Morning light crept slowly into the crooked little room at the Feng Palace Inn, sliding through the torn paper window and laying a pale strip of gold across the warped wooden floor.
Yuanshi woke first.
She always did.
For a moment she lay still, listening.
The inn was already awake. Someone downstairs was arguing about the price of wine. A chair scraped loudly. Somewhere outside, a cart rattled over uneven stones while a vendor shouted about fresh buns.
Next to the wall, Ergu was still asleep, curled on his side with one hand tucked under his cheek. His hair stuck up in three different directions like he'd fought a pillow and lost.
Across the room, Yuexi groaned and rolled over.
Yuanshi sat up quietly and stretched.
Her back cracked.
She made a face.
"Remind me," Yuexi mumbled without opening her eyes, "why we're sleeping in a place that smells like boiled socks."
"Because the other inns wouldn't let us in," Yuanshi said.
"Mm."
Silence lingered for a moment.
Then Yuexi's eyes opened slowly.
"…we're still doing your ridiculous plan today, aren't we?"
Yuanshi swung her legs off the bed.
"Of course."
Yuexi dropped her face back into the pillow.
"Wonderful. If we're doing this, we will need a coherent plan"
Ergu stirred when Yuanshi stood. His eyes opened halfway.
"Food?"
"Soon," Yuanshi said softly.
She smoothed his hair down, though it immediately sprang back up again.
"First we're going to wash."
That got Yuexi's attention. She pushed herself up on one elbow.
"With what money?"
Yuanshi grabbed her sleeve and sniffed it thoughtfully.
Yuexi stared at her.
"Don't."
Yuanshi sniffed again.
Yuexi lunged for a pillow.
"Stop smelling me!"
"You smell like the alley."
"That's because we live in the alley!"
Yuanshi tossed the pillow back.
"We're fixing that."
"How?"
"Bath."
Yuexi squinted at her.
"You're joking."
Yuanshi was already pulling on her shoes.
"I'm not selling maps while we smell like cabbage."
Ergu perked up.
"Cabbage!"
Yuexi pointed at him.
"See? Even he agrees with me."
Yuanshi crouched and tugged Ergu's sleeve over his shoulder properly.
"You want people to believe we came from a sect, don't you?"
Yuexi hesitated.
"…yes."
"Then we start by not smelling like we climbed out of a trash pit."
Yuexi muttered something unflattering but grabbed her shoes.
"Fine. If we starve later, I'm blaming you."
The bathhouse behind the inn was nothing more than a wooden shed with two giant barrels of steaming water and an old man sitting on a stool by the door.
He didn't even look up when Yuanshi dropped three copper coins on the table.
"Three."
The man scooped the coins into a bowl and jerked his thumb toward the back room.
Steam rolled out when they pushed the door open.
Ergu gasped.
"Clouds!"
Yuanshi laughed quietly.
"Something like that."
They washed quickly.
The water was almost too hot, but after weeks of dust and sweat it felt heavenly.
Yuexi leaned back against the edge of the barrel with her eyes closed.
"…okay," she admitted. "Maybe this wasn't a terrible idea."
Yuanshi dunked her hair under the water and came up again, slicking it back.
"I'm always right."
Yuexi opened one eye.
"You're often lucky."
"Same thing."
Ergu splashed happily with a wooden ladle, narrating something about boats and sea monsters that made absolutely no sense.
Yuanshi kept a hand loosely on the back of his tub so he didn't tip it over.
The market was already loud by the time they stepped into the street.
The smell hit first.
Fried dough.
Soy sauce.
Charcoal smoke.
Then the noise.
Vendors shouting prices. Chickens protesting their existence. A man somewhere beating metal into shape with rhythmic clangs.
Yuexi pulled a small folded notebook from her sleeve and a brush from behind her ear.
Yuanshi eyed it.
"…what's that?"
"Ledger."
"You have a ledger?"
"You," Yuexi said, "are terrible with money."
"That is slander."
"You once spent two days' food money on candied hawthorn."
"That was a moment of weakness."
Yuexi dipped the brush in a tiny ink vial.
"Current funds: six taels, four hundred coins."
Yuanshi nodded approvingly.
"Excellent."
"That means," Yuexi continued, "if you start buying useless"
Yuanshi had already stopped at a cosmetics stall.
Yuexi sighed.
"things."
Small jars were arranged across the table like jewels. Rouge. Powder. Hair oil. Perfume in delicate little bottles.
Yuexi picked one up despite herself.
The scent was faint and floral.
"…this smells nice."
Yuanshi leaned closer.
"Try it."
Yuexi dabbed a little on her wrist.
Then sniffed again.
"…we could pass for actual people."
Yuanshi snorted.
"We already are actual people."
"You know what I mean."
Ergu tried to grab a shiny hairpin.
Yuanshi caught his wrist gently.
