Chang-li had been expecting quite a bill, but the total staggered him. “One thousand, two hundred and fifty kwam?” he demanded. That was three months' wage for him.

“Do you have the coin or not?" the official droned. There was no sign of Inspector Ji’in, for which Chang-li was grateful. He sighed and dug out his purse. That would put a large dent in Min's money.

He handed it over, and the scribe disappeared. He came back a moment later with two others, staggering under loads of crates, while the first scribe had sacks slung on both shoulders. "What's all this?" Chang-li asked, staring.

"Records from the Sect of Morning Mist, as requested." They set the crates and bags down in front of Chang-li and Min and disappeared, one of the scribes giving Chang-li a knowing grin.

"Not what you were expecting?" Min asked dryly.

"There's so much." He had been picturing, perhaps, a stack of notebooks, like the one he already had. "This, though, how are we going to carry all this?"

Min sighed. "I'll give you a hand." She slung both satchels over her shoulders. "They’re heavier than they look. Can you manage the rest?"

Chang-li stooped and picked up the crates, which were stacked on each other. They weighed a lot. Even with his newly remade body, his legs nearly buckled under the weight. "Come on,” he managed. "Let's go."

He staggered out the door and down the street. Sweat dripped down Chang-li's brow.. Perhaps one of his crates contained some metal scroll cases or artifacts of the sect. That would be nice.

"What else did you find?" she asked, clearly not struggling under her load nearly as much as he was. "I didn't see you presenting any documents to be priced." Min had filled three whole books. Her neat scratchings were remarkably economical. Now she pulled something from her sleeve and slipped it into the satchel she was carrying over her left arm.

"What's that?"

"I'll tell you when we get back," she said. "But what did you spend the whole day doing?"

He hesitated. "I'll tell you when we get back."

It took forever to reach the Royal Peacock. Min disappeared inside as Chang-li lowered his crates to the floor. She came bounding back, followed by the porter and the cook, a brawny man married to the barkeeper.

"Take them up to Chang-li's room," she ordered. They hurried to obey.

"I suppose you need to be going back," he said. It was getting dark. The streets were filling with people at the end of their day. He could smell dinner cooking inside the tavern.

She hesitated. Then, in a rush, said, "It'll be easier after full dark. If I haven't been missed yet, I should be safe. I want to see what we've got here."

He couldn't help but grin back at her wide smile. What we've got here. It made him feel good. They had pulled it off, and more treasures awaited tomorrow. "All right," he agreed.

They went inside. Min stopped off at the counter and spoke with the woman tending the bar there as Chang-li mounted the steps to his room. It was probably better if they didn't go up at the same time. The crates filled most of the space in the room, leaving only the futon and the narrow strip of floor beside it. A few minutes later, Min hurried up, carrying a sealed bottle and two cups.

"She'll bring dinner up for us. I impressed on her the need for discretion.” Chang-li hoped Min knew what she was doing. He ushered her into the room and closed the door behind them. Min turned to him, raising her arms, crowing "We did it!"

"We did it," he agreed, joy overflowing. He had taken another step as a cultivator today, learning from those who came before him to develop his skill. Not only that, but with so many records from the Sect of Morning Mist, there had to be something useful. He ripped off both of his satchels and laid them on one of the crates. Min pulled hers off as well.

"Let's see what we've got here," he said, opening the first crate. Stacks and stacks of cultivation journals filled the crate. Some of them had burned, crispy edges. They smelled very old, but the paper was in good condition. He opened one. It was in a script, and not the one he already knew. Wulan would have the key, no doubt. The next one was in the secret script he already knew. He could translate it almost as fast as reading standard characters by now. He read aloud, "A cycling technique for those at the Peak of Bodily Refinement. This is perfect," he said, lifting his face to hers. "This next page here says, 'For those struggling to learn their Mind's Wall fortification.'"

"What's that?"

"I have no idea." A grin spread across his face. "I have no idea," he repeated again, laughing. "There's so much here to learn. I can't wait. I'm..." He bit his lip. "How am I going to get all of this back up the mountain?"

"You won't," she said practically. "We'll arrange to have the Brotherhood bring it."

His eyes narrowed as he studied her. "And to make copies?"

Min looked him over, seeming to consider it, then shrugged. "I don't know what good it'll do if it's in a script only you can read. I'm hoping your sense of fair play will extend to giving my people a copy of what they need."

"If that’s what it takes to help Joshi fulfill the contract you forced on him," Chang-li said. As soon as he spoke, he regretted it. Her face fell. He cursed himself. She’d been nothing but helpful today.

Min's shoulders slumped. She turned away. "Yes, of course. The contract." She opened the satchel she had carried back. It was full of scroll cases. She pulled one out. It bore the mark of the Morning Mist sect at one end of the brass case. She unscrewed it and a scroll fell out. "Oh, this one's not in script. Look, it's a recipe for a Pill of Greater Concentration." She looked up. "Do you know what lotus ears are?"

"Never heard of them."

