"A recluse of great attainment lived in that little border town. The head of the Su Clan held him in deep respect and went to visit him nearly every year… After my father's name was posted on the golden roll, he was transferred to that same town."
"One year, the head of the Su Clan brought his sons and daughters along to see this master. Somehow Her Majesty the Empress — she was only a small child then — slipped away from the adults watching her. A slaver spotted her and sold her into a household… and that household had been quietly gathering young boys and girls to offer up to a demon. Her Majesty's life hung by a thread."
"As it happened, my father was carrying out the Purging of Profane Rites in that district, and he saved the young Empress…"
Qiao'er unfolded the story for Li Fei in her soft, unhurried way — how chance had brought her father into the orbit of a patron of the highest rank.
"The Su Clan felt the debt and pulled strings to move my father to Lin'an. And Her Majesty never once stopped carrying that rescue in her heart…"
"Ah, Sister Qiao'er, why didn't you say so sooner?"
Li Fei's smile was radiant and sly.
"All I knew was that my father had once done a great favor for someone of high station. Nothing more than that."
Qiao'er lowered her eyes. "After Lu Qianfan destroyed him, all those colleagues who called themselves like-minded stammered and looked away, and not one dared speak. I assumed that patron was the same as the rest — unwilling to touch the matter again in case the Demon Suppression Bureau used it as an excuse to drag them down too. It wasn't until I met Her Majesty that I learned how it had all begun."
"Fate really does love its little jokes…"
Li Fei sighed, patted Qiao'er's shoulder, and lowered her voice to something warm and coaxing. "Still, our Qiao'er has come through the bitter part into the sweet. You said just now that Her Majesty means to adopt you as her goddaughter, yes? Then from today Sister Qiao'er counts as a princess. You could order two plates of squirrel mandarin fish, eat one and throw the other away…"
As she spoke she wiped away a crocodile tear and added, piteously, "It's just that I'd hate to lose Sister Qiao'er."
"I didn't accept."
Qiao'er shook her head slowly.
"?"
Li Fei feigned bewilderment. "Why on earth not? That's a princess we're talking about. Wealth, honor, anything you could want… Isn't that rather better than being a little assistant with no days off all year?"
Qiao'er swept her with a long, level look that said stop performing, I've already seen through your act, then set the bundle she'd been holding on the table, letting the gesture speak for her.
Li Fei opened the cloth. Inside sat a dozen or so porcelain vials, blood crusted around their mouths.
Clearly, even while visiting her parents' graves and running into the Empress herself, Qiao'er had not forgotten the errand Li Fei gave her.
"Excellent!"
Li Fei slapped the ghost gourd at her waist, and a dozen female ghosts of the Qian Division, Huang Zhenzhen at their head, streamed out as white smoke.
"Just as I instructed. Full speed, now!"
The words had barely left her when each ghost claimed a vial, using a finger for a brush and blood for ink, heads bent as they began writing their letters.
"What is this for?"
Qiao'er glanced over. The pages were full of phrases like just bear with it a moment, and I broke down sobbing, and beasts in fine clothing. She frowned, puzzled.
"They framed us for eating two plates of fish, didn't they?"
Li Fei's voice was bright with pleasure, and a succubus tail that had appeared at some point swished behind her. "Do they imagine this fairy is so easy to slander? Let them find out what a well-written sob story can do."
"Never mind that for now. Qiao'er, keep going — what does Her Majesty like? What does she hate?"
Li Fei went back to mining for intelligence.
"I don't know very much."
Qiao'er thought for a moment, then answered slowly, "She likes the green tea grown in Quancheng, and she keeps a white cat… Also, Her Majesty suffers from headaches now and then."
"Headaches?"
Li Fei seized on it at once.
The Demon-Sealing Continent might not measure up to Loxibrook, but it did have Middle Sequence Transcendents. A woman honored as the mother of an entire kingdom should not be left with some small ailment no one could cure.
"Her Majesty told me that when she was in danger as a child, my father reached her at the last possible instant, so nothing worse came of it… but she was very nearly taken as a host by the ghost-thing in that shrine hall."
Qiao'er kept her head down. "It injured her spirit. Of her three hun and seven po, one po is missing, and she has suffered headaches ever since. No medicine touches it…"
The Empress had meant to pass over the matter lightly. It was only because Qiao'er kept gently probing that the truth came out.
