Lu Fengxian had his spear pointed at the summoners. He wore brown leather body armor and he towered over all of them. His large brown cow spirit shielded Lu Na from the other spirits.

  “Who are you?” Lu Na’s brother said, his voice like steel. “Why are you trying to kill my sister?”

  Lu Na scrambled behind her brother. She quickly activated a spirit wall to protect herself. She had no more earth walls.

  “Run, we can’t beat him,” Zhu said.

  “I don’t think so.” Lu Fengxian used the back of his spear and swept the summoners off their feet.

  The summoners’ spirits all attacked at once, but another large earth wall sprang up. Lu Fengxian’s cow spirit charged them, scattering all the opposing spirits.

  “Are you behind the recent kidnappings?” Lu Fengxian had his spearhead pointed at Zhu who was pinned on the ground. The other summoners had escaped.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about. We came here to invite your sister to a Mid-Autumn Festival celebration. That’s all,” Zhu said. “And if you don’t allow us to take her, then my senior will come for her. You wouldn’t want that. She’s a little crazy.”

  “I don’t think you’re in any position to demand anything,” Lu Fengxian said. “But since you don’t want to tell me, I’ll let my colleagues at the yamen question you. They’re a little crazy, too.”

  “No, thank you.” Zhu waved his hand and three arrows shot at Lu Fengxian.

  “Brother!” Lu Na screamed.

  All three arrows stopped inches from Lu Fengxian’s chest. For some reason, the spirit wall Lu Na activated earlier protected him.

  Zhu got up and ran for the walls. Wide arrows formed steps for him to run up and over the walls.

  Lu Na wondered if she could do something like that with her earth walls. Or maybe she could copy that technique. If only she had more time to observe it.

  “Na Na, what were you doing alone on my training grounds?” Lu Fengxian asked. His face had the look of both anger and concern. His eyebrows were knitted and his lips were in a frown.

  Lu Na hadn’t seen her brother this angry before. She only saw that face once when he argued with his father over wanting to be a yamen runner for the magistrate.

  “Oh, that look is just so attractive. Can your brother be any more handsome than at this moment?” her spirit said.

  Lu Na suppressed a groan. This was not the time, spirit. She put on her prettiest smile. Was it too late to go with those summoners?

  Lu Na followed her brother out the back of the training grounds and around the Lu compound. It was the fastest way to get back to the main courtyard.

  “Na Na, you’re lucky I was looking for you,” Lu Fengxian said. “You know the training grounds are off limits. And now you look like a mess.”

  “Why were you looking for me?” Lu Na was hoping that it would derail the lecture. She loved her older brother, but the lectures were endless sometimes.

  “Father asked for us. When no one could find you in your room or courtyard, I went to look for you in my training grounds. I heard the servants talking about you using it the last couple of days. What were you doing there anyway?”

  “Nothing. Just working on my inventions.”

  Lu Fengxian turned to face Lu Na.

  “That again? I thought you told me that you stopped.”

  “My spirit. It won’t stop bothering me. Keep reminding me about how it was the last thing mother left for me and that it would be important one day.” What Lu Na didn’t tell her brother was that it was the other way around. She had loved making these inventions so much despite her spirit’s constant warnings of danger. It was the only thing interesting in her life.

  “Whatever, we’ll talk about this later. I love you Na Na, you know that right?”

  Lu Na nodded.

  Lu Fengxian squeezed her arm before resuming her brisk pace to the front entrance.

  The two guardian lions in front of the door were painted red to prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Lu Na patted one on the head as if greeting an old friend.

  A servant was hanging two red lanterns beside the wooden doors. Even the drab gray walls were painted with scenes of the moon goddess Chang’e standing beside her jade rabbit on one side and her lover, Hou Yi with his bow and arrows on the other side. It was her father’s way of showing off how richer they were than the others in the neighborhood.

  When they passed through the door, the decorations only intensified. The main courtyard had trees lining the path all the way to the main hall. Each tree’s leaves wore their autumn colors, changing to beautiful shades of red and orange. Her father had poems written and glued to their trunks in black ink on red paper. Every one was a couplet that was associated with the Mid-Autumn Festival. They made a soft flapping sound whenever the wind blew through the courtyard.

  Head servant Cui Yi was waiting for them. He had a thin mustache that he shaped meticulously every morning. Lu Na had seen him pluck out stray hairs that offended his sense of fashion. He was also the servant that was most closely aligned with her second mother.

