Cui Xi was glad when they finally met up with Master Yang. He had finished up his business with the apothecary and tapped his chest to show Cui Xi that he had been able to trade the pearls for more practical currency. 

“Not here,” he said, shaking his head cautiously, motioning for them to move toward an inn. They strolled in under the wooden sign and an attendant immediately rushed up to them.

Looking around, Cui Xi parted her veil.

“Welcome guests!” the young man greeted with a genuine smile. “Food or a room?” he asked.

“Both,” said Yang Ming Xi. “Two rooms. And we’ll have our meal down here.”

“Aiyo, I’m sorry, honoured guest. There is only one room left, but the meal we can definitely do. We have the best fried beef dish in the city! Please try it.”

“Only one room?” Xiao Yu frowned.

“Fine, fine, I’ll sleep with the donkey in the stable. Don’t worry…” Yang Ming Xi joked, waving his hands and smiling at his daughter.

“But Da!” Xiao Yu bit her lip a bit, looking worried.

Her father reached for her hand and pressed it lightly.

“It’s alright. It’s better if you two girls are together,” he said.

As if on cue, a young man descended the stairs to stand before them. Obviously rich, he was dressed in green silk, with his hair was pulled up into a jade hair crown. Exactly like a privileged young lord, he swept his fan open, smiling pleasantly.

“I didn’t mean to overhear, good sir, but why don’t you take my room? It is a double,” he offered, waving the fan in an affected manner. 

“Oh,” said Xiao Yu, awkwardly. “That’s very generous, my Lord, but we don’t have the money to pay you...”

“No need. No need. Please, both young Misses, good Sir… You’ll make me look bad if you don’t accept,” the young man chuckled.

Yang Ming Xi did his best to hide his irritation as he had already recognized this person even if the young man himself had an exceedingly short memory. Standing before them, looking self-satisfied, was Gao Wei, the Young Master of the Gao family and eldest son of the City Lord. 

Yang Ming Xi’s jaw flexed slightly as he weighed things out…it would not do to offend Gao Wei, but he was not sure he wanted to accept such an offer and whatever else came with it.

Cui Xi watched the interplay with interest wondering about the identity of the young man. He wasn’t that much older than her, probably about twenty, well dressed and not ugly. However, he could not be described as handsome as his features, though pleasing, were spoiled by such self-importance that it contaminated his whole being. Cui Xi felt her skin crawl. 

Yang Ming Xi bowed low, forcing himself to smile.

“Thank you, Young Master Gao. Of course, we accept, but we will take our meal upstairs. Again, many thanks…”

Gao Wei nodded, shutting his fan and tapping it against his chest. His eyes showed some disappointment as he had hoped they would eat downstairs, so he get a better look at the girl. Up close like this she was even prettier than he had initially thought, and his lips tipped up in anticipation. He briefly glanced at the other girl, but she was too coarse looking to even consider.

Something good to eat tonight!

“Yifu…” Cui Xi said softly, eyeing the man across from them, and covertly reaching out to grip the sleeve on her foster father’s robe. She had seen something very unpleasant flash across the young man’s face as he stared at Xiao Yu.

Yang Ming Xi patted her hand with a fatherly smile, but shook his head almost imperceptibly, and then let the attendant show them up the stairs.

Once upstairs in their room, Yang Ming Xi immediately sat at the low table sniffing some tea. He took a bit into his mouth, and then after a moment he swallowed, not detecting anything of concern.

“Da…is that the eldest young Master Gao?” asked Xiao Yu.

Yang Ming Xi snorted.

“Yes. He’s the eldest son of the City lord, called Gao Wei…I’m not sure what his motive is in offering the room. It can’t be good. There are rumours that he has taken girls from the poorer quarters of the city…and many don’t come back. Whether he is selling them or something else…” he let the sentence hang ominously.

“Mmnn,” said Xiao Yu. “Then we should avoid him. 

“Exactly,” said Yang Ming Xi with a sigh.

“Yifu, you think he will try to harm us?” asked Cui Xi.

“It’s best to be cautious, don’t you think?” her foster father suddenly smiled at her, and Cui Xi had the distinct impression that his words had an underlying meaning. Yet, his smile held no malice and she looked away after a moment.

Yifu, what is happening here? she thought to herself.

Cui Xi slanted a glance at Xiao Yu, who seemed to be distracted by her own thoughts, but a moment later an attendant called out, having arrived with the food. The man had barely placed the steaming dishes on the low table, before Yang Ming Xi jumped up to shut the door and took out his silver needles.