Because some instinct had told her the information might be useful to Li Fei.
So that's the aftermath of soul damage. The Empress and I have the same illness?
The discovery sent an unexpected surge of delight through Li Fei, and she showered Qiao'er with praise.
"Qiao'er, you've done well. You've done very well indeed."
The praise gave Qiao'er no pleasure at all. She bit her lip and said nothing, guilt sitting plainly on her face.
The Empress had held that debt close all these years and even wanted to take her in as a daughter — and here she was, pouring out everything she knew about the woman to an enchantress who was neither wholly good nor wholly evil.
"Sister Qiao'er, don't burden yourself. What you're doing is a kindness."
Li Fei brought her lips close to the girl's ear, her voice soft and beguiling. "As it happens, I'm afflicted by the very same condition. Her Majesty and I are fellow sufferers…"
"There's a saying — a long illness makes you your own physician. I have a few methods for easing this particular trouble… and as it happens, I've long admired Her Majesty's reputation for virtue and would love the chance to know her."
"By then Her Majesty's condition would improve, and I'd get what I want. Isn't that the best of both worlds?"
Qiao'er knew the logic was crooked. She didn't argue. She let her body loosen instead, and let that whisper, together with the rich fragrance of tea, soak through her.
"Sister Qiao'er, when Her Majesty repays a kindness so faithfully, we can hardly leave her out in the cold."
Li Fei kept working on her.
"I'll give you a few days off. Go and spend time with Her Majesty when you can. People will call it a lovely story."
"And gather news about her while I'm at it, then come back and tell you. Correct?" Qiao'er said flatly.
"Heh."
Caught out, Li Fei tilted her head, curled one hand into a cat's paw to tap her temple, and stuck out her tongue with a grin. "Well, the Empress is the mother of the nation. Put it grandly enough and her health concerns the fate of the whole realm! I may have just arrived, but I'd like to do whatever small things I can for the Great Song."
"Sister Qiao'er, if anything's giving you trouble, just say the word. Expense budget, a raise — one word and it's done!"
Li Fei thumped her chest as she made the promise. Qiao'er lowered her lashes, and her voice came out quiet but firm.
"I want to cultivate."
"Not a problem."
Li Fei answered without hesitation. "The Legacy I carry is supreme. Even in the immortal realm it's notoriou— renowned. Famous everywhere. It's a road straight to heaven. With enough resources behind you, becoming an immortal and founding your own line is hardly out of reach."
"I could even bring you back to the immortal realm with me. Once you've cultivated to the Way and come down to this world again, Lu Qianfan, the Demon Suppression Bureau — they'd be clay chickens and pottery dogs, nothing more."
"One thing I should say up front, though. The Method is not passed on lightly. If you mean to walk my road, you'll have to come with me to the immortal realm first, present yourself at the mountain gate, and receive a fairy's blessing… Of course, I could also find you some other immortal Legacy instead. It's entirely as Sister Qiao'er wishes."
Li Fei's answer was so quick and so sincere that Qiao'er's thoughts drifted.
Across all the long ages, the Demon-Sealing Continent had seen countless titans of the martial path and favored children of heaven fall short of the immortal road and die with the regret still in them.
Yet here it was, the immortal chance that so many warriors and demons had begged for and never received, laid out in front of her. It had come far too easily.
Qiao'er was silent for a while. When she spoke again her voice had gone dry.
"Tomorrow, Her Majesty has asked to see me…"
"Perfect. Sister Qiao'er, remember — don't bring me up yourself. Wait until Her Majesty asks about me on her own, and then you…"
Miss Top Courtesan held nothing back, pouring out the professional wisdom of the industry's number one: how to please a woman, how to open her heart.
Then a soft knock at the door cut their conversation short.
"Miss Li, Chancellor Liu requests a word with you."
"Coming."
Li Fei patted Qiao'er's shoulder, pushed open the door, and followed a servant to a quiet, elegantly appointed side chamber.
Several hidden sentries had been posted outside it, and guards in plain clothes stood beside the door, sharp-edged and formidable.
"So there's a distinguished visitor."
Li Fei raised an eyebrow and stepped inside.
