Once upon a time, a boy stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving family. His name was Ye Qiu.
The police find him at his home, and drag him away without much fanfare. The boy doesn't resist, so arrest is quick and easy. But if the police had taken the time to search the home, they might have seen the second, near-identical boy hiding in the next room over, trembling and crying and ultimately too petrified to stop his older twin from sacrificing himself to take the punishment.
"Prisoner 10137-"
"My name is Ye Qiu," he spits out. It's a lie, but they have no reason to know that.
This guard is only a handful of years older than the boy, but he bears a fearsome visage that adds years to his appearance. His is a face that would make any criminal pre-emptively confess their crimes and offer up their wallets for hope of some mercy – a mercy that would not be there, for this guard, though young, was already renowned for his harsh stance toward crime of any sort, as well as unusual resistance toward bribery.
"And I'm Han Wenqing," the guard growls, leaning right into the boy's face. "Do not forget my name, 10137."
Ye Qiu – Ye Xiu, his real name is – refuses to flinch. "Thanks, I never asked," he replies cheekily, and it's completely worth the skull-rattling blow he receives for it. As it turns out, this first encounter between the two of them is fairly representative of all their future interactions in the years to come.
After eight and a half years in prison – eight and a half years of hard labor, under the harsh rule of Han Wenqing, for the oh-so-terrible crime of stealing a loaf of bread – Ye Xiu breaks out, with the strong body he had developed, and the quick mind he had always possessed.
He is still sane, mostly. Prison had not completely broken his spirit. But of course, it is not an easy thing for an escaped convict to find a job and identity. He reaches a town and wanders around, trying to find work or even shelter for just one night, but the townspeople see his haggard appearance and close their doors.
Finally, he arrives at the last inn. The woman running it takes one look at him and seems prepared to turn him away like all the others, but at the last moment, something in her eyes softens, and she allows him to come inside, giving him a meal on the house.
He ends up sitting next to another man, who looks him over, taking in his sleep-deprived appearance. "You must have quite the story," he says, with a lifted eyebrow, though Ye Xiu senses no malice in the observation.
"That's one way to put it," says Ye Xiu with a wry smile.
"Care to share it?"
"Not particularly."
"That's fair." The man nods and takes a sip from his drink, and Ye Xiu realizes that this man also was not too much older than himself. In fact, Ye Xiu should really be calling himself a man now, too – a lot can happen in eight and a half years, even in a prison, and this includes growing up.
He wonders what has happened to his family, to his younger twin, over the course of these eight and a half years. He wonders if he'll ever see them again.
"I don't mean any offense, but you don't look like you have much money on you. If you want, you can stay with me, in my room for the night," the man offers. "I promise I won't harm you. My name's Wu Xuefeng, by the way."
"I'm Ye… Xiu," he replies, hesitating only a fraction of a second before giving his real name. "Thank you." He's wary, of course, but prison has strengthened him, and he figures he can fight if it comes to that. Moreover, Ye Xiu has always been a fairly good judge of character – a necessary trait for survival in his status – and he feels that this man has honest intentions.
The inn is a well-maintained place. Ye Xiu welcomes the chance to clean himself up, and he even changes his clothes, thanks to Wu Xuefeng.
In the room, the man doesn't pry into Ye Xiu's painful past, but he does talk about himself. He shows Ye Xiu the collection of silver bracelets and other trinkets he carries in a bag with him – "They're supposed to help your qi circulation – the circulation of the energy within your body," he explains, and Ye Xiu nods, the perfect model of an interested student.
That night, Ye Xiu lies awake and listens to the other man's quiet snoring. He stares at the ceiling for an indeterminable amount of time before reaching a terrible decision. This was a man who had shown him nothing but kindness, and here he was, robbing him. It stings his soul, but he – he has no choice! Does he?
He reaches the ground floor of the inn, bag of silver in hand, and is stopped by the innkeeper.
He could take her on and run for it, probably, but there's a terrifying anger in her eyes, and more importantly, a profound disappointment that shakes Ye Xiu to his core. He stands there, frozen, as she sends for someone to fetch Wu Xuefeng.
"What happened?" the man asks, still yawning as he comes down the stairs.
"This thief-" the innkeeper shoots Ye Xiu a nasty glare, "-is stealing your things! I knew I shouldn't have let him in!"
Wu Xuefeng looks at him, and Ye Xiu can stare down many a terrifying foe but he can't meet this man's eyes. He wishes the ground would swallow him whole.
