Leaving the palace

On the seventh day of the seventh month, before it was even dark, Xiao Huaijin could no longer sit still. He wrote a few characters at the low table, set down his brush, walked to the window to look outside, then returned to his seat, picked up his brush, wrote one character, and set it down again. Liu An, grinding ink beside him, was left dizzy by all his pacing back and forth.

"Your Highness, are you going to finish your calligraphy or not?"

"Yes." Xiao Huaijin picked up his brush again and wrote one character before finally giving in. "Eunuch Liu, today is the seventh day of the seventh month."

Liu An shifted his fly whisk to his other hand.

"Are you looking forward to tonight's Double Seventh banquet, Your Highness? His Majesty has already given orders. A decorated pavilion has been set up in the Imperial Garden, and the consorts and princesses will all be there. You can go and enjoy yourself too."

"It's not the festival activities I'm thinking about." Xiao Huaijin put down his brush, leaned closer to Liu An, and lowered his voice a fraction. "Eunuch Liu, I heard some young eunuchs talking in the Imperial Garden. They said there's a night market in the capital on the Double Seventh, with all sorts of novel little things, and-" He thought for a moment. "And performers who can stick swords down their throats without dying."

Liu An nearly dropped his fly whisk.

"Your Highness, that's a street performer's sleight of hand. The sword is fake. Why are you curious about that?"

"I still want to see it, even if it's fake." Xiao Huaijin slumped over the low table, his chin resting on the backs of his hands, and his voice suddenly grew quieter. "I've never been to a night market."

Liu An looked into those bright eyes that could hide nothing and sighed inwardly. Since birth, the crown prince had left the palace so few times that they could be counted on one hand. Only when important state affairs required the heir apparent to accompany the emperor did he have a chance to see the outside world, and even then, he always sat in the imperial carriage, hemmed in at every turn. These palace walls were too high-high enough to enclose all the finest things under heaven, and to shut out the most ordinary things as well.

"Your Highness, have you mentioned this to His Majesty?"

"I have." Xiao Huaijin's voice grew even quieter, a little unhappy.

"Father said we would talk about it later."

Liu An asked no more. His Majesty had been attending to countless affairs of state lately and presumably had no time to take the crown prince out. His Highness was far too important, and the world outside was a mix of fish and dragons. How could His Majesty feel at ease letting him go out alone?

At dusk, the Double Seventh banquet was held in the Needle-Threading Pavilion beside Taiye Lake. The consorts, princes, and princesses all attended; even Consort Xiande, who rarely ventured out, made an appearance. Palace maids filled the long tables with festival pastries and carved melons. Lotus lanterns floated on Taiye Lake, and threads in five colors hung all over the decorated pavilion.

Xiao Lan was the first to raise her hand to try threading a needle. She threaded the seven-holed needle in one go, drawing gasps of admiration. Xiao Rui tried this year too. Though she stumbled a little along the way, she completed it successfully, a considerable improvement over last year.

Xiao Huaijin sat beside Xiao Lin, holding a string of festival pastries. He gazed absently at the lotus lanterns on the lake, not even noticing when Xiao Yu approached with a plate of freshly made osmanthus cakes.

"Crown Prince Brother." Xiao Yu set the plate before him. "Are you unhappy?"

"No." Xiao Huaijin picked up an osmanthus cake and took a bite. "I'm thinking about something."

"What about?"

Xiao Huaijin looked around. Xiao Lin was talking to Noble Consort Jing, and Liu An was by the decorated pavilion, directing the palace maids as they hung lanterns. No one was paying attention to them. He pulled Xiao Yu aside and leaned close to his ear.

"Second Brother, do you want to go outside the palace and have a look?"

Xiao Yu nearly dropped the osmanthus cake in his hand.

"Out-outside the palace?"

"Keep your voice down." Xiao Huaijin covered his mouth. "Everyone in the palace is celebrating tonight, so there are fewer guards than usual. I've already asked around. We won't use the main gate. There are only two guards at the south corner gate, and there's a gap of one tea's time when they change shifts during the hour of the dog. The East Market isn't far outside. We'll take one look around and come back. No one will find out."

