...
Night had fully landed but this evening the Middle Ring blazed so bright that Xinfei was not sure he could have told the difference without looking up at the black sky. What had to be just about the sum total of lanterns ever made by man was blazing. Lights were burning out of every window and from every lamppost in a twinkling riot that slowly streamed past him as he and Lili made their bumping and jostling way along the streets in the back of the rickshaw. Xinfei felt mortified that Lili had insisted on flagging this vehicle. He knew rickshaw pullers down in Kuang Harbor. If his family had been in the position to finance purchase of a rickshaw he might have been one himself. At least he'd been able to convince Lili not to hire a palanquin or carriage, although the fact that she had quickly agreed that the rickshaw would "be more fun tonight" did raise some concerns in him.
Lili yanked Xinfei by the shoulder to pull him up a bit. He had slid down in the seat hoping to attract less attention and that costume she grasped him by was another source of his discomfort. The most significant portion of it was as vest that was actually as ill-fitting as what he wore when working down at the docks. It stopped abruptly halfway down to expose most of his abdominals. Poor Lili couldn't bare to admit that she must have badly misguessed the measurements and instead said that it was working as intended, with a little smile that Xinfei didn't trust at all. To top it all off the costume vest was ridiculously ornate, replete with shiny metal looking thread and bright patches puffed up to look like enormous jewels all the way up to where it flared out above his shoulders like some Islander prince's armor. It was made of a thick warm material but was still insufficient in area for the time of year and hour of night. At least Lili had included baggy trousers of some thick shinny yellow material and shaggy brown arm-wraps that fit around his forearms and biceps. The ridiculous display was topped off with a gold colored hat and a mask patterned like fur. Lili said he looked like the Warrior Monkey that was the glorious hero of so many legends. Xinfei said his shoulders were cold.
Still he had to admit, no matter how absurd he looked it didn't appear that he was likely to be the object of anyone's attention up here. The Middle Ring did the festival...energetically. These merchants, traders, and landlords were usually so preoccupied with acting like they were Inner Ring nobles that there was not much life to be seen. Tonight that did not seem to be a problem.
The streets were full and every door had been flung open, spilling forth the sound of riotous celebration. The costumes here were beyond anything he had ever seen in the town or in the Lower Ring on previous years. Compared to some of them, Xinfei was positively overdressed. From the open gate of a mansion flanked on each side by marble statues, a woman stumbled out backwards while laughing. Her dress glittered like scales and was patterned as a school of leaping fish. A rather overfished school, Xinfei observed with reddening cheeks as she grabbed hold of the rickshaw side for support while it was temporarily stopped in traffic. The woman lazily turned and looked into Xinfei's eyes through her line-thin mask as she exhaled the scent of perfume, makeup, and rich wine. She started to sway forward when suddenly Lili reached across Xinfei's chest to push her away with a palm to the face. The woman made no complaint and instead started laughing again as she swayed back towards whatever party she had been attending in the mansion.
Xinfei's throat worked up and down as Lili extricated herself from being practically in his lap. Finally, he managed to say:
"Wow, that was the most expensive prostitute I have ever seen."
He was inwardly kicking himself in the most vigorous fashion for being stupid enough to start talking about prostitutes until he happened to look at Lili. She had a hand politely over her mouth but it did not hide the grin wide enough that it threatened to split her face.
Her delicate eyebrows waggles expressively as she said, "Well, maybe she was. But I'm pretty sure I recognize her. She looks like the wife of the district tax collector. And that was his house. Now what was their family name? Yunlong or...?"
Xinfei swiveled in his seat to look back. That was a tax collector's wife? Now he was looking at all the costumed revelers on the streets not for fear of them realizing what he was but in astonishment that he couldn't tell who they were. Everyone was hidden. Behind his monkey mask, Xinfei watched the city's rich come unglued as their driver pulled them on through the tall ornamental gate to the university neighborhood.
The Ba Sing Se Royal University was an ancient institution. Over its centuries of existence it had grown and expanded in that peculiar manner of colleges in dense urban areas. As the value of land at the edge of the university increased by virtue of proximity, outward expansion became unfeasible. So the campus grew by hops and jumps, each time purchasing new lower-priced territory outside the belt of desirable property that developed around it. Occasionally a piece of gifted property added a new outlying star to the constellation. The school lands now formed a long archipelago stretching across a ten degree arc of the Middle Ring, cleaving near to the central transverse tram line. However, to residents of this sector of the city where both Lili and Xinfei lived at opposite extremes, 'The University' meant this the nearest and newest outgrowth.
