Chapter 6

Princess Wanshou offered all the hairpins and jewelry she had with her to Wei Xun, but he did not take them. "I wouldn't dare," he said slowly. "One look tells you these were made by imperial decree. Take any one of them to a goldsmith's shop, and the proprietor would turn around and report me to the authorities to be arrested and tortured."

The princess had thought her idea was rather good. Who knew she would run into a wall before she had even begun? She felt somewhat embarrassed.

Thirteenth Son kindly reminded her, "You have to melt the jewelry into gold ingots before you can sell it."

She hesitated a little. "The value of jewelry lies in the artisan's ingenuity and craftsmanship. Once it's melted, it's only gold."

Wei Xun clicked his tongue in admiration. "A true daughter of the imperial house. Just listen to that: 'only gold.'"

Hearing the mockery in his voice, the princess bristled and raised her voice. "Then take it and melt it!"

"Once it's melted, you won't even be able to redeem it. You won't regret it?"

Isn't that just like my own situation? the girl thought. A broken mirror is hard to mend, and spilled water cannot be gathered back. Once I leave the palace, the arrow cannot turn back.

She hardened her heart at once and answered, "I won't!"

Only when he saw the resolve in her eyes did Wei Xun reach for the bundle. He took out the pieces of jewelry one by one and, right before her, used a dagger to pry off the gemstones, crystals, pearls, and other ornaments, leaving only their gold settings.

Then he fetched a palm-sized furnace and a small crucible the size of a teapot, placed the gold inside the crucible, and lit the furnace. Whatever charcoal he used, its flames burned blue-green and gave off fierce heat.

The princess watched him work. At first she thought it a pity, but before long she found it fascinating. The whole process resembled brewing tea, except that what emerged was molten gold.

Once the gold had melted completely, Wei Xun lifted the crucible with tongs and poured the liquid straight onto a blue-gray brick. Like a dragonfly touching the water, he dipped and lifted, leaving the gold to solidify into little beads arranged in remarkably neat rows and columns. An hour later, the precious jewelry had vanished without a trace, transformed into a bag of gold beads and another of loose gems and pearls.

The princess still wanted to watch more. After a while, the implications sank in, and she said disdainfully, "So this is how you dispose of stolen goods."

Wei Xun curled his lip. "Listen to yourself, Princess. Didn't you hand me the jewelry yourself? How did it become stolen goods?"

"Hmph. Now you can exchange it for money, can't you? Remember to buy me a horse. It needn't be an exceptional steed, but preferably a Ferghana or Turkic breed. Also, Hu Garments that are easy to move in. The boots must be lambskin, and buy a veiled hat to keep off the sun. I expect the face powder and rouge sold in the wards are of dubious quality, so just buy a piece of Stone Eyebrow Pigment..."

With money at her disposal, the princess's tone grew firmer. Some of the imperious pride of one long accustomed to commanding others resurfaced as she dictated a string of purchases.

"Yes, yes, yes. Fine, fine, fine. All right, all right, all right. Wei Da understands."

Wei Xun made no effort to hide his perfunctory attitude. Only when she reached "horn bow, quiver" and similar items did he listen seriously.

"You really know how to use a bow?" he asked, a little surprised.

The princess was quite proud. "I'm a rather good archer."

Wei Xun glanced at her. "You certainly don't look it. You have no calluses on your hands."

"Naturally, I wear a thumb ring and protective gear to protect my skin. How would I develop calluses?"

Wei Xun asked her for the bow's dimensions, materials, and draw weight.

The girl specified each in turn, secretly wondering, How does he know whether I have calluses on my hands?

Whether he had remembered the entire list or not, once the sun set, Wei Xun tucked the gold into his robe and sauntered toward the temple gate.

Thirteenth Son cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Buy some sesame flatbreads! Preferably from the old shop in Fuxing Ward! Remember to ask for extra sesame!"

The princess rolled her eyes at him. In that brief instant, when she turned to look again, Wei Xun had already vanished without a trace.

