The night was mellow, illuminated only by the glow of the waxing moon high on the sky, and the glow of the lanterns that remained lit along the streets. The cry of the cicadas deafened even the footfalls of Xiao Zai's horse, and those of the guard's behind him.
The familiar shape of the Second Prince's estate rose in his field of vision like a dark cloud, foreboding and oppressive like it had never been before -- not even when Xiao Zai first visited it, in its ruined state.
It no longer looked like the home where he and Chu Yun had spent those first few fledgling months of their union and started their family. Now it seemed to him that the estate contained inside its walls the extent of his past.
The single guard he brought with him announced him at the gate, and moments later they opened to allow them to ride inside.
No sooner had Xiao Zai dismounted from his horse, than a mild voice asked:
"What brings you here at such a late hour?"
