It was dark by the time Lanzhi and Xueming finished delivering all the medicine.

Peering over at his younger brother, Lanzhi casually said, “I will take you home before I go to the Hao family house.”

Xueming glanced over, giving his brother his best awkward smile.

Just as casually, Xueming said, “No worries. I will finish the entire day with gege.”

After another beat of staring, Lanzhi steadied his nerves and smiled back.

“No need to bother didi with this,” he shook his head, already turning the cart around with the reins. “I am certain you are tired.”

Xueming paused just as long as his brother had, then placed a hand softly on his brother’s arm, shaking his head.

“This didi wishes to see gege… work,” Xueming said insistently. “I have already… come along for… the rest of the day. Why does gege wish… to send me back now?”

Lanzhi glanced at his younger brother, though it was hard to see each other’s faces in the shadows even this close.

“I don’t,” Lanzhi explained, exasperated, “I just don’t want to tire you out. First the Xie family came, and now you have been travelling all day.” He paused, sighing, “And it is only your first day back. I am certain that mother and father wish to see you.”

Xueming latched onto his brother’s arm like a parasite now, leaning over.

“Mother and father will see me… tomorrow… and forevermore…” he retorted, though it was genuine. “Let me finish… the day with… gege.”

Truly, Xueming was way too old to be acting this bashfully, but Lanzhi seemed to bend to his brother’s will when he did. Xueming wanted to feel embarrassed, but he barely felt anything.

“This Hao family cannot live… anywhere near… our house anyways,” Xueming commented in a matter-of-fact manner. “They are a family of… wealth.”

Xueming happened to be correct.

It was a simple deduction on Xueming’s part, but wealthy families did not live in the northern neighborhoods of Chongqing like the Jian and Xie families did. The more expensive, urban areas of the city were in the southern half, so the wealthier families also lived in neighborhoods in the south. Not even the “city centre” was really in the center of the city, but further south.

Lanzhi and Xueming were just around the center of the city, since Lanzhi planned to take Xueming back first, and chose to deliver medicine to the northernmost house last.

It was a while before they arrived at the house, and on the way, Lanzhi explained the Hao family’s situation. The master of the house had been a high government employee for the previous king, so they were naturally wealthy.

It was only now, since the master had lost his status and income, that the family was falling apart.

The simple, shabby ox cart, now empty of all medicine, stopped in front of a grand gate decorated with red and gold dragon carvings. There were guardian dog statues protecting the door on either side and Xueming found himself almost unable to look away. A shimmering bronze plaque atop those red and gold carvings had an intricate character on it. Xueming assumed it was the family’s name.

That same servant that had pleaded with Lanzhi earlier was waiting behind the gates, and who knew for how many hours he had waited.

“Doctor Jian!” he said in a hushed yet excited voice, opening the gates with a few grunts. “Welcome, welcome. Let me take care of your cart.”

“My little brother remains outside,” Lanzhi stated in a rough voice.

The servant looked over at Xueming with worried eyes, his mouth agape, and his expression even a little fearful.

“Doctor Jian,” he protested quickly, so quickly Xueming was uncertain whether the servant actually wanted to be heard. “It is too cold now. At least let him wait in the reception.”

Lanzhi did not reply, and so the servant took that as agreement.

Past the gate, they entered a small courtyard with buildings on either side. Xueming instinctively knew these side buildings were reserved for servants. Red lanterns lined the buildings in a symmetrical manner, only stopping when they reached the entry hall. The three walked along the stone flooring, listening to their boots clack against the tiles.

At the end of the path were a few stone steps which the servant ushered them up, then quietly knocked a few times on a dark wooden door with a smooth, curved roof overhead and another dragon painted wildly below it.

That same wooden door creaked open and a man holding an oil lamp appeared in the crack. There was a faint smell of burning and Xueming noticed the entry hall lit up by various flickering candles, creating shadows that danced all around the room.

The man’s face appeared oily and the dark circles beneath his eyes were exaggerated by the shadows. The oil lamp illuminated deep red silk robes with dragon embroidery on the shoulders. He smiled when he saw the two brothers and quickly ushered them inside. The servant did not enter with them and instead scampered back out towards the gate.

With a shudder, the door was shut behind them by the man.

“Doctor Jian,” the man greeted him with a nod. “And Brother Jian.”

Both Xueming and Lanzhi extended their greetings as well with clasped hands.

“I am most grateful for your esteemed presence and hope I have not inconvenienced you.” Lanzhi remained silent as the man spoke. “My wife is often very sick, and I can no longer deal with the private doctor we called on. I hope you understand.”

Lanzhi nodded stiffly, and Xueming peered over at him curiously.