She spent the night in deep unease, afraid both that Wei Xun would be caught carrying the valuables through a checkpoint and that he would disappear for good with her money. Then she would truly be penniless, left to await death in this abandoned temple.

The next morning, Wei Xun had still not returned. Seeing her so restless and anxious, Thirteenth Son reassured her, "The shops in the Eastern and Western Markets don't open for business until the noon drums. What's the hurry?"

The princess frowned. "I'm worried that anything a man chooses will be too appalling to look at."

"I can't speak for the rest, but the sesame flatbreads from Fuxing Ward certainly won't disappoint you. Fresh from the oven, crisp dough and fragrant oil-what a flavor! Then there's the Han Family's Cherry Bilo in Changxing Ward, with pastry so translucent, flaky, and tender that the cherries' color shows through. And the Zheng Family's Seven-Fold Pastry in the North Quarter of Pingkang Ward: the dough is spread with butter and folded seven times, then steamed before it's baked. When you eat it, every layer peels away whole. Their skill is nothing short of miraculous. Senior Brother doesn't mind running errands, either..."

As it happened, there was no rice left to cook that day. Breakfast was a dipper of cold water apiece. Both had empty stomachs, but neither admitted to being hungry. Thirteenth Son kept reminiscing about delicacies he had eaten, until the princess wished she could roll up a wad of cloth and stuff it into his mouth.

In the palace, feasting never ceased. Imperial meals offered the rarest treasures of land and sea, the sumptuous flavors of countless nations. Dragon liver and phoenix marrow, qilin jerky and leopard embryos-what had she not eaten until she was too tired of it to spare it a glance? Her nurses had exhausted every means of coaxing her to take one more bite.

Only now, having truly tasted hunger, did she understand how precious it was to have food available whenever she wanted. Once, she would have dismissed all the street snacks Thirteenth Son was listing as dirty. Now, merely hearing about them made her mouth water.

After babbling for a while, Thirteenth Son noticed her angry expression and the fury she was struggling to hold back. He wisely shut his mouth, dusted off his monk's robe, and picked up the iron begging bowl he relied on for sustenance:

"Ah, this humble monk is off to beg for alms. Make yourself at home, Princess."

With that, he slipped away without a trace.

Princess Wanshou had nowhere to go. Left alone in the abandoned temple, she felt vaguely frightened even in daylight. Hunger only added to her agitation. Reassuring herself with This was my ancestor's detached palace, she wandered about.

By then, the Green Micro Temple had stood abandoned for decades. Most of its halls and monastic chambers had fallen into ruin, and their furnishings had long since been stripped bare. All that remained were some mawkish poems monks and scholars had inscribed on the walls.

The princess looked for a while, finding only one line passable: "The dragon's whiskers can no longer be beheld; dust gathers upon the jade throne." There were also countless strange songs that did not even rhyme, such as "The geese fly three abreast, the beauty returns; bare-faced, she rides the imperial carriage and steals spring's radiance."

She turned into another courtyard. The buildings were dilapidated, but everything was clean and tidy, as though someone lived there. Venturing inside, she saw a blue-green shirt of bamboo cloth drying on a rack, its collar worn somewhat pale. So this was Wei Xun's lodging.

The princess blushed. She should have left at once, but curiosity ultimately overcame her upbringing, and she stole a few more looks. What she saw startled her: through the open door of the monastic chamber, bamboo and wooden slips were piled across half the room, enough to fill carts and measures. By her estimate, they weighed over a thousand jin. Where had they come from?

After the Wei and Jin dynasties, paper had gradually replaced bamboo and wooden slips as the chief medium for writing and transmitting words. Who still used such cumbersome books?

The princess picked up a roll and opened it to read. Her touch was a little too heavy, and the fine hemp cords threaded through the wooden slips crumbled at once. The whole book clattered to the ground.

Were these not newly made, but writings left by the ancients?

A flash of insight struck her. Suddenly she understood that these things might all have come from ancient tombs of earlier dynasties.

"That little thief didn't steal treasure. What did he dig up all these slips for..."

