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Chapter Text

Standing in front of the Golden Placard, Wei Ying was forced to admit that she may have overplayed her hand. 

Wei Ying knew she was a bit of a rascal; as her adoptive aunt never failed to remind her, she was a thorn at everyone’s side. Still, Wei Ying always took care to ensure that her mischief never had real consequences. In her opinion, it took some finesse to walk the line between "inconvenient and possibly scandalous" and "genuinely catastrophic.” She was very good at walking that line! In fact, half of her scheming time was reserved for damage control, a dedication that her reluctant partner-in-crime and brother-by-circumstance had never properly appreciated. She didn’t mind getting into minor trouble: what’s a few strikes of the switch, a few hours kneeling on rice, or a couple of missed meals? And if her foster brother looked terribly distressed every time it happened out of some misplaced sense of chivalry – well, that’s his business. 

Long story short: misleading the Emperor – and by extension, the will of the gods, the heavens, et cetera – was a bit outside Wei Ying's comfort zone. 

"Oh no," Wei Ying said to herself. The gold gleam of the Imperial scroll seemed to mock her. The restrained, sophisticated calligraphy proclaimed that the highest-ranked scholar this year, the zhuangyuan, was Jiang Wanyin of Yunmeng. This illustrious young man was to become the newest member of Emperor Lan Qiren's cabinet, as well as the bridegroom of the royal family. 

Not only did Wei Ying earn the highest office in the entire court, she had also landed herself a wife.

The whole debacle had started, technically speaking, mere days after Wei Ying was born, with the birth of her future foster brother. 

Jiang Wanyin, né Jiang Cheng, was the only son of a well-known merchant family of Yunmeng. If all had gone to plan, he was supposed to be taking the palace Imperial Examinations in his twentieth year. This was a long-standing goal for the Jiang family, who were successful merchants with lofty ambitions beyond their station. Yu Ziyuan, the Madame of the house, was all too conscious of the gulf between the mercantile success of her husband, Jiang Fengmian, and the echelon of scholar-bureaucrats in her extended family. Her parents were forced to make a match with the Jiang owing to their dwindling funds, and Madame Yu had never quite forgotten the subtle humiliation of such a union. As soon as Jiang Cheng was born, Madame Yu busied herself with terrorizing all the tutors in Yunmeng. Nothing horrified her more than the prospect of her child taking after his father, who wielded his abacus as fearsomely as any weapon, but could not differentiate between a Confucian text from a Mencian one if his life depended on it. 

While all mothers wish for their children to become dragons, few were as equipped to guide their offspring through such a transformation as Madame Yu herself. Little Jiang Cheng was ushered to begin memorizing the classics before he even knew how to read. Madame Yu had initially put on the masquerade that reciting The Great Learning was a playful exercise, but it only took a fortnight for her to drop all pretence. From then on, Jiang Cheng had daily lessons, his nighttime lullabies all began with variations of “per Confucius,” and everywhere he toddled, there was somehow an ink stone and a calligraphy brush in his path.

When he turned six years old, his mother introduced him to a squat little building on the side of the Jiang estate built expressly for the purpose of his education. Tutors — the select few who weathered Madame Yu's tyrannical culling over the years — began dropping in and out of the little schoolhouse with a dizzying array of fashionable pedagogical practices. Jiang Cheng was forced to read and recite each segment of each text more than one hundred and fifty times, tutors circling him for errors like vultures circling animals on the brink of death. When he got bored, which was every half shichen at most, his tutors rapped his knuckles with bamboo switches provided by Madame Yu herself.

When Jiang Cheng was eight years old, Jiang Fengmian brought home a stray. In a nearby town, he found the orphaned daughter of his former secretary digging through a pile of trash. While his fondness for his old friend had doubtlessly influenced his benevolent decision to take on a ward, Jiang Fengmian had also wanted to provide some company for his only son, who was wilting like an August peony merely two years after officially beginning his studies. Madame Yu refused to allow any nearby children to study alongside Jiang Wanyin: "Jiang Fengmian, use your brain! Why would you want to educate your son's competition?" 

It was, of course, very unusual for a girl to learn the classics to such a degree, but Jiang Fengmian's status as a total outsider to the entire civil service apparatus had made him oddly open-minded about this sort of thing. In a rare moment of courage, he put his foot down and insisted to his wife that little Wei Ying was the perfect schoolmate for Jiang Cheng, since she obviously posed no threat to his prospects. 

(Perhaps Jiang Fengmian had initially entertained some romantic notion of Wei Ying soothing Jiang Wanyin's ego with her feminine virtues, but he was quickly disabused of such sentimentalities after overhearing Wei Ying loudly calling her foster brother “a total rice bucket" just one day after joining his lessons. Jiang Fengmian reasoned to himself that an opinionated, clever wife was not the worst thing in the world; look at his own marriage!) 

((Perhaps he had also thought, when he took in the little orphan with the sweet smile, that she could grow up to be a wife for his son. His own wife was not so fond of the idea and took every opportunity to deride the concept as foolish, sentimental, akin to spitting on their ancestors' graves, et cetera. Privately, Jiang Fengmian had thought that a marriage born from games of bamboo horses and tossing unripe plums must be the most harmonious: for a cautionary tale to the contrary, look at his own marriage!)) 

So set the scene: two children, one kneeling almost perfectly straight at the edge of the low table in the little school house, the other sprawled across several cushions and on the verge of sleep. 

"Sit properly!" The exasperated tutor barked, and Wei Ying scrambled up to sit properly the way any young master would. Li-xiansheng, who had started teaching at the Jiang household mere days ago, had the sneaking suspicion he was being mocked, despite Wei Ying's full cooperation. 

"Put away your books. Recite the opening passage from the Analects. Jiang Cheng, you go first." 

Jiang Cheng closed his books, his face a combination of childish determination and sheer dread. He cleared his throat, for which his tutor swiftly rebuked him. 

"Don't cough!" 

"Sorry, Li-xiansheng.” He said dutifully, then began. "'The Master said, To learn and rehearse it constantly, is this indeed not a pleasure? Others do not —'" 

"Wrong! Start again!"

Jiang Cheng gulped and shot a trepidatious look at Wei Ying, who, despite her love for insulting Jiang Cheng at every opportunity, gave him an encouraging nod. 

"’The Master said, To learn and rehearse it constantly, it is —'" 

"Wrong again! From the top!" 

Jiang Cheng looked panicked. His eyes darted around the room, as if the whitewashed walls and translucent little windows could give him the exact right words. 

"‘The Master said, To learn and rehearse it constantly, is this indeed not a pleasure?'" Jiang Cheng paused to squint past the tutor, where Wei Ying was furiously making gestures with her hands and mouthing at him. Wei Ying jerked her head meaningfully towards the door, put on a big smile, and opened her arms. Jiang Cheng frowned, but suddenly, like a spark, he understood what Wei Ying had been trying to mime to him, and hastily continued. "'To have friends come from afar! Is this not indeed a delight? Others do not know him...'" 

"Good," Li-xiansheng said, stroking his beard. Behind him, Wei Ying continued to mime. Jiang Cheng repeated after her while continuing to give her the stink eye, which made Wei Ying cackle. Her glee proved too riotous for the stern tutor, who turned around abruptly and caught her, red-handed, in an elaborate pantomime of a growing tree for “the superior man attends to the root.”

“Wei Ying!” Wei Ying, freeing herself from the tree position, was primarily interested in the way the tutor’s face had grown a remarkable shade of red, but it was impossible to ignore his volume. “You dare make a mockery out of scholarship! I only took you on out of deference to Jiang Fengmian, but you now actively sabotage the young master’s education?” 

Wei Ying looked over at Jiang Cheng, who seemed torn between relief at the interruption and the hesitant, chivalrous urge to protect his foster sister. She looked back at Li-xiansheng and shrugged with a big smile. 

“Ah, xiansheng, I was just bored! Besides, what did you expect? Do you not remember what the good Confucius said in the Analects? ‘Women and servants are most difficult to nurture!’ A-Cheng might as well get some practice in now!” 

“You —” the impact of Wei Ying’s little quote was fascinating indeed. Li-xiansheng’s forehead now hosted a protruding vein, which Wei Ying had never seen before!. He was also rendered speechless, which Wei Ying did not think boded well for his eloquence, but perhaps that was why he was only a lowly tutor instead of presiding in the capital at the right hand of the Emperor, or at least ensconced in the office of the local Magistrate. 

Li-xiansheng’s moustache quivered: “such insolence, such flagrant disregard for scholarship, such callous rebuke of common wisdom, weaponizing the Classics to score cheap rhetorical points against your teacher! Never, in my decades of teaching, have I seen such disrespect!” He swept his sleeve and abruptly rose, striding out the door through the garden paths toward the main building. Wei Ying could hear his fervent mutters as his brisk footsteps grew quieter and quieter. 

She turned to Jiang Cheng. “Hey, check it out, I got us out of class!” 

Jiang Cheng looked like he didn’t know whether to be suspicious or relieved. “You know Mother is going to have your hide for this.” 

Wei Ying made a derisive little tsk. “What’s the point of worrying about the future? Auntie Yu is working on grain inventory with the travelling merchant from Qishan for at least the next two shichen. You know she's not going to let him out of the compound until she’s bled him dry. Don’t be such a scaredy-cat!” 

Predictably, Jiang Cheng scowled. “I’m not a scaredy-cat!” 

“It’s okay, your jie will protect you from mommy!” Wei Ying taunted, and when Jiang Cheng — again, very predictably! — lunged in her direction with an incensed “you!”, Wei Ying quickly clambered around the table and hightailed out of the schoolhouse, cackling madly all the while. She darted around the corner and ran towards the wooden pier, Jiang Cheng at her heels. With no hesitation, she leapt into the water and swam towards the lotuses, where the green pods seemed like they were just getting ripe. Jiang Cheng jumped in after her, and soon all thoughts of Confucius and Auntie Yu and Li-xiansheng evaporated into the humid air, like dew drops in the sun. 

A few shichen later, Wei Ying and her sopping, muddy robes would be plopped down in the Ancestral Hall and told to reflect upon her “shameless behaviour” without her supper, but it was worth it. Besides, Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng would sneak by with steaming buns from the kitchen soon enough. 

Years passed in much the same manner, though the contents of the classes increased in their dullness, Wei Ying's disruptions increased in their creativity, and Jiang Cheng’s disposition grew increasingly hysterical. Jiang Cheng, now Jiang Wanyin — “Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to call him by his birth name?” — took his studies so seriously that his anxiety had grown to engulf the entire household. To his mother's consternation, though he was a respectable scholar, no tutor would have ever called him a natural one. He frequently mixed up the descendants of Confucius, his essays were derided as "stilted and inelegant," "uninspired," and "betraying a concerning lack of grasp on the more sophisticated themes,” and he always needed two hundred repetitions to remember anything more complex than a child’s lullaby. The only area in which he excelled were mathematics, but it only made his mother more angry that he took after his father. Though she knew better than to speak ill of her husband’s ancestors, she privately fretted that her precious son had been tainted by merchant blood. 

It did not help that Wei Ying, whose official role was "moral support," and whose unofficial role was fucking around and testing Jiang Wanyin’s forbearance — “come on didi, how are you supposed to sit through multiple days of those exams if you get distracted by every little thing, I'm doing you a favour!" — always performed just as well, if not better. Madame Yu was alternately furious at her son for being shown up by a low-class upstart and clobbered by an overwhelming resentment at every single man in her extended family. Unequipped to deal with her bitterness, she directed her ire at Wei Ying. 

“Are you showing off? What’s the point of you knowing all of these texts, anyway? How is that supposed to help you run your future husband’s business?” 

“I wasn’t showing off!” As soon as the words left Wei Ying's mouth, she realized that she sounded even more like she was showing off. She put in approximately one quarter of the effort that her brother did, but she did not think it would be wise to remind Madame Yu of this fact. 

“So you’re saying you’re such a natural genius? You can recall everything Confucius and Mencius said in perfect clarity?" 

"That wasn't what I -" 

"Oh, I see, even better - you just happen to think the exact same way they do! Lucky us, Jiang Fengmian picked up an orphan who's the reincarnation of two seminal philosophers, right off the street! Raise the banners, how auspicious for Lotus Pier!"

It was a vicious cycle. 

Soon, Wei Ying began deliberately sabotaging her own practice exams. To her delight, it allowed her to prank her tutors in new, exciting ways. She very much enjoyed experimenting with the extent to which she could mangle her calligraphy while retaining the barest hint of legibility, such that her tutors could not accuse her of simply doodling. She also got a kick out of synthesizing as many allusions as possible into erudite nonsense that propelled old fuddy-duddies like Li-xiansheng into conniptions of varying degrees of severity. Nobody else shared her delight, but at least nobody yelled at her for being too scholarly anymore. 

In his sixteenth year, Jiang Wanyin passed the prefecture-level and provincial-level examinations without incident, the youngest to achieve such a rank in Yunmeng. For days afterwards, he was alternately pleased by his mother's grudging approval and aggrieved by Wei Ying's unending cajoles of "xiucai, xiucai!"

And so began a new chapter of Jiang Wanyin's journey to the Imperial Palace. Wei Ying, on account of having nothing else to do - her marriage prospects were currently frozen, caught in the impasse between Jiang Fengmian's "wouldn't it be nice if Wei Ying married into the family?" and Madame Yu's "wouldn't it be nicer if she married a merchant who spent most of his time in the desert out west? I won’t even demand a bride price!" - rejoined her brother in the little schoolhouse. 

The examinations at the Palace level, however, proved significantly more challenging. Jiang Wanyin burned the midnight oil, ate Jiang Yanli's soup by the vatful, and tried every superstition in the book. Fortunetellers assured him that his future was scholarly and refined, but he fretted that such predictions said nothing about rising to the apex of the Imperial Court. Finally, his mother was able to find a fortune teller who told them exactly what they wanted to hear: 

“Ah, Madame, young Master! There is no need to worry! The name of Jiang Wanyin will be known to the Emperor! It will spread through the land!” 

Mollified, but not complacent, Madame Yu hired even more accomplished teachers. Gone were the best tutors Yunmeng could offer: Madame Yu trekked all the way back to Meishan to hunt down her old contacts. If her personal visit back home allowed her to brag about her son’s increasing laurels, well, all the better. 

While the long familial history of the Jiang family was essential context for how Wei Ying did what she did, there were more immediate origins of Wei Ying’s current predicament. It all began less than two months ago, one xun before Jiang Wanyin was due to travel to Chang'an for the highest level of the Imperial Examinations. 

In there intervening years, Jiang Wanyin had become insufferable. Even he himself seemed like he could not bear to live in his own body: he snapped at everyone, lost his appetite for soup, and slept in a cocoon of every book he was supposed to memorize. Wei Ying mocked that he was desperate enough to believe words would burrow into his brain while he slept, then felt bad when his red-faced sputtering revealed that this was indeed his secret hope. The way he walked around in a daze, like a jiangshi, gave Wei Ying the creeps. More importantly, she was convinced that such neuroticism couldn't be good for his performance. 

After Jiang Wanyin yelled at Jiang Yanli, hastily apologized, and began sulking over how he was the most unfilial didi to the sweetest jiejie in the world, Wei Ying decided to take action. She employed a variety of age-old tactics — cajoling, manipulating, bargaining — to convince Jiang Wanyin to go swimming with her. In the end, she went for the most timeless method and simply pushed him into the lake. 

At first, that seemed to be a good idea. A few spirited laps and a few strategic dunks were just what Jiang Wanyin needed to stop obsessing over his future. But if Wei Ying hadn’t been around, Jiang Wanyin probably would not have soaked his robes. And if Wei Ying hadn't been around, Jiang Wanyin probably would not have been goaded into a race to the big willow by the bank. And if she hadn't been yelling inflammatory things like "last one to the willow will never get married and will die alone," Jiang Wanyin probably would not have begun running at full speed in his sopping, weighed-down robes once the water became too shallow for actual swimming. And if Jiang Wanyin had not begun to run, he probably would not have tripped over his own hem, fallen head-first into the mud, and broken his right arm on a protruding rock. It was a series of unfortunate events, certainly, but Wei Ying had to admit that she had a hand in the way everything shook out. 

So when Madame Yu raged and raged at Jiang Wanyin for being an idiot, a layabout, a vulgar son of a merchant who will never achieve higher office, and Jiang Wanyin kept his mouth shut out of a misplaced sense of loyalty — well, what was she supposed to do? 

"It was my fault!" Wei Ying said, bursting into the Ancestral Hall where Madame Yu was hitting a still-wet Jiang Wanyin, the bamboo switch paused menacingly in mid-air. "I'm sorry! But Jiang Wanyin would never have gone running in the mud if it weren't for me!" 

Madame Yu turned her face towards Wei Ying, which, uh oh — she had never seen such a shade of puce on Madame Yu's face, and Wei Ying was intimately familiar with Madame Yu’s range of displeased expressions. 

"You," Madame Yu said, her voice uncharacteristically low. Wei Ying never thought she'd miss Madame Yu's shriller register, but the lower tone was absolutely scarier. 

"Yes, me," she answered with a confidence she did not possess, "I was the one who challenged Jiang Wanyin to a race!" 

In the span of half a heartbeat, Madame Yu's switch began raining down upon Wei Ying: her arm, her ribs, the top of her head, wherever Madame Yu could reach. 

"You! Little! Demon!" Madame Yu screamed, as Jiang Wanyin attempted to calm her. "Do you know what you've done! Jiang Cheng is supposed to travel to Chang'an in ten days! How is he supposed to write the exams with his wrist broken!" 

"I'm sorry!" Wei Ying said, and attempted to dodge. "I'm really sorry!" 

"You! Know! He! Won't! Heal! In! Time!" Madame Yu screamed, "Jiang Cheng won't be able to take the exams for another three years, and it's all your fault!" She grabbed Wei Ying with an iron grip and continued to rain the switch down on her, and Jiang Wanyin, unable to hold his mother back, ran to the main house to seek backup. Madame Yu's white-knuckled fingers dug into the flesh of Wei Ying's bicep, and Wei Ying, for her part, only put up a perfunctory resistance. She did feel bad for ruining Jiang Wanyin's chances this round, and even though the examinations will happen again in three years, undoubtedly those years will feel like forever to Jiang Wanyin, who hadn't slept soundly since he first comprehended the importance of his scholarly career. Another three years of waiting would be torture for the entire family.