The reason for needing Lanzhi’s services was vague, but all of them knew the actual reason. Xueming found it a little amusing that this mister felt the need to keep up pretenses.

“Since Your Excellency has called, how could I not answer? Please, let us not delay this matter further. Lead me to your wife so I can assess her.” Lanzhi said curtly but politely.

The man nodded with a small smile, then gestured for them to follow him further into the hall.

“Please, I ask that my brother remains here,” Lanzhi said sternly, his eyes flashing with something unreadable. His entire posture seemed stiff.

The man nodded again and extended his hand to a seating area along the side wall.

“Please, Brother Jian, take a seat.”

Xueming took a seat on a shiny bench made of fine wood and stared at the painting covering the wall from ceiling to floor. A large dragon with a twisting tail and slack, threatening jaws covered the entire expanse.

Xueming wondered if the master allowed the depiction of any other animal in the entire residence.

The man and Lanzhi walked through the hall to the next door leading to the inner courtyard. Xueming wanted to come along, but didn’t want to push his luck either.

Lanzhi seemed quite uncomfortable here.

Xueming was unsure how much time had passed with him sitting there, idly analyzing the dragon’s beard, when a door opened and Xueming’s jaw moved ever so slightly towards the sound.

“A new doctor?” A small, feminine voice said.

“Isn't the master worried?” Another one said.

There was a creak and then another, and then a bunch of shuffling noises. Xueming felt as though he should make his presence known, but something held him back.

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“The master should be more worried about how he will continue to pay us,” the first one said in a slightly aggravated tone.

“Dajie!” The second one protested. “You are dead if someone hears you!”

“What do I care?” the first complained. “The master has no way of sustaining this life anymore. Surely, the mistress’ identity is bound to be exposed. That, or the heavens will be merciful and take her first.”

“No, I am dead if someone hears you,” the second one said, moving something that caused a loud scraping noise.

Xueming assumed they were servants by their manner of speech.

“We are dead anyways if they find us now,” the first said in a comically nonchalant tone.

“It’s your fault!” The second one said, “We should have been doing this yesterday!”

The first one giggled lightly.

“You think the master can afford to get rid of us now?” The first one asked spitefully. “Good luck finding new servants, when everyone knows he chose the wrong side from the start.”

The second one was quiet for a long while, and Xueming’s eyes became heavy. For a moment, he even forgot where he was and let his drowsiness wash over him.

“I don’t know why the master bothers,” the first continued after a while. Her voice was much closer now. “The mistress has had the same ailment since she entered the residence. There’s no fixing it.”

“I don’t think the master is so deluded,” the second one whispered, afraid to even speak the words. “He is just trying to maintain the mistress’ current condition.”

“Please, she is bedridden every other day,” the first one scoffed. “What is there to maintain?”

“Dajie!” the second one shrieked again, her voice lowering to a hiss when she realized how loud she was, “This is your mistress you’re speaking of!”

Xueming was being lulled to sleep right there on that bench—after all, he had slept in much worse conditions. These two voices were like a part of some strange fever dream.

“Ha!” The first one laughed. “My mistress? The lady is just some concubine the master could never elevate to wife. How convenient for him that my actual mistress died.”

“Dajie,” the second one sighed. “You are a hopeless cause. I am leaving you to clean up alone.”

Suddenly, there was a loud shriek, but Xueming was long used to screams and hardly stirred.

“Dajie! What is it?”

“A—A man!”

The second one sighed loudly, and though she had been startled, she was smart enough to apply reason.

“This is surely the master's guest.” She bowed and extended proper greetings for a servant. “Esteemed Sir, we apologize for the disturbance…” Then, she realized what they had been doing, what they had been saying, and her eyes went wide. “Esteemed S—Sir, we were just…”

Xueming felt a pang of pity, despite how distasteful the other one was, and blinked slowly, acting puzzled.

“Ah, I am Doctor Jian’s younger brother.” He watched those frozen servants’ faces. In the shadows, he could only notice one with a slightly tanned appearance, and the other, rather pale. “I fell asleep. Maybe you were… calling me earlier... and I could not hear…”

The paler one was quicker to catch onto the opening Xueming was giving them, and smiled softly, stepping forward with clasped hands. Her hair was a distinct red, and her eyes, a pale hazel that appeared yellow in the light. She looked similar to that woman who had taught him those two characters. Unsurprisingly, Master Hao also kept foxfolk servants.

“Ah, yes, Master sent us over to inquire if Mister wanted to drink some tea?”

The other one, who had the dark hair of a northerner, finally caught on and smiled, though the flush on her face still told Xueming she was disturbed.

“Let us lead you to the main hall while we serve you some tea?”

Xueming was eager for some sort of amusement, and nodded in agreement to these two servants’ new plan to salvage their jobs.

