Shao heard the terrible news of Your Highness's passing. Overcome with grief, he could neither eat nor sleep, and he refused to believe you had died suddenly of illness. He bestowed a silver Fish Bag upon me and ordered me to conceal my identity and travel to Chang'an to investigate the true cause of your death."

Baozhu burst into tears. Tears of emotion also streamed down Yang Xingjian's face, and the two sat facing each other, weeping bitterly, both deeply overcome.

Baozhu sobbed, "Why have you only come now? Did you discover what killed me?"

Yang Xingjian wept. "I am ashamed beyond words. Every person Prince Shao placed at your side was wiped out."

"My brother planted eyes and ears around me?"

Wiping away his tears, Yang Xingjian explained, "When Prince Shao was falsely accused and sent to Youzhou, Your Highness was his only lingering concern. Fearing you might also be harmed, he arranged those eyes and ears so he could always receive word that you were safe and happy."

Tears brimmed in Baozhu's eyes as she gave a bleak smile. "My brother was always careful. Sadly, I was harmed all the same. When did you learn I wasn't dead?"

Yang Xingjian took a carefully wrapped cloth bundle from his breast and unfolded it, revealing a filthy silk shoe. Inlaid with gold and jade, its toe curved upward. It was one of the burial shoes the princess had worn when she was interred.

"I found no leads in Chang'an, but at Anhua Gate I heard a rumor. A deranged woman calling herself Zhu'er claimed to be someone belonging to the princess and tried unsuccessfully to enter the city, before a household servant led her away."

Baozhu flushed and admitted, "That was me."

Yang Xingjian continued, "Since I had no other leads, I could only investigate that rumor. To my surprise, I found this shoe buried in mud beside the road. This upturned-toe shoe was made from kesi-woven cloud brocade. Neither its color nor its pattern was something even wealthy commoner households could possess, which roused my suspicions."

Baozhu recalled walking from Green Micro Temple to Chang'an, out of her wits the whole way. The shoes had been uncomfortable, so she had taken them off and thrown them away along the way. This man was extraordinarily meticulous; he had actually found the shoe in the farmland.

A woman's shoes and stockings were intimate belongings, not things a strange man should possess. After apologizing for the impropriety, Yang Xingjian respectfully handed the shoe to Baozhu.

"Disguised as a merchant, I traveled back and forth along that road, making inquiries for many days before finally discovering your whereabouts. By then, Your Highness's coffin had long since been buried. I was so horrified that I nearly lost my composure, and so full of doubts that I dared not reveal myself. I could only follow and observe in silence. Only after seeing Your Highness display your archery, piercing a willow leaf at a hundred paces, could I be certain it was truly you."

"Since you recognized me so early, Chief Clerk, why did you wait until today to approach me, and even get kicked by a donkey... ahem, why come in the dead of night?"

Yang Xingjian's face darkened at once. He glanced several times at Thirteenth Son, hesitant and struggling to speak, his expression growing stranger still. "Of course I wished to approach Your Highness immediately, but... but you had been... abducted by a wicked servant. I am merely a frail scholar, without the strength to truss a chicken. I truly could not rescue you and could only follow along, waiting for an opportunity."

Having finally gritted his teeth and revealed his plight, Yang Xingjian recalled the dangers that had beset him throughout the journey and his battles of wits and courage with the villain. Emotion surged beyond his control, and he suddenly threw himself to the floor, sobbing aloud.

"That wicked servant kept such a tight watch throughout the journey that I could never get close. I let Your Highness suffer all these days. For my crime, I deserve ten thousand deaths!"

Baozhu's eyes had been brimming with tears, but his words left her utterly bewildered. She exchanged a glance with Thirteenth Son, and the little novice looked awkwardly torn between laughter and tears.

She asked, "What wicked servant? What abduction?"