Of course 'new' was a relative word in Ba Sing Se. This satellite and much of the construction around it was almost one hundred and fifty years old, dating from before the war. Xinfei and Lili rolled by courtyard walls that showed three generations of brick in places where the roots of aged trees had over the years lifted and twisted the foundations to the point of collapse. In honor of the holiday, the lamps of the university buildings were extinguished, giving this shady quarter an unusually dark cast on the illuminated night when the rest of the city was ablaze. However, the few oasis of light in restaurants or dwellings shone forth like land-bound suns. It was a good night for business; few were as prepared to celebrate a day off as college students were.
Xinfei was starting to wonder if they were going to make this poor rickshaw operator pull them in a complete circuit of the city when suddenly their vehicle made a sharp right. This new street was more occupied than those nearer the university buildings but Xinfei was starting to feel that this was might not be a neighborhood that a girl like Lili should be in. There were a lot of rather drunk young men parading down the sides with their arms linked around their shoulders for mutual support. He decided to double check the destination with Lili.
"So the address you gave him was those guys' apartment building? The protesters?"
Lili gave him a pitying look. "It took me four days to find trace of these men. Do you really think I waited that long to check if they were just sleeping in their dormitories? No, but I did find where they were hiding. You just worry about serving our introductions. You're the one who has met them before after all!"
Xinfei made a vague noise of agreement. He'd spoken with Zhangyi and the others on several occasions, it was true. But he was not sure how favorable an impression those meetings had left in their minds. Still, the right pitch can make any sale so he put his mind to coming up with a perfect wording to not get punched in the face. He was still involved in that mental struggle when the wheels under them ground to a halt in front of a building that should really have attracted his attention sooner. Xeinfei was stepping out of the rickshaw by pure reflex before he noticed that this establishment seemed rather more house-like than a hotel and made far too little noise to be a wine-house. There were no windows on the street side of the first floor and those on the second had painted paper screens over them. From inside came the sound of women laughing in something very close to synchronization. On the air were drifting notes of an erhu and some other tinkling strings.
Xinfei felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. The student nationalists had been sleeping somewhere that would not present guest lists even to Public Safety. A thought finally clicked. The harbor was a very different place from up here but there were always establishments, even by the Kuang, with pretensions. The industry existed to serve a fantasy didn't they? And some signs were universal. But how on earth would he break it to a sheltered rich girl?
"Um, Lili? Now, when your source told you where those guys were staying what exact words did she use to describe the place? Because I think you might have gotten it..."
Lili popped up at his side and glanced up at the unfortunate building through her green lace mask. "No, that looks like the right brothel." She must have heard the little choking sound Xinfei made because she then turned her eyes on him along with a sly smile. "What? Did you think I wouldn't recognize a sing-song house? Please, we are by the university. You'd be harder pressed to not find one. From what I've heard a madam was the one who recently bought out the old dean's building."
Lili took a few steps towards the colorful front gate and looked back to see Xinfei standing motionless and beet red. "Really Xinfei, I didn't think you were so sheltered. Come along!"
Xinfei supposed that he just had to resign himself to being executed by Mister Gaoli after tonight. With that decided he hurried up to the gate after her. The rickshaw driver just shook his head and hefted up the poles of his vehicle. At least it would be easy for him to find another fare around here.
As Xinfei and Lili entered this house of enthusiastic repute the first thing that struck Xinfei was how normal it seemed. In the front parlor there was a man sitting with one foot up on a chair and a pipe in his land. At his side was seated a pretty and well-dressed young woman who was currently whispering something to a manservant who leaned down behind her while carrying a tray. Xinfei and Lili hadn't been over the threshold for more than a moment when a well-made-up woman in her late thirties suddenly swept into existence in a rush of silk.
"Good evening, honorable gentleman and lady. I am Madam Zhao and welcome to my house. Please, may I offer you refreshment here in the parlor?"
The proprietor did not blink an eye at a young woman such as Lili entering like this. Such events were an unfrequent but not to be overlooked part of the establishment's livelihood.
Lili shook her head, declining the offer. "I am sorry, perhaps another time. We actually received an invitation from Zhangyi Mao. Are he and his friends upstairs?"
Madam Zhao looked much less enthusiastic now, though her smile never slipped. Obviously the student nationalists were not the high paying customers she hoped for. "Ah, of course. I am afraid one of the servants must have forgotten to tell me to await your coming. Shuangzhu! Lead our honorable guests to the second sitting-room."
