The Nine-tailed Fox has a plan

Wu Yun manages to wrest a description of the keys out of Xin Liqin, and then sends him on his way before he can extol some more of Rong Jizi's virtues.

"So, they're heavy brass keys that Rong Jizi wears on a loop tied to his waist at all times," Wu Yun says, closing the door behind Xin Liqin. "Now, how do I get them?"

Lan Tian props himself up on an elbow. "What are you going to do with them?"

"I'm going to use the stable keys to steal two horses for us, and use the pigeons to send a message to Jiang Tanmei telling him to leave the rest of the money somewhere we can pick it up in exchange for delivering the captives," Wu Yun says, with a pleased smirk.

Lan Tian frowns. "But you're not actually planning on saving anyone."

"Of course not, why would I? They watched Rong Jizi whip you and did nothing, why should I save them?"

Lan Tian sighs, and sits up on the bed, robes pooling around his waist. Wu Yun wants to tell him to lay back down but the disappointed furrow between his brows makes him stay quiet. "They were afraid it would be them next. The Prince has hurt all of them before. Besides, he has servants and guards, what could they do against them?"

"If they didn't even try then why should we?" Wu Yun asks, confused by Lan Tian's convoluted logic.

"If we can save them, we should try. It's the right thing to do," Lan Tian says. His eyes are hardened with unwavering resolve, and Wu Yun is powerless to say no to him in his current state.

He hides his face in his hands with a deep sigh. "Fine, but they're going to have to help themselves too, we're not doing everything alone, and we have to wait until you're better."

Lan Tian nods, the corner of his lips ticks upwards. "Whatever you say."

Wu Yun is on a roll now, "And I'm saving that phoenix! That's the only thing I actually care about."

"We will," Lan Tian assents.

"And I'm getting back at the Prince and Rong Jizi for hurting you! They'll regret ever crossing paths with me."

"What will poor Xin Liqin do without his attentive lover?" Lan Tian asks, smiling ruefully.

"He's going to have to find another one somewhere else. The gutter, perhaps."

Lan Tian falls back on the mattress with a muffled laugh, and promptly hisses in pain at the strain on his wounds.

---

Over the following days Wu Yun remains cooped up in their room by Lan Tian's side applying ointment every six hours as per Wei Su's instructions, and cleaning the wounds with warm water every night. He brings food for both him and Lan Tian and doesn't exchange a single word with the other captives he comes across. Some of them try to ask him about Lan Tian's condition but he can't be bothered to reply, their empty platitudes disgust him.

Lan Tian gets better, and the raw wounds start to scab over. The scabs make his skin itch but Wu Yun bats his hands away with a shout every time he catches him trying to scratch them.

The Prince of Qi still hasn't shown his face in the Fragrant Lotus pavilion since the day of Lan Tian's whipping, which suits Wu Yun just fine.

Once Lan Tian is fit for leaving the bed, Wu Yun dresses his wounds with thin gauze strips to prevent them from rubbing against the material of his robes. It's surprising to him that playing bedside nurse comes so naturally; almost as if he's done it before. Of course that's impossible, nine-tailed foxes have a superior healing factor and he never got wounded before, let alone took care of someone else.

The first thing they do once Lan Tian can stand up straight without flinching in pain is go to Qiao Xiaojian's room.

Qiao Xiaojian isn't impressed with the plan Wu Yun came up with. "You want to set fire to the palace and use the distraction to escape?" He asks, incredulous. "You can't control a fire, it's too unpredictable, besides a lot of palace servants would probably die in it."

Wu Yun shrugs. "How is that our problem?"

"I don't know how to make you understand that people's lives are not expendable," Qiao Xiaojian says with frustrated sigh. "I don't want to leave this terrible place if the price to pay is the life of everyone else in it!"

"Then do you have a better idea?" Wu Yun asks.

"Actually, we do," Qiao Xiaojian says turning to Wei Su with a conspicuous smile. "What you told us about the keys Rong Jizi carries is even more useful."

---

Wu Yun can't say he's looking forward to putting Qiao Xiaojian's plan in practice, but the sooner he leaves this terrible place the better, so he'll try anything if it gets him out. The first part of it might actually be fun, assuming Lan Tian and Qiao Xiaojian can talk Xin Liqin into helping them.

Wu Yun walks towards the hall, where he finds Rong Jizi playing chess alone. Since Lan Tian's punishment, everyone has been giving him a wide berth.

He coughs to draw his attention. Rong Jizi looks up from the board at Wu Yun but says nothing.

"I need to see the Prince."

