Fei Long laughed. He was breathing hard and it would have been easier to run if he weren’t laughing, but he couldn’t help himself.
* * *
By the time they reached the mansion, they were all out of breath. Yan Ling and Dao disappeared through the gate and he could hear Yan proclaiming his victory to Old Man Liang. Fei Long started to enter as well, but Bai Shen halted at the threshold, still refusing to go inside.
‘Come on, you scoundrel,’ Fei Long said as he tried to catch his breath. ‘That’s not necessary any more.’
Bai Shen folded his arms stubbornly. ‘You know what has to be done.’
Fei Long sighed, wiping a hand over his brow. ‘I most humbly apologise to you, Li Bai Shen, for any unkind words or consequences I caused you to suffer.’
‘Ah, very well said. Thank you, my lord.’ Instead of coming in, Bai Shen grinned and turned to go, lifting his hand in farewell. He strode down the lane as if the day were his. ‘Come see my next performance at the Pear Blossom Gardens and bring that charming attendant of yours. I’m playing the Monkey King.’
His voice faded with the distance. Fei Long watched him until Bai Shen disappeared around the corner.
Old Man Liang greeted him in the courtyard. ‘Is it true, son?’
Fei Long nodded, a bit embarrassed by the overt pride in the steward’s eyes.
‘Ha, well done! Well done.’ Liang patted his shoulder. ‘Everyone went to see you,’ he explained, seeing how Fei Long scanned the courtyard from corner to corner. ‘Huibin said he was going to place a wager, but I told him you wouldn’t like that.’
He only listened vaguely to the old man’s report while he searched the courtyard for Yan Ling. The two women had disappeared completely into the recesses of the house. They’d probably gone inside to change out of their disguises. He loosened the scarf from around his neck and used it to dry his face. Perhaps he should wash up a bit as well before speaking to her.
He had to do it quickly. In mere days, the ambassador and an escort of court-appointed attendants would come to take Yan Ling away. The first part of the plan was to get her to agree to stay, the next part he had yet to figure out.
Doubt besieged him. She’d already refused him once before. Had the situation changed enough for her to reconsider?
He would have to face the wrath of the imperial court when there was no princess to send to Khitan. The family name would be scarred. Minister Cao, who had been their benefactor all these years, would shun them.
Fei Long was prepared to endure all of it. There were worse things than losing face. He’d decided this when Yan Ling had put him in his place back in the park. Saving face was only important for protecting the people he cared for. What use was honor, when he would live for ever in regret? If he let her go to Khitan, he would save face, but he would lose hope.
This was one time where couldn’t fulfil his duty to the Emperor. He had no right to sacrifice Yan Ling. He’d never had the right. He’d only made every effort to convince himself that he did. She would be a princess, he’d told her. No longer a lowly tea girl with tables to clean and customers to please. And she’d believed him. Yan Ling had listened and absorbed every lesson he’d fed her. If that wasn’t an abuse of privilege, he didn’t know what was.
Could she accept him now, with all the hardship and uncertainty that lay ahead? More importantly, would he be worthy of her when his name and honour were gone?
* * *
Yan Ling waited in the garden of the local temple with Dao beside her. The arrangement was a tranquil one with a pond at the centre and a small grove of peach trees. Lady Min had chosen the location for the simple beauty of its garden.
‘Don’t lose focus,’ Dao warned her. The girl had resumed her role as a stern-faced chaperone as soon as they’d returned from the match.
‘I am focused,’ Yan Ling promised.
She focused on how Fei Long had looked when he’d wrapped his arms around her. For a brief moment, the boundaries between them had disappeared. He’d held her in daylight, without fear, as if she were precious. As if she belonged to him.