Free Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin Page A

irreverent tone, but he didn’t contradict me. “You’ll be outside the city wall,” he warned.
    â€œAguda said I would be protected at all times.”
    â€œHe can’t possibly promise that. He has no authority in the foreign concession. Even the prince would find it difficult to exert any influence there.”
    He seemed so concerned and my pulse skipped. From the very first moment we’d met, he’d tried to protect me.
    â€œWhy did you hide the device yesterday?” I asked him.
    The shadows moved dramatically over his face, highlighting the definition in his cheekbones. “The imperial government is wary of all foreign implements and devices right now. I didn’t want Inspector Aguda to have anything more to hold over you. If you want it back—”
    â€œNo, you keep it. I mean, for now.” I stood there gripping the door, unsure of what Chang-wei had hoped to accomplish by dissuading me from going. I was at the mercy of the crown prince as much as he was.
    What had happened to him when the Ministry was purged? And how had he come to serve the imperial court once more when all of Father’s other men had been removed from office?
    â€œHave you tried to contact Yang yourself?” I asked.
    â€œI doubt he would respond favorably to such an attempt. We weren’t—” He stopped short and started again. “Yang Hanzhu was highly ranked within the Ministry while I was no one of any importance.”
    Yet he was the one my father had betrothed me to. There was something missing here that I couldn’t grasp.
    Uncle Hanzhu had always made game of challenging my understanding of the world.
“What comes first? Smoke or fire?”
    Would Yang even still remember me? And even if he did, what sway could I possibly have over someone who had been evading the imperial authorities for years?
    â€œYang Hanzhu wouldn’t do anything to harm me,” I insisted, despite my doubts. “I’ll tell him what you told me. That formula belongs to my father as much as it does Yang. He won’t keep it from me.”
    Chang-wei looked less than convinced. Reaching into his robe, Chang-wei pulled out something from the inner pocket.
    â€œAt least take this with you.” With a flick of his wrist, the fan unfolded. The candlelight reflected off an intricate web of silver spines.
    â€œIt’s a bladed fan, razor-tipped along the edges,” he explained. “If anyone gives you trouble, aim for the throat or the eyes.”
    He demonstrated with a quick swipe in the air that made me jump backward. Then he snapped the fan closed and turned it around to present it to me.
    â€œA woman would be expected to carry a fan. No one will suspect anything.”
    The fan was surprisingly heavy in my hand. Carefully, I unfolded it once more to give it a closer look. The spines were fashioned out of metal, then coated with lacquer. A painted border along the top hid the thin blades embedded between the silk.
    Chang-wei seemed intent on protecting me in any way he could. It was hard for me to resent him.
    â€œMister Chen?” I felt too awkward to call him anything more familiar than that.
    â€œYes?”
    â€œCan you help me send a message to my family? They don’t know where I am and they’ll worry.”
    â€œOf course I will.”
    â€œAnd if you could—” My fingers tightened over the door. “This is difficult to ask, but my family was waiting for me to return from the market after selling the box. I didn’t leave them with much—”
    â€œI will see that your family’s needs are taken care of,” he said graciously. “It would be my honor to do so.”
    The painstaking politeness had returned, but the candlelight flickered in his pupils, reflecting flecks of gold in them. Up close, alone with Chang-wei and embraced in darkness, I finally had my answer. It was the answer I had longed for since