What have you done, Tianyu?
Her memory accused him.
Surely you must know, Shuang. You, her mother, will understand that I did this for her.
Shuang’s daughter deserved so much more than her mother’s fate. He knew there was more in the outside world. He had heard stories about others like Jiayi and knew their daughter was not facing judgment from a past life or the anger of the gods. She was too bright, too cheerful, despite the misunderstanding of others.
His daughter was brilliant and kind, gifted in ways her humble father couldn’t understand. There hadn’t been a day that had passed since Shuang had died that he didn’t wish his wife could see their daughter and what she could create.
The eye of the dragon accused him. Thief. What success can come to the daughter of a thief?
But surely others were more corrupt than he. After all, Tianyu had not been the one to think of this scheme, only the one with the skills to remove the seal without doing the delicate artifact any harm. Surely the gods would judge others more harshly than him and allow Shuang’s daughter a gentler path.
All he wanted was what had been promised. He wanted the accusing dragon away from its hiding place under the bed and in someone else’s hands. He wanted passage off the island with Jiayi and the papers they were promised. He had maps and pictures of the giant machines called railways. He could get his daughter to Shanghai, and from there?
Tianyu would find a way. With the money from the seal, they would be able to—
A tap at the door, and he hastily wrapped the Pearl Seal back in Shuang’s blanket, sending a prayer to his wife to ask the dragon for favor and forgiveness.
He slid the blanket under his bed, then opened the door to see his daughter’s round face smudged with bright colors from the paints she was using in her latest work.
Jiayi motioned with her hands in the special language they had created for each other.
I’m hungry.
He motioned back. Noodles?
She shook her head, then curved her hands together with a grin.
He copied her motions and rolled his eyes. Dumplings? Again?
His daughter’s cheeks reminded him of two soft dumplings, the dimples marking her as Shuang’s daughter, though she had traces of his own features too. Luckily, she looked more like her mother.
Yes. He nodded. I’ll go out. Dumplings.
She danced back into the main room of the house and toward her paints.
He walked out of his bedroom and donned the heavy quilted jacket that hung over the bookcase with Shuang’s books.
Tianyu had tried to teach their daughter to read and write without much success. He was not a teacher, and Jiayi wasn’t allowed to attend the village school as she was. Jiayi knew a few things, enough that he could send her to the shops with a list if she felt brave enough to weather the stares of others in the town.
He walked out with a pocket full of coins—his monthly portion from the elders was generous, more than enough to support a wife and daughter, so he and Jiayi never lacked for food or any other small luxuries Penglai town offered. Things like the satin-lined blanket from the mainland were out of reach for many artisans on the island who couldn’t waste money on imported blankets.
Tianyu nodded at shopkeepers and other craftsmen and women as he passed through the cobbled streets of Penglai. Most of the town on the main island was full of workers like him, the wealthier farmers and fishermen having large houses and property on the outer islands.
He reached the dumpling shop where Jiayi’s favorite pork buns were almost sold out. He only saw a few in the window, so he tapped and grabbed the attention of Mistress Fang, who opened the window with a smile that nearly matched Jiayi’s.
“Back again, Tianyu?”
“She can’t get enough of them,” he said. “I think she is going to turn into a dumpling one day.”
Mistress Fang chuckled. “She has good taste; I can’t argue with her. I’ll put in a few extra with the leeks too. Tell her they’re good when it’s cold outside.” Mistress Fang’s smile fell. “Can she understand that kind of thing?”
No one knew why Shuang’s daughter could not speak or hear, though most believed it must have been the same reason her mother had wasted away from illness. Fate had decided the path of their current lives must be harder to balance out something in the past.
He dearly wished he knew what phenomenal fortune they had squandered in another life that had left him without a wife and his daughter without hearing or a voice.
“Of course she understands.” He nodded. “I’ll tell her.”
“And tell Jiayi that I hung her drawing of the shop in a frame. Look!” Mistress Fang motioned behind her to where a pencil drawing had been framed and hung in a place of pride. “When she wants to, she should come see it. People ask me all the time who drew such a good picture, and most of them don’t believe me when I say she’s only seven.”
His heart filled with pride. Mistress Fang was one of the few in Penglai town who didn’t treat Jiayi as if she were a broken or cursed child. “Thank you, mistress. I’ll tell her; she’ll be so pleased.”
He paid for the bag of dumplings, then started back to his house, thinking of how happy Jiayi would be if she saw her drawing hanging proudly at the dumpling shop.
“Ho there!” Haitao, a harness maker he’d been waiting on for over a week now, flagged him down. “Tianyu, you haven’t been bothering me these days. Did something more important catch your attention?” Haitao’s eyes glittered with some secret.
Tianyu schooled his face. The harness maker knew nothing. He was only a harness maker after all. What could he know of Tianyu or the terrible bargain he’d had to make?
“Just busy at the palace with all the renovations,” Tianyu said. “Is my harness ready?” He’d been without his horse cart for days because his harness had broken. Tianyu was tired of walking around the island with all his carpentry gear or hiring a cart for the day. He wanted his horse and cart useful again.
“It’s ready, yes.” Haitao stepped closer. “But the price has gone up, my friend.”
Tianyu frowned. “What are you talking about? We already agreed on a fair price. Should I report you to the magistrate for trying to cheat me? What would the elders say?”
“Oh, I don’t think you want to report me to the magistrate, my friend.” He lowered his voice. “After all, you wouldn’t want Myung to know what you have hidden in your house, would you?”
Tianyu’s jacket couldn’t keep out the cold that trickled down his neck when he heard Haitao’s words. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m not dumb like your little girl.” The man’s eyes gleamed with greed. “And I don’t think you want to test me, or this harness might get more and more expensive every day.”
Tenzin watched Ben as he entered the room, wary of his mood and waiting to see what he said first.
“Well, we went over and over the work records, but there was nothing unusual about the weeks leading up to the theft.” He set down a pile of papers. “I brought a copy of the records if you want to look at them, but I can’t see anything that stands out. The most notable thing in there is the day a harness broke on a horse cart when a carpenter was driving back to Penglai town on the Pearl Gate road.” Ben sat down and ran a hand through his hair. “He had to load his equipment on the mason’s cart and a bunch of lacquer spilled.”