"I appreciate your concern," says Wu Xuefeng, "but you're mistaken, Madame Chen Guo. What he holds is a gift I have given him. In fact, Ye Xiu, my friend, you left in such a hurry, you left the best behind." Wu Xuefeng steps forward with a smile, and passes Ye Xiu a smaller bag. It clinks as he takes it, but he doesn't dare look now.
"I…" Ye Xiu is utterly speechless. "…Thank you." It's wholly inadequate for the goodness this man has shown him, a goodness that he doesn't deserve.
Wu Xuefeng continues to smile. "All I ask of you is that you live as an honest man, and do good for this world," he says, and Ye Xiu nods mutely.
Later, after leaving the inn, Ye Xiu checks the contents of the smaller bag. He finds three small goblets, intricately detailed with designs of wings and gears and swords, made of solid gold.
Years pass.
As it turns out, Ye Xiu, despite his lowly background, is very talented at almost anything he puts his mind to. It's almost ridiculous, really, but he's certainly not complaining; after all, hard work alone isn't enough to succeed. With his combined skill and diligence, along with the help from Wu Xuefeng's gift, he gains wealth and rises rapidly in status, until he's practically unrecognizable to anyone who had known him before – not that there had been many such people, anyway.
He does return home once, and searches for his family, but they have disappeared without a trace. He can only resign himself to the fact that he will likely never see Ye Qiu again. Ye Qiu, his dear younger brother…
He mourns for the loss. After that, he leaves his hometown, and never looks back.
He finds himself at another town, not quite city-sized but with a decently large population, and lives a relatively quiet, modest, unassuming life. Or, he tries, anyway, but he also tries to do good where he can, as he was guided to do. Word soon spreads of the man who will always help anyone in need.
One event in particular helps cement an impression in people's minds.
There's a man stuck beneath an overturned cart, yelling at passerby. "Oy, you!" he shouts, waving his one free arm the best he can; the rest of his body is pinned. "Help this old man out here! My back is about to break! Do you want to let an old man starve to death like this?"
A crowd has gathered around and is muttering, but the cart looks heavy, and no one seems confident in their ability to free the man. Someone does, however, come and fetch Ye Xiu, who looks at the gathered crowd, and wonders why they didn't try to work together. Life isn't a game for individuals…
He quickly issues directions to specific people, and then, in an incredible display of strength, manages to single-handedly lift the cart, as helpers quickly extricate the man from underneath. When he's finally out, Ye Xiu lets the cart fall back down with a crash.
Damn… that kind of hurt. He tries to stretch his back, and hopes he didn't sprain anything.
"Thanks," the older man grumbles, almost reluctantly, as though unwilling to put himself in debt to someone else. He's much more confident now that he's not on the verge of dying. "But I'll have you know, if I were younger, I could have gotten out of there myself!"
Ye Xiu looks him over. There's a sort of grizzled look about him, with wrinkles about his eyes and stubble on his chin, but all in all his complaints about his age seem somewhat over-the-top. "You're not even that old," Ye Xiu says flatly. "You're what, 40?"
"32!" The man humphs, and Ye Xiu almost chokes. Hell, that wasn't even that much older than himself, and this guy was acting like he was on his deathbed!
"Well, old man," he says, not bothering to keep the amusement out of his voice as he claps him on the shoulder, "be more careful next time, hm?"
"Yeah, yeah," the man grumbles. He takes a pipe from his pocket, puffs on it, blows out a cloud of smoke, then wanders off.
Ye Xiu straightens and glances around at the crowd that has gathered. He nods to a few acquaintances, people who know him after he'd helped them in the past, then –
Fuck.
He's still too young to be having heart attacks, but the sight of that man in the crowd nearly gives him one. What the hell is Han Wenqing doing here? Doesn't he have, like, prison duties or something? There's no way – he's not still after him, is he? It's been years!
Ye Xiu does his best to steady his breathing as he makes brief eye contact with him, then casually looks away. It's been long enough. He's changed enough. He won't be recognized. He'll be fine. Probably.
Not too long afterward, Ye Xiu becomes mayor of the town – so much for leading a quiet life, he laments. But the job needs to be done, and the people seem to think he's the best fit for this, and so he leads to the best of his ability, all the while remembering – do good for this world.
Incidentally, his new position means that he interacts with Han Wenqing – Inspector Han – on a fairly regular basis. Apparently, he had transferred out of prison guard duty and became the chief police inspector of this town. He's good at his job, Ye Xiu will give him that – his scary face alone is enough to deter most crime, and he's reliable and perseverant in snuffing out all the rest.