Xiao Yu stared at him, wide-eyed. As far as he could remember, his crown prince brother had never broken a single rule. He arrived punctually at the imperial school every day, never slacked off on his calligraphy, and wrote and revised his policy essays over and over. Even which side of the bowl he placed his chopsticks on had to follow court etiquette. And now he was actually proposing they sneak out of the palace!

Xiao Yu wondered if he had misheard.

"You're not scared, are you?" Xiao Huaijin asked.

"Of course I'm not!" Xiao Yu immediately straightened his back, then timidly hunched over again. "But... what if Father finds out?"

"It's not as though Father is unreasonable. At worst... at worst, he'll make me write an extra policy essay!" Xiao Huaijin paused, then added, "But it would be best if he didn't find out. Don't worry. It was my idea. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility!"

Xiao Yu relaxed a little, his eyes sparkling.

"All right, I'll go! But-" He held up one finger. "Just one look around, then we come back."

"Just one."

They split the osmanthus cake in their hands in two and each stuffed half into his mouth, sealing their agreement.

Halfway through the hour of the dog, all the festivities in the palace were concentrated around Taiye Lake. Sure enough, the south corner gate was quiet. Two guards stood at the entrance, chatting idly beneath swaying lanterns. When Xiao Huaijin and Xiao Yu crept over along the base of the wall, they arrived just in time for the shift change-the two guards turned and headed into the gatehouse, and their replacements had yet to arrive.

"Come on." Xiao Huaijin caught Xiao Yu by the wrist, and the two squeezed sideways through the gap in the corner gate. A tuft of fur from Xiao Yu's rabbit-fur cuff caught on the doorframe and came off. He glanced down, but had no time to mourn it as he ran after Xiao Huaijin.

Beyond the palace walls lay another world. The East Market was the liveliest night market in the capital, and on the seventh day of the seventh month, it was packed shoulder to shoulder. Colored lanterns lined the streets. Vendors selling sugar figures, masks, lanterns, and festival pastries called out one after another. On a street corner, a troupe was performing a sword-swallowing act, surrounded by layers upon layers of spectators, their cheers rising in wave after wave. Xiao Huaijin pulled Xiao Yu into the crowd just in time to see a bare-chested burly man slowly slide an iron sword down his throat. More than half the blade disappeared, and the spectators all sucked in a breath.

"Did you see that!" Xiao Huaijin tugged at Xiao Yu's sleeve. "It really is a sword!"

Xiao Yu's palms were slick with sweat from nervousness. He stared unblinkingly at the burly man, only letting out a long breath when the man drew the sword out and saluted the audience with clasped hands. "Crown Prince Brother, did he really swallow that sword?"

"He did! I saw it!" Xiao Huaijin's voice was full of excitement. Then he realized he had spoken too loudly. He glanced around and pulled Xiao Yu aside. "Don't call me Crown Prince Brother out here. It draws too much attention. Just call me Brother."

They spent another long while studying the sugar figures at a stall. Xiao Huaijin chose a Sun Wukong, and Xiao Yu chose a rabbit. When the old vendor handed the two sugar figures over, Xiao Huaijin felt in his sleeve pocket and brought out a few copper coins-he had secretly brought them with him. He lined the coins up on the stall and counted them. Yes, enough.

Then he noticed the dough figures on the neighboring stall. The craftsman was shaping a little tiger. He had just finished its ears, and its whiskers were as fine as strands of hair. Xiao Huaijin looked at his remaining copper coins and put half of them away.

"Brother, aren't you buying one?" Xiao Yu asked, nibbling at his rabbit sugar figure.

"I don't want one." Xiao Huaijin went to the other side and bought two sticks of candied hawthorn, handing one to Xiao Yu. By then, the dough-figure craftsman was serving other customers, and a little girl had bought the little tiger. Xiao Huaijin glanced at it, looked away, and bit into his candied hawthorn.

"Everything's so expensive. Next time, I'll definitely bring more money."

The two made a circuit of the East Market, watched the street performances, and spent quite a while looking at a lantern stall before leisurely heading back.

