Chapter 778 — Red Robe in the Gallery

CHAPTER 778

Red Robe in the Gallery

At night, lantern boats ringed the Lake Stage. Their light showed every scorched patch on the black stone.

Pavilion boats had set lamps all round the stage, and the water held a second set of them upside down. The shore was empty. The gallery wasn’t. Long Caili sat in her usual seat in dark gold, her pale gauze veil drawn from brow to chin, with Shen Yaoqing beside her. Inspector Nie Liyan sat with his law book. Ke Lianshu stood at the foot of the landing, bowing to everyone who passed.

“Master Shi, Young Lord Qu,” Ke Lianshu said. “This humble steward apologises for the hour. Under the ring law, both finalists must walk the stage and declare it fit. Please take as long as you need.”

Qu Ming walked it first. He didn’t look at the stone. He walked straight to the far edge, turned, and stood there with his arms folded, watching Shi Feng.

Shi Feng walked it slowly.

The stone was cracked in two places where Situ Jinghong’s seals had come loose. It was scorched black in a long fan on the landing side, from Qu Ming’s white sun. The lake at the north edge was deeper than at the south. He noted all three and said nothing.

“Fit,” Shi Feng said, at the end.

“Fit,” Qu Ming said, without moving.

Then the Azure Sun arrived.

Eight flame banners came first, carried by eight disciples in red. Behind them a carriage of red lacquer rolled up to the shore, and the pavilion staff on the landing bowed low before its door had even opened. Ke Lianshu bowed lowest of all.

An old man stepped down. He wore a red robe embroidered with gold suns, and his white beard reached his belt. He climbed to the gallery without any help, and the air around him smelled faintly of a furnace.

“Qu Hanshan,” someone in the boats whispered. “The Azure Sun’s alchemy elder.”

“The half-step 6 Mark. Registered at eight clouds.”

“He came out of seclusion to watch his grandson?”

The old man took the centre seat in the first row. Qu Ming came off the stage at once and stood behind him, as straight as a disciple at his lessons.

“Your Highness,” Qu Hanshan said to Long Caili. His voice was deep and slow. “This old man thanks you for the seat.”

“The Azure Sun paid for it,” Long Caili said. “Thank the steward.”

Qu Hanshan smiled slightly. Then he turned his head toward Shen Yaoqing.

“Chief Disciple Shen. How is your master’s health?” Qu Hanshan asked, his voice carrying to the landing.

Shen Yaoqing didn’t look at him. She was looking at the lake, at the lanterns on the water, and she kept on looking at them.

“She’s alive,” Shen Yaoqing said.

“Tell her this old man asks after her,” Qu Hanshan said. “And that the furnace is ready whenever she is.”

Shen Yaoqing gave him no answer. Her face stayed expressionless, but Shi Feng noticed how firmly she gripped her sleeve. She did not welcome the concern.

Qu Hanshan let the silence sit for a moment. Then he looked down from the gallery at the stage, where Shi Feng still stood by the landing steps.

“You’re the one who raised six clouds in a market doorway,” Qu Hanshan said.

“I am,” Shi Feng said, and bowed as an alchemist bows to an elder of the craft. “Elder Qu.”

The old man’s eyes went to Shi Feng’s bandaged arms and stayed there.

“You put out my grandson’s fire with your sleeves,” Qu Hanshan said. “One false step and the whole game is lost. Don’t try it again tomorrow. That was his second stage. He has a third.”

“I heard you, Elder Qu,” Shi Feng said. He held the elder’s gaze. “Your grandson’s fourth sun came after the gong. I remember that too.”

Behind his grandfather, Qu Ming laughed out loud.

Qu Hanshan didn’t laugh. He studied Shi Feng’s face, evidently displeased that the warning had not frightened him. Then he rose, nodded once to the princess, and went down the gallery stairs to his carriage. Qu Ming followed without looking back. The eight flame banners went away along the shore, and the boats’ lanterns rocked in their wake.

Up in the gallery, Shen Yaoqing was still looking at the lake.

She didn’t move until the last red banner had gone round the far bend. Then she stood up.

“I’m tired, Caili,” Shen Yaoqing said. “I’ll go in.”

“Go,” Long Caili said.

Shen Yaoqing went down the stairs on the far side, away from the landing. She didn’t look at Shi Feng either. She walked past the pavilion staff and into the dark garden.

Long Caili stayed where she was.

“Master Shi,” Long Caili said. “Come up. Steward Ke, send everyone away from the gallery.”

Ke Lianshu bowed and led the staff down the stairs. He checked the landing himself before withdrawing, leaving the gallery private.

“Sit,” Long Caili said, when Shi Feng reached the top of the stairs. She pointed at the seat Shen Yaoqing had left. “There’s something you should know before tomorrow. Nobody else is going to tell you.”