But it takes all of Ye Xiu's willpower not to tease him about his forbidding looks, or the many other things he finds somewhat silly about him. Making fun of Old Han is something that prisoner Ye Qiu did on a regular basis, and Ye Xiu doesn't want to raise any red flags.
Because apparently, Inspector Han is, indeed, still looking for escaped convict 10137. Delightful.
And Ye Xiu only knows this because Inspector Han told him himself – it makes him want to laugh at the irony of it all. The inspector was unusually earnest in telling him all about how this prisoner escaped and how he proceeded to spend an unhealthy number of years trying to track him down. In fact, Ye Xiu is pretty sure that Inspector Han strongly suspects him of being said escaped prisoner, because of the name similarity, and the vague physical likeness, and the whole stunt with lifting the cart by himself, since Ye Qiu had earned a reputation in prison for his physical strength.
In retrospect, had Ye Xiu known that he was being watched like that at the time, he would have made extra sure that others would help him lift it – at the time, he hadn't wanted to risk anyone else getting hurt. But hell, if this mighty inspector was there too, then why didn't he help? Ye Xiu grumbles to himself.
He still has the prisoner brand on his chest, actually, which is a pretty big giveaway. So, hopefully he never has a reason to take his shirt off in front of the inspector. Or even if he did, maybe he could use his irresistible personal allure to charm his way out of that situation…
…He's going to stop his thoughts right there.
One day, while wandering his town, Ye Xiu stumbles upon a boy selling handmade crafts on the street.
He seems to be in his teenaged years, just on the cusp of adulthood. From the way he looks, the street is probably the only home he's known in a while. Still, although his clothes are dirty, he seems overall relatively healthy, and noticeably brightens as Ye Xiu approaches, flashing a toothy grin.
"Can I interest you in anything, Mayor?" he asks, with a grand gesture. And Ye Xiu, not in any particular hurry, stays and listens to the boy introduce his works. The crafts he has are really quite clever little things. Each is made of simple materials, yet the designs are creative and intricate, and many have additional features that are hidden at first glance. Moreover, the boy is quite the charismatic person, and his lively voice – as well as the presence of the esteemed mayor – soon draws a crowd of people to watch. The boy impresses a number of people, and he manages to sell a number of his pieces just in the span of time that Ye Xiu spends there.
"You're quite the little genius, aren't you?" Ye Xiu asks, smiling.
"Thanks!" The boy straightens at the praise. "I always like making things, it's a lot of fun, you know?"
"What's your name? How'd you come to do this?" Ye Xiu is very curious as to how this boy became so skilled.
"Ah…" He rubs the back of his head. "Well, I'm Su Muqiu. Me and my little sister are orphans, so I have to provide for her any way I can, you know?" And Ye Xiu nods at that, for he understands too well that feeling.
Su Muqiu seems to appraise him carefully, piercing him with eyes gleaming with intelligence beyond his years. "Here," he says suddenly, pulling a small box out of who-knows-where. He opens it and displays to Ye Xiu its contents – a small pin, golden, engraved with the design of a single maple leaf. "I think it suits you, don't you agree?"
It does, Ye Xiu thinks, even though he can't articulate why. He reaches into his pocket to pay, but the boy stops him.
"Take it as a gift," says Su Muqiu. Seeing Ye Xiu about to protest, he adds, "After all, you brought me all this business today, Mayor."
So Ye Xiu accepts the pin, and, as the boy watches, affixes it to his jacket, where it sits glittering in the sunlight.
"I hope to see you again sometime," Ye Xiu says, and gives a friendly wave before continuing on his walk.
Ye Xiu meets Su Muqiu a few more times, coming across the boy as he strolls along the streets. It happens almost too frequently to be a coincidence, but all the better – for his part, Ye Xiu is very curious about this boy. Their acquaintance develops over these sporadic encounters into something of a friendship, as Su Muqiu slowly reveals tidbits of his own life, describing a life that to Ye Xiu seems unjustly harsh, although the boy maintains a smile throughout his stories.
For as long as Su Muqiu can remember, it has always just been the two of them, him and his little sister, Su Mucheng. He's always looking for odd jobs to earn money, in order to eventually build a comfortable life for the two of them; because of this, he's built up quite a collection of skills over the years. Currently, he explains, his sister is staying in another town, working for an innkeeper he knows. "I didn't want us to separate," Su Muqiu sighs, "but she insisted on helping earn money, and that that was the best place for her. Even though she's younger than me, she's really stubborn when she sets her mind to something."