"I’ve put up with you for way too long," Madame Yu said, her eyes flashing dangerously. She tossed the bamboo switch unceremoniously onto the ground and dragged Wei Ying out of the Ancestral Hall. Wei Ying followed mutely as they went past the little schoolhouse, the gardens, all the way to a building that Wei Ying recognized as Madame Yu's private chambers, which she had never even entered for obvious reasons. Madame Yu kicked the door open with her embroidered silk boot, Wei Ying's arm still in her grip, and marched towards her canopied bed. Wei Ying, wary of being taken to an unfamiliar location, noticed a gleaming sword mounted on her wall and felt a faint trace of alarm. Surely Madame Yu wasn’t going to stab her? 

Luckily, Madame Yu did not seem interested in the sword. Instead, she yanked open the drawer of her bedside table, and Wei Ying caught a glimpse of dozens of little silk pouches as Madame Yu snatched one up in her perfectly manicured hand and slammed the drawer shut again. Before Wei Ying could get her bearings, she was being dragged out, this time towards the pier. 

"Listen," Madame Yu briefly unhanded Wei Ying and swept towards the little shed on the shore. Wei Ying debated making a run for it and waiting for the whole thing to blow over, but her guilt glued her feet to the pier. Madame Yu disappeared in the shed and came out with...an oar? 

Wei Ying squinted. This would be a new one; Madame Yu usually preferred the bamboo switch when it came to physical punishment, but Wei Ying supposed that she had thrown it away in the Ancestral Hall. She couldn’t really picture Madame Yu wielding an oar though; she seemed much too delicate for such a disciplinary weapon. 

Wei Ying’s musings were put to an end when Madame Yu shoved the oar in her direction, and she hastily stretched out her hands to prevent it from clattering to the pier and bruising her feet. Wei Ying stood there dumbly, oar in hand, and got the niggling feeling that things were spiralling rapidly out of control. 

Madame Yu finally looked at her straight in the face, and the disgust and sheer hatred in her eyes made Wei Ying want to take a step back. 

"You have been nothing but a blight upon this household," Madame Yu said, her voice quiet but shaking in anger. "I have tried, and tried, and tried to follow the example of my good-for-nothing husband, but that has gotten me nothing. Nothing! You have ruined A-Cheng's future, you have sown innumerable discord within this family, and it's only a matter of time before you ruin the reputation of the Jiang. I will not allow you to do that. I have toiled for so many years to elevate this family name out of its uncouth origins, and I will not have you bring it all down!" 

"Auntie Yu -" 

"Shut up!" Madame Yu snapped, and Wei Ying closed her mouth, not that she knew exactly what she was going to say. "Take this," Madame Yu said, and shoved a silk pouch in Wei Ying's oar-free hand. It was remarkably heavy. "Take this and get out. I never want to see you in Yunmeng again." 

"Madame Yu!" Wei Ying exclaimed, and for the first time, she began to panic. She had gotten into a fair bit of mischief over the years, it was true, but everything tended to blow over in a matter of days. Surely Madame Yu didn’t mean what she thought she meant? 

"You get out," Madame Yu repeated, and her viselike grip descended upon Wei Ying's arm once more, dragging her towards a small boat on the side of the pier. "Take the boat, take the money, and never show your face at Lotus Pier again. You have ruined this family, do you understand?" 

"I -" Wei Ying attempted to dig her feet into the wood of the pier, but Madame Yu was strong in a way that belied her diminutive frame. "Please, Madame Yu, I'm sorry! But I don't want to leave Jiang Wanyin, and A-Li, and Jiang-shushu - you're my family!" 

"Family!" Madame Yu whirled around again and abruptly slapped Wei Ying across the face. "Don't you dare! As if I could ever marry my only son to a little tart like you!" 

"I don't want to marry -" 

"Enough!" Madame Yu pushed Wei Ying off the pier, and Wei Ying intuitively hurled herself into the boat with the motion, a lifetime of doing the exact same thing flashing before her eyes. Madame Yu took out a small knife from her pocket — and where did that come from? Wei Ying was momentarily relieved that she hadn’t gotten stabbed; just goes to show that things could always be worse! — and began sawing through the rope fastening the boat to the pier. The boat began to bob more aggressively, and Wei Ying quickly clutched the money pouch and the oar to her chest as she scooted back towards the covered shelter of the boat. Up on the pier, Madame Yu made her way through the rope. With a snap, the boat began veering into the lake. 

"Get lost and don't you dare come back here!" Madame Yu yelled as the boat floated further away. 

Well! Madame Yu was not going to calm down any time soon, but Wei Ying was much cheered by the realization that Madame Yu had decided not to stab her, even on a subconscious level. She gave a wave with her oar. "Don't worry auntie! I'll come back when you're less angry!" 

Madame Yu let out an incomprehensible cry and threw her tiny knife towards Wei Ying. It embedded itself in the thin wooden pillar holding up the roof of the boat.

Wei Ying gave her a thumbs-up and began paddling. She probably should get out of there before Madame Yu discovered the fireworks she and Jiang Wanyin had stashed in the boating shed last month: Lotus Pier's boats were hardy, but they definitely could not survive a flaming projectile. 

Chapter Text

After approximately two ke, Wei Ying had made her way across the lake and Lotus Pier was merely a small blip in the distance. Manoeuvring the boat towards a patch of muddy lotus flowers, Wei Ying anchored herself by pushing the oar into the mud with a stout "ugh!" She rested her chin on the oar handle and began to think. 

So. This was obviously not an ideal situation. Madame Yu had been angry at her before, but all her previous shenanigans seemed downright quaint in comparison to her current fuck up. Jiang-shushu usually managed to talk Madame Yu down, but this time, she guessed it would take more than a few days. She really did feel guilty for goading Jiang Wanyin into racing her, even though she maintained that a little distraction was truly necessary. Poor man was about to vibrate out of his own skin. 

Keeping one hand on the oar — it would not do to float away from the only thing that gave her control over the boat, and by extension, her future — she reached into the boat shelter to grab the money pouch. She sat down cross-legged, emptied the contents into her lap, and raised an eyebrow. 

Gold! It was not enough gold to keep her fed for life or anything, but it certainly could keep her afloat for a while, especially if she slept in the boat, which was not large but could at least keep the rain out if she secured the canvas covers around the sides. She studied each ingot and carefully placed them back into the money pouch, pulling the drawstring taut with her teeth and stuffing the pouch inside her robe. She would need to exchange some of these for copper coins at first opportunity. Nothing said "sucker" like a young woman flinging around gold. 

Well! If Wei Ying hadn't thought Madame Yu meant business before, she certainly did now. Judging by the location of the money pouch, this gold probably came out of her personal stores, possibly even her own dowry. The Jiang family did not want for money, of course, but the provenance as well as the amount of gold spoke to Madame Yu's dedication to get her out. Besides, unlike most of her mischief, this infraction had actual consequences. People always say that bones need one hundred days to heal: she probably should stay away until Jiang Wanyin could pick up a brush again. 

Wei Ying groaned. What the heck was she supposed to do for one hundred days? And afterwards — well, she could just imagine! Turning up at Lotus Pier empty-handed, having spent Madame Yu's money? Yeah, that would go over just great. And that's not to mention the next three years, watching Jiang Wanyin study for the Imperial Examinations again while slowly losing his mind, and she wouldn't even have a leg to stand on when he yells at her! She might even have to sit there and endure! 

Wei Ying sat at the front of the boat, pondering her paucity of options. Behind her, the sunset was already painting the rippling lake water orange and gold. In front of her were two half-darkened tributaries, which she found sort of poetic. She was indeed at a metaphorical crossroad. Which river will she follow? The one leading to the Yangtze heading East, or the Han River to the north? She hadn't quite worked out what each river symbolized yet. The East meant nicer weather; the North meant greater adventure, not to mention -

Suddenly, Wei Ying sat up. She certainly wasn't part of the preparatory entourage, but she remembered Jiang Wanyin sitting in front of a map, lit only by an oil lamp, Madame Yu giving him both a geography lesson and teaching him his route to the Imperial Palace. The Han River ran north-south and began a few days away from Chang'an, where Jiang Wanyin was due to travel in just one xun. While paddling upstream was vigorous work, Wei Ying had done it before. With the extra ten days for a head start, she was confident she could make it to the capital before the start of the examinations, and then, well... 

Jiang Wanyin was supposed to be taking the exam anyway. What would be the harm of taking it in his name? Worst case scenario, she fails and nothing changes. Best case scenario, she performs well enough, and Jiang Wanyin gets the office he had been gunning for. It sure beats toiling away on a farm or whatever else she would be doing for the next hundred days. Plus, Wei Ying was a little curious: how tough were these examinations, anyway? It seemed like everyone was losing their minds over them. 

Much cheered by her own logic, she pulled the paddle out of the mud and began directing the boat closer to the lotuses. She had a long journey ahead of her: better stock up on snacks! 

Over the next few days, Wei Ying paddled dutifully upstream. As much as she liked the idea of freely roaming the jianghu like those teahouse stories - crossing mountains and traversing treacherous waters, et cetera - reality proved to be much less romantic. Instead of lush green mountains and blue waters filled with cults, sects, and immortals, everything was just...brown. The river was muddy, the leaves were turning crisp and curling up at the edges, and even the sky stayed sepia for days on end, which was still preferable to when the clouds made up their minds and rained.    

Occasionally, the wind cooperated and Wei Ying didn't have to work quite so hard, but every night, she could barely find the strength to wrap the rope around a nearby tree before conking out under the shelter of the boat. With arms that felt like overcooked noodles, she carved a sharp stick with Madame Yu's dainty little knife and took to fishing in the mornings to supplement her diet of lotus seeds, reminiscing fondly about all the times she did the same at Lotus Pier. 

Wei Ying spotted a few villages along the banks of the river, but their small size made her wary of buying any supplies for herself. She didn't know how far gold went in Chang'an, for one thing, and was inclined towards frugality; at any rate she was not so keen on navigating civilization as an unaccompanied woman. Despite her practical eschewal of the finer diaphanous fabrics favoured by Yanli-jie, her clothes were still unmistakably feminine in style. Until she came across a large enough town where tailors were too busy to ask inconvenient questions, she preferred to lie low.

Several days passed and Wei Ying amused herself by reciting the Four Books and the Five Classics. On the rare occasion that she came across any waterfowl, she always upped the ante and performed in the most exaggerated manner, as if they were her examiners or a paying theatre audience. 

“'The fishhawks sing gwan-gwan

On sandbars of the stream.

Gentle maiden, pure and fair,

Fit pair for a prince.'"

“Quack,” replied the mallard on the bank, intelligently. 

“You're right, I suppose that's too folksy for the Imperial Palace, huh,” Wei Ying frowned. “What about this one? 

'Ah! Solemn is the clear temple, 

Reverent and concordant the illustrious assistants. 

Dignified, dignified are the many officers, 

Holding fast to the virtue of King Wen.'"

None of the ducks seemed impressed by her grasp on the Book of Odes, but Wei Ying was used to a tough crowd: Jiang Wanyin and Madame Yu were hardly the most encouraging in the best of times, and Yanli-jie, bless her, always listened attentively but Wei Ying knew very well that she got bored. 

Half a xun into this journey, Wei Ying was beginning to feel a little restless and irritated. Just how long was this stupid river anyway? She vaguely recalled that Jiang Wanyin was set to take at least one month to travel to Chang'an, so she knew she was making good time, but the thought of spending the rest of the month eating fish and lotus pods filled her with dread — especially since she was running out of lotus pods! 

The next morning, Wei Ying finally spotted what seemed like a fairly large town. Through the hazy mist, she could see a spacious bank sloping up softly from the river, ending in what must be a dense forest, which still clung to some more verdant leaves despite the time of year. The bank itself was free of the gnarlier tree trunks and vegetation that dotted so much of the rest of the riverscape. On the bank gathered a group of women, talking riotously as they slapped robes over wooden scrubbing boards and dunked sheets into buckets. The sheer number of women gave Wei Ying hope that this was a sizeable settlement, and she docked her boat next to a sturdy tree trunk about half a li past where the women congregated. After ensuring that the rope was secure, she teetered out of her boat — it didn't matter that she had been doing this every day for a while, she was still a bit wobbly just getting onto solid ground — and began walking towards the nearest group of women. 

"Hello jiejie-men!” Wei Ying waved cheerily, which she hoped would make up for the fact that her face was clearly grimy and she had not washed with soap for quite some time. 

The women turned to her and the oldest one cackled. "What a sweet young Miss! Calling us jiejie as if we aren't obviously auntie-age!" 

Wei Ying made her eyes all wide and innocent and dramatically clutched the robe in front of her chest. "Auntie? I was debating between jiejie and meimei! Where does auntie even come into play?" 

The women laughed again and the oldest one playfully flicked some water in her direction. "There you go again! Why, I'm sure I could be your nainai if I squint!" 

Wei Ying gasped, mocking offence: "jiejie, I may be young, but I'm not an infant! How can you be a nainai unless you're one of those immortals who cultivated their way off of the earth?"

The group of women tittered again and Wei Ying joined them in their mirth, silently patting herself on the back. While she never managed to get on Madame Yu's good side, she was just fine with older women! And younger women! And people in general, actually. Madame Yu was just a hard nut to crack. 

"Say, jiejie," Wei Ying said, finding an empty spot to sit. The various jiejie scooted over to make room, their circle still filled with the sound of chatter and of linen and cotton smacking against wooden buckets. "I'm here with my brother, and he needs some new robes. Do you know where I might find a decent tailor? A cheap one, mind you.” 

"Ah, young Miss, you don't seem the type to want cheap!" One of the women teased, her eyes twinkling. "Why, those robes you've got on are fit to pay the magistrate a visit! You just need to dip them in the river first!" 

Wei Ying laughed along, but she quietly considered that she may need more clothes than she had thought. She had no interest in travelling up the river looking like a pompous xiucai, but she also suspected that showing up to the Imperial Examinations dressed like a common labourer would invite more scrutiny than she could afford. It felt wasteful to buy two sets of robes, but perhaps she could pawn the ones she was currently wearing? There was no need for her to appear to be a woman, after all. After some more back and forth, the women directed her towards a path that was supposed to lead into the main market of the town. "We've got everything once you get past the wall, young Miss! Food, artisans, tailors — you name it! But trust me, Old Wang is definitely the best tailor in town. He's got the yellow shop, you can't miss it.” 

Bidding a warm goodbye to all the jiejie, Wei Ying made her way up the bank. As soon as she got past the copse of trees on the bank, she sucked in a breath: what she thought was a particularly dense forest in the haze of the morning was, in fact, a tall stone wall. Wei Ying was not particularly interested in geography, but she knew well that the only city of such size on the Han River was Xiangyang, famous for its fortress. Its reputation was well-earned: the walls rose high and majestic, and each individual rock in the wall must have been half as tall as her and many times as heavy. She needed only to meander along for one ke before coming across the city gate, so marvellously tall that she could scarcely believe she wasn’t already in Chang’an. 

Past the gates, the market was not difficult to find. Just like the women by the river had said, it was bustling: not quite as lively as the biggest market of Yunmeng, but it was no one-horse town either. Her mouth watered at the various food stalls: the man slinging dough into hand pulled noodles, steamed buns squeezed together on canvas cloth like huddles of rabbits, orange persimmons with shiny skins like jewels. Only the reminder of her task stopped her from plopping down a gold ingot and demanding as many bowls of noodle soup as she could eat. With a wistful look at the stalls, she walked around and easily found the tailor's shop, where the thin pillars were indeed painted a cheery shade of yellow in stark contrast to the dark wooden roof. Several pairs of robes hung on bamboo poles from the rafters and swayed softly in the mid-day wind. Wei Ying privately thought they looked a bit morbid, kind of like bodies hanging from the rafters, but she had to admit that they did a fine job of advertising Old Wang's services — the robes ranged from practical taupe hemp to lustrous blue silk, all seemingly well-sewn based on Wei Ying's limited knowledge.

"Hey boss?" Wei Ying poked her head in and was greeted by rows and rows of fabric crammed along all three walls, intricately nestled from floor to ceiling, but there was no old man to be found. 

The red beaded curtain at the back of the shop clacked, and a small older man emerged with his arms full of yet more cloth. "Oh hello, young Miss! What can I do for you?" He made his way towards Wei Ying, and Wei Ying, eyeing the tower of fabric that seemed to threaten to topple over with every step, hastily reached forward and took the topmost reams from the pile. 

"Oh thank you," Old Wang said, sounding relieved. He jutted his chin towards the wall to Wei Ying's left. "I usually put them on top there —“ Wei Ying kept her "how?" to herself — "but you can just put them down on the floor for now. I'll grab the stool later." 

Wei Ying had an abrupt vision of Old Wang tottering up a stool with his giant armful of fabric, dislodging a ream on that enormous pile, and getting buried alive under an avalanche of cotton and silk. She winced internally. "Actually, boss, I'm happy to give you a hand! If you grab the stool I can climb up there." She added playfully: "you know I'm taller than you!"  

Old Wang's eyes went big. "Young Miss, that would help me more than you know. I would ordinarily never ask an honoured guest to do such a thing, but my daughter is washing some new fabrics down by the river and won't be back for a while." 

So that was why that jiejie by the river recommended Old Wang! That sly woman, Wei Ying thought approvingly. Outwardly, she said, "it's no problem. I'm sure it'll be easy work just for us two. Besides, I'll be able to take a close look at these fabrics, isn't that simply more efficient?" 

"Young Miss really knows how to speak!" Old Wang chuckled and carefully placed the reams in his arms down on the floor. "Ah, it won't be the end of the world if they stay on the floor for a few shichen, are you sure?" 

Wei Ying nodded emphatically. "Of course, boss! If there's work to be done, nothing wrong with doing it." 

The old man chuckled again and disappeared behind the beaded curtain. He was fairly spry for his age, but it was clear, judging by the way he began panting while hauling out the wooden stool, that he needed his daughter for the more physically demanding tasks. Wei Ying stepped on the stool and began punching down on the topmost layer of the fabric pile until the whole thing flattened enough to squeeze in the new reams that Old Wang handed to her. Remarkably, they all managed to fit, though by the end Wei Ying had been beating the top of the wall so hard that her arms began to ache. 

"Wow, I really didn't think all that new fabric would fit," she said admiringly after gingerly lowering herself back onto solid ground. "You've got some nice stuff here though." 

"Thank you, young Miss. We take pride in our stock." Old Wang seemed to stand a little straighter. "We always get first pick whenever merchants come through town, and every two years we go to Chang'an too! We don't have much use for the warmest fabrics they bring from out west, but when you've seen stuff from all over, you get an eye for what's good and what's a rip-off. Even our hemp is the most durable version you'll find, it's a denser and thicker weave compared to what you see in other shops. It's not as soft when you first get it, but it gets better and better with every wash." He paused, and laughed deprecatingly at himself. "Ah, but you're not interested in the ramblings of an old man! What can I do for you, young Miss?" 