There was no grave dirt or cobwebs on the books, showing that they were read regularly. Several large earthenware basins stood along the veranda, filled with clean water in which broken slips and fragments soaked, their writing blurred and their wood too rotten to read. She had no idea what purpose that served.

Curiosity piqued, the princess sat beneath the veranda and began reading, only to be sorely disappointed. The vast majority of the books were Daoist scriptures and secret texts, with no shortage of absurd talk about occult arts and alchemy. The practitioners of dubious arts in the palace had said far too much of the same. It was tiresome beyond endurance.

Princes and nobles obsessed with alchemy and occult arts were common enough, but they were all middle-aged or elderly men whose bodies were failing. Only in life's twilight, afraid of their allotted fate, did people think of cultivating immortality and preserving their health in hopes of escaping death. The First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han had both been so. Even the wise and mighty Emperor Taizong had believed the nonsense of Luo Ersuo Po, an occult practitioner from India, in his later years.

Yet Wei Xun was so young, barely twenty by his looks. Why had a youth only just of age gone to such pains to collect these things? She dropped the book at once and paid them no further attention.

Toward evening, the two fellow disciples finally returned, one after the other.

Wei Xun had a strip of white hemp cloth tied around his arm and a mischievous smile on his face.

The sight of his expression irritated the princess. "What are you doing?"

Wei Xun grinned. "By imperial decree, the whole city is wearing mourning for the princess."

The princess was mortified. Pink rose in her cheeks, and she wished the earth would swallow her.

He could plainly have removed the white hemp strip as soon as he left Chang'an, yet he had insisted on wearing it all the way back for her to see. What a hateful man.

Wei Xun added, "Both markets are under strict inspection. I couldn't buy lamb shoulder, and there were no roasted meats or dried venison at all. Everyone has to abstain from meat for a month."

The princess was too angry to speak to him.

Thirteenth Son, however, was delighted. "Flatbreads from Fuxing Ward!" he cheered.

Wei Xun had indeed brought back a stack of sesame flatbreads, while Thirteenth Son had somehow begged two large purple pears. The three sat around the furnace, warming the breads and roasting the pears over the fire. The meal was humble and meatless, but it was all because of her. The princess had no grounds to complain-and was too hungry to complain anyway.

Thirteenth Son said enthusiastically, "A Hu Flatbread a foot across costs two coins everywhere else, but the old shop in Fuxing Ward charges three for one or five for two. Even then, they can't keep up with demand. The other shops simply can't match their skill! Look, Princess, how generous they are with the sesame. And the flaky, oily filling is wonderfully fragrant."

The princess gave him a listless glance. "Even bread this good won't stop your mouth. Since you know so much, you ought to be appointed a Provisioner in the Bureau of Imperial Foods under the Department of Palace Affairs."

Thirteenth Son was entirely unbothered and asked curiously, "I heard that you eat sweet melons in the palace, Princess. How are those melons different from ours?"

"They're the same melons we usually give the officials and servants," the princess said helplessly. "They simply aren't given ice as well."

Thirteenth Son said enviously, "Ice in summer costs hundreds or thousands of times more than the melon itself! So the difference isn't in the melon, but how you eat it."

When the pears were cooked, Wei Xun cut them into wedges with his dagger and divided them among the three. The Hu Flatbread was fragrant and crisp, the pears brimming with juice. In their hunger, even such humble food tasted exquisite.

Once they were mostly full, Wei Xun took out a bulging cloth handkerchief. Unfolded, it revealed several persimmons and oranges.

Princess Wanshou had enjoyed tribute from every corner of the realm and naturally recognized Fire Crystal Persimmons from Lintong and Dongting Oranges. Her heart jolted.

Lintong was not far from Chang'an, and when persimmons flooded the market in autumn, they were not especially precious. But it was only the sixth month. Fruit out of season was prized, and these early Fire Crystal Persimmons must have been forced to ripen with heated rooms and bonfires on an imperial estate, regardless of cost, for the exclusive use of the inner palace.

As for the Dongting Oranges, they were southern produce newly sent as tribute from the distant Wu Region. Only high officials rewarded by the emperor could taste them. Even the capital's wealthiest merchants never saw them.