Xinfei jumped slightly as another young woman in a pearlescent white dress flitted into the room and silently directed them to a staircase leading up to the floor above. Upstairs they were in a narrow hallway with several doors opening off it. The first portal revealed wisps of pipe smoke drifting from a room where three men sat around a table with an equal number of beautiful women scattered between them. The sounds of clicking game tiles and soft feminine laughter spilled out along with the sounds of the instruments that Xinfei had heard from the street. The second room had no pretty girls but instead was occupied by six impassioned looking young men in black and white student's uniforms working on what could not have been their first bottle of wine as they growled at each other. At one end of the room's table were Zhanyi and the other two student nationalists Xinfei knew but the rest were strangers; rather angry strangers.
One unfamiliar young man finished his drink in a deep draught and thumped the cup down onto the table. He pointed across the small room at his fellow who was leading the discussion.
"Hey Zhangyi, you can't be losing your nerve now. Just look at the support we're finally getting!" He gestured vaguely in the direction of the paper screen covering the room's window. "It's fine if you want to lay low for a few days, and after what you managed on the Fifth Hill you deserve it, but the rest of us need to be taking action! The Lower Ring is up in arms over the curfew and tram restrictions. The Porcelain Guild alone is doing more that we've done in a week! Even if those men are craftsmen they're still benders, they carry weight. We need to make our move too, and tonight the holiday gives us the perfect chance!"
Zhangyi did not look as smooth and handsome as he usually did. Instead, he looked tired and increasingly irritated. "Look, I'm still the student organization president and I have just recently received a communication from-"
The first man waved his hand dismissively. "President? Oh, lay off it. Since when have those positions mattered? As soon as the society started getting money from that 'secret source' you were under that Li guy's thumb. Then he disappeared and the Initiated took over with their secret masks and sense of style. I care you,re president as much as I care that fat Jiang over there is secretary."
Jiang objected to this sudden insult. "Hey! I'm just sitting here."
"Well, we're going to make some noise! We're going to... Who's that?"
Xinfei had been awkwardly standing in the doorway, unnoticed, for quite a while now. Now that all these men focused their eyes on him he wished he was unnoticed again. He knocked against the wooden doorframe in an entirely useless gesture and said, "Um, Zhangyi? Jiang? Um, er," He struggled to remember the third name. "...Chonglong!"
No recognition passed over their faces and many of the student nationalists were beginning to rise. The muscular Chonglong in particular rose like a menacing monolith breaking from the ocean depths. Xinfei swallowed. They'd forgotten about him, and secret political conspiracies did not appreciate unknowns showing up at their hiding spots.
Even the normally gregarious Zhangyi wore a dark look and his brow was furrowed in deadly seriousness. "It would be best for you to identify yourself quickly, friend. We would regret to.-"
Suddenly, Xinfei remembered something he really should have thought of much earlier. He was still wearing a costume. He hurriedly whipped off the brown mask and yellow hat, almost panting at his own stupidity. Zhanyi blinked in sudden surprise.
"Dockworker guy? What are...oh, wait, it was...um. Shinfei!" He was clearly proud to have remembered that name.
"Er, Xinfei. Right." Xinfei offered his little correction as he struggled to control his breathing. He had almost gotten himself killed by a bunch of toffs because Lili had insisted on this damn monkey costume. He mentally pushed away the thought that a reasonable person should have remembered the mask a little sooner.
The other nationalists did not become friendly quite as quickly. Jiang narrowed his eyes at Xinfei and took note of the feminine shadow in the hallway behind him. "Hold on, Zhangyi. Xinfei, how exactly did you know where to find us?" Even Zhangyi's enthusiasm darkened at that.
Xinfei gulped. He did not know how to answer that. He had barely understood Lili's explanation of what had actually happened, let alone knew how to fabricate a convincing lie. Everyone knew that the government had spies everywhere. How did he go about proving that he wasn't one of them?
A soft hand suddenly pushed rather firmly against his upper arm. Lili gently shoved him aside as she entered the meeting room. "That would be my doing." She planted one foot in front of her and almost struck a pose. "I am Yushui Song and I understand you boys are working to take our country back."
Lili Gaoli was rather tall for a woman and tonight in her green lace armor and her three quarters mask she managed to dominate the room in a moment. Her vibrant costume, rather than looking ridiculous in contrast with the dour uniforms of the students, instead lent her authority. Xinfei was confident that the same force was not benefiting him with his brown furry armbands and ridiculous yellow hat. Lili stood her ground in front of the doorway, slowly sweeping her gaze over the young nationalists. Xinfei was not actually sure how she managed to hold that motionless pose for long enough for her pronouncement to land. From what he'd seen of her she had to be internally shaking from pent up motion after the first few seconds.
