...得來全不費工夫
...dé lái quán bù fèi gōng fu
...only to find what you seek without effort.
... only to find what you seek right under your nose.
(This chapter's title is a continuation of the idiom started in the title of chapter 12.)

The painting was old and highly stylized. Strokes of ink, both bold and fine, showed a woman, willow thin, standing on a river bank while rain poured down. The woman held a parasol over her shoulder, and the lines of ink that made her eyes were cast down in modest sadness at the river below.

The artist had made efforts to capture the ripples of the rain on the water, and the colors bled together softly, overlayed with grey, exactly as they would look on a rainy day.

I folded my arms, the silk of my gown giving a soft rasp as my sleeves crossed. I tried to read the signature seal of the artist, but the red seal ink had bled so much I could not decipher the characters.

The title of the painting I could read however. The Rain Goddess's Regret crawled in cursive like insects across the bottom right corner of the painting.

I snorted. Aside from the subject matter, it was a fine painting.

I turned and leisurely paced the length of Sanli's quarters, the silk of my dress swaying with my steps. It was a comfortable looking room, though cluttered, with couches to take a book and recline on placed here and there among the shelves.The window shades were all open, letting in sunlight. Outside I could see the blue ocean stretching away to the north and east.

I studied the things around me, evaluating what light they shed on their owner. Although I had been in this room a week before, it had been uninvited, and I had felt rushed and unable to explore without fear of a servant walking in and questioning my presence.

Now I had been invited, or more ordered, to come here, by the room's owner himself. "Go to my quarters and wait there. NOW." Sanli had said as he stepped between Kageyama and me and pointed to the ceiling and the rooms above. I had quickly complied, not wanting to stay in the room with the bristling kitsune longer than necessary.

Taunting Kageyama was fun, but I knew when to step away.

I approached one of the large bookshelves Sanli had in his room, picking up a letter opener with a handle carved like a turtle, listening to the shouted conversation in the study below.

"There's no bloody way she's staying here! I won't have her near Ermi, or you. "

"Ermi seems to like her quite a bit. I don't see what the probl-"

"She's dangerous Sanli! Are you not listening to me?!"

I ran my finger along the blade of the opener, letting the metal slice my skin, till blood beaded on the tip. I placed the opener back and stuck the finger in my mouth, tasting the sharp twang until my skin swiftly knit back together again.

"I want her to stay. Don't make me force this," said Sanli, the firmness in his voice clear even through the floorboards..

"Why are you being so stubborn?!" returned Kageyama in disbelief.

"Why are YOU being so stubborn?"

I ran my now healed finger tip along old velum and leather bound spines of the books on Sanli's shelf. Sanli seemed to have even more books in here than there were in the study below. And a lot of them were about...

"Interpretations of the Various Retellings of The Sixth God Myths," I read the title along the spine of one well worn book.

Me. A lot of the books were about me. As were the paintings. And most of the other items displayed around the room.

I pulled the book from the shelf and looked at it. As I turned the aged book over in my hands, I felt again the strange burning sensation in my chest when I had first entered Sanli's room, only to find hundreds of books about myself.

To collect this many books, to read them, it takes more than just a passing interest. It takes a kind of devotion.

Sanli and Kageyama's shouting match downstairs seemed to have come to an end. I heard footsteps outside, and a second later Sanli slid the door opened and entered, running a hand through his wet hair distractedly. He was dressed in a servant's uniform, the front loosely buttoned, and his skin was darker, his cheeks red either with the heat of the baths or the burn of the sun.

Walking past me without a glance, he went to a dresser and opened a small drawer, then pulled out a bag that clinked with coin. He handed it to me, all without meeting my eyes.

"You should leave," he said.

"Oh?" I said innocently. I thought he had won the argument.

"Just for now, until Sho Sensei calms down. There's an inn not too far from here, The Morning Glory Inn, just along the wharf. Go there. I'll come for you once I talk him down a bit."