“So obvious!” Yang Ming Xi snorted, holding out a blackened needle after sticking it in the dishes that had been prepared by the kitchen. He sniffed it lightly: “Tchh! That can’t even fool a three year-old child!”

He held it to Xiao Yu’s nose and her eyes widened as she cautiously sniffed. 

“This is a knockout powder from Xiyu!” she exclaimed.

Yang Ming Xi nodded with pride flitting across his face as his daughter correctly identified it. 

Cui Xi made a face and sat back morosely. 

Obviously, eating was out of the question. It’s a good thing that she had already eaten so many meat skewers earlier otherwise her stomach would be protesting now. Cui Xi allowed herself a moment of petulance: thinking on an empty stomach was definitely no good.

“Da, what do we do?” asked Xiao Yu.

“Yifu…Let’s wait until morning when there are more people around…I don’t think they will try anything in the open…”

“No, they will right now,” he grunted. He didn’t think that they could sit in the room until morning. If the servant expected them to be drugged, then he would be bringing Gao Wei’s men…and that meant that they had next to no time left. From the smell of the powder in the food, he was able to roughly guess the amount used. From that he calculated that they would have been unconscious in less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense.

Damn that Gao Wei!

This was bad as Yang Ming Xi had unexpectedly collected another letter from the apothecary.

His contact advised that skirmishes had broken out in the border territories with Xiyu and there was now troop movement. It was likely that the letter contained details of military deployment by Tiansheng. If that was the case, it could not fall into the hands of the Gao family.

Since leaving the shop, he had had no time to read it. While the letter was still on his person, he could not be detained lest it be discovered, but with Cui Xi in the room there was no way to deal with it. He was now tangled with the dilemma of how to move forward.

“I don’t think there is help for it. I think we have to leave separately,” said Yang Ming Xi, abruptly standing up. He went to the window and looked out.

“A’Xi, do you think you can climb down the building?” he asked, turning to look at them.

This isn’t like Da! thought Xiao Yu, her eyes lowered. What is he not saying?

Although he felt some misgiving in separating from the girls, Yang Ming Xi did not believe he had a choice. The last letter had requested very specific information about the Gao family. At this time, it was very possible that the Gao family was involved in underhanded dealings and the fact that Gao Wei had the rare Xiyu knockout powder only reinforced this suspicion. If Yang Ming Xi was exposed here, the consequences would be far reaching. He could not risk it.

But what will happen to my A’Yu?!

He swiped a hand over his face, momentarily hiding his expression. Dammit!

“Yifu, I have a bad feeling. Do you really not think this can wait until morning?” asked Cui Xi. Her sense of danger was gathering, but she still hoped there was a chance they could avoid this.

“No. You two must get out of the city. I will leave first to draw them away. You go out the window...there is a tree up against the wall in the courtyard below.  Head back to the mountain immediately. Be very careful!”

“Yes, Da, we will,” promised Xiao Yu.

“Do I have time to change into men’s clothes? I think they are expecting two girls. If it’s a girl and a boy, they might not look too closely,” said Cui Xi to Xiao Yu. 

“Barely, but do it now!” said Yang Ming Xi. 

He was taking a chance leaving first – if they had truly discovered his goal here, then they would pursue him relentlessly, but if they were after the girls…then that had its own set of problems.

Rising, he swiftly gathered his things, and headed to the door. Pulling it open he quickly confirmed that the corridor was empty, and then slipped out. His heart was in a mess leaving his daughter behind, but he prayed that they could escape the city without anyone the wiser. 

A’Yu was not without skills. Nevertheless, he bitterly reflected that love and duty could not always live in the same house. He could not protect both and this was the shame of his existence.

There will be a day when I will get back everything that I have lost!

Pulling the pins out of her hair and throwing them into her satchel, Cui Xi took out the clothes and Xiao Yu hastily helped her change into the shirt and trousers. Once dressed, she pulled her hair into a high ponytail and tied it with a ribbon. Briefly checking her reflection, she was pleased to see that the brown eyeshadow she had used to tint her foundation was still holding. If no one looked too closely, she would pass for a skinny dark-skinned boy.

Everything about the situation bothered Cui Xi.

“Why can’t we just wait this out? Surely they wouldn’t attack us in broad daylight?” she asked 

Xiao Yu shook her head. The sun is already setting.

