3seed

Fate's Attendant 1.34

Added 2025-09-27 15:07:01 +0000 UTC

Hong Fei awoke alone. Briefly, he was uncertain of his whereabouts. He’d dreamt of the steppe and the bloodshed there, and was confused by the sudden stillness around him. There was a sense of dislocation, as if he’d become unmoored from his own history.

At some point, the door to his bedroom had been closed. A gentle knock stirred his mind toward that direction, and he found his voice a moment later. “Yes?”

Little Ruyun answered. “Your breakfast is ready.”

“I’ll be—I’ll be right here,” he answered.

He got out of bed carefully, then recalled that he’d been healed. The wounds suffered during his dreams no longer afflicted him. Hong Fei was well. He reminded himself of it, and when he rubbed his face to clear away sleep’s remnants, his hand came away wet.

He sat for a time at the edge of the bed, simply breathing. “A miracle,” he whispered to himself. “Every day since has been a miracle.”

###

The salon doors had been thrown open to let in the clear light of morning. While the skies were a patchwork of dark and light, the rain itself had stopped overnight. A fresh breeze blew through the courtyard as if in reward for weathering the storm.

The air was chilly, but Hong Fei didn’t mind. He found it bracing and a good complement to the warmed-up leftover soup. He sat at the table enjoying the meal. A bowl of rice and a plate of stir-fried greens with eggs had been added to the meal.

Sun Han sat opposite him, though he appeared distracted by his thoughts. Auntie Ling had attempted to sit alongside him, but the chair had creaked dangerously. She ended up crouching uncomfortably with her paws on the table for support.

Hong Fei thought it would be worthwhile to buy her a settee like the one in the visitor’s hall. He picked up his bowl of soup and went walking with it, searching for Kang Lian. She could make the necessary arrangements. Their courtyard’s budget was healthy, thanks to Clerk Beitang’s reward.

There was no sign of her, so he went to the kitchen to find Little Ruyun. The young girl was in the midst washing dishes.

“Where’s your mother?” he asked.

Little Ruyun turned toward him. “She went to the main courtyard. One of the trees fell, and they needed help clearing the debris.”

Hong Fei frowned. “They came to us when there are so many others?” He noticed the tension around the girl’s eyes.

“I didn’t see him, but mother said it was one of the senior staff. He claimed every courtyard was required to attend to the repairs. Should I go get her?” Little Ruyun asked.

“No,” he replied. “I have a task for her, so I might as well do it myself.”

Hong Fei left, then caught himself at the courtyard’s exit. He’d look a right fool wandering the estate with a bowl of soup in his hands.

###

Kang Lian wiped the mud from her face and worried she’d merely smeared it. The tree branches she carried prickled against her arms—water showering her and her clothes as the remnants of the previous night’s rain shook free.

She brought the branch to one of the bins placed at the courtyard’s center. She wasn’t alone; several others worked to return the place to its rightful appearance.

There were many branches down. Mud had spilled everywhere, needing to be swept up. There was even debris from outside the estate. The wind had carried it over the walls to slam it against the ancestors’ shrine and the visitors’ hall.

People checked the buildings for damage, but there wasn’t as much as she would’ve expected. She’d seen servants rushing through the corridors on the way to the main courtyard, and she wondered if perhaps the damage was more extensive elsewhere.

Kang Lian spotted Hong Fei approaching, and a blush came to her cheeks recalling the boldness she’d exhibited the previous night. Surreptitiously, she spread the mud on her cheeks to hide the redness. Any other man might treasure a shy maiden, but not Hong Fei, she was sure. Besides, as Kang Lian had so earnestly demonstrated, she was neither shy nor maiden.

The man’s gaze was stern as he surveyed the damage done by the storm. “Our courtyard seems to have gotten lucky,” he said as he’d approached her.

Kang Lian nodded. “Our cherry tree is protected by buildings on all sides. The area here is more open.”

“Yes, I can see that.” His gaze softened, and the ends of lips turned up as he took in her disordered state. “This is messy work.” Then a thought seemed to come to him, and he glanced around again before asking, “Why aren’t the soldiers helping?”

Hong Fei’s frown returned, then he muttered, “They can’t be shirking…” He gestured for Kang Lian to wait before striding toward the gate.

Cai Shi’s patrol ought to be on duty. The man was known for taking his responsibilities seriously and… he was missing apparently. The gate area was empty of his presence, as well as half the guards that would normally be stationed there.

“What’s going on?” Hong Fei demanded, his voice commanding.

The soldiers looked to each other, and one of them was nudged forward. Reluctantly, he said, “Sir, we’re not supposed to tell.”