I chuckled softly. No greeting? No smiling reunion? I suppose that was fine. The prince was frowning, not at me but at the floorboards of his room, a wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows as he thought.

I reached out a slender finger, the same one I had cut earlier, and smoothed the wrinkle between his brows.

Sanli met my eyes, at last, and barely managed to contain a flinch. He knows. "I will wait at the inn," I said, turning toward the door. I shook the purse in thanks, and coins jangled.

"Oh, and my Prince?" I turned back.

"Yes?" said Sanli. He was looking at me with disbelief and uncertainty, as though he still couldn't quite believe I was here, or was not yet certain what to do with me.

I gestured around the room. "An impressive collection." I turned and left.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Outside in the courtyard the sun was bright. I put up my paper parasol to block the light from my skin. A few stable boys in the corner joked as they swept up loose bits of hay, and a pair of maids carried baskets of laundry out one door and into another.

I contemplated riding the piebald, but having her saddled would take time, and the alliance we seemed to have formed on the road had died the moment we arrived at Chuanfang and she discovered her comfortable stall.  Now, when I tried to ride her, she shied and tried to buck me off just like every other horse. I would walk.

I was just about to pass through the gates to the road leading down from Chuanfang when a voice behind me called out to wait. I turned as Ermi jogged up to me, stumbling a few times. She wore the ornate wooden sandals of nobility, heavier and less balanced than my own. She carried her own parasol over one shoulder, made of silk embroidered with sweet pink flowers and curling blue vines.

"Are you- are you going into town?" Ermi asked, breathless, as her maid hurried to catch up behind her.  The Princess's plump cheeks were flushed with the small excursion.

I nodded. " May I accompany you Ao-, I mean, Lady Yunyou?" Ermi quickly corrected, glancing at her maid.

I debated. If I allowed Ermi to accompany me it meant I would have to put up with her unending chatter, which was mildly irritating at best. However, it also meant I could send for her carriage.

"You may," I said, then turned to one of the guards nearby. He was dressed in the brown livery of the house servants with a sash of bright green across his chest. "You. Tell the stable to prepare the Princess's carriage and follow."

It would take several minutes to harness the horses to the carriage, and I didn't feel like waiting, so I turned and started down the hill. Ermi fell into step beside me, chatting happily. Her maid and two more guards followed close behind. It was hot, and near midday, but the brisk wind off the sea helped cool the day. Above gulls cried as they circled, looking for a meal among the rocks at the base of Chuanfang. Waves crashed all around us as we made our way down and across the long bridge to the mainland, the wind picking up spray and blowing it across our path.

Our group walked in silence, save for the sound of our shoes on the stones and Ermi's endless inconsequential talk. I heard little of what she said, my mind reviewing the events of the past few weeks.

I had made good time, arriving in Zhanghai nine days after turning north. On arriving in the city, I immediately sought information on the Third Prince. My prince.

I discovered by inquiry that the Third Prince of the green throne did not reside in the Nanjing palace like most members of the royal family when they were in the city, but in a smaller, seaside residence called the 'Boat House'. The Boat House, or Chuanfang, was only a hundred years old, having been converted, or created right on top of, what had been an old military outlook point poised on the sea.

I felt as though I vaguely remembered using the small outlook in the past, when I was helping Lu with a campaign against smugglers and skin sellers.

Far from small, Chuanfang was an impressive estate in its own right, boasting nearly a hundred staff. For a few days, I had followed many of these staff, meeting them coincidently in the market or a tavern after work, and getting as much information as I could.

Unfortunately, no one had much to offer about their master, besides he had a fondness for women, which I already knew.

What I did discover during my inquires was that Sanli was looked down on by the servants, who all knew of his mixed heritage. "He's just a maid's bastard son, with a pretty enough face to get adopted into the family," a house guard relayed to me over a drink I had bought him to loosen his tongue. "I almost wish my missus had played with the old master. Then maybe I'd have a bastard of my own to become a prince!"