Wei Ying picked up the stool, over Old Wang's protests, and made her way to the back of the shop. "I just need a couple of sets of robes — no really, it's no trouble, I'll just put it down for you here!" Depositing the stool behind the curtain, Wei Ying resumed. "I'm thinking one for travelling and one for more formal occasions." 

Old Wang thanked her effusively and led her to the table and cushions in the middle of the room. Pulling out a basket from under the table, Old Wang extracted a large bound book from the pile of knickknacks inside. When he opened the book, Wei Ying realized it contained sketches of robes, carefully rendered and accompanied by notes such as better in hemp than cotton and silk georgette top layer. The only issue was that it was a book for women. 

"Oh!" Time to brush up on a lie — why didn't she think about this earlier? "Ah, I'm actually looking for robes for men! My, uh, brother is heading to Chang'an for the Imperial Examinations, and I'm accompanying him, but he got caught up with some work at home and sent me ahead to stock up for the journey." 

"I see," Old Wang's tone remained warm, but he was frowning. "It will be difficult to create robes for a man whose proportions I haven't seen, but —”

"He's basically my size!" Wei Yin hastily said. "We're twins." 

"That is very convenient!" Old Wang's expression cleared and he replaced the sketchbook with a different one from the basket. "Here are our offerings for men, but if you would like to create a custom design, that is also possible." 

"Ah, no, my brother isn't that fancy, haha," Wei Ying said. "Is there anything you recommend? We need one set for travelling by boat, and one set that is formal enough for the actual examinations themselves, but they need to be comfortable. You know how those things go on for days.” 

"Certainly," Old Wang said, and flipped to a page three-quarters of the way into the book as if he did this all the time. "This one," he said, pointing to a modest set of wrap robes with a crossover collar and a thin belt, a simple version of the type that Jiang Wanyin wore at home. "I recommend getting the outer robe in a mid-tone hemp, since you'll be on the road under the sun, but you don't want anything that shows too much dust. As for the actual examinations themselves, we do have the lanshan popular with aspiring scholars in every colour except for red and the Emperor's colours. Does your brother have a preference?" 

Wei Ying thought about her chest, which was not large but was probably noticeable. "Darker colours, please. Black, maybe." 

Old Wang tapped the page thoughtfully. "We could do black silk for the robes and use a very dark red or blue for the trim, I'm sure I'll find just the thing." 

"Sounds great," Wei Ying said, "I'll defer to you when it comes to the fabrics. Not too expensive, though! Chang'an is far and our coin has to go a long way!" 

Old Wang assented easily and took Wei Ying’s measurements. Wei Ying bade him farewell with instructions to return the next day for the first fitting. On her way out, she suddenly was hit with an idea. 

"Say, boss," Wei Ying said, "do you have a long piece of cloth or anything? About this wide?" She gestured at the width of two of her hands. 

"Certainly, but can I ask why?" 

"We need to cover a bench in the boat we're using," Wei Ying said, thinking quickly, "but it needs to be a comfortable material! And sturdy too, no give. White is best." 

Old Wang obviously found this an odd request, but he nodded anyway. "Certainly, I will have it ready for you tomorrow. How long do you want it to be?" 

"Uh, nine chi?" 

"Sure, young Miss," Old Wang said, and luckily ceased to ask more questions. Wei Ying breathed a sigh of relief and exited the shop with a wave. 

Outside, the high sun shone mercilessly into Wei Ying’s eyes. It must be about noon, she thought, and shielded her face with her hand. Her stomach also chose to make its displeasure known. 

“Ha, lunchtime it is!” Wei Ying said, and then realized she was still saddled with the gold ingots. She could hardly pay for noodles with gold, could she? Making a face, she turned around and re-entered the tailor shop for the third time. 

“Hello — oh, young Miss!” Old Wang exclaimed as he looked up from the wall of fabric on the right hand side, “is anything wrong?” 

“Haha, no, boss, I just have to come bother you again!” 

Old Wang waved her off. “Nonsense, it’s always a pleasure to talk to a well-raised young lady. Now, what can I do for you?” 

“Ah, I was wondering if I could pay for the robes ahead of time?” 

“You could, but are you sure you don’t want to see the finished products first? What if you don’t like them?” 

“Well, even if it’s just a deposit! It’s just, uh, I ran out of the smaller denominations I brought with me, and I don’t want to walk around with two gold ingots and nothing else, you know?” 

Old Wang nodded sagely. “That’s probably not safe, yes, even though Xiangyang is a nice place. In that case, I’m happy to just exchange your money for you and you can pay tomorrow. I don’t want to take advantage.” 

“Aw boss, you’re too kind! Someone’s going to take advantage of you one of these days!” But Wei Ying was already reaching for her money pouch. She moved to hand two ingots to Old Wang, but he demurred, gesturing for her to follow him behind the beaded curtain instead. 

“It’s a lot of money,” he said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to exchange them quite so openly in the shop.” 

Wei Ying nodded. She was not a particularly naive girl — living on the streets will do that — but so many years ensconced in the comfort of the Jiang household seem to have dulled some of her instincts. She made a note to herself to be a bit more alert: she could get away with a lot in a smaller city, but Chang’an would probably be quite a different beast! 

Old Wang counted out a combination of copper coins and silver, then insisted on waiting while Wei Ying re-counted them, just in case, heedless of her protests: “aiya, boss, there’s no need!” “Young Miss, you can’t go around trusting merchants like that.” Wei Ying was too embarrassed to tell him that she had already counted the money while he doled it out. Old Wang even grabbed a nondescript little money pouch for her, simpler and larger than Madame Yu’s, and waved off her insistence on payment. 

“A gift,” Old Wang said, “for helping me with the fabric out there earlier.” 

“You truly over-value my labour, boss, it’s going to go to my head! Watch me start a moving service in the town market, then what will you do?” 

Old Wang’s eyes twinkled. “I’ll vouch for you.” 

“Boss, boss, boss!” Wei Ying exclaimed and shook her head. “You are too good-natured, putting your reputation on the line for a stranger!” 

“My customers are never strangers to me,” Old Wang said with a hint of pride. “I remember every face, every name. That’s the reason I’ve been able to stay in business all of these years. And young Miss, please, there’s no need to call me boss. Old Wang is fine, that’s what everyone calls me.” 

“Well then, you should call me by name!” Wei Ying said cheerfully. “I’m W — uh, Wanyin! Jiang Wanyin!” 

Bidding Old Wang and his shop adieu for real this time, Wei Ying set out into the noon sun. She had noodles to sample.  

On her way back to the gates of the city, now full of noodles and pork — how she had missed both of those things! — with a little jar of chilli oil dangling from her finger, Wei Ying ran into the group of women she had seen earlier, now carrying damp bedsheets and robes alongside their buckets. They looked like a whole caravan! 

“Jiejie-men!” She exclaimed, and turned to the one who had directed her to Old Wang with a tsk. “You are a sly one, jiejie! Old Wang’s your father, isn’t he? Good thing he’s an honest man who does good work, otherwise I’d have a bone to pick with you!” 

The women all laughed, and the advertising jiejie gave her a wink. “I got faith in my dad’s work. It’s a win for everyone, isn’t it?” 

“Yes, yes, very business-minded of you,” Wei Ying said. “So you’re done with the laundry?” 

“For today,” another woman sighed, “the weather has been so depressing lately, we gotta get done as much as possible before it starts drizzling again.” 

Wei Ying nodded in sympathy. While she had never done much laundry herself, on account of having had either no clothes to wear or access to a whole household of servants, she could imagine that interminable rain would get annoying quite quickly. “So it won’t rain tonight?” 

“It shouldn’t,” a woman looked up critically at the sky, seeming to scrutinize the cloud patterns. She sniffed, and Wei Ying automatically did the same thing, though she could’t discern any particular scents other than the whiff of cooking oil and smoke wafting from the market. “It should stay clear for the next two days. You’ve chosen a good time to visit, meimei!” 

Wei Ying grinned. “That’s me, got all the luck!” 

“Hey, you should bring your brother by tomorrow!” A younger woman in sage green robes said abruptly, apropos of nothing, “you said he’d be around, right? Does he look like you?” 

Wei Ying suddenly remembered the lie she fed Old Wang. She should start taking notes or something, her brain’s gonna need the help to keep her story straight. “Yes! We’re twins, he looks almost exactly like me.” 

“Wow,” the woman in green sighed wistfully, “he must be so good-looking then.” 

Old Wang’s daughter playfully smacked her on the shoulder. “Don’t go daydreaming, as if a young Master would ever pick you!” 

“It’s free to dream,” the young woman protested stubbornly. 

“If he gets here before I leave, I’ll tell him to say hello to you,” Wei Ying said, knowing that her mysterious twin brother would not be making an appearance, but not wanting to dash the young woman’s hopes. “But I’m sure there are plenty of handsome men here too!” 

The young woman wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, but I’ve seen them all.” 

“Don’t listen to her, young Miss,” Old Wang’s daughter shook her head, “Little Yu here has filled her head with all sorts of fanciful notions. Travelling merchants, handsome scholars, strong cultivators — she eavesdrops next to the teahouses like it’s her job.” 

Little Yu huffed. “You say that now, but I’ll be writing stories of my own one day, and you’ll hear them in teahouses too!” 

The other women looked weary, as if this were a recurring conversation. Wei Ying took pity on Little Yu and said encouragingly, “maybe you can tell the story of my brother, the xiucai on his way to the Imperial Exams!” 

Little Yu perked up. “That’s a good one!” She said, “what’s his name?” 

“Jiang —” oh crap, Wei Ying gave his name to the tailor! Time to swap identities. “Jiang Ying!” 

“Ying as in handsome? And elite? What a great name for a romantic hero!” She exclaimed. “I’ll definitely use that!” 

“Uh, yes, exactly,” Wei Ying was not about to explain that in this case, ying stood for infant. 

“Forgive her rudeness, young Miss,” Old Wang’s daughter said, “and she didn’t even ask for your name! Will you share it?” 

Wei Ying laughed it off. “It’s no problem at all! I’m Jiang Wanyin. What about you? I haven’t gotten your names yet!” 

The women went around in a circle to share their names, and Wei Ying sternly told her brain, which was like a sieve, to not forget. She nodded and smiled, “it was nice to meet you all. Hopefully I will see you tomorrow!” 

“Where are you staying, Miss Jiang?” A woman named — Wei Ying searched her brain — Pao asked. 

“I’m just staying on my boat,” she said cheerfully. 

A series of dismayed gasps rang out. “You can’t stay on a boat!” Pao-jie said, appalled, and there was a murmur of agreement. 

“Ah, no, it’s a good boat!” Wei Ying said hastily, “I, uh, sleep better! You know, with all the rocking motions. Besides, it’s not raining, you said so, right? If it rains I’ll get an inn!” 

The women stopped protesting so vehemently, but they still seemed dubious. Wei Ying bowed solemnly. “This meimei appreciates your concern!” 

That broke the ice, and the various jiejie scolded her for bowing willy-nilly. After some more pleasantries, the two parties parted ways, and Wei Ying made her way back out the city gate onto the river bank. Now that the mist had dissipated, she could clearly see the stone city wall. She shook her head. All that studying must have been for naught, if she could not even recognize something as iconic as Xiangyang! She set off for her boat, whistling, and thought about how much she looked forward to fishing that night, now that she managed to procure some chilli oil.  

Wei Ying returned to Xiangyang in high spirits the next day. She allowed herself to indulge and sleep through the morning, seeing as she did not need to wake up early to fish, and by the time she entered the city it was past mid-day. True to the words of the wise jiejie, it was a beautiful day, the sky clear aside from little plumes of smoke rising from the chimneys. On her way to the market, she spotted clotheslines straining under the weight of colourful robes and sensible bedsheets, the bright spots of colour immediately lifting her spirits. The market itself was bustling again, though much of the best produce and fish were already gone, based on what Wei Ying could see. She splurged on a steamed bun filled with sweet bean paste and savoured the first bits of sugar she’s had since Lotus Pier, where little cakes of sweet lotus paste and mung beans and sticky rice were never difficult to find, if one knew how to wheedle the nice aunties who worked in the kitchens. 

Stuffing the last few bites of red bean paste into her mouth, Wei Ying sauntered up to Old Wang’s shop and wiped her hands on her robes. 

“Old Wang!” She yelled as she entered, her voice muffled by the fabrics squeezed in all four walls. She heard the sound of shuffling in the back, and then Old Wang was briskly walking out from behind the red curtain.

“Miss Jiang,” he said warmly, “I was wondering when you’d show up.” 

“Ah, I hope you haven’t been waiting long!” 

“Not at all, not at all,” Old Wang said and ushered Wei Ying to the squat little table, “I was able to finish some details in the last shichen, so it all worked out for the best.” He turned to the back of the shop and raised his voice: “A-Lin! Bring the tea!” 

“Okay!” A-Lin yelled back, and Wei Ying remembered that A-Lin was Old Wang’s daughter and staunchest advertiser. 

Old Wang turned back to her. “I’ll go get the robes. Please make yourself comfortable.” Wei Ying nodded, and Old Wang disappeared behind the beaded curtain again. 

She was not alone for long; A-Lin soon entered the shop with a tea tray, carefully manoeuvring her head when a strand of the beaded curtain got caught in her hair. “Miss Jiang, it’s nice to see you today.” 

“Likewise,” Wei Ying beamed as A-Lin began meticulously setting out the contents of her tray. Wei Ying thanked her for pouring the tea — a common, but good quality jasmine — and began sipping. It had also been a few days since she had proper tea, and it turned out that she missed that too. Look at her, she had gotten soft from all the comfortable living at Lotus Pier! 

“Did you get all your laundry done today?” Wei Ying asked. 

“Hm, yes. At this rate it should dry before tomorrow.” 

"Ah, all that rain must be annoying to plan around," Wei Ying said sympathetically. 

A-Lin nodded and pursed her lips, but did not reply. 

Wei Ying was saved from further small talk — not that Wei Ying was incapable of nattering on about everything and nothing, if given the chance — with the return of Old Wang, two sets of robes draped over his forearm. 

Wei Ying tried on the robes behind the screen at the back of the shop. The travelling set was sturdy and well-made, the stitches reinforced and the coat double-lined. The highlight, however, was definitely the lanshan for the exams. When she put it on and stepped out from behind the screen, both Old Wang and A-Lin praised her effusively. A-Lin assured her that if her brother was as handsome as she was pretty, he would look the absolute model picture of a xiucai in the Capital. 

Wei Ying, laughing, took stock of herself in the bronze mirror. It was odd to see herself in the clothing of a man, being much more covered up than she was accustomed to, but she didn’t hate it. She had wide shoulders for a woman and was fairly tall to boot, so she could probably pass for a somewhat malnourished boy. She liked the way she looked in the dark colours: they seemed to bring out the angularity of her features, which was just what she wanted. 

Wei Ying considered selling her existing robes to Old Wang, but quickly realized that it would look pretty odd. She made a face to herself: looks like she’d have to stop by another town on the way. 

Speaking of: “say, Old Wang, A-Lin, you guys travel to Chang’an pretty often right? What would you say is the best way to get there?” 

“Well,” A-Lin said, “we usually take a horse or a donkey, and it’s just a lot of walking. But you said you guys have a boat, right?” 

“Right, exactly, and it’s a pain to go upstream, but at least it’ll be easier when we come back!” 

A-Lin hummed thoughtfully. “Well, you’re a couple of days away from the end of the river, but there’s a town there, and I’m sure you could sell your boat for a horse or a donkey. Or just leave it there as collateral and borrow someone else’s steed, they’re pretty accustomed to having travellers around.” 

One ke later, Wei Ying walked out of the shop with two new sets of robes, a lighter coin purse, and wishes of good fortune that Old Wang and A-Lin asked her to relay to her brother. A-Lin playfully told her that if her brother ends up becoming the zhuangyuan, she expected advertisements for their good-luck robes. Wei Ying laughed good-naturedly and acquiesced. Bidding goodbye to Xiangyang, Wei Ying sauntered her way back to the boat. It was time to start her transformation. 

Chapter Text

In the little town at the mouth of the Han River, it took no time for Wei Ying to find a family who was more than happy to take her boat as collateral while she borrowed their donkey. 

“Young Master Jiang, are you sure?” Zhang Han, the husband, asked anxiously, twisting his hands. He had an affable, open face, tan from years of farm work. “This is a real nice boat. None of our donkeys are worth anywhere near it. To be frank, you'll get a better deal if you sell the boat and buy a donkey with that money.” 

Wei Ying was tempted, but the image of Madame Yu's face when Wei Ying shows up at Lotus Pier boat-less and broke was enough to disabuse her of this idea. Outwardly, she adopted the casual insouciance of the well-off shaoye: “it’s no problem, Old Zhang. We need to take the boat back after the exams are over, so I’ll come for it in a month or so. I just hope I’m not putting you out!” 

Zhang Han shook his head. “You couldn't have come at a better time. We just inherited three donkeys from my wife’s uncle. If you hadn’t come along, we probably would have just eaten the oldest. They don’t need a lot, but over the winter there’s less grass to eat. We're only four people, we don't need three whole donkeys.” 

“Well, I’m happy if you’re happy,” Wei Ying said. “As long as the boat’s useful to you, I’d hate to give you just another thing to look after.” 

Zhang Han's eyes widened. “Young Master, of course! This will make it so much easier for us to get around the river. We'll be able to sell our stuff as far downstream as Xiangyang!” 

“Oh, I just came from Xiangyang!” Wei Ying exclaimed. “Got my robes there, it’s a nice city. Not as quaint as your town though! Anyway, this is a great deal for both of us, right? Don’t sweat it, just give me the fastest donkey you got.” 

Zhang Han hastened to the barn and showed Wei Ying his selection of three donkeys, which, to Wei Ying's uncritical eye, all looked about the same. Zhang Han pointed out one that did, upon further scrutiny, seem a bit younger and sturdier than the others. His wife had also insisted that she stay for lunch, and Wei Ying left the town feeling very satisfied about the deal she'd struck. 

Several shichen later, Wei Ying was becoming more and more convinced that she’s been swindled.

The family had seemed so nice! Zhang Han and Wang Yue were so sweet and earnest! They had fussed over her rations and drawn her a map! Even their children were adorable and obedient, true credits to their parents! All of that must have been a ruse, because the donkey she got in exchange for her boat was the most ill-tempered, stubborn, and lazy animal she had ever seen! 

“Do you even understand that I saved you from becoming stew?” Wei Ying asked grouchily from where she walked beside the donkey. “If you don’t behave, I’ll eat you! See that I don’t!” 

