Faint morning light filtered through the latticed window. Across the room, behind the makeshift curtain, I heard a soft rustle.

  A moment later, "Xiao Kai" emerged. She was already dressed, her hair tied back neatly. The frantic desperation of the previous night was gone, replaced by a calm, watchful intensity. She sat on the edge of the bed, her back straight, and met my gaze. The new day had begun.

  "Let's get some hot food," I announced, my voice rough with sleep, "and see if we can't find ourselves a more comfortable place to stay."

  Xiao Kai simply nodded, her expression unreadable. A few moments later, a rustle came from the corner where Xiao Qi had made his bed. He was up in an instant, his movements quick and efficient as he straightened his clothes. The three of us made our way down to the inn's common room, a small, smoky space that smelled of old wine and morning cooking fires. We found a corner table and I ordered bowls of hot millet congee and a basket of freshly steamed buns. It was a simple, warming meal, and I watched to make sure both of my young companions ate their fill.

  Afterward, I approached the front counter to check out. I settled the bill, then slid a piece of silver, worth many times the cost of our stay, across the worn wooden surface.

  The innkeeper's bored professionalism vanished, replaced by a gleam of eager servility as he expertly palmed the silver. "Master Zhang! You are too generous! How else may this humble one assist you?"

  "We're looking for a more permanent lodging," I explained. "A small, private courtyard to rent. Do you know who I might speak to about that?"

  The innkeeper beamed, pleased to be of service to such a generous patron. "A courtyard! Master Zhang has fine taste. To rent a private home in a respectable ward like this is no small expense in Chang'an, I assure you. To buy one is the business of dukes!" He leaned in conspiratorially. "But if you have the means, the man you must see is Toothman Yao. He is the most connected property broker, yárén, in this part of the city. He knows every empty room and every landlord with a courtyard to let."

  He gave us quick, precise directions. "You'll find his office on Phoenix Street, not ten minutes from here. Tell him Innkeeper Liu sent you, and he will see you right."

  Phoenix Street was a respectable thoroughfare, the crisp morning air filled with the rhythmic tapping of a metalsmith's hammer and the sweet, dusty scent of a potter's kiln. We found the office easily, a simple, open-fronted shop with a single, large character painted on a wooden sign above the door: 牙 (Yá).

  Inside, a man in his forties with sharp, intelligent eyes that never seemed to stop moving looked up from his abacus. He was dressed in the fine, practical robes of a successful merchant.

  "My name is Zhang Lin," I said. "Innkeeper Liu from the Quiet Willow Guesthouse sent me. He said you were the man to speak to about renting a home."

  The man's professional smile became a fraction more genuine. "Ah, Liu sent you! A good man. He has a nose for customers with good taste." He gestured to a stool in front of his desk. "I am Yao. Please, sit. What are you looking for?"

  "Something modest," I explained, taking the seat while Xiao Kai and Xiao Qi stood quietly behind me. "A private courtyard. Clean, secure, and affordable. It's for myself and my younger brother."

  Toothman Yao's eyes flicked over my two companions, then back to me. He was sizing me up, calculating. He saw my simple but well-made robes, and heard my educated speech.

  "Modest and affordable," he repeated, tapping a long finger on his desk. "I have a few properties that might suit a scholar-clerk such as yourself." He pulled out a scroll. "For true affordability, there is a small house. Low rent, but it is next to a lumberyard, so it is... noisy."

  He clearly thought this was beneath me. "A better fit, perhaps," he continued, his finger tracing down the scroll, "is a standard courtyard on a quiet side street just three lanes from here. A main hall, two small side-chambers for your brothers, its own well, and a solid gate. Typical, respectable, and private. The landlord asks for four silver taels a month, with three months' rent up front." He paused, giving me a shrewd look. "Or... if you value comfort... there is a lovely courtyard on the edge of the ward. A bit larger, with a small garden where a plum tree grows. It would, of course, be a bit more dear at six taels a month."

  I thought of Zhang Lin, the careful, prudent clerk. "The standard courtyard would be great," I said, carefully counting out twelve taels of silver.

