The fever only lasted a day, but her illness gave her Master an excuse to visit, and he badgered her every day for a week until she threw him out. To his chagrin, she refused his pleas for her to stay in bed, but she did not work in the shop and did not touch the mixing room for fear of contaminating the products. She also moved a week’s worth of consultations to the following week, and for those she could not rearrange she sent Yue Xia in her place. Unfortunately, one of these appointments was with Imperial Consort Zhang, who on receiving her letter immediately sent an imperial doctor out of the palace to attend to her…which, while well-intentioned, was of course a waste of time…

 

“I am really very sorry, Miss Wu, but I cannot leave until I’ve at least checked your pulse. Please don’t put me into a difficult position with her Highness…” said the gangly young man who was standing quite awkwardly in her sitting room, a medical box held by a strap over his shoulder.

 

Cui Xi lazily leaned her cheek against her fist and took a moment to analyze his expression. She decided that it was made of two parts fear and one part of righteous indignation. Two parts because it was clear from what he’d said that he was deathly afraid of Imperial Consort Zhang, and one part because he’d just been rejected by a commoner who lived next door to a pleasure house. She had to admire the fact that he refused to shirk his duty, despite feeling insulted by her attitude.

 

But…Eeek. This guy has zero EQ…

 

“Doctor Song, you can see that I am well,” she sighed. “I apologize for wasting your time, but please go back.”

 

“Mistress, lying to her Highness is a capital offence. You really are making this too hard for Doctor Song…” whispered Su Qing loudly.

 

Cui Xi sat up and gave Su Qing a withering look. Backed into a corner, she waved the young man up to her chair. However, he ran up to her with such eagerness that she almost laughed in his face and barely managed to contain it. This guy!

 

Taking a cloth, he put it over her wrist, and put his fingers over her pulse. While he was doing so, Xiao Yu just so happened to come in.

 

“Don’t trust me anymore?” she teased.

 

Su Qing frantically slashed a hand across her throat, but unfortunately the doctor had already heard her.

 

“Who is this young miss?” he asked, frowning. Cui Xi mused that when his eyebrows smashed together like that they looked like a single thick brown worm.

 

“Ah, Imperial Doctor Song, this is Miss Yang Wan Yu, my good friend,” Cui Xi, put a little emphasis on the “imperial” part. She was in no mood to give any further offence to anyone from the Imperial College of Physicians and certainly not one sent by an Imperial Consort. Xiao Yu raised her eyebrows understanding immediately and smoothed out her face.

 

Despite that, the young man blinked and peered closer at Xiao Yu.

 

“Yang…is that Yang Ming Xi’s ‘Yang?’” he asked, curiously.

 

Cui Xi nodded in surprise.

 

“Yes, Yang Ming Xi is Xiao Yu’s father and my Yifu…you know him?” she asked.

 

He shook his head.

 

“No, my Master is the current head of the imperial college and was Doctor Yang’s student,” he said, breaking into a smile. “It makes me a grand disciple.”

 

Xiao Yu’s face cleared, and she smiled in a friendlier way.

 

“Ah yes. Father still speaks very fondly of Chen Li…” she said. Xiao Yu was pleased. At least this person did not speak ill of her father or mention his expulsion from the capital.

 

“Is Grandmaster well?” asked Doctor Song politely.

 

“Yes, my Father is well. However, he is very busy as the village that he looks after has had many cases of fever.”

 

“I’m glad he is well. Does Miss Yang knows medicine?”

 

“A little…”

 

“A lot!” Cui Xi frowned. “She was the one who tended the Seventh Prince when he was injured a few months ago. As you know, he is well recovered.”

 

Cui Xi observed the eyebrows smashing together into a worm again. Gosh, you are a weird looking guy…

 

“Ehhh? Master wondered about that as no one was called…Miss Yang must be very skilled. I understood that the injury was not small.”

 

Xiao Yu blushed, but Cui Xi smiled. She was fiercely proud of Xiao Yu’s skill and even if the girl herself would not admit it, Cui Xi took every chance to ensure its recognition.

 

“Well Doctor Song? With Xiao Yu here, I cannot be ill…” she said.