There's something else he isn't saying, Ye Xiu senses, but he chooses not to push. He can see that this topic is one that pains the boy, and so Ye Xiu shifts the topic to lighter things.
After his very first encounter with Su Muqiu, Ye Xiu starts paying attention to the whispers on the street. They were always there, mind you, but now he really listens to what they're saying, about a boy with lively fingers and a quick mind, who, by day, can make marvelous trinkets of any kind, things to delight and entertain.
Who, by night, can get you any product you desire. Legality isn't a question, so long as the price is right.
"Autumn Tree," Inspector Han growls one day, slapping another stack of papers on the mayor's desk. "We need to shut him down." And Ye Xiu thinks about the boy, a young genius just trying to keep himself and his little sister alive, and says nothing.
In the end, after many meetings, Ye Xiu finally convinces Su Muqiu to let him actually buy something from him. "Just take my money! Let me help you in this way, it's the least I can do."
"Fine…" the boy grumbles, reluctantly accepting the payment. "But I'm not giving you anything less than the best."
As it turns out, Su Muqiu's best is very good indeed. He presents to Ye Xiu a petit-sized umbrella, painted in white and gold and red. But the real genius of it was its ability to change shape – in addition to serving as an umbrella, it could flip inside out and become a spear, or fire projectiles from its tip; the handle concealed further slots for blades. All of the weapon forms were simply small models, not meant for real harm, but it was still a true masterpiece of design and ingenuity.
As Ye Xiu walks home, he twirls it absently in his hands, running his fingers along the engravings on the handle. The Thousand Chance Umbrella, the lettering reads, and then, in smaller font beneath, Lord Grim. He keeps the umbrella in his suitcase, the one he carries with him at all times. It's securely tucked in alongside all of his emergency belongings, as well as the three golden cups, which he had never needed to sell.
How, he wonders, can he help this Su Muqiu?
Su Muqiu has never liked accepting help. It makes him feel incapable, for one thing. He believes that he can raise himself and his sister by himself; he holds this belief because he has to, because if not him, then who else? There is no one else to care.
Su Muqiu had arrived at this town on one ordinary day, alone for the first time in many years. It's not quite large enough to be a city, but lively in its own right. Now, he only has the immediate worry of keeping himself alive, one person instead of two, which makes things slightly easier. And even though the chief inspector of this town seems to be quite harsh, crime can never be stamped out completely, and Su Muqiu quickly determines the fastest ways of earning money in this place.
Oh, he still tinkers, as it's always been a genuine interest of his, and he earns some profit through selling his creations. But now, the bulk of his income comes from the activities he performs under the name Autumn Tree. He's done the calculations, and he thinks that at this rate, it will take less than a year to get sufficient funds to start a new and safe life for himself and Su Mucheng in the city. He allows himself to hope.
Su Muqiu is always listening to the people around him as a means of staying alive, and to his moderate surprise, the people of this town seem to constantly discuss and gossip about their mayor. They like him, for sure, but it seems like hardly a day passes without his being at the center of some new piece of news. Su Muqiu has been to many places in his brief life, but this is the first time that the mayor has been the subject of so much talk amongst his citizens, and so Su Muqiu hopes for a chance to meet him soon.
Said chance comes soon enough. Upon their first meeting, Su Muqiu immediately deduces that there's more to this mayor than first meets the eye. Rather like himself, in fact, Su Muqiu thinks wryly, as he plays the part of an innocent boy, as he smiles at and charms the people who have gathered to see his creations. As he feels the weight of the twin pistols hidden beneath his clothes, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
Su Muqiu has always liked to solve puzzles, and so at the end of their first meeting, Su Muqiu offers the mayor a pin, a little trinket that happens to also serve as a rudimentary tracker. With that, it's all the easier to arrange "casual" meetings – and the mayor being as popular as he is, Su Muqiu can usually get more money than usual during that time, even as he talks with the mayor. Ye Xiu is reticent about his past, naturally, but Su Muqiu gleans that he too had lived a difficult life, and that he too has a younger sibling he would do anything to protect.
Su Muqiu, who has always been forced to live a life of suspicion, finds himself slowly trusting this man. Not like the way he "trusted" that innkeeper for whom Su Mucheng was now working. That man was greedy and selfish, but he wouldn't let his little sister come to actual harm – that was about all Su Muqiu could say about him. On the other hand, Su Muqiu finds himself really believing that Mayor Ye Xiu is a good man, one of the few in this world. He writes letters to Su Mucheng, and mentions this man's name.