They returned to the palace one tea's time later than planned. The shift change at the south corner gate was already over, and two unfamiliar guards stood at the entrance. Xiao Huaijin watched from the mouth of an alley for a while and discovered that these two were more alert than the previous pair. They stood ramrod straight, unlike the earlier guards, who had chatted and yawned. He pulled Xiao Yu down into a crouch at the foot of the wall and considered what to do.

"Brother, let's climb over the wall." Xiao Yu pointed at a crooked scholar tree nearby, its branches reaching right to the top of the wall.

"Can you climb trees?"

"Yes. I used to climb them in secret in the palace without Mother knowing."

At the mention of Shen Mingzhu, Xiao Yu's eyes dimmed a little, but he quickly rallied. He pushed his unfinished candied hawthorn into Xiao Huaijin's hand, rolled up his sleeves, and began climbing. Using both hands and feet, he reached the branches in no time, but something went wrong as he crossed the wall. His belt caught on the edge of a broken tile atop it, and with a ripping sound, his new sapphire-blue robe tore at the waist. Straddling the wall, Xiao Yu looked down at the tear and froze for a moment.

"Did it tear?"

"It tore." Xiao Yu sounded a little aggrieved, but immediately brightened again. "It's all right. Mother can mend it."

Xiao Huaijin followed him over the wall and landed in a patch of mud. His boot sank in, and it took him some time to pull it free. He looked down at his sole, then at the mud splatters on the hem of his robe, and drew a deep breath.

"Let's hurry back and change. Don't let anyone see us."

The two slipped through the back door of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Candles still burned in the main hall, and they could faintly hear the rustle of Xiao Lin turning the pages of memorials. Xiao Huaijin pulled Xiao Yu along as they tiptoed toward the side hall. Just as they reached the door, a deep voice came from the main hall.

"You're back."

Xiao Huaijin froze on the spot.

The doors to the main hall creaked open. Xiao Lin stood inside, his expression calm. He glanced at the mud on Xiao Huaijin's hem, then at the tear a broken tile had left at Xiao Yu's waist.

"Have someone cut down the scholar tree by the south corner gate tomorrow."

Xiao Yu shrank behind Xiao Huaijin. Xiao Huaijin raised his head, hiding the candied hawthorn farther behind his back.

"How did you know, Father...?"

"Kong Wu had already brought word to my desk when you left through the south corner gate." Xiao Lin set his tea bowl on the corner of the desk, his voice level. "From the moment you left that gate, his men followed you in secret the entire way. The street performers, the sugar-figure stall, the lantern shop-you certainly made a thorough round."

Xiao Huaijin's expression froze. Xiao Yu also wore a look that said, We're done for.

"Tell me, then, my crown prince. Why did you decide to sneak out?"

"You said you would take me someday, Father. But someday was too far away." Xiao Huaijin's voice was a little low.

"I was just so curious..."

Beside him, Xiao Yu nodded furiously, then realized that was wrong and hastily shook his head.

Xiao Lin looked both children over from head to toe. Once he was certain they were unhurt, he turned and walked back into the main hall, sat behind the imperial desk, and picked up his brush again.

"Tomorrow, during the hour of the dragon, both of you will copy today's lessons three times. Xiao Huaijin, you will also write a policy essay titled 'On the lives of the capital's people.'" He paused. "Include everything you saw at the night market and whatever thoughts you had about it. Submit it to me tomorrow evening."

Xiao Huaijin froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

Father wasn't angry anymore.

Liu An quietly carried two bowls of hot ginger soup in from outside for the children to drink, then told them to go change in the side hall first.

Xiao Lin wrote a few lines of comments on a memorial, then raised his head again. Looking at the two figures heading toward the side hall, his voice softened.

"Huaijin."

Xiao Huaijin looked back.

"Next time you want to go out, don't sneak around. Let me know, use the West Glorious Gate, and I'll arrange for guards to accompany you. Outside the palace isn't as peaceful as you imagine. You're still young, and there are many things you wouldn't be able to handle."

Standing at the side hall's entrance, Xiao Huaijin's eyes lit up. An adorable smile spread across his face, and he nodded hard.

"I'll remember! Thank you, Father!"

"Go and change."

"Yes!"

Outside the window, the moon shone bright. The lotus lanterns on Taiye Lake had yet to go out, and pinpricks of light drifted over from afar, falling upon the paper windows of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.