 

“No…but you have a very strange pulse. Sometimes it is steady and sometimes it is not. Almost as if you are not the same person from one moment to the next…” he frowned.

 

Cui Xi froze. Doctor Song’s words echoed in her head. Not the same person…

 

“Don’t be alarmed, Miss Wu, an unsettled pulse only means that you are occasionally prone to weakness. Be careful not to overwork yourself. I will proscribe supplements to strengthen your body. Miss Yang would you like to discuss it?”

 

Xiao Yu nodded hastily and rose to follow, making an apologetic face to Cui Xi.

 

The doctor was already walking away, muttering to himself, and not even bothering to bid farewell as he swiftly exited with Xiao Yu on his heels.

 

Su Qing blew air out of her nose.

 

“What a strange person…” she muttered.

 

“Su Qing,” Cui Xi’s voice was soft, but Su Qing felt immediately felt a chill of apprehension go up her back.

 

“Here!” she said, coming to stand in front of her Mistress and bowing.

 

“I don’t want anyone to know about my pulse. Speak with the doctor before he leaves so that he does not record it in his annals if possible. Also make sure that he does not report it to the Imperial Consort. Finally, toward you and Xiao Hei I am quite lax, but you are my subordinates…for these matters you cannot simply act on your own,” Cui Xi sighed wearily.

 

“Mistress, forgive me!” Su Qing cried, dropping to her knees and thumping her head on the ground. She immediately realized her mistake, and felt a cold sweat jump out on her neck. She had not realized that the Mistress had her own reasons for refusing the visit and had only spoken because she was worried for the Mistress’s health. In fact, she just thought that the Mistress was once again acting spoilt…and this had resulted in her Mistress being exposed. If there was a secret to be concealed about the Mistress’s constitution, then Su Qing had just made a terrible mistake.

 

“Su Qing will submit to any punishment ordered. Su Qing is ashamed to have disappointed you so much, Mistress.”

 

“It is good that you know it. Neither my medical situation nor your mistake is to be reported to my Master. Tell Xiao Hei to come accompany me. I don’t wish to see you for a day. There will be no other punishment.”

 

“The Mistress is kind. I will go immediately to arrange it,” Su Qing whispered, feeling contrite.

 

“Get up. You may take leave now,” Cui Xi sighed, rubbing an eyebrow.

 

“Yes, Mistress,” Su Qing stood, backed away, and then turned to leave, shoulders slightly hunched.

 

Aaagh, I hate being the bad guy, Cui Xi thought, watching Su Qing exit.

 

Su Qing felt that the Mistress had been too lenient even though she had been completely right. Su Qing had acted entirely out of turn and she regretted it. While the Mistress was young and temperamental, she had a very strong sense of right and wrong. Where she could, she was kind and where she could not, she was not afraid to act decisively. Thus, she rewarded loyalty and punished justly, and she treated everyone in her household as if they were members of her own family. Naturally, she would have her own reasons for doing things. It was only in the matter of her own heart, that she appeared to allow things to be a mess.

 

This time, Su Qing had done something unforgivable. If Mistress would not punish her, then certainly she would have to report to the Master…as was her duty as a member of Hidden Night City.

 

Xiao Hei appeared to Cui Xi not too long after Su Qing had exited the main room and Cui Xi was not surprised to find that the girl had quietly left the house. Whether or not Su Qing would actually report everything in its entirety to her Master didn’t matter too much to Cui Xi except that she truly didn’t want him to think she was ill. A weird pulse…two different people…she hadn’t had to think about it for a long time. However, she crushed the feeling of doubt with an iron fist.

 

I am strong now. I am me and only me. No one else can say anything or interfere.

 

Although the fingers of the past wanted to grab her and throttle her, she refused to let it triumph. My life is my own, she said sternly to herself.

 

“Mistress?” Xiao Hei asked.

 

Cui Xi blinked, finding herself standing outside in the street in front of the shop.

 

“I need some air,” she said.

 

“Shall I get your hat and veil…what about your cloak, Mistress?” Xiao Hei asked, concerned. She’d run out without anything on and the snow was already soaking through her clothes.