  “Young Master Lu, you’re hurt,” Cui Yi said. He quickly ran up to Lu Fengxian to look over his wounds. “Let me request the doctor at once.”

  Lu Fengxian dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

  “I’ll be alright.”

  “Your father has summoned the both of you to his study as soon as you came in,” Cui Yi said.

  “I’ll go in a minute.” Lu Fengxian said.

  “Of course Young Master Lu.” Cui Yi bowed toward him. He turned toward Lu Na with a scowl. “You should go now. Your father was irritated when he couldn’t find you in your room. You made all the servants and maids look like fools when you left, telling no one.”

  Lu Na wanted to slap him, but she forced herself to smile as sweetly as she could. She practiced with her mother’s bronze mirror to look as innocent as she could.

  “I’m sorry, head servant Cui. I’m so tired and I was hoping to make myself more presentable to Father. I would hate for him to think that the servants and maids of our Lu compound were not taking care of me.”

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  “It looks like I’m rubbing off on you,” her spirit said to her. “But don’t anger little people like Cui Yi. He will only make your life harder.”

  The only way for that to happen was if he started putting poison in Lu Na’s food. Besides, that rat couldn’t hate her any more than he already did. He glared at her as he gently tugged his mustache.

  “Lu Na was with me,” Lu Fengxian said. “I’ll take responsibility for her.”

  “Oh, of course Young Master Lu.” Cui Yi bowed his head. “It’s just that Young Miss Lu disappearing like that has started rumors about her chastity. Where did she go? Who did she see?”

  Lu Fengxian’s shoulders tensed, his right hand gripping his spear tightly.

  Lu Na reached over and tapped him on the shoulder.

  “Come on brother, I’m tired. Let’s clean up before we see Father.”

  Lu Fengxian relaxed. He scowled at Cui Yi.

  “Say anything negatively about my sister again and I will make sure that you are assigned the worst duties in the compound.”

  Cui Yi bowed low.

  “Of course, Young Master Lu. I would disparage no one. I was just saying what I heard. I’m sure your father and second mother have heard about it too.”

  Lu Na knew it was this rat that told them in the first place. Listening to his annoying voice would only irritate her more.

  “I’ll meet you at Father’s study in a few minutes. I have to fix my hair.”

  Lu Fengxian nodded and walked off.

  “You know, we could come up with an invention that makes him mute,” her spirit said. “The summoner teacher your brother had before would use his spirit to make his students quiet. I’m sure we could ask him to show it for us to copy.”

  Lu Na chuckled at the thought.

  “It would be a waste of an invention to use it on the rat. It could be better used to silence the surrounding walls at night to help us better concentrate. It could silence people we want murdered. There are so many ways you can use such a power, but he uses it to silence children as he’s teaching. So uncreative.”

  “Sometimes, I fear what’s going on in your mind.”

  “I’m only joking. It’s not as if I could ever hurt anyone. Shouldn’t you know since you live there?”

  “Child, I don’t live in your head. I live in your spirit realm, a small pocket of spirit energy inside your body. I don’t think your head could fit all of me if I were to live there. It is a shame your father never gave you even a little summoner training.”

  That made sense to Lu Na. The cow spirit like her brothers wouldn’t be able to fit inside his head and it was as solid as any actual cow she had touched. This was another thing she’d have to figure out in the future in order to hone her inventions. Maybe there was a way to use that somehow.

  After Lu Na found one of her maids to fix her hair, she also put on a new set of summer clothes. She would hate to meet with her father in dirty clothes.

  When Lu Na arrived at her father’s study, her brother was already there. He had changed his clothes, wearing a simple green robe. His servants probably had enough time to clean off his face from the dirty fight.

  The other interesting thing was that none of the decorations for the Mid-Autumn Festival reached her father’s study. It was as bare as always. There were no paintings and no words of poetry or any furniture. There were two long tables filled with rolled up wood panels that took up most of the room.

  Lu Na once asked why he used wood panels instead of paper. He claimed he didn’t like change. His father and grandfathers used wood panels to run their business and so shall he.

  Before she stepped into the study, she left her shoes outside as she stepped onto the mats inside. Her other siblings were already there, talking quietly while being the perfect image of a proper gentleman. If only they were like that outside of their father’s influence. Those little brats annoyed her to death with their teasing games and pranks. When she complained, her father told her to find her second mother to deal with it. Guess who she sided with every time?

