The spring breeze caressed his face. Hongjun was about to step into the apothecary for some herbs when he saw a man convulsing on the ground outside, moaning in pain. His body was covered in sores, a gruesome sight entirely at odds with the beautiful spring day.
“Help me… Help…” he moaned.
“You’re doomed, so stop screaming,” an apothecary attendant snapped as he came out. He called, “Hey! Is his family here? Hurry up and take him home!”
Feeling a pang of sympathy, Hongjun bent to take the man’s pulse. “Don’t touch him!” the doctor inside warned. “You’ll catch it too!”
The sun was already sinking in the west, and the market stalls were closing up for the day. Hongjun addressed the man. “Where do you live?”
“I have money—I’ll give you money, just save me.” Despite his plight, the man’s voice was full of determination, unwilling to bow to his fate. He raised his head and looked at the apothecary. “I don’t want to die, Doctor. Save me, and I’ll repay you with my life!”
As the sun set over Chang’an, Mergen, clad in rough-spun clothes, pushed a handcart through an alley. He and Lu Xu were on the way to the Anxi Barracks to deliver jars of wine.
“Today?” Lu Xu asked.
Mergen hesitated. “Let’s wait one more day.”
They’d gotten this job on the recommendation of Turandokht, in her capacity as the owner of Lanling Amber. Every day before the sun set, they delivered forty jars of wine to the Anxi Barracks for the officers under An Lushan’s command.
Since arriving in Chang’an, An Lushan had traveled back and forth from the palace, carried aloft on his sedan chair by a team of sixteen men. He’d go off to pay his respects to the emperor and noble consort, then return to feast with his officers. By Mergen’s count, there were two hundred men in the Anxi Barracks, polishing off ten lambs and ten pigs every day, as well as chicken, duck, and geese in addition to heaping piles of venison, water deer, and fish. Jars upon jars of wine were poured into a massive vat and delivered into the banquet hall, where the men would scoop the wine out with their bowls.
“I think we should do it today,” Lu Xu said. “The servants here are beginning to recognize us.”
As Mergen pushed the handcart in, he was greeted by the housekeeper in charge of purchasing. “Hey, you’re here early today!”
“Ah—yes.” Mergen wiped his hands with a rag, looking the part of a servant exactly. If not for his tall and lean stature, he would be indistinguishable from the others here. Lu Xu, on the other hand, was fair-skinned and pretty, obviously unused to heavy manual labor. He stood to the side, watching the exchange with impassive eyes. The first time they’d come, Mergen had introduced Lu Xu as his scholarly distant cousin, claiming he was working to pay for the books he needed to prepare for the imperial examinations next year.
The housekeeper suspected nothing. “Just pour the wine into the vat, as usual.”
Lu Xu watched idly as Mergen poured the wine. At that moment, the steward bustled into the rear courtyard and accosted the housekeeper. “Where did the two boys holding the meat platters yesterday disappear to? Head to the West Market later and fetch another pair. Good-looking ones.”
Lu Xu cast a glance at Mergen, who nodded back without a word while he went on with his work with a smile. The previous night, Ashina Adarvan had put two servant boys out of commission with an unfortunate bout of diarrhea and vomiting so Mergen and Lu Xu could take their place. This was their chance.
The housekeeper looked at Mergen. “No need to go to the market—you two will do. You’re tall, so remember to kneel properly. Don’t straighten your back and you’ll be fine.”
Mergen quickly agreed, grinning broadly. Lu Xu, on the other hand, feigned reluctance.
“You’ll be paid!” the housekeeper urged. “Two hundred copper coins. If the governor is in a good mood, who knows? He might reward you with a tael of silver, and you’ll be rich!”
Only then did Lu Xu nod as well. The housekeeper, relieved to avoid having to run off to the West Market for two measly servants, immediately called for someone to take them away. They were to be bathed and provided a change of clothes so they would be ready to serve An Lushan at the evening banquet.
By nightfall, Mergen and Lu Xu were washing haphazardly in the rear courtyard. Year-round exposure to the sun had tanned Mergen’s skin to a warm bronze, while Lu Xu, used to wearing a long-sleeved uniform and traveling by night as a scout, truly did have the milky complexion of a scholar.
