“You must do something about this, Lord Fang!” Magistrate Kwon was beside himself with anxiety. He paced back and forth across the room in front of the embassy’s special adviser, unable to stop. “What business does the envoy have with the mine? Why does he want it excavated after all this time?”

  “Believe me, I am worried myself,” the adviser nodded. The news brought to him that morning by his bodyguard had been anything but reassuring. “An extra delay is the last thing we need. I have to deliver payment for the goods, you know that. A tribute delayed by a few days may go unnoticed, but my patron—”

  “You do not understand, Lord Fang,” the magistrate bit his lip and pulled a miserable face. “That inspector, remember him? We hid the poor man’s body in the collapse. If they find him now, can you imagine what will begin? I am far from threatening you, but, Lord Fang, it was not me who killed him, and I will not go down alone.”

  Now the worthy Qing official jumped as well.

  “Why could you not hide him better?” he cried out. “Why did you do it at all?”

  “I was hoping that by spring there would be nothing left but bones and we could bury the matter,” Magistrate Kwon snapped back. “Though I should simply have arrested your servant for murder and been done with it!”

  “Do not say such things, my dear magistrate, really,” the adviser immediately softened his tone. “You know perfectly well that this is absolutely impossible.”

  “What are we to do, then?” the magistrate begged, stopping and clutching the adviser’s hands. “Can you stop the envoy and make him leave?”

  Adviser Fang shook his head thoughtfully.

  ***

  For the moment, Yi Ho was satisfied with how matters were progressing. He had been right to take on this task and agree to help his young descendant. It was obvious that the boy was ready to miss the calling of his life because of excessive restraint.

  Yi Ho had listened to several stories about the prince’s habits from his eunuch, had seen with his own eyes the younger prince’s confusion when he put him in his place, and had even observed the envoy’s behavior. The envoy had had many opportunities to present the imperial edict to the younger prince, but he was still waiting.

  For what?

  Maybe for the miraculous appearance of the elder one?

  What the envoy failed to see in Great Prince Dojun, what made him hesitate, Yi Ho was ready to provide. He had been crown prince for many years and knew perfectly well what qualities were required for such an exalted position.

  At table, the envoy liked to pose riddles to them, disguised as parables. Great Prince Dojun answered correctly, predictably, as the books taught. Yi Ho’s advantage was experience, and time after time he found simplifications and inaccuracies in his rival’s answers. The envoy’s small knowing smiles and nods were signs that he agreed with Yi Ho’s assessments, whether the matter concerned irrigation of the fields or the collection of taxes. A few more days of such conversations, and Yi Ho would undoubtedly have won this unannounced contest.

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  The sudden delay caused by a collapsed mine turned out to be very convenient. Apparently, the envoy also wanted more time to observe the elder prince and used a handy pretext to obtain it.

  The magistrate of Anju, of course, was not pleased — but when had corrupt officials ever been pleased when their dealings came to light? Yi Ho would have wagered that the mine collapsed because someone, somewhere, had neglected safety rules. Perhaps rotten timber had been purchased for the supports, or a spring undermining the wall had not been diverted in time. One way or another, the magistrate had failed in his duties and now feared punishment. Nothing new there.

  Still, this delay also meant that Yi Ho had to use his enchanted talismans more sparingly. Who knew how long they would be stuck in Anju? Instead of changing them three times a day, he decided to wait until the final hour and only then pin a new strip of paper with a spell to his clothes. That way he would gain a full extra day out of five, perhaps more. The time for the next renewal was approaching, and Yi Ho was heading toward his assigned quarters, where Eunuch Mo was already waiting for him with a strip of yellow paper.

  Yi Ho found the talismans, but the eunuch was nowhere to be seen.

  The prince impatiently tapped his foot against the floor, clicked his tongue, took one of the strips, hid it in his sleeve, and went to look for the negligent servant. The entity sealed within his body stirred and began pressing from the inside, weakly but insistently.

  “Not now, grandson,” Yi Ho muttered. “Everything is going well, but it is too early for you to return. Sleep.”

  The entity fell silent for a moment, then began to struggle again, matching the rhythm of their shared heart. If this continued, Yi Ho realized, the spell holding him in this body might end before he found his eunuch and replaced the paper talisman. He quickened his pace, glancing around, but suddenly his foot twisted of its own accord and he fell.

  “Stop it,” he hissed. “You are making things worse for both of us.”

  However, his descendant did not calm down. Now every movement came with difficulty. It took conscious effort for Yi Ho to raise a hand or brace himself on his leg. It was extremely inconvenient. At least his grandson was not trying to contest his breathing.

  “Your Highness?” A door along the gallery opened, and the magistrate’s wife looked out, alarmed. “What has happened? I shall call for help!”

  “There is no need,” Yi Ho shook his head, and then inspiration struck him. “Can you help me?”

  “How may I serve?” the woman rustled her crimson skirt and crouched beside the fallen prince. He was still struggling with the rightful owner of the body, trying to stand again. “Shall I give you my hand? Examine your ankle? I once twisted my foot myself, and—”

  “No,” Yi Ho said, his voice growing hoarse as well, a sign that little time remained. “Do you have a needle and thread? I need to sew this strip of paper to the inside of my hem. It is very important… for the entire country. Believe me.”

  “What?” Her eyes widened, but she quickly mastered herself. “Yes, of course. I was embroidering just now… Wait here, Your Highness.”

  “Please hurry,” Yi Ho urged her.

  What good fortune that she did not begin questioning him or probing his strange request, as an ordinary woman might have done! The magistrate’s wife returned moments later, holding a needle and thread carefully matched to the color of his blue robes.

  “Allow me…” She delicately lifted his hem, trying not to touch his body and revealing the white under-trousers beneath. Yi Ho suddenly remembered that he had not been with a woman for a hundred years and cleared his throat in embarrassment. “There is another strip here already. Should I remove it?”

  “No!” Yi Ho exclaimed, grabbing her wrist. “Forgive me. No. Sew the second one beside it, and leave the first.”

  “As you command, Great Prince,” her lips, painted red, blossomed into a smile. “Do not move, so I do not prick you.”

  Those few stitches seemed interminably long to the prince. But at last the spell was renewed, and Yi Ho felt his arms and legs obey him again.

  “You have helped me greatly, beautiful lady.” Yi Ho rose to his feet and offered her his hand, helping her stand. “I cannot explain what this was about, but what you have done will bring great benefit to the entire country.”

  “I was glad to help you, Great Prince,” the magistrate’s wife replied, keeping her hand in his a little longer than was proper. “If you permit it, I shall send you my embroidery later.”

  “That would please me,” Yi Ho agreed.