And so time passes, and Su Muqiu slowly earns money, through the days and nights, counting down the time until he can be reunited with his sister. He knows, of course, the risks of his work – providing the services he does, he's bound to make enemies, not just of the law but of other unscrupulous elements. Especially since, in the end, he's still just a boy, a boy with no family and no group to protect him. Su Muqiu's wits, charisma, and survival instincts are enough to help him escape some tight spots, but one night, his luck runs out.
Su Muqiu lies on the pavement, feeling his life seep out of the knife wounds across his chest and back, and he thinks of Su Mucheng.
But how long does it take for life to bleed out of a body? It depends. Perhaps Su Muqiu's luck had not abandoned him completely, for in the haze of pain, even as he feels death's touch, he sees shadows moving above him. He hears voices. He feels someone lifting him.
This is a peaceful town, all in all, so when an unfortunate citizen stumbles upon the grisly scene, the mayor is quickly alerted. "Get the injured to the hospital," Ye Xiu immediately orders upon hearing the news, and he makes his way to the alleyway in record time, arriving at about the same time as hospital workers.
Ye Xiu is no stranger to death and dying, but the sight of the small and mangled body on the ground – a familiar face – is enough to make bile rise at the back of his throat. But the chest is still rising and falling, if faintly, and he allows himself to hope.
He can't look at the wounds any longer, and his eyes fall upon Su Muqiu's right hand, loosely wrapped around the handle of a small pistol. Several paces from his left hand lies an identical pistol.
Ignoring the warnings called by the others, Ye Xiu steps further into the alley. Hidden by the shadows, he finds three corpses on the ground, grown men. He sees the precise placement of the bullet wounds on them, and knows that these men, at least, have no use for a hospital anymore.
At the hospital, the doctors get to work immediately. Ye Xiu sits in a chair outside of the room, prepared to wait as long as it takes until he's allowed to see Su Muqiu in person.
But he has hardly a minute of rest before he hears the rapid stomping of too-familiar footsteps. Resigned, Ye Xiu looks up into the face of his chief inspector.
"Yes, Inspector Han?" he asks, in a wonderfully saccharine tone.
"Just what the hell do you think you're doing," the inspector says, without preamble.
"Sitting here peacefully, catching a fleeting moment of rest until you came along," Ye Xiu replies calmly.
"Cut the bullshit," Han Wenqing growls. "We've been trying to find Autumn Tree for a long time, you know this. And now," he continues, breathing heavily, "he falls right into our hands, and you're wasting our citizens' valuable resources like this?"
Ye Xiu isn't surprised that the inspector had reached the same conclusion he had about this boy's identity, and he doesn't bother to try and lie. In fact, that thought doesn't even cross his mind, because he automatically latches on to something else upsetting that the inspector had said.
"What do you mean, wasting?" he says, his calm beginning to splinter. "I am saving the life of a teenaged boy." And that of a younger girl who depends upon him, he remembers, though he doesn't mention that part to the inspector.
"You are saving the life of a murderer. You know the penalties for that crime."
Ye Xiu considers himself a relatively patient man overall, but his patience is now fraying at the edges. The doctors are doing their best, he knows, but there's a sick feeling in his stomach – he can't get the sight of that mutilated body out of his mind. "You mean this? This was clearly self-defense!" he snaps at the inspector. "Look at how many injuries he has, he was attacked by an entire crew!"
"The law is the law."
"What is wrong with you? He's just a boy!"
"What is wrong with you?" Han Wenqing returns. "Would you spare his crimes simply because he is a boy? A man killed by a 'boy' is still a dead man!"
"I would spare his crimes because he has the capacity to grow into a better person!"
"You seem to have a strong personal investment in this matter!" The inspector is on his feet, glaring down at him.
Ye Xiu rises as well, stepping closer. "I," he says, and he's not even sure what he's going to follow that up with, because he can't think, his mind reeling with too many images, blurring and overlapping, Ye Qiu arriving home with that stolen loaf of bread, the golden goblets, I have to provide for –
Fortunately, he doesn't need to think of a reply, because at that moment, the door to the treatment room slides open.
"Um," the nurse says, looking nervously between the two of them. "Mayor. You should come inside." He glances at Han Wenqing, and adds, "You'll have to stay out here, Inspector, I apologize…"
"I was just leaving," the inspector says coolly. He turns on his heel and departs.