Xinfei assumed that the false name Lili had chosen was just a random alias. After all, these boys had recently led a mob against her family so such precautions were reasonable. However, the assembled students seemed to find more meaning in it. At the head of the table Jiang frowned slightly.
"Yushin Song?" one boy whispered. "Isn't that the name of district administrator De'an Song's daughter?"
"I don't know. But I have heard rumors that the administrator's a silent backer of the nationalist faction. I mean it's plausible but no one I know has ever seen his daughter so I-"
Lili interrupted, "Well, tonight that lapse is remedied! And do not fear for the security of your meeting." She winked. "The Initiated do not give out locations lightly. So, what was it Zhangyi was saying about receiving some communication? That sounded very interesting. Is this seat being occupied by anyone? No? Great! Xinfei, no need to lurk in the door all night, come sit down."
The student nationalists were blinking with what Xinfei had come to recognize as the traditional reaction to meeting the conversational whirlwind known as Lili Gaoli. Lili, for herself, settled down onto a chair and proceeded to serve herself a small cup of the wine from the center of the table. She sipped the drink with a small grimace of mild dissatisfaction.
The group of young men were clearly very unsettled by having a woman sit down among them. Xinfei felt the distant urge to roll his eyes. These guys were holding their meetings in a whorehouse and still insisted on acting like prudes. The rich would never fail to infuriate him. Well, maybe the rich other than Lili. She seemed to be doing well for herself. He lowered himself down beside the place at the table she'd claimed with elaborate care.
One of the unknown nationalists finally recovered his wits. "Woah, all right, hold on!" He pointed angrily at Zhangyi, Jiang, and Chonglong. "I recognize the girl's name but who's this guy? If you know him then why have I not ever seen him before? This is the kind of stupid careless stuff that gets you disappeared by Public Safety!"
Zhangyi had suffered quite enough of his comrades questioning him. "Xinfei joined us in our struggle weeks ago."
Chonglong did not look happy about this intrusion but he gave a rough grunt of confirmation as he drained the remainder of his drink.
With a nod to Chonglong, Zhangyi continued. "He was there with us at the Fifth Hill. In fact once things started getting out of hand he managed to do something that got the crowd focused again on dispersal. If everyone had stayed packed up in the top square we all would have been nabbed when the guards came to close down the district."
Down near the head of the table Jiang muttered down towards the cup sitting in front of him. "Not to mention the casualties that were prevented." Never the less most of the room heard him. It was clear he was not only talking about casualties on their side. Chonglong gave him a look of disgust for this perceived sentimentality and weakness. That look was shared by several others of the young men. The politics involved here were getting more merciless by the day.
"And it is wonderful that he did," Lili interjected. When she drew looks her eyebrow arched invisibly behind her silk mask. "Really. You've seen the political favors that Islander dog has managed to trick the ministers into accepting since that night. You can guess very well whose money bought them. If any more city merchants had been harmed things would only be worse and Trade Representative Tailang would have even more of the king's men tucked in his purse." She had an advantage in this conversation. Most of these young men were so thrown off by the presence of a pretty woman holding her own as an equal that they accidentally promoted her to a position above themselves by principle of sheer novelty.
The student nationalists collectively grumbled in reluctant agreement. The conflict they desired was one of black and white; domestic tradition and insidious foreign sabotage. However, they'd come to recognize that the truth of their fight was different. Both sides were mixed and muddled. Finally, one called on their nominal president to say whatever he had intended before Lili's invasion.
"Uh, ok." Zhangyi said absently, trying to recover from this shift in the energy. "Right. Ok." After few moments it seemed that it would be easier to just accept that Lili, or rather Yushin, was now part of this meeting and move on. "Yes. I received a letter here last night, slipped though the crack of my window. It is from Initiated."
Jiang muttered softly to himself. "It was an old authentication codeword."
"It was the oldest." Zhanyi said with special emphasis. "That lays significance to its importance. With all the new Initiated being raised these days that first code shows that this is one of those who has been with us from the beginning!"
"All those new people given masks and not a single one of us. Disgraceful."
"Not the time, Chonglong."
"The Initiated are requesting a meeting. Clearly the top leadership recognized who organized the march against the Fifth Hill. I'll admit that in recent weeks the Students Coalition for National Action has seen some declining responsibility in favor of the Initiated's private action but that is about to change! I'm going to ensure that we're at the forefront of the battle to preserve our culture once again! We will lead the voices of the people in a song of triumph that even the King of Kings will hear!"
