Chapter 29: The Offer

Lianxiang was waiting for her in the courtyard behind the star anise shop. It was the morning of the twenty-ninth, cold and bright, and the little courtyard was full of drying racks covered in split orange peel laid out in the sun, so that the air smelled sweet and bitter at once. The fox stood among the racks in her lotus-pink robe with her hands folded in her sleeves. She looked as if she hadn't slept. She looked as if she hadn't needed to. "He's sleeping," she said. "She's with him. I wanted to talk to you without either of them listening." "All right," said Ming. Nine had stopped at the gate of the courtyard. Lianxiang glanced at him. "He can stay," she said. "He knows already. He's known since he walked in." "There's an old way," said Lianxiang. She said it standing by a drying rack, turning a curl…