Though they were merely two kinds of fruit, they were rarities no amount of money could buy. Where had a commoner like him obtained them?

"Where did these fruits come from?" the princess asked, startled and suspicious.

Wei Xun smiled without answering.

Thirteenth Son took an orange and slowly peeled it, saying between bites, "With Eldest Senior Brother's abilities, taking a few fruits from the imperial tribute storehouses is hardly difficult. Since you used to eat them without paying, aren't these just the same now? Or does the princess intend to have us arrested over a few pieces of fruit?"

The princess was stunned. For a moment, she could think of no rebuttal.

The imperial city contained countless halls and buildings under stringent guard, yet he took its fruit as easily as reaching into his own pouch, without touching any other precious treasures. With such abilities, he still wore shabby old clothes. It was truly strange. After all these peculiarities, she was certain Wei Xun was no ordinary thief. There had to be something unusual about him.

After they finished the fruit, the princess learned something else: Thirteenth Son carefully spread the orange peels beside the furnace to dry. He said that dried orange peel boiled in water cleared the lungs and was an inexpensive substitute for the costly dried tangerine peel sold in city apothecaries. It must never be casually thrown away.

With her stomach full, the princess inspected the travel supplies Wei Xun had purchased-and was bitterly disappointed.

There were no ready-made clothing shops in the city. Rich or poor, anyone wanting new clothes first had to buy fabric from a silk shop, then either take it home for the women of the household to cut and sew or pay a tailor to make it. Even with a deposit for a rush order, it would take two days.

That matter was set aside for the moment.

He had not bought the Stone Eyebrow Pigment. Wei Xun rummaged two still-warm pieces of charcoal out of the extinguished furnace and said, "These are excellent. They don't cost anything."

That matter, too, was set aside for the moment.

Worst of all, he had bought no horse, but an exceedingly ugly, scrawny donkey. Its mane was patchy, its head large and legs short, and its hoarse, piercing bray was unbearably noisy.

Princess Wanshou was an expert judge of horses. She had once kept over a dozen purebred steeds in the imperial park, each a rare marvel worth ten thousand pieces of gold. Now that she had fallen into life among the common people, she felt she could not be choosy about her mount; an ordinary horse would do. Who could have guessed that Wei Xun would bring back this prize specimen, flawed from head to hoof? He had nearly angered her into spitting blood.

"If you served in the palace, you'd be stripped of your post and punished!" the princess snapped.

Wei Xun removed the skinny donkey's bridle and let it wander the courtyard cropping grass. "That's why I don't serve there," he said carelessly.

"Was there not enough gold?" the princess asked.

"There was enough. An ordinary horse in the Western Market costs twenty-five strings of cash."

"And this ugly donkey?"

"Three hundred strings."

The princess gaped, at a loss for what to do.

No matter how she stamped her feet and protested, Wei Xun had only one answer: "This was the best mount in the Ghost Market. Naturally, I had my reasons for buying it."

Of all his purchases, the only thing that satisfied her was a horn bow wrapped in ox sinew. Its appearance was plain, but its size and draw weight suited her perfectly. It came with a complete set of accessories, including a bow case, thumb ring, and arm guard, and the feathered arrows were packed in the standard quiver of thirty. Without these, she would truly have suspected Wei Xun of deliberately making trouble to prevent her from setting out.

Two days later, Wei Xun went to the tailor's shop and brought back the finished clothes.

It was an ivory-colored set of Hu Garments, resist-dyed with a simple pattern of golden floral medallions. The fabric was nothing special, and the pattern could just about be called fresh and pretty. Its sole merit was that the shoulders, neck, and waist all fit her slender figure perfectly. It was comfortable to wear, and the trousers suited riding.

With her jewelry sold and her splendid palace robes replaced by these commoner's Hu Garments, the only palace possession she still carried was a sachet worn close to her body. Everything else had ceased to have any connection to the imperial house.

The girl pinched her arm. It had already lost its former softness and fullness. With a life of wandering and uncertain meals ahead, she could hardly expect to regain any flesh. Who knew when she would recover the radiant grace of her former figure? Pitying her own reflection, she could not help heaving a deep sigh.