Zhangyi stood up and thumped his palms firmly on the table in an enthusiastic demonstration of conviction. He expected his comrades to join their voices in cheering. Instead the only reaction was a polite round of clapping from Lili and several other skeptical looks.
At the other end of the table, one of the students was particularly unconvinced. "So you're running off to have a powwow with one of the masked Initiated? All right, but what does that have to do with us? I say the rest of us should use tonight! Other parts of the organization are busy down there beyond the rings but we can cause some trouble up here. Make sure no one thinks we've run into hiding. Really rile people up! Damn it, if we're patriots then we need to make people remember that this holiday is about honoring our native culture, not just dressing up in foreign fashions!"
Once again, Jiang tried vainly to introduce some caution. "Are you sure that's a good idea? We might be under government surveillance already."
Chonglong rolled his eyes. "Come on, Jiang. If they're going to do something big, tonight's the night. Everyone's already out in disguises, how are the guards going to identify anyone? Right, let's do it!"
Zhangyi shook his head. "Chonglong, you and Jiang are coming with me. You two are the club leadership, it's important that you are there for the meeting."
One of the remaining boys sneered, "Yeah, all you go off and talk to the guys who really are your bosses." He turned to his fellows. "I say the rest of us head down to the Lower Ring . We've done a good job getting support form the working classes before. After all, it's their jobs at risk along with our sacred culture."
Another shook his head. "The Porcelain Guild has been organizing down there over the last week. Those earthbenders are nothing to trifle with even if they're on our political side. I say we leave well enough alone. Plus, my housekeeper said that things have been getting dangerous in the Lower Ring. Lots of fires and violent crime. I mean even more than those sort usually get up to."
"That's to be expected down there, isn't it? Still, you have a point." The would-be rabble-rouser turned to Lili who'd been watching Zhangyi and his two friends gather up their stuff and depart. They slid out of the room and Xinfei was faintly glad they were gone. "Miss Song? You must have access to some information from your father. What targets do you suggest?" Another student activist frowned to which the speaker raised his eyebrows with a faint shrug that suggested he was just being polite by asking for input from a woman.
They were both surprised when Lili stood up from her chair. She gave all the remaining nationalists a gentle smile that never the less contained mountains of disappointment and condescension.
"I'm afraid I must have made a mistake by coming here. I had been under the impression that your little branch of the movement was already committed to action. Instead you are all clearly content to argue the entire night away. If I hear that you have ever moved past debating in flower-houses, I will contact you again. Until then, loyalist resources must be more...carefully allocated. Come along, Xinfei, I think my night is over."
Lili did not wait for any of the nationalists to overcome their astonished outrage and open their mouths. Instead she swept out the door, just avoiding running over the small serving girl who had been waiting outside. Xinfei almost knocked over his chair in his struggle to quickly stand up and follow after her. The university students were still sitting open mouthed as their expressions slowly melted from astonishment to anger over Lili's dismissive attitude. Xinfei decided he wanted to be well gone by the time they finished that phase shift.
"Um, happy holiday?" he said as he exited.
A second later he darted back in to grab his monkey mask from where he'd left it on the table. He opened his mouth to vaguely apologize, but one glance at those faces sent him racing out after Lili.
Luckily, she was waiting for him on the stairs. She had that much sense at least.
He slid up next to her and said, "I suppose there's no chance you actually are heading home?"
She looked up at him incredulously. "You heard that Zhangyi guy, they're meeting with the top Initiated right now! This is the guy behind all this! We're following them!"
Xinfei found himself smiling involuntarily as he quickly slid his monkey mask back on and made sure his ridiculous round yellow cap was secure. On the first floor they exited the establishment, his heart beating loud in his chest and a girl at his side. Or rather in front of him. And now farther in front of him. Xinfwi quickened his step to catch up with Her before he lost sight her completely in the crowd of other people out on these tree-lined city streets. Lili could really dart when she wanted.
They made their way down the street under the multicolored light of paper festival lanterns strung across the paved stretch, now crowded with pedestrians. There was music and laughter but Xinfei knew that under it all was still a steady current of hostility and frustration. He saw a few glares directed at those dressed in the most modern fashions, which up here meant Fire Nation fashions. There was a little less mixing among groups of partiers than he would have expected. Those foolish students were right. It wouldn't take much to turn this city against almost anyone. He didn't see what he and Lili could do to stop that but he also knew he was just going to have to follow her to find out. Maybe he could at least save one life.
...