The Nine-tailed Fox becomes a Marquis

Lan Tian looks over at the window, and Wu Yun sees the moment he recognizes Xin Liqin and his eyes widen. "What is he doing here? And with her?"

"Young Master Xin?" Lu Meng asks, looking between Wu Yun and Lan Tian as if they have grown a second head. "He's just a shy intellectual, I don't think he's ever traveled outside of his family's estate."

Wu Yun snorts. "No so shy these days."

Lu Meng still doesn't look convinced. "Are you sure? The last time I saw him he could barely string two sentences together without stuttering."

"I'm very sure. In fact, we're going into that boat to see what he's up to." He gets up from the pillow and looks from Wan Mi to Lu Meng. "The two of you stay here, if we aren't back in an hour come find us."

"Why can I go too?" Wan Mi asks.

Wu Yun pats her head condescendingly. "Stay here and finish your peaches like a good girl."

---

The boat seems almost ready to sail when Wu Yun and Lan Tian reach it. There's a man in a steward's cap at the bridge checking everyone's name against a list.

Wu Yun pulls Lan Tian with him to the queue, and the two of them wait their turn as the line shuffles forward slowly.

When it gets to their turn the steward barely looks up at them before, saying. "Welcome to the Thousand Suns Pleasure boat, names please."

His half-lidded eyes give him a sleepy appearance and he looks bored out of his mind.

Wu Yun takes a quick scan of everyone's elegant robes and fine hair ornaments, and makes a quick decision. "Marquis of Wu and his husband Lan Tian."

Lan Tian also noticed the refined clothing of all the patrons in the boat, and he wishes he and Wu Yun, wearing the same robes they literally crawled out of the Underworld in, would have tried to sneak in as the help.

There's nothing to do now, but square his shoulders and try to look like a Marquis' husband.

The steward thumbs over the list, his sleepy eyes scanning over each name. Predictably he doesn't find their names.

"You're not on the list."

Wu Yun decides that he's going to put everything Jiang Tanmei taught him during that grueling week in the Jiang estate to good use.

He turns up his nose, and flattens his lips into a thin line. "That's outrageous, we have traveled more than a thousand li just to be here."

The steward looks at their disheveled robes. Wu Yun's fur collar is missing some fur where Lian Feng nicked it. 

"You're not on the list, and I've never heard of any Marquis of Wu."

Wu Yun raises a hand to his throat as if the man has slapped him. "How dare you? My father was personally granted his title by the Emperor himself!"

The steward still doesn't look convinced.

Wu Yun realizes he'll have to lay it on a bit thicker. "For our family's help with...uh...quelling a rebellion in the south, the Emperor has granted my husband a seat at court."

Someone behind them says, "What rebellion in the south?"

Wu Yun turns back to the woman who spoke up with a glare. "The rebellion that threatened the country's borders! Maybe if your family had helped stop it, you would have heard about it."

Lan Tian pulls Wu Yun gently to his side, and pretends to caress his hair, when in fact he's using it as an excuse to press his face against his neck and keep him quiet. "My husband is very tired from our journey, we would like to go inside and rest."

The presence of Lian Feng in the boat gives him an idea. "We are also trading in qilin bladders and have heard that there would be interested buyers aboard." 

The steward's face lights up, and his heavy lids raise like rope-pulled shutters. 

He does a quick scan of the list of name, and then announces with a cheek-splitting grin. "I'm sorry for any confusion, the Marquis and his husband, are on the list. My tired eyes must have missed their names."

He moves aside to let them cross the rickety bridge into the boat's deck.

Wu Yun spares the steward a pompous smile, before crossing his arm with Lan Tian's and leaning his head against his shoulder, to whisper, "You think that's what this boat is for? Trading beast parts?"

Lan Tian's jaw clenches in distaste. "That's at least one of the things they're doing here."

---

The boat's wooden body raises from the water like a floating building. Its two tiers are made of open viewing decks, and closed areas with huge, open windows that let in the fresh breeze. Red and gold paper lanterns hang from the upper deck giving it a festive mood. At the back two huge red sails propel it forward in the canal's calm waters.

Wu Yun walks around, arm in arm with Lan Tian, trying to spot Xin Liqin. From the teahouse, the only thing he could see was the heavy cape around his shoulders, and his long sleek hair, neatly done up in a high bun, strikingly unlike the free waterfall he wore at the Qi estate.

They enter one of the rooms in the lower deck and Wu Yun almost gasps when he sees what's in front of him.

A scantily clad female nine-tailed fox is dancing on a stage, twisting her tails around herself in a provocative manner. She's dancing to the sound of a xiao a tall man is playing in the corner, and she seems to hear nothing but the music. Her lips split in a sensual smile and she runs the tip of her tongue over a sharp canine. 