Choking on his sobs, Yang Xingjian said, "The blue-clad servant leading the donkey! Several times, he broke through my window in the middle of the night to threaten and intimidate me. When I gritted my teeth and refused to speak, he tormented me in every way, hanging me from a flagpole for an entire night. I tried to write to Prince Shao to request reinforcements, but he nearly seized the letter too. I desperately stuffed the paper into my mouth and swallowed it to preserve the secret. Your Highness, please look..."

He pulled open the collar of his round-necked robe, revealing a dark, livid handprint around his neck. The bruising could only have come from a grip tight enough to choke the life out of him.

"That wicked servant has been nowhere to be seen these past two days. Only after watching for a long time did I dare come in the middle of the night to reveal myself. Your Highness, please leave this dangerous place with me at once!"

Embarrassment crossed Baozhu's face. She cast a sidelong glance at Thirteenth Son, who also looked uneasy and set down the stick he had been holding to ward off an enemy.

This misunderstanding had grown rather enormous.

Thirteenth Son stammered an explanation. "Senior Brother-Senior Brother thought you were a bad man... You were the one furtively following Ninth Lady the whole way! When he asked why you were following her, you wouldn't say. When he frightened you, you still clung like a medicinal plaster and refused to leave. You looked suspicious every way he turned you over. Senior Brother had no choice but to keep watch without rest or sleep, to stop you from doing anything bad to Ninth Lady."

Yang Xingjian looked utterly indignant. Pointing to the bruises on his neck, he rebuked him loudly. "Little monk, do not incur the karma of lying! Just who is the bad man here?! Several times, he wanted nothing more than to put me to death!"

Thirteenth Son sighed. "If Eldest Senior Brother truly wanted to kill you, you could have a hundred heads and lose them all. How could you still be alive and sitting here chattering? He only showed mercy because you hadn't actually done anything bad."

Yang Xingjian's hands trembled with fury as he berated him with righteous conviction. "Stop talking nonsense! The princess was often filled with sorrow and wept day after day. Of course that meant she was under someone's control! How dare you point at a deer and call it a horse, turning black into white!"

Thirteenth Son stared, dumbfounded by this lofty denunciation, then said haltingly, "But she even cries when she finds a worm in a date. It wasn't us deliberately bullying her."

Mortified, Baozhu coughed twice to cover her embarrassment and said quietly, "There really has been a misunderstanding. Wei Xun is a guard I hired, not a wicked servant. Please don't worry, Chief Clerk. Though he likes playing tricks on people and does look a little suspicious... he hasn't done anything... anything vile to me..."

Her voice grew softer as she spoke, as though her conviction could not quite support her words. After all, Wei Xun truly did look highly suspicious. A down-and-out drifter without household registration, he frequently wore a careless, mocking smile, showed neither deference nor obedience to anyone, and readily spoke insolently. When she first met him at Green Micro Temple, she had only been forced to employ him as a guard because she had no one else to turn to. He had angered her to tears more than once or twice on their journey.

Unlike Liu Mao, Huo Qi, and the other men of the martial world who moved among society's lowest ranks, she and highborn aristocrats such as Yang Xingjian of the Hongnong Yang Clan had a fear of "wicked servants rising against their masters" etched into their very bones. It was not merely a recurring theme in tales of marvels. After the An Lushan Rebellion, wars and disasters had followed one upon another, rites crumbled and music fell into ruin. Tales of wicked servants using secrets to threaten their masters, seize their property, and forcibly take their daughters were all too common. Even the emperor could fall under the control of eunuchs commanding armies.

Seeing Wei Xun's insolence and suspecting him of being a wicked servant bullying his mistress was not mere groundless fancy on Yang Xingjian's part. Moreover, the princess was now young, beautiful, and utterly alone-the easiest of targets.

"In short, there's no coercion or extortion here. You needn't worry, Chief Clerk Yang."

