Xiao Ya

By the time Qi Yu reached the palace gates with the banknotes tucked inside his clothes, Xie Ning had already been waiting beside the hitching post for quite a while, holding his white horse's reins. The horse lowered its head to nibble at a few weeds poking out at the foot of the wall, then spat them out after a couple of bites. Xie Ning leaned against the saddle, clutching a heavy money pouch his mother had just dug out from the bottom of a chest. The silver still carried the scent of the camphorwood chest.

"Did your father give you the money?" Qi Yu had run until sweat beaded at his temples.

"He gave me five hundred. My mother slipped in another twenty taels and said to buy the girl some new clothes." Xie Ning untied the reins from the hitching post.

"My imperial father gave me a thousand. I said we wouldn't need that much, and he said to use the rest to get her settled."

The two exchanged a glance. One thousand taels plus five hundred and twenty: fifteen hundred and twenty taels. An hour ago, they had not even been able to scrape together five hundred. Now, with more than fifteen hundred taels on them, even the soles of their feet felt hot as they walked. A Ping had hired a mule cart to carry the silver and followed behind, glancing back at the chest on the cart from time to time.

At that street corner in the East Market, Xiao Ya was still kneeling where they had left her, clutching the two-hundred-tael banknote so tightly that its edges had crumpled. The thin-walled coffin still rested on the handcart. A few more idle onlookers had gathered around, pointing and speculating about who those two young men had been. Xie Ning swung down from his horse, walked over, and crouched in front of her, gently setting the heavy money pouch beside her hand. "We've paid the coffin shop-the one in the west of the city. Three hundred taels. Your mother will have a better coffin. Get up. Don't kneel anymore. The ground is cold."

Xiao Ya raised her head and stared blankly at him. Xie Ning took an oilpaper parcel from inside his clothes and opened it to reveal several meat buns still steaming hot, bought from a bun shop at the street entrance on their way over. "Eat first. Once you've eaten, you'll have the strength to see to your mother's funeral." Xiao Ya took the buns. Her tears fell onto the oilpaper, mingling with the steam rising from them. She said nothing, only lowered her head and bit into a bun, chewing and swallowing before taking another bite.

Xiao Ya's mother was buried on the third day. They chose a sunny slope at the foot of the western hills for her grave, and Xie Ning asked a steward from the Jinghai Marquis Residence to help make the arrangements. The gravestone was a fine slab of bluestone that Qi Yu had filched from his imperial father's study. He did not know how to carve letters, so he found a palace stonemason to engrave it following the words he had written out. The stonemason took no payment, saying that since His Highness was helping someone himself, he would lend a hand too. The carved characters were crooked, but every stroke was deeply cut.

A fine drizzle fell on the morning of the burial. Qi Yu and Xie Ning both went, standing before the grave as they watched the coffin being lowered. Xiao Ya knelt in the mud and kowtowed three times, a small patch of yellow mud clinging to her forehead where it struck the wet ground. The rain fell on the freshly turned earth over the grave, stirring up an earthy smell that hung damp and heavy in the air.

On the way back after the burial, Xiao Ya followed behind Xie Ning. She walked very slowly, her head lowered, both hands twisting the hem of her clothes.

"Benefactor," she suddenly said. "You buried my mother for me. I have no way to repay you in this lifetime. I am willing to be your servant and wait on you for the rest of my life." Her voice was quiet, partly drowned out by the rain. As soon as she finished, she moved to kneel.

Qi Yu reached out to stop her. He said he did not need a maid, then turned to look at Xie Ning. His look left Xie Ning at a loss, and the two stared at each other. One was the reigning emperor's fourth prince, the other the second son of a marquis's household, and neither had ever faced anything like this. Xie Ning scratched his head. "How about this? Come home with me for now, and let the matrons there teach you some rules. At least you'll have somewhere to settle." He paused, then added, "You won't have to sign a bond of servitude."

Xiao Ya sat on Xie Ning's white horse while Xie Ning led it himself. Qi Yu walked beside him, his boots treading on the wet grass and leaving a trail of muddy prints. After they had walked a little way, Qi Yu suddenly nudged Xie Ning's arm. "What did you say her name was?"

"She said it was Xiao Ya."

"What kind of name is Xiao Ya?"

Xie Ning thought for a moment. "I'll ask my mother to give her one when we get back."

The two walked a little farther. The rain gradually stopped, and the mist in the hills dispersed, revealing the hazy outline of Capital City's walls in the distance. Qi Yu suddenly puffed out his chest, rubbed his muddy boots against the grass, and lifted his chin. Xie Ning glanced at him, then also put the hand holding the reins behind his back and straightened a little. The two boys walked along the mountain path after the rain, covered in mud and water, yet looking as though they had just been entrusted with some tremendous assignment at court.

"Does this count as doing something big?" Qi Yu asked.

"It does."

"If my imperial father asks when I get back, I'll tell him I drew my blade to right an injustice."

"You don't even have a blade."

"I have silver. Silver is a blade too." Qi Yu patted the flattened purse inside his clothes. Only two sugar-roasted chestnuts remained in it. Xie Ning said nothing, but the corners of his mouth lifted. He lowered his gaze to the white horse he was leading, and to Xiao Ya's thin figure on its back. He remembered how the girl had knelt by the roadside three days ago with a sheet of rough paper spread before her, then recalled the sight of her kowtowing in the mud just now. Back then, he had not quite understood what it meant for life to take its turns. He only felt that, for the first time in his life, he had done something truly useful.

The Jinghai Marquis Residence. As Xiao Ya was led through its gates, she hunched her shoulders and kept her head down, not daring to look to either side. Madam Xie stood waiting at the entrance to the main hall, accompanied by a matron in her forties. Madam Xie studied Xiao Ya for a moment, then had someone take her to bathe and change. After a few steps, Xiao Ya suddenly turned around, knelt before Xie Ning, and kowtowed. Xie Ning stood where he was, unsure whether to help her up. In the end, the matron pulled the girl to her feet and led her away.

Qi Yu squatted outside the Xie residence, teasing a dog. It was the big yellow dog Xie Ting kept, dozing on the threshold with its tail occasionally patting the ground. Xie Ning came out and squatted beside him, and the two watched the dog sleep side by side. Apparently annoyed by their staring, the dog got up, shook itself, and found another place to lie down. The two burst out laughing and laughed for quite a while. Later, they stood and brushed the dust from their knees, one heading toward the palace gates and the other back into the residence. Both took longer strides than usual, their backs straighter than usual, as though they had suddenly come to feel they deserved the fine silks they wore.