Unsurprisingly, the donkey was not endeared by the threat. Wei Ying would be the first to admit that she did not have a gift with animals. Perhaps it was due to living on the street, where animals were either predators (those damn dogs), competition (those damn dogs again), or food; perhaps it was because she had met Jiang Wanyin at an impressionable and contrarian age and her brother's love for small, fluffy things made him too easy to tease. Regardless of the reason, Wei Ying had little interest in animals beyond their contributions to soups, stews, and barbecues — or in this case, in her ability to cover thousands of li without moving her own two feet. 

Perhaps this ill-tempered donkey had clocked Wei Ying's mercenary intentions; at any rate, she simply refused to move whenever Wei Ying climbed atop her. No amount of cajoling, sweet-talking, or angry yelling could get her to lift a single hoof. Stressed by theimpending exams, Wei Ying threw up her hands and had no choice but to walk. To make herself feel slightly better about the barter she had made, Wei Ying rather pettily saddled the donkey with her meagre possessions. She suspected that the donkey did not even register the extra weight, light as it was, which was the only reason the creature deigned to carry anything at all. 

To pass the time, Wei Ying spent several shichen chattering at the donkey, regaling it with stories of her youth. When her feet began to hurt, she loudly and only somewhat jokingly began to berate it. 

"Useless animal!" She said, trying to make her voice stern. "Why do I even keep you around!" 

The donkey did not respond. 

"I bet your family couldn't wait to get rid of you, you good-for-nothing!" 

The donkey snorted derisively. 

"Hey!" Wei Ying protested, "is that how you talk to the young Miss and the young Master at home? How could you be so rude to the children of your benefactors?" 

The donkey glanced at Wei Ying in what she swore was a side-eye, and continued trotting along. 

And on and on it went, and Wei Ying attempted to sharpen her insults: 

"You're a female donkey, aren't you? Well, haven't you heard what Lady Ban Zhao said? ‘The Way of respect and acquiescence is woman's most important principle of conduct!’”

The donkey, motivated by nothing but the sheer commitment of bringing Wei Ying down a peg, chose this moment to sneeze. 

Wei Ying sighed. "Yeah, I think it's bullshit too." 

When night fell, Wei Ying was in the middle of nowhere and abruptly realized she no longer had a house boat. She groaned. 

"Do you understand what I gave up for you!" She pointed accusingly at the donkey. "Shelter! Transportation! I should eat you and wear your skin as a coat, that's the only way you could repay me!" 

The donkey remained unmoved by Wei Ying's increasingly violent threats. Wei Ying grumbled a bit more as she led the donkey to the forest at the edge of the road in search of a good tree to shelter her from the elements for the evening. Peering around the forest, she identified a nice patch of relatively young grass, which was probably way less pokey than much of the underbrush. She tied the donkey to the tree and immediately laid down, letting out a hearty sigh when her weight was finally taken off of her poor shoes. She rose up again to take the bag off of the donkey and used it as a makeshift pillow. 

"Goodnight, you useless thing," she said. 

She had barely closed her eyes when she felt a nudging at her side. 

"What?" She opened her eyes, irritated, only to be greeted by the sight of the donkey heartily chomping down on the young, tender grass around her. 

"Seriously? You wouldn't eat all day, but now you'll masticate right next to my ear? Whatever the hell did I ever do to you?" 

The donkey ignored her and continued to munch. Wei Ying was no expert in animals, but she could swear the donkey seemed much more serene than it did earlier that day. She gave a long-suffering sigh and rolled to the edge of the patch. She supposed that damn donkey needed to fuel up for tomorrow. 

"Am I travelling with a donkey, or with my ancestor?" Wei Ying grumbled. In the morning, the donkey had discovered that it had been unwittingly carrying Wei Ying's travel pack, light as it was, and refused to move until it was taken off. Wei Ying had to carry her own pack in addition to walking. If she didn't need to come back to Zhang Han and trade the donkey for her boat, she would have just left the stupid animal on the side of the road. The pack itself was fairly light, containing only her minimal rations and two sets of robes, but it was the principle of the matter for Wei Ying; evidently, the donkey felt the same way. 

By mid-day, the sun was scalding despite the crisp temperature, a stark contrast to Xiangyang's misty climate. Wei Ying's sweat gathered under her chest bindings and she found herself wishing she had a hat. The trees were plentiful, but they weren't nearly as verdant as the ones down near Lotus Pier, and some of the branches looked downright desiccated. The sparse canopy did not provide much shade, and the donkey's hooves kicked up little clouds of dust as they trotted along, which dirtied her robes, her face, and sometimes even got into her eye. Wei Ying had to quicken her step to stay ahead of her companion, lest she be attacked by dirt and gravel and who knows what else. The sky, at least, was a lovely and clear blue, and the air smelled faintly of dried grass when it wasn't otherwise polluted by dirt and rocks. It was altogether quite pleasant, and despite Wei Ying's lamentations, walking was still preferable to towing an entire boat against the currents of the river. Her arms were grateful for the break, that was for sure. 

In the early afternoon, Wei Ying spotted an inn in the distance alongside what looked like a well. She breathed a sigh of relief. She was not yet running low on water, but she had underestimated how much she would need, particularly because she had planned her journey with the assumption that she would be riding leisurely on the back of a steed! 

Stopping at the well, Wei Ying leashed her donkey to the nearby tree, which was looking much more hydrated and lively than the ones down the road, and relished the shade. She had just uncapped her water skin, idly wishing it contained wine,  when a gaggle of travellers poured out of the inn. Wei Ying lifted a hand and waved, which the group seemed to take as an invitation. 

"Young Master," the eldest of the group said when they came closer, and Wei Ying stood up and bowed. "May we join you?" At Wei Ying's assent, they shuffled around a bit awkwardly around the donkey, who had planted her four hooves into the ground with the gravitas and immovability of a regal sculpture, and managed to fit most of the group under the tree. 

"Is the inn not to your liking?" Wei Ying asked, in a bid to make conversation. 

"Oh, on the contrary," the eldest man shook his head. "I think my students have enjoyed themselves a little too much, and I had to escort them into the fresh air so that they could sober up before we continue on our journey." 

Wei Ying felt a slight pang: though it was not befitting of a woman of her station, she'd be the first to admit that she enjoyed a drink or two or three every now and then, and it helped that she could drink Jiang Wanyin under the table to boot. She promised herself that once she got to Chang'an and had a better sense of the money she had left, she would buy herself some wine. Outwardly, she said, "young masters need their hydration! But sir, you don't seem to have imbibed yourself." 

The eldest man shook his head. "No, young Master. I'm chaperoning this group, I need to have my wits about me." 

"Where are you heading to?" Wei Ying asked, curious. 

"To Chang'an, for the Imperial Examinations," the man said. 

Wei Ying brightened. "Me too! Have you been before?" 

The man's expression turned sympathetic. "Ah, young Master, you're travelling alone? Yes, I make this trek every three years with my students. It has been many years since my own exams, but I am a tutor, and I like to see my students to the finish line." 

"That is admirable," Wei Ying said, "so responsible of you!" 

"It is my duty," he said, and he frowned a little. "Young Master, please excuse me if this is impertinent, but are you unaccompanied?" 

"Oh, yes," Wei Ying said, and belatedly remembered that Jiang Wanyin would have been travelling with an entire retinue. "I don't have the funds for a chaperone, and I'm really just trying my luck at the exams. I'm no competition!" 

"If you'd like," the tutor said hesitantly, "you are free to travel with us. I would not be able to provide you with any funds, I apologize, but it is still safer to move in a group. Forgive me, young Master, but you seem young and I am concerned that you will be a target. Bandits are not common around here, but there is still safety in numbers." 

Wei Ying was touched and quietly marvelled at just how many people have been remarkably nice to her since she left home. Was it because of the clothes, which may be plainer for practicality's sake but still seemed well-made? She was tempted to take him up on his offer, but hiding her gender from a whole gaggle of people day and night seemed much more challenging than she was up for. "Sir, you are too kind! Do not worry, I am accustomed to travelling by myself —” not entirely a lie, if one counted her time living on the streets as a child — "and I would only slow you down! My steed here refuses to carry me, and I could definitely never keep up with your fine horses over there." 

The tutor still seemed skeptical, but he reluctantly nodded. "If you change your mind, young master, and happen to catch up with us, the offer still stands." 

"Ah, xiansheng, you are too kind!" Wei Ying exclaimed. "Please, don't be concerned on my account. Now that I have been touched by your kind offer, I am no longer wasting away under the ‘solitary russet pear tree!’ Truly, I am much luckier than the lonely narrator of Di Du.” 

The tutor smiled. "Young Master says he is no competition, but he has a grasp of the Odes!" He stood up and dusted himself off, then hollered at the group of young masters who were dozing under the tree. "Young Masters! Up!" 

A chorus of groans sounded around the tree, and Wei Ying hid a laugh behind her hand. The tutor ushered the complaining young men towards the stables, and Wei Ying gave them a little wave. However, to Wei Ying's surprise, the tutor soon walked back, and when he got closer, Wei Ying spotted that his hands were occupied. 

"Here," the tutor said, and pressed two apples into Wei Ying's hands. "A specialty from our hometown." 

Wei Ying beamed. "You are too kind, xiansheng!" She stood up and bowed, gratefully taking the apples. The donkey, who had heretofore been staunchly disinterested in the proceedings, suddenly began to nose at Wei Ying's hand. She batted her head away, and the tutor chuckled.

"I wish you a safe journey, young Master." 

"Likewise!" Wei Ying waved and hastily moved to put the apples in her pack. The donkey began nosing at the pack instead. Suddenly hit with a flash of inspiration, Wei Ying grabbed the fishing spear she had been using to secure her pack and affixed one of the apples to the pointed end with a decisive jab. The donkey, as she suspected, turned towards the apple and moved to bite. 

"Nuh uh," Wei Ying said, and raised the branch as high as she could. The donkey did not even turn her baleful eyes at Wei Ying, focused as she was on the prize. Wei Ying chuckled, climbed onto the back of the donkey, and snapped a branch off of the tree to twist her pack closed again, the speared apple held between her teeth to keep it away from the donkey's large mouth. 

"Giddy up!" Wei Ying said, and lowered the apple just out of the donkey's reach. The donkey abruptly took off at lightning speed, and Wei Ying hastily grabbed onto the reins. Ha! Looks like she'll get her money's worth after all. 

The next few days passed uneventfully, as the previously lethargic donkey found a speed to rival the Emperor's finest cavalry. Every evening, Wei Ying lamented her sore thighs and permitted her steed — which she dubbed Little Apple — one single bite of her namesake. As the apple was small and the donkey’s mouth was large, each apple only managed to last two days, but on the fourth day, Wei Ying began to notice more and more houses and markets. In the mid-afternoon, she arrived at the gates of a city that dwarfed even the walls she had seen at Xiangyang. Only by straining her head back could she see the top of the wall, which must have been at least three times her height, never mind the even taller building on top of the gates outlined in glistening red wood. From her vantage point on the ground, Wei Ying could spot soldiers circling the balcony. Unlike the rounded shape of Xiangyang's gates, the gates of Chang'an were divided into stark, sharp rectangular entrances, each manned by more imposing soldiers. 

"Well, Little Apple," Wei Ying said, "I think we've made it to Chang'an." 

The hustle and bustle of the capital dwarfed even the liveliest markets of Yunmeng. Everywhere she looked, merchants hawked their wares ranging from the kitschy to the outrageously expensive: cheap imitation jade, painted fans and lanterns, carved wooden hair ornaments, pearls from heaven-knows-where, silver goblets and leopard skin hats and exotic nuts from places out West that she had only heard of in books. Every second stall was bursting with food from all over the land, glazed red candied hawthorns shining in the sun next to vats of creamy-looking yogurt and dripping osmanthus cakes and lamb skewers on small grills. Momentarily, she stood still, her eyes darting around in awe. Only when a disgruntled merchant pushed past Little Apple did she realize she was standing amidst the ever-moving crowd, blocking traffic in the biggest market of Chang'an. 

Shaking her head — merchants of the capital are truly so rude, running right into a lady like that! — she approached a stall with fluffy white steamed buns and inquired about the cheapest inn. The seller looked at her dubiously, but pointed in the northeast direction and explained that the inn frequented by low-level merchants were probably her best bet. It wasn’t until Wei Ying sauntered away on her donkey, bun in hand, that she realized she had forgotten to deepen her voice. Oops! She resolved to be more conscientious next time. She was in Chang’an now; time to really step up her Jiang Wanyin impersonation. She amused herself by knitting her eyebrows together and generally looking angry, and caught a glimpse of herself in a bronze mirror of a stall. Nailed it. 

After half a shichen, Wei Ying arrived at The Dragon Gate Inn. The lofty ambitions of the name were not reflected in the facade of the building, which generally looked like it had seen much better days. Wei Wuxian waded her way through the numerous wooden carts parked in front of the door and fastened her donkey to a pillar, which seemed to displease her (then again, when was she ever pleased?). To congratulate Little Apple on a job well done and to celebrate their arrival, she tossed the rest of the apple towards her mouth. Little Apple caught it effortlessly and began to chew, mollified. 

This time, Wei Ying remembered to lower her voice when inquiring of a room. The madame was brisk and efficient and gave Wei Ying no grief for purchasing the cheapest room. Her donkey was then led away to the stables — “watch out, she bites” — and she herself was ushered up the stairs by a young girl who shyly recited all the superfluous services available at the inn. Wei Ying thanked her with a wink, and the young lady flushed to the root of her hair and scrambled out the door. Wei Ying was surprised to see her shaoye impersonation going so well, but she wasn’t going to complain! 

Falling backwards onto the bed — way harder than the one at the Lotus Pier, ugh, though an improvement over literal dirt — Wei Ying mulled over how she was going to spend her time. She had a few days before the examinations were to begin, and she harboured no delusions over her future: she knew that as soon as she pulled this off and went home, Madame Yu was going to pack her off to some much more boring life. She’d probably have to get married, either to Jiang Wanyin (gross) or some other man she’d never met (even grosser), and then her opportunities to go outside and cause mischief will definitely be hindered. Better take advantage of her freedom before everything blew up in her face! 

Abruptly rising from the bed, Wei Ying skipped her way down the stairs and hollered at the Madame, asking about the nearest tavern. 

The tavern, Wei Ying quickly realized, was crawling with other wannabe scholar-bureaucrats! She didn't know how the Madame clocked her as one of them, but she supposed it was not a bad idea to suss out the competition, even if everyone was drunk and surely not at their best. 

Wei Ying sat at a table in the middle of the tavern with two jars of Emperor's Smile — a specialty of the Imperial family, despite their tee-totalling reputation — and took the opportunity to slouch and spread her legs to her heart's content. Some people gave her dirty looks, but it was because she looked like a ruffian, not because she failed to look like a lady. Twisting the cork off of the first jar, she poured the wine into the chipped porcelain cup and took a sniff. It was strong and pungent, but with a slight fruity undertone that the wines of Yunmeng lacked. She knocked back the cup and was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it went down: there was a gentle burn, but nothing eye-watering like the moonshine she brewed in the corner of her room, which she had to rely upon when Jiang Wanyin refused to buy her more baijiu (he always hated how she could outdrink him). She cracked the shell of one of the peanuts on the table and popped it into her mouth with a happy sigh. 

Suddenly, the din of the tavern was interrupted by a loud bang. Wei Ying looked around before spotting the source of the ruckus, a straight-backed man decked from head to toe in a full lanshan, which contrasted rather comically with the grimy tables of the tavern. He wore a self-important look on his face and was banging a small gong with clear relish.

The pompous man raised his voice: "attention, fellow scholars! It is time for the revision portion of the evening!" 

Wei Ying groaned internally before realizing she could do so out loud now, and then she groaned so audibly that several patrons turned around to look at her in distaste. Revision? In a tavern? She was going to give the Madame a piece of her mind when she got back. 

The pompous man gave her a stink-eye, which she returned with a wink just to see his appalled expression. She was not disappointed. The man glared at her before turning back to the small crowd. "The rules are the same as always. The first section of the competition will be on The Great Learning, the second section will be on the Analects, and the third section will be policy questions. Is that clear?" 

The audience responded with a smattering of half-hearted hoots. 

Pompous Man hesitated, then said, "the winner of each section will have all their drinks and food covered this evening." 

The audience was much more enthusiastic at this turn of events, including Wei Ying herself. She had been planning on grabbing dinner from one of the cheaper stalls at the market, assuming they hadn't closed already, but a proper sit-down hot meal was much better! 

"To answer a question, simply raise your hand. Earlier questions will be easier and count for fewer points. Later questions will be more difficult and count for more points. If no one has any questions, we will begin." Pompous Man said, having placed his gong on the table next to him. His table compatriot poked at the gong curiously, and Pompous Man slapped his hand away without even looking at him. "First question: who can recite the sentence starting with ‘what is meant by “making the thoughts sincere?”’ Include both the rest of this sentence and the following.” 

Wei Ying nearly snorted. She, bored out of her mind while Li-xiansheng drilled Jiang Wanyin over and over again, could not purge The Great Learning from her brain even if she tried. She quickly raised her left hand and used her right hand to bang her empty cup on the table for good measure. She got another dirty look from Pompous Man, but she simply grinned and shrugged. Half the tavern had raised their hands, but she was the quickest, so Pompous Man had no choice but to call upon her. 

"Thank you, young Master!" She said and stood up with a flourish. “The full passage continues as thus: ‘what is meant by "making the thoughts sincere" is the allowing no self-deception, as when we hate a bad smell, and as when we love what is beautiful. This is called self-enjoyment. Therefore, the superior man must be watchful over himself when he is alone. There is no evil to which the mean man, dwelling retired, will not proceed, but when he sees a superior man, he instantly tries to disguise himself, concealing his evil, and displaying what is good.’” 

Pompous Man's expression turned even more sour. "That is correct, one point for...what is your name?" 

"Jiang Wanyin of Yunmeng!" Wei Ying answered cheerfully. 

"One point for Master Jiang, then. Xiao-di, note it down." Pompous Man's table mate grumbled under his breath, but pulled a roll of paper and various writing accoutrements out of a pouch at his side. He flagged down the tavern owner for water and began grinding out ink. 

"Don't forget my point, young Master!" Wei Ying yelled, and both Pompous Man and his friend gave her the stink-eye this time. 

The scene continued, and while Wei Ying wasn't always the fastest, she realized that she had not yet encountered a question she couldn't answer, so she began raising her hand before Pompous Man even finished speaking. 

