Two figures sat within the clouds above the city of Luoyi. An aged woman in a green dress and a boy in a dark-blue tunic.

The woman raised her cup. Behind her, a young woman, who stood on top a layer of water condensed from the surrounding cloud, filled the cup with a teapot.

“Does the Young Director want his cup filled as well?” the young woman asked.

The porcelain-skinned boy, whose eyes shined pale-purple, shook his head. “I wish Uncle was here.” He creased his lips. “Even if Uncle was here, I wish I was the one to stay behind in the capital.”

The sitting woman parted her ring styled black hair and spoke. “I know you are unsettled because you cannot see beyond the boundary when you’re outside the observatory, but bear with it.”

The boy did not respond but peered down to the earth below. Han Yeon had just collapsed on the wall walk. “Do we save a life? She is still the cherished disciple of that Senior in the East.”

“No need to call him senior. Since when did we owe him any favors? Even if that old man in the East always remained neutral, he allowed what happened to Taizong that year.”

“To be fair, Aunty... Taizong was invading with an army at the time.”

“A second immortal emperor... we lost the golden opportunity for a second immortal emperor to a single wound.” She sighed and looked directly below. “Looking back, all of Gaozu’s princes, even his valiant daughter, possessed the talent. It is a shame that neither Zhenzong nor Taizong’s other children inherited the same talent.”

The boy bobbed his head. “The one below us might want us to help.”

“Then the decision belongs to the one below,” the aged woman replied.

“But the girl might perish at any moment.”

The woman sipped her tea unconcerned. “Then we can save her first and wait until a decision is made.”

The boy tilted his head. “If we save her first and then one below decides that we shouldn’t save her, what do we do? When we have already saved her, would we have to end a life we had just saved.”

“You really think the oddest things.”

Neither figure seemed any closer to actually helping.

The young woman standing behind the two interrupted. “Sect Master Nie, Director Xing’er, please allow me to go. It will affect my heart if I don’t.”

The woman, Sect Master Nie, smiled. “Then go down, Bi Tong.”

…

Xiyun craned his neck up. Even from below, a small streak of red could be seen beginning to trail down the wall. He picked up his foot, yet before he could run towards the ramp of stairs a distance away, a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“My men are already heading to retrieve her, Boy. They have experience moving the wounded, though given the bloo-” Commander Fang paused, narrowing his eyes.

The surrounding guards also silenced their conversations. With their heads already peered up, they easily noticed the changes in the clouds.

The sky swirled.

Directly above the wall, a vast cloud began to twist at its base. It slowly condensed into a veil of water that slowly fell down like long loose fabric.

A figure in a green silk robe descending from the cloud. She held onto the veil of clear water as if it was actual cloth and slid around it.

Beyond the wall, the spectating city residents all raised their heads. Those ignorant of cultivators fell to their knees before the immortal. However, those who understood the true nature of cultivation were arguably even more reverential.

For Commander Fang, it reminded him of the aerial silk acrobatic performances that occurred only during palace banquets.

In a slow spin, Bi Tong descended onto the top of the wall. She raised her hand and the silk-like water followed it. She gathered it all and wrapped it over Yeon. A layer of water conformed over the unconscious girl's skin and wounds.

Bi Tong turned her head towards the audience on the inner side of the wall. Though high above, her voice directed downwards audibly. “I have never studied healing. I can only stop the blood loss. To treat her injuries requires the physicians within this old palace.”

Xiyun spun his head. He did not question why there were also physicians here. “Treat her.”

Commander Fang ignored the statement and stepped next to the collapsed guard on the ground. He kicked the guardsman surnamed Zhang. “Up.”

Guard Zhang immediately opened his eyes. He went into a kneel and cupped hands in record time despite wasting a moment to glare at Danlu. “Up, Commander Fang!”

“Take the first squad and recover Leung Lakse. You are our only resident formations master who specializes in seals. If he survived the fall, you are responsible for his restraints.”

The guard nodded. After raising his hand, an attendant from behind the city guards handed him a bag containing various brushes and ink. With the first squad, he left for the building which Leung Lakse crashed down into.

Commander Fang finally swept a glance at Xiyun and Danlu. “The runners should already be relaying everything that has occurred to the ones within safely. They will decide what to do, so you two can only wait.”

Xiyun frowned. His feet fidgeted every passing moment.

At the wall, the young woman in green made her way down the steps of the stairs and brought the unconscious Yeon held by water with her. She nodded towards Commander Fang, who did not question her appearance.

Long black hair parted to frame her face which an amiable smile eased. “I am Bi Tong of the True Heart Sect. ”

Xiyun did not turn his head. He kept his gaze on the one laying next Bi Tong. Only Danlu bowed apologetically beside him.

Soon, from the direction of the west, a lone servant girl slowly made her way past the buildings. Everyone looked towards her expectantly.

“Master will see a single person,” the servant girl said. “Follow me.”

Xiyun threw a glance towards Danlu.

“I won’t let anything else happen.”

The boy accepted the answer and stepped towards the servant girl. She turned back around and began walking the way she came.

The stroll was slow. They passed the administrative buildings until reaching the next open gate. After passing the gate she turned south. The buildings disappeared, replaced by greenery. Pink-red peonies began surrounding both sides of the stone path until they made up a sea.

The servant girl halted. “You must walk the rest of the way.”

Xiyun nodded and continued along the garden path. After crossing a small stone bridge over a stream, he saw the round pavilion in the middle of the garden.

Under the pavilion, a man sat at a table where books and scrolls scattered over. He was tall, but his frame was thin and fragile within a white gown. Although he was still in the middle of his life, his surrounding hair had already begun to grey.

