Chapter 15: The Cellar

Wanning woke to a hand on her shoulder and a lamp in her face.

Chengxiao was dressed, and his hair was tied back, and he was holding her plum robe out to her.

"Get up," he said. "I owe you something, and I'm paying it now."

"What is it?"

"I told you I knew nothing I could prove. That was a lie."

She sat up very slowly.

The room was cold, and the window was still dark.

"Tell me," she said.

"Not in here. You would not believe me, and you should not have to."

He did not say another word while she dressed.

He only held the robe, and then her shoes.

When her hands shook on the sash, he tied it for her with his good hand.

Shi An waited in the passage with a lantern.

"One of the guards took the Crown Prince's silver and ran," he said. "He knows what is down there."

"So we have until noon," Chengxiao said. "Perhaps less."

They went down through the east wing, past the kitchen stores, and through a door she had thought was a linen cupboard.

Behind it were stone steps.

Two guards in black stood at the bottom with their hands on their swords, and they stepped aside for the Prince without a word.

A second door, a third.

At the third, Chengxiao stopped and turned to her.

"Whatever you do after this," he said, "I will understand it."

"Chengxiao, you're frightening me."

"Good. I am frightened too."

He opened the door.

The room beyond was small and dry, and a lamp was burning.

There was a narrow bed, a shelf of books, and a table with a brazier on it.

An old man sat at the table with a brush in his hand.

His hair was white, and he was much thinner than she remembered.