 

Belatedly, Cui Xi also realized that she had not covered her face, and a few people were beginning to stare and point.

 

“Who is that beauty? Is that the Cosmetics Goddess?”

 

“But…isn’t she supposed to be ugly and scarred?”

 

“She’s a demonic skin changer…maybe she’s stolen a face…?”

 

“Mistress?” Xiao Hei asked again, patiently.

 

She shook her head.

 

“Maybe it’s time to take off the mask and be myself,” she said to him.

 

“Then at least let me get a cloak for you, Mistress?” he jerked his chin towards the house.

 

She smiled and nodded.

 

“Ennn.”

 

Xiao Hei grinned, and with one graceful leap made it back to the balcony level, slid the door open, and put his head in to call for Su Rou. However, right when his back was turned, someone sneakily shoved his Mistress into a carriage.

 

Cui Xi didn’t even have time to scream as she was pulled up and tumbled backwards.

 

“Miss Wu. Long time, no see. How have you been, you little fox?” said a cool voice that reminded her of wind rustling through bamboo.

 

The guard who still had his hand clamped around her mouth, slowly released her, setting her down on the bench across from the Crown Prince of Tiansheng.

 

“Your Highness, what a surprise,” she greeted, as her voice dripped with irony. The guard cuffed her on the side of the head, cutting her just above the eyebrow. She hissed in pain, but said nothing.

 

“Mind your betters,” he grunted in disgust.

 

Cui Xi made a less defiant face, but Zhao Ling Feng only laughed.

 

“So, you’re actually this beautiful,” he mused. “I had wondered what was wrong with my brother’s eyes at the time. The ones he picks are generally prettier than you…though I must admit that you have lasted longer than the others…”

 

Dammit. Is he trying to get a rise out of me? Wrong topic…

 

“Your Highness, you don’t have to waste words with me. What do you want?” she said, wiping the blood out of her eye.

 

The guard made to hit her again, but the Crown Prince languidly raised a hand.

 

“You! Get out and keep watch,” he said calmly to the guard.

 

The man nodded, agilely swinging himself out the back window.

 

“Huh, I didn’t think a man that big could squeeze out a window so small…” Cui Xi laughed without humour.

 

Something flickered across the Crown Prince’s face, but he only said:

 

“Yes, he is very useful. Now…I have a task for you. My father’s birthday banquet follows very quickly on the heels of the Spring festival. For those who perform at this banquet, he normally grants a request. So, you will dance for him. You will be sure to please him and ask for the tiger tally on my behalf.”

 

“The w-what? The tiger tally?! How can I ask for the tiger tally? Are you crazy?” she stared at him.

 

He reached over and jerked her into his lap.

 

“You have the ability to do it. My Father Emperor has a terrible weakness for beautiful women. You will obtain the tally with this…and this…by whatever means…” he said, painfully gripping her flesh, and sliding his hands down her body. She winced.

 

“No! Stop it!” Cui Xi cried, struggling. She twisted about trying to jab her ring against his throat, but he caught her wrist and flung her back across the small space onto the bench with enough force that she bruised her hip.

 

Owww.

 

She glared up at him, but he only smiled. She swallowed as his eyes took on a fearsome light.

 

“It will be useless to tell the Seventh Prince for this. I also knew you would resist, so I took something of yours…” he said with casual contempt. He hurled an object at her, and she went stone cold as she gazed down. Instantly, she felt tears of rage and fear fill her eyes.

 

Slowly, she reached down onto the floor of the carriage, putting out trembling fingers. Gathering the objects into her hand, she gazed down at three lucky knots that had become snarled together. It appeared that the Crown Prince had discovered her messenger urchins.

 

“They are just children…” she said with quiet rage. “If you harm them…”

 

“How little you think of this Prince! Of course, they will eventually be returned to you. You only need to do what I say, Miss Wu,” said the Crown Prince.

 

They stared at each other across the space of the carriage. Where before she might have felt fear, it was now replaced fully with rage.

 

“I won’t do anything without seeing that they are unharmed,” she said.

 

“You don’t have the ability to bargain with me,” was the calm response.

 

Cui Xi’s fist tightened around the knots. You evil bastard!