After changing, she entered the courtyard, where the two fellow disciples were preparing their luggage, saddles, bridles, and other supplies for departure.

"Now that I've grown thinner, this fits perfectly. That tailor is skilled. He made everything fit without even taking my measurements."

Wei Xun said nothing, pretending not to hear. Thirteenth Son, who normally chattered all day, was silent too, repeatedly glancing at his senior brother.

Puzzled, the princess asked, "How much money is left? Will it be enough for the journey?"

"The loose gems and pearls have all been sold. There's still a bag of gold beads. I exchanged some for seven or eight strings of loose cash for incidental expenses on the road."

One string contained a thousand copper coins and weighed roughly six jin by the standard scale. Those few strings filled a saddlebag to the brim, weighing nearly fifty jin. Wei Xun lifted it and laid it across the donkey's rump. The skinny donkey grunted twice in displeasure.

Wei Xun reported the original price of every purchase, along with the discounts and number of free extras. Though the princess knew little of common market prices, she could tell that he handled money meticulously and simply left the remaining gold in his keeping. Still, hearing how little remained made her uneasy. She feared they would spend it all in two or three days, with no way to sustain the rest of the journey.

Their preparations were nearly complete. All that remained was to say farewell.

Earlier, the princess had ordered Wei Xun to lift a flagstone in the main hall and dig a hole beneath it. She solemnly buried her mother's hairpin, her palace robes, and the other belongings there. The hideous Exorcism Mask was wrapped in a prayer banner and tucked onto a beam in a side hall.

Once the flagstone was replaced, she knelt and bowed, saying through tears, "Your daughter is setting out now. Mother, if your spirit watches from heaven, please keep me safe along the way."

She put on the hat with its hanging veil, and everything before her lay beneath a haze of light smoke. Then she mounted the skinny donkey. Wei Xun walked ahead, leading it by the reins, while Thirteenth Son followed behind.

Wei Xun's hands were empty. The only thing he had prepared for the road was a Dieliexie Belt. Eight or nine narrow straps hung at regular intervals from the broad leather belt, fitted with metal rings and clasps from which dangled a dagger, a handkerchief, a flint pouch, and other everyday necessities. They were conveniently within easy reach.

With the belt fastened, his figure from behind looked all the more wasp-waisted and ape-backed, upright, lean, and graceful, his steps as nimble as a leopard's. He was utterly unlike her former guards, with their broad shoulders and thick waists.

Seeing him travel so lightly, she asked, "Don't you want any of those bamboo and wooden books?"

Wei Xun shook his head and let out a long breath, as though freed from some invisible shackle. "They were useless things to begin with. I should have thrown them away long ago."

As they passed through the temple gate, he suddenly lifted his face to the sky and gave a long, ringing cry. Its clear note carried far. Birds for dozens of li around burst into startled flight, and dust sifted down from the gate's stone lintel.

The princess felt her heartbeat quicken and her ears buzz. He always spoke softly and unhurriedly, never raising his voice. She was astonished that such a lean chest could produce so bold a sound. There seemed to be something stirring and sorrowful in that cry. He was plainly young and reckless; where had such emotion come from?

Her own ears were still ringing. Had her mount been a horse, it would long since have bolted in fright and thrown her off. Yet the ugly donkey beneath her remained perfectly composed and stood immovable. When Wei Xun's prolonged cry finally faded, the donkey flicked its tail and followed with a long, hoarse, hideous bellow.

Wei Xun turned around, his easy, irreverent smile already restored. Patting the donkey's head, he said with a laugh he could not suppress, "Who asked you to sing harmony? You certainly know how to join in the fun."

The three people and one donkey thus left the Green Micro Temple and took the road toward Youzhou. The Ninefold Heavenly Gates opened upon the palace halls; the robed and crowned envoys of countless nations bowed before the emperor's tasseled crown. The imperial favor she had once enjoyed, all that dazzling splendor and luxury, dissolved like smoke-nothing more than a millet-dream.