Silk, Swords And Surrender: The Touch of Moonlight / The Taming of Mei Lin / The Lady's Scandalous Night / An Illicit Temptation / Capturing the Silken Thief

The look she gave him was full of joy. Her smile brightened and the warmth of it radiated throughout her. Baozhen’s own smile quickly faded.

Lian looked happy. Happier than he could remember ever seeing her. All for a few lines of stolen poetry from some peacock who barely knew her.

Chapter Three (#ulink_52cd74cf-7f50-59d6-bd20-002c3b18c0e7)

Lian placed the pebble into the leather sling and took careful aim. She was perched on top of the gardener’s ladder, which raised her high enough over the courtyard wall to see into the alleyway. She also had clear sight of the side entrance to the Guo residence. As soon as Baozhen appeared, she let the pebble fly. It flew past his ear and struck against the gate.

“Hey—”

She sighed. “I must be out of practice.”

Baozhen brushed a hand over the front of his tunic to regain his composure.

He glanced up at her from the alleyway, showing off the strong cut of his jaw and that playful mouth. “Miss Lian, I see that you’re in a bloodthirsty mood today.”

Some of the successful merchants in the ward wore bright embroidered fabrics, as a show of their wealth, but Baozhen and his family favored muted, darker colors. He didn’t need a bright banner to draw attention to himself.

“Have you heard?” she asked.

Baozhen responded with a raised eyebrow—a look that he thought made him endearing. Most of the neighborhood girls agreed.

“Liu Jinhai sent my family a gift of tea and lychees yesterday,” she said smugly.

“Hmm...lychees. You must have really made an impression.”

So at ease with himself. It wasn’t a matter of pride or vanity for him. Everything came naturally to him.

“There’s some creature hovering at your head, there,” he remarked.

She couldn’t help gloating. She touched a hand to the gilded hummingbird ornament. “It’s a hairpin. Jinhai had it delivered to me personally.”

“Let me guess: along with a few lines of poetry that he copied from somewhere?”

She sniffed, refusing to let him dim her glow. Baozhen disappeared momentarily into his house to re-emerge atop his wall. They were now face-to-face across the two compounds.

“So, only two days and Liu Jinhai is already introducing himself to your parents and sending you gifts?”

“Nothing as impressive as a slingshot,” she pointed out wickedly.

“I should have thought more carefully about arming you. I don’t think you’ll miss next time, and this handsome face is the only asset I have.”

“Don’t forget the mouth part of that face,” she retorted.

He laughed at that, and a lazy warmth filled her. It was so wonderful, speaking with Baozhen like this. All his attention was focused on her and it didn’t matter what they said. The only thing that mattered was spending time in his company.

“Now that you’ve shown yourself to be so highly sought after...” he began.

She preened accordingly.

“Are you certain you want to limit yourself to only one admirer? You should have an army of suitors pushing their way through the gates.”

“Not everyone needs to surround themselves with a flock of admirers,” Lian scoffed. “Some of us are only looking for one person to make us happy.”

He frowned, confused.

“Liu Jinhai actually thinks I’m pretty,” she added, a little too shyly.

“I think you’re pretty,” he replied, a little too easily.

“You call me ‘alley cat.’ Like all the scrawny strays prowling the streets.”

“I’ll have to come up with a better name. That one hardly suits you anymore.”

He granted her a look that was far from brotherly and her toes curled with delight. He didn’t even have to make an effort to coax every part of her into drawing toward him with longing.

“Are you going to the banquet tonight at the Ko mansion?” he asked.

Ko was the registrar, whose offices recorded and approved all the goods that flowed through the East Market. He was celebrating his son’s civil appointment and had invited all the influential merchants and businessmen of the ward.

“Father and Mother will be attending,” she said.

“And you?”

She shrugged airily. “I have a feeling I won’t be well enough to go out this evening.”

“Oh?” His eyebrow was raised again, but this time it wasn’t in a charming fashion.

Baozhen took all the attention bestowed upon him for granted. He was used to having women sighing at his every word and he had become indifferent. She would be just another lovesick maiden if she fell prey to him.

“My family will be out all night drinking wine and playing the dice. I’m already feeling a bit tired,” she declared, conspicuously adjusting the hummingbird pin. “It’s best I stay home alone and rest.”

“Lian...” he began in warning tones.

She took that opportunity to disappear down the ladder. Her heart skipped with excitement as her feet settled onto the ground. Baozhen’s look of concern had been the last thing she saw before descending. And it had been very far from indifferent.

* * *

It was evening and the neighborhood had cleared. Everyone had gone to attend the registrar’s gathering. Baozhen remained behind—only to find that Lian had already slipped away from home. He’d expected as much from the dreamy look in her eyes that morning. She was a smitten young girl, floating in a world of clouds. With cursed hummingbirds flitting about her.

Liu Jinhai could be a gentleman when he tried. He was capable of being smooth and charming and well-spoken. But he was a wolf at heart. Cads like Liu Jinhai and himself ran in the same pack. It was all in good fun. Flirtation, secret meetings, stolen kisses in the dark—until someone got careless. Until some pretty, passionate flower like Lian, who believed in eternal love, came along and made them lose their heads. The wolves were prey as much as predator in this game.

Baozhen would have been wasting his breath to try to dissuade her. No one since the first dynasty had ever been talked out of a romantic liaison. Certainly not any love-stricken young girl.

It wasn’t hard to figure out the location for their secret meeting. There were only a few places one could sneak away to in the ward. Baozhen returned to the public park. Sure enough, there was an orb lantern bobbing in the trees just beyond the carp pond.

“Were you expecting me?” he asked as he entered the circle of trees.

Lian jumped from her spot on the stone bench. To his relief, she was still alone.