Well, that mess is definitely going to explode in his face soon, Ye Xiu thinks, but he'll worry about that later. He follows the nurse into the room, and sees Su Muqiu on the bed. Although his wounds are now bandaged, he still looks deathly pale.
Su Muqiu sees him, and makes a rough approximation of the grin he had shown when they first met. "Mayor," he whispers hoarsely, "I hope you like the Umbrella?"
Ye Xiu moves to kneel by him. He glances at the doctors for permission, then grasps the boy's hand. "I do," he says. "I still have it. You are truly a genius. You can take this world by storm, with your inventions…"
This earns a weak laugh. "Could," he says. "Could have taken." Before Ye Xiu can protest, the boy continues, "Please, Mayor," a weak, shuddering breath, "you're a good man. Look after my sister. Take care of Mucheng for me…"
"I will. I swear it."
Su Muqiu takes his final breath, and Ye Xiu lays his limp hand carefully on the bed.
One of the doctors approaches him, with an envelope. "He had this on him, told us to give it to you," she says, passing it over. There are three sheets within; the top one simply has a name and address, while the next two are dense with text – letters, from the look of it. One to Su Mucheng. One to him.
He slides them back in the envelope for now; reading them at this time would require greater strength than he possesses. But Ye Xiu steels his resolve. He doesn't know what happened to Ye Qiu. He couldn't save Su Muqiu. But he would save Su Mucheng, no matter the cost.
The next day, Inspector Han arrives in the mayor's office, and Ye Xiu braces himself. He's still not entirely sure how he's going to explain his absence as he goes and finds Su Mucheng – the town Su Muqiu had indicated is at least a day's travel away. Han Wenqing definitely would not approve of the venture, and even if Ye Xiu did have ultimate authority over him, the chief inspector could make his life very difficult, even disregarding the fact that he is an escaped convict.
Then Han Wenqing opens his mouth, and that issue is pushed to the back of his mind. "I would like to submit my resignation."
"Excuse me?"
Han Wenqing nods. "I have wronged you, sir." He doesn't break eye contact – Han Wenqing is never one to look away out of shame – but even so, Ye Xiu still can't quite read the emotions there. Possibly the inspector himself doesn't know what to feel.
Ye Xiu gestures for the inspector to continue, and so he does. "I have told you about that escaped convict I have been investigating, correct? I had unfairly suspected you of being him, and treated you improperly as a result. I am not suited to work under you, and the proper course of action is my dismissal."
Ye Xiu can feel his heartrate spiking. This is… a lot to take in. Why is Han Wenqing telling him this now? Would it sound weird to ask why he was no longer under suspicion?
"I'm… glad I have earned your trust," he says carefully. Does that sound fake? That probably sounds fake. But maybe it's enough in line with his benevolent and jovial mayor persona? He's also probably overthinking this.
"I received notice last night," says Han Wenqing, still staring at him, "that Prisoner 10137 was found and recaptured. He will be standing trial in two days' time."
"Really now," says Ye Xiu, keeping a neutral tone and expression.
"Really." Han Wenqing's reply is flat. The stare is getting unnerving, actually, even for someone from Ye Xiu, who's had a lot of time to get used to his intimidating aura.
"Well, that's good news for you," Ye Xiu says. "You can finally stop chasing him. Are you going to the trial?"
"Of course. They requested my presence, that is why I was informed of it in the first place. Though I will not be testifying, only watching."
"I see." There's a silence, as he's not sure if Han Wenqing is going to say more. And then he remembers that this man had just tried to resign, and that he should probably address that first.
If Han Wenqing resigned here and went somewhere else, he would be out of Ye Xiu's hair for good. This was a very tempting result – Ye Xiu could live a much less stressful life, without having to constantly watch how he acted, without having to perpetually look over his shoulder.
But that wouldn't be fair to the inspector. After all, he's completely right to be suspicious, not to mention that he's unquestionably good at his job here in this town. And so Ye Xiu says, "Don't be ridiculous, Inspector. I'm not dismissing you for doing your job. Though I am glad that you can receive some closure in this matter; it's been long enough. Go back to your post."
There's a flicker of surprise in Han Wenqing's eyes, before he bows at the waist. Upon straightening, he turns and makes to exit the office.
"By the way, where is the trial?" Ye Xiu calls after him, almost an afterthought. Han Wenqing gives him the time and location, in one of the nearby towns, and then leaves.
And now, Ye Xiu faces a choice.
He could sit back, and let this all play out naturally. He doesn't know the person they mistakenly identified, has no tie to them, no responsibility. For all he knows, this person has committed worse crimes than him and deserves to be in prison.