Besides Chancellor Liu, white-haired with a child's smooth face, and Nie Yunyi, a middle-aged man sat in the room.
His hair was fully black, his features kind, a long beard on his chin.
He wore a white robe, and his bearing was noble and settled without losing its warmth.
There was simply very little majesty to be felt from him.
"And this is?"
Li Fei asked, curious.
"This is Mr. Zhao."
Chancellor Liu, all smiles, waved Li Fei to a seat and poured her tea. "He heard that an immortal maiden was lodging at this old man's home and couldn't resist coming to pay a visit."
"Mr. Zhao cuts a fine figure, and your bearing is exceptional. You're surely no ordinary mortal."
Li Fei had already guessed who he was, but she let it pass, tossed off the compliment, and sat down.
"It seems Chancellor Liu truly does have an immortal maiden under his roof."
Mr. Zhao was struck dumb by Li Fei's face. It took him a moment to recover before he sighed, "Flesh of ice, bones of jade. There's nothing like her in the world."
"Mr. Zhao has a fine eye."
Li Fei gave him a dazzling smile. "But beauty doesn't put food on the table."
"Then an immortal maiden must possess remarkable divine arts. We— …I should rather like to see one or two."
Mr. Zhao sipped his tea, his tone unhurried, carrying an unmistakable note of examination.
"This humble girl hasn't attained the Way yet. I have only a few tricks not fit for display."
Li Fei smiled faintly. "If you're interested, shall we step outside?"
"Very well."
Mr. Zhao agreed readily.
The group walked out. Li Fei found an open patch of ground and, without a word of warning, tossed out her miniature residence.
The palm-sized model swelled in the wind and unfolded into a house of breathtaking beauty — beams and columns white and weightless, a fountain clear to the bottom, nothing at all like the architecture of the Demon-Sealing Continent. It had a beauty entirely its own.
"This truly steals the craft of heaven and earth…"
Even Mr. Zhao, a man who had seen a great deal, held his breath at the impossible sight, shaken by the sheer scale and splendor of it.
Set beside this miraculous creation, the Buddhist world-within-a-palm and the Daoist trick of scattering beans to raise soldiers were the fumblings of amateurs.
"After you."
Li Fei walked in first and beckoned them to follow.
Mr. Zhao's guard stared at the uncanny structure with a frown, visibly tense — but when he saw Nie Yunyi stroll in without concern, his shoulders came down.
There was no safer place in this world than at Hero Nie's side.
Inside was a world unto itself, crowded with furnishings that were novel and beautiful at once, carrying an artistry that was hard to put into words.
"This painting has something to it, but next to Master Yan's landscapes it still lacks a certain resonance."
While Mr. Zhao stood with his hands behind his back, comparing ink wash to oil paint, Eva and Sasha — who had slipped in at some point — got busy, carrying an assortment of fizzy drinks over to the guests.
"Try this beverage from the immortal realm. It's cool and clears the summer heat."
Li Fei played the lady of the house, all warmth and hospitality.
Crack—
The pull tab came away with a sharp snap, and the guard behind them had his blade half drawn before he sheathed it again as though nothing had happened.
One man stepped forward, evidently meaning to taste for poison on Mr. Zhao's behalf, but Mr. Zhao waved him off. "If Chancellor Liu can drink it, so can I."
A mouthful of iced cola went down. Mr. Zhao's face twitched, then smoothed out again, and he took several more swallows before sighing, "The flavor is genuinely marvelous… but it lacks the long aftertaste of tea, and there's no delicate fragrance lingering about it."
The dog emperor. Eating my food and criticizing it in the same breath…
Li Fei had noticed that this Mr. Zhao kept measuring the Song Kingdom's things against the "immortal realm's" at every opportunity. She grumbled privately, but agreement bloomed on her face, and she adopted the manner of a fawning courtier, giving him exactly what he wanted.
"Quite so… the Great Song is vast and richly endowed, and it produces remarkable people. There's a great deal here that even the immortal realm can't match. I've been here only a few days, and the food and the scenery are extraordinary. I hardly want to go back."
"Oh, and it isn't only the mountains and rivers that are splendid — your calligraphy and painting are beautiful too. Just the other day I acquired a scroll. I mean to take it home with me and show it to those fairies, so they'll understand that there are heavens beyond their heaven."