The man raised his head. A thin beard and mustache covered a worn-out face. His flat expression was incomprehensible. “Name?”

“Xiao Xiyun.” He bowed. “If this Senior employs skilled physicians, please allow them to treat my friend.”

The man stood up. “There is a cost for everything in this world.”

Xiyun steeled his posture.

“I want to write a memorial,” the man said. “Is a youth of the Xiao Family learned enough to help me?”

“Tax?” Xiyun eyed a few names of the books on the table. “You want to write a memorial on taxation?”

“Not taxation directly, but finances. The Treasury will be desolate by the end of next year. All the officials know this. The plan to support local costs with new coinage has already failed. In the end, coins mean nothing. They cannot feed soldiers, nor can they be traded in the lands of Sira. The remaining solution is raising taxes.”

Taxation was not paid by the coinage that the Treasury can so easily mint. They came in the form of grain, cloth, or labor for local governments. Yet, the man would not be questioning himself if it was so easy.

He continued. “But, what is the point of garnering the hatred of the peasantry when the great families so easily evade taxes?”

Xiyun nodded.

In the countryside, between state and private, state-owned land, with the exception of specialized industries and government functions, were leased to households under the equal-field system. These families were easily recorded in the household registry and taxed.

On the other hand, private property was bought en masse by single wealthy families. The large families which do enroll in taxation still do not properly record the number of tenant households they employ or the amount of property they own. Under such circumstances, many of the estates belonging to large families were virtually untaxable.

“Is this not a problem for the census to fix?” Xiyun asked.

“There have already been solutions brought up with expanding the Census Bureau of the Ministry of Revenue. And, the scale required is underestimated. The expansion must continue down to the provincial governments. The manpower required to review property of every family estate may not recoup the gains. The largest problem is that this solution opposes the current trend.”

Since the inception of Zhao, there has been a pattern of cutting costs and decreasing the size of the bloated officialdom. A single idea was well realized. The state’s purpose was to administer the law. As long as the law was upheld, the people naturally governed themselves.

Xiyun felt his head drift. Danlu and Chu Su made many complaints over dinner. For example, they once said that trading with regional government offices was so expensive that it might as well be an indirect tax. “The Treasury still owns its industries.”

The man caught on and shook his head. “The different products of the Treasury's industries are too varied, nor do we control enough of production or the market to raise their prices. Even the best option, silk, is no longer solely controlled by the Palace since the days of Jiang.” He paced around the pavilion. “A similar approach, such as a tax on goods sold would require even more labor to enforce than a stricter census would. Even tariffs should not be enforced at the border cities lest it affects trade.”

“If silk is no longer a good that can be controlled, then take up one that can.”

“No such good exists. Even the universally used iron won’t work. The metal deposits of Zhao are too scattered over the provinces to administer.”

Xiyun raised his head. “It exists. In deposits like iron, but centralized in few locations. There is already historical precedence left by the Immortal Emperor.”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“Salt.”

Moments passed.

“The physicians are already treating your friend. She can rest here until she recovers,” the man said.

Xiyun lowered his head. “Thank you. I’ll take my leave.”

“Wait.”

Half-turned, the boy paused for the longest time.

The man finally spoke. “Do you want to be-”

“I have no interest in becoming an official.” Xiyun did not allow the man to finish his statement.

The man closed his mouth.

The boy continued down the path. He had never wanted to get away from somewhere as much as he did now.

Not once did Xiyun ask the name of the man. Never did he question why the old palace was in use. He did not question the presence of physicians. Nor did he question the presence of imperial guards.

Leaving the field of peonies behind, he retraced his steps in a brisk pace back to where he had come from. After passing the inner gate he passed earlier, he spotted Bi Tong and Commander Fang outside of a building. Nearby, Duan Sui held the reins to the two horses borrowed from the training hall.

Bi Tong was in the midst of saying something to the commander. “-it's harder to climb up than it is to descend down.” She noticed Xiyun. “They’re inside.”

Three physicians were treating Yeon. They were already at the phase of applying stitches to her cuts.

The surrounding interior was dust-free. Xiyun sat down on the floor next to Danlu.

“They say she’ll need at least until tomorrow to wake up,” Danlu said. “The sun is beginning to fall. We should return to the estate.”

Xiyun settled his eyes one last time before nodding.

After meeting Duan Sui, they began making their way back home.

When Commander Fang began to speak, Bi Tong stopped him. She skipped over with a smile and accompanied the group instead.

With a quiet walk along the base of the wall, they reached the eastern gate. On the other side were three familiar faces.

Qiu Gaokang, Xiao Dalin, and Xiao Zhurong stood beside two carriages. The three nodded towards Bi Tong. They were all third-realm cultivators within the same generation.

“Ready to return?” Gaokang asked with a smirk. A light jab for the amount of trouble caused the moment he returned to the city.

Neither Danlu nor Xiyun reacted, choosing to enter the second carriage instead.

At the side, Zhurong patted Duan Sui on the back. “Dru’s arm has been reattached. Cleanest cut our doctor ever saw. He will be moved to the security service until it recovers function.”

“He’s not going to like that,” Duan Sui said.

Like so, the party returned to Xiao Estate.

...

Danlu opened the door to the courtyard.

Sitting at the table was Chu Su. Chu Su spoke as Danlu wondered what his first words would be. “Dinner’s ready.”

Xiyun shook his head and walked past him. "I am not eating today." The door of his room opened and closed behind him.

Without lighting the candle he once again sat down at the spot in the middle.

Xiyun opened his palms and closed it. “Once Yeon recovers,” he muttered. “Once Yeon recovers.”