"I haven't even finished the question!" Pompous Man yelled exasperatedly, the fourth time Wei Ying raised her hand as soon as he opened his mouth. 

"But I know the answer to the question, young Master!" 

"So what will happen when you don't know the answer to the question?" 

"Yeah, that's not fair! Can't we all just all raise our hands before the question is over?" A man in grey linen robes asked. 

Wei Ying tapped her chin and deliberated, before giving him a sunny smile. "If I can't answer a question I raised my hand for, I automatically forfeit the competition!" 

Pompous Man squinted at her. "You swear to abide by this rule?" 

Wei Ying lifted her right hand into a swearing position and said solemnly, "I swear it on my parents' graves!" 

A small gasp erupted from the young masters around the tavern. Everyone, of course, took such a promise extremely seriously, so the competition had no choice but to continue in this vein. Wei Ying, not one to back down after having accidentally provoked a crowd, abandoned all pretence and permanently kept her hand in the air. The other young masters seemed quite put out as she answered question after question without missing a beat, and Pompous Man's face reddened exponentially with every correct answer. 

Now that the competition has devolved into a pissing contest between two people, the crowd began to disperse as more and more scholars settled their bills and left. Finally, after the last question — “what policies should be enacted to alleviate the sufferings of the common people faced with the flooding of the Yellow River?” — was met with a model answer from Wei Ying, Pompous Man slammed his hands down on the table and declared Jiang Wanyin of Yunmeng the winner of the competition. The thin crowd, at this point, half-heartedly clapped and filed out of the tavern, many of whom gave Wei Ying dirty looks as they exited. 

Wei Ying looked down at her table, which was filled with peanut shells, three empty bottles of Emperor's Smile, and a large pile of lamb skewers she had polished clean, and thought she may have gone a little overboard. As Pompous Man angrily stomped past her with his xiao-di schlepping behind, his sleeve whipped past her shoulder with a decisive snap. Wei Ying was pretty sure he did that on purpose. 

Wei Ying tapped her dirty fingernails on the tabletop and suddenly felt a bit awkward as the last of the tavern patrons trickled out the door. 

"Young Master Jiang," Wei Ying looked up, not expecting to be addressed, and saw a green-clad man standing nervously in front of her. "May this humble one join you?" 

"By all means!" Wei Ying said, shaking herself off with a beam, and attempted to clear her table of all the detritus she had accumulated during the evening. "Sorry; I'm afraid I have not had the opportunity to learn your name." 

"This one is Nie Huaisang," the man said as he sat and unfolded a delicate-looking fan. 

"Young Master Nie, pleased to make your acquaintance!" 

"Likewise," Master Nie tittered, "young Master Jiang is very talented!" 

"Ah, you flatter me," Wei Ying said. "Hey, can I treat you to a drink? I'm sorry, I cleared out everything on this table already!" 

Master Nie shook his head. "No need, Master Jiang. I've already finished my dinner. Look, may I speak candidly?" 

Wei Ying looked at him, nonplussed. After a beat, she said, "sure?" 

Master Nie abruptly closed his fan, and his eyes, which seemed warm if a bit flighty, suddenly turned serious. "Master Jiang, if you are not careful, you will make many enemies." 

"Enemies?" 

"Master Jiang, just from tonight, I can tell that you will perform most admirably on the examinations. The people here will be your colleagues. Not all of them, obviously, but people like Su Minshan — ” 

"Who?" 

"The man running the competition, Master Jiang." Wei Ying reflected that Master Nie may have a point, since Pompous Man — dang, she had already forgotten his name — definitely struck her as the type to hold a grudge. And to be entirely fair to him, she maybe needled him a little more than was strictly necessary just because he was annoying. 

Wei Ying nodded slowly. "Master Nie, I come from a family of merchants. I am not familiar with the culture around these examinations. If you say I have offended my future colleagues, I can only thank you for informing me." 

"I don't think it's unsalvageable, but it doesn't look good, no," Master Nie said delicately, then let out a relieved laugh. "Ah, Master Jiang, you have a remarkable temperament! I was afraid you would be angry with me!" 

"Why would I be angry? You're trying to help me," Wei Ying said, puzzled. 

Master Nie chuckled. "Oh, Master Jiang must be of a very pure heart, but that can be dangerous here in Chang'an." 

"Are you familiar with the city?" Wei Ying asked, brushing past the cryptic little comment about her good heart. "Are you also here for the examinations?" 

Master Nie sighed. "Unfortunately, sort of. I live here because my older brother entered the Emperor's cabinet many years ago. He has the same ambitions for me, but I'm simply not a studious person, Master Jiang! I get confused, I forget things, I have no head for policy, but da-ge still insists on me taking the exams. This will be my second try, and I have no reason to believe it will go any better than my first." 

"I can help you," Wei Ying said, "I mean, I don't have any experience being a teacher, but I can help you revise!"

"Master Jiang, you don't need to waste your time with someone like me," Master Nie said, wide-eyed. "I'm sure you have your own priorities in Chang'an." 

Well, Master Nie wasn't wrong. Wei Ying had meant to enjoy her last few days of freedom before she was due to crawl back to Lotus Pier. Still, Master Nie had done her a real favour and she felt compelled to pay him back somehow. "I can take half a shichen out of my day to help you answer some questions. I used helped my foster brother revise." 

"Oh, you have a foster brother? Is he also here?" 

"Um, no," Wei Ying said and mentally kicked herself for slipping up again. "My foster brother is injured. He broke his wrist and can't write the examinations this year." 

"What a pity," Master Nie tutted in sympathy, then his eyes gained a faraway look. "Actually...I'm too much of a chicken to do it now, but if I don't pass this year, I'll keep it in mind. Get into a riding accident or something." 

"I have a very ill-tempered donkey who might just throw you off her back, you can borrow her any time!" 

Master Nie laughed, his eyes glittering. "Master Jiang, you are simply too generous!" 

Chapter Text

The next day, Wei Ying rose uncharacteristically early for a day of sightseeing. Master Nie had told her that as bustling as the eastern market was, the western market was where you could find the really good stuff. Wei Ying lacked the budget to pay for the high calibre wares that Master Nie had extensively waxed poetics about, but well — it was free to look. 

Wei Ying wheedled a stale steamed bun out of the inn’s Madame and she chewed happily, perched atop Little Apple. After a night subjected to the indignity of eating hay, the donkey was worse-tempered than ever, but also much more prone to bribery. Thinking back to the night before, Wei Ying acknowledged that her conduct was not the most socially graceful, even by her own lacklustre standards. She vowed to go drink with Master Nie at the tavern again and refrain from the competition. It wouldn't do to draw too much attention to herself, after all. Plus, her main incentive for competing — the free food and wine — was no longer a factor, since Master Nie had insisted on paying her with a meal in exchange for helping him revise. Wei Ying reflected that much has happened since she arrived in Chang'an: she had made one friend, possibly several foes, and secured her board for the next few days. Not bad for a day's work!

Ignoring the questioning looks of passersby staring at her apple on a branch, she whistled happily to the western market. 

Like its eastern counterpart, the western market was walled on all four sides and set out in an elaborate system of grids, but the similarities ended there. With the benefit of hindsight, Wei Ying could tell that what she thought were high-quality wares in the eastern market yesterday were simply half-hearted replicas: the real luxuries of the Empire were here. 

Leaving Little Apple tied up outside, Wei Ying sauntered into the gates with an empty pocket and big eyes. The first stall near the gate had jars piled with fragrant peppercorns, milder and sweeter than the ones she was accustomed to swimming in her food. The merchant’s sign indicated that the peppercorns were from Tianzhu Guo, “where the Buddha’s from,” he said earnestly as she passed by. This entire row seemed to be dedicated to spices, some wrapped in sturdy burlap sacks, others cradled in layers and layers of silk and only opened after the merchant had deemed the customer worthy. The air smelled like a thousand different things: spices, certainly, but also incense and medicine and cooking both exotic and familiar, with an undercurrent of…horse? Wei Ying wrinkled her nose and poked around for the source before coming across an entire row of majestic Hanxue horses from Kangju next to one of the walls, their coats ranging from bright cream to rich chestnut to glossy black.

As Wei Ying ambled through more rows, her nose acclimating to the bombardment of fantastic smells, she began to notice the people. Some of the stalls were manned by locals, but many more featured people she had only heard about thirdhand, men with large, deep-set eyes, enviably tall noses, and complexions either paler than the most well-powdered Yunmeng lady or swarthier than the hardest-toiling Lotus Pier labourer. Well-dressed local bureaucrats and lavishly adorned maidens wandered around idly from row to row, merchants calling for them to check out their sandalwood from Shizi Guo, their camphor and cloves from Shilifosi, their Bosi brocades. Wei Ying spent an entire ke sniffing perfume oils in front of an increasingly exasperated merchant, whose beard twitched in irritation every time she asked a question about the confusing goings-on between Dashi Guo and Bosi Guo. In the end, he outright asked if she was actually going to buy the myrrh and sandalwood oil she had been wafting in front of her nose; she demurred — “haha, maybe after the exams! For my sweetheart at home!” — and quickly disappeared into the crowd. 

After a morning of feasting her eyes, if not her actual appetite, Wei Ying directed Little Apple towards the centre of the city. Master Nie had given her detailed instructions and she had no trouble following the winding roads from the market. Belatedly, she realized she should have brought a gift; it seemed like she had left all her manners back at Lotus Pier. 

As she rode closer to Master Nie's home, the roads and crowds also began to shift. The paths towards the city centre were noticeably better maintained, judging by the way Little Apple's hooves kicked up less and less dust as they went. The roofs were of a much brighter red, and lanterns bobbed cheerfully between lush trees. Wei Ying idly wondered who was responsible for lighting those lanterns in the evenings, but they must make quite a sight when the sun goes down. Gone, too, were the tan faces and practical hemp robes of the markets and the outer neighbourhoods; Wei Ying passed clusters of young women with faces powdered white, high dots of rouge emphasizing their cheeks and their eyes rimmed kohl black. Most people wore robes of lustrous silk, pale greens and yellows and pinks that would have surely gotten dirty within one ke if they had to step into a market. The women carried translucent fans painted with sophisticated watercolour scenes, their hands pale and manicured and smooth as jade. Even Madame Yu and Jiang Yanli were not so impeccably groomed: the people in Chang'an were really something else! 

Soon, Wei Ying arrived in front of the Nie residence, though she had to double check the directions in her head to make sure she was at the right place. The house in front of her looked almost as large as the entirety of Lotus Pier, which was already the biggest estate by far back in Yunmeng. The red paint on the roof and pillars shone like glazed hawthorns, and the steps leading to the main door were covered in colourful rugs that she had seen at the market earlier. She was fairly certain that each of them cost more ingots than she had on her entire body: when she scrutinized them at the market, she had assumed that people bought them to hang on their walls! 

Disembarking from Little Apple and rewarding her loyal steed with another bite of her namesake fruit, Wei Ying loosely tied the donkey to a pillar before stepping to the door. She only made a quick tap with the giant golden door-knocker before the door opened, and to her surprise, Master Nie himself was the one answering the door. 

"Master Jiang!" He exclaimed, "I'm so glad you came!" 

"Of course I came, I told you I would, didn't I?" Wei Ying greeted him with a smile, then jerked her thumb at Little Apple behind her. "Hey, should I leave my donkey there?" 

"Certainly not! We'll bring her to the stable." Master Nie said, then yelled over his shoulder: "Old Hong, can you come get this young Master's donkey?" 

Old Hong glided into view before Master Nie had even finished speaking, and Wei Ying got the impression that he was simply lurking in the halls just in case the young Master needed him. She greeted him and warned that Little Apple was a crotchety thing. Old Hong smiled and reassured her that the young Master needed not to worry: her noble steed would be well taken-care off. 

"I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about your fingers!" Wei Ying protested. 

"Of course," Old Hong said with a twinkle and led Little Apple around the side of the house. 

"Ah, don't be embarrassed, Master Jiang. I'm attached to my horse as well! She's a beauty and I always leave pages and pages of instructions whenever I need to stable her somewhere!" 

"I'm not —” but Wei Ying's protests fell on deaf ears as Master Nie gripped her arm and led her past the tall curb, also plated in what looked like honest-to-god gold, which seemed to be the fashion around here. Wei Ying idly considered coming to this neighbourhood in the dead of night with a chisel and a bucket. The tall gates opened into a small entryway surrounded by stone walls, softened by bamboo, and they made a sharp turn into the waiyuan before Master Nie dragged her through the second gates into the courtyard proper. The houses on all four sides of the courtyard were made of dark lacquered wood with beautifully carved roofs and windows, and the courtyard itself was mostly covered by an oversized pond. 

“Check out my fish!” Master Nie cried excitedly and Wei Ying had no choice but to follow. The large pond, surrounded by a few boulders for sitting, indeed contained a remarkable collection of fish. Wei Ying was not a fish enthusiast, unless one counted eating them, but even she was impressed by the sheer variety of sizes and colours. Master Nie had giant red carps, tiny exotic-looking fish with golden scales, strange white-and-red fish with bulbous eyes, and everything in between. Master Nie unearthed a pouch from goodness-knows-where and tossed in some crumbs, and watched wistfully as rows of red and gold and silver swarmed towards him.

“I’m going to miss these guys if I get sent away,” he said moodily. “It took me years to build this collection.” 

“It’s very impressive,” Wei Ying said, and she meant it. The combination of colours was dazzling, very different from the fish at Lotus Pier, which were all some variation of mud. 

Master Nie visibly preened at the comment and steered Wei Ying into one of the houses off the side of the courtyard, where a low table filled with tea and sweets was already set out. 

"Master Nie, you didn't have to do all this just for me!" Wei Ying protested as she spotted the delicate little cakes on a mahogany tray, expertly shaped like peonies and chrysanthemums and magnolias. 

"It wasn't just for you," Master Nie waved dismissively, "I need the incentive to study, you know! How am I supposed to remember anything without something sweet, hmm?" 

Wei Ying laughed and sat on the cushion Master Nie gestured to her. "I can't argue with that. These are beautiful little things, I can see why you'd find them motivating." 

"Master Jiang has a good eye," Master Nie said as he spooned tea leaves into a white teapot. 

"Is that a Xing teapot?" Wei Ying asked, scrutinizing the carvings on the white teapot, which — when tilted — seemed to emanate a faint blue hue. 

"Always," Master Nie said, "I don't care for the shade of white you get from Ding porcelain." He wrinkled his nose. "Though who knows? Tastes change. Perhaps you'll catch me hunting down a rare Ding teapot soon enough!" 

"Master Nie is the one with the good eye!" Wei Ying said. "The market you recommended indeed had some gems." 

"Doesn't it?" Master Nie's eyes lit up, and he put down the pot to steep. “Did you see the fish guy at the east gate? Every year he has some new variation. Last year he bred these beautiful platinum carp with lovely red spots, and they all went to the Imperial Palace, but he promised to reserve one for me this year. The bird guy has some pretty lovely specimen too, I’ll show you next time.” Master Nie sighed again. “That’s honestly the reason I don't want to take the Examinations. If I fail, then it is what it is and I continue living here with da-ge. If I score well, I stay in Chang’an. But if I perform just alright? Who knows what will happen! What if I get sent to be a magistrate somewhere else? Our family is from Qinghe, so it's a real risk! Chang'an has everything: the best food, the best wine, merchants from all over the land come to sell their best stuff. I'm not built to live anywhere else!" 

Wei Ying was beginning to understand why Master Nie fretted so much. "And your brother wouldn't let you simply stay here?" 

"He considers me idle," Master Nie groaned. “Da-ge was always brilliant at the scholarly stuff, and he's got a fantastic mind for military strategy, too. He only entered the court a few years ago, but he's already indispensable to the Prince. Our parents passed away when we were young, so da-ge has been the one to raise me, and I guess he was always afraid of being too soft on me. But I think he honours our parents plenty! He's the firstborn, he's got all the talent and brains, why can't he be satisfied with that?" 

"Master Nie, it's not as if you don't have talent," Wei Ying said earnestly, "you are simply better in different spheres. Look at the decorations around your home! I've only seen a little bit of it, but I highly doubt your da-ge was responsible for procuring all this!" Wei Ying gestured around the room: indeed, the reception room was decorated expertly. The ink paintings on the walls were each obviously crafted from a different hand, capturing distinct scenes, yet the overall effect was harmonious. The silk screen at the back of the room continued the motif, but also incorporated accents of warm copper and cool gunmetal that complemented the little metallic figurines around the room and the life-sized armour near the door. The cushions were obviously sourced from vendors out west, with their vibrant colours and assortment of materials that Wei Ying did not entirely recognize. The overall effect was modern, pleasing, yet with a clear sense of gravitas: this was a house of a high-ranked scholar, no doubt. 

"Oh Master Jiang, you are simply too kind!" Master Nie said, and the emotion seemed quite genuine. “Da-ge threatens to burn my collections at least once every xun now that the examinations are near. I'll be the first to admit that my heart is not in those stuffy Confucian texts. But how could I pay attention to such things when we live in the epicentre of the world? All that beauty, at our fingertips! I may be idle, but I truly believe these things are more than just fripperies. Ugh, but Emperor Lan is famously ascetic and so must be his court. Da-ge's disinterest in beauty is vindicated every day he spends in the palace." 

Wei Ying made a sympathetic noise. "Well, what do you think it will take for you to score highly enough to make your way to court?" 

"I don't know, I don't know," Master Nie groaned. "Master Jiang, truth be told, I have absolutely no chance of making it into the court, but I can’t turn in an empty page either. Nobody would believe I got haunted by a ghost this far into the examinations process. I should have just pretended to faint during the prefectural rounds." 

Wei Ying perked up. "Oh! I can help you with that! Turning in an empty page would be too suspicious and it'll be seen as an insult, plus word will get back to your brother, but there are definitely ways to sabotage yourself just enough that the examiners have no choice but to fail you!"

"Really?" Master Nie removed his face from his hands and looked beseechingly at Wei Ying with saucer-round eyes. "You know how to do that?" 

Wei Ying thought back to all those days at the little schoolhouse in Lotus Pier, concocting nonsense with just enough plausible deniability that her tutors couldn't accuse her of disrespecting the texts wholesale. She smiled. "Sure! I know exactly how to help you." 

At sunset, Wei Ying was riding on her donkey next to a beautiful chestnut Hanxue horse. Nie Huaisang — "really, Jiang-xiong, you don't need to call me Master Nie! Are we not friends by now?" — had surreptitiously outfitted Little Apple with a whole new tack while they studied, and Wei Ying entered the stable to find her donkey in a handsome soft bridle and sleek dark brown leather saddle, topped with a vivid seat cover of dark emerald. The overall colour scheme went nicely with Little Apple's grey coat, and Wei Ying was immediately charmed. Little Apple, over her shichen in the stables, also seemed to have mellowed out dramatically. Her coat was shiny and freshly brushed, and she didn't even protest when Wei Ying nudged her with the bridle, no longer requiring an apple as a bribe. Wei Ying had no idea what kind of magic Nie Huaisang's stablehands had worked, but she told him that he could run a business taming grumpy steeds, if his big brother ever kicked him out. 

"That would give him a heart attack," Nie Huaisang laughed. "Not only does he have a failed scholar for a brother, but now a merchant? My ancestors would roll in their graves!" 

They arrived at the tavern a little past dinnertime and the place was already swarming with people. Since Wei Ying was wearing the exact same outfit she wore yesterday — it being the only casual outfit she owned — it took no time at all for people in the tavern to begin glaring at her. She thought that was a bit much; she herself didn’t even recognize half of their faces! 

She leaned in closer to Nie Huaisang. "I think you were right about me making enemies. All of these people look like they want to stab me!" 

Nie Huaisang patted her shoulder comfortingly and strode confidently towards a table in the back. Wei Ying sat down across from him, her back to the wider audience, and she did feel slightly better now that she couldn't see the derision and resentment on so many faces. 

"Don't worry, Jiang-xiong," Nie Huaisang told her as he raised his hand to flag down a waiter. "Their memories aren't that good. After a few days they'll forget you and go back to hating Su Minshan." 

Wei Ying had, of course, already forgotten who Su Minshan was, but she nodded anyway. When the waiter came to their table, Nie Huaisang insisted that she order whatever she wanted, and Wei Ying had not internalized so many manners that she could demur to that. Soon, their table was filled with lamb skewers and Emperor's Smile again, alongside two bowls of wide noodles glistening in chile oil, which Nie Huaisang assured her was a Chang'an specialty that she would love. Sure enough, when she bit into the wide noodle, toothsome and chewy and filled with flavour, Wei Ying decided she will never question Nie Huaisang's tastes ever again. 

Pompous Man — “that's Su Minshan, seriously Jiang-xiong, would it kill you to remember his name?" — rang his gong again and went over the rules of the revision competition, just as he did yesterday. Wei Ying kept her mouth shut and simply observed the proceedings, even as multiple scholars glanced, perplexed, in her direction when she failed to raise her hand at any of the questions. Sure enough, the attention soon wore off of Wei Ying and people began looking elsewhere, distracted by all the other scholars clamouring to answer questions and show off. 

Wei Ying was enjoying being an observer to the chaos when she caught a flash of yellow from the corner of her eye. Instinctively, she snapped her gaze that way, only to be greeted by the most unpleasant sight. 

Wei Ying had completely forgotten about Jin Zixuan! He was her sister Jiang Yanli's fiancé, a fact which needled Wei Ying and Jiang Wanyin endlessly. He was a pretentious, effete snob who thought himself too good for Jiang Yanli, which automatically meant he was Wei Ying's sworn nemesis. 

She let out a groan, and because nothing ever escaped Nie Huaisang, he immediately began poking at her: what's wrong, Jiang-xiong? Is the food not to your taste (he knew damn well it was to her taste!)? Are you under the weather? Is this question stumping you? 

"I see a man I used to know," Wei Ying grumbled at last. "He's engaged to my sister." 

"Oh, your family!" Nie Huaisang clapped his hands excitedly. "Let's greet him after the competition!" 

"No, absolutely not, no." Wei Ying said hastily. "I mean, we've only met a few times, so I doubt he'd even recognize me —” true, because Jin Zixuan barely even looked at Jiang Yanli during their outings, never mind the little sister playing chaperone and giving him the stink eye! — “and he's the worst. Ugh. My sister could do so much better." 

"Is that so," Nie Huaisang regarded her with blatant amusement. "Jiang-xiong, you've been so kind to me, it's hard to imagine what kind of scoundrel would warrant such vehement derision from one as generous as yourself!" 

"He's just the worst," Wei Ying repeated, "he thinks he's too good for my sister! As if! He's cashing in on all his karma from every single preceding lifetime just for her to look in his direction!" 

"I'm sure Miss Jiang is the pinnacle of women, if Jiang-xiong has such stellar words for her," Nie Huaisang soothed. "Alright, so we won't greet him." 

"Thank you," Wei Ying sighed. "I'm just glad he wasn't here yesterday to get a good look at me." 

Nie Huaisang hummed affirmatively and turned his attention back to the competition. Pompous Man was entirely in his element now, asking questions accompanied by big flourishes of his sleeves. Wei Ying knew logically that Jin Zixuan would not be looking for his fiancé's sister in a tavern full of aspiring scholars, and even if he did recognize her, he would likely persuade himself that such a notion was patently ridiculous, but she still felt tempted to hide. Luckily, Jin Zixuan's gaze never once even strayed to their table as the crowd became increasingly raucous. Each question was more difficult than the last, and Pompous Man was entirely in his element as he presided over the competition, solemnly affirming that yes, these were very challenging prompts indeed.

Wei Ying, inoculated in the back of the room, was free to roll her eyes every time he said so. It very much struck her as pandering: the questions weren't that difficult, and after some back and forth each of them was answered relatively satisfactorily anyway, so what was the big deal? 

Jin Zixuan answered a couple of the later questions, and Wei Ying had to stop herself from reflexively heckling him. His answers were, she reluctantly admitted, adequate, which was a surprise. On the handful of occasions Jin Zixuan had visited Yunmeng and revised for the examinations with Jiang Wanyin, she had found him thoroughly lacking, but she supposed that nobody else was putting forth their best effort while half-drunk in a tavern, so his deficiencies were not so obvious in such a context. But he was definitely stupid and lacked judgement: Wei Ying would always stand by her opinion! 

The evening wound down, and true to Nie Huaisang's word, nobody gave them a second glance as they left. It seemed like Wei Ying was yesterday's news, which was just fine with her. Nie Huaisang didn't even blink at the concerning number of lamb skewers that Wei Ying had inhaled throughout the evening and invited her to come out again with him tomorrow, which she happily accepted. She counted herself lucky indeed to have run across such a generous friend. 

The next few days passed in much the same fashion. Wei Ying spent her mornings roaming around Chang'an, walking the lengths of the markets. To amuse herself, she made wish lists in her head of things that caught her eye: a length of knitted cashmere that would be of no use in Yunmeng, which she wanted anyway; a silk fan embroidered with lotuses that she thought Jiang Yanli would have liked; some deep purple brocade for Jiang Wanyin; boxes of intricate little floral cakes for Uncle Jiang and Madame Yu. Perhaps, if she had any money left over at the end of her time in Chang'an, she could bring home some presents to smooth over her re-entry into Lotus Pier, which she knew would be fraught even in the best case scenario. For lunch, she would pick up something cheap and light from a stall, knowing that Nie Huaisang would ply her with sweets and tea and a hearty dinner soon enough. Wei Ying was a lot of things, but she was definitely not too proud to enjoy her friend's generosity. 

In the afternoons, she made her way to the Nie household and tutored Nie Huaisang on the fine art of plausible self-sabotage. It was a more difficult task than she had anticipated, because it turned out that one needed to know the rules in order to break them, but Nie Huaisang was cleverer than he pretended to be and quickly caught on. 

"Look at you!" Wei Ying exclaimed after Nie Huaisang penned a particularly cheeky bit of nonsense. "You just needed the right incentive. But really, Huaisang, are you sure you don't want to cram a little more and get yourself a court position?" 

"Oh no, Jiang-xiong, I couldn't possibly!" Nie Huaisang exclaimed, clutching his hand to his heart, his doe eyes alarmed. 

Wei Ying scrutinized his expression, then smiled. "Ah, Huaisang, I get it. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Better to know you'll fail than to halfway succeed, in your case." 

"Exactly," Nie Huaisang said. "Plus, between a job in the court and staying at home doing whatever I want? Even the worst merchant can tell which is the better deal!" 

Wei Ying laughed in agreement. It was obvious, by then, that Nie Huaisang had absolutely no interest in following his brother's footsteps, and if they had the money to support his lifestyle — well, why not? Wei Ying thought about the way Jiang Wanyin had worn the weight of his mother's expectations like a fur cloak in the dead of summer, and concluded that Nie Huaisang definitely had the right idea. 

At the tavern in the evenings, it seemed like most people had forgotten about Wei Ying, though Pompous Man seemed the grudge-holding type and glared at her every time she came in. She always met his gaze with a shrug. He didn't want her to participate in his games, but now that she sat out of them, he remained angry? Some people can't be pleased! 

Like that, a xun passed, and the day of the Imperial Examinations began with the customary loud cannon before the sun had even risen. All of Chang'an seemed permeated with the same nervous energy as aspiring scholars scurried around like disturbed mice. Even Nie Huaisang, whom Wei Ying cozied up to as soon as she spotted him outside the examination hall, seemed nervous. 

"Are you ready?" She whispered. 

"I can fail, I can fail, I can fail," Nie Huaisang muttered the same sentence over and over again like an incantation, which made Wei Ying laugh. Truthfully, she was not nervous at all, but she also knew she was in a rather different position from everyone else. If she failed, nobody needed to know. Nobody was waiting for her good news in some backwater village, after all. 

Not far from them, Pompous Man was loudly bleating at his posse. 

"We are all very fortunate to be eligible for the Examinations this year, fellow scholars," he said with the drip of condescension that Wei Ying had come to associate with him. "His Imperial Highness has declared that the zhuangyuan this year would not only be fast-tracked within Hanlin Academy, which is already an utmost honour, but would also win the hand of his prized Princess Lan Zhan! 

His acolytes, to Wei Ying's amusement, gasped at the appropriate times, which seemed to spur him on. 

"We have all heard of Princess Lan's qualities, of course," Pompous Man continued, which was — like the rest of his spiel — news to Wei Ying. "She is the epitome of all womankind, as is only fitting of her lineage. She is humble, she is demure, she stays quiet yet is thoughtful when spoken to: she exemplifies every feminine virtue!" 

"Ooh, to think we'd get a wife out of this!" A boisterous man in gold said, and Wei Ying squinted. He looked vaguely familiar. He then elbowed the man next to him, also in gold. "But Zixuan, you don't have to worry about that! You already have a wife picked out!" 

Wei Ying's hackles went up immediately. Nie Huaisang placed a hand on her bicep, a warning. 

"Really? Can you tell us about your wife, young Master Jin?" Another man piped up. 

"There's not much to say," Jin Zixuan demurred. He looked uncomfortable, which Wei Ying would have relished if the words coming from his mouth weren't so objectionable. "She's the daughter of my mother's friend." 

"She must be a great beauty and smart too, to be engaged to young Master Jin!" 

Jin Zixuan shrugged. "I'm sure she can't compare to Princess Lan." 

Wei Ying saw red. How dare he! She stepped in their direction, ready to give him a piece of her mind, but Nie Huaisang’s grip tightened and he yanked her back unceremoniously. Wei Ying complied more out of surprise than anything else: she didn’t even know Nie Huaisang had any grip strength. 

"What are you doing?" He hissed. "The doors are opening any moment now!" 

“And he’s a spineless asshole!" Wei Ying spat back loudly, and though a few people around them turned to look at her, the Jins had begun walking in the opposite direction and did not hear her. 

"This is no time to make a scene," Nie Huaisang said and placed another hand on Wei Ying's arm for good measure. "Your chivalry is admirable, Jiang-xiong, but there's a time and place. You can work it out with him later.” 

Wei Ying huffed, unwilling to admit out loud that Nie Huaisang was right, nor that the stakes were much higher than he knew. 

Pompous Man, having lost control of the conversation to the Jin contingent's gossip, cleared his throat. "Princess Lan's beauty is legendary! Her virtues are unmatched! She is a master of all the womanly arts! No woman would make a finer wife!" 

Wei Ying bristled. Just who was this Princess Lan? "I bet she's boring and homely to boot. Nobody who’s all that would need to spread so many rumours," she said spitefully to Nie Huaisang, who gave her a thoroughly amused look, but before she could expand upon all the theoretical deficiencies of Princess Lan, the Hall gates opened. 

Nie Huaisang gave her one last reassuring squeeze on her bicep. It was time. 

Chapter Text

Wei Ying had played the long-suffering audience to Jiang Wanyin's complaints over the years, so she had heard about the horrors of examination halls in excruciating detail. Still, at the back of her head, she had always assumed that Jiang Wanyin was exaggerating: he had a flair for drama and was the young master of a rich household. Unreasonable expectations with regard to where he lay his head were a given. 

Not so, as it turned out: to start off, the guards in charge of security approached their jobs with great aplomb. They meticulously examined every nook and cranny of the young masters who passed through the gates. Wei Ying took a moment to be grateful for her new expertise in binding her chest, for the officer in charge of searching her person was looking far more closely at her than anyone else so far. Fortunately, he seemed more interested in examining the steamed buns she brought in as her rations, going so far as to — 

"Hey!" Wei Ying exclaimed as she registered what he was doing, "why are you mutilating my food?" 

The guard looked up at her placidly, half a bun in each hand, hot lotus paste still emanating steam. "You could be hiding cheat sheets in the filling." 

Wei Ying didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "You think the auntie at the eastern market put paper in the buns? What kind of cheating method is that?" 

"You'd be surprised," the guard replied and plopped the halved bun back into her basket, only to pick up and split every other bun in systematic succession. "We've seen it all: fake buns, fake dumplings, paper stuck between two layers of metal in a chamber pot." 

Wei Ying wrinkled her nose and sighed. At least she chose the buns filled with sweet lotus paste; she could only imagine the mess if she had brought the pricier meat buns that had seemed so tempting at the stall. 

Wei Ying emerged from the inspection unharmed — though the same could not be said of her poor lotus buns! — and was quickly ushered to her cubicle, which would be her home for the next two days. The cubicle was just as depressing as Jiang Wanyin had said, all whitewashed walls and splintering wood, which surprised her; she assumed the capital had better resources than district and provincial exam halls. The cubicle was narrow and short, certainly not sufficient for her to lie down and sleep. The only furnishings, if they could even be called that, were two planks of wood spanning the entire width of the cubicle. The higher one was presumably meant to be the desk, while the lower one could be used as a bench. With some poking, she discovered that the planks were adjustable, and she wasted no time lowering the desk so that she could sit cross-legged. Even with this setup, she didn't have the room to stretch out her legs when she lay down. 

From Jiang Wanyin's complaints, Wei Ying knew the security process out in the hall could take half the day, so she curled up like a shrimp and took a nap. 

Wei Ying was woken up by the sound of a gong, and she rose groggily to squint at an examiner looking at her with open disdain. 

"Oh, hello," she said, and grappled blindly for her water skin. The examiner's face curdled even further; he slapped down a sheet of paper in front of her and left without a word. She turned the sheet over: ah, same old, same old. Recite the classics, opine on disaster relief policy, et cetera. Well; this is small fry for her! 

Taking out her ink stone and brush, Wei Ying got to work. 

After a relatively undignified day and night in the tiny little examination cell, the first phase of the examinations ended. Wei Ying, along with the rest of the young masters, was allowed out at dusk the following day. Everyone looked pale and wan, and Pompous Man's attempts to debrief the examination questions were met with increasingly impolite rebuffs. 

Wei Ying was not feeling so great herself, though she took more issue with the whole sleeping in a tiny box business than the contents of the exam. The questions seemed pretty straightforward, and she still didn't know what all the fuss was about: the hardest part of the whole thing was the way her butt cheeks slowly lost feeling over the course of the two days. In her humble opinion, the examiners could have sprung for some cushions. 

Shaking out her limbs and cracking her spine, she whistled her way to the nearest tavern, which was almost entirely empty. The other scholars were probably doing some last-minute cramming back at their inns, since there were still two more phases of the exam to go. 

Wei Ying had barely sat down when Nie Huaisang schlepped through the door, his face pale as if he had seen a ghost. 

"Huaisang!" She exclaimed and waved. "How was it? You look like you've been haunted!" 

Nie Huaisang sat down woodenly in front of her and whipped out his fan. "No haunting, Jiang-xiong, you know ghosts don't dare to meddle in the Imperial stage. But it was horrible! The way there's no circulation in there — every time I go in I think I'm emotionally prepared, but no one could possibly be prepared to live like that! It's like prison, except you have to think!" 

Wei Ying chortled. "Ah, Huaisang, I completely understand why you don't want to take this multiple times. Who has the stamina? The wooden seat was definitely the worst part! Well, that and the way they broke all my lotus paste buns." 

Nie Huaisang nodded in sympathy. "They cut every single one of my shaomai open last time. It was such a mess. Sticky rice everywhere." 

Wei Ying hissed in sympathy. "Those guards sure take their jobs seriously, don't they?" 

"I would too, if I got a piece of silver for every piece of contraband I found." 

"Seriously? That's not a bad gig," Wei Ying mused. "Maybe that could be your job if you don't pass." 

Nie Huaisang shuddered. “Ugh, patting down all those young masters? No thank you. Jiang-xiong, how was the exam for you?" 

Wei Ying shrugged. "Honestly? It was easier than I thought it would be." 

"I would expect nothing less," Nie Huaisang twinkled. "Your advice has been valuable, I gotta thank you. If I didn't have you, I'd be fretting over whether I could score highly enough for a capital post, but instead this time I just did what you said! Mix up a few key characters and misinterpret the instructions — that I can do. The exam hall is as unpleasant as ever, but at least I'm not so stressed." 

Wei Ying laughed, delighted. "I'm glad to hear it, Huaisang!" She flagged down the tavern owner for more Emperor's Smile. "We gotta drink to your successful failure." 

Nie Huaisang laughed too, and they passed the evening in jovial spirits. 

So — the good news: Wei Ying was right. The exam was easy. 

The bad news: apparently the exam was not easy for anyone else. 

About one xun after the conclusion of the examinations — and the less said about her six days in that little cell, the better — Wei Ying was minding her own business, day-drinking at the local tavern, when she first heard the rumour. Chang'an was all atwitter: everyone praised the wisdom of the Emperor for having chosen this year to find a husband for his niece, for the new zhuangyuan was uniquely brilliant and age-appropriate to boot. The examiners unanimously agreed — with none of the squabbles that plagued the rankings of years past — that Jiang Wanyin of Yunmeng ranked at the very top of the list.

Wei Ying had to employ a great deal of self-restraint to not spit out her liquor when it became obvious just who her fellow patrons were talking about. True, she had not been particularly worried for her performance on the exams, but maybe she should have taken a page out of Nie Huaisang's book and partaken in a little self-sabotage as well! 

