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Wenshu answered the door, jolting back at the sight of a royal guard. Yufei stood up with a scroll, ready to bludgeon him, but the man bowed and held out a wooden box.

“Delivery for Fan Zilan,” he said.

Wenshu shot me a withering look, then accepted the box with both hands and dismissed the guard. He set it on the floor and crossed his arms while I untied the ribbon.

The box was full of red silk embroidered with gold cranes. Cranes were a symbol of eternity, a common image in the royal court full of gold eaters. I lifted the fabric and shook it out, the design flickering in the sunlight, as if the cranes were flapping their wings. Several gold coins fell out of the folds of the fabric, followed by a note that spiraled to the floor.

Zilanxiaojie,

Sorry about the guard, but I’m being watched very closely and can’t come to you. Mother is suspicious but has no proof of my involvement.

You need to burn the dress you were wearing that night. A scrap of it was found on the dungeon floor and mother is searching the court for the owner.

I’m sending you this dress, partially because I’m not sure if you own more than one and understand that you can’t exactly come naked to your alchemy exam, and partially because I can’t just send a letter, or the guards will read it.

If you already have enough dresses or don’t like this one, you can give it to your sister or sell it. I asked a servant if she thought it was ugly and she said no, but she was probably afraid I would behead her if she upset me, so I don’t know how honest her answer was. But please know I have endeavored not to send you ugly clothes.

I probably won’t be allowed out to see your final exam, but I know you will pass.

All my best,

Li Hong

PS: I have ordered 100,000 gold to be sent discreetly to your home address in Guangzhou, which I got from the census records. Apologies if this is presumptuous.

PPS: You asked me to pay for the stones you used, so I sent 1,000 gold. I’m not sure if this is enough? Let me know next time if not.

I sighed, holding the note over a candle until the flames devoured it.

“What kind of fool signs a treasonous note with both his real name and mine?” I said. “I don’t know how he’s stayed alive this long.”

“At least it came with a present,” Yufei said, holding up the dress. “If you’re going to risk your life for him, you might as well get something nice out of it.”

“Is it really so easy to win girls over?” Wenshu said, grimacing. “If I send a girl a pretty dress, will she forgive me for putting her life at risk?”

“You’ve literally sent girls buckets of fertilizer before,” Yufei said. “You don’t understand how girls, or gifts, work.”

“Fertilizer is a very useful gift, unlike silk dresses.”

“Well, I can’t wear fertilizer to my final exam,” I said, gesturing for Wenshu to turn around so I could take my dress off. It was the only clothing I had besides my nightgown, which I didn’t particularly want to wear to my exam, so it seemed the prince would have his way.

The material felt cold on my skin, like a river running down my arms. The skirt tied high on my chest with gold ribbons, the sleeves hanging past my fingertips. I’d never in my life worn so much fabric—every time I turned, the skirt rustled, a thousand folds of silk whispering as they spun around me.

“Oh no. You like it,” Yufei said. “You have expensive taste now.”

“I don’t like it,” I said, rolling the sleeves up and looking away. “It’s all I have to wear now, so I will wear it.”

“What a pity,” Yufei said, shooting me a knowing smile.

On the day of my final exam, I expected everything but fairness. I filled my pockets with three of every stone I had, bound knives under my clothes, and arrived at dawn. I wouldn’t put it past the royal court to change the time and “forget” to inform me, so I needed to arrive there first.

This is it, I thought, my heartbeat traitorously loud as I approached the building. All the money we’d saved in Guangzhou for years, all the corpses I’d had to manhandle, all the nights of too-thin soup and secrets and shame could end today. Yufei had tried to force cucumbers down my throat, but my stomach had felt so tight and small that I was sure I’d be sick if I had anything more than water.

For a moment, I allowed myself to imagine being a royal alchemist. Not an orphanedhùnxiefrom the dirty south but a member of the imperial court. I thought of standing beside the Moon Alchemist with her sharp and perfect edges, her presence that demanded respect. I thought of Auntie and Uncle buying a new house and bragging to their neighbors that their daughter—not their niece—was a royal alchemist who sent them all the money they could ever want.

More than anything, I thought of Wenshu and Yufei. I’d barely even said goodbye to them this morning because they were both whispering over their scrolls, words and concepts that made no sense to me. Soon, they would trade in their hemp rags for purple silk robes and begin their new lives. I could either pass my test and stand beside them, or leave Chang’an alone.

For a terrible moment, I saw a future where Wenshu and Yufei walked to their offices together side by side and forgot about the sister they used to have, half a world away.