Despite how masterful her performance is, her eyes look blank, as if she isn't fully present. 

It sends a chill down Wu Yun's back.

He turns towards Lan Tian as if he's going to hug him and whispers against his neck, "Didn't Wan Mi say that all nine-tailed foxes were born in Kunlun? What is she doing here?"

Lan Tian stiffens at Wu Yun's closeness, and puts some distance between them. Using the pretense of adjusting his robes to hold him at arm's length.

Wu Yun is confused by his dismissal, if not a little hurt, until he sees him mouth the words, "On your left."

He turns his head slowly to the side, and spots Lian Feng sitting in a low couch and talking animatedly with Xin Liqin. 

He's shocked to see that under his cloak Xin Liqin is wearing military armor. A black and gold scale covered upper vest and skirt, over simple leggings. His dignified appearance bears no resemblance to the shameless louche they met. 

However, his insouciant smile and provocative gaze remain the same.

They draw nearer to the two, keeping their backs to them so they can eaves drop on their conversation.

"As I was saying, our sect can offer the army twenty catty of dragon scales, and two dragon pearls, which can be dissolved in the water sources to alleviate the drought in Nanpei."

Xin Liqin nods, and asks, "And how much will this cost the Emperor's coffers, and what kind of assurance will sect leader grant us that this will be successful?"

Lian Feng isn't flustered by his questions. "Certainly Young Master knows of dragons' affinity for water, they are its keepers and protectors, of course their body parts will be able to call forth the rains."

Xin Liqin sighs. "One can only imagine how much more useful the whole dragon would be."

Lian Feng smiles demurely. "I'm afraid Beasts can't be reasoned with, they don't trouble themselves with human matters, they would never be willing to help."

Wu Yun doesn't like where this conversation is going, and he doesn't want Xin Liqin to buy whatever Lian Feng is selling. The way she talks about beasts makes his skin crawl.

He hopes Xin Liqin's apparent change is only exterior, as he pulls Lan Tian by the sleeve and starts walking up towards the second floor. "You really must see him! He was the most attractive man I've ever seen, a face that would make the moon hide in shame."

Wu Yun runs up the stairs, and pulls Lan Tian behind the railing with him, when he reaches the landing.

He hopes Xin Liqin won't be far behind.

Xin Liqin climbs the stairs looking frantically right and left, when both Wu Yun and Lan Tian, drag him by his cloak and blanket him against a corner of the upper deck's room, hiding him from view of the other guests.

He's momentarily stunned, and his hand flies to the sword hilt at his waist, but his shoulders relax when he recognizes them.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see you two here!"

"The feeling is mutual. Why are you in the army? I thought that was the last thing you wanted?" Wu Yun asks, eyeing the crest on Xin Liqin's chest with suspicion 

"Oh, that! When you released us from the Qi estate, I was standing outside with the others, wondering what I was going to do with my life, when Luo Guangli suggested I should just do as my father wanted and join the army because there were lots of handsome men there!"

Wu Yun bites down on a smirk. So the change really is only surface level.

"It turns out my father was right all along. The army is amazing! I've even been promoted to general because of my great contributions to morale!"

Lan Tian turns several shades redder. "How exactly have you been improving the army's morale?"

Xin Liqin's lips open in a wide, dopey grin. "Many of the soldiers have never been exposed to fine arts, so they love it when I play the guqin and recite my poetry, some of them even cry! I'm finally appreciated as an artistic genius."

Of all Min Guifen's captives, Xin Liqin is the one Wu Yun least expected to have a normal and successful life after the experiments performed on him. But nothing ever seems to happen according to his expectations.

"Why are you meeting that woman and asking about Beast body parts?" Lan Tian asks, bringing them back to the issue at hand.

"Oh, that. The entire province is going through a drought, but the city of Nanpei is the most affected. Many people have died, and unrest is growing among the population. The Emperor has sent aid, but that only delays the problem, the people won't have peace until it rains. Several generals have been entrusted with finding what's causing the drought, or creating rain by whatever means necessary."

Wu Yun frowns and crosses his arms. "So this is the solution you came up with?"

"I just heard that the Immortal Mountain sect was able to perform feats to put even the Gods to shame, so I sent sect leader Lian a message and she invited me to attend this 'informal meeting'."

It looks more like a business meeting, from what Wu Yun can see. Lian Feng must be turning quite a profit for her sect with all these potential buyers milling around. The question is, where is she finding the raw materials? And if she's taking people from Kunlun why hasn't Lu Jiao noticed?

Xin Liqin's shoulders slump. "Honestly, I'm not sure if the whole journey wasn't just a waste of time. If what she says is true, I would much rather have the help of a whole dragon." 

Lan Tian straightens his neck, and Wu Yun admires the decisive set of his jaw as he says, "What if we could find you a dragon?"