 

“Very well,” she said, tightly. “I’ll do as you ask.”

 

“So obedient! It makes me regret not taking you from my brother that night as I prefer women who know how to submit to my will. I will arrange your entry into the palace. Remember you are performing for the Emperor. Charm him with your wicked dance. And here…this is for your entry into the palace,” he said, passing her a heavy, but finely carved jade token.

 

She did not need to look at it to see that it was an entry token belonging to the East Palace. Before she could say anything further the carriage jolted.

 

“Your Highness, we’ve arrived…” said the guard from outside.

 

The carriage slowed and then stopped. The Crown Prince gestured for her to get out.

 

“Oh…I thought I should mention, the older boy…he has apparently been learning martial arts, has he not? He’s not bad for a child, but he struggled too much and managed to break his arm…”

 

Her breath caught.

 

“Y-You..!” she stared at him, livid. Xiao Chuan!

 

“You are pretty even when you are angry. This Prince will send you a letter with details and at the appointed time my people will escort you into the palace. Do not disappoint me, Miss Wu,” he said with a sharp smile.

 

“As you wish, Your Highness,” she said coldly, and stepped out into the snow.

 

She barely heard the carriage wheels as it slowly trundled away. Nor did she know how she came to be kneeling in the snow in her own courtyard until Su Qing ran up to her and helped her up.

 

“Mistress! You’ll freeze here! Su Rou! Su Rou, come help!”

 

At that moment Xiao Hei burst in.

 

“Mistress, your eye…!”

 

“I was only away for the time it takes to burn two incense sticks…How could you let something bad happen while I was gone?” Su Qing turned to Xiao Hei accusingly.

 

“Quiet both of you! Listen to my order: Xiao Hei, Su Qing, you are not to say this to anyone. Do you understand? The Crown Prince has Xiao Chuan and at least two of the other children. Find them. Find them at once.”

 

“Mistress…” whispered Su Qing in shock. “How do you mean to go against the Crown Prince? With just us…we can’t possibly find them…”

 

“Su Qing…go tell Master I need his help.”

 

Su Qing turned to her with helpless eyes.

 

“Mistress…I just got back from Master’s manor…he’s away until the New Year…” she whispered.

 

Dammit! Dammit! Why didn’t he say anything this time? Has he gone south again?

 

“What about the Seventh Prince?” asked Xiao Hei.

 

Cui Xi shook her head, feeling her stomach drop out.

 

“No…I cannot ask him…”

 

“Will you shoulder this burden by yourself then? What does the Crown Prince want from you?” asked Xiao Hei.

 

“He wants me to seduce the Emperor and obtain the tiger tally.”

 

“WHAT?!” both of them shouted together.

 

“I know it sounds insane, but I don’t have any time to think about that now. Xiao Chuan is hurt. Su Qing, go back to Master’s manor and ask Tao for help. Any hidden guards who can be spared to help search for the children, ask for them.”

 

Su Qing nodded, but without the Master present there was no way that Tao had the authority to move the hidden guards…moreover they were all the guards of Hidden Night City.

 

Wait…Master left her the seal…will Tao agree? With two of the three seals, in the absence of the Master, the guard could be activated, but they would only obey Tao…

 

Cui Xi knew from the emotions flickering across Su Qing’s face that what she was asking was a tall order, but she could not think of that now. She was still Master’s disciple. If she could not access his guards, then what good was having a Master? She clenched her jaw. There was no way of knowing until she tried it.

 

“Su Qing. Go now,” she commanded.

 

Seeing that her Mistress would not be dissuaded, she simply bowed over cupped hands and left.

 

“We can’t be the only ones looking for them. Come Xiao Hei…let’s go see the Abbot. Then, we  are going to the Palace. I have to get all the information possible about the Emperor…”

 

“Mistress! You cannot mean that you will do what the Crown Prince is asking?”

 

She dangled the jade token in front of him.

 

“I don’t know. I have to think…I have to think of a plan. In the meantime, I need all the information I can get about the Emperor. If I have no choice, then I must take a chance…even if it means begging the Emperor for their lives. I have to find my kids.”

 

Cui Xi forced herself to not panic: The New Year was only one week away.