Mr. Zhao's smile deepened.
"Our calligraphy is indeed profound, with all the wonder of nature's own workings in it… Which master's authentic work has the immortal maiden acquired?"
Li Fei, who had planned from the start to work the upper circles, was of course prepared.
It was much like the way she always passed off the cakes her daughter Honey made by hand as her own — while quietly learning the recipes herself, several times over, so that when it mattered she really could produce one. Li Fei never told a lie that could be punctured easily.
She crooked a finger, and Eva promptly brought over a wooden case.
Li Fei took it with exaggerated care and eased out the street-stall junk she had bought for one tael of silver as though terrified the thing might tear.
As the paper was slowly spread open, the amusement in Mr. Zhao's eyes grew.
"This is an authentic piece by Yunshan Jushi. It took no small effort to get it."
Li Fei jabbed a finger at the seal in the lower right corner, thoroughly pleased with herself. "See that? It even has an anti-counterfeiting mark."
"It's a fake."
Mr. Zhao shook his head, smiling.
"Impossible. I paid fifty taels of gold for this."
Li Fei refused to believe it and argued back, "And look at these strokes, this sweep and this press. Aren't they lovely?"
"If he says it's a fake, then it's a fake."
Chancellor Liu's tone carried a great deal beneath it. "Because Yunshan Jushi happens to be the studio name Mr. Zhao uses."
"This — this—"
Li Fei gaped. "If the fake is this beautiful, what must the real one be like?"
"If the immortal maiden likes it, I'll simply give you a piece of my own writing."
Mr. Zhao made the promise cheerfully.
"Then obedience beats politeness."
Li Fei didn't demur. "But I understand your principle of returning courtesy for courtesy. Take two cases of the drinks with you when you go."
"Good, good."
Mr. Zhao laughed aloud. Off to the side, Nie Yunyi's expression was complicated, and he watched Li Fei with a frown.
Why is an immortal maiden more practiced at flattery than the treacherous ministers at court??
In the middle of their pleasant conversation, Mr. Zhao changed tack, unwilling to let the matter drop. "This immortal manor has opened my eyes. What other divine arts does the immortal maiden have? Let me take in a little more of heaven's style."
"My attainment is shallow. I know only the smallest tricks. The immortal methods that burn mountains and boil seas are quite beyond me."
Li Fei smiled. "But… I do know a thing or two about the five grains and the Art of Qihuang."
With that she clapped her hands lightly, and Eva stepped up at exactly the right moment with a tray bearing a few blood-red grains of rice.
This was one of the crop seeds recommended in The Folded Space Exploration Guide — Ghost Blood Rice. High yield, absurdly fast growth, and adaptable to the environments of nearly every folded plane. When a low- or Middle-Sequence Transcendent found himself trapped somewhere lethal with no way out, this was what he lived on so he wouldn't starve.
Its drawback was a mild addictiveness, and carriers were advised not to eat too much of it — though used properly, that addictiveness was a weapon in its own right.
"This is Dragon Blood Rice, a strain I developed through careful study."
With a charming smile, Li Fei renamed the Ghost Blood Rice on the spot and began laying out its virtues for them. "This grain will survive even if you scatter a handful into the desert, and it will still give you a harvest… A crop every half month. The yield per mu is a little low — only about five hundred jin."
The offhand words landed like a thunderclap beside their ears.
A crop every half month. Five hundred jin per mu?
Even Nie Yunyi paled at that, and Chancellor Liu swayed on his feet, close to toppling over.
The old man who had always seemed as harmless as a house cat lunged forward like a starving ghost, eyes blazing, cupping the grains in trembling hands, his voice caught between hope and terror of losing it.
"Is this… is this true?"
"Take some and try it. Then you'll know."
Li Fei pursed her lips, entirely unbothered. "None of you strike me as ordinary men. If you have the means to spread this Dragon Blood Rice through the land, that's a great kindness to the world — and I get to share in the merit."
Ignoring their stunned faces, she went blithely on. "Actually, the Art of Qihuang is more my specialty. My main line of research is gynecology, though. We've met, so we're fated. If any of the women in your households are unwell, come find me. I'll waive the consultation fee — just have the medicines ready."
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