  Speaking of that woman, she sat quietly next to Lu Na’s father. She wore a festive light red that almost bordered on orange. If any of the imperial censors saw that, she would lose her head for wearing the Emperor’s color. She had a round face and large eyes. She wasn’t a true beauty, unlike her mother, but this second mother of hers brought her father a lot of land and wealth from her family.

  “Father,” Lu Na said, bowing her head slightly.

  Lu Tien was smiling toward her younger brothers, but frowned when he saw Lu Na.

  “You’re finally here. Fengxian told me the Wintersweet Sect attacked you two outside of the city.”

  “Not far. Just a few minutes walk from the city,” Lu Na said.

  “You still left your home telling no one and without bringing an escort. You know that the last few weeks have been dangerous and you still went outside. This rebelliousness of yours is tiring.”

  “But…” Lu Na didn’t finish her thought. Her father had already turned away from her.

  “We’re here to discuss something more important,” Lu Tien said. “The Marquis has asked us to look after his daughter while he goes out on a campaign to quell the rebels in this region. Young Miss Sun will be staying with us until after the Mid-Autumn Festival. During her stay here, Lu Na will accompany her. Lu Fengxian, you’ll make sure she’s safe.”

  “Yes, Father,” Lu Fengxian answered instantly.

  Lu Tien glanced at Lu Na from the side without turning his head.

  “While the Marquis is my sworn brother, his word can get us all decapitated. So do nothing foolish and respect her as if she were the Queen.”

  “Yes, Father,” Lu Na said. What else could she say after that warning?

  “One last thing before you can all leave: this Mid-Autumn Festival we will not be celebrating in the main courtyard. Because of the kidnappings, we’re going to have a private celebration in my courtyard. No guests will be allowed into our compound, so don’t tell any of your friends to come this year. You all may go.”

  Lu Na got up and left as quickly as she could. She didn’t want to see her father any more than she had to. He was smiling toward her younger brothers now. He used to smile at her like that, but no longer.

  “Your father seems serious. Why is this girl so important?” her spirit asked.

  Lu Na walked toward the kitchen for some food.

  “Sun Ren is the daughter of Sun Wentai, the Marquis of Wucheng. He commands the largest army in this region and his word is law. The only one higher is the emperor, but he is miles away.”

  “So why is she coming to your home? Why doesn’t she stay in her own?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her in years. When Mother was still around, she would bring her around and we’d play together. She was very quiet. Brother would play with us too.”

  “Speaking of your brother, where is he? Being away from him for a minute feels like an eternity.”

  Lu Na groaned. This time there was no one around.

  “Please stop with those comments. It’s embarrassing to have those thoughts in my head from a spirit with no body.”

  “Fine, fine. I’ll only fantasize about him in my free time.”

  “As long as I don’t have to hear about it.”

  Lu Na made a turn into the large kitchen where the family chefs were cooking. The smell of cooked meat hit her before she walked in. Smoke filled the large room as a fat chef was tossing a dish of meat with a large wok. Other chefs were similarly busy making preparations for dinner. There were several maids cutting up other ingredients throughout the large room.

  “All this for some daughter of the Marquis. What would happen if the Marquis himself came?”

  “You’re not supposed to be here,” Cui Yi said. The head servant stood in Lu Na’s way.

  “I just wanted some food. I haven’t eaten since this morning,” Lu Na said.

  “No. Dinner is going to be served soon. You will ruin your appetite.” Cui Yi turned from Lu Na.

  “What is this? I’m asking for food as the Young Miss Lu and you, a servant, are ignoring my request?”

  Cui Yi turned back to face Lu Na. He stalked over to her and looked down on her.

  “Your father has given me the responsibility of preparing the meal for the Marquis’ daughter. You know, the one whose father can…” Cui Yi dragged a finger over his neck. “Having to stop any of these maids or servants from doing what they need to do to prepare that meal is not worth their time or effort. You will eat when dinner is served and not before then, Young Miss Lu.”

  “Tell your brother to make him a eunuch!” her spirit said.

  Lu Na was frozen in anger and she wasn’t sure what to do. There was a butcher’s knife not too far away. Maybe a burning piece of wood from the stove. Or she can take a breath, back away, and not give her second mother another excuse to make her life miserable.

  “Then what about me?” a woman’s voice asked from behind Lu Na.