“Gao Wei is the son of the City lord; his power here is absolute in the border region. If he wants to take us, no one would say anything against it. We have to leave now…”

Xiao Yu froze as something clanked in the corridor.

“Go!” Cui Xi exclaimed. Ripping the curtain off the bed she flung it out the window. “I will hold it! You go down first.”

“But what about you??” Xiao Yu asked as she threw her leg over the sill, steadying herself on the tree trunk but tearing the fabric. She tumbled onto the dirt, but picked herself back up immediately, unhurt.

Cui Xi threw their satchels out the window and stepped onto the sill. Xiao Yu grabbed the bags as they hit the ground.

“Hurry!”

At that moment it was already too late: the door burst open and armed men swarmed in.

“Xiao Yu! Run!” Cui Xi shouted out the window.

Out of time, Cui Xi stood on the sill and wriggled up onto the roof instead. If she could get to the front of the building, there was a balcony…

“Pull the boy down!”

A hand clamped around her boot just as she was pulling herself up and out. Her heart thumped crazily in her ears as she panicked. Kicking as hard as could, Cui Xi tried to get traction, digging her nails into the clay tiles and feeling them break as she was jerked her downward. 

“No!” she cried.

As she slid backwards, she desperately grabbed a broken roof tile and slashed down at her foot. Blood poured through her fingers where she had cut herself on the shard, but she heard a satisfying howl as she slashed the hand holding her and suddenly felt it let go.

“That little shit!” she heard from below. 

Panting, she scrambled upright and then wobbled onto the rooftop. Even if she had her seventeen year-old body back, she had not been the most nimble person, so she could now only screw up her courage and hope that she would not fall off as she dashed to the opposite side of the building, climbing over the roof ridge. Still she surprised herself as she skidded down the slope with an agility she didn’t think she had. Her body continued to shock her.

“Give chase! Don’t let them run,” a man cried, swinging up onto the roof and tapping down lightly right on the roof ridge.

Dammit! Qinggong*!

If she wasn’t running for her life, she would have been impressed…but this was bad! How did you outrun someone with qinggong? She turned her head, searching.

Xiao Yu! Where are you?!

Gritting her teeth, she wrapped her legs around a post and then let go of the roof, but she had used too much momentum and hurtled onto the balcony, unceremoniously smashing into the midst of some attendants holding trays laden with food. Thankfully, she did not hit her head.

“Waaaaa!!” they screamed as dishes and food were upended with a loud crash.

“Ouch!” she said, rubbing her arm and butt, looking up at the glaring faces.  “Sorry!”

“Over there! Catch him!”

“Crap!” she hissed under her breath, reverting to English. Shoving past the still squawking servants she set off at a dead run.

“A’Xi!” Xiao Yu yelled from the street below. She darted out from between two carriages, waving her arms to get Cui Xi’s attention.

“Xiao Yu!” Cui Xi cried, running to the railing. She shot a glance behind her, but there was no more room to run as men were suddenly spilling out at her from all sides.

At the end of her wits, she unhooked one of the lanterns that had been strung over the roadway and flung it behind her. Lanterns. It vaguely crossed her mind that today was the Qingming[2] festival…no wonder it was so crowded tonight! There were carriages… Carriages!

As she formulated what to do, the lantern hit a man in the chest, the thin paper erupting into flames. Ripping her sash off, she threw it over the rope holding the lanterns and jumped off the railing, swinging high above the street. 

Gritting her teeth, Cui Xi realized too late the rope was too weak to hold her weight, but if she could just get to the top of one of the carriages, it would break her fall. She turned a quick glance behind her, but then felt a stab of fear as a man grinned maliciously and raised his sword to slash at the rope.

Thunk!

Cui Xi shuddered as she watched the man with the sword slowly descend over the railing, the butt of a curved dagger protruded from between his eyes. She turned her head just in time to see a dark clothed figure retreating from the balcony of the opposite building. The Arab!

“Allah maeak*” she yelled at a retreating back that froze mid-stride and then carried on. 

Perhaps she only imagined that she heard a chuckle as her full attention was abruptly taken up by a terrifically awkward collision with the roof of a carriage.

Cui Xi impacted her already injured arm, making her stomach churn with the pain. Left with no choice, she flicked the other hand that was holding her sash, hoping it would get snagged on something, but she was still tumbling.

“AAAAAGH!”

She screamed as she flew through the air, completely unreconciled to the fact that she was going to die on a festival day…