Mergen glanced at Lu Xu and asked with a laugh, “Who’s fairer, you or Hongjun?”
“None of your business,” Lu Xu retorted, turning away from him. Mergen’s mind went blank as he stared at Lu Xu’s bare back and shoulders; he suddenly understood Li Jinglong’s preference for young men as a wave of primitive, vulgar desire washed over him.
Once clean, they changed into leather skirts, leaving their torsos naked save for a pair of leather belts. This was a common form of dress among the Göktürks of the west. An Lushan often went about decked in gold and silver, but as a man of Göktürk descent, he preferred his soldiers to wear this style of Turkic leather armor that bared the chest in a display of their bravery and prowess.
Mergen and Lu Xu found their way to the banquet preparations, where they were greeted by the sight of a servant dumping baskets of live fish into wooden cases. Among the fish flopping on the ground was a familiar carp, who quickly tucked in his hands and feet and slipped into a case while the servant wasn’t looking, leaving only his head peeking out.
As the servant carried one of the cases away, Lu Xu called quietly, “Zhao Zilong!”
The carp yao popped out of the pile of fish. Mergen beckoned him over. “I’m not wearing any clothes!” he protested. “It’s too embarrassing!”
“You didn’t wear clothes before, did you?” Mergen asked.
“It feels different not wearing any now that I’m used to them!” The carp yao ducked back into the case just as the servant came back for it.
Bored stiff, Mergen and Lu Xu sat down in the corridor within the rear courtyard to wait. Mergen glanced sidelong at Lu Xu, studying him as he searched for something to say. Lu Xu, apathetic as always, remained silent.
“Hey,” Mergen said.
“Mm.” Lu Xu glanced at him. His glimpse of Mergen’s memories had given him a strange feeling, like he was meeting him again for the first time.
“Don’t worry,” Mergen assured him. “We’ll be fine.”
“Who’s worried about you?” Lu Xu said. “You wish.”
“Why don’t you be my didi?” Mergen reached out to pat Lu Xu’s head.
Lu Xu swatted him away. “I’m not Hongjun,” he said. “He doesn’t understand anything, but I do. You can’t trick me into following you around with just a few meals.”
“Oh?” Mergen laughed. “If I really wanted to trick you, things would be much different. I’ve never kept anything from you.”
“You didn’t tell them about your past?” Lu Xu asked.
Mergen hadn’t expected Lu Xu to bring up the contents of his dream. He said nonchalantly, “What’s there to tell?”
“Not even Li Jinglong?” Lu Xu pressed.
But Mergen was obviously unwilling to discuss it. “Later, we’ll do just as we planned—”
“You didn’t come to Chang’an just to see the world,” Lu Xu said. “Am I right?”
“I came in search of you, didn’t I?” Something flickered in Mergen’s eyes. He seemed like a completely different person now; even his smile was more complicated, filled with a mix of emotions.
“Why are you staying in the Department of Exorcism, then?”
“For my brothers, of course.”
“A-Tai and Ashina Adarvan want to recover the sacred flame and rebuild their nation, and Yongsi-ge is staying to capture Xie Yu—”
“Why do you all like Yongsi so much?” Mergen asked, studying Lu Xu. “You all call him ge.”
“He’s very talented,” Lu Xu said.
“Sure, while I’m a dumb brute,” Mergen replied with a chuckle.
Before Lu Xu could question him further, they heard a horrified scream from the kitchen. Recognizing the carp yao’s voice, they dashed toward the sound as Zhao Zilong came barreling out.
“It’s too scary!” The carp yao was shivering in fear. “I can’t go back in there!”
“What’s going on?” Lu Xu and Mergen both tensed. Mergen strode briskly down the corridor toward the kitchen with Lu Xu just a step behind. He pushed open the door expecting to find the heavenly demon, only to see over a hundred dried and salted fish hanging beneath the eaves.
“Time to face your fears,” Lu Xu said expressionlessly.