After Baozhu clarified matters, Yang Xingjian naturally nodded respectfully in agreement. Inwardly, however, he speculated: the princess was an innocent, unmarried girl raised deep within the palace. That villain was highly skilled in combat and ruthless at heart; surely he had employed all manner of sinister, despicable methods to torment her, leaving her unable to speak of them. Even in his absence, he had left a lackey here as his eyes and ears. The princess must fear his oppressive power too much to reveal the truth.

He thought of how precious and noble the princess was. Now this fine jade, this lustrous pearl, had fallen into a wicked servant's hands and endured threats and torment, forced instead to watch a household slave's expression at every turn. How pitiful! Her experiences here must be too unbearable to recount; naturally, she did not wish to admit them. As her subject, he ought to pretend ignorance, protect her carefully, and do everything possible to preserve her good name and dignity.

Prince Shao never ceased thinking of his only full sister, longing for her almost to the point of madness. That the princess was alive at all was already a miracle. Even if his bones were shattered to dust, even if he had to plunge through boiling water and fire, he would escort her safely to Youzhou. With his priorities clear, Yang Xingjian said no more and gazed at her with sympathy and tenderness.

Baozhu saw how bedraggled Yang Xingjian was, and how covered in injuries. Wei Xun must have put him through terrible suffering these past days. Though it had arisen from a misunderstanding, this frail scholar who could not even beat a donkey had gritted his teeth and refused to reveal her identity, finding every possible means to "rescue" her and refusing to yield despite a hundred setbacks. He was loyal and tenacious indeed. No wonder her brother trusted him enough to send him alone to investigate the truth. Baozhu gazed at him with sympathy and tenderness.

After the two had spent some time sympathizing with each other, Baozhu gave a sudden "Ah!" She finally understood why Wei Xun had kept such irregular hours lately and often stared absently elsewhere. He had mistaken Yang Xingjian for an enemy without being able to fathom his background, while the man had pursued them relentlessly and refused to leave. Unless Wei Xun ruthlessly disposed of him, there really had been no easy way to shake him off.

Had he only been watching their pursuer, rather than looking at the Many-Treasures Pagoda?

As she pondered, the sounds of yamen runners searching and cursing drifted in through the window again, drawing ever closer.

Yang Xingjian asked, "There is one thing I cannot understand, however much I ponder it. May I ask how Your Highness escaped from the underground tomb?"

Baozhu sighed heavily. "That's another strange tale no one would believe even if it were made into a story. I'll tell you when there's time. The most urgent problem now is that I have no proof of identity or household registration. Wu Zhiyuan has ordered the city sealed to catch the thief. If the search reaches us, the runners will certainly interrogate and harass me. What should we do?"

Yang Xingjian said, "Your Highness need not worry. That is precisely why I came."

As he spoke, he produced a Household Register detailing the names, ages, and identities of all six members of a household, men and women, old and young.

Pointing to a line reading "Female　Fang Xie　Fifteen years old　Younger daughter," Yang Xingjian said, "I must ask Your Highness to suffer the indignity of posing as my daughter for the time being."

Baozhu examined the Household Register and exclaimed delightedly, "You really do handle things thoroughly." After a moment's thought, she asked, "Where is Fang Xie herself? Is she truly your daughter?"

Yang Xingjian answered, "She was my eldest daughter. She died of an epidemic the year before last. My elderly mother loved her dearly and could never forget her, so we have never canceled her household registration."

Baozhu froze. Seeing Yang Xingjian's unchanged expression, she felt puzzled.

With this Household Register, she now counted as a legally registered person with an identity. Presumably, the Xiagui County officers would no longer trouble her, and passing through the various checkpoints on their travels would be easier too. If not for Wei Xun's disappearance, everything could have been considered quite satisfactory.

Yang Xingjian asked, "May I ask where that blue-clad guard has gone, Your Highness?"

Her face clouded with worry, Baozhu shook her head. "I don't know either. He only said he was going out to take care of something, and then he never came back. After that, the city was sealed."

Yang Xingjian's thoughts raced. The blue-clad servant had vanished just as Xiagui County sealed its gates. Most likely, he was a fugitive wanted for some serious crime, and had gone into hiding out of fear that this round of questioning would expose his past. Seen that way, sealing the city had actually saved the princess.