I also found that the Third Prince, in addition to not being well liked by the servants, was an isolate within his own family. He usually resided in Chuanfang alone, regardless if the rest of the royal family was in Zhanghai or at their main residence, the estate in Linjing.

This didn't particularly surprise me, considering his lineage. It seemed the old Regent, who had died some years ago now, had arbitrarily adopted Sanli into the family, without the consent of his spouse or children. Now the old Lord was gone, I didn't doubt the full blooded members of Sanli's family viewed him as an usurper, unworthy of his title, and as such excluded him.

It was an old story.

I thought it funny, that Lu's descendents put so much pride in their blood and titles, as Lu himself had never had much interest in such things. I wondered what he would have to say to them, were he still alive.

However, it seemed there was one member of the royal family who did not join in this enforced exclusion of the Third Prince. While making my inquiries, I discovered that one of the young princesses had come to stay in Chuanfang, supposedly to spend the summer with the Third Prince, her uncle. Those I had talked to had confirmed that unlike the other members of the royal family, this girl was close to Sanli, and that he doted on her.

That was when an idea had begun to form. What better way to greet Sanli upon his arrival than in the comfort of his own home? And so I had carefully shaped a plan of posing myself as a tutor to the princess, recommended by none other than the Third Prince himself.

Having briefly glimpsed Sanli's handwriting on the letter he had hidden inside my lute, it had been simple enough to replicate, though it would have been decidedly easier if I hadn't shredded the letter and thrown it away in a fit of temper. Forging the Green King's yinzhang seal on the letter had been the real obstacle, but eventually I found a forger willing to risk it for a hefty amount of coin.

In the end I spent my coin for nothing. The steward of Chuanfang had accepted my letter of recommendation without evening testing to see if the seal was forged or not, and I had begun my career as Ermi's tutor that same day.

I wondered a few times, when things got tricky, why I was doing what I was doing. Why I had followed the Prince all this way. It wasn't as if I missed Lu so much I had decided to follow his posterity around in a nostalgic haze. I guess, as Lu said, you don't need a reason for doing something, and as Zakhar had said, I didn't have anywhere better to be.

Following Sanli, finding out his motivations and aims. It was just a way to pass eternity.

A particularly strong breeze gusted sea spray across the bridge, and it fell on my hands and cheeks with a cool touch, like the ocean was trying to entice us out of the heat and into its embrace. I ignored it.

We left the long causeway across the bay and joined the road that ran along the peninsula back toward the city. The trees here were big and well maintained, gracefully trimmed branches sweeping across the road to provide dappled shade. I closed my parasol, and Ermi, ever eager to mimic me, did the same without missing a breath in her monologue.

Ermi was a contradiction. The first time I had seen her, Ermi had been sitting by a rail in the south hall reading a book with a colorful picture with two lovebirds on the cover. Her clothes had been mismatched, colors upon colors to no particular style or effect, her hair done in loops suitable for a child 10 years younger. My impression of her had been this: childish, innocent, foolish. Naive.

The steward had showed me into the hall and left, closing the door behind me. I found the girl sitting on the veranda, reading happily and humming to herself.

I had sneered inwardly, judging her immediately by her clothing choice, her round cheeks and oblivious smile as she read her novel. I greeted her, and she looked up, putting her book aside and politely listening as I introduced myself as her new tutor.

"My Uncle sent you to teach me?" Ermi said in response to my introduction, looking surprised.

"Indeed. He spoke so highly of you, his little niece who loves rabbits," I attempted to smile as benignly as I could.

"Oh, I see... what are you going to teach me?" asked Ermi, accepting the arrangements instantly, as a good little princess should.

"I am going to teach you..... propriety," I finished, trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the statement.

In the days that had passed since I had first met her however, I had started suspecting that Ermi was not as naive as she appeared. As her name 'two fawns' implied, I thought sometimes that there was more than one of her. I looked sideways at the girl chatting happily beside me. She seemed innocent enough, but I had begun to realize that her mild mannered facade was something she wore for convenience.