They led him further into the hall, and he looked to the right, where they had been bustling around. Nothing seemed out of place.

Past the next door, which was made of the same dark wood as the other one, they entered the inner courtyard. The place was quite beautiful, if not a little neglected.

There were connecting stone paths to each door of the surrounding buildings. The space created a sort of rectangle, with the main hall and side buildings of private family quarters surrounding them.

The pathways were cushioned by tiny ponds and flower beds, though the ponds seemed a little dried up, and the flowers wilted. The two servants hurried straight, directly to the main hall, where a large dark door below an overbearing curved roof loomed over them.

“This way, Mister,” the fox spirit servant murmured, allowing the other one to open the door and then gesture for him to enter.

Upon entering, Xueming saw a large central table with various chairs placed symmetrically around it. The chairs were a deep rich red that shone beneath the candlelight and engraved with dragon heads, as Xueming expected. There were long tables placed along the walls on either side filled with candles, offerings, and some decorative objects, though the placement was symmetric, strategic, and minimal.

Someone here had a good eye.

Xueming took a seat on one of the chairs at the persistence of the human servant, who then hurried to another room, presumably to get that tea that was promised.

Just as the fox servant attempted to excuse herself as well, Xueming called out to her.

“Miss Hu,” he said casually, as if he had known her his entire life.

The fox servant was surely startled, but her smile turned from one of politeness to a genuine grin.

“This servant is at the behest of Mister,” she replied, quite diligently.

“I am curious, where is the… first lady of the house?” Xueming wondered, his eyes flickering to the back of the main hall. This question revealed he had in fact heard everything the two had said earlier, but that much was already obvious.

“Ah,” the servant’s smile dropped a little. “The first lady has long since passed.”

He only hummed in response.

“Then who is the… mistress my older brother is… taking care of now?”

The fox servant did not yet relax, uncertain of where this line of questioning was going.

“Doctor Jian treats the favored concubine of Master,” she said carefully.

“My brother told me… the poor mistress has been ailing for… quite a long time,” Xueming said regretfully.

Nodding, the fox servant pursed her lips.

“Yes, Mister,” the human servant came in with a pot of tea and a tea cup that rattled as she carried it on a tray. “For twenty-five years, my poor mistress.”

Xueming never took his eyes off of the fox servant, and her entire body seemed to freeze.

Smiling in alarm, she shot a look over to her colleague.

“If I may,” the fox servant interrupted, watching the tanned girl pour Xueming some tea. The fox servant waited for Xueming’s permission to speak freely, then said, “I am surprised Mister knows nothing of the Hao family.”

Xueming frowned a little, quite in agreement with the girl. There was a lot he needed to learn.

“Well, yes,” he spoke softly, the gleam in his eyes softening as well. “Just a few months ago… I was in prison.”

Both the servants were speechless as the girl quietly poured him tea and pushed the cup towards him.

Weakly, the fox servant said, “That is my mistake, Mister.”

Xueming only pursed his lips and brought the steaming green tea to his mouth. It burned his lips and his tongue, but the heat was welcome, and it was not like he was unaccustomed to pain.

Suddenly, the doors to the main hall swung open and all three of them jolted in their spots.

“Didi,” Lanzhi burst out, hurrying towards them. “Why are you here and not the entry hall?” He was quite alarmed, his eyes shooting daggers at the two servants before him.

Master Hao was approaching them as well, looking furious.

Seeing his face, the two servants hurried to excuse themselves, knowing they were in for it later. Xueming noticed the fox servant cast him one last look before she left.

“I am so sorry, Doctor Jian. This is my mistake.” The master said in a fit of anger. “I did not instruct my servants properly.”

Lanzhi stared at Xueming for a long moment, letting his anger boil over like tea spilling over the top of a pot. Then, he sighed and took a seat across from his younger brother.

“How is Master Hao’s wife?” Xueming broke the silence first, finding it quite awkward to be the only one completely calm and completely puzzled. He felt he was the only one who never understood what was going on.

Lanzhi sighed, looking at Xueming as he rubbed his face.

Master Hao felt he could save the situation and clasped his hands together.

“I am most grateful for Doctor Jian’s careful attendance of my wife. Please, I urge you and Brother Jian to stay the night. It is too late to travel now.”

Lanzhi looked as though he wanted their host to drop dead, but still had enough sense not to look at Master Hao directly with those eyes.

“We are fine to go home now,” was all he replied in a surprisingly unpleasant voice.

Xueming, still quite puzzled by the master’s desperation and Lanzhi’s rage, remained quiet for now.

“Please, Doctor Jian,” Master Hao repeated himself. “Brother Jian will not be disturbed in the guest residence.”