‘You came,’ she says, surprise in her tone.
‘Uh, Lord Black said you wanted to see me.’
She nods, her gaze shy and hopeful. She gestures for me to enter. I hesitate, but she takes my hand in both of hers.
‘Please,’ she says.
My throat tightens. Reluctantly, I step over the threshold into her chambers. A soft blue-and-green carpet depicting clouds and peonies covers most of the floor.
‘Little Jing,’ she says, her eyes shining, her smile as gentle as I remember. ‘I thought I would never see you again.’
She gestures to a table at the side of the room. I sigh, then take a seat. She joins me.
‘Tell me, do you know your Classics?’
I nod. Why does she care?
‘And your sword forms? The thirty-two are the best. Were you taught those?’
‘Yes, Lord Nioh taught me himself.’
‘Oh good. I’m glad. I always heard he was the best of the best. Did you ever learn any Ming poetry? It was always your mother’s favourite.’
I don’t know where she’s going with all these questions. I nod. ‘Ming is Big Wang’s favourite period for literature.’
She nods. ‘Your mother always said it was important to be well versed in both literary and martial arts.’
It’s the same lines Horsey has been feeding me all my life. I put my hands on the table. ‘Why do you care whether I’ve been well taught or not?’
‘Your mother cared, so I care.’
I don’t know what to say. I always thought my mother sold me to buy a great huge diamond. Knowing Big Wang adopted me, and didn’t buy me, changes how I see him. But knowing my mother gave me up? That she didn’t bother to try and move to yin Shanghai to raise me there? It doesn’t change at all how I see her. Lady Ay takes my silence for what it is, years of built-up bitterness.
She tries another tack. ‘Your mother dreamed that you’d go to the best universities, experience the world. But Niang Niang wasn’t going to teach you anything. She wanted to sell you as a kitchen servant, or worse. Your mother begged Big Wang for his help in protecting you.’
‘My mother gave me up. She could’ve fought for me, but she took the easy way out.’
Lady Ay looks hurt. ‘She never gave up on you. We tried so hard, but when we almost lost you to the lake... we couldn’t risk keeping you here anymore. You were safest with Big Wang, watched over by Lord Nioh, Lord Ma, and Old Zao. Has Big Wang not been good to you?’
I think back. ‘I was never afraid in Hell. I was never hungry or cold. And apart from that one rainstorm, I never got wet. I hated the water.’
Lady Ay nods, her expression sombre. ‘Lord Black saw what Soo and Wen did to you. He brokered the arrangement between your mother and Big Wang.’
‘Why did she never tell me this herself? Why leave me in the dark? Big Wang certainly could have clued me in before now.’
‘Big Wang tells me you never wanted to believe him when he said you were his ward.’
My shoulders hunch, ashamed at the memory of my tantrums and petty provocations when he spoke about my mother, about me being his ward.
‘Your mother went looking for your father, to get his help in protecting you,’ Lady Ay continues. ‘She wanted to tell you all this herself, but she was caught by demon hunters and murdered before she had the chance.’
We sit in silence. This newfound knowledge twists in my chest. It hurts to breathe. Lady Ay stands and retrieves a lacquer box from the cabinet behind us. The box is inlaid with a mother-of-pearl nine-tailed fox peeking out from a coral pavilion, surrounded by blue-green mountains rising from a sapphire sea. I don’t need to open it to know it is full of her quail-egg jewels. Blues, greens, and so many yellows.
‘This is yours,’ she says.
I don’t move, so Lady Ay opens it for me. The glittering jewels cast rainbows all over the table.
‘I saved them all for you. The yellows were always your favourite.’