Just like her green eyed uncle and his mask-of-a-smile.

"What do you think should I wear, Lady Yunyou?"

I blinked, thoughts interrupted. "What?"

"To the midsummer banquet. It's being hosted by a famous trader, on his private island. I heard he has the most magnificent garden. And also he's very handsome, with a dashing eyepatch. What should I wear?"

Or perhaps, she really was just a thoughtless girl.

"What have I told you?" I  reminded. "Wear whatever you feel most comfortable in. Remember, the most powerful weapon you have is confidence."

"Right," said Ermi, frowning down at the ground as she thought. "So.... do you think I should wear my green gown? Or would it be alright to wear-"

Thankfully, I was spared having to devote anymore thought to Ermi's wardrobe by the arrival of the carriage, drawn by two bay mares who looked excited to be out. We were already halfway to the inn, but boarded anyway. The guards helped the three of us, Ermi, her maid, and myself, in before jumping onto the foot boards at the back.

Inside the small space, I sank into the cushions placed on the back bench, which was normally reserved for the most important passengers. Ermi sat beside me, shifting some of the ornate silk pillows to better accommodate her plump frame. Her maid had no choice but to sit across from us on the uncushioned front bench, where servants and guards usually sat. The maid glared at me from under lowered eyelashes while Ermi was shifting cushions, and I smiled sourly back.

I opened the shade. Watching all the great estates and their entrances woosh by from the carriage window like places of insignificance was extremely gratifying. In addition, the loud sound of the wheels on the cobblestones prevented any kind of meaningful conversation, and I got away with simply nodding and murmuring replies to Ermi's continued inquires about appropriate dress.

"Why were Uncle Sanli and Sho Sensei fighting earlier?" Ermi suddenly asked innocently.

This did get my attention. "Hmmmm," I hummed. "I wonder? Do they fight often?"

Ermi nodded. "All the time. Usually it's over..." Ermi hesitated, judging whether her next words were appropriate, "women."

"Oh?" I said, pretending to be intrigued. "Does Lord Kageyama have a fondness for the ladies?"

Ermi blushed. "Oh no, never, not Sho Sensei. He's always very... correct. Usually they fight because it's Uncle Sanli who has had... trouble with a woman."

"I see," I said, and could not stop my smirk. I wondered if he was ready for the kind of trouble I would bring him.

We left the cultivated forest of the estates and rejoined the city, our carriage slowing as the road became more crowded. I slid open the window of the carriage to better see outside. Immediately my senses were pulled every which way by all the sights and sounds and smells that having so many people in such a small place created. The laughter of serving maids carrying their purchases home, the cries of hawkers selling goods. The sour smell of fish that had sat in the sun since morning.

I watched a fisher, his catch sold, clean the wharf near where his boat was moored. He threw a wooden bucket tied to a rope into the harbor, and then pulled it up quickly, hand over fist. With a swing of his arm, he sent the sea water flying through the air like a fan of crystals as the water caught in the sun. Then the water fell, cascading across the stones of the wharf and washing away the blood and fish guts there. Several stray cats and a mangy dog rushed to find themselves a meal among the entrails, chasing the leftovers as they were washed away into the harbor, enmity forgotten in their pursuit of food.

Once the offal entered the water, it was the domain of the fish and gulls. Silver upon silver slid in the water as still living fish hurried to eat their already caught brothers, and white gulls from the sky dove, trying to steal away what they could.

Turning my eyes to the other side of the road, where shops and warehouses rose, I saw we were just about to pass an acupuncturist, and frowned. In addition to gathering information about Sanli, I had also spent a good amount of time searching for a Dazhe that practiced acupuncture. I had made enquirers all over the city, but had been unsuccessful so far in finding any information that would lead me to Zhen.

And even if I did find him, I had no idea what I would do.

