Xue Dongting thought about it for a minute, then said, “Then, what should I call you?”

Song Yuming, always serious, said, “Husband, naturally. I don"t have a nickname for you to call me.”

“No fair!” she protested.

Song Yuming smiled affectionately at her huffing little face and said gently, “Then just call me Yuming.”

“Mm,” she said with a pleased nod. “Let"s see if the steamed buns are ready yet.”

They tidied their clothes and went to the kitchen and opened the lid of the wok. The big buns were plump and smelled good. Song Yuming took them out and Dongting fried up some mustard greens and Song Yuming ate the greens and three steamed buns.

After breakfast, Dongting looked for Song Yuming"s wet clothes so she could wash them, but she couldn"t find them. When she asked he told her he had left them on Old Zhang"s boat.

Xue Dongting was worried about them sitting out there in the winter cold all wet, afraid they might not be warm to wear anymore if not properly taken care of, so she sent him at once to the river to go get them.

Song Yuming protested that there was no hurry, but Dongting would have none of it, and so he had no choice but to go out and to the ferry. In fact, those clothes had not been soaked in the river at all. During his fight last night with the palace a.s.sa.s.sins, he had left only one alive to report back and deliver a message for him, so his clothes were stained with blood, leaving him no choice but to get a change of clothes from Old Zhang. The b.l.o.o.d.y clothes were bound around a big stone and dropped into the river where it sank to the bottom.

When he got to the ferry, Old Zhang was sitting on a stool on his boat. He looked up at Song Yuming, then quickly lowered his eyes and contemplated his next move on the weiqi board.

Song Yuming leapy aboard Old Zhang"s boat and sat outside the cabin, looking out over the vast expanse of water. “Wife didn"t let you go back home or what? It"s almost New Year"s Eve, what are you doing sitting out here on your boat?”

The old man picked up the wine gourd at his feet and took a swig and grimaced. “Doesn"t matter, I"m used to the rocking of the water. If I"m not on my boat I don"t feel stable.”

Song Yuming sighed lightly. “Became a fisherman and still there"s trouble.”

Old Zhang gave him a squinting smile and then said flatly, “All dead?”

“I spared one, had him deliver a message for me.”

Old Zhang shook his head. “Whatever message you gave him will not reach that woman"s ears. Even if it did, she wouldn"t hear it. Does Dongting have any inkling of what"s going on?”

“No.”

Old Zhang shook his head. “Clever girl like that, how could she not have some idea?”

Song Yuming laughed. “You looking forward to her finding out about this dirty business?”

“You haven"t told her because you want to protect her from the turmoil. But since you"ve decided to keep it from her, you"ll have to keep it locked up watertight. You can"t let her discover any filthy part of it herself or else there will be a misunderstanding over nothing.”

Song Yuming nodded. “Any news from the capital?”

“Third Prince"s influence is at its height.”

“I fear it won"t last,” Song Yuming said without expression.

“Whether it does or not is already none of your concern.”

“Yes. Since I"ve given it up, there"s no reason for me to get involved again. Who becomes ruler, what does any of that have to do with me?”

Old Zhang picked up a black stone from the deck and placed it on the weiqi board. At once the situation on the board was clear: black would win, white would lose. The old man sighed. “With all the upheaval going on right now, can a person in your position really stay out of it? Might be pretty tough…”

They talked about some ordinary matters for a bit, then Song Yuming got up to leave and go back to his thatched hut. Xue Dongting saw him return empty-handed and said, “Where"s the clothes?”

“Old Zhang tossed them. They were old anyway, I don"t want them. If you don"t get rid of the old you can"t enjoy the new. I"ll wear the new set you made me.”