For protection

Xie Bian sat up in bed the moment Wei Liang and the servant left. Fan Wujiu cast him a placid look.

"It was good that you pretended to be asleep." He walked away from the bed and towards the room's round window, putting ample distance between the two of them. "What were they saying before I walked in?"

"Speculating whether or not I really was a silk merchant," Xie Bian said. He wasn't about to go into details. "He really despises Wei Xiangsi."

Fan Wujiu hummed in assent. "Wei Xiangsi didn't lie about his poor relation with his family."

"Did he lie about anything else?"

"He was probably exaggerating how favoured his brother was." He gave Xie Bian a look over the shoulder, lips quirked in a faint, amused smirk. "Wei Liang is older, and yet also doesn't have his own estate."

"You think Old Master Wei doesn't like either of his sons?" Xie Bian asked.

Fan Wujiu turned towards the window once again, Xie Bian could see only the straight line of his back. "I think Wei Liang isn't a very talented cultivator. He probably had just enough talent to be accepted into Dancing Carp, but his family's money greased the hands that welcomed him."

"He failed to live up to his father's expectations." Xie Bian was talking mostly to himself, analyzing Wei Liang's actions from a different angle. Maybe he wasn't simply cruel and petulant, maybe he was scared. "He's probably worried that Wei Xiangsi will rise in station if he settles on a profitable deal with us."

"That's what I believe as well," Fan Wujiu said. "If he was in any way prominent among Dancing Carp disciples, he would be staying at the set grounds, instead of his family's estate. More than incompetent, he is probably lazy."

"Maybe he doesn't think Dancing Carp is up to his comfort standards."

He got the impression Wei Liang was a vain man, and appreciated being waited on. He wouldn't like being just another young master among several other young masters.

"We can pit the brothers against each other," Fan Wujiu said. "Their rivalry and animosity is the fastest way to getting to the bottom of whatever is happening here."

"Have you found anything else?" Xie Bian asked.

There was silence for a time. He thought Fan Wujiu was freezing him out and wouldn't say anything, but he moved away from the window and crossed the room to sit at the foot of Xie Bian's bed.

"There's something odd happening here, the servant Jiang Lu told me that Wei Xiangsi wasn't allowed to be served by any of the family's servants, and he's currently the only person seeing to his daily needs."

That didn't sound so off to Xie Bian. "Isn't that expected, considering what he told us?"

"Except that Jiang Lu told me that he hasn't seen any of the usual servants in the main courtyards in the past six months."

"Does that match the timeframe of the missing souls?" Xie Bian asked.

Fan Wujiu nodded. "It's close, but more than that, what interests me is why haven't they hired new people?"

"Money troubles?" Xie Bian suggested. He searched Fan Wujiu's expression for clues, but he was as unreadable as ever.

"They spared no expenses on the wedding."

Xie Bian narrowed his eyes. If Fan Wujiu wanted to make it into a guessing game Xie Bian was up to play. "Alright, so maybe they can't hire anyone. We heard those servants at the Yu estate talking, so perhaps it's common knowledge for any servants looking for employment."

Fan Wujiu almost smiled a sure sign that Xie Bian was getting closer to his own opinion of the situation.

"There's always someone desperate for work. Beyond that, migrant workers reach Longbei everyday."

Xie Bian cursed him under his breath.

"So, the servants aren't staying." He rubbed at his temple with the heel of his palm, trying to work the ideas out. "Something makes them leave."

This time, when he looked at Fan Wujiu his red phoenix eyes were crinkled in something close to genuine admiration. Xie Bian had to look away, he didn't think Fan Wujiu had ever looked at him so fondly.

It was one thing to suspect Fan Wujiu might be attracted to him, but actually like him?

He cleared his throat. "You think that makes sense too."

Fan Wujiu nodded.

"I do." He paused and gave Xie Bian a challenging look, all softness gone from his gaze. "And I think we should take advantage of Wei Liang's actions and investigate. Wei Xiangsi and Jiang Lu are out for the count, we won't have a better chance so soon."

---

Xie Bian was reconsidering his ready agreement. He expected Fan Wujiu to have some more appearance-changing pills to make it easier for them to sneak around, but there was no such thing.

"We've just established that the Wei family is probably having issues retaining servants, it would look more suspicious if we disguised ourselves as servants in a house with so few of them."

While Xie Bian couldn't disagree with his logic, it did nothing to make him feel better about the perspective of being found out in his under robes, traipsing through the estate's main building.

He really hoped they weren't found, because their prepared excuse of a romantic dalliance in the dead of night made Xie Bian want to die of shame.

They had been lucky thus far; the house was dark and deathly still. Fan Wujiu wanted to check the family's main rooms first. There was no light anywhere in the house, no servants to watch over the candles and oil lanterns and keep them safely burning through the night; no guards patrolling the halls, not even a maid sneaking into a friend's room under the cover of darkness.

They reached the courtyard that housed the servants quarters and Fan Wujiu slipped inside the building like a ghost, peeking into rooms until he found what he was looking for. He glanced inside for the briefest moment before shutting the door quietly and turning to Xie Bian.

"There's four sleeping mats close together, it's as if they're huddling together."

"For warmth?" Xie Bian asked, keeping his voice low.

"For protection."