Chapter Twelve

Zhi Hao could not seem to catch the Song daughter's eye. He couldn't see much beneath her curtain of jade beads, and he couldn't tell if she was indeed the woman he'd spent two glorious evenings with. Maybe she was exactly as she appeared: dull, obedient, and chaste to the point of being asexual.

He listened carefully to her recitation of poetry, hoping to recognize her voice, at least. Unfortunately, her voice was demure, but barely audible. Or maybe it was that he didn't hear the commanding tone, or lilting laughter he was used to getting from her that confused him. What he did hear, however, was rustling nearby. Was something moving in the shrubbery? Or was that the wind in the trees?

Then he saw it. A flash of red fur and a thick tail. White teeth and a growl that set his hair on end. Then suddenly, he heard a yelp as a man jumped out from behind a thick group of shrubs.

Zhi Hao reacted before he fully processed what he was seeing. His focus was on the man's sword and the way he seemed to be heading straight for Ling Xin who was still prostrate on the ground in her kowtow.

Whether on purpose or by accident, the man was armed and he could kill. Zhi Hao only had a thick handled broom to use in her defense, but he could wield it effectively. Especially against a man who was looking behind him as if he'd been attacked by a Mongol hoard.

Zhi Hao used his broom to block the sword. The man hadn't been holding it with much strength. After a few well-placed blows, the man crumpled, his sword clattering to the ground before the earl.

That should have been the end of it. Zhi Hao stood over the man, broom handle at the ready, as the earl bent down to pick up the sword. It was a rusty, chipped thing, and the earl frowned in confusion.

What a bad weapon. A meat cleaver would be better. But before he could say anything, a woman's scream ripped through the air.

It wasn't Ling Xin. She was still straightening from her kowtow. The sound came from the shrubbery all around as a woman burst forth brandishing a kitchen knife. She ran straight for the man on the ground. Others followed, two older boys and several children of various ages.

The retainers handled them easily, knocking them aside with skillful blows. Zhi Hao didn't need to do anything with his broom. It was clear to him that these were no trained fighters. Most likely, these were starving peasants, waiting to steal the food left for the ancestors. The man had burst from his hiding spot because of the red-furred creature who had attacked him, not because he was trying to assassinate the earl.

But what was clear to Zhi Hao was not so obvious to others. And while he waited for the earl to quiet everyone down, he searched the ground for the animal. Could it have been a fox spirit? There weren't that many red-furred creatures alive in the city, and he had seen one three times now in the last week.

But why would a fox spirit attack starving peasants?

Meanwhile, the earl and his sons were quickly containing the so-called attackers. A few of the Song party had screamed during the commotion, but not Ling Xin. She stood quietly nearby, now on her feet and apparently alert.

If nothing else, that confirmed to him that she was indeed the girl he'd met on the wall these last nights. That daring woman would not cry out during an attack. She was more likely to grab a weapon to defend herself.

And indeed, he saw the Song daughter flex her hands as if searching for something to hold, though she quickly stilled the motion beneath her long sleeves.

Meanwhile, the earl was confronting the quivering man at his feet.

"Why do you attack me?" he demanded.

"No, no, honored sir! I meant no harm!" The man had a high voice and obvious sores on his hands and feet. "Please, I was…there was a fox." His voice trailed away already knowing how ridiculous that sounded. But, of course, Zhi Hao had seen it, too.

"You have no reason to be here. This is Song family land. You defile my offering, insult my ancestors—"

"No! No!" the man began, and it was quickly echoed by the others around them.

It didn't matter, though. The earl could not let an insult like this pass without penalty. Zhi Hao could see the regret in the earl's face, but that would not stop him from ordering these poor people killed. To endanger his family during a festival was a serious crime.

And yet Zhi Hao could not let it stand.

"No, no, Earl Song. I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding. It is completely my fault. These people are part of my family, come to help me clean the tomb. They brought cleaning tools, you see, to help clear away any grime that might remain."

The earl snorted, clearly seeing the lie for what it was. Especially since one of the "cleaning tools" was a notched and rusty sword.

"Your family. This group?" he said.

"Not family by blood, of course. They are part of my…my kindness family."

"Your what?"