  A shrewd smile touched Toothman Yao's lips as he swept the payment into a drawer. "An excellent choice, Master Zhang. I will have the lease drawn up and the keys sent over this afternoon."

  Seeing the transaction concluded, I pressed on. "I had a cousin recommend I seek work at the Sogdian Whirling Cloud Caravan Company. I am a clerk and an accountant."

  "The Whirling Cloud! Ambitious," Yao said, his interest piqued. "A river of silk and spice flows through their warehouses. But getting a position is not a matter of simply knocking on the door. You need an introduction to the steward who handles their hiring, a fellow named Bahram." He gave me a sly, professional smile. "However, it is the business of a yárén to know people. For a small fee, say, half a tael of silver, I can draft a letter of introduction on my authority as a respected broker. It won't guarantee you the position, but I promise it will get you into Steward Bahram's presence."

  I smiled, familiar with this game from a world away. I picked out a full tael and pushed it across the desk. "I'd welcome your reference and consider this a small token of our thanks."

  A broad, genuine grin split his face. "Master Zhang," he said, his tone shifting from professional to conspiratorial, "you are a man who understands how this city truly works. A wise man understands the value of a good key."

  He took up a brush and, with swift, confident strokes, penned a letter of recommendation, stamping it with his personal seal. "There," he said with immense satisfaction, sliding it across the desk. "Your key to the Whirling Cloud. And, Master Zhang, if there is anything else you need, a guide, a piece of information, you come to Yao first. For a client like you, many things become possible."

  By late afternoon, we were standing in our new home. The heavy gate groaned shut behind us, the sound a final, satisfying thud that cut us off from the city's chaos. The courtyard was modest but clean, a main hall serving as a common area with three small, separate rooms branching off, a private space for each of us.

  I gave Xiao Qi a list of necessities and a pouch of silver. Food, paper, fuel, and several changes of clothing for each of us. "I'd like a pair of cloth shoes," Xiao Kai asked me, her face flushed. I nodded and she handed me a length of string.

  "I see you don't hail from ZhenZhou," I remarked as I pocketed the string. "Otherwise you might have forgotten to give me this." Xiao Kai cracked a smile then caught herself and scowled.

  "Also," I added, "find a bolt of good quality, thick cotton cloth." He gave a sharp nod and slipped out into the city.

  I turned to Xiao Kai. She stood in the middle of the empty main hall, her small frame looking lost in the dusty space. "You'll have to remain in this home during the day, at least until you recover," I told her. "You are a wanted fugitive, after all." I gestured around the courtyard. "We'll set up this place as a safehouse. If your own ventures go south, you can always return here."

  I then pulled out the prepared letter and the small, folded map. "This is insurance," I said gravely. "The letter is addressed to the Black Wind Cliff Escorts. It has a code phrase, 'Black Wind Flows,' on the header. It instructs them to give the holder of this letter their support. If things go very wrong, leave the city and travel east. Give this to them. They will understand."

  Her head snapped up. Her voice, when it came, was a tight whisper, laced with disbelief. "You would trust me with this?"

  "If things go wrong," I repeated firmly. "Which I don't intend to happen. But you must not be caught with this letter; you'd implicate those men as well." I saw her solemn nod as she carefully tucked the folded paper deep into an inner fold of her sash.

  I changed the subject. "Now, our next step is to get a job with the Whirling Cloud. That will be our cover. Once my presence is established, you'll be free to run 'errands' for me without raising suspicion." I paused, meeting her intense gaze. "As for Censor Wang... was there anything that he was interested in? Outside of his work, of course."

  She looked at the floor, her mind sifting through memories of a shattered life. "Interests…" she murmured. "My father always said that Censor Wang had only two true passions in this world: the letter of the law, and the game of Go." She looked up, the memory now sharp and clear. "He was pretty fanatical about it. He sought out antique boards and stones carved from jade or polished river gems. My father once gifted him a set of white agate stones."

  A smile spread across my face. "That's excellent news." I had been a passable Go player in my youth, though never truly skilled by modern standards. But the strategic theory of my time was centuries ahead of this world.

  I was fortunate. Had the Censor been an enthusiast of calligraphy, the zither, or painting I would have been utterly lost. But a game of strategy? That was a language I knew how to speak.