What is Ye Xiu supposed to do, anyway? Go to the trial and somehow convince everyone that they have the wrong man? By revealing himself as the prisoner they're looking for? Then baselessly hope they set the other man free? And assuming that even works, then what? Does he go back to prison, for a crime he himself didn't even commit in the first place?
And what's more, Ye Xiu is the mayor of a town. Can he just abandon his people, abandon his responsibilities?
And what about Su Mucheng?
Considering these very rational arguments, it seems like the path he should take is obvious.
…But.
It wouldn't be right.
This is a shorter argument, less based in logic. But in the end, this is the argument that convinces him – he cannot allow an innocent to be condemned on his behalf. Ye Xiu gathers his few belongings into his suitcase, leaves a letter on his desk to arrange for the continued running of this town, and departs for the trial.
The worst-case scenario is, of course, that he both fails to free the false-10137 and gets captured again himself. But Ye Xiu believes that, if he does this correctly, he'll be able to avoid that bad end. The goal is that he clears the other man's name and then escapes, goes to the other town to rescue Su Mucheng, and then goes into hiding. In his mind swirls the semblance of a plan.
"Look at my honest eyes!" the falsely-accused man cries out, trying to make eye contact with each of them in turn. "Would these eyes lie to you?"
Ye Xiu has never seen more untrustworthy eyes in his life.
"Behave," says one of the guards, the only one wearing glasses – with his neat and gentle appearance, he looks more suited to be a polite professor than a prison guard. But his next words contrast that image fairly well: "Or we'll cut your right hand off right here, and you can see how fun thieving is then."
Wisely, the man stops talking, but he continues to make his best attempt at looking innocent.
From what Ye Xiu's watched of the trial so far, he gathers that this man – who proudly declares himself to be "Fang Rui, the Right Hand of God" – was caught in an act of thievery, arrested, and then, based on other accounts and the prisoner tattoo branded on his chest, was identified to be escaped convict 10137. He claims he served his time, and that act of "thievery" he had just been arrested for was a set-up and pled innocent to that. He's grinning, but there's a clear air of fear about him – punishment for thievery is already excessive enough, in Ye Xiu's opinion, and that punishment hardly compares to the punishment for escaping prison.
One by one, witnesses come up and identify this Fang Rui as the Ye Qiu they interacted with in prison. Ye Xiu does indeed know these witnesses from his time served, but he's still somewhat miffed that they can't recognize Fang Rui as an entirely different person. Ye Xiu personally doesn't think that Fang Rui looks much like him. But then again, Ye Xiu has been living in good circumstances these past years – if he'd still been on the street, then, who knows.
He watches the trial unfold. He's made his decision, he's not going to go back on it now – but when should he go up? When is the best time to brazenly interrupt the proceedings?
He waits, noting the changing positions of the guards posted around the room. Then, ignoring the protests, he steps right onto the stage – no one stops him, as many of the important people recognize him as mayor of the neighboring town.
Then he reveals his identity as Prisoner 10137, Ye Qiu. In thorough and properly dramatic fashion.
There's a heartbeat of silence, the calm before the storm. Ye Xiu happens to make eye contact with Han Wenqing, who's watching from the crowd. The inspector's glare is downright murderous.
Then the chaos comes crashing down, and Ye Xiu doesn't have time to be intimidated. He weaves and dodges – Han Wenqing reacts fastest, managing to grab his clothing; Ye Xiu spins, slams a fist right into his eye, half-mumbles an insincere apology for ruining his give-me-your-wallet-face, and keeps running. He slips through a side exit, he tumbles into a carriage he'd readied earlier.
Before the authorities can properly organize a squad to hunt him down, 10137 slips away again.
Su Mucheng's current life situation is… well, it's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it's much better than it otherwise could be.
The inn known as Excellent Era is the largest and most profitable in this town. Run by a man named Tao Xuan, he had built it himself from the ground up, the perfect story of a self-made man, though he hadn't accomplished the whole thing by himself. The Su siblings – and more specifically, Su Muqiu – had played no small role in this success, although this was never publicized. It is at this inn that Su Mucheng currently works and resides, after Su Muqiu left for the next town over to try his luck in other lines of work.
"I don't want to separate either," she'd argued. "But you've always been the one protecting me. Let me help for once. It'll be easier for your work, too, if you're not worrying about me."
"I'll always worry for you," Su Muqiu had sighed, ruffling her hair. "You're my baby sister." But he had relented at last, and the two of them parted ways for the first time in their lives.