"My kindness family. When I arrived in Peking, I grew lost and confused. These people…" Zhi Hao gestured expansively including all eleven of the group. "They helped me find Master Gao's home. And as such—because of their generosity of spirit—they become part of…"

"Of your kindness family?"

"Yes." He tried not to wince, but it was all he could think of in the moment. He knew how ridiculous it sounded, and yet he was already committed.

"I have never heard of such a thing," the earl drawled.

Of course not. Zhi Hao had just made it up. "It is a custom in the south. Begun by the Shaolin monks." Silently, he begged his old teacher's forgiveness. At least, the monk had often taught kindness.

"Is that where you learned to fight? You are a monk?"

"I am nothing so honorable. I was merely a boy among many who was taught by a generous monk."

"Hmmm. He taught you well. You defended me from a sword with nothing but a broom."

It wasn't much of a sword, but Zhi Hao would take it.

"And since you defended my life so ably, I will give you a boon. What is it you want?"

So many things sprang to his tongue. A simple boon would be to discuss the exam that Earl Song had passed so many years ago. Another would be to share an afternoon's tea simply to further the connection for the time after he did pass the exam. He longed instead to ask for his daughter's hand, but that was too far to go. And it would serve no one for him to be so bold.

In the end, he couldn't force himself to select any of those choices. Instead, he looked at the dirty and tear-stained face of the woman who knelt over the man as if her frail body could protect him. He couldn't abandon them to their fate. As far as he could tell, their only crime was being hungry.

"Thank you, Earl Song. You extend me great indulgence. I merely ask that these people be allowed to finish their task here. While you and your family feast, they will complete the cleaning and defend the tomb from any who would harm it." He looked down at the pair on the ground. "Is that not true?"

"Y-yes, honored sir."

"We will make the stone gleam."

All around them, the eight children and one very old man quickly murmured their agreement.

The earl chuckled, the sound openly mocking. "You claim these people as kin. You, who would serve the emperor, now stoop so low as to claim them?"

Zhi Hao flinched. He knew the trap he was in. No one who hoped to pass the imperial exam could claim any connection with people as wretched as this. Those who served the emperor had to pretend to wealth and status, else they would reflect badly upon the emperor.

But having already defended these people, he could not change his position. They were too wretched, and he knew how perilously close he might be to them one day. If he failed the exam, if he couldn't find students, then he too might be desperately hungry.

Even if it cost him his future, he would not abandon them now.

"They are my kindness family," he repeated. "They are good souls," he said, praying it was true. "It is no crime to be hungry."

"No, it's not," agreed the earl solemnly. "Indeed, some might say it is a mark of honesty." The man shook his head. "Very well. I will allow this kindness kin to defend my ancestors."

Zhi Hao exhaled in relief, but it was a short-lived moment as the earl continued.

"But I will have every one of their names, and each one shall be like a stone around your neck. If they perform their duties poorly, then it shall be you who bears the punishment."

Oh hell. What sort of people he had just tied himself to? Then the earl waved his hand to the whole party.

"Let us leave Ko Zhi Hao to the gathering of names. We shall return home to feast."

Everyone turned, readying themselves to go, but the earl wasn't finished. As his family trailed out of the shrine area, he paused long enough to look back on the wretched group left behind.

"Ko Zhi Hao?"

"Yes, honored earl?"

"See that they dispose of the food properly. I cannot have animals coming to eat it. It would defile my ancestral shrine."

"Of course," he said bowing deeply. "The food will be managed, and the stones kept polished." He would have to return here tonight to make sure of it.

"Good. And once you have written down all their names, bring it to me at my house. Master Gao and I will assess your calligraphy during the feast."

Zhi Hao's head shot up. Had he just been invited to dine with the earl? He couldn't read the truth of it off the earl's face. But beside him, he heard Ling Xin gasp. He wondered if her sound was from shock or surprise, then he saw the slight hop to her step as she filed out of the area with her family.

He still wasn't absolutely sure that she was the woman from his nighttime play, but either way, he could now further his relationship with her family. Perhaps there would be a way, somehow, to keep her away from the Festival of Fertility. If she could wait a year, he would be in a position to offer for her hand.

But first, he had to get the true names of the wretches who now outnumbered him. He hoped they understood what he'd just done for them. Otherwise, he was equally likely to be stripped and beaten for the clothes on his back.