As a resourceful adviser in a princely household, Yang Xingjian devised a strategy in an instant. "Then there is no need to trouble Your Highness with moving in the middle of the night. I shall take a room at the Sun Family Inn, so I can attend you nearby. This little Master, however, must move elsewhere."

Thirteenth Son was startled. "Why? Eldest Senior Brother told me to stay and take care of Ninth Lady."

Yang Xingjian said, "You haven't heard, little Master? The city is conducting a strict investigation of wandering monks. Your presence here will implicate the princess."

Thirteenth Son explained, "I'm listed in the Monk Register and have registered for lodging at the Lotus Flower Temple. I'm not an unregistered wanderer."

Yang Xingjian feigned astonishment. "What! You've registered at the Lotus Flower Temple? Why haven't you gone back? The authorities have now confined every monk there on the premises. If you stay here, the princess will certainly be implicated!"

Baozhu was startled too. "What's happened? Explain clearly."

Yang Xingjian said, "The Lotus Flower Temple is where the pearl theft took place, so it cannot escape involvement. Every monk there, from top to bottom, is under suspicion. Wandering monks registered for lodging are treated as members of the temple as well. Of course, the degree of suspicion varies. Most are merely confined within the temple and forbidden to leave while awaiting the outcome of the theft investigation."

Baozhu immediately panicked. "He's already signed and put his mark on the Monks' Hall Register. Even if he isn't there, his name is on the list. If he's caught outside the temple, they can immediately judge him to have fled, adding another degree to his offense."

Yang Xingjian nodded. "If he returns at once to answer roll call and says he spent two days eating and lodging at a Patron's home, his youth should keep them from suspecting him."

Hearing this, Thirteenth Son declared loudly, "I can't leave Ninth Lady alone!"

Baozhu cried anxiously, "What do you know! If they catch you as a fugitive, they'll torture you!"

Thirteenth Son remained composed. "I've been beaten since I was little. I'm used to it and not afraid."

"Nonsense! Torture and a beating are a thousand miles apart! You wretched child..."

Baozhu had already jumped to her feet. She found a wrapping cloth, bundled their travel supplies and some food into it, and thrust it into Thirteenth Son's arms. "See if anything's missing. Go straight to the Lotus Flower Temple at daybreak to answer roll call. Act innocent and carefree. Say you've been wandering outside begging for alms these past few days, and only just heard that the runners were arresting monks, so you've hurried over to await their decision."

Thirteenth Son asked anxiously, "What will you do if I leave?"

Yang Xingjian earnestly urged him, "Only when you leave will the princess be safe. If you're arrested at the inn, she will certainly be taken to the County Yamen with you to explain your connection. Even if your skull is hard enough that you don't fear a beating, little Master, how could the princess, with her precious person, endure the humiliation of a cangue and chains?"

Thirteenth Son froze.

With Wei Xun absent, how could an inexperienced young boy like him possibly match this crafty old politician? Exploiting his and Baozhu's concern for each other, Yang Xingjian settled his fate in a few words.

After daybreak, Baozhu urged him repeatedly, ordering Thirteenth Son to leave the inn and answer roll call at the Lotus Flower Temple.

Yang Xingjian hired a porter to fetch his luggage from another inn, then formally checked into the Sun Family Inn as Yang Fang Xie's father, becoming her new guardian.

Throughout the journey, he had exhausted his wits and lived in constant fear. Now he had finally rescued the princess from the wicked servant, sent away the lackey spying on her, and sheltered her beneath his wings. For a time, his spirits soared so high that he wanted only to dance with abandon. Even the injuries from Wei Xun's beatings and the donkey's kick no longer hurt.

His sole misgiving was his false claim to be the princess's father. Though it was only an expedient forced upon him by circumstances, he could not help feeling uneasy. Such presumption would surely shave many years off his life.