Rong Jizi scoffs derisively. "And what makes you think the Prince wants to see you?"

"I think he'll want to hear what I have to say," Wu Yun says, resting his foot on top of the chess board, and leaning over his thigh to meet Rong Jizi's eyes. "It's about what he keeps under the library."

Rong Jizi shoots him a poisonous glare, and punches his leg away from the board, trying to trip him, but Wu Yun dodges him at the last minute. "Mind your words, or this time it will be your back being flayed."

Wu Yun doesn't rise to his bait. "You either take me to the Prince, or I go find him myself, and tell him I had important information to share that you didn't want him to hear. What is it going to be?"

Rong Jizi gets up from the floor with a sudden move, toppling the board and sending chess stones flying in every direction. "You better know what you're doing, or the consequences will be much worse for you than for me."

He stomps out of the main hall like an unwilling horse, and Wu Yun looks behind his shoulder to signal to Lan Tian watching him behind a pillar that all is going well.

Rong Jizi leads him through the bridge connecting the Fragrant Lotus courtyard to the main house, and to a study room. The Prince is sitting behind a low desk, inspecting some scrolls. Rong Jizi bows to him, and introduces Wu Yun.

The Prince doesn't lift his eyes from his scrolls and dismisses Rong Jizi with a curt nod.

Before he can leave, Wu Yun stops him with a hand on his arm, and whispers, next to his ear. "Xin Liqin told me to tell you he's waiting for you in his room, wearing nothing but a silk scarf."

Judging by Rong Jizi's wide-eyed look, Wu Yun delivered his line just as Qiao Xiaojian instructed him to.

"Are you going to continue chatting by the door, or are you coming in?" the Prince asks, sour as ever.

Rong Jizi leaves in a hurry and Wu Yun walks towards the Prince's desk with his arms locked behind his back, and a smirk plastered to his lips.

"Well? What do you want?"

"You might not know this but I've been studying phoenixes for some time," Wu Yun says, walking in circles in front of the desk. "Whatever you want to learn from the one you're keeping in the cage, I can help you with it."

"It's Your Highness," the Prince of Qi says, cutting him off sharply.

Wu Yun shrugs. "It's your phoenix, you can call it whatever you want."

The Prince slaps the table with his open palm, making the brush holder shake. "You will address me as 'Your Highness', insolent brat."

"Yes, Your Highness," Wu Yun says, lowering his eyes in a fake display of humility.

The Prince leans his elbows on the table and weaves his fingers together. "What will you want in exchange for your help? I'm sure there's something."

"Your Highness will let me and my servant leave," Wu Yun says crossing his arms.

"If your help proves useful, I'll consider it." The Prince smiles, showing the whiteness of his teeth like a predator about to sink them into its prey's tender neck.

Wu Yun follows the Prince out of the study and into the hallway leading to the library. Once there the Prince moves to the back of the room, near the shelf above the secret passage and says:

"Please go ahead, I believe you already know the way." He motions to the shelf, clearly intending for Wu Yun to move it himself.

He does, muttering curses under his breath. He climbs down the stairs, being assaulted by that same metallic scent until he comes upon the large chamber. The phoenix remains curled up protectively on itself, in no better condition that when Wu Yun last saw it.

Wu Yun walks under the cage and looks up to inspect its fixings, trying to see the mechanism to lower it.

"Phoenixes are very fragile and temperamental creatures, you won't get anything out of them by using brute force," Wu Yun says, walking in circles under the cage. He doesn't actually know the first thing about phoenixes, and he's largely talking out of his ass, but he's only supposed to fool the Prince long enough to put the plan in motion.

"I've been studying them for a long time, too. I'm curious whether you can tell me something I don't already know." The Prince walks towards Wu Yun and looks up at the cage too.

He then places his large hand on Wu Yun's shoulder, in what looks like a companionable gesture, but his grip is tight, pinning Wu Yun in place.

"However, there is something I believe only you have the answer to," the Prince says in a deceptively sweet tone.

The short hairs at the back of Wu Yun's neck stand on end at the tightening grip on his shoulder. "I'll be glad to help," he says, trying not to betray his discomfort.

From the corner of his eyes Wu Yun's sees the Prince's sharp smirk, and then feels his cruel grip pulling down the back of his robes, lowering it down his shoulders.

"Then tell me, if you're Jiang Tanmei, why don't you have a beauty mark..." he trails his fingers down Wu Yun's spine coming to a stop between his shoulder blades. "Right here." He punctuates each word by tapping that expanse of unblemished skin as if testing the ripeness of a peach.