3seed

Fate's Attendant 1.43

Added 2025-10-17 18:56:22 +0000 UTC

The salon’s interior was quiet; the shutters were closed and none of the lamps burned. The only illumination came from the now-open door, cutting across the floor and furnishings like a blade of light.

Auntie Ling stepped inside. She pursued the scent of the dream blossom wine, and Hong Fei followed on her heels.

Behind them, Chen De frowned at seeing the salon so lifeless. He had done nothing to bar the dūtóu’s and spirit beast’s way. He hadn’t told them he’d been thrown out, too. Hong Fei’s intrusion was an excuse to ease the worry in his own heart.

The foyer sat empty, and the adjacent corridors were as dark as the salon. Everything felt still, like a dead man’s house. A chill ran down Chen De’s spine. The darkness didn’t deter the giant badger or the dūtóu, however, and the two of them continued directly to the Young Master’s bedroom, brought to a stop only by the locked door.

“You have the key?” Hong Fei asked, his voice low.

Chen De didn’t deny it. He took off his necklace, picked the Young Master’s bedroom key from the rest, and handed it to the dūtóu. The giant badger moved aside, so that the door could be opened.

Unlike the rest of the residence, the bedroom was lit by both lamps and an open window. Chen Zhengyi slumped in a chair beside the bed with a foolish grin on his face. His head swayed from side to side as if listening to a melody only he could hear.

The bed itself was rumpled and empty. A pair of jugs lay on it, tilted on their sides and spilling the last of their contents to stain the sheets dark. The scent was strong enough for Hong Fei to smell from the door.

Auntie Ling pushed past him; her nose led her to the bed, and then from the bed to the open window.

“Is that—is that what I think it is?” Chen De asked, grimacing.

Hong Fei nodded and said, “Dream blossom wine.” He strode across the room to look out the window, but there was no sign off the Young Master. “You’d best go after him. Who knows what he’s seeing while under its influence.”

Chen De’s fists clenched, the scars along his knuckles turning white. “Yes,” he said and ran off. He hadn’t even given Chen Zhengyi a second look.

Hong Fei approached the youth slumped in the chair. Chen Zhengyi was insensate and oblivious to his once-teacher standing over him.

Hong Fei buried the disappointment he felt deep within him, so that only coldness showed on his face. Searching, he found a familiar clay tube that had once been stoppered with wax. It’d been hidden in the lining of the youth’s robe. The residue inside the tube smelled intensely of dream blossoms.

“So that’s what Ma Mo gave you,” Hong Fei muttered.

The other tubes didn’t appear to be on his person, however. A search of Chen Zhenyi’s rooms would likely be necessary to find them.

Hong Fei sighed. He closed and barred the window, then dragged Chen Zhengyi into the corridor.

“Let’s go,” he said to Auntie Ling, ushering her out before locking the bedroom door behind them. The steward would want to examine things as they’d been found.

Hong Fei lifted Chen Zhengyi to throw the youth over his shoulder and carry him out. He dropped him down again in the courtyard where Yu Yong’s servants were gathering to organize their search for the Young Master.

“Keep an eye on this one,” Hong Fei said, gesturing to the youth on the ground. “Don’t let him or anyone else into the residence without my approval.”

“Sir?” a servant questioned.

“No one,” Hong Fei emphasized, showing the badge given to him as the dūtóu.

That seemed to firm the servant’s resolve, and several others nodded in acknowledgement. He picked them out and instructed, “You all will stay to watch over the courtyard. The rest will follow.”

“But we have to search for the Young Master,” another servant objected.

Hong Fei gestured toward Auntie Ling. “She’ll find him for us.”

Understanding spread among the servants, and they followed behind at a respectful distance while Auntie Ling picked up the boy’s scent outside the bedroom window. It led to and up a wall.

Hong Fei shook his head and observed, “We’re lucky he didn’t break his neck.”

A servant volunteered: “Sir, we’re familiar with the Young Master’s ways. There’s a garden on the other side and a shortcut to getting there.”

“Then let’s go,” Hong Fei said.

###

The trail led through a series of cut ways and narrow passages. Auntie Ling couldn’t fit through them, which forced the searchers to take alternate paths around them. After the third such detour, Hong Fei was able to draw a line through the map in his head. He realized Yu Yong was headed directly from his courtyard toward the steward’s office.

There were only a garden and pavilion in between when he heard the screaming. Hong Fei shot forward with a surge of essence. The thumping of Auntie Ling’s paws on the ground told him she was behind him.

A servant stumbled from the corridor ahead. “He’s killed them! The Young Master killed them!”

Hong Fei’s heart turned icy; he blew past the servant. Ahead, the steward’s office door was closed, and a group of sobbing servants gathered outside the duke’s office. Inside, a red-faced Yu Yong was on the ground struggling against the soldiers holding him there. The young man’s qi raged, visible to the naked eye.

The duchess… Hong Fei found her standing in the doorway leading to the duke’s bedroom. She stood tall and held a sword at the ready. What should have been a sallow complexion looked healthy, her eyes determined.