Wei Ying kept her head retracted into her robes like a turtle, just in case any of the gossipers at the tavern recognized her. Abruptly, she realized it was only a matter of time: she was still wearing the same robes as she always did, including when she first showed her face at this very establishment and flaunted her knowledge in front of all the other aspiring bureaucrats. Wei Ying hastily downed the rest of her Emperor's Smile, flagged down the tavern owner to settle her bill, and hightailed out of there. 

Out in the setting Chang'an sun, Wei Ying paused. She needed to see this whole thing for herself instead of taking tavern gossip at face value. Perhaps there was another person from Yunmeng, or another person named Jiang? Making up her mind, she sped back towards her inn, saddled up Little Apple, and took off in the direction of the palace.

Wei Ying had no trouble finding the Golden List. As soon as she rode close to the centre of the city, all she had to do was follow the swarm. As Little Apple trotted nearer, she hid her face under her collar and a straw hat — which garnered some very strange looks, considering it was dusk — and peered at the placard from the edge of the crowd. 

The Golden List looked exactly the way she had heard from Madame Yu’s waxed poetics: a long, enormous scroll about half as tall as she was, extending for almost a hundred chi horizontally, gilded with the characteristic clouds of the Imperial Family around the edges. On the far right hand side, the Placard declared: 

Golden List of the Jinshi who Passed the Metropolitan Examination under the Great Tang, Taiqing Reign, Sixteenth Year

By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: 

In the Metropolitan Examination, talent has been meticulously selected. The following list contains the names of the First, Second, and Third Class Jinshi: 

First Class, First Rank: Jiang Wanyin of Yunmeng, Jingzhou Province, conferred the title of jinshi, Zhuangyuan

Wei Ying stared. And stared. She blinked, just in case someone had written the wrong character and she mistook it. She looked again. Jiang Wanyin’s name stared back at her. 

Somewhere in the far corners of her mind, Wei Ying registered absently that the third place, the tanhua, named Jin Zixuan of Lanling, Shandong, which on any other day would have been earth-shattering, paradigm-destroying new; but today? Today, Wei Ying had other things to worry about. 

Suddenly, the buzz of people around her took on a new, threatening aura.  Any of those people could turn around, point a finger at her, and identify her as the man of the hour, and then she would be buried alive under congratulations and fatuous ass-kissing. Though that may be a blessing, because it meant she wouldn’t have the opportunity to be buried alive by the Emperor’s retinue once they discover her fraud! 

Turning Little Apple around, Wei Ying hastened in the only direction where she was sure she wouldn’t be recognized, somewhere beyond the eastern and western markets. She really, really needed to think. 

After a quarter shichen, Little Apple made her displeasure known, so Wei Ying hopped off of her donkey to wander aimlessly on foot. The houses and shops around her were a bit older, shabbier now. The road was uneven, her shoes kicking up dust and gravel that mucked up the hem of her robes. Plenty of houses kept livestock in the yard, cacophonous pigs and chickens and ducks and geese which Little Apple eyed distrustfully. 

Ah, but she was distracting herself in order to avoid thinking about her predicament! That was unlike Wei Ying, who generally took every problem by the horns. But this? This was a bit of a mess. She had dealt with some pretty complicated problems in her short life, what with being orphaned, being homeless, being thrown out of Lotus Pier, et cetera. But, Wei Ying thought to herself somewhat hysterically, she had certainly never been in a position where she had to lie to the Emperor! 

Pettily, she thought back to all the scholars she had met since arriving in Chang'an. Truthfully, she had always assumed that Jiang Wanyin was in the middle of the pack, with Jin Zixuan trailing at the very bottom. How was she supposed to know that Jin Zixuan was not the exception, but rather the rule? Obviously no one was good enough for Jiang Yanli, but Wei Ying was also genuinely convinced that Jin Zixuan was uniquely stupid, uniquely unread, and uniquely lacking in character. Considering his plethora of shortcomings, it never occurred to her that he was simply...average. Heavens, apparently he was above average. 

Wei Ying found her opinion of Jin Zixuan rising, to her dismay, before she remembered that if he were not uniquely stupid, then he had even less of an excuse for being a buffoon to her sister. Wei Ying didn’t even have time to be cheered by her own logic before she remembered that Jin Zixuan definitely knew what Jiang Wanyin looked like, and he’d come sniffing around when the wrong Jiang Wanyin turned up at the parade! 

Wei Ying sighed. Even if she rushed at top speed back to Lotus Pier to bring back the real Jiang Wanyin, plenty of other scholars had seen her and could prove very willing to snitch. Why the hell did she go to that godforsaken tavern? 

Could she simply run away? That idea held its appeal, but if the zhuangyuan disappeared, the Emperor would undoubtedly track down the real Jiang Wanyin and his family. They will be punished after Wei Ying's deception is exposed, even if they swore truthfully that they had nothing to do with it. Wei Ying could not get the Jiangs involved in her mess; the only way to prevent such a thing was to meet the Emperor as soon as possible and declare herself an orphan.

Ah, Wei Ying realized with a grimace. She really did muck it all up. She thought she would be going home with a magistrate position on a platter for Jiang Wanyin, but instead, she stole his name, his laurels, and his wife! Now Jiang Wanyin couldn't even take the civil service examinations under his own name! 

And of course there's the whole issue of marriage. Wei Ying reasoned that she could play the gentleman for a while, not push for marital relations, and then maybe the princess would never have to find out? Perhaps Princess Lan was a shy and inexperienced maiden; Wei Ying could convince her that children were dropped off by swans or something.

Messy, messy, messy! 

Wei Ying viciously kicked a pebble that had the misfortune of resting in her path. It bounced off of the side of a dirt house, none the worse for wear. 

Wei Ying sighed. Considering the rankings had just been published, she would be very surprised if the Emperor didn't summon her in the next day or two for all the pomp and circumstance her new station in life entailed. She grimaced and plopped down unceremoniously next to a fence. Little Apple stopped with her, but eyed her judgementally. 

"I know," she bemoaned, her face in her dusty hands. "I'm fucked! I'm so fucked!" 

"Young master," a voice called hesitantly, and Wei Ying lifted her head reflexively, because she still had her manners. A nervous-looking youth clad in faded navy hemp robes stood a few steps away from her, his arms filled with a bucket. "Um, young Master, can I help you?" 

Wei Ying shook her head. "No, no, you're very nice, but I'm just having a breakdown." 

"Well," the nervous youth said, his eyes darting around awkwardly, "I'm really sorry, but I'm really not supposed to let anyone loiter in front of the yard. Scares the chickens, you know." 

“Oh," Wei Ying said dejectedly. To think she had come across one of those nice peasants who takes joy in helping others! 

"You can go...have a breakdown somewhere else, if you would like?" The youth suggested tentatively. "There's a tavern right around the corner, I think a lot of the day labourers go there at the end of the day..." 

Wei Ying sighed. She didn't want to add any trouble to the poor young man, so she gathered what remained of her wits and her strength and lifted herself up from the ground, brushing the dust from her behind. "Where's this tavern, you said?" 

"As soon as you turn right up there, young Master," the youth said quickly, seeming relieved. 

Wei Ying bid him a half-hearted goodbye and coaxed Little Apple down the road. Sure enough, there was a tavern, and it seemed quite busy too. They did not have Emperor's Smile, which seemed fitting for the day Wei Ying has had, but the boss promised decent liquor and a hot bowl of noodles. Wei Ying nodded morosely and stared at her table until her wine and the noodles arrived, brimming with chilies and oil just as she had requested. 

Perhaps she was a simple woman, but after some noodles, she felt her spirits rise. She polished off the bowl and sat back with a satisfied sigh, then began to drum her fingers on the table. 

She had gotten herself into this mess; surely she could get herself out of it? She just needed a plan. 

One shichen later, Wei Ying had admittedly not made particularly good progress on the whole “plan” thing, but she had some vague notion of tracking down Jin Zixuan and ensuring his silence by hook or by crook. She was not particularly scary, but even a cornered rabbit would bite, and frankly she was not opposed to drawing a little blood. He deserved it. Somewhat cheered by her own resolve, she made her way back to her inn, having bribed Little Apple with a piece of cucumber that the tavern owner sold her with a perplexed look. 

The inn Madame looked up when she came in, then did a double take. 

"Zhuangyuan!" She exclaimed, her enthusiasm like a bucket of merciless ice water over Wei Ying's tenuous grasp on her sanity. "My congratulations! We are so delighted to host a zhuangyuan! This has never happened to us before, we will name a room in your honour!" 

"Oh, um, thank you?" Wei Ying said shiftily. Ordinarily she'd be quite pleased with this kind of acknowledgement of her talents, but her vanity had taken a big step back on account of the whole fearing for her life thing. "It has been a very pleasant stay! If you excuse me —” 

"There's a gentleman looking for you, zhuangyuan," the Madame said, "he said he was your friend? I sent him up to your room." 

"You did!" Wei Ying let out a hysterical little laugh. "Well! Okay! I better be off. Lots of zhuangyuan stuff to get done, haha..." 

"I'm sure," the Madame nodded earnestly. "Please do not let us keep you. Also! You will not have to pay for your room tonight! Consider that our congratulations!" 

Wei Ying half-heartedly protested for etiquette's sake, but frankly she was grateful for being able to save some money. Although, if she were to actually join the Emperor's cabinet, or die, she won't really be short on money either, so what was the point? 

Making her way up the stairs, she realized that her visitor could be no other than Nie Huaisang, and groaned to herself. What on earth was she going to say to him? 

Opening the door to her rooms, she was accosted by a blur of olive green robes. 

"Jiang-xiong!" The blur cried, "I did it! I failed! I couldn't have done it without you! How will I ever repay you!" 

"Congratulations," Wei Ying found it in her to say, and she was surprised that she was genuinely happy for her friend. "Will your brother force you to take the exams again?" 

Nie Huaisang shrugged and snapped open his fan, which looked even more elaborate and new than his usual fare. "I don't know, I heard he was pretty mad, so I cleared out of the house for the night. I'll go back when he's calmed down somewhat. But no matter what happens, I won’t be a third-rate magistrate in Qinghe, and that's all that matters!" 

Wei Ying smiled despite herself. "Is that why you have come to find me?" 

"No!" Nie Huaisang said, wide-eyed, "Jiang-xiong, I came to congratulate you! I knew you'd be the zhuangyuan, of course, so I am not surprised at all, but I always love being right!”

"Ah, haha," Wei Ying said and mentally cursed Nie Huaisang for never having shared that conviction with her: if she had known that, she would have sabotaged herself too!  

At Wei Ying's lacklustre reaction, Nie Huaisang narrowed his eyes. "But you don't seem as thrilled with yourself, any reason?" 

"Truthfully, I am very honoured, but this is a quite sticky situation for me." 

Nie Huaisang made an inquiring noise, then hustled Wei Ying to the low wooden table in the middle of the room. He settled on a cushion — Wei Ying was almost certain that this particular cushion was not in her room this morning — and looked at Wei Ying with wide, guileless eyes. 

Wei Ying sighed and sat down at the table as well, thanking Nie Huaisang halfheartedly for the box of exquisite sweets he seemed to have conjured from nowhere. Thoughts raced inside her head as she attempted to wrangle the truth into some narrative that would be acceptable to Nie Huaisang. 

"I am an orphan," she said at last, "and my role in Chang'an this year was supposed to be nothing more than reconnaissance. My aunt and uncle will be furious with me, not to mention my foster brother himself." 

Nie Huaisang eyed her shrewdly. "But surely your success would help your foster brother secure a similar post for himself?" 

Wei Ying looked at him dryly. "If that were the case, would your older brother not have done that for you?" 

Nie Huaisang made a face and shuddered. "You're right, never mind. That is awkward, to outperform your benefactors." 

Wei Ying groaned and buried her face in her arms. "Exactly! Plus," she said, with a sudden flash of inspiration, "you know — there will be a new zhuangyuan every three years, but there can only be one royal bridegroom. So even by marriage, I will outrank him." 

Nie Huaisang tutted in sympathy, and Wei Ying mentally patted herself on the back for making such a good case for herself, before remembering that her situation was even more dire than she had described. 

"But surely," Nie Huaisang pressed, "they knew that it would have been a possibility when they sent you here?" 

"Ugh, nothing gets past you, Huaisang, you know that?" Wei Ying complained before deciding to come relatively clean. "Fine, they don't actually know I'm here! I got kicked out and I thought I might as well do something useful!" 

Nie Huaisang looked at her for a long time. Wei Ying looked back and tried not to let the trepidation show on her face. 

"Jiang-xiong," Nie Huaisang finally said, "Jiang Wanyin is not actually your name, is it?" 

Wei Ying groaned and let that be the answer. 

“I won’t snitch on you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Nie Huaisang continued, "because then you could report me for cheating, and then where would we both be? Even my brother won't be able to shield me from those consequences. But this whole...imbroglio, it's quite tricky, isn't it?" 

"You think?" Wei Ying retorted sulkily before remembering that her life sort of lay in Nie Huaisang's hands. 

"Jiang-xiong," Nie Huaisang said, "I'm not going to ask you for your real name, because I can't slip up if I don't know it. You have also done me a great favour, and I do not forget my debts." He went on, heedless of Wei Ying's protests that any debts between them had been settled several jars of wine ago. "Is that also why you did not want to speak to your future brother-in-law?" 

Wei Ying nodded. "He's well-positioned to expose me." 

"And you are well-positioned to expose me," Nie Huaisang mused.

“I would never —”

“I’m sure you think so now,” Nie Huaisang said dismissively. "Never mind, our fates are tied now and there is no point in lamenting it." He then softened. "It is a difficult situation, but I'm sure we will find a solution. Let us track down your future brother-in-law tomorrow and get him on our side, how's that?" 

"You think that's doable?" Wei Ying asked skeptically. 

Nie Huaisang sighed. "I'm sure I will figure something out," he said, "but do give me as much information about his family as possible." 

Wei Ying looked at him, really looked at him, and got the sneaking suspicion that he was not someone she wanted to cross. "Well, he's from the Jin family in Lanling. His family are big-time merchants and they've been trying to enter the civil service apparatus for a while now. I believe he’s the first to succeed.” 

Nie Huaisang nodded thoughtfully. “So he has a lot of monetary backing, but he also has a lot to lose. That is promising.” 

Wei Ying scrutinized Nie Huaisang’s face some more. “Huaisang,” she said, “where was all this when you were studying for the exams?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nie Huaisang responded almost absently. “You know as well as I do that I know nothing about the Classics.” 

“But you know an awful lot about how politics are supposed to work, don’t you?” Wei Ying pressed. “I mean, I have no doubt that you would hate being a country magistrate, certainly, but…I don’t know, are you sure you don’t want to gun for actual court politics?” 

“Ah, Jiang-xiong, some things are not in the cards for me,” Nie Huaisang said, a little bit of levity now bleeding into his words. “Besides, I don’t mind just directing the show!” 

Wei Ying suddenly thought about how Nie Huaisang’s brother had allegedly worked his way up to become Prince Lan Xichen’s right-hand man in less than ten years, and greater suspicions about Nie Huaisang’s role in the court grew. But never mind that: it was not her business, and they had much more important problems to solve. 

"So...what do you think we can do about Jin Zixuan? My sister's fiancé, I mean." 

Nie Huaisang frowned and snapped his fan open again. "We need to figure out what he wants. He's in a precarious position. He's going to want to suck up to you, unless he can expose you, but you can just as easily claim that he should have recognized you before the exams. You can take him down with you." 

Wei Ying gaped at him. Truthfully, the thought of bringing people "down with her" made her a bit queasy. She didn't really see how things would go better for her if two or three people were six feet under instead of just one, but she supposed that it was a question of the carrot and the stick, and execution was indeed an effective stick. 

"So...we're threatening him?" She says skeptically. 

"We're giving him critical insight into his situation," Nie Huaisang said, which was such a diplomatic bullshit answer that Wei Ying definitely felt like he should be in the Emperor's cabinet himself. "Now, Jiang-xiong, do you know his personality? Do you think he would be the type to expose you at first opportunity once he recognizes you, or do you think he would let it simmer and then take the most logical action?" 

Wei Ying thought about everything she knew about Jin Zixuan. "Definitely the former. He once told my sister to her face that he didn't want to marry her! I swear, half the things he says don't even pass through his brain!" 

Nie Huaisang made a little tsk noise. "That could be good or bad. On the one hand, that makes him terribly volatile, but on the other hand, he may scare easily. At least he's a straightforward guy, not cunning and underhanded." 

Wei Ying pulled a face at this characterization of Jin Zixuan, which could be a compliment if she squinted. "I have no positive opinions on his virtues," she griped. 

"We all admire what we lack, Jiang-xiong, and take what we do have for granted. That's why I admire your brains, and you have such high standards for his virtues." 

"Aiya, what's the point of you flattering me now!" Wei Ying exclaimed, "we're literally trying to blackmail a guy!" 

"Informing, illuminating, explaining," Nie Huaisang said serenely, picking up his cup and then making a face when the tea turned out to be lukewarm. "Jiang-xiong, don't worry. Our fates are now entwined." 

Wei Ying sighed, but she would have been lying if she said she wasn't a little touched. She was not exactly used to having her fate be entwined with anyone's, at least not in a way that benefitted her. "So what do we do now?" 

"We sleep," Nie Huaisang said firmly. "Well, I will sleep. You will bathe. Look at you, you're covered in grime! Where have you been?" 

"Here and there," Wei Ying mumbled. 

"Bathe, then sleep. I will find a way to speak to Jin Zixuan tomorrow. We will nip this in the bud before the zhuangyuan parade." 

"Oh heavens," Wei Ying sighed, but stood up and schlepped downstairs to ask the Madame for a tub and some hot water.

The next day, Nie Huaisang was adamant that he track down Jin Zixuan himself. 

"Jiang-xiong," he coaxed over their breakfast spread, which Wei Ying inhaled enthusiastically as if it were her last meal: for all she knew, it could be! "It would be so much better for me to speak with him. It could give you some plausible deniability if he refuses to cooperate. And frankly, judging by your reaction to him so far, I don't think the existing...volatility within your relationship would help matters." 

Wei Ying, halfway through her third pork bun, reflected that Nie Huaisang really did have a way of breaking things down in a way that sounded both natural and inevitable. "Are you certain?" Wei Ying said, "wouldn't it be better if he could hear straight from the horse's mouth?" 

"Oh no, no," Nie Huaisang said, "I think a mediator is just what this situation calls for. Trust me. Can I confirm that the real Jiang Wanyin would not be coming to Chang'an to take on this post?" 