"How about starberry flower?"

He shook his head. "Must be from wherever the Morning Mist were.”

Min lowered the scroll. She grinned at him. "So, come clean. Who were these Morning Mist people? And how did you find out about 'em?"

Chang-li hesitated. But Min was already in so deep. They were tied together by a hundred secrets and deals already. She might as well know the truth. She could use it against him if she chose, but honestly, at this point, she could probably already get him aboard anything she chose. Not to mention the two different grandfathers who could both have his throat slit, should they desire it.

So he recounted his first encounter with Scribe Wulan. Min raised her hand to her mouth as he spoke.

"I'd heard about Feng’s intransigence, but that's worse than I had been told. And what? A shade? You made a bargain with a shade? Really? Scribe Wu, I thought you would have had better sense. Haven't you ever read fairy tales?"

"It was that or die," he said. "Anyway, Wulan's a good sort. A little bit of a jerk, but..." He pulled his pen case from his satchel and cycled a little lux into it. "Let's see if this works."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

A moment later, Wulan appeared. He was cross-eyed and his hair all rumpled. "Again? You disturbed me again?” Then he noticed Min. At once he smoothed back his hair and made a low bow. "My lady, forgive me." He turned to Chang-li. "Is this a recruit of our sect?"

"This is Lady Min. She is helping me re-establish the Morning Mist sect," Chang-li said gravely, hoping that stretching the truth wasn't too much.

"Then I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Lady Min," the scribe said. He seemed a little bubblier now than he had earlier and had an oddly contented expression on his face. "Now, it's been a long day, and I'm still digesting all of what Rose did to me—I mean, helped me learn."

"Wait, what's this?" Min asked.

Chang-li explained about his day. Her eyes went wide as he told her about the shades on the third floor.

“I'd heard that great sects keep their shades as instructors," Chang-li said, "but having them in a library? I didn't expect that."

"I suppose it makes sense. That's why they had the lux densifiers there, yes?"

"Is that what those are?" Chang-li asked.

"You must have noticed how the atmosphere was denser, almost like being in a tower?"

He nodded. "It was, and it was even denser on the third floor."

"Well, there you are then." She brushed her hands and addressed herself to Scribe Wulan. "I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance, Honorable Scribe."

"And I, yours. Chang-li could use a bit of your good manners," he said approvingly. "Now, I am in need of rest. And eagerly awaiting our return to young Joshi. Don't summon me before then." He vanished.

Chang-li tucked the pen case away. "Well, that does answer one of my questions," he said, "which was, can anyone else see Wulan?"

"I certainly saw him and heard him." Min shook her head. "He's kind of fun, isn't he?"

"You only say that because you've never woken up with him hovering three inches from your nose," Chang-li grumbled. "Anyway, does that answer your question?"

She nodded. "It does, and thank you for entrusting me with your secret."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. Min went, opened the door, and retrieved the tray that the landlady had set for them. There was also a second sealed bottle of wine. "Let's have a drink with dinner. I'm starving."

Chang-li's stomach rumbled. "So am I."

They sat side by side on the futon, sharing the simple meal of stewed vegetables, roasted fish, and rice. It was the best Chang-li had tasted in a long time. Min surely was used to better fare, but she ate with gusto, her chopsticks flashing in her hand as she deftly pulled delicate bites off of the fish bones. He was comfortably aware of her presence at his side. They were halfway through the bottle of wine by the time dinner was over, and Chang-li starting to feel the pleasant relaxation. It had been a very long day.

"All right," he said, pushing aside the tray. Min set it outside the door again, giving them a little more room, as Chang-li began looking through the other crates.

As he'd hoped, one of the crates held sealed, heavy boxes. One of them clinked and shifted as he lifted it. The others gave no sign of their contents. They had the Morning Mist's insignia sealed in wax, probably by Cultivator Kang, whose ring Joshi now wore. Chang-li left them as they were, hoping that the seal would prevent any prying eyes from seeing them.

Min dug into her satchel and removed a small scroll case about half the size of the others. It was elaborately patterned, with a dragon design up one side and a sequence of interlocking stars on the other. She held it out to him as she explained where she'd found it. His respect for her cleverness and instincts was growing with every minute.

Chang-li took it. He unscrewed the cap, and a flaking yellow parchment fell out. It wasn't a scroll. It was a map. There were mountains and a river and words written in it in one of the scripts he didn't know, but in the simplest of the Morning Mist's secret scripts, the one he already knew, there was a legend next to a star painted on one of the mountains. It simply read "Home."

Chang-li looked up. "I think this is a map to where the Morning Mist sect had their headquarters."

She blinked at him. "It's been a long time. There won't be anything left there, will there?"

"I don't know, but I did promise Wulan I would take him there. That's how I'll finish my bargain with him. This could be very valuable.”

“Except for the fact that there's no names on it," she pointed out.

"Hopefully when I learn this script, the rest of it will be clear," he said, before replacing it in the scroll case and screwing the lid back on. "Well done."

