Chapter 556 — The Last Bridge

CHAPTER 556

The Last Bridge

The lantern street ended at a hump-backed bridge, and past it the lights thinned out.

Ling Qingzhu sat down on the third step from the top. She set the rabbit lamp beside her and patted the stone. “Clause fourteen. The second party sits,” Ling Qingzhu said.

Shi Feng sat.

Below them, the canal ran slow and black. A few late boats drifted under the arch with their lamps already low. From the lantern street came the faint sounds of closing shutters and a woman scolding a child. A temple bell rang to the east. It was the second bell.

For a while neither of them spoke. Her hands were pushed into her sleeves, and he could see she was cold.

He reached over without speaking and took her left hand.

It was small and chilled, and it stiffened for a breath. Then it relaxed. Shi Feng let a thread of warmth pass from his palm into hers, thin enough that no passing cultivator would see it. Nascent Soul qi was wasted on a cold hand. He found he didn't mind the waste.

“You're doing it again,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“Doing what?” Shi Feng asked.

“Heating my hand and pretending it's the weather,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“It is the weather,” Shi Feng said.

“Husband,” Ling Qingzhu said. She didn't take her hand back.

He let that stand.

“What will you do after the Hall?” Ling Qingzhu asked.

“Which part?” Shi Feng asked.

“The part after the Pagoda and the pills and the ledgers. You said once that you'd go to the Empire,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“I said I'd go north,” Shi Feng said.

“Same thing,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“It's not,” Shi Feng said. He looked at the water. “There's a debt. I've been reading the road in my head for months. It's a long way, and something always goes wrong.”

“For her,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“For the debt,” Shi Feng said.

“You told me you've never seen her face,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“I don't need a face to repay a debt,” Shi Feng said.

“No,” Ling Qingzhu agreed. She was smiling. It was a small, private smile, and it wasn't the teasing one he knew. “I knew you'd say that. I wanted to hear it again.”

“Why?” Shi Feng asked.

“Because it's the same answer you'd give if it were me,” Ling Qingzhu said. She stopped. Her ears were pink. “That's not what I meant to say. Forget it.”

“Noted,” Shi Feng said.

“Don't note it,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“I'm not writing anything,” Shi Feng said. “Go on.”

Ling Qingzhu looked at the water for a long moment. A boat passed beneath them. The boatman's lamp lit her face. Ling Qingzhu looked nervous now. She'd made up her mind, but seemed afraid of what he might say.

“I'll come,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“Where?” Shi Feng asked.

“North. With you,” Ling Qingzhu said.

Shi Feng turned his head.

“I'm not saying forever,” Ling Qingzhu said quickly. “I've got the Valley, and Mother's garden, and Wanning needs someone to stop her signing contracts. But when you go, I'll come. I want to see what the fuss is about.”

“The fuss?” Shi Feng asked.

“Someone who got you to say ‘I owe her’ out loud. You don't say that about anyone,” Ling Qingzhu said. She finally looked at him. “I'd like to meet someone like that. I'd like to see if she's taller than I am.”

“You'd have to carry your own bag,” Shi Feng said.

“I'd carry yours,” Ling Qingzhu said. “As evidence.”

He laughed. It came out short and low, and surprised him. She heard it, and her whole face lit up. Without the veil, there was nothing to hide it.

They sat for a while longer. The last of the lantern boats went under the bridge. Down the lantern street, a man began taking down the dragon, a section at a time.

“Husband,” Ling Qingzhu said, more quietly. “You still say my whole name.”

“It's your name,” Shi Feng said.

“It's my clan's too,” Ling Qingzhu said, turning her palm against his. “Su Wanning calls me ‘Qingzhu’ in every other sentence. Lin Langtian calls me something I won't repeat. You never do. Even when you're angry. Even when you're being kind. It's always Ling Qingzhu.”

“Habit,” Shi Feng said.

“Break it,” Ling Qingzhu said.

Shi Feng looked at the water. He thought of the storeroom, and the quilt, and the Valley stair. He'd nearly called her Qingzhu in each of those places. Every time, he'd hesitated and used her full name instead.

“Later,” Shi Feng said.

“When later?” Ling Qingzhu asked.

“When it counts,” Shi Feng said.

“It counts now,” Ling Qingzhu said.

“Then later still,” Shi Feng said.

Ling Qingzhu laughed softly, though she was disappointed. She didn't press him. She leaned in, just slightly, until her shoulder rested against his arm. Neither of them looked at the other.

It was the warmest he had been in three years.

The bell rang again, nearer this time. The lantern men were pulling in their wires. Ling Qingzhu lifted her head, picked up the rabbit lamp, and shook the paper out of its stand to check the flame.

“The tanners' alley,” Ling Qingzhu said. “Old Bian closes at the third bell.”

“You've planned this too,” Shi Feng said.

“I plan everything,” Ling Qingzhu said. “It's the one thing I do better than you.”

“You do several,” Shi Feng said.

She stood, pulled him up by the hand, and did not let go of it until they had reached the bottom of the bridge.