Hong Fei’s eyes narrowed calculation. Anything might have happened under cover of the storm—a breach of the estate’s defenses, an assault on a family business in the city, theft, murder, and mayhem of all sorts. If these soldiers wouldn’t tell him, then he’d track down Steward Zhang.

He turned at the sound of a horse galloping, his voice ready to bark. On wet streets, the rider risked injuring the animal. All it would take was one misstep for it to break a leg.

Hong Fei forced the scolding back down inside of him. Atop the horse was a woman in Duke Yu’s colors. Her eyes were panicked as she drove her mount toward the gate.

She reigned in a few steps shy of where Hong Fei stood, the horse’s hooves clattering against the stone. Her eyes sought out the shízhǎng and, not seeing him called out to the others, “Summon the xiàowèi. The city gate confirmed one of our messengers left the city last night.”

Immediately, one of soldiers ran inside. He left behind the coppery-tang of the essence he’d used.

“A messenger?” Hong Fei asked the rider, his voice mild.

She nodded, then seemed to recognize him and said more formally, “Yes, sir. All of ours are accounted for, so it must’ve been him, though I don’t know where he got the mount.”

“Were all of ours also accounted for?” Hong Fei added as if confirming something he already knew.

“Yes, sir. The stable master checked.” Her horse stamped, cooling from the rider’s urgent ride to the estate. Its breath steamed in the morning chill.

A stallion, Hong Fei noted, and in good health. The horse’s tack was well-maintained and properly fitted, even though the rider must’ve been sent out in a hurry. He glanced toward the gate guards behind him. Their pursed lips and uncomfortable stances told him that he wasn’t meant to hear her report.

Turning back to the rider, he asked, “Are you ready to carry a message back to the city gate?”

“Sir, yes, sir,” she said, then added, “Though if you’ll excuse the suggestion, it might be better to send me to the city offices, so that I can ask them to muster their soldiers, too. We’ll need them for the search.”

This soldier was impressing Hong Fei more and more with her comportment and initiative. “What’s your name?” he asked. “Where are you based?”

“Cai Baozhen,” she answered, saluting. “I rotate between the Yu businesses in the mid-city.”

“So, you’ve worked with Ma Mo?” The words had left Hong Fei’s lips before he could pull them back.

“Yes, sir,” she replied.

Hong Fei noted the slight frown and the horse shifting uneasily under her. Then the animal took a sudden alarmed step back as Chen Wenbin came charging through the gate.

Hong Fei grabbed the saddle and poured his essence into bracing the horse to keep it from bolting. He felt his arms tugged and his footing slip on the wet stones, yet Cai Baozhen responded as quickly as he. She whistled, working reins and knees to bring the stallion back under control.

“That was dangerous—” Hong Fei began, but for once Chen Wenbin ignored him.

“Tell me everything,” the xiàowèi demanded.

“Sir!” Cai Baozhen saluted. “The city gate reports that a messenger for the Yu family left the city during the worst of the storm. They attempted to turn him back, warning of the danger of the river flooding, but the messenger claimed his business was urgent. He told them…” She licked her lips. “He told them to mind their manners or else suffer the duke’s wrath.”

Chen Wenbin’s stony expression became colder still, “A description of the messenger?”

“A young man, no more than twenty,” Cai Baozhen reported. “The guards didn’t see his face.”

“Didn’t see his face,” Chen Wenbin repeated. The words were spoken softly, yet they promised untold retribution for the soldiers unwilling to leave their dry shelter to examine the young man claiming to be a Yu messenger.

“Xiàowèi, what’s happened?” Hong Fei asked.

Chen Wenbin turned toward him with an expression as impassive as a mask. “Go back,” he said. He looked toward the Cai Baozhen, “Go back to the city gate to have them search for signs of where… our messenger went.”

“There is suggestion,” Hong Fei said, “to rouse the city’s soldiers to help with the search.”

“No!” Chen Wenbin answered immediately. “This is a house matter and will stay that way.” He turned on his heel to order the assembled soldiers: “Gather all the shízhǎng. Wake anyone sleeping. Tell the soldiers to stop their search of the estate. We’re heading out of the city.” He glared at them standing unmoving. “What are you waiting for? Go!”

Hong Fei grabbed the xiàowèi’s arm before the man could enter the estate. “What does our duty summon us to do?” he asked.

The muscles under Hong Fei’s hand became rigid with tension. He thought the xiàowèi might actually attempt to strike him.

Instead, without looking at Hong Fei and through gritted teeth, Chen Wenbin said, “It appears the Young Master Yu Yong left the estate last night. He’s gone out of the city on his own.”

-----

ToC | Next Chapter >

Characters Mentioned in this Chapter