We soon reached The Morning Glory Inn, a whitewashed, three story building with clean blue shutters the color of morning glories. I supposed that was where the name came from, as there was not an actual flower in sight. The carriage pulled around to the courtyard in back of the building and one of the guards opened the door, holding out a hand to help us out of the carriage.

"Ao-jie, would it be alright if I went to the bookstore around the corner for a second? There's a new novel I really want to read. We'll meet you in the inn in a minute," asked Ermi, hands held together in pleading.

I thought it funny that Ermi, a princess, asked me for permission. In fact it was not just me, it was everyone around her, from her maid to the lowliest guard.

Such consideration might seem kind, but really, in royalty, it was weakness better off erased.

I consented. "Take both guards with you," I ordered, snapping my fingers and gesturing for the guards to follow their mistress and her maid. They both jumped to follow my instructions.

That was how you should command your servants. Not with requests. I would have to start teaching Ermi that.

Not waiting to see Ermi leave, I turned and made my way into the inn, accepting the bows of the doorman and the chimed greeting of the maids waiting just inside.

I declined a room and instead asked for use of a private table. I was guided through the bustling restaurant, which was full with the lunch hour, and shown a table off to one side. It was shielded on all sides by beautifully painted folding screens, except for the side facing the street. On that side, long low windows were open, leaving me on full display to those passing by in the street, like I was a woman on sale.

"Lower those blinds, this isn't the night district," I shot at one maid standing uselessly off to the side. She hurried to do my bidding, while another maid brought in a tray of tea accoutrements, which she set out methodically on the low table. Once they had finished, I dismissed them with a nod of my head.

I peered out the now lowered blinds, thin strips of bamboo interspersed with the narrowest of gaps, so that I could see outside, but no one passing on the street could see me. It gave me a kind of advantage, in that I would be able to see Sanli first, and try and calculate what he was thinking.

It may seem small, but you should take any advantage in battle.

I reached for a tea cup, idly tracing the flying crane pattern etched into one side. I took a sip, then placed the cup back into its saucer with a soft clink.

I heard voices I recognized over the hub-bub of the restaurant.

"We really should hurry back, my Princess. If a suitor comes while you're out, what will he think?" It was Ermi's maid, Wong or Wu or whatever she called her.

"He'll think I'm out, and give up, or come another day, when hopefully I will also be out," Ermi said indifferently. Her tone was more flippant than her usual bright and earnest banter.

Ermi and her maid appeared from behind a folding screen, Ermi's smile brightening. "Are you having tea here with someone, Lady Yunyou? May we join you? I hear the lemon cakes here are lovely."

I called the maids back and we ordered lemon cake. It was delicious, moist and thick and topped with sprinkles of candied peel and drizzles of a sour lemon syrup. Ermi managed to try and engage me in discussion while simultaneously devouring half the cake and beginning to read her new novel.

I had to admire the girl. For an ordinary human, her appetite was impressive.

"Who are you waiting for, Lady Yunyou?" Ermi asked, noticing my watch out the window.

"Your Uncle," I answered.

"Uncle Sanli? Why are you meeting him at an inn and not—" her eyes widened. "Oh. Oh I see. Then the argument this morning—oh."

I laughed inwardly. The girl had assumed I was her Uncle's newest lover, and the fight she had overheard this morning was about me. Let her assume. That had been my intention in approaching Sanli originally anyway.

And what was my intention now?

I turned my eyes back to the street outside, the endlessly passing people. Traders and housewives and fishermen. City guards with their green cloaks and boots that stamped the pavement with purpose. All living out their lives with their own goals and intentions and motivations.

What was my intention now? Why had I traveled all this way?

I ignored the voices in my head that preached doubt, and continued to study the people passing outside, picking out mu'ren trying to blend in the the humans around them. A small beggar thief attempting to pick pockets. A fishwife shamelessly flirting to get more customers. All oblivious to the fallen god who sat watching them, wondering how to spend her existence.

I searched for the familiar silhouette, the elegant slant of Sanli's shoulders. Don't keep me waiting long, Prince.

*~*~*~*~*~*

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