"You're sure you didn't want to stay? Wen watched as Fengzi closed the door to the cabin—their cabin now, she'd taken care to tell him. From the way the ship rocked Wen knew they'd cleared the headlands and would soon be turning to the south. He wondered if people in Měijing and Dà Găng had any idea what was about to hit them.
"Absolutely sure," she said. Was there a hint of shyness there? This was the first they'd been alone since they'd broken into heaven. "You words were very noble, Xia, and I hope that in time they come to have the same meaning for women as they do for the cleaners of fish. But until I seem some proof that men have suddenly become more noble, I would much rather be on the high seas, where I know I'm appreciated for what I do."
"And for what you are." He reached for her hand. "I've never properly thanked you for all you did for me, Fengzi. I probably never will. I promise to keep trying, though."
"While you're at it, you could thank us as well," said Number One Grandfather. "And I still think that this woman is entirely inappropriate for any descendant of mine. Women in my day did not study the Daoist arts!"
"Will you excuse me?" Wen asked Fengzi.
Outside the cabin, he turned on Number One Grandfather. "Do you see that?" he asked,
pointing to the newly painted shrine set up against the outer cabin wall. Number One Grandfather nodded. "Then you remember our
agreement?" Another nod. "Then why were you in my cabin? I keep up the rituals, keep my mouth shut to
heaven about everything you've been up to since the Jade Emperor let us all go,
and you leave me alone."
"But I miss our chats," Number One Grandfather said.
"I don't care if—wait. You what?"
"The others," Number One Grandfather said, "are all so boring. You're the only one who ever talked back."
"Oh."
"So I was hoping we could continue to get together. On terms other than ritual. If you wouldn't mind."
"What's going on here?" His father's ghost shimmered into view, to Wen's right. Of course, thought Wen. Is it going to be like this all the time, now?
"Hello, Father," he said. "It's nothing. Number One Grandfather and I were just discussing etiquette, and why it's important Fengzi and I be left alone when we're in our cabin."
"What, has he been a ghost for so long that he's forgotten what things are like between a man and a woman?" Father nodded at Wen; the expression on his face was one Wen had never seen him wear before. Father's experience in the few months after his dying had apparently been more profound than the sum of the experience of his entire life. "Don't worry," Father said. "I'll take care of this. Go back to your woman. And tell her we said Hello."
Well, thought Wen, feeling somewhat dazed, Number One Grandfather did complain that nobody talked back to him. This looks about to change.
Fengzi looked up when he came back through the cabin door. Somehow she had got tea together while he was gone; there was even a small paper-wrapped parcel on the table between the cups.
"He didn't quite look like his old self," she said.
It took a moment for the meaning to sink in. "You mean Number One Grandfather? How long have you been able to see them?" he asked.
"It's only just started," she told him. "I think things ... changed ... while we were in hell and heaven. I think I may be family now, no matter what your ancestors think." She turned away to pour tea, but Wen could see the flush on her cheeks. There was something else, too, but it vanished whenever Wen tried to focus on it. Only when he looked away was he able to see the thin, ghostly red thread around her throat. It seemed to extend well beyond her.
In his direction.
Wen smiled. "I see what you mean," he said. "The Old Man in the Moon seems to have tied us together, my love." She looked directly at him now, smiling. Her eyes were moist, but happy. "I have to warn you, though," he said. "Number One Grandfather thinks you're not an appropriate person for me to be with. Or at least that's what he says. In his day, women didn't study the Dao at all, much less become adepts."
"Your father might well get him to change his mind."
"Oh, I'm sure Father will have something to say about that, yes. But in the end, I think it's you who'll do most of the persuading," Wen said, feeling his smile flow all around him. "After all, how many daughters-in-law can claim to have saved their father-in-law by directly intervening in heaven? In Number One Grandfather's day, women didn't do that either."
"I sincerely hope I never have to do it again. One attempt to defraud hell and heaven was enough for me."
Wen laughed. "I'm worried I may have developed a taste for it."
"Oh, no!" She laughed with him, then grabbed his hand. "Do you remember the Jade Emperor telling you that you reminded him of another rogue he had had to deal with? A thorough-going criminal he didn't have the will to destroy?"
"I do. If he really does have a soft spot for a rogue, I'm glad of it."
"He was talking about Monkey," Fenzi said.
"You're joking."
"I am not. The August Jade Emperor compared you favorably with the Monkey King. I was so proud, Xia, I thought I would burst."
She squeezed his hand tightly. "But here's the thing, my love: There is only room for one Monkey in heaven. What the Jade Emperor tolerates in Monkey he will not accept from you, should he find you before him again. So please, for my sake, do not develop a taste for toying with the gods. Once was bad enough for both of us."
"If you wish, my love. There is certainly enough scope here to keep us busy for some time. I will be more than happy, I think, to stop contemplating heaven for a while. And it won't bother me at all if I never contemplate hell again, much less see it."
"Thank you," she said. "Now, let's have our tea before it cools off." She began unwrapping the paper parcel.
"Wait a minute," Wen said after he'd finished the first small cup. "A moment ago you said that toying with the gods once was bad enough for both of us. But I was the one who defrauded our way into heaven. You were absolved of all blame. In fact, Lao Zi said nothing but good things about you."
"I wasn't referring to your actions," she said, pouring a second cup for them both. "I was speaking of something else entirely. Here, have something to eat with your tea," she said.
"I've got peaches."
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