Hong Fei’s gaze was drawn past Yu Hui to the room beyond. Two men lay in separate beds—one was Duke Yu and the other was his spitting image, though younger, clearly his son. Neither of them moved—not even breathing.

Hong Fei stuttered to a stop, his mind blanking. “Did Yu Yong…”

The duchess shook her head, the motion tightly controlled.

“Lies!” Yu Yong yelled, his voice hoarse. “Everything is a lie! Everything!”

“Get him out of here,” the duchess commanded. “Clear away the…” she paused at the number of soldiers and servants who’d seen the family’s secret exposed.

Hong Fei thought she might order him to do something terrible then. That command died in her throat when Chen Wenbin appeared at the open door.

“Heavens…” the xiàowèi muttered. His pause lasted only the blink of an eye, then Chen Wenbin’s qi moved through the room. Rigid and unyielding, it surrounded Yu Yong to bind his limbs.

Hong Fei locked eyes with the duchess. “How long?” he mouthed.

The determination in her eyes didn’t waver. She leaned the sword in her hands against the wall, then stepped into the office, closing the door behind her. The motion drew everyone’s attention as she’d intended it to.

Standing straight, she said, “Both my husband and son have been dead since this past winter. They did not die by my grandson’s hand.”

The pronouncement stunned the listeners. All except for Yu Yong who howled on the ground like a maddened animal.

###

Yu Yong was placed on Auntie Ling’s back to be carried to his courtyard. An escort of soldiers went with him, and they were let into the Young Master’s salon under Hong Fei’s supervision. His bedroom was still locked to protect it from being tampered with, so a different room was selected for his stay.

The giant badger put her paw on his chest and pressed down when it looked like the xiàowèi’s magic was beginning to wear off. The youth struggled for a time—he’d continued yelling throughout—but eventually the hallucinations brought on by the dream blossom wine wore off, and he drifted into uneasy sleep.

Chen De came by and prostrated himself in front of the bed. Eventually, he was kicked out so that Sun Han could examine the youth’s cultivation.

The day grew longer, and voices came and went from down the corridor. Almost all were tinged with anxiety, hysteria, or both. Hong Fei ran his hands through his hair so frequently, the knot came free. The soldiers guarding Yu Yong looked no better. All of their faces were pinched with worry.

In a single move, Yu Yong had toppled the board and sent all the pieces tumbling. The family was in danger of losing the game entirely. By the end of the day, the entire city would know that Duke Yu was dead; Hong Fei was sure of it. Everyone would realize the Yu’s no longer had his protection.

There was the duchess, of course, so physical threats might be delayed while the status of her cultivation was probed, but that wouldn’t take long. Once a deception was revealed, people would naturally question if there were more.

Whatever the duchess had used to make it seem like she was well—it couldn’t last. Otherwise, why not use it all the time? No, Hong Fei thought, it’s likely a contingency meant for emergencies, like saving her grandson’s life.

Hong Fei closed his eyes and felt the sinking of his heart. He’d recognized the sword in the duchess’s hands; Yu Yong had practiced with it enough. Whether it’d been simply carried in delusional anger or actually used… that he didn’t know and didn’t want to know. Some things were best left to uncertainty.

He’d not seen any injuries on Duke Yu’s and Yu Hao’s bodies. There was at least that comfort. He told himself so, anyway.

###

Zhang Dehua appeared at the door of the room where Yu Yong was being kept under guard. The steward’s eyes were stricken in a way Hong Fei had never seen before. “How is he?”

Hong Fei looked to the youth in bed. “Still asleep.”

“And his injuries?”

“Sun Han examined him,” Hong Fei replied. “The Young Master has most likely lost two tiers’ worth of his cultivation. Permanently.”

“I see.” The steward stood at the door, not saying anything more until… “I was meeting with Clerk Beitang. I should’ve been here instead.”

Hong Fei nodded.

“I didn’t know,” Zhang Dehua added, his voice soft and plaintive.

“None of us do until it’s too late,” Hong Fei replied.

Auntie Ling glanced at him. Hong Fei had sent Sun Han back to his courtyard—too much was in flux to trust the safety of the Kang family to civility—but he kept the giant badger close by for his own comfort.

Hong Fei shifted in his chair. “What’s going to happen to Chen Zhengyi? He’s once again led Yu Yong into deadly trouble. This is the third time that I know about.”

Zhang Dehua glanced to the soldiers listening to the conversation. “It’s a matter of discussion with the xiàowèi,” he said.

Hong Fei nodded again. “I understand.”

“We need to be united,” the steward stressed. “All of us. The future is… is…”

“Bleak,” Hong Fei offered.

“Just so,” Zhang Dehua said.

“I do understand,” Hong Fei assured him, which was a truth by every measure. The situation was clear enough—the family needed Chen Wenbin and the man would protect his nephew.

Now, as for what Hong Fei would do with that truth, he didn’t explain to the steward.

-----

ToC | Next Chapter >

Characters who’ve been mentioned previously are: