The couple clutched it together, pushing each other away to examine it closer. Pinmei turned away. She knelt beside Haiyi, reached into her sleeve, and gave the scarred servant her handkerchief to wipe the spilled soup from her face. Yishan and Lady Meng quickly joined them.

“Pinmei, you…” Yishan said to her with admiration. “You were really great.”

“Was I?” Pinmei said faintly, and she found that she was trembling. “I didn’t think.… I just wanted to make them stop.”

“I’m sorry you gave away your bracelet,” Lady Meng said, looking in distaste at the masters of the House of Wu. They were inspecting the bracelet at the window, the man biting into it to test the stone.

“You’re a brave girl,” Haiyi said, lifting her face from the cloth. “Much braver than…”

The other three gasped. Haiyi stopped at the sound and saw they were staring at her.

“Your… your face!” Pinmei breathed. “Your scars are gone!”

It was true. The raised white scars had disappeared. Instead, the woman’s face was as smooth as the inside of a seashell.

“My scars?” Haiyi said, and her fingers stroked the even skin on her face in disbelief. She opened her other hand and, from Pinmei’s handkerchief, hundreds of rice grains fell onto the floor like a sudden rain shower.

But it wasn’t Pinmei’s handkerchief! Pinmei cried out in astonishment. It was the Paper of Answers!

CHAPTER

43

Pinmei had given Haiyi the Paper of Answers by mistake! And it had wiped away her scars! How could that be possible? But it was—the skin of Haiyi’s face was even and unblemished, and a puddle of uncooked rice lay at her feet.

“What is going on over there?” said one of the hideous masters of the House of Wu, alerted by Pinmei’s yelp. His beady eyes glittered and the woman raised her head as if smelling a feast. “What are you doing?”

They scampered over, leaping over furniture in their eagerness, but stopped abruptly when they saw their servant.

“Y-your scars…” the man stuttered. “How did you…”

“You wiped them away!” the woman shrieked. “It must be that cloth! Give it to me!”

Before the other could even shout, they fell upon their servant, snatching the Paper from her hands. Without hesitating, they began to rub their faces vigorously, each after the other.

But when they raised their hands to touch their skin, their scars had not disappeared. Instead, their faces were puckering and shriveling, their fur collars almost swallowing their heads. No, it wasn’t their collars! The man and woman were sprouting fur! Their faces, arms, and legs were covered with dark brown hair the color of rotting wood. And it wasn’t just their faces—their whole bodies were shrinking too! They grew smaller and smaller until their fine silk capes and robes and hairpins fell on the stone floor and covered them. Four dark hands reached out and pushed the silks open, and two small furry heads thrust out. The others cried in shock.

The masters of the House of Wu had turned into monkeys!

The two monkeys glowered, their eyes full of fury. Pinmei could only gape, her mouth a round circle, her head dizzy with astonishment.

Haiyi stood and grabbed the broom. “Shoo! Shoo!” she said. Yishan opened the door and Haiyi swept at the monkeys. “Out!” she scolded. “Out!”

The monkeys chattered angrily, spitting and clawing, but their former servant was persistent, pushing and shoving with the broom until both monkeys were out the door. Finally, the monkeys scampered into the snow-covered courtyard and over the wall, sputtering outraged noises.

Pinmei continued to stare at them, sinewy black shadows against the snow. Before they disappeared behind the wall, one turned and shook its fist at them, a brilliant green flashing from its hairy arm. Yishan slammed the door.

“Monkeys are always such a nuisance,” he said, shaking his head.

CHAPTER

44

“Well, that was unexpected,” Haiyi said with a broad smile. Now that her scars were gone, Pinmei could see her wide, pleasant face, dimpled with laughter. The woman swept away the broken bowl with a flourish, almost dancing with the broom. Still smiling, she looked at the others. “And what are your plans now, my friends?”

“First, we have to get out of the city,” Yishan said. “How far are we from the Outer City gate?”

“Oh, very close!” the woman said, pausing in her sweeping to pick up the Paper from the floor. She handed it to Pinmei with another smile. “The emperor left this morning, while you slept. The emperor has left orders to have you killed if you are found, of course, but when he heard you were children, he didn’t feel he needed to waste any more time or men on you. I’m sure we could sneak you out easily now.”

“After we leave the city, I am going to the Vast Wall to find my husband,” Lady Meng said.

Haiyi stopped sweeping and looked at Lady Meng, her eyes full of sympathy and dismay. She opened her mouth to say something, but Lady Meng’s head rose defiantly. She looked out the window, her figure shrouded in a gauze curtain of cold white light. Haiyi closed her mouth and looked at the children. “And you two?” she said finally. “Surely you will not be going to the Vast Wall as well?”

Pinmei shook her head, but neither she nor Yishan gave any other answer. The dragon’s pearl was not the Luminous Stone. Amah was not here. They had come to the City of Bright Moonlight for nothing. What were they going to do now? As Haiyi swept, the pieces of the broken bowl clinked together and made a hollow sound.

“You are welcome to stay here as long as you wish,” Haiyi said. She lifted a large pot of soup onto the stove and looked at her reflection. “I was never a beauty,” she said, touching her face, “but now I would not trade with the goddess Nuwa.”

“That’s good, because you’d have to have a fish tail,” Yishan said almost absently as he gazed at Lady Meng, “which would better if you were in the sea instead of—”

“Yishan!” Pinmei said, sitting up. “Do you remember what the emperor said to the king about the stone? How the king would understand if he went to Sea Bottom?”

“Yes,” Yishan said, turning toward her. “I don’t remember everything, but I do remember that. So?”