Wei Ying sighed. That was indeed a sore spot. "No," she said, "but I feel awful. I really owe him." 

"We'll deal with that later," Nie Huaisang said briskly, and Wei Ying found herself wanting to believe him. 

Nie Huaisang left quickly after breakfast, with the instruction for Wei Ying to lie low just in case she needed to escape if Jin Zixuan proved especially uncooperative. Wei Ying found herself much more agitated by this prospect than she had expected, and she thanked all the gods she could name, even the patently irrelevant ones, when Nie Huaisang returned to her suite after a shichen. 

"It's all taken care of," he said, looking like the cat that got the canary. "Young Master Jin will not be a problem for us." 

"You are a miracle worker, Huaisang," Wei Ying said admiringly. "The heavens must have been smiling upon me when I met you in that tavern!" 

"Ah, some people just have yuan, you know," Nie Huaisang said happily. "Now, I'm very glad this all worked out, because I had already commissioned these and it would have been such a waste if you had to go on the lam." 

Wei Ying was about to clarify that she wouldn't have run away, but she was distracted by the bundle that Nie Huaisang seemed to have conjured out of nowhere. "What's this?" She asked suspiciously. 

"You can't think you're meeting the Emperor in these clothes?" Nie Huaisang unwrapped the bundle, and Wei Ying could see several pairs of robes folded neatly, mostly in dark colours, but unmistakably made of silk. 

"Huaisang," she said, overcome, "I can't accept these! Besides, my robes are fine. They're made by the best tailor in Xiangyang!" 

"They're well-cut, but they are definitely not made of the finest material," Nie Huaisang refuted. "We're about the same size, so it wasn't even all that tough for the tailor. We do need to get you new shoes, though, it wouldn't do for Princess Lan to tower over you." 

Princess Lan! Wei Ying had totally forgotten about that part of her predicament. Outwardly, though, she only said, "Princess Lan is that tall?" Wei Ying herself was already tall for a woman; it was one of the few qualities that made her marriageable, according to Madame Yu. 

"The entire royal family is a bunch of giants," Nie Huaisang complained, "yet another reason I have no interest in court. I don't like it when I have to crane my neck just to hear people speak, it hurts my pride." 

Wei Ying laughed in commiseration and thanked Nie Huaisang for his gift. Thankfully, he did not insist on waiting around in her rooms while she tried them on, and instead bade her a quick farewell with promises to find her for dinner, with the somewhat ominous instruction to "dress nice." 

"Dress nice" was not a tough instruction to follow when Nie Huaisang had given her such lovely robes, Wei Ying thought to herself as she examined the different sets she had been given. Each was, of course, of the lanshan style, with lustrous silk that far exceeded what Wei Ying's two gold ingots had been able to buy for herself. She made sure the door was properly locked before changing out of her casual clothes. Though logically she knew that her time in Xiangyang was hardly a couple of xun ago, she felt like she had been in Chang'an for much longer.

Pulling off her hemp robes, Wei Ying made a face. The fabric binding her chest had, frankly, seen better days, and she should probably find a way to replace it, but what possible reason could she give for such a request? Perhaps she could find a discreet tailor on the outskirts of the city? 

Nie Huaisang swept into the room two ke later, in a set of robes much less ostentatious than the ones he usually wore, and ushered Wei Ying out the door. At the gate of the inn, he turned to her. 

"Jiang-xiong," he said, fan poised coquettishly in front of his face, "now don't be mad —” Wei Ying did not like the sound of that, and Nie Huaisang's grimace showed that he could tell — "but we're actually getting dinner elsewhere!" 

Wei Ying frowned, perplexed. "But why would I be mad about that?"

"Ah," Nie Huaisang coughed a bit self-consciously, and Wei Ying looked up to see a sleek green carriage, pulled by chestnut horses, stop right in front of the inn door. "We'll be dining with my brother." 

Chapter Text

Wei Ying absolutely owed Nie Huaisang for whatever fear of god he put into Jin Zixuan that morning, so she entered the Nie carriage with minimal protest. Still, she fidgeted throughout the trip to the centre of the city. Nie Huaisang did not fare much better; he refused to share any further information about his brother, only assuring Wei Ying that he would “probably” like her, which did not manage to settle her nerves. She managed to learn that Nie Mingjue had been the zhuangyuan around six years ago, which she already knew, but apparently he had also recently been promoted to Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy. Hanlin was the Emperor’s brain trust, and the most successful jinshi every year started there. If the next few days proceeded as expected, Nie Mingjue would be her boss. 

In no time at all, they have arrived at the Nie estate, and Nie Huaisang — rather alarmingly — mumbled a quick Amitabha to himself as he disembarked gingerly, holding onto the arm of the stablehand guiding him out of the carriage. He dusted himself off and put on a look of casual insouciance, but it was extremely obviously to Wei Ying that his shoulders were tight, his beady eyes alert and darting nervously around the gate. 

Wei Ying hopped out of the carriage herself and bade a quick farewell to the driver. Someone must have announced their arrival, because —

"Huaisang!" A voice bellowed from deep within the compound and Wei Ying instantly shot upright. "You little shit!" 

"Da-ge!" Nie Huaisang called back bravely, in a voice that held the barest tremor, "I brought home a guest!" 

"Who said you were allowed to bring one of your scoundrel friends home after the way you disgraced yourself! And then running off like that!" The bellowing voice grew closer and Wei Ying could just make out a very, very large shape striding towards them across the courtyard, behind the big wooden doors. 

Nie Mingjue was not what Wei Ying had expected. Nie Huaisang’s grousing over the past two xun had made him sound like a nagging tiger mother, and Wei Ying had sort of expected some kind of reedy, effete scholar. She didn't expect...well, this. 

Nie Mingjue was tall. Possibly the tallest, most imposing man she had ever met. He had the body and the bearing of one who was accustomed to the battlefield as opposed to one who spent his days up to his ears in Imperial edicts. His face was handsome in a sharp, rugged way, the kind that some of the servant girls at Lotus Pier would giggle over but which she and her a-jie had never understood the appeal of. He wore a deep scowl like a uniform and his thin eyes surveyed Wei Ying critically under his busy, thick brows. 

"Da-ge!" Nie Huaisang cried and flung himself behind Wei Ying. "I present to you my friend, Jiang Wanyin of Yunmeng! I’m sure you’ve heard, he’s the zhuangyuan!" 

Nie Mingjue's look turned genuinely incredulous as he surveyed Wei Ying up and down. 

"Um," Wei Ying started, then decided that a bow was the safest option, so she did just that. "It is an honour to meet you, Nie-xiansheng, and I appreciate your hospitality. Nie Huaisang has kindly invited me for dinner and I am honoured by the invitation." 

Judging by Nie Mingjue's baffled look, the dinner invitation was about as new to him as it was to her.

He snapped out of it soon enough. "Huaisang!" 

At Nie Mingjue's roar, Wei Ying rose out of her bow, having identified quite rightly that nobody was paying attention to her anymore. Nie Mingjue stepped closer to her to make a grab for his brother before his sense of propriety kicked in, and Nie Huaisang, who had surely been counting on that very thing, cowered even more behind Wei Ying. Wei Ying was not sure how effective that was: Nie Mingjue stood almost an entire chi above Nie Huaisang and could easily spot him regardless. But she supposed that her function was to be a meat shield — which, hey, after the favour that Nie Huaisang had done for her today? She'll take it. 

Nie Mingjue looked like he was debating whether to reach past Wei Ying and grab Nie Huaisang anyway, so she bowed again as a distraction. "Nie-xiansheng, this one named Jiang is at your service and would appreciate your guidance!" 

"Look at you two getting along!" Nie Huaisang said from behind her, and then she heard hurried little footsteps tapping quickly on the pavement. "Okay have fun talking about zhuangyuan stuff, bye!”

Wei Ying turned around to see Nie Huaisang hop back into the carriage, which took off immediately down the street at lightning speed.

Nie Mingjue's expression indicated that he was considering chasing after the carriage like a stubborn hound. His face had turned purple, and when he turned to Wei Ying, she had to remind herself to not take an instinctive step back. 

Nie Mingjue looked down the street again, where the carriage had long made a turn and disappeared to goodness-knows-where, and sighed deeply. He rubbed his high nose bridge between his caterpillar-like brows. 

"I apologize, young Master Jiang, for the shameful conduct of my brother," Nie Mingjue said finally, his voice resigned. 

"Oh!" Wei Ying started, "no, that's totally fine. Huaisang has been a great friend to me, there's no need for decorum between us." 

"Regardless," Nie Mingjue said, then stood up to his full height. "Welcoming a zhuangyuan to our home is an important occasion, and you deserve much more propriety than we've afforded you. I really do apologize, please come in." 

"Thank you," Wei Ying said, though she still felt quite trepidatious about the whole thing. Nie Mingjue, despite his obvious brilliance and refined position, gave off a general sense of volatility. Nevertheless, Wei Ying had no choice but to follow him into the compound. 

"Nie-xiansheng," she began as they walked through the courtyard. She kept her eyes resolutely away from the fish: she recalled that Nie Mingjue despised them because he thought them symbolic of Huaisang’s idleness. "I truly do apologize for imposing upon you." 

Nie Mingjue waved his hand magnanimously. "Not at all, not at all," he said, "I should apologize for not giving you the reception you deserve. I was planning to speak with you sooner than later, I have been in your position before, after all. I just wish it could have been under better circumstances. I would have at least asked the cook to prepare something more elaborate." 

"There is no need," Wei Ying said brightly, "I'm hardy! I can eat anything.” 

"Well, that’s good," Nie Mingjue said, "His Imperial Majesty believes in asceticism of cuisine as well as in dress and living. It was a difficult adjustment for me. Qinghe is by no means a wealthy place, but we enjoy our meats and salt when we could get them. You're from Yunmeng, aren't you? It will be a big shift for you too, I reckon." 

"I've been enjoying the food in Chang'an so far," Wei Ying said, mildly alarmed. 

Nie Mingjue snorted. "Yes, the epicentre of the world, the final destination of every spice, and none of them will ever make their way into the Imperial Palace. Ah, but that's how you know His Imperial Majesty is an especially sage ruler. Far be it from me to deride other Sons of Heaven in our glorious history, but His Imperial Majesty's commitment to asceticism and discipline perfectly reflect the wise teachings of Confucius. The entire Imperial Family is of the highest character, and Prince Lan will make a fine king in the near future, when His Imperial Majesty decides to step down. And of course!" Nie Mingjue's face suddenly turned teasing, which was such a huge whiplash that it sent Wei Ying reeling. "You, you lucky dog, will get to marry into it!" 

"Aha, yes," Wei Ying said, and wracked her brain for an appropriate response. "I am very grateful that His Imperial Majesty has decided that I am fit to wed his niece, whom I heard is the epitome of women." 

Nie Mingjue nodded approvingly. "Yes, Princess Lan is indeed a pearl. She is virtuous, learned, and of course beautiful! All of Hanlin is green with jealousy, I can tell you," he said jovially and gestured Wei Ying to step over the curb leading to the room at the back of the courtyard. "They are all cursing the young upstart who gets to marry the princess, but of course it's not your fault that they were either born too early or too mentally deficient to become a zhuangyuan. We make our own fate, and all we can do is stand ready when duty and destiny call us to task, do you not think so?" 

"Absolutely," Wei Ying said above the din of her internal narration, which was a never-ending loop of distant screams that sounded an awful like let one of them have her then! She took in the sitting room, which was larger and more opulent than the one she had been using to revise with Nie Huaisang. Nie Mingjue gestured for her to sit on a dark wooden chair with surprisingly stylish cushions, while he himself took a seat in a nearby chair. 

"Dinner will be ready for us soon," Nie Mingjue said after having sent a servant to fetch tea. "I did not know you were coming, so the cook had only made enough for two, but," he added a bit viciously, "that serves Huaisang right for running off, don't you think? He can fend for himself." 

"Oh, um," Wei Ying said, "I'm sure Huaisang can take care of himself. He is very resourceful. Very smart." 

"And he doesn't know where to apply it," Nie Mingjue said with a snort, "if he put in half the time to study the classics as he did all the baubles in those markets, we could have had two scholars in the family. Instead, he seems to have failed even worse this time compared to the last." 

"I'm sorry to hear that," Wei Ying said, and she privately thanked the heavens that Nie Mingjue didn't know just how culpable she really was for Nie Huaisang's successful failure. "Nonetheless, he has been a valuable friend to me. I do not know anyone in Chang'an, and selfishly I must say I am relieved that I will have at least one familiar face around in the future." 

"Right, I suppose you don't have anyone from your hometown?" At Wei Ying's head shake, Nie Mingjue tutted in sympathy. "Yes, I know that is quite difficult. Will you be able to move your family here?" 

"Unfortunately, I am an orphan," Wei Ying said. "I do have a foster brother and sister, but..." 

"I assume they have their own families and priorities, yes, there’s nothing quite like flesh and blood.” Nie Mingjue nodded solemnly, picking up a pale blue teacup that looked borderline absurd in his large hand. "Huaisang and I are orphans too, but we have each other. You will make more friends in Chang'an, I certainly did. The Hanlin Academy has been very good to me." Then he slapped his leg with a barking laugh. "Ah, but what am I saying! You will soon have a wife and a family of your own!" 

"Yes," Wei Ying fought off the grimace threatening to emerge on her face. "I do not want to burden Princess Lan, though." 

"Even with the circumstances of her birth, a wife should be primarily concerned with supporting and obeying her husband," Nie Mingjue said firmly. "I am certain that Princess Lan would want nothing more than to help you achieve your goals. Speaking of, do you have any questions for me? About Hanlin, or our work?" 

Wei Ying, when she thought about it, did have a lot of detailed questions about work. What would her day-to-day look like? What would she spend most of her time doing? To what extent does Hanlin have influence over Imperial edicts, or are they just the messenger? Nie Mingjue answered her questions patiently and elaborately, and Wei Ying began to understand how he was able to flourish so well for all those years. Nie Mingjue spoke fondly of the other scholars at Hanlin, their debates over Confucian interpretations for specific policies, and the contributions of Prince Lan Xichen, who — in a rather unusual bid — had been sent to work with scholars to prepare for the throne. Wei Ying remembered that Nie Mingjue was becoming Prince Lan's right-hand man, but the obvious fondness in Nie Mingjue's voice suggested friendship and respect well beyond what would have been required for his service. 

When Wei Ying finally asked about how she should prepare for the challenges of the job, Nie Mingjue's face clouded over. 

"The eunuchs," he said darkly, putting down his teacup with a clang. "You are familiar with the story of the Ten Attendants, yes?" At Wei Ying's affirmative nod, he went on: "then you know how eunuchs are. An enemy against all who wish to do good in this Empire. Their personal ambitions -- despite their inability to sire children and bring honour to their ancestors -- is even more indicative of their moral decay. His Imperial Majesty is not so easily swayed by such unscrupulous persons, but there is a contingent of eunuchs who are chiefly preoccupied with their own power and status and would put such concerns above the well-being of the nation." 

"Is His Imperial Majesty cognizant of such a plot?" Wei Ying asked. She, like everyone who was raised among scholarly aspirations, had an automatic distrust of the eunuch, though she was even-minded enough to appreciate that it was probably unwarranted. 

"It hasn't devolved into a plot, that's the issue," Nie Mingjue said, his thick brows furrowing in displeasure. "I'm sure they're up to something, but I can't for the life of me figure out what it is. I just don't like the look of their little ringleader, he has been getting much too close to Xi — I mean, Prince Lan. He was sent to Prince Lan when they were both hardly thirteen, and Prince Lan is nothing if not magnanimous and loyal to his retinue. When he’s the one on the throne…” 

Wei Ying nodded. She did grow up hearing horror stories of unscrupulous eunuchs scheming to take over palace politics for their own gain. "How have you mitigated the influence of the eunuchs thus far?" 

Nie Mingjue harrumphed. "It has been difficult. They do not, of course, go directly against His Imperial Majesty, but they are often the ones responsible for delivering communications between the Academy and His Imperial Majesty, and you can never ensure that they are really telling the whole truth. At the moment they're behaving themselves because Prince Lan obviously sees everything from both sides, but as soon as he ascends...that little weasel Jin Guangyao is preparing for the day His Imperial Majesty abdicates, I just know it!" He slammed his hand on his thigh to make the point, the sound echoing ominously around the sitting room. "He's already gotten his little claws into Xichen! I just know he's up to no good!" 

Wei Ying observed this outburst with a curious eye, but something about the name was nagging at her. "Wait," she said, "did you say his name was Jin Guangyao? Do you know if he's in any way related to the Jin merchants of Lanling?" 

Nie Mingjue, distracted from his tirade, looked pensive. "It's possible. You know, he was given to the Palace when he was thirteen," he said, "I wasn't around then, but I did hear that he was gifted by some big-time merchant. I felt bad for him, at the beginning. He seemed quite harmless, and Xichen — I mean, Prince Lan — adored him. He had trouble with some of the other eunuchs in the Palace due to his background. There are rumours that his mother was a prostitute and he was a bastard. Gossip says that his father took him in when his mother died, only to send him straight to the Palace to be castrated." 

Wei Ying, despite having no parts privy to castration, still winced. Nie Mingjue gave her a knowing look. "Yeah, exactly," he said, "obviously sending young eunuchs is a classic way to curry favour with His Imperial Majesty, but doing that to your own son? Despicable. Bad blood in him, if so." 

"Thank you for sharing your wisdom, Nie-xiansheng," Wei Ying said, having decided that some gratitude was probably the best way forward at the moment. "I am sure that with you looking out for him, Prince Lan would be inoculated from the worst of those who wish him ill. Also, seeing as he is the preferred ruler of this Jin Guangyao, I'm sure it would be in his interest to ensure that nothing happens to Prince Lan." 

"I suppose that's true," Nie Mingjue said with a grunt. "I haven't thought of it this way before. I guess Xichen is not in danger, at least, which is not something you can say of all those poor Emperors and Princes in history, but we must always stay vigilant nonetheless." 

"Of course, and I look forward to following your guidance," Wei Ying said politely. 

"It is my duty as your senior," Nie Mingjue said, mollified. "Hey, and I appreciate that Huaisang has a friend in you. I'm sure you're an excellent influence on him, even if he hasn't really done anything with it." 

"Ah," Wei Ying kept her face looking neutral, "I haven't done much, really. I just support him in his goals."

"His goal is to buy the entirety of the Western Market," Nie Mingjue muttered, and Wei Ying couldn't even disagree. "Well, I'm sure the cook is ready for us, so if you don't mind something a bit more homespun, let's get to eating. I'll tell you more about the parade and the banquet."