There is one other girl working here at Excellent Era Inn with Su Mucheng, around the same age as herself, not-quite-teenaged, with dark hair almost blue in color, and a boyish build. They don't talk too much, the two of them – they don't really have the time, as each day is long and busy and tiring – but this Xu Boyuan is friendly, and there are no differences in treatment to breed resentment between the two of them.
They're underpaid for their work, Su Mucheng knows this very clearly. But she's not a genius like her brother, so at her age she doesn't have much choice. In the end, money is money, and every piece she earns brings her that much closer to the day she and her brother can live together the peaceful life of which they'd dreamed. Su Muqiu sends her letters fairly often – he'd taught himself to read and write, and then helped her learn as well – and she sends replies whenever she can sneak away for long enough.
One late night, when most patrons had already retired to their respective rooms, a man walks in. This would be an entirely unremarkable occurrence – they have their rush hours, of course, but they can get customers at all hours – if not for what happens next.
As luck has it, Su Mucheng is the one to serve this man. She's used to the patrons mostly ignoring her, but this one seems to be studying her, and it's a strange feeling. So she tries to study him back, using the observational skills her brother has taught her. His clothing says he's well-off, his posture says he's exhausted, his aura says he's kind.
"Excuse me," the man finally says, politely, "May I ask what your name is?"
She considers lying, but some instinct compels her to the truth. "My name is Su Mucheng," she answers.
The man nods, offering his hand to shake; hesitantly, she takes it. "Ye Xiu," he introduces himself. "I have something to give you." And he hands her an envelope, with a single sheet of paper inside.
"Please don't read it yet," he says. "If you could, please fetch your boss for me."
So she does, slipping the envelope into her pocket.
…And Su Mucheng knows.
She can see it in the man's eyes, the grief, the empathy, the anxiety, the pity. Today, her worst nightmare has come true.
But she staves off any and all emotion, freezing her heart into stone. She isn't going to think about this, not yet, not now. She can't let herself fall apart.
In her pocket, the envelope burns against her skin, and her eyes are burning too, but she holds herself together as she fetches Tao Xuan and brings him over to this man.
Some part of her still denies what she had seen in this man's eyes. But he opens his mouth, and utters the words, and forces it into reality.
"Is that so," says Tao Xuan.
"I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry." The man turns to look her in the eyes as he says this, but she can only meet his gaze for an instance before looking away. No emotion. Keep it together. She bites her lip to keep it from trembling.
"I know this is not the best time," the man continues, still speaking directly to her, instead of Tao Xuan. "But now that your situation has changed, you no longer have to stay here. What," he takes a breath, "What I want to give you is an option. If you would like – if – you can come with me, to the city. I promised to your brother that I would take care of you in his place."
"Excuse me?" Tao Xuan interjects. "You can't just – Su Mucheng is a very valuable worker here!
"She is her own person," the man responds, barely glancing at him. "She can make her own choices."
Tao Xuan scoffs, but when he turns to her he's all smiles again. "Mucheng," he addresses her, "we would all miss you here very much if you left, you know?"
She looks down. "Please give me the night to decide. This is all – very fast."
"Of course, of course," Tao Xuan rushes to reassure her. "Take the time. It's late, you can go off to bed now. This gentleman, you would like to stay here? Ye Xiu, it was?"
Some emotion flickers over the man's face – fear? Strange, why is he afraid? – but it vanishes quickly, and he nods. Su Mucheng doesn't stay to witness the rest of the exchange, and all but scrambles up the staircase, to the room she shares with Xu Boyuan, though the room is currently empty, as the other girl finishes up her work.
Su Mucheng shuts the door, throws herself onto the small and bare bed, and curls into a ball. From her pocket she withdraws the letter, and in the dim light from a desk lamp, she reads her brother's final words to her.
When she finishes, she folds it back up and hugs it to her chest, and it is then that she finally allows the tears to fall.
The next morning. "Have you decided?"
"Yes. I will go with Ye Xiu." This is the conclusion Su Mucheng has reached, after reading her brother's last letter, after thinking over a sleepless night. She will gain much more from life if she leaves this place, with this man, a man who has managed to earn her brother's respect.
Tao Xuan is unhappy, but he still gives an empty smile. Xu Boyuan rushes up to her and hugs her tightly, whispering "stay safe," and Su Mucheng returns the hug and the wish.
Then, Ye Xiu takes her by the hand, and together, they depart for a new life.
A/N: crossposted from AO3. Reviews and thoughts always appreciated!