Chapter 742 — Gifts for the Fairy

CHAPTER 742

Gifts for the Fairy

Twelve lacquered chests stood in a row in the front hall of the Phoenix Tail Pavilion, and Qu Ming opened every one of them himself.

“Snow ginseng from the Azure Sun’s own peaks,” Qu Ming said, lifting the first lid. “Three hundred years old. Fire-jade, to warm the hands in winter. A red bronze furnace, made by my grandfather’s own refiner.” He walked down the row, lifting lids. “Silk. Pearls. A thousand-year lingzhi. All for Fairy Shen.”

The candidates had been called to the pavilion that morning to hear the banquet’s rules. Nobody had read the rules yet. Instead, eleven of them stood along the hall’s side wall and watched the Azure Sun young lord put on a show.

Shi Feng stood at the end of the row, with his ribs bound tight under a clean robe. He’d slept two hours on Auntie Niu’s flour sacks. He was angry about the attack and worried about leaving Ji Yuanhe alone again.

Shen Yaoqing stood at the foot of the main stair in her plain Serene Jade blue. She hadn’t looked at the chests once.

“Young Lord Qu,” Shen Yaoqing said. “The Serene Jade doesn’t accept gifts from candidates.”

“Not from a candidate,” Qu Ming said, smiling. “From a friend of the family. From the Azure Sun to the Serene Jade.”

“Everyone in the capital knows Fairy Shen’s master is ill,” Qu Ming said. “Everyone knows what pill she needs, and how few men alive could even try to make it. My grandfather, Qu Hanshan, is one of those men.” He let that sit for a breath. “He’ll make it, gladly. When Fairy Shen has accepted the Azure Sun’s terms.”

The hall went silent.

Shen Yaoqing stopped at the first step and turned back. She crossed to the row of chests and lifted the red bronze furnace out of the third one herself, and held it up where the hall could see the rim.

“The Serene Jade will buy that pill at market price,” Shen Yaoqing said. “In the open, with the appraisal published beside the price, and every bid entered in the household’s register.” She set the furnace back in its chest, lid open. “Not a gift. Not a dowry. Not a term.”

Ke Lianshu, at the foot of the stair, had his brush out before she finished. He wrote the refusal in the household register, in the column for gifts declined, and sanded the page.

Several candidates lowered their heads, afraid of offending either sect. Cheng Mobai was openly disgusted. By the window, Situ Jinghong watched Qu Ming’s face with a faint smile.

Shen Yaoqing didn’t wait for an answer. She turned and walked up the main stair one step at a time, and she didn’t hurry. At the top, she went through the door to the inner rooms, and it closed behind her without a sound.

Qu Ming laughed lightly, and wanted everyone to believe it hadn’t embarrassed him.

“Leave them,” Qu Ming told his attendants, with a nod at the chests. “She’ll want them later.”

Then he turned, and his eyes found the end of the row.

“Alchemist,” Qu Ming said. “You look tired. Did you fall on the ice after all?”

“Four men fell,” Shi Feng said. “In my lane, last night. Debt-collectors. One of them said a young lord in red paid them in gold.”

A few candidates glanced at Qu Ming’s red-gold robe. Then they quickly looked away.

“Red’s a popular colour,” Qu Ming said.

“So the watch told me,” Shi Feng said.

He came away from the wall and walked down the row of chests until he stood in front of Qu Ming. He didn’t raise his voice. The hall was quiet enough already.

“Young Lord Qu,” Shi Feng said. “I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully. In the ring, you can burn me as much as you like. That’s what the ring is for. But there’s an old man who lives in my courtyard. If anyone goes near him, in any colour, I won’t wait for the bracket, and I won’t take him to the watch.”

For one breath, Qu Ming’s smile wavered.

Then it came back, wider than before.

“Save it for the stage, alchemist,” Qu Ming said. “You’ll need the breath.” He tapped the lid of the nearest chest. “A fierce dragon can’t crush the local snake. A furnace-sweeper should learn whose city he’s standing in.”

He walked out with his attendants behind him, and the red-gold banners went out with him.

Nobody read the banquet rules that morning. Ke Lianshu apologised to the hall at length, and said the princess would see the candidates another time.

Shi Feng found Cheng Mobai in the courtyard outside, kicking snow off the steps for no reason.

“What are the terms?” Shi Feng asked.

Cheng Mobai looked at him as if he’d asked what colour the sky was.

“You really don’t know?” Cheng Mobai asked.

“I’ve been in the capital one season,” Shi Feng said. “I’ve spent most of it in a furnace hall.”

“A marriage,” Cheng Mobai said. “Everyone in the capital knows. Qu Hanshan wants her for his grandson. The Serene Jade’s chief disciple, married into the Azure Sun. Think what that’s worth to them.” He spat into the snow. “A toad wanting to eat swan meat. But her master can’t wait forever, so Qu Hanshan can afford to wait for her.”

Shi Feng was quiet for a while.

“They’re using her master’s illness to force her,” Shi Feng said at last. “She’s already refused. They just don’t care.”

Cheng Mobai glanced toward the hall. His anger hadn’t faded, but he lowered his voice before answering.

“Careful, Alchemist,” Cheng Mobai said. “Say that where the Azure Sun can hear it, and you’ll be fighting more than four men in a lane.”

Shi Feng looked up at the pavilion. On the second floor, one window stood open despite the cold. Nobody was in it. A thin line of snow blew in and melted on the sill.

Behind him, the pavilion doors opened, and Ke Lianshu came down the steps, bowing as he came.

“Master Shi,” Ke Lianshu said. “Her Highness has read your report from last night. She asks you to come up.”