Shi Huai reined in his horse. Rainwater streamed down the ribs of his umbrella, gathering into a thin rivulet at his feet.
Li Yi rode at a brisk trot down the main street, his boots splashing mud from the puddles.
They had knocked on the doors of several inns, but each one was either full or unwilling to accommodate such a large group. When they reached the last inn at the end of the street, half the door panels had already been removed. A servant in a gray short tunic was squatting on the threshold, peeling garlic.
“Looking for rooms?”
The servant looked up, his gaze lingering for a moment on the dark tunic Li Yi wore.
“Thirteen people. Eight rooms.”
Apart from Shi Huai, Qinghe, and Li Yi, there were also the ten guards Li Yi had brought with him. Everyone else had been forced to return to the capital.
The servant tossed the garlic in his hand into a basin, stood, and dusted off his knees before stepping aside.
“Come in. There are still a few empty rooms in the back courtyard. You can squeeze in.”
Li Yi turned toward the end of the street and gave a hand signal.
The ten guards immediately rode over and surrounded Shi Huai’s carriage, escorting it down the main street toward the inn.
The innkeeper was a stooped old man in his fifties. He was hunched over the counter, rapidly working an abacus.
At the commotion, he raised his head. When he saw more than a dozen people streaming through the doorway, the abacus beads in his hands clattered all over the floor.
As he bent down to pick them up, he happened to see Shi Huai entering from above.
Rainwater dripped from the ribs of Shi Huai’s umbrella onto the threshold, spreading into a small patch of dark moisture.
Shi Huai wore a long stone-blue robe. Mud speckled the hem, and several strands of his hair had been dampened by the rain, clinging to his forehead.
Yet even in the dimly lit inn, his face was still so pale it seemed to glow.
It was as if someone had hung a lamp from the ceiling, allowing all its light to fall upon him alone.
The abacus beads slipped from the innkeeper’s hands once again.
He hurriedly gathered them up, then came around from behind the counter and bowed obsequiously to Shi Huai.
“Please, come in, honored guest. This way, please. We’ve kept the largest room in the back for you. The bedding was freshly changed and is clean.”
Shi Huai nodded and followed the servant toward the back courtyard.
Qinghe carried the oranges and followed behind him.
Li Yi led his men in inspecting both the courtyard and the surrounding area. Only after confirming that there were no suspicious traces did he take up position outside Shi Huai’s room.
The rain grew heavier.
It pounded against the roof tiles with a rapid clatter, like someone scattering beans across the rooftop.
Shi Huai stood by the window, watching the curtain of rain over the courtyard.
Water poured from the eaves, striking the ground and forming one small pit after another.
Shi Huai reached out and closed the window. The sound of the rain immediately became muffled, reduced to a low hum.
He returned to the table and sat down, picking up his brush to continue recording the day’s events.
The brush tip moved across the paper with a soft scratching sound, recording each word one by one.
Every detail was written with meticulous clarity.
When he reached the final paragraph, the tip of his brush paused. Ink seeped into the paper, blooming into a tiny dark flower.
He stared at the blot for a long while, then set down the brush. He folded the sheet, slipped it into an envelope, and wrote four words on the front:
To Shi Yuanping, personally.
The rain continued through the entire night, only gradually easing at dawn.
Shi Huai pushed open the window. The air after the rain carried the fresh scents of earth and grass.
The pomegranate tree in the courtyard had been battered into disarray. Several unripe pomegranates had fallen to the ground and split open, revealing their crystalline seeds.
Qinghe emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of hot noodles. Mud stained the hem of her skirt, and her shoes were spattered all over.
She placed the bowl on the table, then took two steps back and looked at Shi Huai. Her lips moved, as though she wanted to say something, but she swallowed the words.
“If you have something to say, say it. Doesn’t it make you uncomfortable to keep it bottled up?”
Qinghe hesitated, rubbing her fingers over and over against her apron.
“Young Master, I heard something last night. I don’t know whether I should tell you.”
“Tell me.”
“Last night, when I went to the kitchen to fetch hot water, I overheard the innkeeper and his wife talking in their room. They said that a few suspicious-looking people had been asking around town about you several days ago.”
Qinghe lowered her voice until it was barely more than a whisper, as though afraid someone might be listening through the walls.
“They said it was a middle-aged man with three or four others. They spoke with a capital accent and went from inn to inn asking whether anyone had seen a handsome young man.”
Shi Huai’s fingers paused. He lifted his eyes to Qinghe.
“Did the innkeeper say where those people went afterward?”
Qinghe shook her head.
“He said he didn’t know. He hadn’t seen those men in town, and they stopped asking around after that.”
Shi Huai nodded. He picked up the bowl and slowly finished the noodles. After wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, he stood and straightened his collar.
“Go get Li Yi.”
Qinghe acknowledged him and hurried out.
Before long, Li Yi entered from outside. Mud from the previous night still clung to his boots, though he had changed into dry clothes.
He stopped in front of Shi Huai, his back straight and rigid.
“What are your orders, Young Master?”
“Send someone to find out whether anyone has been asking about my whereabouts over the past few days. A middle-aged man with a capital accent, accompanied by three or four others. They went from inn to inn asking about me.”
Shi Huai’s tone was as calm as if he were giving instructions about something entirely insignificant.
Li Yi’s brows drew together. He acknowledged the order, then turned and left.
His footsteps gradually faded down the corridor, swallowed by the quiet after the rain.
Shi Huai stood by the window, watching the pomegranate tree in the courtyard, battered into disarray by the rain.
Several unripe pomegranates had split open, exposing their crystalline seeds. Water seeped through the cracks, swelling the seeds until they bulged.
He watched for a while, then turned and sat down at the table. Picking up a blank sheet of paper, he wrote several words:
Someone is asking about my whereabouts. Investigate immediately.
He folded the note and slipped it into another envelope, then summoned one of the guards and ordered him to deliver it to the capital at full speed.
The rain finally stopped. A crack opened in the clouds, and sunlight spilled through, making the wet rooftops gleam.
Shi Huai stood at the entrance of the inn, watching the standing water in the street glitter with tiny points of light.
Several children ran barefoot through the puddles, stomping up sprays of water. In the sunlight, the droplets looked like shattered glass.
Li Yi came hurrying back from the far end of the street, his expression grim.
He stopped in front of Shi Huai and lowered his voice.
“Young Master, we found something.”
“Someone was indeed asking about your whereabouts. It happened the day before yesterday. After questioning people, they headed south, toward Linshui County.”
Shi Huai nodded, his expression unchanged.
“Continue south.”
Li Yi opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but swallowed the words. He turned and went to arrange their departure.
The party continued south along the official road.
The rain-soaked road was deep in mud. Hooves sank into it with wet sucking sounds, while the carriage wheels rolled through puddles and sent sheets of mud splashing into the air.
Qinghe lifted the carriage curtain and glanced outside, then quickly let it fall again, afraid the mud might splash in and dirty Shi Huai’s clothes.
