Rising Phoenix

Three days later, Feng Zhiwei opened her eyes and saw the autumn chrysanthemums blossoming outside the veiled window.

She heard the leaf flute melody up above her, a shaky melody that seemed to brighten as she opened her eyes.

The courtyard's birds began to sing accompaniment to the flute.

Her eyes were dry as she turned her head. Her room was filled; Ning Cheng lay on the beams up above, his sleeping drool raining down. Helian Zheng slept in the rain, clutching his head strangely as if muffling his snores. Yan Huaishi slept on his wife's thigh, and Yao Yangyu slept comfortably against Yu Liang's belly.

The room was filled with the scent of herbs and medicine, but underneath everything was a strange, familiar fragrance.

Feng Zhiwei turned her head again. Ning Yi had been sitting by her bed meditating, but as soon as Feng Zhiwei opened her eyes, he immediately noticed and turned to meet her gaze, a smile crossing his lips.

Feng Zhiwei smiled back, but even as she smiled her eyes grew red.

Was this man before her really Ning Yi?

How starved, defeated, and tortured he looked! Who could imagine the philandering, gorgeous Dijing Prince as this lonely prisoner, as if exiled and starved in a distant, remote, barren land!

Everyone in the room was unkempt and unshaven, and they were all sleeping in her room?

Her eyes swept back to the sleeping figures, carefully taking in each weary face, and then she smiled again.

She was exhausted and her body ached like she had been beaten for a hundred days, but her heart felt as if it were soaked in a hot spring and blood ran smoothly through her.

Ning Yi carefully listened to her breath and his gentle smile finally relaxed. Assured, he stood up and began kicking the sleeping figures and throwing everyone out.

The pregnant woman was quick to her feet, not needing Ning Yi's reminder as she dragged her confused husband to the door. As she was shutting the paper door, she shouted out: "Everyone out, give them space!"

Ning Yi smiled gratefully by the paper door and called out after her: "Mrs. Yan is bright and quick, wise and brave. Would you be willing to serve the Imperial Court?"

"This female commoner does not oppose the idea." Hua Qiong called back with bright laughter.

With the door shut, Ning Yi returned to the bedside. Feng Zhiwei smiled wanly, her voice weak and croaky as she asked: "Aren't you tired?"

But before she could finish speaking, she was swept up in a warm embrace.

He clutched her tightly, his body trembling ever so slight as he whispered into her ear, every word a grasping mantra of hope: "Zhiwei… Zhiwei…

He just repeated her name, hugging her close as if afraid that if he let go, she would fly away and never return.

The quivering words swept down into Feng Zhiwei's heart and she felt her entire being shifting. It was as if things were tightening and loosening, brightening and dimming, and old pathways broke while new roads were connected. Startled and afraid, she shifted weakly, leaning her face into his shoulder; but when she touched the hard, protruding bones of his shoulder, her eyes reddened again.

He pulled away and smiled again, saying: "You've just woken up. I should let you rest." He sat back down smiling at her, and even though he could not see, he stared like he could not stare long enough.

A hole was punched through the roof above and Gu Nanyi floated down through it. Feng Zhiwei's eyes widened in shock as she took in her appearance, gasping and murmuring: "I can never get sick again…"

Gu Nanyi stared at her, his dirty rags hanging against him as he slowly stepped forward.

Feng Zhiwei waited for him to stop three steps away, but to her stunned amazement, he took two more steps towards her.

His waist-side little bag of walnuts hang by her eyes, so she reached up and slowly counted the pieces. As she worked her way through the wet, moldy walnuts, she asked gently: "Have you not been eating?"

Gu Nanyi nodded his head as he silently staring down at her.

He had thinned, and he was messy and dirty. He had not eaten his walnuts, and he had not changed his clothes.

"I won't die." Feng Zhiwei began, stifling her sobs. "If I died, who would find you when you're lost?"

Gu Nanyi stared, and he finally took a walnut and slowly chewed it.

"That one is wet and moldy." Ning Yi suddenly interjected. "Ning Cheng, accompany Mister Gu as he changes and gets new walnuts."

Ning Cheng suddenly appeared by their sides, smiling as he dragged Gu Nanyi away.

"Brother Gu, bring His Highness away for a shower and a meal." Feng Zhiwei echoed him.

She brooked no refusal and the room finally emptied, but when night fell, they were both back. One perched atop the roof, and another sat by her small bed. Nothing Feng Zhiwei said could make them leave, and she was tired so she conceded defeat. As Ning Yi sat beside her, he slowly explained everything that had happened in South Sea, his voice gently and calm despite the breathtaking and heart-stirring actions he had taken. She listened quietly for a long while until finally she sighed and said: "To think I slept so long that I missed so many great shows."

"Your sleep almost made me…" Ning Yi began, but he did not finish his sentence. Feng Zhiwei listened quietly, not asking him to continue. They both lay in beds, staring up at the ceiling, and the faint, strange tension in the room slowly faded.

After some time, Feng Zhiwei spoke again: "The plague. No one else lived past the night, why am I alright?"

"The one who ties the bell is needed to untie it." Ning Yi explained. "You got the plague in the village, and one of the village people saved you."

"The child?" Feng Zhiwei immediately guessed.

"Yes. Li Zheng heard that the West Yard was searching for famous physicians and guessed that someone had fallen to the plague. He knew his nephew had a very peculiar physique, so he brought him here; the gatekeeper refused to let them in and left them outside, but fortunately Hua Qiong saw them and allowed them in. At first, no one was sure what helped he would be, after all his nephew is a person not an herb, but fortunately a physician Brother Gu had invited from Dijing had just arrived, and this physician took the nephew's blood and combined it with various other medicines to pull you back from the gates of death."

"And the child? The physician?"

"The physician is staying in Brother Gu's room, and the child is resting and recovering from the blood loss." Ning Yi smiled. "That Helian Zheng almost took the child's life when taking his blood."

"So foolish…" Feng Zhiwei murmured, her voice drifting off. "I'll need to teach him a lesson tomorrow…"

"Sleep." Ning Yi smiled, tucking Feng Zhiwei in. Thoughts passed tiredly through her mind, but she was too tired to hold her eyelids open, and she fell into sleep.

Some time later, a gust of wind brushed over her as a person rushed up to her bed, slamming into her bedside. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at a panicked Ning Yi by her bed, and she saw everything as he caught the sound of her breath and his panic slowly faded.