"Not that one."
"But shiny."
"Very breakable shiny."
He accepted this logic.
The vendor watched them with mild amusement.
"Buying for your daughters?"
Yuanshi didn't even blink.
"Something like that."
Yuexi coughed.
They bought a small rouge tin, a vial of perfume, and two simple hairpins.
Yuexi scribbled furiously in the ledger.
"Total spent: eight hundred coins."
Yuanshi winced.
"That much?"
"You picked the plum blossom hairpin."
"It looked elegant."
"You have expensive taste for someone with empty pockets."
They wandered deeper into the clothing stalls.
Silks hung in soft waves overhead.
Colors everywhere.
Jade green.
Soft blue.
Cream white.
Yuanshi stopped when a group of young women passed.
Their robes were pale and flowing, sleeves drifting like clouds when they moved.
Sect disciples.
Probably.
They walked through the market like they owned the street.
Not loudly.
Not arrogantly.
Just…certain.
Yuanshi watched the way they carried themselves.
"See that?"
Yuexi followed her gaze.
"The shoulders."
"Straight."
"And they don't rush."
"They make everyone else move."
They both tried walking the same way.
Yuexi nearly ran into a cabbage cart.
Yuanshi grabbed her sleeve and hauled her back.
"Graceful."
"I am graceful!"
"You just attacked a vegetable."
Ergu laughed.
They eventually found two dresses that were nowhere near the type that actual high class ladies will wear but they were fine enough for pretence.
One pale blue.
One simple grey.
Yuexi held them up.
"…I look like a servant."
Yuanshi nodded approvingly.
"Exactly."
"You're enjoying this too much."
They found a small food stall across the street from a tall, elegant building.
The sign above the door read:
Ding Tai Restaurant
Two floors.
Carved pillars.
Lanterns hanging from the eaves.
And cultivators constantly walking in and out.
Yuanshi's eyes lit up.
"Perfect."
They bought three bowls of noodles and sat at the stall's narrow wooden counter.
From here they could see the restaurant entrance clearly.
Yuexi leaned forward slightly.
"So… we just watch them?"
"Yes."
"That's your plan."
"That's the plan."
A pair of young men in deep blue robes walked up the restaurant steps.
Swords at their sides.
Their hair tied in neat topknots.
They barely glanced at the crowd.
Yuexi nudged Yuanshi.
"They don't look at anyone."
"They don't have to."
Another group came out laughing loudly.
Different sect.
Different robes.
Same confidence.
Yuanshi rested her chin on her hand.
"Listen to how they talk."
Yuexi nodded.
"And how they order food."
"Or don't."
Ergu slurped noodles loudly.
Yuanshi pushed his bowl slightly closer so he wouldn't spill it.
The afternoon passed slowly.
More cultivators came and went.
Some quiet.
Some arrogant.
Some barely older than Yuanshi herself.
Yuexi scribbled little notes in the ledger margins.
Posture.
Speech.
Mannerisms.
Yuanshi practiced coughing delicately into her sleeve.
Yuexi nearly choked laughing.
"Stop that."
"You're supposed to look sick."
"You sound like a dying goat."
Yuanshi tried again.
A softer cough.
Yuexi nodded reluctantly.
"…better."
The sun drifted lower.
Lanterns began lighting outside the restaurant.
Ergu fell asleep with his head against Yuanshi's side.
She adjusted her arm so he wouldn't slide off the stool.
Across the street another pair of cultivators disappeared through Ding Tai's doors.
Yuanshi watched them thoughtfully.
Then she leaned back and smiled.
"Alright," she said quietly.
Upon watching them, Yuanshi said "I think if we're going to pull this off, we'll need a trumpcard of some sort".
Yuexi asked her "what do you mean?" . She said "Looking carefully, all of the sect disciples have a seal with them. Look it's hanging on their belts and they present it to the attendant. We'll need something like that."
Yuanshi saw an unremarkable boy, who looked no older than twelve dressed in dark clothes coming out of the restaurant. Pointing at the boy, she looked at Yuexi and said "He should do".
Yuexi was left hanging as Yuanshi ran towards him and collided against him pretending to be a beggar.
She kept her head bowed saying "I'm sorry little ancestor, I'm sorry. This one will leave now".
The boy seemed to be in a hurry and simply kicked her away and dusted his clothes.
When he left, Yuanshi walked back to Yuexi and opened her sealed palm, showing her a green jade seal she had taken off him.
"Here's our trump card", Yuanshi said with a smirk.
Meanwhile Yuexi inspected it and murmured, eyes wide
"This looks expensive and we have no idea who or what it stands for. Yuanshi, this might come back to haunt us." Yuanshi said with a smirk "I'll be careful and there'll be no repercussions. Afterall, we aren't planning to hold on to it forever, we'll dispose it when we're done with it"