She beamed at him. It filled him with warmth. He found himself looking at her a moment too long. Min must have felt the same. She turned and picked up the bottle of wine, found it empty, opened the second bottle, and poured them both another cup.

It must be well past dark by now, closing in to the first watches of the night. “You should get out of here." Then he realized what he was saying. "I'll walk you back to the palace," he offered.

"No, you don't need to do that," she said. "I'll have some of the Brotherhood escort me." But she looked away and sighed. “Today was the most fun I've had in a long time since I left my home. You see," she confessed, "I've been working with my grandfather Jiang for a couple of years now, managing the Brotherhood. And then to come up to the tower cull and be expected to spend my days in idleness, consorting with other nobles and talking about who we might marry, it's..." She shook her head. "Well, it's been awful. And today I felt like I was actually doing something meaningful."

She looked remarkably vulnerable. Chang-li set down the bottle of wine after pouring them another. Min tossed hers back and leaned back against the wall. They were sitting on the futon, as there was no other space in the room. Every spare inch of floor was covered in crates and bags from their haul today.

"Tell me, what else you learned?" Chang-li urged, even though he knew she needed to leave. He didn’t want her to. This was the most relaxed he had been in — he couldn’t remember how long. Sitting here with Min, sharing their thoughts, reveling in what they’d pulled off… it felt good.

Min launched into a recounting of her day. Her eyes sparkled as she described delving into the sect records for secrets. "I'll pass all this along to you and Joshi. He's going to need a spouse sooner or later if he intends to keep cultivating under the name of Morning Mist."

Chang-li laughed. “I don’t think he needs a wife. Or wants one.”

"Well, for one thing, he's such a promising cultivator they'll force a spouse on him," she said. Her eyes went a little distant, her expression faded. "Maybe I should set my cap at him."

Chang-li choked on the sip of wine he'd just taken. "What?"

"It would make both my grandfathers happy. That's why I was sent to the Gem Court, to find a strong cultivator to marry into our family. It would help my grandfather Guo’s — well, my older brother really — standing, to be affiliated with a sect that's managed to complete a tower cull recently. And, of course, the whole reason I came to the climb was to make connections for the Brotherhood. My grandfather meant for me to marry a cultivator and bring him back to aid us. I just thought..." She shrugged. “Why go after a single cultivator, who could well decide to relocate halfway across the Empire at a whim, when instead we could train up our own people?

"Besides," her voice dropped very low, "when I got there and saw how all the other gems were falling over themselves to attract the attention of a disgusting waste of the food he eats like Feng, it soured me on the whole business. But maybe I do need to do my duty. I convinced myself today that I was doing that.” She sighed and shook her head. “But this silly project of mine isn't going to go anywhere. I didn't mean it like that," she added hastily, raising a hand. "I hope Joshi can make a go of this, and I really do want to see the two of you succeed. But I need to step aside.”

She was sad and beautiful and right there. She turned, just as Chang-li had opened his mouth to try to say something comforting, her eyes fixing on his, and he forgot what he was going to say. His palms were as sweaty as his mouth was dry.

"Ah," he managed, "you shouldn't throw yourself away like that, not on anyone. And I don't think you would be a good match for Joshi at all." That was not what he had meant to say.

Her eyes dimmed. "I know I'm not much of a prospect for a cultivator. My connections are strong in this backwater province, but I'm the lowest rank a noble can be, and I haven't been raised properly for this duty. Today taught me just how much I don’t know about being a cultivator spouse.”

"No, I mean..." Chang-li was aware that every thought in his head sounded more ridiculous than the next. He shook his head. “Any cultivator would be lucky to have you, Min."

Then, without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed her. She responded eagerly. Her hands went to his face, pulling him closer.

The excitement of the day, the warmth of the wine, filled Chang-li. Their embrace deepened. His hands went to her shoulder, and her robe slid away from her shoulder, leaving him touching her inner garment. Her body was hot beneath the thin material. He moved his hand away but she responded by running a hand along the edge of Chang-li's own outer robe. He wore no inner tunic and her hand slide over his bare neck and shoulder. He has been leaning over her. Now he shifted awkwardly to get his balance. Chang-li ended up sitting back against the wall., Min kneeling beside and leaning over him to deepen the kiss.

Part of him was warning this was a terrible idea for so many reasons, but his body was telling him it was a brilliant one.

Min came up for air, drawing back from him and staring into his face, smiling more deeply than he'd ever seen. Her hair had come out of the pins, and gentle, dark tendrils were framing her face. He reached up and touched her cheek, trailing his fingers along her cheekbone, her skin warm under his touch. She leaned in and kissed him again.

He lost track of everything except they were doing. She pushed his robe off his shoulders, baring his chest. He tugged at the binding around her waist. He got it free and her belt dropped away. Her robe fell open revealing her linen undergarment, the thin material barely there under his hands. He put his arms around her and drew her close to him.

That's when the door opened and three armed guards burst into the room.